The Tales of Los Almas (Multi X-Over, including Hank/Bobby, Victor/Logan, Kurt/Piotr, & More; NC-17)
Title: "The Tales of Los Almas"
Author: Pirates Sparrow and Turner
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Infamous Gypsy Jack Sparrow awakes alone with no clothes, no weapons, and no idea how he got to be in a saloon. As he continues running from the man who murdered his people, Jack falls in love with a white Indian who goes by the names of Golden Bear and Hansel (Owen Wilson) and becomes entangled in Salem Saberhagen's plan to save the world. Other characters also having their own adventures and finding their loves of their lives include, but are in no means limited to, Hansel's sister Faith; Cole Turner, the Demon trying to go good for the love of the Witch Piper Halliwell; Captain James T. Hook, who already has his beloved in Samuel Smee but must fight to keep their peaceful freedom; Doctor Hank McCoy, who is believed dead though very much alive; Robert Drake, the man mourning the good doctor and his treasured love; Will Turner, who seeks to put an end to the man who killed his family, who is the same man who killed Jack's, and shall find his love in a place beyond his wildest dreams; Lorne, the green-skinned Demon with the heart and voice of an Angel; Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, who sets her eyes on a Werewolf who she knows she can never dare to openly love; Jareth, King of the Goblins, and his wife Delvira, identical sister to Elvira and another purely evil; Dawson Leery, the greenhorn reporter who's just arrived in the West when he falls for gunwoman Faith; farmboy Clark Kent who's truly so much more; the city slicker he saves from certain death, Lex Luthor; Sheriff Sean Cassidy; his Deputies, Carlos Sandoval and Trent Malloy, who share much more than family; Wolf and Brendan, two Werewolves struggling to contain their inner monsters; bounty hunter Victor Creed; Logan, the thief Victor left behind and his daughters, Kitty Pryde and Jubilation Lee; highwayman Addamm (Adam Ant); the cursed Mad Hatter; his good friends, one of whom may be more than a friend, Cheshire Cat and Puss in Boots; Wizard Harry Dresden and the man he loves though he can not touch him, Bob; wild man Ace Ventura; and circus "freaks", Kurt Wagner, Piotr Rasputian, and Rahne Sinclair.
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Slash, Het, Alternate Universe, Violence, Adult Sexual Content
Word Count: 195,126 and going strong!
Feedback: Yes, please! However, flames will be doused with a fine mixture of fireballs, lightning, energy balls, and Faith-itude!
Archive: WWOMB, FF.net; anywhere else, ask and I'll probably say yes
Disclaimer: (PotC) Jack Sparrow; Will Turner; Joshamee Gibbs; Davy Jones; Bootstrap Bill Turner; (Zoolander) Hansel; Derek; (Angel/BtVS) Faith; Joyce, Buffy, and Dawn Summers; Lorne; (Dawson's Creek) Dawson Leery; (Charmed) Penny, Patty, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell; Cole Turner; (Golden Girls) Blanche Deveraux; Rose Nylund; Coco; Sophia Petrillo; Dorothy; (10th Kingdom) Wolf; Blabberwort; Burly; Bluebell; King Radish; the Huntsman; (X-Men/Generation X) Robert "Bobby" "Iceman" Drake; Henry "Hank" "Beast" McCoy; Lucas Bishop; Remy "Gambit" LeBeau; Sean "Banshee" Cassidy; Emma "White Queen" Frost; Victor "Sabertooth" Creed; Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair; Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner; Piotr "Colossus" Rasputian; Blob; Spiral; Mister Sinister; Avalanche; Pyro; (Elvira) Elvira; (Walker/Sons of Thunder) Trent Malloy; Carlos Sandoval; Cordell Walker; James Trivette; Alex Kahill; Sydney Cooke; Francis Gage; (Smallville) Lex and Lionel Luthor; Jonathan, Martha, and Clark Kent; (Step By Step) Jean-Luc Rieupeyroux; (Gilmore Girls) Lorelei and Rory Gilmore; (Special Unit 2) Carl; (TM7) Vin Tanner; Nathan Jackson; Chris Larabee; (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) Salem Saberhagen; Zelda, Hilda, and Sabrina Spellman; Drell; (Shrek) Donkey; Puss in Boots; Dragon; Piper; (Ace Ventura) Ace Ventura; (Music Videos) Addamm; (Alice in Wonderland) Mad Hatter; the Cheshire Cat; Imogene; (Labyrinth) Fieries; Jareth; Hoggle; Sir Didymus; Ludo; Worm; (The Dresden Files) Harry Dresden; Bob; (Peter Pan) Captain James T. Hook; Smee; (Kim Possible) Shego; Drakken; any other recognizable characters, unless otherwise specifically noted herein; Pirates of the Caribbean; Zoolander; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Angel; Dawson's Creek; Charmed; Golden Girls; 10th Kingdom; X-Men; Walker: Texas Ranger; Sons of Thunder; Smallville; Step By Step; Gilmore Girls; Generation X; Special Unit 2; The Magnificent Seven; Sabrina the Teenage Witch; Shrek; Ace Ventura; Labyrinth; The Dresden Files, Peter Pan, and Kim Possible are © & TM their respective owners, not the authors, and are used without permission. Any recognizable songs mentioned are © & TM their respective owners, not the authors, and used without permission. Willow is © & TM himself and may not be used without permission. Trina Malloy, Markus, Doctor Brendan Richards, Big and Little Wild Cat, Cat, Tornado, Bessie, Tonto, Old Gopher, Sly Fox, Clyde, Kathleen "Kat" O'Hara, Jamey, Falisha, Delvira, and everything else, unless otherwise stated within the chapter contained, is © & TM the authors. The authors make absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
In the last chapter:
He'd said he didn't love him. He'd roared at him that he could rot in Hell. He'd walked out on him and on the life they'd built together all because Victor had "gone soft" as Logan had growlingly put it. He'd needed a change after killing an innocent girl, and Logan had abandoned him when he'd needed him the most. Yet now he was fighting this Wizard for his life?
It couldn't be! He didn't deserve Logan's love or any one else's! He was a monster, and whereas he claimed to be proud of it, there still lingered the blood of a child upon his claws, a child who was dead because of him, a child whose murder he was anything but proud of . . .
Chapter Thirty-three Cole's eyes flashed open in the dark room and looked straight into Salem's eyes. He sniffed the air. Something was definitely afoot! He knew not what or whom. Yet he could smell some one, and they were close.. too close.......! He moved to a crouching position and waited, the hairs on his arms stuck out..... If they were after his beloved Salem, they'd have to come through him first!!!!!!
Salem had began to take a bath to soothe his lovely coat of jet black fur back into place when Cole had jumped into a defensive position at the foot of their bed. He shook his head slightly at Cole's eagerness to give away the fact that they knew of their intruder. It had certainly been too long since the kind Demon had been in his capable paws.
Then the portal appeared in their bedroom in a bright flash of blue light, and every single strand of Salem's fur immediately puffed back out. He jumped from the bed and sailed to the floor behind Cole as the Sorceress stepped into their bedroom, still holding her athame. Salem blinked in surprise, jerked his head back, and looked again. She looked just like Elvira, but he'd not known that Elvira possessed such magicks!
Cole looked at the woman who had appeared in their midst, blinked, rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, and stared at her again. "Elvira?" It had to be her! She was such a beautiful and helpful person, but he'd never have guessed that she had the kind of power that she now radiated. Just what was she, and why was she pretending to be a simple but very hot singer in Blanche's saloon? Had she now, after having been so helpful in the rescue of Salem, decided to return and collect the bounty that was on both their heads? He watched her carefully........
Delvira's black lips curved upwards into a big, seductive smile. So her sister knew this tall, dark, and muscular stranger! The world really was a small place, after all. Perhaps discovering the answers she needed would be easier than she had thought. "Hello again, handsome!" she crooned. "I just had to get back to you guys in a hurry. You won't believe what I heard!" she exclaimed, laughing. "It's the most ridiculous thing! Blanche is looking for Salem, because she thinks he has magic!" She apprehensively watched their reactions while keeping the perfect mask of her sister in place.
Salem sighed but made no advancement toward the Sorceress. His long, ebony tail swished. "I had magic," he softly admitted as he thought of all that he had lost and ached to be again the Wizard that he had been before the blasted Council had cursed him for only trying to save the world.
Gibbs did not move. He was used to Jack having a bad temper in the mornings, but at least his boy had never pulled a blade on his throat! Alas, but poor Will was still not himself, and he was afraid that Jack would be in for more heartache before convincing Will that they were in truth who they said they were!
The lad was ranting about some Queen, and Gibbs knew not who it could be. "Now, lad," he tried to reason with him, "there be no need of a sword on poor Gibbs nor Jack when he returns. We mean you no harm; we have nothing but love for you in our hearts. Who is this Queen you speak of? She is not here nor do we know her......."
His voice trailed off as he heard the unmistakable whistle of his son, Jack, returning and looking for him as he had not returned with his clothes......... He wanted to warn him, but even as he wondered how he could with Will's sword pressed against his throat, a dripping wet Jack climbed onto the ship, jumped to the deck, turned around, and looked at Will with a surprised look on his face.......... Of all the things to be faced with he had not expected Will to be holding Gibbs hostage........ !
Slowly walking around the pair, into his cabin, and over to his desk, Jack picked up a paring knife and slowly sliced a small piece of chocolate off of a piece of brownie. Laying the knife slowly back down, he walked back to within arm's length of Will and offered the piece to him. "Your favorite!!!!!!"
He stood dripping wet, the water glistening on his chest invitingly to Will, hoping Will would release Gibbs, take the chocolate, and that they could get on with their lives. It had been three months that Will had been dead to them. Could he have lost his memories of them during that time? Could they help him remember? Jack was willing to do anything Will wanted of him....... if only Will did want him again!!!!!!!
Hank's answer was barely heard. Seemingly endless rivers of tears poured down both men's faces as they literally shook before each other and yet dared not touch one another. Hank's thick, blue fur shivered along his muscular, bleeding body as he answered, his voice barely a whisper even to his own superior hearing, "Hiding. Like a fool."
Still Bobby was not thinking straight, and he reacted impulsively as he slapped Hank again. "DAMN RIGHT YOU WERE BEING A FOOL!"
Vin grimaced and turned his head away. He felt the pink boy in his arms shivering. He saw Rahne holding the catgirl's head against her breast, noted the way Falisha's ears were laid against her head and her tail was tucked between her legs, and realized that the lovers' fight was scaring the children even as he felt the other little boy grasp his leg. Vin bent, swooped the green lad up into his free arm, and silently carried both away from the unraveling ordeal.
Piotr stood with his arms around Kurt and his compassion for the two hurt lovers etched plainly across his face. The Ruskie's mind whirled with questions from the conversation he had heard, but he knew it was not his place to intervene. Thus he stood silently with his own love, thankful that they had been given each other and did not have any such problems weighing upon them. A smile chased over his lips as he felt the triangular, pointed tip of Kurt's tail brush reassuringly against his ankles.
Prue was indignant and shocked; her mouth fell open. As she listened to Bobby's words, she realized just how badly Hank had treated her own Mother! How many times had she watched helplessly as her Mother had cried for Hank, the man who had been her Father? Hell, if she had been older, she might have taken losing him just as hard instead of barely remembering him!
She looked from one man to the other, both hurting and crying. Memories started flooding her mind of when she had been little playing with a boy who was her age. She saw again two men laughing in the sunlight, chasing them and hugging them when they had caught them. What had happened to the boy? Where was he; had he become just another of the wronged beings involved in this awfulness?
Hank was not the only one who had done wrong to them. So had Bobby! He had gone away and turned his back on her and their people as though they no longer existed! She had blocked them out of her mind, but now everything was crystal clear to her. She screamed her outrage and then slapped not only Hank but Bobby as well right after Bobby had just hit Hank.
Lorne looked at the boy before speaking. "I will help you if I can. You do not need to fear that I will give you or your companions away or harm you in any way. What is your name? I hate to keep calling you boy. If you let me see them, I may be able to help even more. My name is Lorne."
"Crys Frost," the blonde replied. "I do thank you for your help, Lorne, and this might sound crazy, especially in the sight of this blood, but you need not worry. My . . . friend is well healed now and need only rest to complete her recovery." He suddenly felt the urge to yawn himself and silenced it by pressing a closed fist against his mouth.
"Hey!" he protested sharply and looked down to where he could see a long, tawny tail lashing at his legs. "I'm sorry, but it's not like he's seen you. You already knew he was here," he gently reminded his annoyed companion. "You know Demons have a wonderful sense of smell." He glanced back up at Lorne with a gentle smile. "No offense."
"None taken, Crys. Come sit down and eat; you will sleep better for it! There is only water to drink, but it's clean and cool." He watched him carefully less he show signs of weakness. Lorne wondered who was chasing the kid and vowed to make sure that they never caught him.
"If you're sure that you are all right, I will go to bed. I find I can barely keep my eyes open."
He smiled warmly at him. He was both surprised and relieved that he was not attempting to pressure him into revealing any of their guarded secrets. He would like so much to be able to openly trust this Demon, but even if he dared to trust him, doing so would put his very life in danger. He refused to endanger him any further than he already had and silently promised to leave as soon as his friend had rested enough.
"I thank you again," he said with a sweet smile, "but I am certain. Go and rest. You look like you've had a hard day, and with a jerk like that Derek, I am certain you must have endured one. I will . . . " He glanced dubiously at the bed. " . . . join you shortly." He blushed at the mere sound of the words.
Lorne pulled the top blanket from his bed, rolled it lengthwise, and placed it in the middle of the bed. Smiling at the lad, he lifted his side and climbed in after taking everything but his pants off. "Unfortunately, Derek is a big pain in the rear. He makes everybody's life harder than it needs to be."
"See ya in the morning, but should you need anything, wake me. I don't mind." Lorne stifled a yawn, stretching slowly, and then lay his head down on the pillow. Shutting his eyes he found his mind racing after the lad and wishing that Elvira would get home soon. He continued watching the boy through slitted eyelids.
"Please Don't kill him!" Logan pleaded with the silky stranger before him. "Spare his life, and I will do anything you ask of me!" He fell to his knees beside Creed, ripping and tearing at the silken bandages to no avail. It was as though his claws were nonexistent for all the good they were doing him. "I swear I will obey your command if you will only spare him....." His heart was beaten so loudly that it was pounding in his ears......
Jareth could not stand all of the carnage that had gone on this night. He had had enough and couldn't think clearly. He needed time and space...... With a slow wave of his gloved and feathered hand, both Logan and Creed disappeared from his sight as he sent them to the deepest, darkest oubliette in the land of the Bog of Eternal Stench, there to wait for his judgement.........
Turning at long last to his wife, he was not surprised that she had opened a portal. "Get her," he commanded, flicking a hand toward the charred remains of the girl his Fieries called their sister. Jareth could not even begin to fathom how in the universe any one outside of the Labyrinth could have become friends, let alone such close friends, with his bizarre and delightfully wild Fieries, but it wasn't important. It was the lives they had lost that night, the fact that a being the Fieries considered to be one of their own still lay dying, and the possibility that they might yet be able to save her were what was important. "We will follow Delvira."
The remaining Fieries scurried to take their Faith through the portal before it closed.............
In the pitch, black darkness of the place where they had been condemned to, Victor's wild, green eyes again flashed open. He had heard Logan's voice as he had laid dying, and the realization that the man he loved still loved him despite everything they had gone through and all that they had said and done to each other had renewed his strength and very life. Gazing into Logan's eyes with love shining in his own, Victor began once more to rip at the scarves, and with their Master gone and no longer interested in controlling them, the silken fragments finally fell easily away.
The second Gnome had just awakened. Upon hearing the Hunter's name, he screamed in mortal agony and tried to hide under his partner. The first Gnome continued to look at the blonde man as he tried to console his buddy. He finally spoke. "Once, long ago, we lived above ground. We were many. We were happy. Then he came. He hunted us, killed us........"
"Now we live underground, and we are few. Bob and Harry are our family. We can not disobey Bob. We can not free you. We can not free us. Bob will come in morning."
While the Gnome had been talking, a thick vine had been trailing slowly down into the dungeon. It came down between Jack and Hansel as a large screech filled the room. Jack looked up at the window. An enormous bald eagle perched there, pushing the vine with his talon. Slowly it continued down, and Jack twittered his thanks.
As soon as he could reach the vine, Jack gave it a tug to be sure it would hold. "Hansel, my love, rescue is at hand! Come, and we will soon leave this place behind." The Gnomes raced for the vine, but Jack snatched them off and tossed them a little way from them. "You will stay here," he told them, "and not alert the others." They gave him mean looks but did not attempt to climb again.
Hansel gave the Gnomes a pitying look. The one's story of how they had lost so many of their family rang too closely to his own past. "I'm sorry," he told them sincerely, "but if you are freed, you will call for your family. We can't let that happen. We have to get away from here or the Hunter will come here after us and kill what remains of your family. None of us would want that."
He forced himself to turn away from their sorrowful looks and to the vine. His fingers brushed Jack's as he took hold of the vine. He leaned into him and brushed his lips softly over his. "See you at the top, love." A grin burst over the blonde man's handsome face, and he winked at his beloved. "This time I'll be on top first." He began to climb.
Tonto whinnied; shook his head; tossed his long, white mane; and stomped his hooves into the dirt. His ears were busily twitching back and forth for he could hear the Gnomes awakening from their friend's scream and beginning to head their way. He whickered down to Hansel and then tossed the big birds holding the vine a look from his brown eyes. He should be rescuing Hansel, not some loud-mouthed, squawking birds! He snorted in disgust but had to admit, in his heart, that he was glad his best friend was being freed, no matter the means.
Will stared through wide, brown eyes at the dripping and completely naked Pirate offering him chocolate. His eyes betrayingly dropped, for the briefest of moments, to the rising bulge between the sexy man's strong, tanned legs. He gulped and snatched his eyes back to his face. He had watched him climb onto the deck and move across the ship, all while keeping his blade tight against the throat of the thing who could only be a Demon for the true Gibbs, who had always been a very dear and beloved friend to him, almost like a second father, was long dead and never once lightening his grip.
"What kind of a game is this?" he demanded. Sadness flickered in his brown eyes as he glanced at the creature that wore Gibbs face for a mask. "Did ye honestly think I'd forget ye slaughtered me family? I know not who this other Pirate is supposed to be, but I saw ye monsters kill me own Gibbs with me very eyes!" Painful misery swelled again within his heart at the awful memories that had haunted every moment of his life since his family had been massacred.
Every moment that he could remember, at least. Just what in the blue blazes had happened last night?! How had he been taken?! He remembered a cat . . . and a glowing tree . . . a man wearing a top hat . . . and some kind of vial . . . But that was all and surely could not explain the situation to which he'd awakened. These things had to be Demons. That was all there was for it for Gibbs was dead. He'd seen him die himself! "What are ye?!" he demanded again.
Jack lowered his hand when Will made no attempt to take the chocolate. He stood, taking in the words of anguish and realizing that Will had come back not only from the dead but from another world as well... In his world, Jack did not exist, and Gibbs was dead. As reality sank in, Jack's heart broke yet again, because despite having the face and body of his Will, this was not his Will! How to reason with him? Jack pondered. His mind raced, desperately trying to think of a way to get Gibbs free.
The truth would be the best gift he could give the boy. It would set Gibbs free and would kill him in the process. If it were to be, it would be, Jack reasoned as he turned to face the both of them. If he could not have Will, then he wanted to be dead, and this was as good a way to die as any. He had already left a letter leaving Gibbs the Pearl; he would have to find the treasure on his own..
"Will, you are from another time and place; I don't know how you came to be here. I thought They had had pity on us and returned you to us, but I see that you are not returned from the dead but only another lost soul that meandered your way into Hell. Gibbs is alive and real in this world, but I am dead already and in Hell. I am the reason you are here, the monster you have come to slay........ "
"Leave him be. He is an old man and deserves to live until he dies of natural causes. If you must run some one through, kill your demon........... Come, here I am.......... waiting....." He stood with his hands open, making no effort to defend himself.
Gibbs looked at Jack with tears in his eyes. "Don't do this, Jack!" he pleaded, knowing his words fell on deaf ears............
The boy's startled ice blue eyes had watched Lorne's every move as he had prepared for bed. He had felt a strange fire burning within him as Lorne had shed out of his shirt and exposed his chest. He was, by no means, a particularly muscular specimen of the male species, but his body was drawn in lithely muscles by his years spent dancing. The fire had surged from somewhere deep within Crys and built to a full-blown roar by the time he'd picked up the blankets and crawled into the bed. "Sweet dreams," he barely managed to say with a straight face before turning around.
The blonde waited, daintily partaking of the food, nibbling a biscuit here and a piece of dried meat there, for Lorne to fall asleep. When his breathing had slowed and long after the last words he had spoken, he finally turned around again. He had eaten barely a few bites and yet took only the largest piece of meat and set the plate, with all the rest of the food, down upon the floor. As it began being ravishingly chewed by invisible creatures, he stood, walked silently across the floor, and knelt down upon the hard, wood surface. There he stroked a sad, furry head that none but four could see and fed the animal from his fingers. When she had finished the food, he lowered himself further, kissed her head, buried his face into her thick, gray fur, and whispered, "I'm so sorry, darling! I love you!"
He was rewarded by eager licks and a voice that whimpered back, "*I love you too!*"
Then two pieces of food, one a biscuit and the other another, smaller piece of meat, seemed to float through the very air. Crys watched as her other two companions fed the one who had been hurt that night but was now miraculously healed. He drew out a necklace from his shirt and fingered a blue crystal, intricately shaped into a snowflake, in thought as the wolf ate.
Then his other friends turned to him and began butting his hands with their heads. Crys turned his head back in silent laughter, a smile breaking out over his face that had darkened with worry and sadness. He was quickly being rolled by the two while the third looked on and wagged her tail happily.
Lorne kept his breathing regular like he was really sleeping. He was not a snorer, so therefore, it didn't occur to him to fake one. Through slitted eyes, he kept watching the scene that played out before him. He knew they didn't know he was watching and was glad that Crys felt free enough to enjoy the food with his friends, whoever they were.
Lorne would tell no one of what he was seeing, not even his best friend, Elvira. He figured it must be Leprechauns, Elves, or maybe even Fairies! He wished that he could tell them they were safe with him, but they'd find it out soon enough when he kept their secret.
He watched the lad play with the beings and longed for the lad's fingers to play on him as they were playing with those he couldn't see. Why was he being so drawn to the lad, who was a mere slip of one; why did he want him? Lorne usually had his pick of grown stallions, so why was he in such need of a colt?
He felt his loins tighten even more as he watched their frisky gamboling in his room. He needed something freezing cold to dampen his ardor but did not want to disturb the play he was watching. He hoped that his tight pants would not burst at the seams. Elvira had bought them for him, and she always wanted tight leather that showed her men's assets off. Now he felt that he was encased in a tight glove that was steadily shrinking!!!!!!
Crys laid, stretched out on the floor, with his friends around him. Although they remained invisible to Lorne, and any one else who might have popped into the room, he could see them as clearly as he could see his own body if he were to glance down at himself. One lay with her head in his lap while the male curled beside him, softly cooing. "What is it, baby?" he asked the female who had grown discontented again.
Green eyes from a curious, furry face focused on Lorne's bed. "He's innocent," Crys spoke. "He means us no harm. He already proved that, and he's not trying to force our secrets out." The blonde then cocked his head as he listened to his friend's response. He raised a single eyebrow and glanced at the bed. "Even if he is, he means us no harm." He shook his head slightly as his friend padded closer to the bed, her long, tawny tail swishing in the air.
She approached the bed with caution, her fur raising on her back. She sniffed Lorne's hand where it dangled slightly off of the bed, then tugged at the sheet with her mouth.
Although Will was inexplicably moved by the stranger's bold and heartrending speech, it was the tears in Gibbs' eyes that caused him to lower his sword. He knew he should not lower his defenses around these Demons. He knew they had to be Demons, and yet . . . Yet he could not bare to face the pain in the eyes of the man who had cared for and loved him as his son, just as much as his true father had, and his heart also ached for the other man. "This . . . makes no sense . . . " he mumbled, shaking his head and backing away from the both of them.
"Where are ye going, Will? Ye're on the Pearl; do ye remember her? I will not hold ye back. Ye're free to go, but there's nowhere to go!"
Once released, Gibbs had ran to the other side of the room, trying to be out of the way so that they could talk to each other. He did not know what to do to save Jack or Will. He didn't want to lose either of them. He had never felt so lost or depressed. He knew Jack would not make it if he lost this Will too, but he couldn't help either of them as he had no answers. Just a broken heart and a very hopeful prayer on his lips......
He had no intentions of leaving Jack alone so he could do himself in, and if Will tried to kill him, he would step in between them. He must mean something to Will even if only because he was Gibbs and the twin of Will's Gibbs. He tried to remember what Jack had read to him out of a book once about parallel worlds, but his shaken mind refused to impart the knowledge.
Looking lost, Jack sat down on the chair. His gamble had only worked half way. Why had the boy freed Gibbs but neglected to kill him? He did not once think of getting dressed..........
Will's brown eyes flashed defiantly at the naked Pirate. "Remember her?!" he repeated in disbelief. "Of course I remember her! I was born on her!" His sword flashed through the air but did not yet make any further threatening gestures at either of the men he believed to be Demons. "If he was the real Mister Gibbs, he'd know that well and true!"
But then, wouldn't the Demons know it? Will puzzled. If there was one thing that could be said about the Huntsman and his Queen it was that they seemed to know their targets' every move. Why was there not a Demon here masquerading to be his father? Will frowned. And why the Hell couldn't he remember what had happened last night?!
Suddenly the world began to spin about the Pirate, and he shook his head as if to throw the feeling away from him. "Stay out o' me head!" he demanded, cutting through the empty air again with his sword. Yet, dizzy as he was, Will noted that neither of the Demons he could see had moved.
His brown eyes narrowed at the naked one. "Why send ye," he wondered aloud, "an' not one lookin' to be me Father?" They would have stood a much better chance of convincing him that they were not Demons had his father been amongst them, but alas his father was every bit as dead, and just as long sent to Davy Jones' locker, as his truthfully dear Mister Gibbs!
Gibbs looked at Will. "Yer Father's been dead a long time, lad. Jack and me, we're not Demons, and we're not messing wit' yer head." He moved slowly to where he had dropped Jack's clothes when Will had grabbed him. He then tossed them to Jack and waited for Jack to respond.
Jack ignored the clothes; he had not taken his eyes off Will the whole time. His mind couldn't seem to grasp the idea that Will was not his Will, so he kept waiting for the real Will to present himself though knowing that he probably wouldn't.......
"Ye can't be," Will said softly, shaking his head. Despair shone in his brown eyes that sparkled like two shimmering pools. "I saw ye die, Gibbs! I held ye in me arms when ye were breathing yer last, an' then Da . . . He made me leave!" he cried. "I didn't want ta leave ye all, but he made me leave, an' just before he threw me overboard, I saw him get killed! That damn Hunter shot him straight through the heart!"
Jack watched a most tantalizing behind wagging in his face all the way up. {Mmm! Banquet with most delicious buns, won't be long, but too long for me!} He wanted to reach out and stroke them now but would have to wait.......... Heat raced through his veins.......
When they finally reached the top, he turned and began pulling the vine up. He had to shake the Gnomes off as they were climbing up! Several of the smaller birds flew down and pecked at their hands until they finally let go and fell to the ground...... When the vine was completely out, Jack thanked each of the birds in their language. "*I am in your debt my friends. Ask, and I will do what I can for you!*"
"*Not today,*" the eagle told him, "*but one day I may have need of you!*"
"*Remember me!*"
With that, they all flew away, leaving Hansel and Jack alone with Tonto.
Every one was finally fast asleep at Blanche's when the door was ripped off by a massive, hulking figure. The Troll lumbered its way into the saloon and bellowed out, "SALEM!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The racket instantly awakened all but the heaviest of sleepers. A couple of the women had fallen asleep at the bar. They screamed at the sight of the monster, ran through the kitchen, and out the back door only to be confronted by more monsters straight out of their nightmares. They screamed again, ran back through the kitchen, and started to go into the bar room only to find that it was now full of monsters. They flew into each other's arms and huddled there for a moment, screaming their heads off, until one of the Trolls looked directly at them. Then, still screaming all the while, they dove for cover underneath the nearest table.
"What in the world is going on down there?!" Blanche cried.
"I don't know," D answered, "but I aim to find out." D picked up the gunbelt looped around Blanche's bedpost and put it on.
"Be careful," Blanche warned her lover.
"Always, when I got a pretty, little lady like you to come back to." D tipped a hat to her and then headed out. D got as far as the staircase before one look at the teaming mass of nightmarish beings down below sent the gunslinger running straight back to Blanche.
Blanche's brow furrowed in confusion as she watched D latching the door and pushing all the furniture against it. "What are you doing?!"
"Protecting us. There's monsters down there!"
"Monsters?" Blanche repeated in disbelief. "Monsters aren't real, shugah! They've got on some kind o' bad makeup, is all."
"I'm tellin' ya, woman, they're monsters!"
"Move aside," she commanded, sashaying to the door.
"You're not going out there."
"Yes, Ah am! This is mah saloon, an' if there's monsters or anythin' else threatenin' it, they're not gonna get away wit' it! Who's this Salem they keep shoutin' to come down there any way?"
"I don't know."
"Then find out after ya move this stuff off the door!"
"You're crazy!"
Blanche smiled at D and fluttered her eyelashes. "No more so than you, darlin'." She drew serious again as she commanded, "Now get it moved!"
Logan reached out and tenderly stroked Creed's face. "Long time, no see. Out o' sight but not my mind or my heart! I tried to leave yer no account ass behind, but my memories wouldn't let me do it."
Victor smiled as he gazed into Logan's eyes. He knew they could both hear his roaring heartbeat. He stroked his hand gently before covering it with his own hand and entwining his fingers with his. "So," he asked, unashamed for the first time in his life of the unshed tears glittering in his primal, green eyes, "where do we go from here?" He took a deep breath and then plunged dead ahead, "I still love ya, runt. I never stopped."
And indeed he hadn't. He had tried every trick he knew to get over him, but Logan was a part of him. He was a part of his heart, his soul, his very essence more than his claws, his feralness, or anything else that made Victor Victor. His world, life, and being had been empty without him, and now, ever so slowly, they were beginning to surge back to life from the simple and miraculous fact that Logan still loved him. He didn't know how in the world he'd ever gotten so lucky as to be blessed with his lasting love, but if he ever figured out Who was responsible for it, he'd grovel before Them in gratitude like a wet puppy.
"Victor, I've missed ya! Fer all th' mess yer've caused, yer still in my heart....Why can't ya control yer temper more? Why did ya have to kill those creatures? I fear we'll never get outta here. If, by some miracle, we make it out of here alive, I don't wanna lose ya again! I want ya t' come back with me, give up this madness that drove us apart in th' first place, an' we'll make a family with my girls. We'll be unstoppable!" His hand continued stroking Victor's face caressingly, his eyes showing Victor all the love he had bottled up inside only for him.......
As Logan had rattled on, Victor's anger had slowly built until now he pushed him away, rolled to his feet, and began to pace their earthen cage. "Why is it always th' same with ya, runt?! Come back, be a thief again, I can only love ya if yer stealin'!" He whirled on him, his green eyes flashing with the primal rage of both the man who yearned for the man he loved to truly love him in return and the predator whose anger had been riled up. "An' I didn't kill the damn things unprovoked! They attacked me first!" he snarled.
"That might not matter to ya," he continued, "but ya know damn well it does to me! I don't kill innocents! At least, I never did until that damn robbery went wrong! Ya just let it go like that girl's death wan't nothin' t' ya, but it burned me! It still does! I didn't mean t' kill th' kid, but she's dead 'cause she got in th' way o' my damn claws an' temper at th' wrong fuckin' time! Those critters, whatever th' Hell they were, attacked me! They deserved what they got, but she didn't!"
He turned away so that his ex-lover would not see the tears in his eyes, tears that shamed him as they threatened to fall from his eyes that he had clawed at countless times, just trying to get them to stop their blasted crying, after he'd lost Logan because of his own foolish weakness. "I know ya think I'm damn weak 'cause o' it, but I can't help th' way I feel, Logan! I've tried! I've tried t' get rid o' her face as I gutted her an' yer face when ya told me that I wan't worth a crap 'cause I couldn't get over it an' ya didn't want me any more if I couldn't be th' man ya fell in love with!"
He whirled on him, his fangs snarling and flashing in the darkness as he concluded, "An' I'm still that man, Logan! Ya just seein' more o' th' damn heart in me than I wanna let out, but I ain't got a choice! I keep seein' her an' ya! Every time I shut my eyes, there ya are again, ya not lovin' me 'cause I ain't strong enough an' her dyin' 'cause I wan't fast enough to stop my blow before my claws went into her gut, an' there ain't a damn thing I can do 'bout it!"
"You both went away and never came back! You didn't love me after all; you didn't want me any more! I tried to be good, 'cause I didn't want to lose you!" Heartbroken sobs racked her body. "I had two Fathers, and you both left me!" Tears ran down her face, uncontrolled . "Did you throw Brendan away too?"
Hank continued to hang his furry head in shame and barely looked up when snow began to fall down in large, fat drops like the tears rolling down Bobby's anguished face. "No," Hank spoke, "he had nowhere else to go. He was stolen from me tonight by creatures most vile and evil." He did not elaborate for fear that she might realize that his beloved son was the same man as the Werewolf that the Troll had captured and dragged away.
"Tell her the rest, Hank," Bobby urged. "Tell her how you could run out on us! Tell her how you could destroy our lives, destroy our whole worlds!" He glanced at Prue. "I left you at your mother's request. She told me to stop coming and to start a new life for me, but she should have known," he said, shaking his brunette head miserably, "as I did that there was no life for me without the man I love."
He looked back to Hank. "AND YET YOU LEFT ME! You left us all but Brendan." He gasped as he realized that Brendan, too, must have kept Hank's secret. "YOU EVEN MADE OUR SON LIE TO ME! THAT'S WHY HE TOLD ME I COULD STOP COMING. HE DIDN'T NEED ME ANY MORE, BECAUSE HE HAD YOU AND THE MORE I STAYED AROUND THE HOUSE, THE MORE LIKELY I WAS TO SEE YOUR BIG, BLUE ASS!"
Hank spoke quietly, heartbroken misery etched in his every syllable. "It is enormous," he agreed, "and blue and furry. You deserved better."
"I DESERVE A MAN WHO WOULD HAVE LOVED ME ENOUGH TO STAND BY MY SIDE, HANK! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN THAT MAN, BUT YOU CHOSE NOT TO BE! YOU CHOSE TO MAKE ME -- TO MAKE US ALL THINK THAT YOU HAD BEEN KILLED IN THE EXPLOSION IN YOUR LABORATORY! JUST TELL ME ONE THING," HE BEGGED. "IF YOU EVER LOVED ME, TELL ME WHY YOU DID IT. TELL ME WHY YOU STOLE MY REASON FOR LIVING AWAY FROM ME, HOW YOU COULD HAVE LIVED THESE LAST TWENTY YEARS WHILE LETTING ME THINK THAT YOU WERE DEAD AND YET NEVER LOVED ME ENOUGH TO TELL ME THE TRUTH AND EASE THE PAIN THAT'S SURROUNDED ME EVER SINCE THE DAY I PUT YOU IN THE GROUND!"
"I . . . I was afraid," Hank said, looking down at his hands. He turned his palms upright and extended his claws. "I am a monster now, Bobby. That explosion in the laboratory all those years ago made me into what you see before you now."
"You're not a monster, Hank. At least not in the way you think." Bobby struggled within himself. Part of him wanted to go to Hank, even if he had to crawl through broken glass on his hands and knees, but the fury that raged through him at the years of their lives that Hank's stupidity had stolen refused to allow him to even so much as reach out and touch the man who had single-handedly destroyed everything they'd had.
"The man I see before me . . . " Bobby continued, struggling to talk through his tears and gasps of heart-wrenching pain, "is every bit as handsome as the man I fell in love with. I never knew blue could look so good until I saw it on you. But he's also the man who claimed to love me and ripped apart my heart and soul, made me want to die, has made me want to die for the last twenty years of suffering with a pain worse than anything I could have ever imagined before he lied to me, turned my whole world upside down, and faked his death, who killed a part of me that I . . . that I . . . I don't know if I can ever get back . . . "
Bobby whimpered, and Hank finally dared to raise his soulful, blue eyes to look into the anguished, tear-filled orbs of the man he loved. "Bobby . . . "
"No . . . " Bobby said, shaking his head and stumbling back. "I can't stay here right now, Hank . . . not with you . . . not knowing you could have been here . . . with me . . . all these years . . . and chose to put me through . . . such . . . such a He -- . . . Hell . . . I love you . . . I'll always love you! But I can't . . . I can't do this right now . . . " He turned and fled, and though Hank bounded after him, screaming his name and telling him how infinitely much he'd always loved and would always love only him, it did him no good as a circular board of ice formed underneath Bobby's feet and carried him away into the snow-spilling sky.
Hank fell to his knees in the mounting snow, howling and crying . . . He had destroyed every one he'd ever loved, and now when at last he'd seen the error of his ways, he might never get them back. He could live without Ororo and Prue. He could even learn to live without Brendan. But he could not live without Bobby, and yet he himself had forced his love to live without him and their love for the last two decades! His misery echoed throughout the forest, and though Bobby heard him in the sky, he dared not turn back around . . . He fell onto his board of ice, curled on his side, and sobbed out what little remained of his heart.
To Be Continued . . .
For the whole story, click here and sort by Title. All Los Almas story titles begin with The Tales of Los Almas. Happy reading!
Author: Pirates Sparrow and Turner
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Infamous Gypsy Jack Sparrow awakes alone with no clothes, no weapons, and no idea how he got to be in a saloon. As he continues running from the man who murdered his people, Jack falls in love with a white Indian who goes by the names of Golden Bear and Hansel (Owen Wilson) and becomes entangled in Salem Saberhagen's plan to save the world. Other characters also having their own adventures and finding their loves of their lives include, but are in no means limited to, Hansel's sister Faith; Cole Turner, the Demon trying to go good for the love of the Witch Piper Halliwell; Captain James T. Hook, who already has his beloved in Samuel Smee but must fight to keep their peaceful freedom; Doctor Hank McCoy, who is believed dead though very much alive; Robert Drake, the man mourning the good doctor and his treasured love; Will Turner, who seeks to put an end to the man who killed his family, who is the same man who killed Jack's, and shall find his love in a place beyond his wildest dreams; Lorne, the green-skinned Demon with the heart and voice of an Angel; Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, who sets her eyes on a Werewolf who she knows she can never dare to openly love; Jareth, King of the Goblins, and his wife Delvira, identical sister to Elvira and another purely evil; Dawson Leery, the greenhorn reporter who's just arrived in the West when he falls for gunwoman Faith; farmboy Clark Kent who's truly so much more; the city slicker he saves from certain death, Lex Luthor; Sheriff Sean Cassidy; his Deputies, Carlos Sandoval and Trent Malloy, who share much more than family; Wolf and Brendan, two Werewolves struggling to contain their inner monsters; bounty hunter Victor Creed; Logan, the thief Victor left behind and his daughters, Kitty Pryde and Jubilation Lee; highwayman Addamm (Adam Ant); the cursed Mad Hatter; his good friends, one of whom may be more than a friend, Cheshire Cat and Puss in Boots; Wizard Harry Dresden and the man he loves though he can not touch him, Bob; wild man Ace Ventura; and circus "freaks", Kurt Wagner, Piotr Rasputian, and Rahne Sinclair.
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Slash, Het, Alternate Universe, Violence, Adult Sexual Content
Word Count: 195,126 and going strong!
Feedback: Yes, please! However, flames will be doused with a fine mixture of fireballs, lightning, energy balls, and Faith-itude!
Archive: WWOMB, FF.net; anywhere else, ask and I'll probably say yes
Disclaimer: (PotC) Jack Sparrow; Will Turner; Joshamee Gibbs; Davy Jones; Bootstrap Bill Turner; (Zoolander) Hansel; Derek; (Angel/BtVS) Faith; Joyce, Buffy, and Dawn Summers; Lorne; (Dawson's Creek) Dawson Leery; (Charmed) Penny, Patty, Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell; Cole Turner; (Golden Girls) Blanche Deveraux; Rose Nylund; Coco; Sophia Petrillo; Dorothy; (10th Kingdom) Wolf; Blabberwort; Burly; Bluebell; King Radish; the Huntsman; (X-Men/Generation X) Robert "Bobby" "Iceman" Drake; Henry "Hank" "Beast" McCoy; Lucas Bishop; Remy "Gambit" LeBeau; Sean "Banshee" Cassidy; Emma "White Queen" Frost; Victor "Sabertooth" Creed; Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair; Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner; Piotr "Colossus" Rasputian; Blob; Spiral; Mister Sinister; Avalanche; Pyro; (Elvira) Elvira; (Walker/Sons of Thunder) Trent Malloy; Carlos Sandoval; Cordell Walker; James Trivette; Alex Kahill; Sydney Cooke; Francis Gage; (Smallville) Lex and Lionel Luthor; Jonathan, Martha, and Clark Kent; (Step By Step) Jean-Luc Rieupeyroux; (Gilmore Girls) Lorelei and Rory Gilmore; (Special Unit 2) Carl; (TM7) Vin Tanner; Nathan Jackson; Chris Larabee; (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) Salem Saberhagen; Zelda, Hilda, and Sabrina Spellman; Drell; (Shrek) Donkey; Puss in Boots; Dragon; Piper; (Ace Ventura) Ace Ventura; (Music Videos) Addamm; (Alice in Wonderland) Mad Hatter; the Cheshire Cat; Imogene; (Labyrinth) Fieries; Jareth; Hoggle; Sir Didymus; Ludo; Worm; (The Dresden Files) Harry Dresden; Bob; (Peter Pan) Captain James T. Hook; Smee; (Kim Possible) Shego; Drakken; any other recognizable characters, unless otherwise specifically noted herein; Pirates of the Caribbean; Zoolander; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Angel; Dawson's Creek; Charmed; Golden Girls; 10th Kingdom; X-Men; Walker: Texas Ranger; Sons of Thunder; Smallville; Step By Step; Gilmore Girls; Generation X; Special Unit 2; The Magnificent Seven; Sabrina the Teenage Witch; Shrek; Ace Ventura; Labyrinth; The Dresden Files, Peter Pan, and Kim Possible are © & TM their respective owners, not the authors, and are used without permission. Any recognizable songs mentioned are © & TM their respective owners, not the authors, and used without permission. Willow is © & TM himself and may not be used without permission. Trina Malloy, Markus, Doctor Brendan Richards, Big and Little Wild Cat, Cat, Tornado, Bessie, Tonto, Old Gopher, Sly Fox, Clyde, Kathleen "Kat" O'Hara, Jamey, Falisha, Delvira, and everything else, unless otherwise stated within the chapter contained, is © & TM the authors. The authors make absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
In the last chapter:
He'd said he didn't love him. He'd roared at him that he could rot in Hell. He'd walked out on him and on the life they'd built together all because Victor had "gone soft" as Logan had growlingly put it. He'd needed a change after killing an innocent girl, and Logan had abandoned him when he'd needed him the most. Yet now he was fighting this Wizard for his life?
It couldn't be! He didn't deserve Logan's love or any one else's! He was a monster, and whereas he claimed to be proud of it, there still lingered the blood of a child upon his claws, a child who was dead because of him, a child whose murder he was anything but proud of . . .
Chapter Thirty-three Cole's eyes flashed open in the dark room and looked straight into Salem's eyes. He sniffed the air. Something was definitely afoot! He knew not what or whom. Yet he could smell some one, and they were close.. too close.......! He moved to a crouching position and waited, the hairs on his arms stuck out..... If they were after his beloved Salem, they'd have to come through him first!!!!!!
Salem had began to take a bath to soothe his lovely coat of jet black fur back into place when Cole had jumped into a defensive position at the foot of their bed. He shook his head slightly at Cole's eagerness to give away the fact that they knew of their intruder. It had certainly been too long since the kind Demon had been in his capable paws.
Then the portal appeared in their bedroom in a bright flash of blue light, and every single strand of Salem's fur immediately puffed back out. He jumped from the bed and sailed to the floor behind Cole as the Sorceress stepped into their bedroom, still holding her athame. Salem blinked in surprise, jerked his head back, and looked again. She looked just like Elvira, but he'd not known that Elvira possessed such magicks!
Cole looked at the woman who had appeared in their midst, blinked, rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, and stared at her again. "Elvira?" It had to be her! She was such a beautiful and helpful person, but he'd never have guessed that she had the kind of power that she now radiated. Just what was she, and why was she pretending to be a simple but very hot singer in Blanche's saloon? Had she now, after having been so helpful in the rescue of Salem, decided to return and collect the bounty that was on both their heads? He watched her carefully........
Delvira's black lips curved upwards into a big, seductive smile. So her sister knew this tall, dark, and muscular stranger! The world really was a small place, after all. Perhaps discovering the answers she needed would be easier than she had thought. "Hello again, handsome!" she crooned. "I just had to get back to you guys in a hurry. You won't believe what I heard!" she exclaimed, laughing. "It's the most ridiculous thing! Blanche is looking for Salem, because she thinks he has magic!" She apprehensively watched their reactions while keeping the perfect mask of her sister in place.
Salem sighed but made no advancement toward the Sorceress. His long, ebony tail swished. "I had magic," he softly admitted as he thought of all that he had lost and ached to be again the Wizard that he had been before the blasted Council had cursed him for only trying to save the world.
Gibbs did not move. He was used to Jack having a bad temper in the mornings, but at least his boy had never pulled a blade on his throat! Alas, but poor Will was still not himself, and he was afraid that Jack would be in for more heartache before convincing Will that they were in truth who they said they were!
The lad was ranting about some Queen, and Gibbs knew not who it could be. "Now, lad," he tried to reason with him, "there be no need of a sword on poor Gibbs nor Jack when he returns. We mean you no harm; we have nothing but love for you in our hearts. Who is this Queen you speak of? She is not here nor do we know her......."
His voice trailed off as he heard the unmistakable whistle of his son, Jack, returning and looking for him as he had not returned with his clothes......... He wanted to warn him, but even as he wondered how he could with Will's sword pressed against his throat, a dripping wet Jack climbed onto the ship, jumped to the deck, turned around, and looked at Will with a surprised look on his face.......... Of all the things to be faced with he had not expected Will to be holding Gibbs hostage........ !
Slowly walking around the pair, into his cabin, and over to his desk, Jack picked up a paring knife and slowly sliced a small piece of chocolate off of a piece of brownie. Laying the knife slowly back down, he walked back to within arm's length of Will and offered the piece to him. "Your favorite!!!!!!"
He stood dripping wet, the water glistening on his chest invitingly to Will, hoping Will would release Gibbs, take the chocolate, and that they could get on with their lives. It had been three months that Will had been dead to them. Could he have lost his memories of them during that time? Could they help him remember? Jack was willing to do anything Will wanted of him....... if only Will did want him again!!!!!!!
Hank's answer was barely heard. Seemingly endless rivers of tears poured down both men's faces as they literally shook before each other and yet dared not touch one another. Hank's thick, blue fur shivered along his muscular, bleeding body as he answered, his voice barely a whisper even to his own superior hearing, "Hiding. Like a fool."
Still Bobby was not thinking straight, and he reacted impulsively as he slapped Hank again. "DAMN RIGHT YOU WERE BEING A FOOL!"
Vin grimaced and turned his head away. He felt the pink boy in his arms shivering. He saw Rahne holding the catgirl's head against her breast, noted the way Falisha's ears were laid against her head and her tail was tucked between her legs, and realized that the lovers' fight was scaring the children even as he felt the other little boy grasp his leg. Vin bent, swooped the green lad up into his free arm, and silently carried both away from the unraveling ordeal.
Piotr stood with his arms around Kurt and his compassion for the two hurt lovers etched plainly across his face. The Ruskie's mind whirled with questions from the conversation he had heard, but he knew it was not his place to intervene. Thus he stood silently with his own love, thankful that they had been given each other and did not have any such problems weighing upon them. A smile chased over his lips as he felt the triangular, pointed tip of Kurt's tail brush reassuringly against his ankles.
Prue was indignant and shocked; her mouth fell open. As she listened to Bobby's words, she realized just how badly Hank had treated her own Mother! How many times had she watched helplessly as her Mother had cried for Hank, the man who had been her Father? Hell, if she had been older, she might have taken losing him just as hard instead of barely remembering him!
She looked from one man to the other, both hurting and crying. Memories started flooding her mind of when she had been little playing with a boy who was her age. She saw again two men laughing in the sunlight, chasing them and hugging them when they had caught them. What had happened to the boy? Where was he; had he become just another of the wronged beings involved in this awfulness?
Hank was not the only one who had done wrong to them. So had Bobby! He had gone away and turned his back on her and their people as though they no longer existed! She had blocked them out of her mind, but now everything was crystal clear to her. She screamed her outrage and then slapped not only Hank but Bobby as well right after Bobby had just hit Hank.
Lorne looked at the boy before speaking. "I will help you if I can. You do not need to fear that I will give you or your companions away or harm you in any way. What is your name? I hate to keep calling you boy. If you let me see them, I may be able to help even more. My name is Lorne."
"Crys Frost," the blonde replied. "I do thank you for your help, Lorne, and this might sound crazy, especially in the sight of this blood, but you need not worry. My . . . friend is well healed now and need only rest to complete her recovery." He suddenly felt the urge to yawn himself and silenced it by pressing a closed fist against his mouth.
"Hey!" he protested sharply and looked down to where he could see a long, tawny tail lashing at his legs. "I'm sorry, but it's not like he's seen you. You already knew he was here," he gently reminded his annoyed companion. "You know Demons have a wonderful sense of smell." He glanced back up at Lorne with a gentle smile. "No offense."
"None taken, Crys. Come sit down and eat; you will sleep better for it! There is only water to drink, but it's clean and cool." He watched him carefully less he show signs of weakness. Lorne wondered who was chasing the kid and vowed to make sure that they never caught him.
"If you're sure that you are all right, I will go to bed. I find I can barely keep my eyes open."
He smiled warmly at him. He was both surprised and relieved that he was not attempting to pressure him into revealing any of their guarded secrets. He would like so much to be able to openly trust this Demon, but even if he dared to trust him, doing so would put his very life in danger. He refused to endanger him any further than he already had and silently promised to leave as soon as his friend had rested enough.
"I thank you again," he said with a sweet smile, "but I am certain. Go and rest. You look like you've had a hard day, and with a jerk like that Derek, I am certain you must have endured one. I will . . . " He glanced dubiously at the bed. " . . . join you shortly." He blushed at the mere sound of the words.
Lorne pulled the top blanket from his bed, rolled it lengthwise, and placed it in the middle of the bed. Smiling at the lad, he lifted his side and climbed in after taking everything but his pants off. "Unfortunately, Derek is a big pain in the rear. He makes everybody's life harder than it needs to be."
"See ya in the morning, but should you need anything, wake me. I don't mind." Lorne stifled a yawn, stretching slowly, and then lay his head down on the pillow. Shutting his eyes he found his mind racing after the lad and wishing that Elvira would get home soon. He continued watching the boy through slitted eyelids.
"Please Don't kill him!" Logan pleaded with the silky stranger before him. "Spare his life, and I will do anything you ask of me!" He fell to his knees beside Creed, ripping and tearing at the silken bandages to no avail. It was as though his claws were nonexistent for all the good they were doing him. "I swear I will obey your command if you will only spare him....." His heart was beaten so loudly that it was pounding in his ears......
Jareth could not stand all of the carnage that had gone on this night. He had had enough and couldn't think clearly. He needed time and space...... With a slow wave of his gloved and feathered hand, both Logan and Creed disappeared from his sight as he sent them to the deepest, darkest oubliette in the land of the Bog of Eternal Stench, there to wait for his judgement.........
Turning at long last to his wife, he was not surprised that she had opened a portal. "Get her," he commanded, flicking a hand toward the charred remains of the girl his Fieries called their sister. Jareth could not even begin to fathom how in the universe any one outside of the Labyrinth could have become friends, let alone such close friends, with his bizarre and delightfully wild Fieries, but it wasn't important. It was the lives they had lost that night, the fact that a being the Fieries considered to be one of their own still lay dying, and the possibility that they might yet be able to save her were what was important. "We will follow Delvira."
The remaining Fieries scurried to take their Faith through the portal before it closed.............
In the pitch, black darkness of the place where they had been condemned to, Victor's wild, green eyes again flashed open. He had heard Logan's voice as he had laid dying, and the realization that the man he loved still loved him despite everything they had gone through and all that they had said and done to each other had renewed his strength and very life. Gazing into Logan's eyes with love shining in his own, Victor began once more to rip at the scarves, and with their Master gone and no longer interested in controlling them, the silken fragments finally fell easily away.
The second Gnome had just awakened. Upon hearing the Hunter's name, he screamed in mortal agony and tried to hide under his partner. The first Gnome continued to look at the blonde man as he tried to console his buddy. He finally spoke. "Once, long ago, we lived above ground. We were many. We were happy. Then he came. He hunted us, killed us........"
"Now we live underground, and we are few. Bob and Harry are our family. We can not disobey Bob. We can not free you. We can not free us. Bob will come in morning."
While the Gnome had been talking, a thick vine had been trailing slowly down into the dungeon. It came down between Jack and Hansel as a large screech filled the room. Jack looked up at the window. An enormous bald eagle perched there, pushing the vine with his talon. Slowly it continued down, and Jack twittered his thanks.
As soon as he could reach the vine, Jack gave it a tug to be sure it would hold. "Hansel, my love, rescue is at hand! Come, and we will soon leave this place behind." The Gnomes raced for the vine, but Jack snatched them off and tossed them a little way from them. "You will stay here," he told them, "and not alert the others." They gave him mean looks but did not attempt to climb again.
Hansel gave the Gnomes a pitying look. The one's story of how they had lost so many of their family rang too closely to his own past. "I'm sorry," he told them sincerely, "but if you are freed, you will call for your family. We can't let that happen. We have to get away from here or the Hunter will come here after us and kill what remains of your family. None of us would want that."
He forced himself to turn away from their sorrowful looks and to the vine. His fingers brushed Jack's as he took hold of the vine. He leaned into him and brushed his lips softly over his. "See you at the top, love." A grin burst over the blonde man's handsome face, and he winked at his beloved. "This time I'll be on top first." He began to climb.
Tonto whinnied; shook his head; tossed his long, white mane; and stomped his hooves into the dirt. His ears were busily twitching back and forth for he could hear the Gnomes awakening from their friend's scream and beginning to head their way. He whickered down to Hansel and then tossed the big birds holding the vine a look from his brown eyes. He should be rescuing Hansel, not some loud-mouthed, squawking birds! He snorted in disgust but had to admit, in his heart, that he was glad his best friend was being freed, no matter the means.
Will stared through wide, brown eyes at the dripping and completely naked Pirate offering him chocolate. His eyes betrayingly dropped, for the briefest of moments, to the rising bulge between the sexy man's strong, tanned legs. He gulped and snatched his eyes back to his face. He had watched him climb onto the deck and move across the ship, all while keeping his blade tight against the throat of the thing who could only be a Demon for the true Gibbs, who had always been a very dear and beloved friend to him, almost like a second father, was long dead and never once lightening his grip.
"What kind of a game is this?" he demanded. Sadness flickered in his brown eyes as he glanced at the creature that wore Gibbs face for a mask. "Did ye honestly think I'd forget ye slaughtered me family? I know not who this other Pirate is supposed to be, but I saw ye monsters kill me own Gibbs with me very eyes!" Painful misery swelled again within his heart at the awful memories that had haunted every moment of his life since his family had been massacred.
Every moment that he could remember, at least. Just what in the blue blazes had happened last night?! How had he been taken?! He remembered a cat . . . and a glowing tree . . . a man wearing a top hat . . . and some kind of vial . . . But that was all and surely could not explain the situation to which he'd awakened. These things had to be Demons. That was all there was for it for Gibbs was dead. He'd seen him die himself! "What are ye?!" he demanded again.
Jack lowered his hand when Will made no attempt to take the chocolate. He stood, taking in the words of anguish and realizing that Will had come back not only from the dead but from another world as well... In his world, Jack did not exist, and Gibbs was dead. As reality sank in, Jack's heart broke yet again, because despite having the face and body of his Will, this was not his Will! How to reason with him? Jack pondered. His mind raced, desperately trying to think of a way to get Gibbs free.
The truth would be the best gift he could give the boy. It would set Gibbs free and would kill him in the process. If it were to be, it would be, Jack reasoned as he turned to face the both of them. If he could not have Will, then he wanted to be dead, and this was as good a way to die as any. He had already left a letter leaving Gibbs the Pearl; he would have to find the treasure on his own..
"Will, you are from another time and place; I don't know how you came to be here. I thought They had had pity on us and returned you to us, but I see that you are not returned from the dead but only another lost soul that meandered your way into Hell. Gibbs is alive and real in this world, but I am dead already and in Hell. I am the reason you are here, the monster you have come to slay........ "
"Leave him be. He is an old man and deserves to live until he dies of natural causes. If you must run some one through, kill your demon........... Come, here I am.......... waiting....." He stood with his hands open, making no effort to defend himself.
Gibbs looked at Jack with tears in his eyes. "Don't do this, Jack!" he pleaded, knowing his words fell on deaf ears............
The boy's startled ice blue eyes had watched Lorne's every move as he had prepared for bed. He had felt a strange fire burning within him as Lorne had shed out of his shirt and exposed his chest. He was, by no means, a particularly muscular specimen of the male species, but his body was drawn in lithely muscles by his years spent dancing. The fire had surged from somewhere deep within Crys and built to a full-blown roar by the time he'd picked up the blankets and crawled into the bed. "Sweet dreams," he barely managed to say with a straight face before turning around.
The blonde waited, daintily partaking of the food, nibbling a biscuit here and a piece of dried meat there, for Lorne to fall asleep. When his breathing had slowed and long after the last words he had spoken, he finally turned around again. He had eaten barely a few bites and yet took only the largest piece of meat and set the plate, with all the rest of the food, down upon the floor. As it began being ravishingly chewed by invisible creatures, he stood, walked silently across the floor, and knelt down upon the hard, wood surface. There he stroked a sad, furry head that none but four could see and fed the animal from his fingers. When she had finished the food, he lowered himself further, kissed her head, buried his face into her thick, gray fur, and whispered, "I'm so sorry, darling! I love you!"
He was rewarded by eager licks and a voice that whimpered back, "*I love you too!*"
Then two pieces of food, one a biscuit and the other another, smaller piece of meat, seemed to float through the very air. Crys watched as her other two companions fed the one who had been hurt that night but was now miraculously healed. He drew out a necklace from his shirt and fingered a blue crystal, intricately shaped into a snowflake, in thought as the wolf ate.
Then his other friends turned to him and began butting his hands with their heads. Crys turned his head back in silent laughter, a smile breaking out over his face that had darkened with worry and sadness. He was quickly being rolled by the two while the third looked on and wagged her tail happily.
Lorne kept his breathing regular like he was really sleeping. He was not a snorer, so therefore, it didn't occur to him to fake one. Through slitted eyes, he kept watching the scene that played out before him. He knew they didn't know he was watching and was glad that Crys felt free enough to enjoy the food with his friends, whoever they were.
Lorne would tell no one of what he was seeing, not even his best friend, Elvira. He figured it must be Leprechauns, Elves, or maybe even Fairies! He wished that he could tell them they were safe with him, but they'd find it out soon enough when he kept their secret.
He watched the lad play with the beings and longed for the lad's fingers to play on him as they were playing with those he couldn't see. Why was he being so drawn to the lad, who was a mere slip of one; why did he want him? Lorne usually had his pick of grown stallions, so why was he in such need of a colt?
He felt his loins tighten even more as he watched their frisky gamboling in his room. He needed something freezing cold to dampen his ardor but did not want to disturb the play he was watching. He hoped that his tight pants would not burst at the seams. Elvira had bought them for him, and she always wanted tight leather that showed her men's assets off. Now he felt that he was encased in a tight glove that was steadily shrinking!!!!!!
Crys laid, stretched out on the floor, with his friends around him. Although they remained invisible to Lorne, and any one else who might have popped into the room, he could see them as clearly as he could see his own body if he were to glance down at himself. One lay with her head in his lap while the male curled beside him, softly cooing. "What is it, baby?" he asked the female who had grown discontented again.
Green eyes from a curious, furry face focused on Lorne's bed. "He's innocent," Crys spoke. "He means us no harm. He already proved that, and he's not trying to force our secrets out." The blonde then cocked his head as he listened to his friend's response. He raised a single eyebrow and glanced at the bed. "Even if he is, he means us no harm." He shook his head slightly as his friend padded closer to the bed, her long, tawny tail swishing in the air.
She approached the bed with caution, her fur raising on her back. She sniffed Lorne's hand where it dangled slightly off of the bed, then tugged at the sheet with her mouth.
Although Will was inexplicably moved by the stranger's bold and heartrending speech, it was the tears in Gibbs' eyes that caused him to lower his sword. He knew he should not lower his defenses around these Demons. He knew they had to be Demons, and yet . . . Yet he could not bare to face the pain in the eyes of the man who had cared for and loved him as his son, just as much as his true father had, and his heart also ached for the other man. "This . . . makes no sense . . . " he mumbled, shaking his head and backing away from the both of them.
"Where are ye going, Will? Ye're on the Pearl; do ye remember her? I will not hold ye back. Ye're free to go, but there's nowhere to go!"
Once released, Gibbs had ran to the other side of the room, trying to be out of the way so that they could talk to each other. He did not know what to do to save Jack or Will. He didn't want to lose either of them. He had never felt so lost or depressed. He knew Jack would not make it if he lost this Will too, but he couldn't help either of them as he had no answers. Just a broken heart and a very hopeful prayer on his lips......
He had no intentions of leaving Jack alone so he could do himself in, and if Will tried to kill him, he would step in between them. He must mean something to Will even if only because he was Gibbs and the twin of Will's Gibbs. He tried to remember what Jack had read to him out of a book once about parallel worlds, but his shaken mind refused to impart the knowledge.
Looking lost, Jack sat down on the chair. His gamble had only worked half way. Why had the boy freed Gibbs but neglected to kill him? He did not once think of getting dressed..........
Will's brown eyes flashed defiantly at the naked Pirate. "Remember her?!" he repeated in disbelief. "Of course I remember her! I was born on her!" His sword flashed through the air but did not yet make any further threatening gestures at either of the men he believed to be Demons. "If he was the real Mister Gibbs, he'd know that well and true!"
But then, wouldn't the Demons know it? Will puzzled. If there was one thing that could be said about the Huntsman and his Queen it was that they seemed to know their targets' every move. Why was there not a Demon here masquerading to be his father? Will frowned. And why the Hell couldn't he remember what had happened last night?!
Suddenly the world began to spin about the Pirate, and he shook his head as if to throw the feeling away from him. "Stay out o' me head!" he demanded, cutting through the empty air again with his sword. Yet, dizzy as he was, Will noted that neither of the Demons he could see had moved.
His brown eyes narrowed at the naked one. "Why send ye," he wondered aloud, "an' not one lookin' to be me Father?" They would have stood a much better chance of convincing him that they were not Demons had his father been amongst them, but alas his father was every bit as dead, and just as long sent to Davy Jones' locker, as his truthfully dear Mister Gibbs!
Gibbs looked at Will. "Yer Father's been dead a long time, lad. Jack and me, we're not Demons, and we're not messing wit' yer head." He moved slowly to where he had dropped Jack's clothes when Will had grabbed him. He then tossed them to Jack and waited for Jack to respond.
Jack ignored the clothes; he had not taken his eyes off Will the whole time. His mind couldn't seem to grasp the idea that Will was not his Will, so he kept waiting for the real Will to present himself though knowing that he probably wouldn't.......
"Ye can't be," Will said softly, shaking his head. Despair shone in his brown eyes that sparkled like two shimmering pools. "I saw ye die, Gibbs! I held ye in me arms when ye were breathing yer last, an' then Da . . . He made me leave!" he cried. "I didn't want ta leave ye all, but he made me leave, an' just before he threw me overboard, I saw him get killed! That damn Hunter shot him straight through the heart!"
Jack watched a most tantalizing behind wagging in his face all the way up. {Mmm! Banquet with most delicious buns, won't be long, but too long for me!} He wanted to reach out and stroke them now but would have to wait.......... Heat raced through his veins.......
When they finally reached the top, he turned and began pulling the vine up. He had to shake the Gnomes off as they were climbing up! Several of the smaller birds flew down and pecked at their hands until they finally let go and fell to the ground...... When the vine was completely out, Jack thanked each of the birds in their language. "*I am in your debt my friends. Ask, and I will do what I can for you!*"
"*Not today,*" the eagle told him, "*but one day I may have need of you!*"
"*Remember me!*"
With that, they all flew away, leaving Hansel and Jack alone with Tonto.
Every one was finally fast asleep at Blanche's when the door was ripped off by a massive, hulking figure. The Troll lumbered its way into the saloon and bellowed out, "SALEM!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The racket instantly awakened all but the heaviest of sleepers. A couple of the women had fallen asleep at the bar. They screamed at the sight of the monster, ran through the kitchen, and out the back door only to be confronted by more monsters straight out of their nightmares. They screamed again, ran back through the kitchen, and started to go into the bar room only to find that it was now full of monsters. They flew into each other's arms and huddled there for a moment, screaming their heads off, until one of the Trolls looked directly at them. Then, still screaming all the while, they dove for cover underneath the nearest table.
"What in the world is going on down there?!" Blanche cried.
"I don't know," D answered, "but I aim to find out." D picked up the gunbelt looped around Blanche's bedpost and put it on.
"Be careful," Blanche warned her lover.
"Always, when I got a pretty, little lady like you to come back to." D tipped a hat to her and then headed out. D got as far as the staircase before one look at the teaming mass of nightmarish beings down below sent the gunslinger running straight back to Blanche.
Blanche's brow furrowed in confusion as she watched D latching the door and pushing all the furniture against it. "What are you doing?!"
"Protecting us. There's monsters down there!"
"Monsters?" Blanche repeated in disbelief. "Monsters aren't real, shugah! They've got on some kind o' bad makeup, is all."
"I'm tellin' ya, woman, they're monsters!"
"Move aside," she commanded, sashaying to the door.
"You're not going out there."
"Yes, Ah am! This is mah saloon, an' if there's monsters or anythin' else threatenin' it, they're not gonna get away wit' it! Who's this Salem they keep shoutin' to come down there any way?"
"I don't know."
"Then find out after ya move this stuff off the door!"
"You're crazy!"
Blanche smiled at D and fluttered her eyelashes. "No more so than you, darlin'." She drew serious again as she commanded, "Now get it moved!"
Logan reached out and tenderly stroked Creed's face. "Long time, no see. Out o' sight but not my mind or my heart! I tried to leave yer no account ass behind, but my memories wouldn't let me do it."
Victor smiled as he gazed into Logan's eyes. He knew they could both hear his roaring heartbeat. He stroked his hand gently before covering it with his own hand and entwining his fingers with his. "So," he asked, unashamed for the first time in his life of the unshed tears glittering in his primal, green eyes, "where do we go from here?" He took a deep breath and then plunged dead ahead, "I still love ya, runt. I never stopped."
And indeed he hadn't. He had tried every trick he knew to get over him, but Logan was a part of him. He was a part of his heart, his soul, his very essence more than his claws, his feralness, or anything else that made Victor Victor. His world, life, and being had been empty without him, and now, ever so slowly, they were beginning to surge back to life from the simple and miraculous fact that Logan still loved him. He didn't know how in the world he'd ever gotten so lucky as to be blessed with his lasting love, but if he ever figured out Who was responsible for it, he'd grovel before Them in gratitude like a wet puppy.
"Victor, I've missed ya! Fer all th' mess yer've caused, yer still in my heart....Why can't ya control yer temper more? Why did ya have to kill those creatures? I fear we'll never get outta here. If, by some miracle, we make it out of here alive, I don't wanna lose ya again! I want ya t' come back with me, give up this madness that drove us apart in th' first place, an' we'll make a family with my girls. We'll be unstoppable!" His hand continued stroking Victor's face caressingly, his eyes showing Victor all the love he had bottled up inside only for him.......
As Logan had rattled on, Victor's anger had slowly built until now he pushed him away, rolled to his feet, and began to pace their earthen cage. "Why is it always th' same with ya, runt?! Come back, be a thief again, I can only love ya if yer stealin'!" He whirled on him, his green eyes flashing with the primal rage of both the man who yearned for the man he loved to truly love him in return and the predator whose anger had been riled up. "An' I didn't kill the damn things unprovoked! They attacked me first!" he snarled.
"That might not matter to ya," he continued, "but ya know damn well it does to me! I don't kill innocents! At least, I never did until that damn robbery went wrong! Ya just let it go like that girl's death wan't nothin' t' ya, but it burned me! It still does! I didn't mean t' kill th' kid, but she's dead 'cause she got in th' way o' my damn claws an' temper at th' wrong fuckin' time! Those critters, whatever th' Hell they were, attacked me! They deserved what they got, but she didn't!"
He turned away so that his ex-lover would not see the tears in his eyes, tears that shamed him as they threatened to fall from his eyes that he had clawed at countless times, just trying to get them to stop their blasted crying, after he'd lost Logan because of his own foolish weakness. "I know ya think I'm damn weak 'cause o' it, but I can't help th' way I feel, Logan! I've tried! I've tried t' get rid o' her face as I gutted her an' yer face when ya told me that I wan't worth a crap 'cause I couldn't get over it an' ya didn't want me any more if I couldn't be th' man ya fell in love with!"
He whirled on him, his fangs snarling and flashing in the darkness as he concluded, "An' I'm still that man, Logan! Ya just seein' more o' th' damn heart in me than I wanna let out, but I ain't got a choice! I keep seein' her an' ya! Every time I shut my eyes, there ya are again, ya not lovin' me 'cause I ain't strong enough an' her dyin' 'cause I wan't fast enough to stop my blow before my claws went into her gut, an' there ain't a damn thing I can do 'bout it!"
"You both went away and never came back! You didn't love me after all; you didn't want me any more! I tried to be good, 'cause I didn't want to lose you!" Heartbroken sobs racked her body. "I had two Fathers, and you both left me!" Tears ran down her face, uncontrolled . "Did you throw Brendan away too?"
Hank continued to hang his furry head in shame and barely looked up when snow began to fall down in large, fat drops like the tears rolling down Bobby's anguished face. "No," Hank spoke, "he had nowhere else to go. He was stolen from me tonight by creatures most vile and evil." He did not elaborate for fear that she might realize that his beloved son was the same man as the Werewolf that the Troll had captured and dragged away.
"Tell her the rest, Hank," Bobby urged. "Tell her how you could run out on us! Tell her how you could destroy our lives, destroy our whole worlds!" He glanced at Prue. "I left you at your mother's request. She told me to stop coming and to start a new life for me, but she should have known," he said, shaking his brunette head miserably, "as I did that there was no life for me without the man I love."
He looked back to Hank. "AND YET YOU LEFT ME! You left us all but Brendan." He gasped as he realized that Brendan, too, must have kept Hank's secret. "YOU EVEN MADE OUR SON LIE TO ME! THAT'S WHY HE TOLD ME I COULD STOP COMING. HE DIDN'T NEED ME ANY MORE, BECAUSE HE HAD YOU AND THE MORE I STAYED AROUND THE HOUSE, THE MORE LIKELY I WAS TO SEE YOUR BIG, BLUE ASS!"
Hank spoke quietly, heartbroken misery etched in his every syllable. "It is enormous," he agreed, "and blue and furry. You deserved better."
"I DESERVE A MAN WHO WOULD HAVE LOVED ME ENOUGH TO STAND BY MY SIDE, HANK! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN THAT MAN, BUT YOU CHOSE NOT TO BE! YOU CHOSE TO MAKE ME -- TO MAKE US ALL THINK THAT YOU HAD BEEN KILLED IN THE EXPLOSION IN YOUR LABORATORY! JUST TELL ME ONE THING," HE BEGGED. "IF YOU EVER LOVED ME, TELL ME WHY YOU DID IT. TELL ME WHY YOU STOLE MY REASON FOR LIVING AWAY FROM ME, HOW YOU COULD HAVE LIVED THESE LAST TWENTY YEARS WHILE LETTING ME THINK THAT YOU WERE DEAD AND YET NEVER LOVED ME ENOUGH TO TELL ME THE TRUTH AND EASE THE PAIN THAT'S SURROUNDED ME EVER SINCE THE DAY I PUT YOU IN THE GROUND!"
"I . . . I was afraid," Hank said, looking down at his hands. He turned his palms upright and extended his claws. "I am a monster now, Bobby. That explosion in the laboratory all those years ago made me into what you see before you now."
"You're not a monster, Hank. At least not in the way you think." Bobby struggled within himself. Part of him wanted to go to Hank, even if he had to crawl through broken glass on his hands and knees, but the fury that raged through him at the years of their lives that Hank's stupidity had stolen refused to allow him to even so much as reach out and touch the man who had single-handedly destroyed everything they'd had.
"The man I see before me . . . " Bobby continued, struggling to talk through his tears and gasps of heart-wrenching pain, "is every bit as handsome as the man I fell in love with. I never knew blue could look so good until I saw it on you. But he's also the man who claimed to love me and ripped apart my heart and soul, made me want to die, has made me want to die for the last twenty years of suffering with a pain worse than anything I could have ever imagined before he lied to me, turned my whole world upside down, and faked his death, who killed a part of me that I . . . that I . . . I don't know if I can ever get back . . . "
Bobby whimpered, and Hank finally dared to raise his soulful, blue eyes to look into the anguished, tear-filled orbs of the man he loved. "Bobby . . . "
"No . . . " Bobby said, shaking his head and stumbling back. "I can't stay here right now, Hank . . . not with you . . . not knowing you could have been here . . . with me . . . all these years . . . and chose to put me through . . . such . . . such a He -- . . . Hell . . . I love you . . . I'll always love you! But I can't . . . I can't do this right now . . . " He turned and fled, and though Hank bounded after him, screaming his name and telling him how infinitely much he'd always loved and would always love only him, it did him no good as a circular board of ice formed underneath Bobby's feet and carried him away into the snow-spilling sky.
Hank fell to his knees in the mounting snow, howling and crying . . . He had destroyed every one he'd ever loved, and now when at last he'd seen the error of his ways, he might never get them back. He could live without Ororo and Prue. He could even learn to live without Brendan. But he could not live without Bobby, and yet he himself had forced his love to live without him and their love for the last two decades! His misery echoed throughout the forest, and though Bobby heard him in the sky, he dared not turn back around . . . He fell onto his board of ice, curled on his side, and sobbed out what little remained of his heart.
To Be Continued . . .
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