FIC: SINS OF THE FATHER 2/15
Title: Sins of the Father
Chapter: 2/15
Author: carolinablu85, also known as CarolinaBlue on vh.net or CarolinaBlu on the wiki (I know, I'm a fountain of creative names)
Pairing: Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-ish for right now, will get darker later
Spoilers: set in spring 2009, after Luke and Noah battle housing discrimination but before Damian/evil twins. Thus, before the Colonel came back from the dead last year
Summary: The Colonel makes his move, and Luke and Noah suffer the consequences.
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: The first major 'epic' story I ever wrote (and finished)!
Chapter 1
Casey went up to pay for his coffee, and he noticed that the door to the back office was now closed. And he realized Noah was still in there looking for his check. He shook his head, wondering if Noah had forgotten how to spell his name or something. He dropped his money on the counter and headed to the office door. Pushing it open, he called out, “Noah, dude, how long does it take to get a payche-”
Casey froze in the doorway. A man built like Hulk Hogan circa 1985 had Noah forced back against the wall, a giant forearm pressed to his throat. Noah’s face was nearly purple, and while he was trying to pull the arm off of him, it only took Casey a second to see how weak his struggles were. It only took Casey another second to act. “Hey!” he yelled out, rushing forward. Without breaking stride, he plowed into the stranger, doing his best to knock him away from Noah.
The second the man let go, Noah dropped bonelessly to the floor, sucking in air and coughing harshly. The strange man stumbled back a few feet, giving Casey enough time to get in between him and Noah. He held his ground, glaring, until the man furiously turned to face him. Then Casey wasn’t ashamed to admit that he took a step back, glare faltering. Holy crap, the guy was huge.
Casey was about to start fearing for his life when he heard footsteps running to the doorway. The two plainclothes cops rushed in, giving chase as the attacker fled out the back door, moving surprisingly quick for a man his size. Casey let the cops go after him so he could turn back to Noah, who hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor. He knelt down next to his friend, hand on his shoulder. “Noah? Can you hear me?” Noah was still coughing, but he nodded to Casey’s question.
“Noah!” Luke appeared next to them. He threw his arms around him and pulled him close, somewhere between panicked and relieved. “What the hell- are you okay?” Noah nodded again, not yet sure if he could speak. Luke pulled back to study his boyfriend, eyes wide when he took in the bruises already forming. “God, your neck…” he lightly touched the black and blue ring, pulling back the instant Noah winced at the contact.
Luke looked over to Casey, and they nodded to each other. “Come on Mayer, let’s get you up,” Luke said softly as he and Casey each took an arm, helping to pull Noah up to a standing position. They propped him up against the wall while he got his bearings, waiting for him to show that he was alright.
After a beat he closed his eyes and then slowly reopened them, drawing up his strength. He looked over to Casey. “Thanks, Casey,” he said finally.
Casey forced himself not to wince at the hoarse quality of his voice. “Yeah, of course, man. You sure you’re alright?” He was happy to note that the color of Noah’s skin was much better, and his breathing had evened out. Still, he was starting to lean a little more into Luke, though Casey wasn’t sure if that was for physical or emotional support.
“I’m fine,” was the standard answer.
Casey was pretty sure he could actually hear Luke roll his eyes. “Sure you are,” he said. “How about we get out of this room, sit you down somewhere.”
“Sounds good,” Noah half-whispered, letting Luke wrap an arm around his waist and lead him out. Casey stood on Noah’s other side, one hand staying near his shoulder to steady him if need be. Once they got him back to the booth, Casey went to call his mom and Jade volunteered to call Holden and Lily.
Alison instinctively fell into her nursing role, forcing Noah to sit in front of her so she could examine his neck. “Luke, go get a washcloth, soak it in hot water for me please?”
Luke’s arm was still possessively around Noah, and the look he gave Alison told her he was seriously doubting her sanity. “I’m not leaving him-”
“It’s okay, Luke,” Noah’s voice was so scratchy they could barely understand him. But he looked a lot steadier, and when his eyes met Luke’s they were clear. Luke stared at him for a moment, searching for some reassurance. Noah thought he gave a pretty convincing smile, but Luke still looked like his puppy had just died. He pulled Noah’s face closer, kissed his cheek softly, and then reluctantly moved off to follow Alison’s orders.
“Okay hon, how many do you see?” Alison held up two fingers.
He sighed. “I don’t have a concussion, Ali.” He pushed her hand out of his face.
She frowned at him. “And exactly how do you know that?”
“I’ve had them before,” he coughed, bringing one hand up to rub lightly at the bruises around his throat. “And I didn’t hit my head. I just got the wind knocked out of me, I’m okay.”
Alison sighed, pulling Noah’s hand out of the way so she could look at the bruises. “This is a little more than ‘wind knocked out,’ Noah.” Luke reappeared, handing the washcloth over to Alison and taking his place next to Noah again. She gently draped the material around Noah’s neck, glaring good-naturedly when he tried to move away from the contact. “Hey, sit still,” she said.
“It’s hot,” Noah said petulantly. Luke, somehow looking both worried and cutely exasperated, grabbed Noah’s hands in one of his, using his other arm to hold Noah in place so Alison could put the makeshift compress on his neck.
“The muscles around your throat are strained, Noah. The heat will help with the pain,” she then turned to Luke. “Do this again later tonight, and if it gets swollen, do the same with cold water.” He nodded.
“I’m fine,” Noah protested.
Luke shook his head. “And I’d believe you if you were able to talk as loud as the rest of us,” he replied. Noah heaved a frustrated sigh, which just set him off coughing again. “See?” he smoothed the hair back away from Noah’s face and adjusted the washcloth around his neck. Noah closed his eyes and leaned his head down on Luke’s shoulder. Jade came up next to Alison with a glass of water in her hand. She passed it over to Luke. “Thanks, Jade.” Noah cracked open one eye as she sat down across from them. “Here,” Luke nudged him with his shoulder. “You should drink some water.”
“No thanks,” Noah murmured, eye drifting shut again.
Luke forced the cup into Noah’s hand anyway. “Not a suggestion.” Noah slowly brought the water to his lips and took a small sip before setting the cup aside. “Noah…”
“I can’t,” Noah’s voice was as quiet as he’d ever heard it. “It hurts.”
Luke felt his face fall at how embarrassed and small Noah sounded. He hated it. If ever someone deserved to not be a victim, it was Noah. “I’m going to kill him for doing this to you,” he muttered.
Noah shook his head. “It wasn’t my dad.”
“What?!” Luke, Alison, and Jade stared at Noah. His eyes were now open, but he was staring at the floor.
Casey pulled up a chair between Alison and Noah. “My mom’s on her way. I tried to give a description of the guy, but I didn’t get a real good look at him.”
“Hold on, I don’t understand!” Alison broke in, looking back and forth between Noah and Casey. “Your dad didn’t-?”
“He might be behind the attack, but this guy was hired muscle,” Casey explained. He winced, remembering the size of the man. “Emphasis on the muscle. The guy was like G.I. Joe.”
“Pretty close to the truth, actually,” Noah sighed. “He’s an army buddy of my dad’s.”
“Wait, you know him?” Luke couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I’ve known him since I was a baby. Sergeant Tim Kelley- he served under my dad for like twenty-five years. Guess he still does,” he added wryly.
Luke felt like screaming and breaking something (like Colonel Mayer’s face). He couldn’t believe this was happening. He had spent so much time trying not to think about what Colonel Mayer could do to them. He had tried not to relive any of those terrifying moments of the last two years whenever Noah’s dad had shown himself. Even when the Colonel had been in jail, a part of Luke had still been scared that something could happen to him, to his family, to his boyfriend. And he kept thinking of waking up in the hospital after the fishing trip from Hell, groggy and weak. And paralyzed. With an attempted murderer in jail and Noah avoiding him. He couldn’t take going back to that again. “God, this sucks.”
Casey snorted. “You think it sucks for you? I think I broke my shoulder barreling into Hulk Hogan back there.” He rubbed his shoulder for emphasis, pouting.
“You sure you didn’t hit your head?” Jade muttered.
Luke was about to tell them to cut it out- now wasn’t the time for jokes- when Noah laughed at them, and Luke was grateful to hear that sound even if it did end with another bout of coughing. He smiled his thanks at the two, catching the nod that passed between them- mission accomplished. A flash of motion out of the corner of his eye caused Luke to look towards the door, and he almost felt like groaning. He rubbed his hand along Noah’s back, saying, “Get ready to get hugged.”
“Huh?” Noah’s eyes had closed again. He opened them, fuzzy with confusion.
“Noah! Sweetie, are you okay?” Lily was a frenzy of movement entering the coffeehouse. To Noah’s shock, and Luke’s delight, she hurried straight over to him, throwing her arms around him in a relieved hug. After a second Noah hugged her back, his face losing its tension for a brief time. Lily looked to her son over Noah’s shoulder, and Luke nodded that he was okay. She smiled at him quickly before pulling back to look over Noah again. Frowning at the bruises around his neck and the quieter-than-usual way he held himself, she had to fight to keep from hugging him again.
“Where’s Dad?” Luke asked, surprised they hadn’t come in together.
“He was out when Jade called, I got a hold of him on the way here,” she smiled a hello at the other three kids and then turned back to Luke and Noah. “I told him we’d meet him at the hospital-”
“No, I don’t need to go to the hospital!” Noah protested as politely as he could. Luke grinned at his predictable behavior.
Lily laughed lightly too. “And that’s what Holden said you would say. He and Emma are waiting at the farm with dinner ready,” she turned to the others again. “And you’re all welcome to come with us.”
“Free food? Can’t pass that up!” Casey said happily. Both Alison and Jade slapped him lightly on the back of the head.
Noah smiled, but seemed to hesitate. “They’ll need me to make a statement about the…” he couldn’t get the word ‘attack’ out. “About what happened.”
Lily smiled that motherly smile that Noah still hadn’t found a way to say no to. “Margo knows where we live. Come on Noah, let’s go home.” His cautiously grateful reaction to that nearly broke her heart. She forgot sometimes about his upbringing and childhood; he was such a polite, respectful, caring young man, and yet he had never had a home of his own, or a mother, or unconditional love.
Her smile widened when the group stood up, Luke keeping a hand on his boyfriend’s back and kissing his cheek when Noah smiled at him. Lily was so proud of Luke, so glad that these two were a part of her family. And she was going to protect and fight for this family as hard as she could.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Later, Holden and Lily were clearing the table while Emma washed dishes when Luke came back down the stairs. “How’s Noah doing?” Lily asked him.
He sighed, suddenly feeling a hundred years older and a hundred pounds heavier. He sank into a chair. “He’s okay, I think. Not that he’d tell me otherwise. But, I finally got him to fall asleep and he let me put a warm compress around his neck.”
“It’s still hurting him?” Holden asked.
“He wouldn’t admit if it did, but the fact that he let me probably means yes.” Luke’s eyes were downcast, and he idly traced a finger along the wood lines on the table.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Emma sat down next to him. “Besides the obvious,” she waved a hand around.
The obvious. After hearing Noah’s statement to the police, Luke couldn’t shake a bolt of terror that kept shooting through his chest. He had been afraid that the Colonel was here to hurt him and Noah, yet this was worse. The psycho wanted to take Noah away from him. But that was the obvious. Besides that? Luke bit his lower lip. “I can’t get him to talk about it. Or… anything. What he’s feeling, what actually happened at Java today, anything. I feel so guilty that I can’t be there for him.”
“You are being there for him, son. And you know how Noah is. He likes to deal with things in his own head,” Holden pointed out.
“If it were me, Noah would bug me and badger me until I told him everything. He wouldn’t let me go to sleep until he was sure I was okay,” Luke argued. “How come I can’t do the same?”
“Because it’s not you, it’s Noah,” Lily said gently. “He does things differently. Think about it, Luke- whenever you’ve had a problem in the past, you’ve had me and your dad to help work it out. You’ve had two grandmothers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles… Noah’s just used to doing things on his own.”
“But he doesn’t have to anymore!”
“And I think he’s learning that. But you have to remember he’s had seventeen years of experiencing the opposite. Give him time to accept this, Luke. And you have to remember that no matter what, you know he loves you. And he knows you love him,” Holden insisted.
Luke rubbed at his forehead, conceding that point. There were times when even he forgot what it must have been like to grow up with the Colonel. Noah always referred to his childhood in distant, vague descriptions. But the more he thought about it the more he realized that was Noah being Noah, and the Colonel had probably messed him up more than any of them realized. But that was the past, and Luke had his hands full just dealing with the present. “Then how do I help him now?”
“Luke. Sweetie. Were you there when he fell asleep?” Emma reached out, held his face in both of her hands.
“Yeah,” he answered, confused and a little worried Emma was about to yell at him for breaking one of her rules.
“And are you going to be there when he wakes up?” she asked.
“Yeah. Yes,” he responded with certainty this time. House rules be damned. Besides the fact that Noah had actually fallen asleep in Luke’s bed, Luke didn’t plan on letting Noah out of his sight for a very long time.
Emma smiled at him. “Then you are helping him, you big dummy,” she said with a teasing tone, pinching his cheek. From where they stood, Holden and Lily also broke out into grins.
Luke stared at her for a second, before giving a sheepish chuckle, ducking his head. “I guess I am adding some unnecessary drama to an already full plate, huh?”
“You got that right,” Emma smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Now scoot. Go look after that boy that you love. I hereby lift my house rules for tonight. Behave yourself and maybe I’ll think about revising them while Noah’s father is dealt with.”
Luke smiled at her sweetly, giving her a kiss. “Thanks Grandma.” He said goodnight to his parents and went back upstairs. Pausing in the doorway to his room, he studied his sleeping boyfriend for a moment. Noah was curled up on his side, a slight frown marring his otherwise boyish face. Luke stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, quickly changed into a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, and climbed into the bed next to Noah. He leaned over to check that the compress was still against Noah’s neck, and then silently turned off the light.
In the darkness, he lay there listening to the hitched but steady breathing of the person next to him. Luke decided he couldn’t be this close to Noah and not touch him, so very carefully he slid closer until his chest was resting against Noah’s back. Encouraged by the fact that he didn’t wake up, Luke dared to reach out, wrapping an arm around Noah’s middle. Noah mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep, instinctively grabbing onto Luke’s hand and holding it over his own chest. Luke smiled happily; he could feel Noah’s heart beating.
He leaned forward to softly kiss the crook of Noah’s neck, just above where the compress covered the line of bruises. Noah let out a breath, head turning slightly in Luke’s direction. His eyes fluttered open for just a second, but Luke wasn’t sure if he was actually awake or not. “Go back to sleep,” Luke whispered just in case. He placed another brief kiss to the side of Noah’s face.
He was awake, barely. “Thanks for taking care of me,” Noah mumbled. He settled back down more comfortably, still holding tight to Luke’s hand. Luke also burrowed into the blankets, curling his body around Noah’s. “Love you.”
Luke dropped one more kiss onto Noah’s shoulder, smiling again. “Same here.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“He refused?!” Winston slammed his mug down hard on the table with a satisfying crack. At Tim’s nod, Winston shoved the mug to the side and reached for his flask instead, taking a long pull from it. Part of him had really thought that it would be that easy- tell Noah to come with him, and Noah would obey. Noah should obey, he used to follow orders without question. He didn’t like the person Noah had become. All the more reason to get him out and away from Oakdale.
“He didn’t even consider it, Win,” Tim mentioned, sitting across from him at the table. “Not even when I threatened his friends. He’s not going to leave this place willingly.”
“Yes he is,” Winston took another drink. “We just have to convince him.”
Tim glanced at the other two men who were sitting on the other side of cabin. He leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “I just don’t understand why we don’t just go in, grab Noah, and leave.”
“Because Noah has to accept that it’s the right thing first,” Winston hissed back. “If we force him to leave, it will never be right between us, okay? He has to understand why I’m doing this- he has to accept it- or things will turn out like they did last time. And I’ll lose my son for good.” He took another sip from the flask. “That. Cannot. Happen.”
“Yes sir,” Tim responded, eyeing the rapidly emptying flask but saying nothing.
Winston nodded, looking over at Alan and Brett across the room. “Your men, they’ll be up for this?” Several key points of his plan relied specifically on one of these guys.
“You can trust them,” Tim assured him. “They’ll get the job done.”
“We have to get Noah here,” Winston continued, his thoughts already moving on. “If I can just get him here alone and talk to him, I know I’ll get through to him. I can show him the error of his ways. This place is secure, out of the way, safe. They’d have no way of tracking us, I don’t think anyone even knows this place is out here,” he glanced out the window of the cabin to the woods surrounding them.
“We did our research,” Tim agreed. “This place has been abandoned for years.” He took a breath, leaned in even closer. “Now Win, if this is what you want to do, Alan and Brett and I can make it happen. You give me the okay, I can have your boy here by tomorrow night.” He watched as Winston finished off the flask, stuffing it back in his pocket. “Win?”
Winston stood up from the table, intent on finding some more whiskey in the cabin somewhere. “Do it.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Noah opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the brightness of the room. He held himself still, not wanting to accept that he was awake just yet. He had slept through the night, no bad dreams thankfully. He’d never told Luke or anyone else, but he’d always had problems with nightmares ever since he was a little kid. He kept them hidden for the most part, and he had to admit after what had happened yesterday he was kind of surprised that the night had been quiet.
More awareness flooded through him, and the slight movement of an arm hooked around him told him just why he’d had such a good night’s sleep. The hand from that arm was actually clasped in Noah’s own, tucked up near his chin. He was holding it close like a little kid clutched a stuffed animal, and Noah found he was only a tiny bit embarrassed by that, not as much as he thought he’d be. A second hand was trailing lightly through his hair over and over, a soft and soothing gesture. Noah smiled sleepily, finally turning around to face the owner of those hands.
Luke was lying in the bed next to him, watching him. He greeted Noah’s expression with a beautiful smile of his own, warming Noah from the inside out. “Good morning sunshine,” he said quietly in a sing-song voice.
Noah snorted, bringing Luke’s hand up to his lips before letting go. “Morning,” his voice was still scratchy and hoarse from the day before. He could see Luke debating internally on whether or not to check the bruises and decided to put him out of his misery. “How does it look?” he had to lower the pitch of his voice to relieve some of the burning in his throat.
Luke was already reaching to pull away the compress from around Noah’s neck. He frowned at whatever he saw, eyes going back up to meet Noah’s. “It’s not too bad,” he said carefully.
A quiet laugh rumbled in Noah’s chest. “So I guess I’ll be wearing turtlenecks for awhile?” He took Luke’s hand back in his, playing idly with his fingers.
Luke snuggled in closer to him. “Might be a good idea.” He lightly kissed the bruised skin before focusing on Noah’s face again. “How’re you feeling?”
“I’m fine-” he answered immediately.
“-Fine, of course,” Luke answered over him. “Why do I bother asking?” he shook his head exasperatedly, not completely teasing.
Noah kissed Luke’s hand again, placing it behind his own head so that Luke had to wrap an arm up around Noah’s shoulder, moving closer until their noses were almost touching. “Do I not look fine?” he asked quietly, a smirk pulling at his mouth. Somehow, at some point, his hand landed on Luke’s hip, thumb rubbing slow circles into the skin.
Luke was still studying him, but his eyes were brighter, sharper, dancing across Noah’s face. He kissed Noah’s forehead. “I always think you look fine,” he whispered, letting his lips linger against skin. Noah shivered a little, and Luke trailed kisses down the side of his face until he reached Noah’s mouth. Noah leaned in, but Luke pulled back at the last second, causing Noah to make a sound of disappointment. Luke smiled in spite of himself, but he had to say this. “Noah. You know if you need to talk about anything, I’m-”
“Luke.” Noah’s voice was soft, and the deeper pitch of it sent an electric shock radiating throughout Luke’s body. “Thanks, but…” his hand worked its way up from Luke’s hip to slide under his shirt, traveling up Luke’s back. “…I don’t really feel like talking right now.”
Luke couldn’t help but grin. He returned the favor, his hand insinuating itself between cloth and skin to run the expanse of Noah’s chest, slowly sliding the material upwards for easier access. Oh the hell with it. Luke shook his head, giving a little laugh at himself. Before Noah could question him, Luke was pulling his shirt over his head and then making quick work of his own.
Noah’s hands came up to cradle his face and they shared one sweet, gentle kiss before Luke decided to take charge again. He cut another trail of kisses along Noah’s jaw line to his ear. “Anything I can do to help,” he whispered. Whatever Noah was about to say in return was swallowed by Luke’s mouth suddenly and fiercely on his, and then for a little while the two allowed themselves to forget about the drama of life outside Luke’s bedroom door.
Later, the both of them spent but happy, Luke lay wrapped in Noah’s arms, his head on the other’s shoulder, one hand traveling playfully around the bare skin of Noah’s abdomen. “We should just do this all day,” he said contentedly.
“I wish,” Noah whispered back. “I have to get work later.”
“Work? What?” Luke lifted his head. “Noah, if ever there was a day to call out sick…”
“I don’t… I don’t want to break from routine, Luke,” Noah tried to explain, suddenly serious. “I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of upsetting my life.”
Luke’s fingers gently grazed those bruises again. “Yeah, because it’s the break from routine that’s so upsetting about this.”
“It is to me,” Noah insisted. “He’s always controlled me or tried to control me- where I go, what I do,” his arms tightened around Luke, “who I do it with. I don’t want him scaring me away from what’s normal in my life.” After another pause, he added a little sheepishly, “And anyway, it’s the closing shift; I don’t think there’s anyone available to cover it. I have to do it.”
Luke smirked. “You’re such a goody-goody.”
Noah chuckled, bumping his shoulder against Luke’s jaw playfully. “Shut up. Nerd.”
“Geek.”
“Brat.”
“Whiner.”
“Drama queen-”
Luke kissed him then, hard and swift. He always figured it was the best way to win an argument against Noah. “Well, I’m pretty sure your dad doesn’t control this part of your life,” he said, voice husky as he pressed Noah back down onto the mattress. Noah’s smile was more than a little giddy as Luke maneuvered himself to perch on top of him. Noah’s hands moved to Luke’s sides to steady him as Luke propped himself up with his arms on either side of Noah’s head. He leaned in until he was just a few centimeters from Noah’s face. His fingers found themselves once again combing through his boyfriend’s dark, slightly-curly hair. “How long till you have to go to work, then?”
“Long enough,” Noah answered, moving forward to erase that last bit of space between them.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
After spending the rest of the morning with Noah and most of the afternoon and evening at the foundation office, Luke was ready to call it a night. While he had started out the day relaxed- very relaxed, thanks to his boyfriend- as the night wore on and he didn’t receive some kind of all-clear signal from Margo and the cops, his nerves started to get to him. His police shadow had no news for him and couldn’t have been more boring if he’d tried.
Luke decided he needed a change of scenery. He was starving, his eyes were tired from reading documents and notes for the past few hours, and he hadn’t talked to Noah since they had both left the farmhouse in the afternoon. “Off to Java it is, then,” he muttered, more to himself than to Officer Krane.
Noah was alone (except for Officer Thompson), his back to the door, wiping down the last few tables when Luke entered. “Sorry, we’re closing,” he called over his shoulder.
“Aw come on barkeep, just one more?” Luke grinned, hopping onto a stool at the counter.
Noah spun around, face breaking out into a relieved grin of his own. “Hey,” he said happily, leaning in for a quick kiss. “I’ll be finished soon, then we can go h- back to the farm.”
Luke lightly patted his face. “You’re allowed to call it home,” he scolded casually.
Noah ducked his head for a second, shrugging. “Either way, it’ll just be a couple more minutes, okay?”
“Oh, don’t mind me, I like watching you work, gets me all excited.” Teasing Noah was way too much fun.
“What, me cleaning cappuccino machines is a turn on for you?” Noah wasn’t above teasing back, even if it was a little weird to do so in front their police protection. He threw his rag at Luke’s face.
Luke caught it easily. “Ooh baby, everything you do is a turn on for me,” he shot back. Luke counted it as a victory for him when Noah blushed bright red. He would have kept teasing him, but at that moment the lights in Java cut out, leaving all of them in a sudden and terrifying darkness. “What the…” He was up in an instant, Noah moving quickly to stand next to him.
“Is it a power outage?” Noah’s hand found his, clasping it tightly.
The two cops with them moved to flank them on either side, hands resting lightly on their concealed pistols. “I don’t think so, lights are on everywhere else,” one of the cops answered.
“Wishful thinking,” he mumbled, Luke squeezing his hand reassuringly. Noah’s eyes wandered around the dark, empty coffee shop, the lights from Old Town outside casting strange shadows across the walls and floor. He half expected to see his father magically appear in one of the chairs. “What do we do?”
“I’m going to call this in, get some more officers here. The phones have to be working next door,” Noah’s protection officer said. “Noah, you’re parked out back?”
Noah nodded even though he was pretty sure Officer Thompson couldn’t see it. “Yes sir. Are you sure…?”
The cop nodded. “Officer Krane will get you two to Noah’s truck, take you back to the farm.” He nodded to Luke’s protection. “Do it quick.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Krane led Luke and Noah to the back entrance while Officer Thompson went out the front. Krane eased the door open, peering into the parking lot before beckoning Luke and Noah out after him.
They’d barely gone a step when three dark shadows detached from the building and came forward. Hands grabbed them, forced them away from each other, restrained them. “Hey!” Noah yelled as Luke’s hand was pulled away from his. Someone dragged him to the side a few feet as Luke was forced back near the door to Java.
A large man Noah didn’t recognize was holding Luke, keeping him and Noah apart. Unfortunately, Noah did recognize the man fighting with Officer Krane. It was Tim Kelley again, and he made quick work of the policeman, knocking him out efficiently and silently. An arm was wrapped around Noah’s upper chest, while the other grabbed Noah’s own arms and pinned them behind his back.
“What are you doing?” Luke was still facing Noah, being held back by a mountain of a man. Noah was struggling against the man holding him, a man whose face was still hidden in darkness. “What do you want?”
The man restraining Noah stepped closer, Noah stumbling alone with him, and his face was finally revealed in the streetlight. “I just want to talk to my son.”
“Dad?” Noah tried to twist his head around to see his father, wincing as it pulled on his already sore neck muscles. Winston’s grip on him tightened, not allowing Noah to move out of his arms.
“How’ve you been, Noah?” Winston’s voice was calm, tight and controlled, in that tone that froze Noah with an old, almost-forgotten fear.
“Let us go, Dad, please,” Noah stuttered a little. God, he felt like he was seventeen again. “Y-you don’t want to do this.”
“Do what? I just want to talk.”
Luke and Noah locked eyes for a moment, no idea what to do. Noah tried to look at his dad again. “Okay, we’ll talk. Let us go, and you and I can talk. Right here, right now.”
“Noah,” Luke’s voice was soft but warning. He didn’t want Noah making any sort of deal with Winston. The man holding him tightened his grip, an order to stay silent.
Winston, surprisingly, ignored Luke. “Giving orders now, son? I don’t think you’re in a position to be giving orders. But you’re right, we will talk. Just not here.”
“What? What are you-?” Noah was cut off by the sound of an engine coming closer. A van pulled up next to them, driven by another man Noah didn’t recognize.
“Alan?” Tim Kelley called out, obviously asking for a report.
“The other cop is down, sir,” the driver responded. He’s a soldier too, Noah realized. Damn it. Alan eyed Noah, looking him up and down as he struggled in Winston’s grasp.
Winston’s grip on Noah strengthened again, and he forced Noah to take a step back towards the van. “Okay, move out. Brett,” he nodded to the man holding Luke. “He stays here.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “No!” he yelled, renewing his struggles, arms breaking free, surging forward to try to get to Luke. Luke, in the same moment of realization, did the same. They reached for each other, their fingers just barely brushing the other’s before being yanked backwards.
“No, don’t!” Luke cried out as they were separated, Winston and the other man dragging Noah back towards the van. “Noah!”
“Luke!” Noah shouted, just as he was shoved into the back of the vehicle. The Colonel was still holding his son down, trapping his arms. The other man- he did look like Hulk Hogan, was this the guy that attacked Noah yesterday?- jumped in after them. Luke got just a brief glimpse of Noah’s terrified face before it was blocked by the door sliding shut.
“No, no, let him go!” Luke pushed helplessly against the man holding him. The man’s fist cocked back, and Luke only had only a second of warning before what felt like an iron club slammed into his gut. He gasped, vision going gray, and collapsed to the pavement when the man let him go. A kick, maybe two, to the same spot flattened him to the ground.
Vaguely in the background he could hear footsteps running to the van, a door opening and closing, what sounded like Noah yelling out desperately. But Luke could only huddle on the pavement, trying to get air into his lungs. When his senses finally returned and his breath came back to him, Luke looked up frantically. But the van- with Noah inside- was gone.
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: Margo talks to Luke, the Colonel talks to Noah, Lily gets help from an unlikely source...
Chapter: 2/15
Author: carolinablu85, also known as CarolinaBlue on vh.net or CarolinaBlu on the wiki (I know, I'm a fountain of creative names)
Pairing: Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-ish for right now, will get darker later
Spoilers: set in spring 2009, after Luke and Noah battle housing discrimination but before Damian/evil twins. Thus, before the Colonel came back from the dead last year
Summary: The Colonel makes his move, and Luke and Noah suffer the consequences.
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: The first major 'epic' story I ever wrote (and finished)!
Chapter 1
Casey went up to pay for his coffee, and he noticed that the door to the back office was now closed. And he realized Noah was still in there looking for his check. He shook his head, wondering if Noah had forgotten how to spell his name or something. He dropped his money on the counter and headed to the office door. Pushing it open, he called out, “Noah, dude, how long does it take to get a payche-”
Casey froze in the doorway. A man built like Hulk Hogan circa 1985 had Noah forced back against the wall, a giant forearm pressed to his throat. Noah’s face was nearly purple, and while he was trying to pull the arm off of him, it only took Casey a second to see how weak his struggles were. It only took Casey another second to act. “Hey!” he yelled out, rushing forward. Without breaking stride, he plowed into the stranger, doing his best to knock him away from Noah.
The second the man let go, Noah dropped bonelessly to the floor, sucking in air and coughing harshly. The strange man stumbled back a few feet, giving Casey enough time to get in between him and Noah. He held his ground, glaring, until the man furiously turned to face him. Then Casey wasn’t ashamed to admit that he took a step back, glare faltering. Holy crap, the guy was huge.
Casey was about to start fearing for his life when he heard footsteps running to the doorway. The two plainclothes cops rushed in, giving chase as the attacker fled out the back door, moving surprisingly quick for a man his size. Casey let the cops go after him so he could turn back to Noah, who hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor. He knelt down next to his friend, hand on his shoulder. “Noah? Can you hear me?” Noah was still coughing, but he nodded to Casey’s question.
“Noah!” Luke appeared next to them. He threw his arms around him and pulled him close, somewhere between panicked and relieved. “What the hell- are you okay?” Noah nodded again, not yet sure if he could speak. Luke pulled back to study his boyfriend, eyes wide when he took in the bruises already forming. “God, your neck…” he lightly touched the black and blue ring, pulling back the instant Noah winced at the contact.
Luke looked over to Casey, and they nodded to each other. “Come on Mayer, let’s get you up,” Luke said softly as he and Casey each took an arm, helping to pull Noah up to a standing position. They propped him up against the wall while he got his bearings, waiting for him to show that he was alright.
After a beat he closed his eyes and then slowly reopened them, drawing up his strength. He looked over to Casey. “Thanks, Casey,” he said finally.
Casey forced himself not to wince at the hoarse quality of his voice. “Yeah, of course, man. You sure you’re alright?” He was happy to note that the color of Noah’s skin was much better, and his breathing had evened out. Still, he was starting to lean a little more into Luke, though Casey wasn’t sure if that was for physical or emotional support.
“I’m fine,” was the standard answer.
Casey was pretty sure he could actually hear Luke roll his eyes. “Sure you are,” he said. “How about we get out of this room, sit you down somewhere.”
“Sounds good,” Noah half-whispered, letting Luke wrap an arm around his waist and lead him out. Casey stood on Noah’s other side, one hand staying near his shoulder to steady him if need be. Once they got him back to the booth, Casey went to call his mom and Jade volunteered to call Holden and Lily.
Alison instinctively fell into her nursing role, forcing Noah to sit in front of her so she could examine his neck. “Luke, go get a washcloth, soak it in hot water for me please?”
Luke’s arm was still possessively around Noah, and the look he gave Alison told her he was seriously doubting her sanity. “I’m not leaving him-”
“It’s okay, Luke,” Noah’s voice was so scratchy they could barely understand him. But he looked a lot steadier, and when his eyes met Luke’s they were clear. Luke stared at him for a moment, searching for some reassurance. Noah thought he gave a pretty convincing smile, but Luke still looked like his puppy had just died. He pulled Noah’s face closer, kissed his cheek softly, and then reluctantly moved off to follow Alison’s orders.
“Okay hon, how many do you see?” Alison held up two fingers.
He sighed. “I don’t have a concussion, Ali.” He pushed her hand out of his face.
She frowned at him. “And exactly how do you know that?”
“I’ve had them before,” he coughed, bringing one hand up to rub lightly at the bruises around his throat. “And I didn’t hit my head. I just got the wind knocked out of me, I’m okay.”
Alison sighed, pulling Noah’s hand out of the way so she could look at the bruises. “This is a little more than ‘wind knocked out,’ Noah.” Luke reappeared, handing the washcloth over to Alison and taking his place next to Noah again. She gently draped the material around Noah’s neck, glaring good-naturedly when he tried to move away from the contact. “Hey, sit still,” she said.
“It’s hot,” Noah said petulantly. Luke, somehow looking both worried and cutely exasperated, grabbed Noah’s hands in one of his, using his other arm to hold Noah in place so Alison could put the makeshift compress on his neck.
“The muscles around your throat are strained, Noah. The heat will help with the pain,” she then turned to Luke. “Do this again later tonight, and if it gets swollen, do the same with cold water.” He nodded.
“I’m fine,” Noah protested.
Luke shook his head. “And I’d believe you if you were able to talk as loud as the rest of us,” he replied. Noah heaved a frustrated sigh, which just set him off coughing again. “See?” he smoothed the hair back away from Noah’s face and adjusted the washcloth around his neck. Noah closed his eyes and leaned his head down on Luke’s shoulder. Jade came up next to Alison with a glass of water in her hand. She passed it over to Luke. “Thanks, Jade.” Noah cracked open one eye as she sat down across from them. “Here,” Luke nudged him with his shoulder. “You should drink some water.”
“No thanks,” Noah murmured, eye drifting shut again.
Luke forced the cup into Noah’s hand anyway. “Not a suggestion.” Noah slowly brought the water to his lips and took a small sip before setting the cup aside. “Noah…”
“I can’t,” Noah’s voice was as quiet as he’d ever heard it. “It hurts.”
Luke felt his face fall at how embarrassed and small Noah sounded. He hated it. If ever someone deserved to not be a victim, it was Noah. “I’m going to kill him for doing this to you,” he muttered.
Noah shook his head. “It wasn’t my dad.”
“What?!” Luke, Alison, and Jade stared at Noah. His eyes were now open, but he was staring at the floor.
Casey pulled up a chair between Alison and Noah. “My mom’s on her way. I tried to give a description of the guy, but I didn’t get a real good look at him.”
“Hold on, I don’t understand!” Alison broke in, looking back and forth between Noah and Casey. “Your dad didn’t-?”
“He might be behind the attack, but this guy was hired muscle,” Casey explained. He winced, remembering the size of the man. “Emphasis on the muscle. The guy was like G.I. Joe.”
“Pretty close to the truth, actually,” Noah sighed. “He’s an army buddy of my dad’s.”
“Wait, you know him?” Luke couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I’ve known him since I was a baby. Sergeant Tim Kelley- he served under my dad for like twenty-five years. Guess he still does,” he added wryly.
Luke felt like screaming and breaking something (like Colonel Mayer’s face). He couldn’t believe this was happening. He had spent so much time trying not to think about what Colonel Mayer could do to them. He had tried not to relive any of those terrifying moments of the last two years whenever Noah’s dad had shown himself. Even when the Colonel had been in jail, a part of Luke had still been scared that something could happen to him, to his family, to his boyfriend. And he kept thinking of waking up in the hospital after the fishing trip from Hell, groggy and weak. And paralyzed. With an attempted murderer in jail and Noah avoiding him. He couldn’t take going back to that again. “God, this sucks.”
Casey snorted. “You think it sucks for you? I think I broke my shoulder barreling into Hulk Hogan back there.” He rubbed his shoulder for emphasis, pouting.
“You sure you didn’t hit your head?” Jade muttered.
Luke was about to tell them to cut it out- now wasn’t the time for jokes- when Noah laughed at them, and Luke was grateful to hear that sound even if it did end with another bout of coughing. He smiled his thanks at the two, catching the nod that passed between them- mission accomplished. A flash of motion out of the corner of his eye caused Luke to look towards the door, and he almost felt like groaning. He rubbed his hand along Noah’s back, saying, “Get ready to get hugged.”
“Huh?” Noah’s eyes had closed again. He opened them, fuzzy with confusion.
“Noah! Sweetie, are you okay?” Lily was a frenzy of movement entering the coffeehouse. To Noah’s shock, and Luke’s delight, she hurried straight over to him, throwing her arms around him in a relieved hug. After a second Noah hugged her back, his face losing its tension for a brief time. Lily looked to her son over Noah’s shoulder, and Luke nodded that he was okay. She smiled at him quickly before pulling back to look over Noah again. Frowning at the bruises around his neck and the quieter-than-usual way he held himself, she had to fight to keep from hugging him again.
“Where’s Dad?” Luke asked, surprised they hadn’t come in together.
“He was out when Jade called, I got a hold of him on the way here,” she smiled a hello at the other three kids and then turned back to Luke and Noah. “I told him we’d meet him at the hospital-”
“No, I don’t need to go to the hospital!” Noah protested as politely as he could. Luke grinned at his predictable behavior.
Lily laughed lightly too. “And that’s what Holden said you would say. He and Emma are waiting at the farm with dinner ready,” she turned to the others again. “And you’re all welcome to come with us.”
“Free food? Can’t pass that up!” Casey said happily. Both Alison and Jade slapped him lightly on the back of the head.
Noah smiled, but seemed to hesitate. “They’ll need me to make a statement about the…” he couldn’t get the word ‘attack’ out. “About what happened.”
Lily smiled that motherly smile that Noah still hadn’t found a way to say no to. “Margo knows where we live. Come on Noah, let’s go home.” His cautiously grateful reaction to that nearly broke her heart. She forgot sometimes about his upbringing and childhood; he was such a polite, respectful, caring young man, and yet he had never had a home of his own, or a mother, or unconditional love.
Her smile widened when the group stood up, Luke keeping a hand on his boyfriend’s back and kissing his cheek when Noah smiled at him. Lily was so proud of Luke, so glad that these two were a part of her family. And she was going to protect and fight for this family as hard as she could.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Later, Holden and Lily were clearing the table while Emma washed dishes when Luke came back down the stairs. “How’s Noah doing?” Lily asked him.
He sighed, suddenly feeling a hundred years older and a hundred pounds heavier. He sank into a chair. “He’s okay, I think. Not that he’d tell me otherwise. But, I finally got him to fall asleep and he let me put a warm compress around his neck.”
“It’s still hurting him?” Holden asked.
“He wouldn’t admit if it did, but the fact that he let me probably means yes.” Luke’s eyes were downcast, and he idly traced a finger along the wood lines on the table.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Emma sat down next to him. “Besides the obvious,” she waved a hand around.
The obvious. After hearing Noah’s statement to the police, Luke couldn’t shake a bolt of terror that kept shooting through his chest. He had been afraid that the Colonel was here to hurt him and Noah, yet this was worse. The psycho wanted to take Noah away from him. But that was the obvious. Besides that? Luke bit his lower lip. “I can’t get him to talk about it. Or… anything. What he’s feeling, what actually happened at Java today, anything. I feel so guilty that I can’t be there for him.”
“You are being there for him, son. And you know how Noah is. He likes to deal with things in his own head,” Holden pointed out.
“If it were me, Noah would bug me and badger me until I told him everything. He wouldn’t let me go to sleep until he was sure I was okay,” Luke argued. “How come I can’t do the same?”
“Because it’s not you, it’s Noah,” Lily said gently. “He does things differently. Think about it, Luke- whenever you’ve had a problem in the past, you’ve had me and your dad to help work it out. You’ve had two grandmothers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles… Noah’s just used to doing things on his own.”
“But he doesn’t have to anymore!”
“And I think he’s learning that. But you have to remember he’s had seventeen years of experiencing the opposite. Give him time to accept this, Luke. And you have to remember that no matter what, you know he loves you. And he knows you love him,” Holden insisted.
Luke rubbed at his forehead, conceding that point. There were times when even he forgot what it must have been like to grow up with the Colonel. Noah always referred to his childhood in distant, vague descriptions. But the more he thought about it the more he realized that was Noah being Noah, and the Colonel had probably messed him up more than any of them realized. But that was the past, and Luke had his hands full just dealing with the present. “Then how do I help him now?”
“Luke. Sweetie. Were you there when he fell asleep?” Emma reached out, held his face in both of her hands.
“Yeah,” he answered, confused and a little worried Emma was about to yell at him for breaking one of her rules.
“And are you going to be there when he wakes up?” she asked.
“Yeah. Yes,” he responded with certainty this time. House rules be damned. Besides the fact that Noah had actually fallen asleep in Luke’s bed, Luke didn’t plan on letting Noah out of his sight for a very long time.
Emma smiled at him. “Then you are helping him, you big dummy,” she said with a teasing tone, pinching his cheek. From where they stood, Holden and Lily also broke out into grins.
Luke stared at her for a second, before giving a sheepish chuckle, ducking his head. “I guess I am adding some unnecessary drama to an already full plate, huh?”
“You got that right,” Emma smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Now scoot. Go look after that boy that you love. I hereby lift my house rules for tonight. Behave yourself and maybe I’ll think about revising them while Noah’s father is dealt with.”
Luke smiled at her sweetly, giving her a kiss. “Thanks Grandma.” He said goodnight to his parents and went back upstairs. Pausing in the doorway to his room, he studied his sleeping boyfriend for a moment. Noah was curled up on his side, a slight frown marring his otherwise boyish face. Luke stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, quickly changed into a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, and climbed into the bed next to Noah. He leaned over to check that the compress was still against Noah’s neck, and then silently turned off the light.
In the darkness, he lay there listening to the hitched but steady breathing of the person next to him. Luke decided he couldn’t be this close to Noah and not touch him, so very carefully he slid closer until his chest was resting against Noah’s back. Encouraged by the fact that he didn’t wake up, Luke dared to reach out, wrapping an arm around Noah’s middle. Noah mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep, instinctively grabbing onto Luke’s hand and holding it over his own chest. Luke smiled happily; he could feel Noah’s heart beating.
He leaned forward to softly kiss the crook of Noah’s neck, just above where the compress covered the line of bruises. Noah let out a breath, head turning slightly in Luke’s direction. His eyes fluttered open for just a second, but Luke wasn’t sure if he was actually awake or not. “Go back to sleep,” Luke whispered just in case. He placed another brief kiss to the side of Noah’s face.
He was awake, barely. “Thanks for taking care of me,” Noah mumbled. He settled back down more comfortably, still holding tight to Luke’s hand. Luke also burrowed into the blankets, curling his body around Noah’s. “Love you.”
Luke dropped one more kiss onto Noah’s shoulder, smiling again. “Same here.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“He refused?!” Winston slammed his mug down hard on the table with a satisfying crack. At Tim’s nod, Winston shoved the mug to the side and reached for his flask instead, taking a long pull from it. Part of him had really thought that it would be that easy- tell Noah to come with him, and Noah would obey. Noah should obey, he used to follow orders without question. He didn’t like the person Noah had become. All the more reason to get him out and away from Oakdale.
“He didn’t even consider it, Win,” Tim mentioned, sitting across from him at the table. “Not even when I threatened his friends. He’s not going to leave this place willingly.”
“Yes he is,” Winston took another drink. “We just have to convince him.”
Tim glanced at the other two men who were sitting on the other side of cabin. He leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “I just don’t understand why we don’t just go in, grab Noah, and leave.”
“Because Noah has to accept that it’s the right thing first,” Winston hissed back. “If we force him to leave, it will never be right between us, okay? He has to understand why I’m doing this- he has to accept it- or things will turn out like they did last time. And I’ll lose my son for good.” He took another sip from the flask. “That. Cannot. Happen.”
“Yes sir,” Tim responded, eyeing the rapidly emptying flask but saying nothing.
Winston nodded, looking over at Alan and Brett across the room. “Your men, they’ll be up for this?” Several key points of his plan relied specifically on one of these guys.
“You can trust them,” Tim assured him. “They’ll get the job done.”
“We have to get Noah here,” Winston continued, his thoughts already moving on. “If I can just get him here alone and talk to him, I know I’ll get through to him. I can show him the error of his ways. This place is secure, out of the way, safe. They’d have no way of tracking us, I don’t think anyone even knows this place is out here,” he glanced out the window of the cabin to the woods surrounding them.
“We did our research,” Tim agreed. “This place has been abandoned for years.” He took a breath, leaned in even closer. “Now Win, if this is what you want to do, Alan and Brett and I can make it happen. You give me the okay, I can have your boy here by tomorrow night.” He watched as Winston finished off the flask, stuffing it back in his pocket. “Win?”
Winston stood up from the table, intent on finding some more whiskey in the cabin somewhere. “Do it.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Noah opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the brightness of the room. He held himself still, not wanting to accept that he was awake just yet. He had slept through the night, no bad dreams thankfully. He’d never told Luke or anyone else, but he’d always had problems with nightmares ever since he was a little kid. He kept them hidden for the most part, and he had to admit after what had happened yesterday he was kind of surprised that the night had been quiet.
More awareness flooded through him, and the slight movement of an arm hooked around him told him just why he’d had such a good night’s sleep. The hand from that arm was actually clasped in Noah’s own, tucked up near his chin. He was holding it close like a little kid clutched a stuffed animal, and Noah found he was only a tiny bit embarrassed by that, not as much as he thought he’d be. A second hand was trailing lightly through his hair over and over, a soft and soothing gesture. Noah smiled sleepily, finally turning around to face the owner of those hands.
Luke was lying in the bed next to him, watching him. He greeted Noah’s expression with a beautiful smile of his own, warming Noah from the inside out. “Good morning sunshine,” he said quietly in a sing-song voice.
Noah snorted, bringing Luke’s hand up to his lips before letting go. “Morning,” his voice was still scratchy and hoarse from the day before. He could see Luke debating internally on whether or not to check the bruises and decided to put him out of his misery. “How does it look?” he had to lower the pitch of his voice to relieve some of the burning in his throat.
Luke was already reaching to pull away the compress from around Noah’s neck. He frowned at whatever he saw, eyes going back up to meet Noah’s. “It’s not too bad,” he said carefully.
A quiet laugh rumbled in Noah’s chest. “So I guess I’ll be wearing turtlenecks for awhile?” He took Luke’s hand back in his, playing idly with his fingers.
Luke snuggled in closer to him. “Might be a good idea.” He lightly kissed the bruised skin before focusing on Noah’s face again. “How’re you feeling?”
“I’m fine-” he answered immediately.
“-Fine, of course,” Luke answered over him. “Why do I bother asking?” he shook his head exasperatedly, not completely teasing.
Noah kissed Luke’s hand again, placing it behind his own head so that Luke had to wrap an arm up around Noah’s shoulder, moving closer until their noses were almost touching. “Do I not look fine?” he asked quietly, a smirk pulling at his mouth. Somehow, at some point, his hand landed on Luke’s hip, thumb rubbing slow circles into the skin.
Luke was still studying him, but his eyes were brighter, sharper, dancing across Noah’s face. He kissed Noah’s forehead. “I always think you look fine,” he whispered, letting his lips linger against skin. Noah shivered a little, and Luke trailed kisses down the side of his face until he reached Noah’s mouth. Noah leaned in, but Luke pulled back at the last second, causing Noah to make a sound of disappointment. Luke smiled in spite of himself, but he had to say this. “Noah. You know if you need to talk about anything, I’m-”
“Luke.” Noah’s voice was soft, and the deeper pitch of it sent an electric shock radiating throughout Luke’s body. “Thanks, but…” his hand worked its way up from Luke’s hip to slide under his shirt, traveling up Luke’s back. “…I don’t really feel like talking right now.”
Luke couldn’t help but grin. He returned the favor, his hand insinuating itself between cloth and skin to run the expanse of Noah’s chest, slowly sliding the material upwards for easier access. Oh the hell with it. Luke shook his head, giving a little laugh at himself. Before Noah could question him, Luke was pulling his shirt over his head and then making quick work of his own.
Noah’s hands came up to cradle his face and they shared one sweet, gentle kiss before Luke decided to take charge again. He cut another trail of kisses along Noah’s jaw line to his ear. “Anything I can do to help,” he whispered. Whatever Noah was about to say in return was swallowed by Luke’s mouth suddenly and fiercely on his, and then for a little while the two allowed themselves to forget about the drama of life outside Luke’s bedroom door.
Later, the both of them spent but happy, Luke lay wrapped in Noah’s arms, his head on the other’s shoulder, one hand traveling playfully around the bare skin of Noah’s abdomen. “We should just do this all day,” he said contentedly.
“I wish,” Noah whispered back. “I have to get work later.”
“Work? What?” Luke lifted his head. “Noah, if ever there was a day to call out sick…”
“I don’t… I don’t want to break from routine, Luke,” Noah tried to explain, suddenly serious. “I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of upsetting my life.”
Luke’s fingers gently grazed those bruises again. “Yeah, because it’s the break from routine that’s so upsetting about this.”
“It is to me,” Noah insisted. “He’s always controlled me or tried to control me- where I go, what I do,” his arms tightened around Luke, “who I do it with. I don’t want him scaring me away from what’s normal in my life.” After another pause, he added a little sheepishly, “And anyway, it’s the closing shift; I don’t think there’s anyone available to cover it. I have to do it.”
Luke smirked. “You’re such a goody-goody.”
Noah chuckled, bumping his shoulder against Luke’s jaw playfully. “Shut up. Nerd.”
“Geek.”
“Brat.”
“Whiner.”
“Drama queen-”
Luke kissed him then, hard and swift. He always figured it was the best way to win an argument against Noah. “Well, I’m pretty sure your dad doesn’t control this part of your life,” he said, voice husky as he pressed Noah back down onto the mattress. Noah’s smile was more than a little giddy as Luke maneuvered himself to perch on top of him. Noah’s hands moved to Luke’s sides to steady him as Luke propped himself up with his arms on either side of Noah’s head. He leaned in until he was just a few centimeters from Noah’s face. His fingers found themselves once again combing through his boyfriend’s dark, slightly-curly hair. “How long till you have to go to work, then?”
“Long enough,” Noah answered, moving forward to erase that last bit of space between them.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
After spending the rest of the morning with Noah and most of the afternoon and evening at the foundation office, Luke was ready to call it a night. While he had started out the day relaxed- very relaxed, thanks to his boyfriend- as the night wore on and he didn’t receive some kind of all-clear signal from Margo and the cops, his nerves started to get to him. His police shadow had no news for him and couldn’t have been more boring if he’d tried.
Luke decided he needed a change of scenery. He was starving, his eyes were tired from reading documents and notes for the past few hours, and he hadn’t talked to Noah since they had both left the farmhouse in the afternoon. “Off to Java it is, then,” he muttered, more to himself than to Officer Krane.
Noah was alone (except for Officer Thompson), his back to the door, wiping down the last few tables when Luke entered. “Sorry, we’re closing,” he called over his shoulder.
“Aw come on barkeep, just one more?” Luke grinned, hopping onto a stool at the counter.
Noah spun around, face breaking out into a relieved grin of his own. “Hey,” he said happily, leaning in for a quick kiss. “I’ll be finished soon, then we can go h- back to the farm.”
Luke lightly patted his face. “You’re allowed to call it home,” he scolded casually.
Noah ducked his head for a second, shrugging. “Either way, it’ll just be a couple more minutes, okay?”
“Oh, don’t mind me, I like watching you work, gets me all excited.” Teasing Noah was way too much fun.
“What, me cleaning cappuccino machines is a turn on for you?” Noah wasn’t above teasing back, even if it was a little weird to do so in front their police protection. He threw his rag at Luke’s face.
Luke caught it easily. “Ooh baby, everything you do is a turn on for me,” he shot back. Luke counted it as a victory for him when Noah blushed bright red. He would have kept teasing him, but at that moment the lights in Java cut out, leaving all of them in a sudden and terrifying darkness. “What the…” He was up in an instant, Noah moving quickly to stand next to him.
“Is it a power outage?” Noah’s hand found his, clasping it tightly.
The two cops with them moved to flank them on either side, hands resting lightly on their concealed pistols. “I don’t think so, lights are on everywhere else,” one of the cops answered.
“Wishful thinking,” he mumbled, Luke squeezing his hand reassuringly. Noah’s eyes wandered around the dark, empty coffee shop, the lights from Old Town outside casting strange shadows across the walls and floor. He half expected to see his father magically appear in one of the chairs. “What do we do?”
“I’m going to call this in, get some more officers here. The phones have to be working next door,” Noah’s protection officer said. “Noah, you’re parked out back?”
Noah nodded even though he was pretty sure Officer Thompson couldn’t see it. “Yes sir. Are you sure…?”
The cop nodded. “Officer Krane will get you two to Noah’s truck, take you back to the farm.” He nodded to Luke’s protection. “Do it quick.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Krane led Luke and Noah to the back entrance while Officer Thompson went out the front. Krane eased the door open, peering into the parking lot before beckoning Luke and Noah out after him.
They’d barely gone a step when three dark shadows detached from the building and came forward. Hands grabbed them, forced them away from each other, restrained them. “Hey!” Noah yelled as Luke’s hand was pulled away from his. Someone dragged him to the side a few feet as Luke was forced back near the door to Java.
A large man Noah didn’t recognize was holding Luke, keeping him and Noah apart. Unfortunately, Noah did recognize the man fighting with Officer Krane. It was Tim Kelley again, and he made quick work of the policeman, knocking him out efficiently and silently. An arm was wrapped around Noah’s upper chest, while the other grabbed Noah’s own arms and pinned them behind his back.
“What are you doing?” Luke was still facing Noah, being held back by a mountain of a man. Noah was struggling against the man holding him, a man whose face was still hidden in darkness. “What do you want?”
The man restraining Noah stepped closer, Noah stumbling alone with him, and his face was finally revealed in the streetlight. “I just want to talk to my son.”
“Dad?” Noah tried to twist his head around to see his father, wincing as it pulled on his already sore neck muscles. Winston’s grip on him tightened, not allowing Noah to move out of his arms.
“How’ve you been, Noah?” Winston’s voice was calm, tight and controlled, in that tone that froze Noah with an old, almost-forgotten fear.
“Let us go, Dad, please,” Noah stuttered a little. God, he felt like he was seventeen again. “Y-you don’t want to do this.”
“Do what? I just want to talk.”
Luke and Noah locked eyes for a moment, no idea what to do. Noah tried to look at his dad again. “Okay, we’ll talk. Let us go, and you and I can talk. Right here, right now.”
“Noah,” Luke’s voice was soft but warning. He didn’t want Noah making any sort of deal with Winston. The man holding him tightened his grip, an order to stay silent.
Winston, surprisingly, ignored Luke. “Giving orders now, son? I don’t think you’re in a position to be giving orders. But you’re right, we will talk. Just not here.”
“What? What are you-?” Noah was cut off by the sound of an engine coming closer. A van pulled up next to them, driven by another man Noah didn’t recognize.
“Alan?” Tim Kelley called out, obviously asking for a report.
“The other cop is down, sir,” the driver responded. He’s a soldier too, Noah realized. Damn it. Alan eyed Noah, looking him up and down as he struggled in Winston’s grasp.
Winston’s grip on Noah strengthened again, and he forced Noah to take a step back towards the van. “Okay, move out. Brett,” he nodded to the man holding Luke. “He stays here.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “No!” he yelled, renewing his struggles, arms breaking free, surging forward to try to get to Luke. Luke, in the same moment of realization, did the same. They reached for each other, their fingers just barely brushing the other’s before being yanked backwards.
“No, don’t!” Luke cried out as they were separated, Winston and the other man dragging Noah back towards the van. “Noah!”
“Luke!” Noah shouted, just as he was shoved into the back of the vehicle. The Colonel was still holding his son down, trapping his arms. The other man- he did look like Hulk Hogan, was this the guy that attacked Noah yesterday?- jumped in after them. Luke got just a brief glimpse of Noah’s terrified face before it was blocked by the door sliding shut.
“No, no, let him go!” Luke pushed helplessly against the man holding him. The man’s fist cocked back, and Luke only had only a second of warning before what felt like an iron club slammed into his gut. He gasped, vision going gray, and collapsed to the pavement when the man let him go. A kick, maybe two, to the same spot flattened him to the ground.
Vaguely in the background he could hear footsteps running to the van, a door opening and closing, what sounded like Noah yelling out desperately. But Luke could only huddle on the pavement, trying to get air into his lungs. When his senses finally returned and his breath came back to him, Luke looked up frantically. But the van- with Noah inside- was gone.
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: Margo talks to Luke, the Colonel talks to Noah, Lily gets help from an unlikely source...