FIC: A CASE OF THE MONDAYS 2/4

[carolinablu85]

Title: A Case of the Mondays
Chapter: 2/4
Author: carolinablu85, also known as CarolinaBlue on vh.net or CarolinaBlu on the wiki (I know, I'm a fountain of creative names)
Pairing: mentions of Reid/Luke, but will ultimately be Noah/Luke, I promise! (Moey would kill me otherwise)
Rating: PG-13ish, just to be safe
Spoilers: set in current storyline, after Noah gets his sight back (maybe June-ish?)
Summary: The guys try to stay away and come together at the same time, while the world around them doesn't know whether to help or hurt.
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: Same as before- I wrote this on painkillers, so please keep that in mind if it starts to go slightly crack!fic-y
Chapter 1  /

…Sunday…

Casey saw Ali the second she barged into Java. She zeroed in on him and hurried over, stuttering a little when she saw that he was sitting with Margo. He almost winced and almost laughed at the same time. The other night’s encounter between his mother and his ex had not been all that pleasant.

Of course, he probably hadn’t helped matters by puking on the welcome mat. (Though that did seem to be an oddly appropriate symbol.)

He looked up and met her eyes as she came to a stop next to the table. “Morning, Ali. What’s up?”

She crossed her arms, eyeing him disapprovingly. “How drunk did you guys get last night?”

His eyes grew wide, and Margo just barely managed to avoid choking on her coffee. “What?”

Alison kept up the glare. “You, Noah, Hunter. Last night. Just how drunk did you all end up getting?”

Casey held up his hands defensively, looking back and forth between her and a suspicious Margo. “None. Last night we didn’t drink. At all. Honest.”

“Well then what did you end up doing?” she kept at it. “Where did Noah crash for the night?”

Casey frowned. That didn’t sound right. “What?” he asked again.

She sighed, blowing her bangs back from her face. “Noah didn’t come home last night, and he missed his therapy appointment this morning. And he’s not answering his phone. Which idiot, you or Hunter, let him-”

“Ali, neither of us did,” he cut in. She was about to protest, so he pushed on. “We went and saw a movie, then said goodnight. Hunter and I got into our cars, and Noah walked home. No alcohol, no crashing.” He narrowed his eyes, looking over at his mom. She appeared calm, but he could tell her interest was peaking. “He said he had to get up early for his appointment. I swear, that’s the last I saw him.”

Ali’s glare slid away, replaced by wide eyes and a worried frown. Margo put down her coffee mug. “Alison, are you sure he didn’t come home last night?”

She nodded, pressing her lips together tightly. “I stayed on the couch, waiting for him to come home. I wanted to talk about him and Luke-”

“They’re back together?” Margo turned to Casey with a bright smile.

He sighed, waiting until Margo’s smile dropped. “Noah re-professed his love for Luke, Luke pretty much kissed him, then Noah sees Luke and Diet Dr. House kissing at Al’s. Hunter and I hung out with him last night to, like, keep his spirits up.”

“Okay, and what time did you last see him?” Margo’s voice had inadvertently gone into cop-mode, and Casey was slightly glad for it.

“Um, like a little before eleven? He was on his way home.” Casey exchanged a worried look with Alison.

“And he didn’t make it to his therapy appointment?” Margo went back to Ali.

She shook her head. “I called the nurse on duty. Noah never showed up.”

Casey stood up quickly. “Okay, well, we can check the blocks between the movie theater and your apartment first, right?” he turned to his mom. “Can’t you put out an APB or whatever it is?”

Margo looked sadly at both of them. “Actually I can’t, Casey. A person has to be unaccounted for forty-eight hours before they can be officially reported as missing. I’m sorry.”

“But anything could happen in forty-eight hours!” Ali stammered. “What are we supposed to do in the meantime?”

Margo tried to give them a reassuring smile. “Try calling him again, ask around, check anyplace he might be likely to go.” She hesitated for a second. “Is it possible he just wants to be alone after seeing Luke? Or maybe he’s with Luke now?”

“Maybe…” Ali drew the word out with a frown. “But it’s not like him to not answer his phone. Or at least let me know he’s okay…”

Margo nodded, finally standing up herself. “Well, I do have to get to the station now. I’ll keep an ear out for anything, but like I said, there’s nothing the police can do until tomorrow night. Try not to worry too much, I’m sure Noah will turn up this morning and you can both yell at him, okay?”

They both answered half-heartedly, watching as she left the coffeehouse. Ali turned back to Casey. “Do you really think Noah will turn up this morning?”

Casey worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “Hope? Yes. Think? I don’t know. Like you said, it’s not like him to completely drop off radar like this.”

She nodded in agreement. “So what are we going to do?”

“I’m going to check the streets between the theater and your place, see if there’s anything there.” He thought for a second. “I guess you could go to the hospital? Maybe he’s going to a later therapy appointment, or maybe Chris has seen him or something? And between you, me, and Hunter we can all keep calling him until he answers his phone.” He hesitated, then put a tentative hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s okay. We’ll find him.”

But as he headed out, Ali couldn’t help but think that his reassurance sounded just as empty as Margo’s had. Noah, where the hell are you?

************
Noah kept having the weirdest dreams. Some were typical enough, random movie scenes or memories. One of him, Casey, and Hunter in the hot tub time machine. One with that hot guy with nice eyes from the Supernatural show Ali was obsessed with. A couple of Luke, of course. Maybe one of Jake Gyllenhaal, Noah couldn’t remember. A few more of Luke.

But the weirdest dreams were these ones where he felt like he was awake, but he couldn’t move. He was pretty sure he was sitting in a chair, but it was like his hands were tied around the back of it. His vision was dim and blurry, like right after he got his sight back. And his hearing seemed blurry too, like he was underwater. His whole brain felt underwater. But Noah could blink and swallow around a dry throat, so this whole thing was just weird. And he had this dream a couple times, scattered between the others.

He was back there now, still in that chair. He really wished he could lift his head up, though. He wished he could see what, if anything, was around him. Or who it was that was with him. Because he was sure there was somebody nearby, he could hear movement, see a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He tried to speak, tried to run away, tried to wake himself up, but nothing worked. This was possibly the weirdest and most boring dream he’d ever had.

If only his mouth wasn’t so dry. He licked his lips, actually managing to let out a faint groan. The shadow moved yet again, this time coming up close to his side. And then it felt like a hand was on his shoulder, and something plastic was held up to his lips. What the hell?

“Drink, Noah.” The voice sounded out of tune, like a record being played too slow.

Drink? Oh, the plastic. It was a cup. He obediently took a few sips, realized how good the cool water felt in his throat, and drank some more. That must have been the right thing to do, because when the cup was sadly, unfortunately empty and pulled away, a hand very briefly landed on the top of his head, ran through his hair gently for a moment.

Noah would’ve thought that drinking the water was the weirdest part of the dream, but it wasn’t. The taste of the water was. Or, more accurately, the aftertaste. It started to work down the back of his throat, bitter and almost metallic. And then that underwater feeling was back, threatening to drown him now. The voice said something else, but Noah was too tired to understand what that was. And he started to get pulled back into darkness, he hoped his next dream was more about Jake Gyllenhaal.

Or Luke.

************
Luke didn’t know a person could feel as tired as he felt right now. He’d spent as much of the weekend as possible immersed in work, trying not to think about anything else. Anyone else. Yesterday had been one of the weirdest days Luke had ever experienced, and today was looking a little better only because he hadn’t seen either Reid or Noah.

Well, so much for not thinking about him. Either ‘him.’ At least Reid hadn’t shown up to this morning’s hospital board meeting, Luke wasn’t sure how he could keep avoiding him without garnering any suspicion. “Is it too much to ask to go one week without any drama?” he mumbled under his breath.

His answer came around the next corner. Luke unconsciously (or subconsciously, probably) took the same route to leave the hospital every time, one that took him past the physical therapy wing. And even though today he was hoping not to run into Noah, that didn’t mean he couldn’t do what he normally did and peak into the room Noah was usually in.

Today, however, someone was already there. “Alison?”

She jumped and turned, a startled and hopeful look on her face. It dropped immediately when she recognized him. “Oh. Luke, hi.”

He frowned at the tone she used. It was nervous, tense, and… angry? Why would Alison be angry with him? Last time he saw her, she had been smiling and happy and asking him to take Noah home. Was she mad because he hadn’t given Noah an answer yet? “Everything okay?”

She stared at him for a moment, as though unsure how to reply. “Is anything ever okay?” she finally countered, looking less nervous and more sad now. Resigned, even.

Luke cocked his head to the side, offering a smile. “True enough, I guess.” When she didn’t return the smile, he felt compelled to try again. “Are you waiting for N-?”

“Don’t, Luke,” she cut in sharply. “Don’t even say his name. It’s not like you care.”

“What?” Luke actually took a step back, surprised at the almost-venom he heard.

She softened, waving a hand. “Nothing, sorry, I’m just tired, and I…” she sighed. “I thought you and Noah were getting back together, and I made the mistake of getting his hopes up. It’s not your fault that you decided to stay with Reid.”

He stared at her, completely thrown. “What… when did…? Who said I decided to stay with Reid?”

And then Alison’s glare was back. “Uh, you did? When you kissed him yesterday at Al’s?”

Luke’s stomach started to drop. “You saw that?”

“No, I didn’t,” she snapped. “Noah did.”

And now it was down below his kneecaps. “He saw us?” his voice came out as a whisper.

“Yeah,” Ali was sad and nervous and disappointed all at the same time. Luke thought she’d make a great mom some day.

And then it hit him again. Noah saw him kissing Reid. Noah, who had always had problems following his own heart. Noah, who had confessed everything he was feeling to him and in his own sweet-drunken-way had shown that he not only wanted Luke but wanted Luke to want him. Noah had seen him kissing Reid the next day. Damn it. “God, I didn’t mean for-”

“For what, Luke? You didn’t mean for anyone to see? You were kissing that… that…” she couldn’t seem to come up with an appropriate description for Reid. “Him, you kissed him in the middle of Al’s, in the middle of the day. It’s not like it was in a bank vault or a panic room or whatever! What were you thinking?”

Luke wanted to explain that that was just it- he hadn’t been thinking. But apparently Ali had gotten her second wind.

“I mean, okay, the guy’s your boyfriend. And you’re allowed to kiss him wherever you want. But he was also your boyfriend the other night, when you would’ve kissed Noah if Noah hadn’t stopped you. And he was your boyfriend when you were with Noah in our apartment and Noah said he was still in love with you!” She shook her head. “Why couldn’t you have waited and talked to Noah first?”

Luke belatedly realized she had been lecturing him, loudly, in the middle of a hospital hallway. “Oh God,” he whispered again, flushing slightly. He sagged back against the wall.

Alison leaned back next to him. “I know you love Noah, Luke, so we can skip that question. I just need to know: do you love Reid more than you love Noah?”

Luke was quiet for a minute. “I don’t love Reid,” he admitted quietly. He knew Ali was looking at him now, but he kept staring down at his shoes. “I don’t love him. But I like being with him. It’s easier. It’s uncomplicated.” At her disbelieving snort, he had to smile. “I know he isn’t easy or uncomplicated, but being with him is. Especially compared to…” He stopped.

Ali sniffed before speaking up. “But you don’t love him. And you do love Noah.”

“I know,” he nodded. “And that’s terrifying. I want to be with Noah, more than anything. And even though I’ve been scared of ending up where we were when we broke up, yesterday, I didn’t care. I was going to take that leap anyway. But I chickened out. I couldn’t go through with it, because all of a sudden I realized… going back to Noah would be going to forever. Would be going on with the rest of my life because Noah… Noah’s it for me.”

“And that’s scary,” Ali said softly, understanding.

“Yeah. And then Reid was kissing me, and for a second it just felt so much less overwhelming, because there’s no pressure there. So I kissed him back. And then I finished lunch, went back to work, and have been trying not to think about either of them since.” He looked over at her finally. “But Noah saw us kissing. And now he thinks…”

She looked sad again. “Now he probably thinks you don’t love him anymore, and that he never should have said anything to you, because he never stood a chance.” She shrugged. “At least that’s what I’m guessing.”

He almost laughed- because yeah, that was typical Noah- but the words she used and the look on her face gave him pause. “You haven’t talked to him about it?”

The look of fear, or nervousness, was back, and for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why. “No, he hung out with Casey and Hunter last night. I haven’t seen him yet.”

Luke was pretty sure there was more to the story, but he didn’t push. “Are you waiting for him right now?” he asked, nodding towards the physical therapy room.

Alison shook her head, biting her lower lip. “No, just seeing if he was here. But he’s not,” she pushed herself away from the wall, turning to head down the hallway. After a moment’s hesitation she turned back to him. “You know you are going to have to talk to both of them, right? No matter what you decide to do?”

He nodded heavily, and she walked off before he could say anything. He stayed where he was for a little while longer, looking into the empty physical therapy room. And then he frowned, as something Alison said stuck in his brain again. ‘Just seeing if he was here?’ Did Alison not know where Noah was?

************
…Monday…

Noah moaned softly, head hanging low, chin dropped to his chest. Sometime ago, maybe three or four ‘dreams’ ago, he’d come to the realization that this wasn’t a dream. That something was very very wrong, and he just might be in some trouble. He had vague recollections of saying goodbye to Casey and Hunter at the movie theater, and then flashes of an alley, a car, some stairs. A room. He was pretty sure he was in that room right now.

Crap. How the hell had he managed to get kidnapped again? Way to go, Noah. That’s like three times in about a year. Must be some kind of record.

His head was pounding in time with his heart beat, so loud and distracting that he almost missed the other sound- footsteps on the stairs. Heading towards him. Instinctively, and almost against his own will, he started struggling yet again against the ropes or whatever was tight around his wrists. He still only barely had an idea of what was going on, but he was pretty sure that ‘getting away’ was probably the best course of action.

“It’s a little early for you to be awake,” a voice called out from across the room.

Noah recognized the voice, he knew he did. But the pounding in his head, the lingering underwater feeling, it all left him confused. He wished he knew who this was, why he was here. He moaned again, his dry throat choking him and turning it into a cough.

The voice was closer, and he knew if he could just lift his head then he’d be able to see who this was. But no, he was too weak and couldn’t move his seven-hundred-pound head. (At least, that’s how heavy it felt.) Wait- the voice was talking. “Sounds like you’re thirsty. I have some water here, it might help.”

The plastic cup was back at his lips, but Noah turned his head away. This was how it happened, there was something in the water that kept Noah weak, kept making him pass out over and over again. “No,” he managed, his voice sounding rough and faint even to his own ears. Another cough scraped against the back of his throat, but he swallowed it back down.

The hand on the back of his neck tightened almost painfully. “Come on, Noah, work with me here. Just drink a little water and you’ll feel better.”

He shook his head, fighting back the dizziness that came with the movement. “Let me go,” he mumbled. That voice, he knew that voice. Work with me here… The hand on his neck didn’t move. In fact, it started to rub at the tension in his muscles, almost soothing. But Noah knew better now. He tried to pull away again. “Let me go.”

The guy actually laughed. “Can’t do that, at least not yet. There’s still some things I need to do. And I need you here with me for that.” The cup was finally pulled away, but the hand on his neck lingered for a second longer. A second that Noah really, really hated.

“Why…” he swallowed hard again, gathering up his strength. “Why are you doing this?” His voice sounded as slurred as it did after a night out with Casey.

“I’m just taking what’s mine,” the voice was smooth, confident. “It’s time you and Mr. High-and-Mighty-Prince-of-Oakdale realized you don’t get everything you want in life.” The hand was on him again, but Noah sluggishly ducked away. The guy laughed again. “Fine, be that way. I’ll give you some time to rest up and for everything to wear off.”

Footsteps moved away from him, and he allowed himself to relax just a little bit, still tugging on his restraints. This guy was after him and Luke? Why? What had they done to him? They hadn’t even attempted to solve a crime in almost a year! What-?

And then someone was crouched down right in front of him, lifting his head up a little bit. Noah was finally face to face with his captor, and he had to squint for a few seconds to finally get his brain to recognize the face. Which he did. His mouth dropped open, eyes now very wide. “You?”

The guy in front of him smirked. “Like I said, rest up. In a few hours, you and I are going to have a nice long chat.”

************
Luke had thought getting some fresh air would help, but it didn’t. He was still crawling out of his skin, and even going for a walk made no difference. He was letting his feet wander wherever they wanted, but it still made him feel like he was pacing. He had to keep moving or else he’d have to start thinking.

He hadn’t seen Alison since yesterday, but he couldn’t get their conversation out of his head. He had to talk to both of them, no matter what he decided to do. And, of course, the first step was actually making that decision. Yeah. Piece of cake.

He looked up when his feet stopped moving, and realized he was standing in front of Al’s, with a direct view of the table he’d sat at with Reid. He glared back down at his feet, silently accusing them of trying to make him feel bad. It’s not going to work, Left and Right Sketchers.

He stared at his reflection in the window, and was able to see another blond figure come up to stand next to him. “Returning to the scene of the crime?” the figure asked.

“Hi, Casey,” he sighed. “You here to lecture me like Alison did?” he asked as he turned to face his friend.

Casey shook his head. “Don’t need to. I know from personal experience that no one lectures like she does. I actually need to ask you something.” His face got really serious. “When was the last time you spoke to Noah?”

Luke frowned. “And this isn’t the beginning of a lecture?” When Casey shook his head, Luke answered. “Last time I spoke to him was the last time I saw him, Friday night. Why?”

Casey groaned inaudibly, walking away a few steps. Luke followed uncertainly. “Last time anyone saw him was Saturday night. Me, Ali, Hunter, his physical therapist- no one’s heard from him since.”

Luke just kinda stared at his friend. “No one?”

Casey shook his head again. “I even saw your dad, asked him. And my mom can’t do anything because a person has to be missing for forty-eight hours before the cops can get involved, and Noah’s only been missing for forty-two or whatever, so…” he trailed off with a shrug.

Luke hesitated before venturing out with, “And you all are sure he’s not, um, just taking some time for himself somewhere? He’s done something like that before.”

Casey closed his eyes for a second before opening them with a glare. “He’s disappeared without telling anyone or answering his phone or anything? Really? He’s done that before?” When Luke couldn’t answer, he let out a humorless laugh. “I’m not sure the Noah I’ve come to know is the Noah you think you know.”

“Casey, I just-”

“No. We’re all really worried about him, Luke. Do you actually want to go on record thinking he’s just out throwing a temper tantrum somewhere? Do you really think he’s the type of person who would let us all be upset like this?”

Luke stared hard at Casey, unable to answer the question. “I…” and then luckily his phone rang, saving him from yet another round of How-To-Screw-Up-Your-Lovelife-In-Seven-Steps-Or-Less. He glanced at the screen before picking up, and an annoyingly giant amount of relief swept through him. He covered it by glaring at Casey. “It’s Noah.”

Casey looked up at him, shocked. “It is?” He cocked his head to the side. “He doesn’t answer his phone for two days, and then he calls you?” There was something pointed in his tone, but Luke ignored it.

“Yes, apparently he does. So will you stop freaking out?” He flipped open his cell and answered it with a sigh. “Noah, where are you? People are-”

“Luke, I can’t really talk for long, I just need you to do something for me,” Noah’s voice probably sounded casual to the untrained ear, but Luke’s was trained. He knew Noah’s voice, probably knew it better than almost anyone. And something was wrong.

“Okay. What’s up?” Luke tried to stay casual too, but his face must have given something away, because Casey frowned and stepped closer.

“Can you just tell Ali I won’t be at the apartment for a few days? I’m staying with some friends for a bit, and I don’t want her to worry.”

If his voice hadn’t sounded so strained, Luke would have been pissed that Noah was calling him just to pass a message along to Alison. But there was something in Noah’s voice, Luke could tell. The last time he had heard that tone… when was it? “Yeah, I’ll tell her. What friends?” he had to ask.

“Oh, um,” Noah cleared his throat awkwardly. “A couple friends from some classes from last year. I don’t think you met them, the ones I went to Lisbon with?”

Luke froze. Lisbon. That’s the last time he’d heard Noah used this tone of voice. When he had been kidnapped. When someone had pointed a gun at him and made him call Luke to throw him off… Oh God, oh no. No, no, no. “Noah,” he spoke carefully, hoping his own voice wasn’t shaking. “Is someone listening to you right now?” Casey’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed Luke’s arm. Luke couldn’t even feel it.

There was the tiniest of hesitations. “Yeah,” Noah was still going for casual, and Luke really hoped it was working. For Noah’s sake.

He tried to work in enough oxygen to keep speaking. “Are you… are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, fine. What else?” Noah was stalling, giving Luke a chance to keep talking without whoever was with him knowing that Noah was giving anything away.

“Do you know where you are, are you in Oakdale?” He’d been missing for two days, he could be anywhere…

“I think so, that sounds about right,” Noah laughed, and anyone else would’ve thought it was real.

But again, Luke knew better. Noah was pretty sure he was still in town, but he didn’t know exactly where. His heart pounded in his chest, and pressure started building all around him. What the hell could he do? He needed to ask some question that Noah could answer, that could tell Luke exactly how to save him. “Is…” and then a thought came to him. Lisbon. “Is it Zac and Zoe? Are they…?”

“No, nothing like that,” Noah cleared his throat again. He was nervous. No, Luke corrected himself, he was scared. And that made Luke more than a little scared. “It was just that one time, remember?”

“One time. One?” Luke tried to puzzle it out. “One. One what? One person? It’s just one person?”

“Yeah,” Noah sounded just a little relieved there, a hint of a smile in his voice as Luke broke his ‘code.’

Luke would have smiled too, if not for the fact that, you know, Noah was being held hostage and all. “Okay. One person, you’re in Oakdale somewhere, and you’re, uh, relatively okay. Noah…” he racked his brain for another question, something Noah could answer. “It’s not Zac or Zoe, but… do you know this person? Do you know who it is?”

There was a beat of silence before Noah answered. “Yeah, yeah, you too.”

Luke’s frown deepened, his heart leaping into his throat. “You know them, and… and I know them too. Okay…” He sucked in a breath, hoping Noah couldn’t hear how scared he was. Like he could he hear how scared Noah was. “Can-”

“Look, Luke, I have to go. I’ll, um, I’ll talk to you later, okay? Just give Ali the message for me?” The fear was more obvious now, mirroring Luke’s own.

“Noah, I’m going straight to the cops right now. Casey’s with me. We’ll go talk to Margo a-and Jack, and we’ll figure this out. It’s going to be okay, I promise.” He bit his lip when Noah didn’t respond. “Noah?”

“Yeah,” Noah finally spoke. “Luke, um, same here, okay?”

There weren’t tears in his eyes, there weren’t. Noah was not giving him the ‘I love you, just in case’ thing. No, he wasn’t allowed to. “We’ll figure this out, I promise,” was all he could say. Why didn’t he just say ‘I love you’ back?

“Okay, bye.” The hang up was quick, abrupt, and Luke almost flinched from it.

“Luke, what the hell is going on?” Casey couldn’t wait any longer. Luke stared at him for a moment, numbly flipping his phone shut and dropping it into his pocket. Casey shook his arm, impatient. “Luke?”

He opened his mouth, closed it again, swallowed hard and tried again. “We have to go see your mom,” he finally answered weakly. And then he uttered the three words he had said before but had hoped he’d never have to say again. “Noah’s in trouble.”

************
…Tuesday…

Holden raised a hand and forced himself to knock without hesitating. He really didn’t want to have this conversation, and he really hoped that maybe just maybe Lily wasn’t home-

Lily opened the door with a surprised smile. “Holden, hi! What are you doing here?”

He smiled back painfully. “Can I come in? I need to tell you something.”

Her smile slid away, replaced by a worried frown. “Sure, of course.” She stepped back, allowing him into the family room. Following him over to the couch, she clasped her hands in her lap as they both sat down. “Is something wrong? Is it Faith, or-?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s Noah.”

Her frown deepened. “Noah?” she repeated, confused and panicked. “What’s wrong with Noah? Is it his eyes? Did something happen?”

Holden tried to look as calm and reassuring as possible. He knew how much she loved Noah, knew this was going to be hard. “I’ve just spent most of the night at the police station with Luke, Margo, and Jack. Noah was… Noah was kidnapped two nights ago.”

“What?” she gasped. “No, God… who, who would… is he…?”

Instinctively, he took her hand, squeezed it gently. “We don’t know much. Noah had been missing for a few days, and he called Luke yesterday. Margo and Jack are pretty sure the kidnapper wanted Noah to call him to try to keep people from getting suspicious.”

She was shaking her head, tears in her eyes. Not letting go of his hand. “Then how did Luke know?”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Because luckily those two know each other better than most. Noah dropped some hints and Luke picked up on them.” They shared the smile before Holden continued. “We don’t know much at this point, but we know he’s alive and he’s somewhere in Oakdale.”

“His father!” Lily burst out. “What if Colonel Mayer-?”

He cut her off with a quick shake of his head. “That’s the first thing Jack checked. The Colonel’s still in prison. So are those two kids who kidnapped him and Luke last year, and so is Damian.”

Her head shot up. “You don’t actually think Damian would do this, do you?” Her expression was somewhere between pained and expectant.

Holden blew out a breath slowly. “We just wanted to check everything. According to Noah, both he and Luke know this person.” Softening his voice, “It was Luke’s suggestion to check on Damian. I’m not trying to start anything, Lily. I promise.”

“Okay.” She nodded, appearing calm even though her hands were shaking. “Okay. Jack and Margo, they’re working on it?”

“Yeah, they’ve got procedures for these types of situations. We may have to wait for Noah or whoever has him to contact us again, but they know what they’re doing,” he tried to reassure her, even though in the back of his head he was thinking of all the other times someone he knew had been kidnapped. And how those situations had worked out.

Lily was obviously thinking the same. Then she looked up sharply. “And Luke? Is he okay, where is he?”

A quick sigh. “He’s still at the station, pestering Jack. He’s… he’s okay. Worried, of course.”

“Of course.” Another shared smile, this one a little sadder. “He’s still in love with Noah.”

“Of course,” Holden said again.

Lily looked down at her lap, blinking back tears. “If anything happens to him-”

“Hey, hey,” Holden moved in closer. “Noah’s going to be fine, okay? He is.” He made sure to catch her gaze and hold it. “They’ll find him. And he and Luke will work things out and find their way back, I know it.”

She smiled softly at his certainty. “I know it too,” she half-whispered.

He nodded. “Some people are just meant to be together. At the end of the day, they find their way back to each other.”

“Because they love each other that much,” Lily added.

They looked at each other for a moment before thoughts of Noah shook Holden out of his trance. “Anyway,” he looked down and away for a second. “I thought you should know what’s going on.” Offering another smile, “You are Noah’s former mother, after all.”

She tried to laugh, but not much came out. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I’ll get to the station as soon as possible, make sure Luke’s okay.”

He nodded, standing up and making his way to the door. “I’ll probably see you there.”

He had just opened the door and stepped through when she called out to him. “Holden?”

He turned back, looking into her eyes, unable to read the expression there. “Yeah?”

She opened her mouth, then slowly shut it with a shake of her head. “Nothing, never mind.” Another little smile. “Thank you, again.”

“Lily,” he spoke firmly, echoing the same words he’d been telling Luke all night. “They’re going to find Noah. Everything’ll be fine, I promise.”

************
Noah’s head was swimming, and only partly from whatever he’d been drugged with. How long had he been here, in this room, tied to this chair? He was pretty sure it had been about a day since he had been forced to call Luke. It had only been a day, right? But then how many days had he been here before then?

And that was only part of the reason his head hurt. He couldn’t believe this was happening, that he had actually been kidnapped by-

“Noah.” He was back, somehow managing to sneak up on him yet again.

Noah forced his head up to glare at him. “Screw you,” he managed to growl.

A laugh. “Well, that’s eloquent.” When Noah gave no response, he chuckled again. “Fine, be that way. If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to. You could always go back to sleep, I guess.”

Noah rolled his eyes as the footsteps echoed, walking around behind him. “I’m not drinking your damn water, so if you don’t like that, I guess you could always go fu-” The not-so-polite phrase he was about to use was cut off when a cloth was slapped harshly across his mouth. He grunted angrily, trying to shake his head free, but his strength wasn’t really up to that. And no wonder, since the cloth was laced with whatever that drug was, and Noah only had a few seconds to come up with several more not-so-polite phrases before he felt himself passing out again.

Just as the darkness started closing in, a thought popped into Noah’s head- if this was how he was being treated, he was terrified of what might happen if or when his captor went after Luke.

************
…Wednesday…

Ali stood outside of Java, biting on her thumbnail. It was a habit she had tried time and time again to break, but it never worked. Especially when she was tired, or stressed, or, you know, scared out of her mind.

Ever since she had moved in with Noah, she had felt this need to look after him. Even though he didn’t necessarily need it (and definitely wouldn’t have wanted it) she liked helping him, blind or not. She’d never really been that person before, the one that someone could turn to for strength. She was pretty sure it had been a balance good for the both of them; she learned to put others before herself, he learned to ask for help.

And while he didn’t always make it easy to help him, she’d really grown to love him. It was never hard to talk to him, he always listened, and he never took anything for granted. They had bonded surprisingly quickly, and he had become more than just a friend or roommate. Between him and Hunter, she felt like life had handed her two little brothers in a short amount of time. And she didn’t want to lose one of them now.

“Hey,” Casey said quietly from just beyond her shoulder.

She turned to look at him and smiled tentatively. “Hi.” Turning back, she nodded at the door to Java. “I can’t get myself to go in.”

“Feels weird?” he guessed. She nodded, and he let out a little sigh. “Me too.”

By unspoken agreement, they turned and walked back through Old Town, finally pausing to stand by the bench near Al’s. “Any news?” she finally asked.

“Nope,” he ran his hand along the back of the bench. “My mom’s out, like, canvassing the town today. Jack’s at the station with Luke, his parents have been in and out of there all day.”

Ali nodded absentmindedly. “Are they all… how are they taking it?”

“Okay, I guess,” Casey shrugged. “Lily’s really upset and not doing a very good job of hiding it. Luke and Holden are better at that part, I think.” He looked her over almost nervously. “How are you? I saw Hunter this morning, he said he spent the night at your place.”

It was her turn to shrug. “I don’t like being in that apartment alone. You know, I didn’t realize when Noah and I first started living together that I’d care about him this much. But he really means a lot to me, Casey. He was the one who pretty much convinced me to stay here and not move to Chicago.”

Casey sort of half-smiled. “I thought Chris did that.”

“No,” she took a step closer urgently. “Chris and I… what you saw was a one time thing. We were just both feeling lonely that night.”

“You weren’t the only ones,” he mumbled.

She put her hand on his arm. “Casey, neither Chris or I meant for that to happen, or even wanted it to happen. And it hasn’t happened since. I really do hate that it upset you. You and I weren’t meant to be, we both know that, but no matter what I’m always going to care about you. You’re such a good person, and I never meant to hurt you.” A sardonic smile. “Despite all evidence to the contrary there.”

He smiled back, only slightly painful. “I know, I know. That’s kinda what sucks the most about all of it, isn’t it?” He crossed his arms, leaning back a bit. “I have an idea. Since we’re both too chicken to go to Java, how about we go get some coffee at Al’s then head over to work?”

“Sounds good,” she answered, relieved.

As they walked side by side, Casey nudged her with his shoulder. “Look at us, all getting along and stuff. Noah would be so proud.”

Ali laughed a little, nodding. She was kinda proud too. And she really really hoped she’d get the chance to tell Noah about this soon.

************

When his cell rang again, Noah’s name flashing across the screen, Luke almost dropped it on the floor. “It’s Noah,” he said needlessly to the room.

Jack held out his hand, determined. “Give it to me.” When Luke hesitated, Jack squared his shoulders. “Luke, come on. Let me talk to him.” Luke passed the phone over and sank into a chair, Holden right next to him. Jack took a calming breath and flipped it open. “Noah?”

There was a pause on the other end. “Hey, Luke.” Noah knew this wasn’t Luke.

Jack almost smiled at that. “It’s Jack. Luke told me everything, and we’re already trying to find you, alright? Are you okay, are you hurt anywhere?” He wasn’t sure if Noah would tell him the truth, but he had to ask.

“Yeah, no, it’s fine. Uh, how’s your cousin? He hasn’t done anything stupid lately, has he?” Noah stumbled around the question, and Jack hoped whoever was listening didn’t realize what was going on.

He thought about the question and had to laugh. Locking eyes with Luke, he answered. “Luke’s fine. He’s right here.” As Luke’s eyes widened, so did Jack’s smile. “And no, he hasn’t done anything stupid. I’ll keep my eye on him, don’t worry.” Luke turned indignant eyes on Holden, who was trying to stifle his own laugh. “We’re all worried about you, Noah. Can you give me anything, any idea of where you are or who it is that-?” There was noise on the other end of phone, movement and muffled words. “Noah?” The air around him grew tense again as Jack frowned. “Noah, what’s going on? Can you talk to me?”

“Yeah.” His voice was softer and, Jack hated to think, he sounded like he was in pain. “I, um…” there was more muffled words. Jack strained but couldn’t make out what the voice was saying. “Jack?”

Jack closed his eyes. If Noah was saying his name, his kidnapper knew what was going on. Knew that Noah had been lying. Damn it. “Yeah, Noah, I’m here.”

“He wants to talk to Luke.” Noah’s voice was shaking now, pretense of calm gone.

He winced, hating that their one way of trying to help Noah was gone. Hating that whoever this guy was, he still had the upper hand. He waved a hand, beckoning Luke closer. His cousin shot over, already reaching for the phone without even knowing why. “Okay Noah, I’m handing it over. Stay strong kid, we’ll find you.” He held the phone out to Luke, holding his gaze. “The guy wants to talk to you, Luke. Be careful. Listen for anything in the background or anything he says that could give us a clue as to where they are.”

Luke nodded stiffly, nerves outweighing his eagerness now. He put the phone to his ear with a shaking hand. “Hello? It’s Luke.” There was silence on the other end. Luke swallowed hard. “Noah?”

And then someone started speaking. “You know, I think it’s the height of irony that, after all that trouble you and your daddy went through to keep me away from your boyfriend, I come back to find that you two aren’t even together anymore.”

The world slowed down to nothing around Luke. If there were people around him, if there were walls around him, if there was air to breathe, he was oblivious. No. Way. It couldn’t be him. “What- what are you…” he took a deep breath, reminding himself of what was at stake. “What the hell have you done? Why?” His sharp tone caused Jack and Holden to move closer

“Temper, temper. That kind of attitude can get a person in trouble, Luke.” He could hear Mason’s smarmy grin over the phone, and it made him want to tear his hair out. “And I’m not talking about you.”

He gripped the phone tighter, shaking from a different emotion now. “Don’t you dare hurt him, Mason. I swear to God, if you-” Jack just looked confused now, but Holden’s eyes were narrowing in recognition, and he grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling down a name and showing it to Jack.

“Why do you care?” Mason really seemed to be enjoying the taunting. “He’s not even your boyfriend anymore. In fact, it looks to me like you’ve got a new one and left poor Noah in the dust.”

Jack took the piece of paper from Holden and hurried out of the room. Luke watched him leave but kept his focus on the phone. “What, have you been spying on us or something?” he couldn’t help but spit out.

“Just reeducating myself. I wanted to see how my… favorite student was doing.” There was a muffled noise in the background, one that sounded way too much like Noah for Luke’s comfort. “He looks a lot better than he did the last time I was in town. Though I guess you don’t agree, since you’ve found someone better.”

“Bastard,” Luke muttered. Trying to center himself again, “Why are you doing this? What do you want?”

“Do you know how hard it is to get through life when you’ve got ‘sexual misconduct with a student’ on your record? Not many people want to hire a professor after that.” Mason’s voice dropped the smirky vibe and grew tight, angry. “You took my life away from me. Everything was going the way I wanted, everything was fine. Then you and Al Capone step in and I lose everything. I’m just taking some of it back now.”

Another sound in the background from Noah, and Luke felt like echoing it. He tried to keep calm. “Noah was never yours, Mason. You think kidnapping him is going to make anything better?”

“I certainly feel better.”

Luke’s empty hand had clenched into a fist, but he had nothing to punch. He had a really satisfying flash of breaking Mason’s nose, and planned on his jaw this time. That way the smug son of a bitch wouldn’t be able to talk. “What do you want, then? What’s it going to take for you to let Noah go?”

Mason hummed, pretending to think it over. “Who says I plan on letting him go?”

"Then why are you calling me?” Luke was probably shouting now, judging by the expression on his dad’s face.

“At the moment?” He could almost hear Mason’s casual shrug over the phone. “I just wanted you to know that I have Noah and you have no idea where he is. I want you to know what it’s like to be powerless. I want you to suffer the consequences of your actions, for once in your miserable, spoiled life.”

Luke had passed rage about six stops ago. Suffer the consequences for once? “You know nothing about my life,” he hissed out. “And you know nothing about Noah. He’s not yours. You never got it, that he wasn’t interested in you, that he never even looked at you the way he looked at me.” He winced as he said that, not wanting to goad Mason into doing something stupid.

A deep, dark chuckle. “And now he doesn’t look at you at all. How does that feel, Luke? I guess not that horrible, since you and your new lover are going at it all over town.”

Luke could hear Noah in the background again, angry but stifled. It brought Luke’s focus back to where it needed to be. “Look, I’m going to ask again,” he calmed himself down as much as possible. “Please, just tell me. What do you want?” God, he hated saying ‘please’ right now.

There was a pause for a moment, a shuffling sound as Mason moved around somewhere. Luke remembered Jack’s words, but try as he might he couldn’t hear anything in the background that told him where they were. “Like I said, I just want you to know that I have something that you want. I want you to know how that feels.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed, somewhere between irritated and confused, but before he could produce any sort of comeback there was more movement and then Noah’s voice exclaiming angrily, “Don’t touch me!”

“Noah!” Luke cried out, just as angry. He felt Holden put a hand on his shoulder, but he shook himself free, his feet beginning to pace. “Don’t hurt him, or I promise to you, I’ll-”

“I think we’re done for now, Mr. Snyder-Grimaldi-Whatever,” Mason was back on the phone, definitely smirking again. “Stay near your phone, you’ll be hearing from me again.”

And then there was nothing but silence. “Damn it!” Luke yelled out, a half second away from throwing his phone against the wall until he remembered how much he needed it. Instead he took his frustrations out on a chair, kicking it across the room.

“Luke…” Holden said quietly from somewhere behind him.

“Don’t.” Luke couldn’t turn around, couldn’t turn around and face the concern right now, the empty platitudes. He couldn’t turn around and show his fear, his guilt. Not only had Mason taken Noah to get back at Luke, but he had been able to grab Noah in the first place because of him. Because Luke hadn’t been there.

Holden was standing right next to him now. “Jack’s running the name. He’ll get records and license plate tags and phone bills and all that. We’ll put this guy’s picture out everywhere. I’ll get Molly, Lucinda… Hell, I’ll get Dusty involved if I have to, Luke. We won’t let anything happen to Noah.”

Luke just nodded, chewing on his lower lip anxiously. Last time Mason had been in town, he had been a part of the events that led to the end of his relationship with Noah. Luke wasn’t about to let the same thing happen this time. Screw this, Mason wasn’t going to win. Luke was prepared to do anything to keep Noah from being taken away from him again.

TO BE CONTINUED! Chapter 3