| Chapter 2 Gideon, Tracy, and Jade entered Nick's room. They surrounded the bed, again looking to one another, making sure they were ready. Gideon glanced around the room. There were at least ten other angels with them. "Everyone ready?" he asked. He received nods from them all. "OK, remember. If he gets lose, don't kill him if you can keep from it," Gideon reminded them, then he looked to Jade. She reached over and placed her hand over Nick's eyes, waking him. Nick slowly opened his eyes, blinking them several times. He panned the room, looking at everyone, assessing his situation. He tried moving his arms up to touch his face, but couldn't. He looked down, realizing he was firmly attached to the bed. "You can't keep me here," he said. "We're gonna try our best to," Gideon said, moving closer to him. Nick glared at him, his blue eyes burning with anger. "Nick, you can be so much more than what you are right now," Tracy said. He looked over at her, "Oh really? Somehow I kinda doubt that." "God still loves you Nick, you can come back from this," Jade said. "I don't wanna come back," Nick said through clenched teeth, "I will never go back to that confusion I was in before, never." "It won't be like that," Gideon said. "Oh, and just tell me how it's gonna be, oh wise one," Nick taunted, "Will I stumble around with abilities that I don't know how to use because no one else has them and can't teach me anything?" "Nick," Tracy said sternly. "Where's Tara?" he asked. The three looked at one another, but didn't answer him. "Where the hell is she?!" he yelled. "She's safe," Jade said. "You can't keep us apart," Nick said starting to struggle against his restraints. "Nick, if you fight us we will have no choice but to hurt you," Gideon warned. Nick laughed, "You? Hurt me? That's the funniest thing I've heard all day." Nick was putting all of his energy into pulling on the chains that held his arms down. "Nick, don't," Jade said, putting her hand on his arm. Nick swung his head around and glared at her, "Don't touch me!" he screamed, sending her flying across the room and into the wall, just as he broke the chains and sat up. Gideon pointed his sword at Nick's chest, "Stop right now." Nick laughed and shook his head, "You intend to use that?" "If I have to," Gideon said. Nick severed the chains holding his feet and stood up, facing Gideon, "You're gonna lose." Tracy drew her sword and stood with Gideon, "You can't fight all of us." "Who says?" Nick teased, looking over to one of the other angels in the room and reaching out, taking their sword from them. He played with it in his hands, getting the feel of the grip. "Not as good as mine, but it'll do," he said, turning his attention back to Gideon. Gideon and Tracy were both at the ready. Nick smiled, "This should be fun," then swung at them. Gideon blocked his blow, then moved with one of his own. Nick dodged it, reaching out and pulling another sword from one of the others in the room. Now he had a sword in each hand, fighting more skillfully than they had ever seen him. He quickly rid Tracy of her sword, sending it flying across the room. One of the others stepped in her place, carrying on the fight. Nick had pushed his way to the door of the room, and was almost out into the hall when he heard something growling behind him. He turned to see Angel blocking his escape. Nick turned to her, keeping his eye on the others. "Angel, I missed you so much," he said in a sincere voice, "Please let me out, they're trying to hurt me." The hair on Angels neck was bristled out, and she had a killer look in her eyes. She growled more deeply at him, taking a step towards him. "Angel please," Nick begged, blocking another blow by Gideon. Nicks attention was now on Gideon and not on Angel. The wolf took the opportunity to strike. She snarled, then leap at Nick, knocking him off balance and forcing him to the ground. Instantly she was on him, standing on his chest, her teeth snapping mere millimeters from his face. Nick tried to angle the sword he had at her, but she saw it and locked her jaws around his wrist. Nick cried out in pain, trying desperately to get the wolf off him. Gideon and a few of the others ran to him. They kicked the swords away from him, then grabbed Nick, trying to hold him still. Tracy ran up and quickly placed her hand over his eyes, rendering him unconscious. "Angel, let go," Gideon said. The wolf did as she was told, then looked at him and whined. "I know, but you have to remember that he's not himself right now," Tracy said. Angel whined again before jumping off Nick and heading down the hall. "Well, this obviously isn't working," Jade said, walking out of the room, rubbing her head. "You alright?" Tracy asked. "I will be. Now what do we do? The chains aren't going to hold him, and if Angel hadn't been here, he would've gotten away," Jade said. Gideon looked at them, as the others picked Nick up and carried him back to the bed, "I didn't want to do this, but I think we need to keep him drugged. At least until he becomes more manageable." "I think you're right. We can't go through this every time he wakes up," Jade said. "Alright, I'll send someone to get what we need," Gideon said, leaving the room. Tracy and Jade watched as the others placed Nick back on the bed, and were tending to his wound. Angel held nothing back when she bit him, and his wrist was pretty chewed up. "I hate to admit this, but Tara may be the only one to get through to him," Tracy said. Jade nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think she's ready for that yet." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone was in shock. They couldn't believe that Nick had gotten lose and was fighting his way out. When Angel jumped him, Lyn could watch no more. She put her hands over her face, afraid of what would happen. Brian reached over and pulled her to him in a supportive hug. He didn't know what else to do. When it was all over, and they had Nick back in the bed, Lyn got up and left the room. The four guys sat there at a loss for what to do or say. Brian got up and followed the path Lyn had taken up the stairs. He walked down the hall, looking in each room as he passed. He finally found her in the music room, sitting on the floor in front of the windows. She was sobbing, her hands over her face. Brian shut the door to the room and walked over, sitting cross legged beside her. He reached over and again pulled her into a hug. Neither one of them spoke. Lyn let him hold her as she cried, somehow feeling better in his arms. Brian stroked her back, gently rocking them back and forth, soothing her. She cried for several minutes, unable to make herself stop. When she calmed down, she pulled away from Brian and looked at him. He smiled at her, reaching up and wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. Lyn sniffed, "I'm sorry." "For what?" Brian asked, "There's nothing to be sorry for." She shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. It was just so hard to see him like that. That person is not Nick, that's some evil thing that looks like him." Brian took her hand in his, gently squeezing it, "They'll get him back. They won't give up until they do." "Then what do we do?" she asked. Brian looked at her confused, "What do you mean?" "I mean us," she said, "They are gonna know Brian. You know we can't keep things from them. What do we do then?" Brian sighed, dropping his head and staring at the floor, "I don't know." Lyn reached out and pulled his head back up so he was looking at her, "We need to figure this out. It's not going to go away on its own." He stared at her for a long time, "I just don't know what to do. I love her so much, but I feel the same about you. I'm stuck and I can't decide which way to go." Lyn closed her eyes and sighed. She had been thinking that exact same thing all day, and just like Brian, she was torn. "Lyn? How do you feel about this?" Brian asked after a few moments. "You just said it. I love Nick with all my heart, we've been through so much with each other, but when I look at you, I feel the same thing. God Bri, what are we doing?" she asked, feeling the tears coming back. Brian shook his head, "I don't know. All I know is that I love you. I want to hold you and kiss you and make everything better, but I know I can't." Lyn stared out at the ocean, "How did things get like this?" Brian followed her gaze, "I'm not sure. Maybe with them working so close lately, we just kinda drew closer to each other as well?" "But is it real? Is what we feel real, or are we just replacing them with us?" she asked. "I've thought about that for a long time," Brian said, "I can't look at you and not feel the most intense love and contentment. When you come into the room, I smile. I find myself thinking about you when you're not there, wondering where you are and if you're OK. You are the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing that crosses my mind before I fall to sleep. If that's not real, then I don't know what is." Lyn was staring at him in awe. She couldn't believe what he was saying to her. Her heart was racing, recognizing her own feelings in his words. Brian looked at her, again reaching over and wiping a tear that was trailing down her cheek. "Do even feel remotely the same?" he asked. She couldn't speak, all she could do was nod. Brian smiled at her. Lyn finally found her voice, "Brian, what do we do now? Now that we know this, where do we go from here?" He looked back at the ocean, "I don't know. I mean, I'm married, and you're with Nick. That's how it's always been. If we get together, I don't know what it's going to do to them, and the rest of the guys. But if we don't, I don't know what it's going to do to us. I can't go back to just being friends with you, not when I want more." Lyn rubbed her face with her hands, thinking. She stopped and looked at him, "So I either lose my best friend, or what? We hide this? Carry on an affair behind their backs? Or we tell them how we feel and let the chips fall as they may?" Brian shook his head, "I don't want it to be like this. I don't want to make you choose." "Bri, don't you see? We have to choose something. We can't go on like this. Feeling this and being so emotionally wrecked over it. We need to decide which way to go, even if it's the wrong way," Lyn said. "I know, but we can't make this decision quickly," Brian said, "We're not just deciding for us. There are two other lives we're playing with here." "I know, but we can't put it off forever either," she said. They both sat there, not knowing what to say. Neither one of them had the answer. Brian moved around where he was leaning against the window, facing Lyn. "There has to be a reason," he said. She looked at him confused, "Reason for what?" "For why this is happening. Why it's happening now, and with us," he answered. "Yeah, I've been thinking that to, but what could it be?" she asked. He shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno. I'm sure there's a reason for this, there's a reason for everything, but I just don't know what it could be." "Sometimes God never tells us the reason," Lyn said, "Sometimes things just happen, and we may not know why, but He does, and that's all that matters." Brian smiled at her. "What?" she asked. "You sound just like your sister," he said. Lyn laughed, "Yeah, I guess I do." They sat quietly again for several minutes, finally Lyn looked up, "Brian, I won't lose my friend, I can't." He smiled at her, moving closer and taking her hands in his, "Then you won't," he said, leaning in and softly kissing her. Chapter 3 |