FIC - Force of Nature (6/?)

Oct 16, 2011 18:57

Title: Force of Nature (6/?)
Author: Wheelie47
Rating: R - NC17 for the whole story
Pairing: Luke and OC, Luke and Noah.
Word count: 4,835
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT, Van and Jake. No offence intended.
Summary: Noah is a Professor at the California Institute of Seismic Research and Luke is a freelance investigative reporter...

As Noah gripped the steering wheel of the hire car… following the directions he’d been given and searching the unfamiliar road ahead for the upcoming turning… he couldn’t help but steal a glance at the folder on the passenger seat next to him. The folder that had led to an almost unbelievable chain of events that had brought him on this road hundreds of miles from LA. A chain of events that began with going to see Professor Foster in his office at the Institute…



‘Professor… I need to see you for a minute’ Noah said as he knocked and, in his eagerness for the Professor to shed some light on his findings, opened the door without waiting for a response.

Foster looked up sharply, shocked at the sudden intrusion. He slammed the folder he had been looking at intently shut and hurriedly swept it into his desk drawer.

‘Noah! What’s the meaning of barging in here like this?!’ he demanded, the corners of his mouth twitching with annoyance.

‘I’m sorry Professor… but I really needed to show you this… it’s my analysis of the tremors and the earthquake’ he explained as he pushed the file he’d been holding across the desk.

‘You can see from the data that the original readings were wrong’ Noah continued in a rush. ‘The seismographs had been adjusted so they gave incorrect readings!’

‘Incorrect readings?!’ Foster looked up at Noah from studying the paperwork.

‘Yes… and the logs were missing! Once I’d adjusted the data I realised that all the tremors measured the same and when these converged in this area here…’ Noah pointed to the triangular highlighted area on the A4 map in the file, ‘…the blind thrust followed the path of least resistance… along the network of fault lines… and emerged here’ Noah pointed to the epicentre.

Foster closed the file and sat back in the chair. ‘So what do you make of it all Noah… the seismographs… the missing logs and everything’ he gestured to file before tugging at his bowtie and looking at Noah over the top of his glasses.

‘Well…’ Noah took a deep breath, ‘…I think these tremors and the earthquake were triggered by something mechanical… something man-made.’

Foster leaned forward, a warning glint in his eye. ‘And… what? Are you suggesting that the seismographs were tampered with to hide that? You know… of course… that I have ultimate responsibility for everything that goes on in this Institute?’

‘Professor… I…’ Noah began as he nodded slowly, fearing where this conversation was going.

‘So…’ Foster interrupted, his jaw clenching tightly, ‘… not only did you disappear from your post here at the Institute without a word on the day of the largest earthquake we’ve had in years but now you are throwing accusations around.’

He held up his hand to stop Noah from interrupting as he closed the file and pulled it towards him… into the desk drawer. ‘That is unacceptable Professor Mayer… not only is it a case of gross misconduct but I can’t have people here who do not trust their colleagues. I do not believe there is a place for you here anymore.’

He turned to flick the intercom switch on his desk phone. ‘Lauren… will you please call Security to escort Professor Mayer from the premises’ he instructed as he locked eyes with Noah, a satisfied expression etched across his features…



Noah couldn’t tell how long he had sat in his darkened apartment, beer bottle in hand, as he mulled over the meeting… so not only did he no longer have a job… but now Foster had his research and his only evidence of the link between the tremors and the earthquake.

‘Shit!’ he exclaimed, slamming the beer bottle down with a satisfying thud. ‘I should’ve listened to Luke!’ Luke had questioned whether he should trust Foster with what he’d found even before the earthquake.

Luke… the thought of Luke not only made him smile gently at the memory of watching him sleep on the night of the earthquake… it also gave him an idea… but first he needed to get his file back.

Reaching eagerly for his phone he pressed the speed dial and had to hold the phone away from his ear at the response from the other end. ‘Noah!’ Danny nearly shouted in relief down the phone when he saw Noah’s number on the display, ‘What the fuck happened man… one minute you were on the way to see the big prof and the next we hear is that you’ve been fired AND escorted from the premises!’

‘Danny… I’m ok man. I can’t get into it now… but I need you to get a file from Foster’s office for me’. The image of Foster slipping the folder he’d been looking at when Noah had gone to see him into the desk replayed in his mind and suddenly he had the feeling that it contain something important… something the Professor didn’t want anyone else to see. ‘On second thought there’s another folder I need too. I’ll explain when I see you… and be careful… don’t let him see you’…


After getting the files from Danny and after his friend’s concerned hug and with his heartfelt warning to take care of himself ringing in his ears… Noah found himself on the way to see the only person that he felt he could trust to help him expose what he’d found in the Professor’s folder.

He stood on the porch, waiting for the door to be opened, shifting from foot to foot with nervous anticipation… anticipation because he couldn’t wait to see Luke again and nervousness because of the shocking information he had in the file.

The door finally opened to reveal Jon, dressed hurriedly in only his jeans with the top button still undone. Shit! Noah thought to himself in horror… I’ve interrupted them in the middle of… the actual thought of it…of them…together… made the nausea burn in his throat.

Jon eyed him suspiciously… then his eyes narrowed in recognition. ‘Professor Mayer isn’t it?. What do you want?’ there was a sarcastic amusement to his tone.

Noah ignored it and just nodded. ‘Ah…yeah. Um… is Luke around? I wanted to show him something’ he asked as he gestured to the folder.

‘No… he’s visiting his family with Mikey… back in Oakdale’ he said the last word with a sneer before moving to close the door.

‘Jon… are you coming back to bed baby?’ a voice called seductively from further back in the house and Noah just caught a glimpse of a bare chested dark haired man wandering into the lounge behind Luke’s husband that definitely wasn’t Luke.

Noah’s fingers clenched into a fist, itching to punch the defiant smirk off Jon’s face… the anger boiling up inside him as Jon slammed the door shut.

As he stood there feeling useless… his fingers clenching and unclenching… his thoughts immediately went to Luke… my god did he know that his worthless piece of shit of a husband had moved his lover into their house while Luke was visiting his family… did Luke even know Jon was having an affair?!

Suddenly making sure that Luke was ok meant more to him than exposing the truth behind the earthquakes…

...

Just as Noah was about to turn around, thinking he’d missed the turning, he finally spotted it coming up on the right. He sighed with relief that he’d finally made it as he took the turn and followed the winding road up to the sprawling set of buildings ahead of him.

As he stepped out of the car he spotted a guy working under the hood of a tractor and made his way over. The gravel crunching under his feet must have alerted the man to his approach and he looked up, grabbing a rag to wipe his hands.

‘Can I help you son? Are you lost?’ he smiled, kind eyes sparking with curiosity.

Noah found himself smiling back. ‘I’m looking for Luke… Luke Snyder. This is the Snyder Farm… right?’

Both men turned at the squeak of the screen door opening. ‘Noah?! How…what… are you doing here?’ Luke asked, his mouth dropping open in surprise.

It was almost a full minute before Noah could reply as he took in Luke’s features with shock; there were huge dark circles under his eyes and those beautiful hazel orbs were red rimmed and moist with unshed tears, his blonde hair looked unkempt as if fingers had repeated and absentmindedly dragged through it in agitation.

‘I… um… I… went to your house and Jon told me you were here. I wanted to show you what I’ve found out about the quake. I… I could really use your help’ Noah explained when he eventually found his voice; keeping hidden the real… more important… reason he wanted to see Luke … uncertain whether to reveal that he knew about Jon, even though, judging by his appearance, Luke already knew himself.

‘Luke?’ the other man asked, nodding his head towards Noah after watching the conversation with interest.

‘Sorry Dad!’ Luke replied after managing to tear his eyes away from Noah. ‘This is Professor Noah Mayer, the guy I was telling you about.’

‘Ah… Noah thank you so much for being there for my son and grandson’ Luke’s Dad smiled widely as he clasped Noah by the hand and patted him on the shoulder with his other hand.

‘No problem Sir… I was glad to help’ Noah replied, returning the smile.

‘It’s Holden… just Holden… son’ Holden said, shaking his head and smiling.

‘Luke… why don’t you show Noah around the farm while I tell your mother that we’ve got a guest’…



‘It’s beautiful here Luke’ Noah said as they ended the tour of the farm by the pond.

‘Yes… yes it is’ Luke sighed, looking out across the shimmering surface as the fading light of the last rays of the sun dappled the water.

‘It must have been a great place to grow up in’ he murmured wistfully.

Hearing the tone of Noah’s voice Luke turned to face him, looking up at him with questioning eyes.

‘Having an army officer for a father meant we didn’t stay in one place very long… kinda made it hard to make friends… and when mom left it was just me and him’ Noah shrugged a little self consciously. The image of Noah as a sad and lonely kid made Luke want to reach out and run a soothing palm down Noah’s arm.

Instead he turned back to the pond, concentrating on the pond’s surface. ‘Must have been hard for you Noah’ he murmured sympathetically. ‘I love it out here… it wasn’t always easy growing up around here but coming out here always seemed to help some how… made it easier to think…‘ his voice petered out as he became lost in thought.

Noah felt like he was intruding and thought maybe that Luke wanted to be left alone. ‘I’m sorry Luke, I… I shouldn’t have come. I’ll head back into town and grab a hotel room’

‘No Noah!’ Luke replied as he turned back to face him. ‘My Grandma Emma always made sure visitors were made welcome. When she passed away and my parents took on the farm they carried on that tradition … they’ll never forgive me if I let you stay in a hotel tonight. Come on… I think dinner should be ready by now’ he gave a small smile and nodded back towards the farmhouse…



Once they had all eaten dinner and Luke had managed to pry Mikey away from showing Noah his toy car collection that was kept here at his Grandparents and sit him down to watch his favourite DVD in the family room, he and Noah cleared the dinner table and spread out the paperwork that Noah had brought with him.

Noah told Luke about the link between the tremors and the earthquake and then told him about the meeting with Foster.

‘He fired you?!’ Luke interrupted in disbelief. ‘Just for helping me get to Mikey?!’

‘No!’ Noah shook his head quickly, realising that Luke must be feeling guilty… thinking that he had gotten Noah fired. ‘It wasn’t just that and you were right I shouldn’t have trusted him. Look what else I found out’ Noah said, pushing Foster’s folder towards Luke.

Luke flipped it open and, after studying it for a minute, looked up at Noah in a mixture of surprise and disbelief. He pulled the file containing the tremor analysis towards him and double checked it against the information in the folder.

‘Noah! This is a statement showing regular payments to a bank account in Professor Foster’s name from an organisation called Minegen… which I assume is a mining company. They started two days before the first tremor and the last payment listed here is on the day of the earthquake. So… they are paying Foster to cover up their mining activities by tampering with the seismographs?!’ he looked back up at Noah.

‘That’s what it looks like’ Noah nodded in agreement and walked around the table to sit next to Luke, pulling the file towards him. ‘This triangle here is where the tremors all converged and I’m thinking that they must be using some kind of portable test rig to hide their tracks because we’ve had no reports of any permanent structures.’

Noah turned to face Luke, his expression serious. ‘We have to stop them Luke! The network of faults makes the area really unstable and if the mining continues the next quake could be so much worse!’

Luke paused and looked back down at the folder. ‘But why keep this at his office? Where it could be easily found?’ Luke asked in confusion.

Noah shrugged his shoulders. ‘I don’t know Luke. Maybe he thought that by hiding it in plain sight with other folders nobody would think to look there or maybe he just got too greedy and didn’t think he would be caught. But either way he… they need to be stopped and I need your help. If you come with me to see him with this evidence… maybe we can convince him to confess with the threat of exposing him in the press’ he said, searching Luke’s face imploringly.

Luke looked back up at Noah then back down to the folder, conflicted between his journalist’s instincts and keeping him and Mikey out of LA and as far away from Jon for as long as he could. ‘Noah… maybe you should just go straight to the police… Mikey is still pretty scared from being trapped… I don’t want to take him back just yet’ Luke said as he pushed the folder back towards Noah and looked away, eyes downcast unable to look Noah in the eye… unable to tell him the whole truth.

The utter defeat and dejection in the sag of Luke’s shoulders and the way he couldn’t stand to look at him made Noah want to tell Luke the truth… tell him that he knew about Jon… tell him that he wanted to be there for him… to help him through the pain and the hurt. ‘Luke … I…’ Noah began.

There was something in the hesitant tone of Noah’s words that made Luke turn to face him and he could tell in an instant from Noah’s expression that he knew.

‘Shit! You know don’t you?! But how? That… that means not only did I find out from a text from the guy he’s been fucking but that bastard has also brought him to my house… in my bed!’ Luke was almost shouting now as the pain, hurt and humiliation made the blood boil in his veins… made him angrier than he’d ever been.

He stood quickly, with such force that the chair toppled backwards and crashed to the floor. He suddenly needed to get out… get away from the claustrophobic feelings surrounding him.

He dashed to the door with Noah’s anguished cry of ‘Luke!’ ringing in his ears.

Noah stood in shock, uncertain whether to follow Luke or give him space. He startled when he felt a hand coming to rest on his shoulder and he turned to see Holden standing next to him, having entered the kitchen unheard behind him.

‘Let him go Noah’ Holden said softly, staring after Luke before turning to look at Noah. ‘Let him go… he just needs time to think. He won’t go far… Mikey’s here’ …



And Holden had been right… Luke had returned quiet and subdued, eyes red rimmed… sometime later.

He sat next to his son on the couch, fingers stroking through Mikey’s blonde hair as the credits rolled on the film, his son curled up against him.

Luke couldn’t meet Noah’s concerned gaze and announced when it was time for Mikey to go to bed that he was going to bed too.

Noah followed Luke to the bottom of the stairs and held the door open for Luke as he cradled a sleepy Mikey against his shoulder.

‘I’m so sorry Luke’ Noah said softly, keeping his voice low.

Luke managed a slow weak smile. ‘It’s me who should be sorry… I shouldn’t have run off like that. We’ll talk more in the morning… I promise’ Luke murmured, nodding towards Mikey.

‘Ok. Night… little buddy’ Noah replied, his fingers lightly stroking Mikey’s back before smiling back up at Luke.

‘Night Noooah’ Mikey breathed out sleepily before yawning widely.

Noah stood watching Luke carry his young son up the stairs, finding himself unable to close the door behind them until they had disappeared from view….



Noah couldn’t sleep, lying on his back just staring up at the ceiling… thoughts of Luke and Mikey… of Foster and the earthquake… floating unceasingly around in his mind.

He sighed and swung his long legs out of the bed, heading out of the door and down the stairs, bare foot and dressed only in low riding grey sleep pants… thinking he’d just grab a glass of milk or something and head back up stairs.

Seeing the dim shaft of light under the door at the bottom of the stairs almost made him turn back… not wanting to disturb whoever was down there. But he carried on… thinking that maybe the Snyder’s always left a low light illuminating the kitchen at night.

He opened the door and stood in surprise, his hand still gripping the doorknob when he saw Luke leaning back against the kitchen island with a glass of milk in his hand, nibbling a cookie… dressed only in black sleep pants.

‘Milk and cookies?’ Luke offered as he smiled a little sheepishly at Noah. ‘They always seem to settle Mikey when he can’t sleep… or maybe he just wakes up so he can get them’ Luke knew he was rambling but he couldn’t help it… anything to distract him from the long bare expanse of Noah’s lean torso and the trail of hair that led below the low slung sleep pants.

Noah couldn’t answer, staring instead at the fading marks on Luke’s body. He knew some were caused by the fall including the healing cut on his temple but the others… the mouth shaped bruises along his collarbone and down his chest and the finger shaped ones on his hips were caused by Jon… and that knowledge made his heart ache and his blood boil.

He stepped over to Luke, until he stood in front of him… mere inches away. The pain and the humiliation at knowing Noah was looking at the marks on his body and knew who had caused them made Luke look away… down at his feet in shame.

Luke’s embarrassment just about broke Noah’s heart and Noah couldn’t help but reach out and cup his fingers under Luke’s chin, applying gentle pressure to get Luke to look up at him. ‘He doesn’t deserve you Luke… you or Mikey’.

The conflicting emotions that Noah saw deep in Luke’s expressive eyes made him want to take the hurt and the pain away. Leaning in closer and dipping his head slightly he pressed his lips to Luke’s. Encouraged that Luke hadn’t pushed him away, he deepened the kiss, parting his lips slightly and tasting the milk on Luke’s lips.

‘Noah… please’ Luke pressed his hand to Noah’s chest and pushed lightly, breaking the kiss.

‘I’m sorry Luke’ Noah breathed out and Luke could feel Noah’s chest trembling and his heart racing under his hand.

‘Don’t be sorry Noah… it’s just… I…’ Luke’s words faltered when he looked up into Noah’s clear blue eyes… eyes that seemed to look right inside his heart and seemed to want to sooth away the pain and suddenly he wanted nothing more than to taste those lips on his again.

Reaching out, he grasped the back of Noah’s neck; fingers tangling in the dark curls there and pulled Noah forward… their lips meeting in a full and urgent kiss…



They crashed together onto Luke’s bed… desperate to satisfy this want … this need that had been building between them.

Noah’s fingers traced over Luke’s torso, eager to know every inch… every crevice… every part of him.

Noah’s touch was driving Luke crazy and he pulled him down to capture his kiss swollen lips with his own, his hips bucking… making his hard and leaking cock rub against Noah’s through their sleep pants and underwear.

Wanting to see and feel all of Luke, Noah broke the kiss and kissed his way eagerly through Luke’s dusting of chest hair. Reaching the waist band of Luke’s sleep pants, he looked up at Luke… waiting for permission to take this further.

Luke looked down with lust blown pupils and nodded, fingernails scraping lightly down Noah’s forearm.

Noah eased Luke’s sleep pants and boxer briefs down over slim hips, slipping them over muscled thighs before removing them completely, tossing them lightly to one side.

He sat back on his heels as he traced a path up Luke’s body with his eyes, biting down on his bottom lip in anticipation.

Luke reached out to Noah, tracing his palm over the sculpted chest… down to the trail beneath his bellybutton, fingers teasing through the soft hair and tugging at the waist band of his sleep pants; feeling a little self conscious that he was the only one completely naked.

Noah got the message and made short work of ridding himself of the offending material, tossing it to join Luke’s on the floor.

‘God Luke… so beautiful… you’re so beautiful’ he whispered as he eased himself onto Luke, gasping with the erotic sensation of finally touching Luke skin against skin.

He kissed Luke in an open mouthed desperate kiss as they bucked and rolled their hips against each other, eager to increase the mind blowing friction. Wanting to erase the memories of Jon’s aggression Noah kissed an open mouthed path down Luke’s throat and over his collarbone, placing his mouth over the faded bruising.

Lost in the midst of the feeling of Noah’s body touching his, it took a moment for Luke’s addled brain to register exactly where Noah’s lips were touching him. Painful memories of Jon hit him like a punch to the stomach and he froze beneath Noah… hands pushing against his chest.

Noah felt the change in Luke immediately. Shit! I’m such an idiot! Noah’s voice screamed in his head, knowing instantly what had caused Luke’s reaction.

Pulling back to look Luke in the eye to reassure him, he was shocked to see the panic and the fear clear across Luke’s handsome features.

Noah flipped them over until Luke was lying on top. ‘It’s ok Luke, I’ve got you…it’s ok’ he soothed as he ran his palms down Luke’s sides. He wanted Luke to feel safe… to feel in control and if that meant giving away the control that he was used to so that Luke could start to heal then he’d gladly do it; he wanted their first time together to be something that was uniquely theirs, that didn’t remind Luke of Jon.

‘I want you inside me Luke… need to feel you’ he breathed out before reaching up to pull Luke down into a sensual kiss, pouring everything he had into it.

‘Noah I…’ Luke pulled back and sat on his heels, looking down at Noah in surprise.

‘Please’ Noah pleaded, reaching over to grab his wallet… handing Luke the small packet of lube and a condom that were remnants of his last disastrous bout of dating.

Luke prepared Noah gently… hesitantly… frightened of hurting him, before easing himself into Noah’s tight heat. He gasped in shock at the intensity of feeling Noah surrounding him.

‘Noah?’ Luke stilled immediately at the hiss that escaped from Noah’s lips. God… Noah was so tight that this must be hurting him! Hurting the way that Jon’s pounding into him had hurt!

‘Luke… it’s ok… just give me a minute, it’s been a while’ Noah breathed through the burn.

Luke felt such an intense emotion bursting in his chest that Noah was prepared to give him this… to connect with him like this that he would wait… wait for as long as Noah needed. He reached hesitantly out to rub soothing circles over Noah’s abdomen to ease the pain.

‘Now Luke… now…move’ Noah begged as the pain subsided to be replaced by a fullness and the building need for friction.

After a few tentative and uncertain thrusts as their unfamiliar bodies adjusted to each other, they settled into a sensual rhythm of Luke’s deep thrusts meeting Noah’s increasingly frantic arching.

Noah looked up into Luke’s face to see him lost in focused concentration, timing his thrusts to never hurt Noah; to be a considerate lover. He reached out to trace his palm up and over Luke’s sweat matted chest hair. ‘Luke… Luke’ he murmured, ‘… look at me’. He waited for Luke’s eyes to meet his. ‘Touch… me’ he panted as he linked his fingers with Luke’s and brought their combined hands down to his own hard and leaking cock. He reached around Luke’s neck with his other hand and pulled him down to meet his lips in a desperate kiss.

The change of angle and the feel of Luke’s hand working his length surged Noah to the edge and he came long and hard against their combined fingers and stomachs.

The sight of Noah completely undone and knowing that he had caused that… he’d made this wonderful hot man a sated heaving mess… brought him to his own shuddering climax, pulsing deep inside Noah… collapsing down onto the broad and sweat slicked chest beneath him.

‘Luke?’ Noah asked in concern when he could focus enough to realise that Luke’s shuddering and the growing dampness on his chest were caused by Luke’s tears.

‘Luke… please… don’t’ he begged, thinking that Luke was full of regret.

Luke shook his head against Noah’s chest before looking up into Noah’s concerned face. ‘Thank you… Noah…thank you for reminding me just how good this can be’ he murmured as he reached out to stroke Noah’s cheek.

Noah smiled… lost for words as Luke gently eased out, discarding the condom, cleaning them as best he could with a wad of tissues before he turned them so they lay facing each other.

Tenderly stroking Noah’s chest Luke’s eyes meet the clear blue intensity of Noah’s. ‘You know all about me now… so tell me, who did this to you? Who broke your heart?’ he asked as his hand came to rest over Noah’s heart, suddenly wanting to know all he could about Noah, about what had made him throw himself into his work so completely.

Noah shrugged one shoulder and felt like he wanted to tell Luke everything… to bare his soul. ‘His name’s Daichi’ he murmured. ‘I met him in Japan on a research project. I guess there’s not much to tell. We wanted different things… I was young and naïve and thought what we had was for life… I guess it was different for him.’

The flash of pain he saw in Noah’s eyes made Luke’s heart bled. ‘Looks like we both have some healing to do’ he murmured as he placed a soft kiss over Noah’s heart, feeling the strong beat against his lips before settling into Noah’s embrace, succumbing to the gentle pull of a deep and sated sleep.

Noah sighed as he listened to Luke’s slow and steady breathing, kissing the top of his head before closing his eyes and following Luke into a welcome sleep…

Chapter 7

Link back to fic master post

alternative universe, atwt, luke, fanfiction, noah

Previous post Next post
Up