FIC: SINS OF THE FATHER 1/15
Title: Sins of the Father
Chapter: 1/15
Author: carolinablu85, also known as CarolinaBlue on vh.net or CarolinaBlu on the wiki (I know, I'm a fountain of creative names)
Pairing: Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-ish for right now, will get darker later
Spoilers: set in spring 2009, after Luke and Noah battle housing discrimination but before Damian/evil twins. Thus, before the Colonel came back from the dead last year
Summary: They thought he was gone, that he couldn't hurt them ever again. So what happens when Colonel Mayer comes back for Noah?
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: So this is the first major 'epic' story I ever wrote (and finished)! The reason I'm reposting it here on LJ is because I'm in the middle of writing the sequel and would like for people here to read it! So I had to get this story out first.
Alison entered Java with an armful of books, in desperate need of a caffeine fix. “Noah!” she spotted her friend behind the counter. “Can you get me-”
“Double shot latte, coming up,” he called to her as she sat in the corner booth, dropping the books with a huff. “You okay?”
“I have two finals for nursing school coming up, and I’d really like to not fail them,” she gestured to the pile. “These textbooks are haunting my dreams.”
Noah smiled sympathetically, placing a mug in front of her. “Makes me glad I’m a good-for-nothing film student.”
Alison mock-glared at him until she took a sip of the latte, immediately sighing in satisfaction. “You are a coffee god. How many more can you make in the next hour?”
“None, sorry. My shift just ended, so…”
Casey came hurrying into Java, moving over to them quickly, waving a hand to interrupt whatever Noah was about to say. “Noah, my friend, my savior, please tell me you’re done. My dad took my car this morning, and I left some paperwork at the hospital that I need for tomorrow, and I desperately need a ride so Jade doesn’t, like, literally kill me.”
Noah couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah, I guess we wouldn’t want that. Come on,” he grabbed his jacket from behind the counter, twirling his keys around one finger.
“Oh, dude, thanks,” Casey sighed, then did a double take. “Wait, you guess?”
Ali giggled at the look on his face. “Aw, be careful Noah. He’s got a fragile ego. He just masks it under all that bravado.”
Casey looked back and forth between them. “What? I don’t mask anything. This isn’t bravado, this is pure, masculine, animal magnetism right here.” He waved a hand vaguely around himself. “No one can resist this.”
“Sorry bro,” Noah threw an arm jokingly around Casey’s shoulders. “But the straight girl and the gay guy here are saying differently.” Ali giggled again as Casey good-naturedly shrugged off Noah’s arm.
Casey wagged a finger at Alison. “Keep laughing girlfriend. I may not be able to change your mind, but I’ve got a whole ride to the hospital to win Noah over.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, good luck with that. I’m not too worried.”
Casey turned to follow Noah out the door, stopping at the last second just inside the doorway. “You should be worried. We all know Noah’s got a thing for blonds!” Noah couldn’t help but laugh at the slightly surprised look on Ali’s face.
“I’ve got a thing for Luke, not blonds,” Noah felt like he had to correct Casey as they walked through Old Town.
Casey shrugged, still grinning. “Doesn’t matter. If I just got Alison even a little bit jealous, it means I might have a fun night ahead of me when we meet back up later.” The look on his face, eyebrows raised suggestively, caused Noah to crack up, Casey joining him. They rounded the corner, still laughing, when Noah stopped abruptly. Casey looked at him questioningly, about to crack another joke, when he saw his friend's face. Noah's eyes were wide, shocked, and... fearful? "Noah?" Casey was almost afraid to touch him. He was as tense as Casey had ever seen him.
He followed the direction of Noah's stare. A large sandy-haired man was leaning ever-so-casually against the driver's side door of Noah's truck. Too ever-so-casually, in Casey's opinion. Thank God the guy hadn't noticed them yet, because he gave Casey the creeps immediately. And Noah obviously recognized him. "Who is that?"
Noah snapped out of his daze. "Let's go, hurry!" he grabbed Casey's shoulder and shoved him back the way they had come.
"Who is he?" Casey asked again.
"Come on!" He broke out into a run, and Casey quickly followed. A few minutes later they burst back into now mostly-empty Java, out of breath.
Alison looked up from the booth they had left her in, surprised. "Hey guys, I thought..." she trailed off at their expressions, Noah's especially freaked out. “What happened? Noah?"
"Seriously, Noah, who the hell was that guy?" Casey finally managed to catch his breath. Noah's breathing was still rushed, but it looked like it was more from panic than the run.
"What guy?" Alison asked.
"My dad," Noah said simply, quietly. Casey stared at him, shocked, while Alison’s frown deepened with worry. He sounded scared and younger than the other two had ever heard him before. As Casey filled her in on what had happened, Noah hurriedly pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial 1. He paced back and forth as it continued to ring. "Come on Luke, pick up!" It went to voicemail, and Noah tried to swallow back even more panic. Where the hell was he? "Luke, it's me. Call me as soon as you get this, and- and- just... go somewhere safe, okay? Don't go anywhere alone, don't... just call me, Luke, please?" Casey and Alison exchanged a troubled glance, starting to realize how serious this was.
"Why would I call you when I'm already here?" Luke said from the doorway, stepping in to hear the end of Noah's message. He was grinning, unaware of the tension in the coffeehouse.
"Oh, thank God." Noah made a beeline for his boyfriend, grabbing him and pulling him into a forceful, relieved hug.
"Hey, it's nice to see you too," Luke said, still smiling. He tried to pull back, but Noah just tightened his grip. "Noah?" It was then he realized Noah was shaking. He frowned, instantly concerned. "Hey, hey. Baby, what's wrong?" He rubbed one hand reassuringly on Noah's back, made eye contact with Casey and Allison over his shoulder. "Guys?"
"We saw Noah's dad," Casey said quietly.
Luke felt a chill spread quickly through him, squeezing at his lungs, making his knees weak. "No, no, no, no, no. He's dead. He drowned. He can't..." he finally managed to pull Noah away from him. He held Noah's face in both hands. "You’re sure it was him?" Noah just looked at him, nodding, not trusting himself to speak right now. "But he drowned," Luke whispered, wanting Noah and Casey to be wrong. After everything he and Noah had been through, this was the last thing they needed.
"They never found his body," Noah said just as softly. His face was so pale, and he looked like he might pass out.
Luke steadied him, pulling him to the booth to sit with Alison. He kept a hand on Noah’s still-trembling shoulder. "Okay, so... we need to do something. We'll call my parents, the cops-"
"I'll call my mom," Casey cut in, already pulling out his phone.
"-Good, okay yeah. And then we'll just... we'll just wait it out here for right now, drink some coffee, hang out. Here. In public. Safely." Luke was just this side of babbling, but he wanted to remain calm and coherent for Noah, who looked like he was in a state of shock. Luke suddenly had a flash of fear. Had something happened? "Did he see you? Did he say or do anything to you?"
Noah shook his head. "He was waiting for me. Casey and I saw him standing by my truck. He was waiting for me." He was staring at nothing, his hands clasped together tightly.
Luke and Alison exchanged glances, concerned. "Hey," Luke said gently, running a hand through Noah's hair. "We'll figure this out. It'll be okay, he's not going to hurt you again. I promised, didn't I?" Noah didn't answer, but he did lean into Luke's touch, eyes closing miserably. Luke smiled a little sadly- what had they done to deserve this?- and Alison put her hand on Noah's other shoulder.
They all three looked up when Casey closed his phone, sitting down with them. "My mom's on her way with a couple uniform guys. She said she'd get your parents too, Luke. She wants us to stay here and stay together until they get here." Casey stole Alison's mug, taking a sip. She gave him a half-hearted glare, but didn't make any move to stop him.
It only took Margo about thirty seconds of explanation to get Lily and Holden to come with her. A few minutes later they were all rushing into Java, the kids standing up to meet them. "Are you okay?" Lily cried out, arms immediately going around her son.
Luke tried reassuring his mother and nodded to his dad, who went over to Noah and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Noah?"
Noah had calmed down, and now he tried to offer a little smile. "I'm okay." Holden smiled back, patting his shoulder.
Margo approached, a regretful look on her face. "Well, unfortunately he's gone. Maybe he heard us coming, or he didn't want wait around any longer, I don't know. I'm sorry," she said to Luke and Noah. Their eyes went wide, and everyone else grew more alarmed.
"So what do we do?" Holden prompted.
"I'm going to keep a few officers here to canvass the area, we'll put an APB out on him, make sure the town's aware. And," she sighed, "I'm going to put some police protection on you, Noah."
"Me?" Noah asked, looking back and forth between Margo and the others. "No, you mean you’re going to for the Snyders."
"Noah," Luke tried to cut in.
"No, Luke. Don't you remember what he does? He's never hurt me-"
"Yes he has!" Luke cried out, thinking back on the physical and emotional abuse Colonel Mayer had inflicted on his son over the years.
Noah shook his head. "No, he always goes after the people I care about. I don't want that to happen again."
Lily smiled sadly at the boy she had come to love as one of her own. "Well, those people care about you too, so you're going to get protection whether you want it or not."
Holden stood beside her. "That's right. How about this- we were all going to spend the weekend at the farm anyway- you come and stay with us so the police protection can be for all of us." Noah had no choice but to agree.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Emma was baking, of course, when they entered the house. "Well hello there, where have you all been?" She realized there were four people- not three- walking in, instantly recognizing the tall, lean form of her grandson’s boyfriend. “Noah, dear! I didn’t know you were joining us tonight. You’re in luck, though, it just so happens I made your favorite…” She trailed off, finally took in their appearances, the tense looks on their faces. Her expression immediately dropped into a frown. "What happened?"
Holden looked at the boys, noticing how Luke kept glancing worriedly at Noah, and nodded to Lily. "Mama, there's something we need to tell you. Let's go to the living room and we'll explain." He and Lily ushered Emma out of the kitchen.
Luke silently thanked his dad as he and Noah sat at the kitchen table. He pulled his chair closer when Noah sighed heavily, burying his head in his hands. Luke reached out to run a hand comfortingly over Noah's hair, not sure what else he could do. "You want to talk?" he asked quietly. Noah shook his head, not looking up. "Okay." Luke wanted to say something else, something clever or cute, but now just wasn't the time. Right now he had to make sure Noah was okay.
And then Noah looked up, tired blue eyes focused on him. "Do you need to talk?" he asked. "I haven't... I'm sorry, I've been so freaked out, but you've got to be scared too, and I haven't-"
"Noah, hey." Luke let his hand drop from Noah's hair to the side of his face. "I am scared, okay? Your father doesn't exactly bring back warm and fuzzy memories, but-" and he waved off Noah's protest or apology or whatever he was about to say, "-but I'm scared for all of us. No matter what you say or think, he has hurt you. And I don't want him to do that again."
"I don't want him to hurt you again either," Noah responded quickly.
"See, I love it when we’re on the same page," Luke smiled, and they pulled each other into a tight hug. After a few moments he stood, prodding Noah to his feet. "Come on, you look like you need some sleep. Who knows, maybe by the time we wake up Margo will have caught the Colonel and we can forget this ever happened."
Noah smiled a little then. "By the time 'we' wake up?"
Luke mock-glared at him, playfully pinching Noah’s chin. "Didn’t I promise I wouldn't let you get hurt again? Face it Mayer, you're stuck with me until this is all over. You go to bed, I go to bed."
"You know, if circumstances were different, I'd really like the sound of that," Noah commented, his voice rough with exhaustion. He held on tight to Luke's hand as Luke guided him up the stairs. Noah kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed, not bothering to change clothes or take off any he had on. Luke took his own shoes off, and his sweatshirt, before sitting on the bed next to him. The second he was settled, Noah turned his body to rest against Luke's, his head laying on Luke's chest. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Luke immediately wrapped his arms around him, dropping a kiss onto Noah's forehead. "Noah, it's okay. None of this is your fault. Nothing's going to happen to us, I promise." Of course he had know way of knowing what could happen, but he wasn't about to let Noah go to sleep thinking otherwise. He stayed where he was, resting his cheek against Noah's hair, listening as the other boy's breathing deepened and slowed. When he was positive Noah had fallen asleep, he allowed himself to do the same.
And that was how Holden and Lily found them a few minutes later. They quietly shut the door, deciding to disregard Emma's rule for the time being. The boys needed each other right now. Once they were back down in the kitchen, Lily leaned into her husband for a hug, laying her head on his shoulder. "What are we going to do, Holden?"
He held her tightly. "I don't know. Whatever we have to. There's going to be a lot of people out looking for Colonel Mayer tomorrow. They'll catch him."
She shook her head. "You don't know that. Luke and Noah-"
"-will be fine. They'll catch him," Holden insisted. "And in the meantime, we'll protect the boys with everything we have. And if that bastard tries anything, tries to come here and hurt them, I'll kill him myself."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
When Margo stepped in the next morning, the Snyders and Noah were just finishing up breakfast. “Did you find him?” Noah was the first one to ask.
Margo looked at him, the hopeful expression on his face, and shook her head slowly. “No, not yet. I’m sorry, Noah.” Noah swallowed hard, his head dropping down to stare at his plate, the food barely touched. “But we have local and state police patrolling the area for him. We put in a call to his last army base too, to see if the military wants to get involved in finding him. And we had Casey look at his mug shot to confirm that it is Colonel Mayer.”
“He really is back,” Luke murmured. Part of him had kind of hoped, despite what Noah and Casey saw… Lily put her hand on his arm, squeezing gently. He smiled at her, then turned to Margo. “So, what are we supposed do in the meantime? Bunker down here, order in food? Stay away from doors and windows? They have work, and Noah has school, and…”
“Easy, calm down,” Lily pulled Luke back into his chair. He hadn’t even realized he had stood up. “No one is keeping us here as prisoners.”
“Yeah,” Holden jumped in. “We’re going to keep on living our lives as normal, just…” he nodded towards the cops standing outside the house. “with… a few new friends hanging around.” He looked to Margo. “Right?”
“Absolutely,” she assured them. “Where are the girls and Ethan?”
“Jade’s staying over at a friend’s house tonight. Faith, Natalie, and Ethan are spending the weekend with my mother,” Lily answered. “It was only supposed to be a day, but we figured, the way things are…”
“That’s a good idea. No need to scare them or get them involved,” Margo agreed.
“Get them involved?” Noah echoed. He lifted his head finally. “None of you should be involved. He’s here because of me, I should-”
“You should what, Noah, go out and find him yourself? Leave town?” Holden reached out and grabbed Noah’s shoulder as the young man stood up from the table.
“I don’t know! Maybe! We don’t know what he’s capable of, okay? He’s going to hurt someone and…”
“And?” Luke also stood up, moving in front of Noah as the blue-eyed boy paced back and forth.
Noah stopped to lock eyes with Luke. “And I’d rather it be me than someone else!” Before anyone could stop him, Noah stormed out of the kitchen.
The others looked at each other sadly, Luke exchanging a glance and a nod with his father before following. He caught up with Noah on the porch, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him around. “Noah, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what, Luke? Put you and your family in danger? Let my father ruin my life again?” Noah was shaking under Luke’s grip.
“Don’t try to do this on your own,” Luke said quietly, calmly. He knew how quickly Noah’s emotions could escalate if pushed. He put his hand against Noah’s face, waiting for him to look him in the eye. “You’re a part of this family, too. You are,” he insisted when Noah shook his head. “I mean it, I think sometimes my parents would love to disown me and adopt you instead.” Noah gave a short huff of laughter, and it encouraged Luke to continue. “And we,” he slid his arms around Noah’s waist, anchoring him to the spot, “are going to protect you as much as you want to protect us. No matter what, we’re all in this together.”
Noah smiled genuinely then if a little hesitantly, wrapping his own arms around on Luke’s shoulders. “So I’m stuck with you, is that it?” he asked.
“Pretty much,” Luke grinned. He leaned forward and kissed Noah softly once, twice, and then started moving them back to the kitchen. “You’ll see. It’ll be okay, and he won’t be able to hurt us this time.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winston Mayer stood very still, watching from the shadows of the woods surrounding the Snyder farm. Through his binoculars, he could see his son in the kitchen, sitting with his “friend” and the parents. He nearly shook with disgust, watching Luke with his arm fastened around Noah’s shoulders, seeing the Snyders- Holden and Lily and an older woman- treat Noah as though he was their family and not Winston’s. No, it was all wrong. Noah was his son and his responsibility.
Once Lieutenant Hughes was gone and the other cops were settled in outside, Winston felt brave enough to get closer. He moved to the very edge of the tree line, hoping to get a better look at Noah. He had to admit, Noah looked good- strong and healthy, matured. Though he held himself a little tensely, and of course Winston knew he was the cause of that, Noah also seemed more… comfortable with himself, with other people. That awkward, gangly young man Winston had known was all but gone. When the older woman said something and the whole family (group, he corrected himself, Noah was not a part of that family) laughed, Winston could only stare in wonder at the way Noah’s face broke out into a grin. He hadn’t seen Noah smile like that with him since he was eight.
That had to change.
Winston had tried to stay away, start a new life. But try as he might, he couldn’t forget about his son. He did still plan on leaving the country to start over, but he knew now that that had to include Noah. Whether Noah wanted it to or not.
The buzzing of his phone brought Winston out of his thoughts and back to the present. He slid back away from the house, pulling his cell out. “Yeah?” he barked out.
“Sir, our base is secure,” his hired man reported in. Tim Kelley had served with Winston in several tours and could always be counted on for the “off the books” jobs. Tim had brought with him two of his own men- Alan and Brett- and between the four of them Winston was sure they would pull this off. “We’re ready to go ahead with your plans.”
“Okay, good job, Tim. I’ll be there in a few,” he hung out without waiting for a response, looking back one last time at his son before melting even further into the shadows, disappearing from sight. Today, it would begin.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Dude, that sucks!” Casey frowned, glancing at the two plainclothes officers sitting near the door of Java. Luke answered with something close to a grunt, head propped up by both hands. Jade tried to smile in sympathy, but gave up when Luke’s glare told her it wasn’t working.
“What sucks?” Alison asked as she dropped into the seat next to Casey.
“Police protection,” Luke sighed dramatically, nodding his head to his and Noah’s new friends.
Alison’s eyes widened. “They haven’t caught Noah’s dad yet?”
“Nope. And until they do, not only do we get to be stalked by the psycho, we also get to have Starsky and Hutch follow our every step!” Luke said with fake-enthusiasm.
“Luke, it’s probably for the best,” Alison responded gently. “The guy’s dangerous. He put you in a wheelchair at some point, didn’t he?”
He grimaced. “Yeah, but-”
“Look at it this way,” Jade proposed. “Yeah, these guys following you around is annoying, but if the alternative is leaving Noah wide open and in danger, don’t you think you should suck it up and let them do their job? Which is to protect Noah, and you.” Luke was silent, contemplating this.
Casey jumped in. “And don’t you think it makes Noah feel even a little bit better knowing you’re protected? With all this crap going on, it’s one less thing he has to stress out about. Right?”
Luke looked around at the three of them. “God, I hate it when you guys make sense.”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t happen to me too often,” Casey grinned.
With the atmosphere a little more relaxed, Alison glanced around the coffee shop. “Speaking of stress, where is Noah?” She jumped, startled, when a mug- double shot latte, of course- was placed onto the table in front of her, followed by Noah sitting down heavily next to Luke.
“Finally finishing his shift at work, unlike you losers.”
“Busy day?” Jade asked.
“Finals week, yeah,” Noah nodded to the students just leaving Java, their arms full of textbooks. “Not to mention looking over my shoulder every five minutes to make sure Colonel Freakshow doesn’t walk through the door.” He hooked one arm casually around Luke’s shoulders, both boys drawing some comfort from the contact. “Everything cool here?”
Luke glanced again at their bodyguards, but decided against complaining some more. His friends were right- the less stress, the better. “Yeah, totally cool.”
Noah grinned at him. “Liar. How many different ideas did you come up with for ditching our police protection?”
The other three snorted at Luke’s indignant expression. “I will have you know I…” he couldn’t fight off the smile any longer. “Four. Five if you happen to have any ski masks in the back room.”
Noah chuckled deeply. “No ski masks, but I do have a pay check to pick up back there. After I grab that, how about the five of us go out and do something fun? Hang out at the pond or go to the movies or… something? Anything?” If he sounded a little bit desperate, the others understood and ignored it.
“You know, that’s a great idea, I heard there’s some double feature of old movies playing at the theater today,” Jade suggested, sending knowing looks to Casey and Alison.
Alison elbowed Casey, and the two of them started nodding enthusiastically. “Sounds good!” they echoed each other.
Luke couldn’t help but smirk at them. He glanced over at Noah, who was shaking his head. “Yeah, you guys are so smooth.” He nudged Noah’s shoulder with his own. “Go get your paycheck, and then we’ll go watch the movies and you can tell us in excruciating detail why we’re supposed to like them.”
Noah ducked his head, giving that embarrassed little smile that always delighted Luke. “Shut up,” he mumbled. He stood up and headed to the pay office. “Be right back,” he called over his shoulder.
He had just stepped into the room when the door slammed shut behind him. He spun quickly, but before he could react someone shoved him hard back against the wall, and a forearm was pressed tightly to his throat. Noah managed to make one choked off noise before his breath was stolen from him. “Hey kiddo, remember me?” The large man smirked at Noah, pulling his arm back just enough for Noah to catch his breath.
Noah squinted, studying the man. For a second his heart was beating too fast for him to think, but then realization sunk in. “Sergeant Kelley?” he stuttered. When the man’s smirk widened, Noah felt like throwing up. This was one of his father’s closest friends, they had served together before Noah was even born. Noah couldn’t believe he was here. He started struggling, his mind working a hundred miles a minute. Did that mean his dad wasn’t in town alone, he had people working for him?
The arm was pressed hard against his throat again, hard enough to cut off both Noah’s oxygen and his train of thought. “Here’s the deal, Noah. Your dad is waiting for you, he’s close by. You come with me now- no fuss- I’ll take you to him and that’ll be it. No one in this sorry little town has to know, and no one-” the pressure increased on his throat, causing Noah to wheeze as he tried to suck in some air. “-No one has to get hurt. Don’t you think that’s a good idea? What do you say, kiddo?” He had always called Noah ‘kiddo.’ Noah had never hated it until now.
Noah couldn’t possibly talk with the way Kelley was choking him, so he just shook his head. His chest was starting to feel heavy, more air leaving his body than going in, like he was having an asthma attack. He tried to push the arm away, push himself away, but nothing happened. Some long forgotten instinct- his father trying to teach him self defense when he was younger- had Noah lashing out with one hand, hitting the nerve on the inside of Kelley’s arm. He used his other elbow to strike the Sergeant in the eye.
The man cursed, letting go of Noah to grasp at his arm for a second. Noah sagged downward and braced himself against the wall, about to push himself off and make a run for it, but Kelley recovered too quickly. Once again, he found himself shoved back, his air cut off violently. He shook his head again, a faint groan escaping his lips.
The pressure seemed to increase even more. “No? Come on Noah, don’t make this harder than it has to be.” Spots were starting to cloud Noah’s vision, and that scared him. If he passed out, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself… not that he was doing a great job of that right now.
“No!” he gasped out soundlessly. He struggled, trying feebly to push Kelley away from him. No, no, no.
“You’re putting your friends at risk here, Noah. I promise, you come with me now and no one gets hurt,” Kelley’s voice was genial, conversational, as though they were talking about a Cubs game.
Noah was starting to have trouble getting his brain to work, but he was pretty sure he knew going with Sergeant Kelley would be a bad thing. He shook his head again, lungs empty and chest heaving. How long could a person go without oxygen before they died?
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: The Colonel makes his move, Noah and Luke suffer the consequences...
Chapter: 1/15
Author: carolinablu85, also known as CarolinaBlue on vh.net or CarolinaBlu on the wiki (I know, I'm a fountain of creative names)
Pairing: Luke/Noah
Rating: PG-ish for right now, will get darker later
Spoilers: set in spring 2009, after Luke and Noah battle housing discrimination but before Damian/evil twins. Thus, before the Colonel came back from the dead last year
Summary: They thought he was gone, that he couldn't hurt them ever again. So what happens when Colonel Mayer comes back for Noah?
Disclaimer: I disclaim. I own a pair of sneakers, a cellphone, and some other stuff. The show? Nope, not that.
Author's Note: So this is the first major 'epic' story I ever wrote (and finished)! The reason I'm reposting it here on LJ is because I'm in the middle of writing the sequel and would like for people here to read it! So I had to get this story out first.
Alison entered Java with an armful of books, in desperate need of a caffeine fix. “Noah!” she spotted her friend behind the counter. “Can you get me-”
“Double shot latte, coming up,” he called to her as she sat in the corner booth, dropping the books with a huff. “You okay?”
“I have two finals for nursing school coming up, and I’d really like to not fail them,” she gestured to the pile. “These textbooks are haunting my dreams.”
Noah smiled sympathetically, placing a mug in front of her. “Makes me glad I’m a good-for-nothing film student.”
Alison mock-glared at him until she took a sip of the latte, immediately sighing in satisfaction. “You are a coffee god. How many more can you make in the next hour?”
“None, sorry. My shift just ended, so…”
Casey came hurrying into Java, moving over to them quickly, waving a hand to interrupt whatever Noah was about to say. “Noah, my friend, my savior, please tell me you’re done. My dad took my car this morning, and I left some paperwork at the hospital that I need for tomorrow, and I desperately need a ride so Jade doesn’t, like, literally kill me.”
Noah couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah, I guess we wouldn’t want that. Come on,” he grabbed his jacket from behind the counter, twirling his keys around one finger.
“Oh, dude, thanks,” Casey sighed, then did a double take. “Wait, you guess?”
Ali giggled at the look on his face. “Aw, be careful Noah. He’s got a fragile ego. He just masks it under all that bravado.”
Casey looked back and forth between them. “What? I don’t mask anything. This isn’t bravado, this is pure, masculine, animal magnetism right here.” He waved a hand vaguely around himself. “No one can resist this.”
“Sorry bro,” Noah threw an arm jokingly around Casey’s shoulders. “But the straight girl and the gay guy here are saying differently.” Ali giggled again as Casey good-naturedly shrugged off Noah’s arm.
Casey wagged a finger at Alison. “Keep laughing girlfriend. I may not be able to change your mind, but I’ve got a whole ride to the hospital to win Noah over.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, good luck with that. I’m not too worried.”
Casey turned to follow Noah out the door, stopping at the last second just inside the doorway. “You should be worried. We all know Noah’s got a thing for blonds!” Noah couldn’t help but laugh at the slightly surprised look on Ali’s face.
“I’ve got a thing for Luke, not blonds,” Noah felt like he had to correct Casey as they walked through Old Town.
Casey shrugged, still grinning. “Doesn’t matter. If I just got Alison even a little bit jealous, it means I might have a fun night ahead of me when we meet back up later.” The look on his face, eyebrows raised suggestively, caused Noah to crack up, Casey joining him. They rounded the corner, still laughing, when Noah stopped abruptly. Casey looked at him questioningly, about to crack another joke, when he saw his friend's face. Noah's eyes were wide, shocked, and... fearful? "Noah?" Casey was almost afraid to touch him. He was as tense as Casey had ever seen him.
He followed the direction of Noah's stare. A large sandy-haired man was leaning ever-so-casually against the driver's side door of Noah's truck. Too ever-so-casually, in Casey's opinion. Thank God the guy hadn't noticed them yet, because he gave Casey the creeps immediately. And Noah obviously recognized him. "Who is that?"
Noah snapped out of his daze. "Let's go, hurry!" he grabbed Casey's shoulder and shoved him back the way they had come.
"Who is he?" Casey asked again.
"Come on!" He broke out into a run, and Casey quickly followed. A few minutes later they burst back into now mostly-empty Java, out of breath.
Alison looked up from the booth they had left her in, surprised. "Hey guys, I thought..." she trailed off at their expressions, Noah's especially freaked out. “What happened? Noah?"
"Seriously, Noah, who the hell was that guy?" Casey finally managed to catch his breath. Noah's breathing was still rushed, but it looked like it was more from panic than the run.
"What guy?" Alison asked.
"My dad," Noah said simply, quietly. Casey stared at him, shocked, while Alison’s frown deepened with worry. He sounded scared and younger than the other two had ever heard him before. As Casey filled her in on what had happened, Noah hurriedly pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial 1. He paced back and forth as it continued to ring. "Come on Luke, pick up!" It went to voicemail, and Noah tried to swallow back even more panic. Where the hell was he? "Luke, it's me. Call me as soon as you get this, and- and- just... go somewhere safe, okay? Don't go anywhere alone, don't... just call me, Luke, please?" Casey and Alison exchanged a troubled glance, starting to realize how serious this was.
"Why would I call you when I'm already here?" Luke said from the doorway, stepping in to hear the end of Noah's message. He was grinning, unaware of the tension in the coffeehouse.
"Oh, thank God." Noah made a beeline for his boyfriend, grabbing him and pulling him into a forceful, relieved hug.
"Hey, it's nice to see you too," Luke said, still smiling. He tried to pull back, but Noah just tightened his grip. "Noah?" It was then he realized Noah was shaking. He frowned, instantly concerned. "Hey, hey. Baby, what's wrong?" He rubbed one hand reassuringly on Noah's back, made eye contact with Casey and Allison over his shoulder. "Guys?"
"We saw Noah's dad," Casey said quietly.
Luke felt a chill spread quickly through him, squeezing at his lungs, making his knees weak. "No, no, no, no, no. He's dead. He drowned. He can't..." he finally managed to pull Noah away from him. He held Noah's face in both hands. "You’re sure it was him?" Noah just looked at him, nodding, not trusting himself to speak right now. "But he drowned," Luke whispered, wanting Noah and Casey to be wrong. After everything he and Noah had been through, this was the last thing they needed.
"They never found his body," Noah said just as softly. His face was so pale, and he looked like he might pass out.
Luke steadied him, pulling him to the booth to sit with Alison. He kept a hand on Noah’s still-trembling shoulder. "Okay, so... we need to do something. We'll call my parents, the cops-"
"I'll call my mom," Casey cut in, already pulling out his phone.
"-Good, okay yeah. And then we'll just... we'll just wait it out here for right now, drink some coffee, hang out. Here. In public. Safely." Luke was just this side of babbling, but he wanted to remain calm and coherent for Noah, who looked like he was in a state of shock. Luke suddenly had a flash of fear. Had something happened? "Did he see you? Did he say or do anything to you?"
Noah shook his head. "He was waiting for me. Casey and I saw him standing by my truck. He was waiting for me." He was staring at nothing, his hands clasped together tightly.
Luke and Alison exchanged glances, concerned. "Hey," Luke said gently, running a hand through Noah's hair. "We'll figure this out. It'll be okay, he's not going to hurt you again. I promised, didn't I?" Noah didn't answer, but he did lean into Luke's touch, eyes closing miserably. Luke smiled a little sadly- what had they done to deserve this?- and Alison put her hand on Noah's other shoulder.
They all three looked up when Casey closed his phone, sitting down with them. "My mom's on her way with a couple uniform guys. She said she'd get your parents too, Luke. She wants us to stay here and stay together until they get here." Casey stole Alison's mug, taking a sip. She gave him a half-hearted glare, but didn't make any move to stop him.
It only took Margo about thirty seconds of explanation to get Lily and Holden to come with her. A few minutes later they were all rushing into Java, the kids standing up to meet them. "Are you okay?" Lily cried out, arms immediately going around her son.
Luke tried reassuring his mother and nodded to his dad, who went over to Noah and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Noah?"
Noah had calmed down, and now he tried to offer a little smile. "I'm okay." Holden smiled back, patting his shoulder.
Margo approached, a regretful look on her face. "Well, unfortunately he's gone. Maybe he heard us coming, or he didn't want wait around any longer, I don't know. I'm sorry," she said to Luke and Noah. Their eyes went wide, and everyone else grew more alarmed.
"So what do we do?" Holden prompted.
"I'm going to keep a few officers here to canvass the area, we'll put an APB out on him, make sure the town's aware. And," she sighed, "I'm going to put some police protection on you, Noah."
"Me?" Noah asked, looking back and forth between Margo and the others. "No, you mean you’re going to for the Snyders."
"Noah," Luke tried to cut in.
"No, Luke. Don't you remember what he does? He's never hurt me-"
"Yes he has!" Luke cried out, thinking back on the physical and emotional abuse Colonel Mayer had inflicted on his son over the years.
Noah shook his head. "No, he always goes after the people I care about. I don't want that to happen again."
Lily smiled sadly at the boy she had come to love as one of her own. "Well, those people care about you too, so you're going to get protection whether you want it or not."
Holden stood beside her. "That's right. How about this- we were all going to spend the weekend at the farm anyway- you come and stay with us so the police protection can be for all of us." Noah had no choice but to agree.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Emma was baking, of course, when they entered the house. "Well hello there, where have you all been?" She realized there were four people- not three- walking in, instantly recognizing the tall, lean form of her grandson’s boyfriend. “Noah, dear! I didn’t know you were joining us tonight. You’re in luck, though, it just so happens I made your favorite…” She trailed off, finally took in their appearances, the tense looks on their faces. Her expression immediately dropped into a frown. "What happened?"
Holden looked at the boys, noticing how Luke kept glancing worriedly at Noah, and nodded to Lily. "Mama, there's something we need to tell you. Let's go to the living room and we'll explain." He and Lily ushered Emma out of the kitchen.
Luke silently thanked his dad as he and Noah sat at the kitchen table. He pulled his chair closer when Noah sighed heavily, burying his head in his hands. Luke reached out to run a hand comfortingly over Noah's hair, not sure what else he could do. "You want to talk?" he asked quietly. Noah shook his head, not looking up. "Okay." Luke wanted to say something else, something clever or cute, but now just wasn't the time. Right now he had to make sure Noah was okay.
And then Noah looked up, tired blue eyes focused on him. "Do you need to talk?" he asked. "I haven't... I'm sorry, I've been so freaked out, but you've got to be scared too, and I haven't-"
"Noah, hey." Luke let his hand drop from Noah's hair to the side of his face. "I am scared, okay? Your father doesn't exactly bring back warm and fuzzy memories, but-" and he waved off Noah's protest or apology or whatever he was about to say, "-but I'm scared for all of us. No matter what you say or think, he has hurt you. And I don't want him to do that again."
"I don't want him to hurt you again either," Noah responded quickly.
"See, I love it when we’re on the same page," Luke smiled, and they pulled each other into a tight hug. After a few moments he stood, prodding Noah to his feet. "Come on, you look like you need some sleep. Who knows, maybe by the time we wake up Margo will have caught the Colonel and we can forget this ever happened."
Noah smiled a little then. "By the time 'we' wake up?"
Luke mock-glared at him, playfully pinching Noah’s chin. "Didn’t I promise I wouldn't let you get hurt again? Face it Mayer, you're stuck with me until this is all over. You go to bed, I go to bed."
"You know, if circumstances were different, I'd really like the sound of that," Noah commented, his voice rough with exhaustion. He held on tight to Luke's hand as Luke guided him up the stairs. Noah kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed, not bothering to change clothes or take off any he had on. Luke took his own shoes off, and his sweatshirt, before sitting on the bed next to him. The second he was settled, Noah turned his body to rest against Luke's, his head laying on Luke's chest. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Luke immediately wrapped his arms around him, dropping a kiss onto Noah's forehead. "Noah, it's okay. None of this is your fault. Nothing's going to happen to us, I promise." Of course he had know way of knowing what could happen, but he wasn't about to let Noah go to sleep thinking otherwise. He stayed where he was, resting his cheek against Noah's hair, listening as the other boy's breathing deepened and slowed. When he was positive Noah had fallen asleep, he allowed himself to do the same.
And that was how Holden and Lily found them a few minutes later. They quietly shut the door, deciding to disregard Emma's rule for the time being. The boys needed each other right now. Once they were back down in the kitchen, Lily leaned into her husband for a hug, laying her head on his shoulder. "What are we going to do, Holden?"
He held her tightly. "I don't know. Whatever we have to. There's going to be a lot of people out looking for Colonel Mayer tomorrow. They'll catch him."
She shook her head. "You don't know that. Luke and Noah-"
"-will be fine. They'll catch him," Holden insisted. "And in the meantime, we'll protect the boys with everything we have. And if that bastard tries anything, tries to come here and hurt them, I'll kill him myself."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
When Margo stepped in the next morning, the Snyders and Noah were just finishing up breakfast. “Did you find him?” Noah was the first one to ask.
Margo looked at him, the hopeful expression on his face, and shook her head slowly. “No, not yet. I’m sorry, Noah.” Noah swallowed hard, his head dropping down to stare at his plate, the food barely touched. “But we have local and state police patrolling the area for him. We put in a call to his last army base too, to see if the military wants to get involved in finding him. And we had Casey look at his mug shot to confirm that it is Colonel Mayer.”
“He really is back,” Luke murmured. Part of him had kind of hoped, despite what Noah and Casey saw… Lily put her hand on his arm, squeezing gently. He smiled at her, then turned to Margo. “So, what are we supposed do in the meantime? Bunker down here, order in food? Stay away from doors and windows? They have work, and Noah has school, and…”
“Easy, calm down,” Lily pulled Luke back into his chair. He hadn’t even realized he had stood up. “No one is keeping us here as prisoners.”
“Yeah,” Holden jumped in. “We’re going to keep on living our lives as normal, just…” he nodded towards the cops standing outside the house. “with… a few new friends hanging around.” He looked to Margo. “Right?”
“Absolutely,” she assured them. “Where are the girls and Ethan?”
“Jade’s staying over at a friend’s house tonight. Faith, Natalie, and Ethan are spending the weekend with my mother,” Lily answered. “It was only supposed to be a day, but we figured, the way things are…”
“That’s a good idea. No need to scare them or get them involved,” Margo agreed.
“Get them involved?” Noah echoed. He lifted his head finally. “None of you should be involved. He’s here because of me, I should-”
“You should what, Noah, go out and find him yourself? Leave town?” Holden reached out and grabbed Noah’s shoulder as the young man stood up from the table.
“I don’t know! Maybe! We don’t know what he’s capable of, okay? He’s going to hurt someone and…”
“And?” Luke also stood up, moving in front of Noah as the blue-eyed boy paced back and forth.
Noah stopped to lock eyes with Luke. “And I’d rather it be me than someone else!” Before anyone could stop him, Noah stormed out of the kitchen.
The others looked at each other sadly, Luke exchanging a glance and a nod with his father before following. He caught up with Noah on the porch, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him around. “Noah, don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what, Luke? Put you and your family in danger? Let my father ruin my life again?” Noah was shaking under Luke’s grip.
“Don’t try to do this on your own,” Luke said quietly, calmly. He knew how quickly Noah’s emotions could escalate if pushed. He put his hand against Noah’s face, waiting for him to look him in the eye. “You’re a part of this family, too. You are,” he insisted when Noah shook his head. “I mean it, I think sometimes my parents would love to disown me and adopt you instead.” Noah gave a short huff of laughter, and it encouraged Luke to continue. “And we,” he slid his arms around Noah’s waist, anchoring him to the spot, “are going to protect you as much as you want to protect us. No matter what, we’re all in this together.”
Noah smiled genuinely then if a little hesitantly, wrapping his own arms around on Luke’s shoulders. “So I’m stuck with you, is that it?” he asked.
“Pretty much,” Luke grinned. He leaned forward and kissed Noah softly once, twice, and then started moving them back to the kitchen. “You’ll see. It’ll be okay, and he won’t be able to hurt us this time.”
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winston Mayer stood very still, watching from the shadows of the woods surrounding the Snyder farm. Through his binoculars, he could see his son in the kitchen, sitting with his “friend” and the parents. He nearly shook with disgust, watching Luke with his arm fastened around Noah’s shoulders, seeing the Snyders- Holden and Lily and an older woman- treat Noah as though he was their family and not Winston’s. No, it was all wrong. Noah was his son and his responsibility.
Once Lieutenant Hughes was gone and the other cops were settled in outside, Winston felt brave enough to get closer. He moved to the very edge of the tree line, hoping to get a better look at Noah. He had to admit, Noah looked good- strong and healthy, matured. Though he held himself a little tensely, and of course Winston knew he was the cause of that, Noah also seemed more… comfortable with himself, with other people. That awkward, gangly young man Winston had known was all but gone. When the older woman said something and the whole family (group, he corrected himself, Noah was not a part of that family) laughed, Winston could only stare in wonder at the way Noah’s face broke out into a grin. He hadn’t seen Noah smile like that with him since he was eight.
That had to change.
Winston had tried to stay away, start a new life. But try as he might, he couldn’t forget about his son. He did still plan on leaving the country to start over, but he knew now that that had to include Noah. Whether Noah wanted it to or not.
The buzzing of his phone brought Winston out of his thoughts and back to the present. He slid back away from the house, pulling his cell out. “Yeah?” he barked out.
“Sir, our base is secure,” his hired man reported in. Tim Kelley had served with Winston in several tours and could always be counted on for the “off the books” jobs. Tim had brought with him two of his own men- Alan and Brett- and between the four of them Winston was sure they would pull this off. “We’re ready to go ahead with your plans.”
“Okay, good job, Tim. I’ll be there in a few,” he hung out without waiting for a response, looking back one last time at his son before melting even further into the shadows, disappearing from sight. Today, it would begin.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
“Dude, that sucks!” Casey frowned, glancing at the two plainclothes officers sitting near the door of Java. Luke answered with something close to a grunt, head propped up by both hands. Jade tried to smile in sympathy, but gave up when Luke’s glare told her it wasn’t working.
“What sucks?” Alison asked as she dropped into the seat next to Casey.
“Police protection,” Luke sighed dramatically, nodding his head to his and Noah’s new friends.
Alison’s eyes widened. “They haven’t caught Noah’s dad yet?”
“Nope. And until they do, not only do we get to be stalked by the psycho, we also get to have Starsky and Hutch follow our every step!” Luke said with fake-enthusiasm.
“Luke, it’s probably for the best,” Alison responded gently. “The guy’s dangerous. He put you in a wheelchair at some point, didn’t he?”
He grimaced. “Yeah, but-”
“Look at it this way,” Jade proposed. “Yeah, these guys following you around is annoying, but if the alternative is leaving Noah wide open and in danger, don’t you think you should suck it up and let them do their job? Which is to protect Noah, and you.” Luke was silent, contemplating this.
Casey jumped in. “And don’t you think it makes Noah feel even a little bit better knowing you’re protected? With all this crap going on, it’s one less thing he has to stress out about. Right?”
Luke looked around at the three of them. “God, I hate it when you guys make sense.”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t happen to me too often,” Casey grinned.
With the atmosphere a little more relaxed, Alison glanced around the coffee shop. “Speaking of stress, where is Noah?” She jumped, startled, when a mug- double shot latte, of course- was placed onto the table in front of her, followed by Noah sitting down heavily next to Luke.
“Finally finishing his shift at work, unlike you losers.”
“Busy day?” Jade asked.
“Finals week, yeah,” Noah nodded to the students just leaving Java, their arms full of textbooks. “Not to mention looking over my shoulder every five minutes to make sure Colonel Freakshow doesn’t walk through the door.” He hooked one arm casually around Luke’s shoulders, both boys drawing some comfort from the contact. “Everything cool here?”
Luke glanced again at their bodyguards, but decided against complaining some more. His friends were right- the less stress, the better. “Yeah, totally cool.”
Noah grinned at him. “Liar. How many different ideas did you come up with for ditching our police protection?”
The other three snorted at Luke’s indignant expression. “I will have you know I…” he couldn’t fight off the smile any longer. “Four. Five if you happen to have any ski masks in the back room.”
Noah chuckled deeply. “No ski masks, but I do have a pay check to pick up back there. After I grab that, how about the five of us go out and do something fun? Hang out at the pond or go to the movies or… something? Anything?” If he sounded a little bit desperate, the others understood and ignored it.
“You know, that’s a great idea, I heard there’s some double feature of old movies playing at the theater today,” Jade suggested, sending knowing looks to Casey and Alison.
Alison elbowed Casey, and the two of them started nodding enthusiastically. “Sounds good!” they echoed each other.
Luke couldn’t help but smirk at them. He glanced over at Noah, who was shaking his head. “Yeah, you guys are so smooth.” He nudged Noah’s shoulder with his own. “Go get your paycheck, and then we’ll go watch the movies and you can tell us in excruciating detail why we’re supposed to like them.”
Noah ducked his head, giving that embarrassed little smile that always delighted Luke. “Shut up,” he mumbled. He stood up and headed to the pay office. “Be right back,” he called over his shoulder.
He had just stepped into the room when the door slammed shut behind him. He spun quickly, but before he could react someone shoved him hard back against the wall, and a forearm was pressed tightly to his throat. Noah managed to make one choked off noise before his breath was stolen from him. “Hey kiddo, remember me?” The large man smirked at Noah, pulling his arm back just enough for Noah to catch his breath.
Noah squinted, studying the man. For a second his heart was beating too fast for him to think, but then realization sunk in. “Sergeant Kelley?” he stuttered. When the man’s smirk widened, Noah felt like throwing up. This was one of his father’s closest friends, they had served together before Noah was even born. Noah couldn’t believe he was here. He started struggling, his mind working a hundred miles a minute. Did that mean his dad wasn’t in town alone, he had people working for him?
The arm was pressed hard against his throat again, hard enough to cut off both Noah’s oxygen and his train of thought. “Here’s the deal, Noah. Your dad is waiting for you, he’s close by. You come with me now- no fuss- I’ll take you to him and that’ll be it. No one in this sorry little town has to know, and no one-” the pressure increased on his throat, causing Noah to wheeze as he tried to suck in some air. “-No one has to get hurt. Don’t you think that’s a good idea? What do you say, kiddo?” He had always called Noah ‘kiddo.’ Noah had never hated it until now.
Noah couldn’t possibly talk with the way Kelley was choking him, so he just shook his head. His chest was starting to feel heavy, more air leaving his body than going in, like he was having an asthma attack. He tried to push the arm away, push himself away, but nothing happened. Some long forgotten instinct- his father trying to teach him self defense when he was younger- had Noah lashing out with one hand, hitting the nerve on the inside of Kelley’s arm. He used his other elbow to strike the Sergeant in the eye.
The man cursed, letting go of Noah to grasp at his arm for a second. Noah sagged downward and braced himself against the wall, about to push himself off and make a run for it, but Kelley recovered too quickly. Once again, he found himself shoved back, his air cut off violently. He shook his head again, a faint groan escaping his lips.
The pressure seemed to increase even more. “No? Come on Noah, don’t make this harder than it has to be.” Spots were starting to cloud Noah’s vision, and that scared him. If he passed out, he wouldn’t be able to protect himself… not that he was doing a great job of that right now.
“No!” he gasped out soundlessly. He struggled, trying feebly to push Kelley away from him. No, no, no.
“You’re putting your friends at risk here, Noah. I promise, you come with me now and no one gets hurt,” Kelley’s voice was genial, conversational, as though they were talking about a Cubs game.
Noah was starting to have trouble getting his brain to work, but he was pretty sure he knew going with Sergeant Kelley would be a bad thing. He shook his head again, lungs empty and chest heaving. How long could a person go without oxygen before they died?
TO BE CONTINUED! Coming Up: The Colonel makes his move, Noah and Luke suffer the consequences...