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Across the Tracks

By: BigCoreySKR



*briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing * briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing* 

Otis rolled over on his bed and checked the urge to smash his alarm clock into little bitty pieces. BARELY. But he did manage to check the urge. He looked out his window, the whole reason he had chose this apartment, because it faced the east and the rising sun. Considering he had to be at the shop before the sun rose, it was kind of a stupid reason now. He stumbled to the shower and turned the water on. He checked his face in the mirror and decided to shave after his shower. Then as he stepped into the shower he realized the hot water was out. Again. He quickly showered and dried off and shaved. He checked himself in the mirror not noticing his blue eyes or height that girls noticed,but paying attention to his larger stomach, nose that had been broken a few times, and his thinning hair at 19. Thank God for genes huh? He quickly got dressed and headed out the door to the auto shop he worked at. 

* * * * * * 

Ariel went to slam her car into gear, since slamming was the only thing the gearshift seemed to understand, and groaned in frustration as she heard it groan and the gears grind.

I thought automatics were supposed to be easier? She thought to herself. 

She watched the gauges in the dash fluctuate wildly like they were part of Poltergeist. Then she spotted the smoke coming from under the hood. 

"FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed as loud as she could as the car ground to a halt 50 feet away from the mechanic shop. 

* * * * * * *

Otis looked up in surprise as he heard an obviously female voice scream in frustration. He walked out the garage doors to the driveway entrance and looked down the street to see a little '92 Dodge Neon sitting in the road smoking under the hood. He took a deep breathe and yelled, 

"Hey you need some help?"

Ariel's head whipped up as she heard the shout. She had been digging around in her purse looking for a cell phone, because the River District was not the best place to be stranded in. She saw a grease monkey looking guy, maybe about her age, standing at the driveway to the auto shop. She cautiously opened her door and replied. 

"Yea I could definitely use some help. Can you help me get it into the mechanic's parking lot?"

Since Otis wasn't much of a talker anyways, he strode forward to the car. Ariel gulped and resisted the urge to lock her doors as he walk towards her and got bigger and bigger. Not only was he built like a human castle, he looked scary. His arms and neck and all the other skin she could see was covered in tattoos, and he had those big holes in his earlobes that usually grossed her out. His arms stretched the fabric of his sleeves, and he had a bigger stomach, but it made him look stout instead of fat. 

Otis could feel her nervousness and knew he looked scary. He didn't like people judging him so quickly, but truth was he had a reputation and he was scary when he wanted. So he wouldn't frighten her he made motions for her to steer while he pushed. Ariel was amazed at how easily he pushed her car alone, and they covered the distance to the shop in no time. He spoke to her as he walked to the office,

"Let me get my boss and he can help you out ma'am." 

Ariel leaned back in here seat and watched the man move towards the office door. He moved gracefully for his size, and allowed a lot of room for his movements as if he thought he would knock something over on accident. He had a surprisingly mellow voice, deep and smooth with a lingering rasp at the back of it. She tried to understand why she was taking so much interest in the River area grease monkey. Otis walked through the office door to find his boss's door locked and the secretary was nowhere to be found. He smirked a bit, wondering if the secretary would tell the boss she had gonorrhea or if his boss would explain about his Herpes. 

Ahhh, he thought, the joys of unprotected sex. Well, I guess I'll go check out her car. 

Ariel watched as he walked back out to her car and explained the boss was busy and he'd be happy to look at her car. After instructing her where to steer, he pushed her car into the garage over the lift. He politely asked her to wait in the waiting room or told her she could hang out over by the workbench. She chose the work bench. For the first time since his father died when he was 13, Otis got nervous working on a car. When it was his Dad, it was because he wanted to do good. With her, he was just nervous being scrutinized by a pretty girl. Otis usually didn't rattle easy, but this girl in his area was doing it pretty well. She watched him pop her hood and look around with a penlight in perfect silence for a few moments before she decided to break the silence. She was a very chatty person, and needed constant sound it seemed, and the silence was killing her. 

"So why do you have those big holes in your ears?"

Otis continued working before he realized she was talking to him. 

"Ummmm....Sorry I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

Ariel repeated her question, resisting the urge to giggle. The look on his face when he realized she was talking to him was hilarious. 

He carefully thought about his answer as she waited getting slightly impatient. Just as she was about to tell him to fuck off, he answered her. 

"Lets see. I was about 13, and had just went through some rough things in life and everyone wanted to be nice to me. So I started stretching my earlobes and getting tattoos in visible places and listening to weird music. People were so scared of me they left me alone." 

With that he lapsed into what was for him, comfortable silence. Not so for Ariel. 

"So what did you go through that made you want to do that?"

Otis had long ago stopped caring whether people knew about his dad,though he missed the old man dearly. After all,his dad was considered a hero.

"My dad was a volunteer firefighter. When I was 13, he had a fire run, just supposed to be a visible smoke thing no fire. They got to the fire, and my dad was first truck on the scene. He went into the house about the same time they had a flash-over and everything in the house burst into flame. The last anyone ever saw of my father was him lowering a 13 year old girl that lived there out of the window before the building collapsed."

He didn't notice the tears rolling down his cheeks or hers,but he did notice her collapse to the ground. 

End Of Chapter One.

Across the Tracks Ch. 02



Ariel felt a cold cloth on her head and heard some soft murmuring. 

"Hey lady.... Wake up.... You can do it.... Uppsy Daisy."

It was the last one that made her giggle,and open her eyes. The look of relief on the grease monkeys face was comical. Ariel giggled.

"It's OK scary man. I'm fine I swear."

Otis felt as relieved as he ever had. He exhaled a giant breath and said,

"Good. Thats good. Now,do you mind me asking why you did that?"

Ariel chewed on her bottom lip momentarily, torn with indecision. Obviously the grease monkey had no idea who she was, and why his story freaked her out so bad. So, she did what she thought was best. She lied. 

"I think my blood sugar's low, I haven't ate all day."

She could see the doubt in his eyes, and silently prayed to every divine force that he would just let it go. He made a non-committal grunt, shrugged and appeared to be thinking for a moment. 

* * * * * * * 

Otis knew she was lieing. Don't ask him how, he just KNEW. But, being who he was, he respected secrets. And it wasn't like she had any reason to tell him the truth, it wasn't like there was any connection, not even friendship. Silently he walked over the what his boss meanly referred to as Otis's Cave Of Wonders, a large toolbox. Unlocking the top drawer, he pulled out a couple different brands of mini candy bars and offered them to her. 

"To help with your blood sugar." He silently made an offering motion.  * * * * * * Ariel tentatively reached out for a Butterfinger. He didn't act like he was going to jerk it away or anything so she took it and unwrapped it. She started nibbling on a corner while Otis returned to his work. 

"Mind if I turn on the radio?"

Ariel jumped a little in her seat, startled once again by his voice appearing from nowhere. She merely nodded her head. She didn't want him to here the little startled note that her voice would have had, she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. Again. She studied his movements once again, watching him move with a grace that belied his size. She grinned a small grin and let it get quiet again as he looked for a cd, deciding she would break the silence this time. She looked at his visible tattoos, which was more than a long sleeve shirt usual had since he was wearing a baseball shirt. She spotted one that was a boar and wolf protecting a sword with weird looking letters around it. She decided it was the perfect time to break the silence. 

* * * * * * * * 

"What's that tattoo mean?"

Her bell like voice startled him making him jump a little. Her giggle that sounded like wind chimes hit him next. Great, he thought, Next I'll be comparing her beauty to the moon or something. Before that thought even finished, he already deciding he was wrong. Her beauty was like the moon on the sea. Pale, flawless, with eyes that could be calm or turbulent. Then he changed his thoughts to answer her question. 

"Which one? There's quite a few." 

She pointed to the tattoo on his right forearm, starting at his wrist and going halfway up. He studied it for a moment, ordering his thoughts to explain it. 

"Promise not to laugh first?"

* * * * * * * * * * 

She looked at him, trying to decide if he had asked a question or a demand. Either way she nodded yes. 

* * * * * * * 

"Ok. Well, the words are Ancient Greek. The words on top say Son of. The words below the animals say Ares. The wolf and boar are symbols of Ares, and the sword was added because it's Ares. God of War. I got it 3 years ago."

He looked through his Cds sheepishly, embarrassed. He just knew the next thing to happen would be her saying it was stupid or making some really fake sounding comment about how cool it was. Just like everyone else he explained it to. Just like every other girl he had ever talked about his tattoos too. He was totally unprepared for what she actually said.

* * * * * * * * 

"What a coincidence." 

Ariel barely breathed it out, meaning every word. He turned around and looked at her with a question clearly on his lips. Before he could ask, she figured to explain it to him. 

"Ariel's not my first name. I was adopted at 12 and my adopted parents decided they didn't want me to keep the name I was given at birth, which was Alena. I don't suppose you know who she is?"

Otis looked at her with a piercing intensity, and slowly nodded. 

"But it would be nice to hear you explain it."

Ariel shivered a bit, something about his voice had changed. It was deeper. Huskier somehow, like he had added pure black smoke to the undercurrent of his voice. It wasn't unpleasant at all. Matter of fact, it was sexy. She shook herself a bit, he was still a grease monkey, she was Upper Class Princess. She cleared her throat and began, 

"She was Poseidon's daughter who Ares fell in love with. He was going to give up his ways and give the mantle of God of War to someone else, and be the God of all Wild Things once again. Poseidon didn't approve at all, so he had Alena turned into a star. Ares pines for her for all eternity, staring at the skies, wanting to be with his soul mate, the other half of his heart again."

Her voice had dropped to a mummer, an appreciative coo to what she thought of as the worlds strongest myth of love. 

All the sudden she heard him say very gruffly, "I need to get your car finished so you can get to where you need to go. "

Ariel felt like she had just been rebuked, and fell into and uneasy silence. She felt a little miffed and a little angry. Who was he to talk to her like that? Nobody. That's exactly who. Except the son of the man who died saving me from a deadly fire...

* * * * * * * * 

Otis felt bad for talking to her like that, but he had too. He was so close to telling her xactly what he thought of her at the moment. Her raven wing hair, her soot eyelashes, her porcelain skin and her ruby lips. Knowing that she knew Greek mythology was just another fantastic link in the chain. He smiled grimly to himself, remembering how Ares had been caught in a chain that he couldn't break. So had another subject of one of his tattoos, the Fenris wolf. He began to work a little faster, trying to get her out of here faster, before he was completely snagged on an unattainable star. 

Ariel looked up from her phone about 20 minutes later when she heard him gently but firmly close the hood of her car. He wiped his hands off on a rag carefully, getting as much grease off as possible with a simple rag. He looked at her and shrugged.

"It's as fixed as I can make it. It really needs a complete overhaul or a junkyard. You should get another couple thousand miles out of it, just don't go real fast and try to avoid the highways and interstates if possible." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. 

"How much do I owe you?"

She put as much ice and distance in her voice as she could possibly master, making Otis feel like he was in the middle of a Siberian like plain on a planet five thousand miles away from her. He dismissed her offer of payment, even though he could use the money. 

"Consider it my act of Good Karma for the week. Just remember my advice."

Ariel snorted, if he wanted to work for free that was fine with her. He'd probably do something stupid with the money anyways. As she went to climb in her car he handed her a piece of paper that was handwritten. It said;

"Otis C. Andrei

Roadside Assistance

24/7

502-542-1991"

She felt some of her icy exterior breaking, because this was probably the sweetest thing any one had done for her in a while. She actually thought about him for a second, his shyness, his non-talkativeness, and realized how big a deal this must have been for him to break his shell and give her something as personal as his number. She quickly kissed him on the cheek and started her car and began to leave, calling back to him,

:"I may call even if I don't break down. Thanks for everything!" She smiled at the deep crimson blush all over his face. 

* * * * * * * * 

"Please dear God don't have let her see me blush.." Otis said in a soft mummer to himself. 

He slowly walked around the shop, his safe haven, where nothing ever touched him. As impossible as it seemed, it was like in the space of the hour and a half it took him to fix her monstrosity, she had permeated his shop. He could smell her fragrance over all the other odors of a auto shop, car paint, oil, grease all of it. He had never felt anything like this, and he didn't even know her. He walked to the front of the shop and grabbed a smoke, looking up into the pale dawn sky wishing he could see the star he knew he was now stuck on.



Across the Tracks Ch. 03



Ariel pulled onto her street after leaving work. She didn't need a job, her mom and dad payed for everything she could want or need, but she got bored. A lot of the people she worked with resented her, but she drove a shitty car cause she didn't want one given to her, and she worked to have something to do. As she went to pull in the driveway she seen his car. 

"Oh God."

* * * * * * * 

Otis smashed his hand with the hammer when his phone rang. He walked over to where he sat it on the bench and looked at the number. It wasn't someone he knew and he almost didn't answer it, but the thought it could be Ariel and something had happened to her while driving that junker sent a shaft of icy fear down his spine. HE hurriedly hit the talk button and almost dropped the phone in his haste. 

"Hello?" Otis cleared his throat from his voice cracking, "Hello?" he asked sounding like his normal self again. 

* * * * * * * 

Ariel heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Otis? It's Ariel... I really need your help but it's not for the car. There's someone at my house that has done some bad things to me before and I'm scared to go to the front door cause he'll be there. I know this is strange of me to ask, but is there any way you can come and help? I'm not asking you to fight, just be intimidating or something. Please?"

* * * * * * * He asked her for her address and listened to the directions carefully. 

"On my way."

All it took was hearing her say his name in that tone. The scared, please be my hero tone and he was ready to go and do whatever was needed. He didn't know what hold she had on him, but he was going to do what it took to help her. He put on his sunglasses and tied a bandanna on his head. He grabbed his wooden Louisville Slugger, aka Thumper, and walked to where he kept his bike behind the shop. He pulled the cover off the bike and strapped Thumper to the sissy bar where the brackets for the bat were at. After opening his saddlebag and taking out his vest, he kicked started the old bike and took off roaring down the street like he was hell bent and if he stopped prison bound. 

* * * * * * *

Ariel sat in her car staring at the car in her driveway trying to slow her heart rate and breathing. Just the sight of the white Town Car was enough to freak her out and want to hide. She didn't know how long Otis would take, or if he'd even really come. Maybe he just said he would to get me off the phone? She thought to herself despairingly. About the same time the last part of the thought went through her head, she heard what sounded like thunder, except if it was, it was rolling in right behind her with no clouds in the sky. She turned around and looked in the mirror and seen her new version of night in shining armor. Otis rolled up nest to her car and he looked DANGEROUS. He wasn't dressed different, still the gray and red baseball shirt, the blue jeans and the black square toed boots. It was what he had added that made him seem edgier. He was wearing a midnight black leather vest with a flaming pair of black stitched angel wings on the back with a bunch of patches on it. He had also tied a blue bandana around his forehead and was wearing Terminator sunglasses. Ariel's heart started speeding up again, but it wasn't fear. It was the kind of speeding she got when she seen male model material. 

* * * * * * * * 

Otis stopped next to the drivers door of Ariel's car and made a rolling down motion with his fingers. Ariel complied and Otis told her to just follow him in and they would take it from there. She nodded and put her car in gear while Otis started going down her huge ass driveway. The house at the end may not be a Mansion, but it was definitely in training to be one. He stopped his back on the opposite side of the circle driveway and pointed for Ariel to park next to him. He shut down the bike and put his stand down and looked over at Ariel's car as she got out. Right when he went to ask Ariel what the big deal was, they heard a voice shout. 

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU WHORE?!?!?!?!?!?"

* * * * * * * * * 

Ariel cringed. She could feel Otis's eyes on her as she bit down on her bottom lip and faced the young man rapidly approaching. 

"Danny I told you to,"

"You don't tell me a fucking thing woman. I tell you what to do not the other way around. And look, as soon as I let you out of my sight, you come home with some biker fuckstick. What, were you ging to give him what is rightfully mine? HUH? Come on bitch, you and I need to talk."

Danny reached for Ariel and she flinched. Otis broke. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Otis had heard enough and as soon as he realized if all it took from this guy was a reaching hand to make her flinch, he had hit her before. And that was something Otis would not tolerate. Danny felt an unbelievable vice like pressure on his forearm right above his writs. He looked at Otis, whose hand was supplying that mammoth pressure. 

"Let me go mother fucker. Don't make me slap you like I'm gonna slap this bitch here." 

Otis looked at him and calmy applied more pressure. Danny let out a hiss of discomfort, and he bit down on his lips hard enough to draw blood so no sound would come out. Otis calmly pointed at Danny, then at his car, then at the end of the driveway. Danny swung his other arm at Otis's head. 

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

CRACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The sound was sickening to Ariel. She just knew Otis was falling down, Danny had knocked him out or something. Then she heard a thump and quiet, breathless sobbing in a high pitched voice. She slowly opened her eyes to see Danny laying on the ground, holding the arm Otis had had a hold of. But something was wrong. Ariel's stomach lurched as she realized Danny's hand and wrist and about a third of his forearm was laying at a ninety degree angle to the rest of his arm. She realized Otis had snapped both the bones in Danny's arm with one hand. She shook herself to attention as Otis spoke. 

* * * * * * * * 

"Go. No second chance. Leave now, no more pain. You ever come back, or catch her somewhere and I hear about it, you're gonna need someone to tie your shoes for you. For life. Now get."

Danny got up and made a squeal of pain as he accidentally put his weight on his right arm to get up. At the sound of the scream Otis heard a thud behind him. He knew he couldn't look yet, no telling what this jerk may do, so he waited until Danny got in his car and left, tears rolling down his cheeks from pain and humiliation. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Ariel felt a wet rag on her head for the second time that day, and the same voice that seemed to accompany that wet rag the first time. 

" C'mon Ariel. Wake up. We really have to stop doing this every time I see you."

Ariel smiled with her eye's still closed. 

"A joke huh Mr.Otis? Seems like someones breaking out of his shell a bit." 

She slowly sat up, and looked around, breathing a sigh of relief that Danny was gone as far as she could see. Then she heard that sound again in her head, and she felt a little light headed. Otis gently held her, making sure if she passed out again, she wouldn't hurt herself. She felt something again. She didn't know what, but she definitely wanted to explore it some more. 

"Can you please help me into the house Mr. Big Bad Wolf?"

"Sure thing lil Miss Riding Hood."

* * * * * * * * * 

Otis flushed with heat and pride hearing her giggle at his little joke. He knew it was unrealistic, but he began to think he was falling for Ariel. Hard. Oh hell, a voice in his mind said, falling? Boy, you done tripped fell hit the floor made a hole and fell through that to for the girl. He knew the inner voice was right, but it was something he was going to himself as he steadied Ariel and opened the house's front door for her. She walked past him and Otis caught a subtle hint of her fragrance, a startling good, to him anyways, combination of citrus and strawberries. He took a deep breath savoring it, and then strode into the house as she called back to ask what was taking him so long. 



Across the Tracks Ch. 04



Otis walked and Ariel's house and just stared. It was all he could do. There was so many beautiful things in the house that he could almost believe he was in a museum. He heard her talking, and followed the sound of her voice to what he thought was a kitchen, but may have been a small restaurant instead. About the time where he could get close enough to hear what she was saying, she turned around and ran straight into him, spilling a pitcher of sweet tea all over him. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Oh My GOD! I am so so SO sorry."

Ariel felt like crap. Otis had fixed her car for free, saved her from Danny, and she spilled tea on him. Smooth move ex-lax, she thought to herself. 

"I can wash and dry that if you want?" She tentatively offered. He pulled off his vest and searched it for tea, most of it hadn't soaked or anything so he could take care of it with a wet rag and make sure it was cleaned proper at home. She watched as he took his shirt off. It may have only lasted a few seconds, but to her it lasted a lot longer. She wordlessly took his shirt and walked to the laundry room and shut the door. Behind closed doors she let her knees go week like they wanted to and let herself lean against the wall for support. Wooooow, she thought, he really is built like a human tank. And all those tattoos.... Snapping herself out of it, she put his shirt in the washer for him and headed back to the kitchen. Otis wasn't there, and as she walked around, she found him on the couch wiping his vest off with a paper towel. 

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

"Hi."

Otis was slightly used to Ariel's ability to pop out of no where by now, so he didn't jump. He said hi back and continued his work. When he felt her fingers on his back though, he did jump. 

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I was but I was just... tracing the lines I guess." 

"That's fine. It just startled me."

He shivered as she returned to her featherlight delicate tracings of his tattoos. She finally stopped and Otis didn't know whether to take that as a reprieve from a delicate torture or to crave more. He settled for a bit of both and turned and looked at her. 

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

As soon as Ariel got done indulging herself at Otis's expense, she looked into his eyes for the first time that day. She hadn't seen a shade like them ever. They were a very light blue, and they had a heavy green mixed in with what she thought was black and gold flecks. She suddenly felt embarrassed for staring and dropped her eyes as she sat one cushion away from him on the couch. She knew she was blushing. She just new it. 

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

Otis knew she was staring at his eyes. It didn't matter he was staring at hers again anyways. He had never seen anything like them. At first glance they looked sea green, then he seen to much blue to be anything but the sky. He could get lost in them and tell every search party that ever came looking to kiss his ass. When she broke the gaze, he looked down at the same time she did and got back to work cleaning. Normally, he would have never took his shirt off around a girl, but he felt really comfortable with her. It was just a weird feeling of trust for him, and he was ok with that. He wanted to talk and talk and talk about just anything with her, but he wasn't that comfortable yet. 

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

"Would you like to watch tv? We've got all kinds of movies and dvds." 

She waited for his nod, which inevitably came, and stood up and walked to the entertainment center. She put in a movie she wasn't even paying attention to, and sat back down. She kept staring at his tattoos, one in particular on his right pec. It had a fireman in the full outfit, with angel wings on his back surrounded by smoke and fire, with the numbers CPT. 457 on his helmet. She looked closer and noticed the firefighter was cradling a little girl. 

"I got that for my dad. That was his rank and numbers. Dad was always my guardian angel, so he got his wings through me."

Ariel nodded slowly, still not wanting to tell him his dad died saving her, because... She didn't know why. She was scared he would resent her, which was scary in itself that she would be that scared of his rejection. She decided to ask a question. 

"So are you on the fire department?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'll never be as good a firefighter as Dad. He was the best and I never will be."

"You never know unless you try."

"Shouldn't we watch this movie you picked? I don't feel like talking anymore."

Ariel was hurt by him sounding so mean, then she was mad at herself for obviously touching a sore spot and not noticing that maybe his dad dying as a firefighter would be a really sore spot for not being a fireman himself. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

Otis felt like shit for being such an ass. But every time he wanted to apologize, something stopped him. Eventually Ariel put his shirt in the dryer and it felt like only moments later when she handed it back to him dry and clean. He put his shirt back on, not noticing Ariel's eyes when he did. 

* * * * * * * * * 

Oh yes he was being an ass now, but she still couldn't decide whether she like him with his shirt off where she could see his bad boy tattoos or with it on where he looked every inch the bad boy. She was still trying to decide which when he cleared his throat. She looked up and watched as he got ready to talk. 

"Thank you for cleaning my shirt. And for letting me watch a movie with you. I'm also really sorry for being a jerk for the past two hours."

"It's ok I promise. I should have backed off a bit."

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

Otis smiled a little. 

"Well thank you for the wonderful time, and if he ever bothers you again, just call me and I'll be back. I'll see ya later."

Otis turned to walk out the front door. 

"Uhm.. Can I text you or call you just whenever I want? In like non-emergency situations? 

Otis thought about it for a minute. She really didn't understand how easily she could hurt him by never calling, and he didn't think he realized the full extent of it. 

"Sure... I'd really like that."

And on that note he walked out. Ariel watched him climb on and start his bike, and ride down the driveway and down the road until he was out of sight. She shut her front door and leaned up against it trying to catch her breath. How could a man who was far from her type, and that she had only met today, take her breath and have her trust so easily? 

And what would she do if he never answered her texts and never talked to her again?

Otis's Night

When Otis got back to his place, he wished he had never left it. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He knew what could take his mind off anything though. Usually riding the bike did it, but all he could wonder was if she would like to ride with him. Since that wasn't what he wanted to keep obsessing about, he walked into the kitchenette of his apartment. He got the shot glass out of his cabinet and grabbed the Jack Daniels out of the freezer. About the time he sat down on the couch and poured a drink he heard a knock on his door. Otis got up and checked his peephole first to see who it was. The hole was black, like someone was covering it up with their hand or something. 

"Who's there?"

"God and Country calling boy, who do ya think?"

Otis threw open the deadbolt and chain lock and grabbed the person outside in a bear hug. HE then proceeded to give them the noogie from hell. 

"Get off me you big overgrown son of a bitch! You're messing up the 'do man!".

Otis put JB down. It'd been a little bit since they'd seen each other. JB looked like he'd finally had a few good meals, and looked at least halfway clean. 

"JB how ya been man? Staying out of trouble?"

JB grinned. He was Otis's exact opposite. Around 5'5", maybe 135 pounds. Otis and JB had been best friends since they were a month old, and nothing had ever come between them. JB had done plenty to make Otis hate him, but as far as Otis was concerned JB was meant more to him than any friend, he was a brother more than anything. 

JB shut the door behind him and walked to Otis armchair and flopped down. 

"Oh you know how it goes Big O. Finally got a job. Kristin says if I can keep it for 3 months and pass the drug test I can see Harley. If I hold it for 6 months he gets to stay a night with his Dad a week. I'm pretty excited about getting to see him.... Have you seen him lately?"

JB's son Harley was Otis's godson. Since Kristin thought Otis was a good guy, he was Harley and JB's only link for a while now. 

"Yea man I seen them two weeks ago. I took Kristin some diapers for him and some new clothes. And I got something for when your old ass showed up again."

Otis walked to his room to get in the dresser, ignoring JB hollering about how he wasn't old. He got out a envelope and walking back tossed it on JBs' lap. JB kind of stared at him for a second until Otis made exaggerated opening motions for him. When he pulled out the newest pictures of Harley Otis had, Otis knew enough to look in the other direction so he could pretend he didn't see JBs eyes glistening. It was a guy thing. 

"So I know it ain't the anniversary so why's the bottle out? I know you man somethings got you rattled." "It's nothing JB. Don't worry about it." "19 years and you still ain't got a damn clue how to lie. So c'mon spill. And while you're at it, put that damn whisky up and get us some cokes or something. Sweet Tea if you got it." "Yea man I got it."

Otis put all the drinking items up, not before knocking his shot back. He let the Jack burn its way down, until it settled to a pleasant warm. He made him and JB some sweet tea and walked back in the living room to find JB sprawled all over his chair with his shoes off flipping channels. 

"Man get your stinky ass feet off my chair. Jesus Christ whens the last time you washed them socks? The Great Flood?"

"Realllllllllll funny asshole. Give me those cups. I wanna make sure you didn't add any special ingredients."

Otis flipped him the bird and handed JB his cup and then took his own to the couch with him. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, just watching the tv, when JB spoke. Like Ariel, silence was NOT one of his strong suits. 

"Ok so spill now. No bullshit excuses, I know somethings bugging you cause you ain't tried to punch me yet. Is it your shitty job? Shitty and may I add smelly, apartment? Makayla coming back around again? C'mon man tell me."

"If you'd shut up for a damn minute I would. Jesus. You're worse than damn woman."

So Otis proceeded to tell JB all about his day, Ariel, Danny, all of it. JB decided to spoil the moment by acting like he was falling asleep. Otis picked up a pillow and flung it at him, then got on with his story. 

"So you gonna call her?"

"Prolly not man, why would she even want to talk to me? We ain't even the same kind of people."

"Well lets see here. She asks you questions, so she has an interest, and instead of calling the police when asshole was there she called you. She must be pretty, cause you get all moony eyed whenever you say her name. So call her, text her whatever. Don't be your usual pussy self."

"You're an ass JB you know that? A really big ass."

"Fuck you too brother, fuck you too.", JB sighed as he stood up and slid back into his shoes, "As stimulating as this conversation has been, it is 11:09 and I have to be back at the halfway house by Midnight. Part of the program ya know?"

Otis stood and gave JB another bear hug. "Alright man. Don't be such a stranger, it's good to know you're alive. Stay clean out there. I got something better to say than those consuelers do. Whenever you feel the dragon, look at them pictures I just gave you. That'll help."

JB looked at Otis and stuck his hand out for the traditional knuckle bump. Otis gave it, just like he always did and JB walked out the door. After locking his door back up, Otis flopped down on the couch. Seeing JB and Ariel's questions had made him miss his dad a lot more than usual. He pushed his self back off the couch and got the box that held a lot of stuff that related to his Dad's death in it. It had newspaper articles, the spare shield from his dads helmet, cards from different fire departments for Otis and for his Dads memories, just a bunch of different things. He read through a few things in the box, and then came across a picture he loved. It showed a thirteen old version of him wearing his dad's fire boots and helmet with a radio in his hand while his dad acted like he was taking orders from Otis. The picture had been taken about a week before the fire that took his Dad's life. Otis eventually put everything back in the box and got up to go to bed. He took off his shirt and his necklaces, and laid down to go to bed. He had forgotten to get his phone off the couch and plug it up, and he never noticed the blinking light telling him he had a message. His last thought was, Thank God tomorrow is Saturday and I can rest all day.

Ariels Night

After Otis left, Ariel cleaned up the living room and headed upstairs to her room. She decided after all the stress of the day, some Dax Riggs on the radio and a nap were definitely in order. She looked through her CD collection, and decided not to listen to the solo CD but her Agents of Oblivion CD. A lot of people would never expect her to listen to this type of music, but her friend Eve had introduced her to them, and she loved the Dax's voice so much that she was permanently hooked. It was haunting and really soul-shattering was the only way she could describe it. She wasn't a big fan of Acid Bath, but she still really liked his voice. She was listening to Grave Song when she fell asleep. 

A few hours had passed when Ariel woke up from her nap. It had been along day, and her stomach decided it needed some food. Ariel walked down the stairs to the kitchen and made Captain Crunch. Her parents were sitting at the main Dining Room table, pulling their classic "stare at each other and act like we have the best marriage ever" thing. Which was definitely a very big lie. They may have loved each other a long time ago, but as far as Ariel could see, they should just give up. She hoped her appearance wasn't noticed, and she could sneak back up the stairs. 

"Ariel dear, can you come here for a minute?"

"damn it..." Ariel muttered. She hated the sugar coated voice her mother used when she wanted to be a bitch. It was all sweet, but it honestly set Ariel's teeth on edge. Her dad never spoke like that. Her dad was always sincere, if he was going to be an asshole, you knew it. 

"Yes Mom?"

"Oh dear you know I hate to be called mom. I prefer Mother. Now, Can you explain why Mayor Vincent called me about something happening to Danny here? Something about him getting roughed up by some thug who was trying to rob you?"

Ariel's dad snorted. Ariel's mom looked up at him with annoyance on her face. 

"What are you trying to say exactly with that sound Cole?" "That that Danny boy is full of shit. He ain't worth two cents and I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, which trust me, is a lot damn farther than he's worth." "Cole can you be quiet? I want Ariels side of the story, and without your remarks about Danny, who is actually a nice boy. The only reason you never liked him is because he said your Harley was a sissy bike." "That's the only reason I'll ever need for that worthless ass." "Cole do be quiet. Ariel tell us what happened."

Ariel took a deep breath thinking of ow she was going to explain this to her parents. 

"Well, like I told you when I left Danny, he is abusive and I never wanted to see him again." Ariel waited for her dad to stop muttering obscenities under his breath about what would happen if Danny tried to touch her again, "When I got home from work he was sitting in the driveway. I called this guy I met today named Otis, because he looked like he could get Danny to leave. When he got here, Danny started screaming at me, calling me a whore, and then when Danny went to grab me and jerk me away, Otis grabbed him and then Danny swung at him. Otis broke his arm and Danny left. That's the whole story."

Ariel took a spoonful of her cereal and ate it, wondering who was going to start talking first. 

"Why I never. As your mother, I demand you call Danny right now and apologize for this thug Otis' behavior. It is simply deplorable." 

"Not happening Mom. I am not apologizing to someone who thinks they can put their hands on me to hurt me and it's right."

Ariels' mother made a frustrated noise and got up from the table and walked away to what she called her "privacy room". Ariel sat in comfort with her dad for a few moments while she ate cereal and he ate a sandwich. She was always more comfortable with her Dad, but she knew that he had questions he was going to ask, he was just getting them in order first.

"So. Who is this Otis boy and why did you call him?"

"He's a mechanic over in the River District. I was taking that shortcut to work so I could stop at the Awful Waffle, and my car started messing up again. I was mad and frustrated so I cussed at it really loud and I guess he heard me and helped me push it in the Mechanic shop. Well, help isn't the right word, I moved the wheel and he pushed it. We just kind of talked while he fixed my car and then he didn't charge me. He gave me a card with his number on it in case I needed any help like I broke down or something."

"Okay. Couple problems there. One, you still haven't told me while you called him instead of say....me. And two, why did he fix your car for free?"

Ariel blushed. "He said it was his act of Good Karma for the week. I still don't know why I called him. He just made me feel safe while I watched him work on the car and I wanted to feel that way again when I seen Dannys' car."

Ariels' Dad started laughing. "Look you're getting all mooney eyed over him. Can I start singing the kissing song with y'alls names in it? Please?"

"Shut up Dad. You think you're so funny." Ariel couldn't help but smile, she loved her Dad and the way he joked. They talked about small stuff for a little bit and then Ariel took her bowl in the kitchen and went back upstairs. Cole watched her walk up the stairs, remembering a time not so long ago when he was just another River District rat and Ariels' mother was a Buckman princess. He remembered his father describing his wife doing the same things his daughter was doing know and just hoped it worked out better for her. 

Ariel went up to her room, and even after her nap earlier, she was still kind of tired. She crawled into her bed, noticing it was pretty close to 11. She hoped Otis was still up and grabbed her phone and texted him saying hello. She put her phone down and waited. She fell asleep around 2, even though she had to go to work for overtime at 9. Her last waking thought was, I didn't get a text back...

THE NEXT DAY

Otis woke up around 8:30, and he done knew that in the words of his pappaw, he was gonna be dragging ass all day. He just wasn't feeling it, but once he was up, he was up. As soon as he got finished shaving, his phone rang. There was only one person in this world that would both be up this early, and call Otis' apartment this early. 

"Hey Pappaw. Good Morning to you too. No I didn't forget that you wanted me to come have breakfast today. I'm about to head up there just calm down. Yea I'll bring the Pepsi and the 3 Musketeers."

Otis hung the phone up with a smile on his face already. He loved his Pappaw unconditionally. The man had raised him after his fathers death, and since Otis' mother was never really around after Otis turned 4, Pappaw got all of Otis' love and devotion. The old man was his anchor. Otis got dressed and went to get his cell off the charger and seen it poking out of the couch cushions. After cursing himself for not plugging it up, Otis put it on the charger and walked out the door. He kept his truck at the apartment buildings lot, and since he had to take what his Pappaw called "The Old Mans Treats", up with him, he's need the truck not the bike. He stopped at Circle K and got a couple six packs of Pepsi and a couple 3 Musketeers candy bars. He then hopped in the truck and headed up the hill. 




Across the Tracks Ch. 04



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

"Ariel what's wrong with you? Your dragging ass today girl!"

"Shut up JB. I'm just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night, I didn't go til bed til like 2."

"Well damn. Tell me about it at lunch ok? I got to get these boxes over to shipping."

"Ok see you at lunch."

Ariel watched JB drive his forklift off, singing some song about a Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde. She lost herself in her work, so when 11:30 rolled around for lunch, she was caught up. She walked into the break room, which was usually empty cause everyone wanted to smoke while they ate their lunch. She got out her lunch box and started un-wrapping her sandwich. She almost jumped out of her skin when JB flopped down next to her, talking as soon as his ass hit the seat. 

"Alright now girl why did you stay up til 2am?"

Ariel swallowed her bite of sandwich and thought about her answer. "I was waiting on someone to text me but he never did."

"Ahh a new love interest. Good cause Danny needs to stay out of the picture. Or the general area of other humans, but we can't always get our wishes. Sooooooooooooooo, who's the new beau? C'mon tell me. You know I thrive on that shit. Also, when we get off here at two stop by my truck. I got new pictures of Hayden." 

"You did? Awesome. I can't wait to see them. I still hope your son takes after his mother in looks cause if not, poor baby...", Ariel laughed as JB flipped her off and took a drink of water and started to tell JB about Otis, "Well, he's a mechanic over in River District, he's really tall, has a lot of tattoos, has the big holes in his ears, and he rides a motorcycle, I think it's a Triumph."

JB looked at her thoughtfully then it seemed like a realization hit him. "Otis rides a Harley. Not a Triumph. They have different tanks for starters."

Ariel looked at JB with her mouth wide open. She started stuttering, "H-h-h-h-h-ow did you know that's who I was talking about? If that was even who I was talking about?"

JB laughed. "Otis has been my best friend for 19 years and is the godfather to my son. I think I would know his description." 

Right around that time, the lunch is over buzzer sounded and everyone started to go back to work. Ariel made JB promise he would go somewhere with her and tell her about Otis. She wanted the information badly. 

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

When Otis pulled up to his Pappaws trailer, he took comfort in the fact it hadn't changed at all since he had last been there. Same trailer, same garage, same old chickens pecking the dirt in the driveway, and same old pit bull in the back yard. Otis had grabbed some leftover steak from a couple of nights ago when he had left his apartment just for this very purpse. The dog had been one of Otis' true friends growing up, and Otis paid him for it every chance he could. Otis tossed the piece of steak out towards the dog house, and the old dog grabbed it and made short work of it. Otis walked in the back door with the Pepsis and candy bars in his arms, and let the smells of bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits and fresh coffee lead him into the kitchen were his Pappaw had just sat down. Otis set the drinks and candy down and made his plate. One of his Pappaws' rules was no talking during eating, and Otis was more than happy to obey that rule. Otis just simply sat there and enjoyed his food, and his Pappaw and him finished about the same time, a practice they had developed for 5 years of living together. They both lit cigarettes, and started on their after breakfast smokes, which Otis always knew was interrogation time.

"So. You been healthy?" Otis grunted in the affirmitive. "Paying your bills?" "Yes Pappaw." "Got a new girlfriend yet?" "Not yet. Don't worry old man, you'll have grandchildren sooner or later." "Otis boy, I ain't lying, your Pappaw ain't got much longer to wait. I'm 82 years old. My wifes been gone for ten years, your daddy's been gone for 6, and you're just about all I got left. But enough about that. When you going to break down and leave that apartment and move back here? I miss your snoring."

"I'm thinking about it Pappaw. Me? Snore? You're the one that snores old man. I don't make any noise at all. You sound like you're shaking the house down." 

Pappaw gave Otis a certain look, it made him look mad, but Otis knew he was just joking. He had gotten that look enough times back in the day. 

"You got anything you need me to do today for ya Pappaw?"

Otis groaned out loud as his Pappaw got a devilish grin on his face and pulled out a stack of papers three high. This was going to be a long day indeed. So much for a day of rest.

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

When JB and Ariel got off work, they met up at a place called The Boonies, which was this bar surrounded by a lake. It was private, had good people, free people and a live band all day on Saturdays'. The best part was you only had to be 18 to enjoy it. JB and Ariel were both 19 so it was all good. After JB bullshitted with the regulars he knew and the bartenders, he brought him and Ariel some cokes and he had gotten a pork chop sandwich and some fries. After just sitting and letting him eat a couple bites, Ariel cleared her throat and started tappin her fingers against her coke can. 

JB looked up and acted puzzled. "What's up? You look like you want me to tell you something."

The look Ariel gave him made JB laugh, but it also showed him she was serious. "So, you want to hear the story of Otis Andrei the infamous huh? Well since me and him talked about you last night, I guess it's only fair you and me talk about him today." 

Some people would see JB willing to talk about all this as betraying his friend. It wasn't that. He just wanted his best friend to be happy. Not many people had went through what Otis went through and came out as good as he somehow had, and by God, he deserved his chance. 

"Ok, so here is the complete and unedited history of Otis Andrei, aka Bones or Ogre depending on what place you are in."

STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER 5.



Across the Tracks Ch. 05



(Sorry it took so long. I'm dealing with a recently dislocated wrist and some other problems, but I cranked out what I could.)

*

"Ok, so Otis grew up on the Hill with me and my sisters. All he's ever had was his dad and his papaw. Otis momma left at a real young age, and no one knows where she went. Otis's daddy was a firefighter, and he died in a fire a few years back. Otis wasn't really right after he lost his daddy. He kind of went off the deep end, and got into drugs and drinking. Me being the smart one that I am, and being his best friend who followed him anywhere, I went with him and done the same shit. The only difference between me and Otis was that he didn't get addicted. I did. Badly. So Otis started sobering himself up to look after me, beat up dealers who sold to me, beat the shit out of me if he thought I slipped, locked me in his shed at his pappaws for days to detox me. So, with all this violence against the local drug population, Otis had people looking for him. Back when we was in High School a lot of people called Otis Shrek cause his size and nose. When Otis started fighting alot, and his anger really got seen, it got changed to Ogre, cause that's what he was like. Them big, mean Ogres you read in the fairy tales you understand?"

Ariel nodded slowly. JB took a drag from a smoke, and ordered another coke from the bar. Ariel slowly chewed some French fries, and asked JB a question.

"So why do you say he was called Bones?"

JB grimaced. This was an ugly story. "Well, don't think less of him for it. Otis got called Bones because he used to beat the shit out of people and break a bone so they would remember him. It was like he was a surgeon after a while. He knew exactly where to put his hand, exactly how much pressure to use. It's fucking scary."

Ariel nodded, thinking of what he had done to Danny. "Oh yes, I know."

"So anyways. Otis met a girl a couple years ago, he was 17. She was a ugly little thing, in my opinion, but I was still getting smacked out every other day, so my opinion wasn't highly valued you see? Well, Makayla FUCKED HIM UP. Badly. Always cheating, always saying she would kill her self if Otis didn't take her back, doing drugs and getting arrested and Otis bailing her out, stealing and selling his shit, it was just terrible. She nearly killed him, and almost got him killed. Especially when her dealer busted the door down and started shooting. Makayla wasn't even there. Otis took four bullets to the back, never should have walked again. Miracle he even lived. But that's just him. He's lived through some things that should destroy the human body, and came out smiling. When he got shot, he waited until the dealer was gone, and called 911, deflated lung, shattered ribs, and a bullet fragment embedded in his spinal chord. He was walking again for the first time three months later. Makayla never came and saw him, but she did sell everything he owned except his bike and truck. Because Otis is such a idiot, that wasn't even the last straw, he stayed with her."

"Well, what was the last straw?" Ariels heart was breaking. How could someone who had been hurt so much, even think of liking her? She didn't have a chance. 

"Makayla got pregnant. Didn't even give Otis a chance to be a dad. Went to the abortion clinic, and that was that. No more baby. Otis couldn't be with her anymore after that. That's why I named him Harley's Godfather. I looked at it as a second chance, something he could believe in I guess. And payback for saving me all those years." 

After chatting for a little bit longer, Ariel got up to leave. She needed time to think about everything she had heard. As she walked out the door from the dark bar to the sunset right in her face, she bumped into someone. As she went to apologize, she felt a hand clamped over her mouth and she struggled in horror as she was dragged off into the back of a van. As soon as she was inside it, she felt a bandanna tied around her mouth and her wrists and ankles taped together. She went stiff in fear when she heard a very familiar voice. 

"So whore, you don't have your little body guard to protect you know. Well, I would teach you the error of your ways, but since my arms broken, my two friends here will just have to help...."

Otis got back in his truck and waved goodbye to his grandpa. He had been working all day, and wanted nothing more than a cold drink and to shoot a game of pool. Stopping by his apartment and grabbing his phone, he headed to the Boonies. On his way in, he was almost run off the road by a silver van that was driving fast as hell. Otis pulled into the lot shaking his head, and seen JB's truck and Ariel's Dodge in the parking lot. He also seen JB running towards his truck. Throwing his into park, Otis leaned out the door and hollered. 

"JB! What's Wrong?"

JB looked up and seen him. This was luck, or JB was a rabbit he thought. 

"OTIS! We gotta go! These guys just grabbed Ariel and threw her in the van! I'd never seen it if she hadn't left her phone on the table and I went to bring it to her!" 

Otis saw red. "Get in." As soon as JB's ass hit the seat, Otis was tearing off out of the gravel lot. They couldn't be that far ahead. "JB, you remember how to load my shotgun", "Well yeah I do." "Good then load it, it's behind the seat, and there's a .45 pistol in the glove box, make sure it and the extra clips loaded. This ain't ending good." 

JB nodded his head and got to work. He didn't want to know why Otis had the guns still, unless he was thinking about any of the old crowd coming after him. He stared at the road, thinking of all the side roads. 

"Otis, you know as well as I do there taking her to the Hollow House. That's where everyone would go."

Otis just nodded. Hollow house was a local legend, supposed to be haunted. It was isolated down in the river bottoms lands, and no one ever went there now. There was no thought of calling the cops, or of even not going to save Ariel. He would save her. The drive alone took 30 minutes, thanks to a old driver who thought a 55 speed really meant 15 on a one lane road. Otis had been ready to run him off the road, but JB made him see reason somehow. They parked away from the house, and taking the shotgun and pistol, began sneaking towards it through the fields. Otis handed JB the pistol, and using hand signals developed as kids playing army in the woods and hollers, explained the plan. The silver van was right in front of the house, and JB could see Ariel's purse laying in the back. JB went cold at what he saw. If they was hurting his friend, it was bad. If Otis felt for Ariel like she did for him and they was hurting her, it would be really bad. Sneaking up to the front porch, JB stood to the side while Otis got the shotgun ready. 

The gun was very, very illegal. It was a AA-12 military edition, 50 round drum clip, full auto, 12 gauge, pistol grip, and thinks to Otis's saw, a very illegal 15 inch barrel. Otis looked to the sky and asked for the protection of the Gods. Looking at JB, they both took the safeties off their guns at the same time. Otis mouthed "One..... Two..... Three.....Go." He slowly opened the door and covered the opening as JB cleared the doorway and went in. Otis followed him in and the searched every room, clearing it effectively before moving on. As the walked down the hall to the last room. The heard a cry. It was unmistakably Ariel, and she was in pain. Otis quietly walked up to the door and placed his foot against the door as he grabbed the handle and slowly twisted it. Otis and JB had used this before. Otis would kick open the door, JB would cover it with his pistol, and Otis would come in with the 12 gauge. Taking a deep breath, Otis booted the door open and they went through the usual plan. Looking to the bed, Otis saw what they were doing to Ariel, and that was when all hell really broke loose.



Across the Tracks Ch. 06



(Yes. This is insanely short. And there was a long time in between chapters yes. I have been really pulled between what to do with these characters and this storyline, so this is sincerely the best I could do for this story.)

*

Ariel was tied down to the bed, with what looked like a gag made of bandannas in her mouth to muffle her screams. Her clothes were mostly still on, but the front of her shirt had been ripped all the way open, baring most of her bra and cleavage to the sight of anyone in the room. As Otis and JB took their first five steps into the room, a guy they didn't recognize came walking from the bathroom. Not even thinking about what he was doing, knowing shooting him would have been easier, Otis swung the barrel of his 12 gauge into the guys face. Otis remembered one of the few lessons he had learned growing up. Beatings equaled less jail time than killing a man, killing someone was bad all around. But he would beat the fuck out of him. 

Pulling his boot knife, he tossed it to JB. "Get them ropes and things cut, get her to the truck and cover her. I'll be there soon." 

As JB cut the ropes and helped Ariel up, she looked at Otis. Looking back at her, he knew this was bad, and she was going to be scarred. This was insane. Why was he even here? Why had he got involved with this woman? Mentally shaking those thoughts from his head, Otis briefly smiled at her. Trying to sound as gentle as possible, he spoke to her. 

"JB's gonna get you in the truck, I got a hoodie you can cover up with and a blanket." Looking JB in the eyes, he let every bit of seriousness he could muster enter his voice. 

"Keep her safe JB. I mean it." 

JB nodded and began taking Ariel down the long hallway he had just walked up with her, watching the doorways and dark halls. Ariel tried to keep her view on Otis as long as possible, eventually losing sight. JB got her all the way to the truck, and opened the door. Reaching in the tool box in the bed, he got the blanket and Otis' hoodie and she slowly put it on, her muscles locked up from the strain of being tied up. Pulling the blanket tight around herself, she started crying as JB stood by the open driver door. As if the sky was agreeing with her, the skies gradually opened and a drizzle begin to fall on the Earth, like the sky was crying to. 

Picking up the ropes that were left mostly intact, Otis grabbed the unconscious man and drug him over to the bed post, and then tied him to it with a rope around his neck. Picking his gun up, he started walking into the door the guy had come from. As he walked into the room, the lights went out. He knew he was still standing by the door, he tried to block it, but felt something crack him in the head hard. He started falling, and his vision was blurry. He dropped his shotgun, and heard it skitter on the floor as someone grabbed it and picked it. Shaking his head, he tried to stand, he wasn't going to die on his knees. 

"Danny, fuck that! Let's go!" Otis heard them run out of the hall into the bedroom, and heard them breaking the bed post, probably with the gun stock. He heard them pull the other guy up and start running. He struggled to his feet. JB and Ariel were outside, he had to save them, but he couldn't walk Otis bounced off the walls, scrabbling with his hands to hold himself up as he stumbled down the hallway and finally made it to the front door. 

"FUCKING GET THEM HE'S ONLY ONE GUY!"

"C'mon Danny lets go, he's got a goddamn gun!" 

The scene Otis surveyed was like from a hellish nightmare. The light drizzle had turned into a downpour and the visibility was near zero. The flashes of lightning were what really helped provide sight to everything, and words and Danny's yelling at his friends was lost in the rumbles of thunder. JB fearlessly stood by the door of the truck, gun steady and leveled at Danny's head. Otis watched as the three men climbed in the van and tore off down the road as if hell followed on their heels. Lightning struck, and the bright flash was a spike of pain through Otis's head. Without a sound, his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto the ground. 

Hours later, Otis woke up to find himself on his couch, under a couple blankets. Looking around, he spotted JB sitting in the arm chair. He had moved it to the door, and had the shotgun which he must have recovered from the room and the handgun laying in his lap. Rising onto his elbows, Otis looked around for Ariel. Not seeing her, he tried to swing his legs to the floor and stand, when a bout of wooziness made him fall to one knee. JB's eyes snapped open, and he jumped up to Otis.

"Whoa easy there big guy. Your noggin got knocked a bit, and if you pass out again, I'm not carrying you again." Setting him down, JB walked to the kitchen and made a glass of water. Handing it to Otis, he sat back in the chair. Waiting til he was finished, JB spoke again. "Ariel's in your room. She wanted to see you as soon as you woke up." 

Looking at his friend, Otis already felt less dizzy. Rising, he began walking in that direction. Over his shoulder, he told JB, "We're going to have to answer for today and make someone answer for today."

JB shook his head. Otis was already thinking of revenge. Fuck. JB leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Fuck it, he was getting sleep first. 

Stepping up to the door, he gently knocked. Hearing a soft sound from behind the door, Otis slowly opened it. Ariel was curled up in the corner of his bed leaned into the wall, still wearing his hoodie. Looking up at him, Otis could see the mascara tracks where she had been crying. Kneeling by the bedside, Otis sat there with his head bowed for a moment. Thinking of what to say to be helpful, words failed him. He knew nothing to say to her that could take away what had possibly happened to her, the extent of which he didn't even know. Looking up, he spoke. 

"I'm sorry Ariel. If I hadn't done what I done to Danny, you would have never got hurt. They'll pay for doing this to you." 

Ariel looked at Otis, and he almost flinched from the pain and the anger in her eyes. What really surprised him though, was what she said. "So then I can watch you get hurt for me right? Or do something that's wrong in my name? You can't do something like that. I won't forgive Danny. Ever. But getting back at him, I have to do. I can't let you do it for me." 

Otis nodded. She was strong. He liked that. She looked very soft, very spoiled. But she was showing him a strength he was surprised she had. Most people would be broken after this. She wanted to take it into her own hands and deal with it. Standing, he walked into his bathroom and wet a washrag in the sink. Walking back to Ariel and sitting on the corner of the bed, he offered it to her. She took it from him, the brush of her fingers making them both feel a spark of electricity. She took the rag and gently wiped her face, sniffling as she did. "Thank you." She said. 

"Is there any way I could use your phone? I need to call my Dad." 

Otis nodded and got his handset off the charger and handed it to Ariel. Dialing her fathers cell, she waited for three rings before he answered. 

"Hello? How can I help you?"

Ariel sniffled again, and said in a heartbroken voice. "Daddy? I need you." 

Cole felt his heart stop at his daughters voice. She was hurt, he just knew it. Asking where she was, he wrote the address down on a piece of paper. "I'll be right there baby." 

Cole grabbed his car keys and headed out his office, ignoring the calls of his secretary. Before Cole had met Ariel's mother, he was a River District roughneck, busting his ass all day working his hands to the bone. His father had gave him a position in an office, to help support his daughter. Cole had adopted a lot of the ways of the upper class of society in his town, but his old self was going to come out on whoever had hurt his baby girl.



Across the Tracks Ch. 07



Cole drove his car to its limits, cutting curves and blowing through yellow lights like it was nothing. He spat and swore every time the traffic made him slow, or a red light stopped him. He didn't know what was wrong with his daughter, but she sounded scared and in pain. He didn't recognize the address from any place he knew she had stayed at, and if he had to fight someone to get her out of there, he most surely would.

Ariel was his baby. It wasn't like all fathers, as most fathers did love their daughter more than anything. Ariel wasn't even his child by blood; it had been his choice to adopt her. His wife hadn't wanted children, especially a 12 year old girl, who had been traumatized by the death of her family and the death of the man who had saved her that fateful night. It had been Cole who had slowly drawn the quiet, introspective girl out of her shell and helped her turn into the bright and nice person she was today. And if someone had ruined that, so help him, he was going to kill them.

JB was roused from his half sleep by a loud banging on the door, loud and hard. Checking the safety on the gun, he peeked out the eye hole and saw a man he did not recognize. Otis was still in the back with Ariel, and JB was reluctant to disturb them. Slipping the chain lock, he slowly turned the door knob, and spoke.

"May I help you?"

Whatever nice response he was hoping for was rather quickly disrupted by the crack of a shoulder against the door, ripping the chain lock from the wall, throwing JB into and across the arms of the recliner, and knocking the shotgun from his grip. As JB fell, he yelled for Otis, and Otis threw the door open, telling Ariel to stay there and lock the door. Charging down the hallway, he hit the strange guy standing over JB in a flying tackle, and they crashed to the ground, Otis trying to grab him in some way to hold him until he found out was going on.

Cole swung for the fences, trying to get the behemoth off of him. He'd smashed the door open in his haste, and now he had been hit from behind. All he was going to do was ask the boy were his daughter was. That was it. He probably shouldn't have crashed in the door, but he was in a hurry and frantic. Then the next thing he knew he had been talked and was getting choked. Screaming for whoever it was to get the fuck off of him, he wildly swung his elbows and his head, trying to hit something.

Ariel recognized the voice that was yelling. It was her Dad! Running to leave the room, she ran straight into the door, forgetting she had locked it. With a thump, she fell on her ass. Shaking her head at her clumsiness, she scrambled to her feet, throwing the lock and pushing the door open, she ran for the living room. The scene she was seeing stopped her where she stood, and she almost burst out laughing. Shaking her head, she observed it with a small smile on her face. 

Otis had her father on the ground, flailing around like a two year old throwing a tantrum. JB was on the ground for some reason, and Otis was very obviously trying to get her father to calm down. Stepping forwards, she decided that it may benefit everyone if she defused the situation.

"Dad, quit trying to hit Otis. Otis, can you please stop choking my father?"

Otis and Cole both looked up, Otis immediately letting go of Cole, and Cole getting to his feet and rushing to hug his daughter. Drawing back, he spat forth questions like an automatic rifle, asking her who these guys were, what had happened, what she was doing here. Ariel looked to Otis, and he nodded, and she asked her father to follow her and she led him to Otis' room, where she told him the whole story, from entering the auto-shop to the moment she saw him and Otis on the floor. 

Otis sat on the couch, waiting. JB had long since left, he had to get back to the halfway house or it was considered a parole violation. He looked down the hallway as his door opened and Ariel's father walked out of his room and walked to him. Otis stood, and they basically looked at one another for a moment. Finally, Otis stuck his hand out towards the man.

"Name's Otis." He said as the man took his hand and they shook. Her dad flashed a brief smile, and let go.

"My name's Cole, I'm Ariel's father."

The man sat down on the couch, staring at Otis.

"I'd like to thank you for what you did for her. You didn't have to help her at all, and I'm glad you did."

Otis looked at her father in disbelief. He didn't have to help her? What other choice in the world had there even been? Leave her to that fate? Otis felt a small, rising, red tide of anger in his mind that her father would even think that he didn't have to help. Pulling a smoke from his cigarette case, Otis lit it. He offered one, and Cole graciously accepted. When they had both smoked a moment, Otis spoke. 

"Sir, I had to do what I did. I would have done it for any woman, and your daughter is much more than just any woman."

Cole looked at the young man searchingly, taking a drag from the cigarette, letting the harsh smoke fill his lungs, savoring the taste before he exhaled. "What do you mean Otis?" Otis tried to line his feelings and thoughts up, subconsciously mimicking Cole. He finally spoke, the raw emotion in his voice almost shocking Cole, even though he hid it well.

"Ariel... She is beautiful. And very kind. And trusting in a level that is not very practical, but of such a sweet feeling to be trusted, that it is welcome. She is strong. She showed me how strong with how she has handled this. Not many people would handle this half as well, and most of them would crack. She's amazing sir. That's just how it is."

Both men jumped as Ariel cleared her throat from the hallway, a faint glimmer of tears in her eyes. Cole stood, quickly trying to hide the cigarette. His wife had forbidden him smoking long ago. Otis stood, staring at Ariel like he could see into her soul. She faintly grinned at her father, and he grinned back. She walked forward, speaking.

"Don't worry daddy, I won't tell momma." She walked to Otis, and spoke again. "I'm going to go; I need the comfort of my room. Thank you Otis, for everything." 

She went to hug him, and Otis returned her hug, and Cole could see the look in his eye, as if he never wanted to let her go. He missed his daughters' whispered words.

"If it's ok, I'd really love to see you and spend more time with you Otis."

The large man gulped, and softly whispered back.

"All the time I have in this world is yours dear one."

With that, the ended the embrace, Ariel's fingers softly trailing down Otis's arm until they met his hand, where he captured them for a moment. Everyone said their goodbyes, Cole and Otis shaking hands. Cole reflected on this was the first boy he had met through his daughter who actually shook hands like a man, and showed him respect. As the door closed behind him, Cole wrapped his arm around his daughters' shoulders, and sent a thought of thanks to the heavens, to whoever was listening.

When the door closed, Otis leaned his head against the door, his heart pining for her already. Her scent had permeated everywhere, especially his bed where she had lain. It was like a delicate torture, like the scraping of semi-sharp fingernails on his back, to lie in his bed to try and sleep. It was a long night for him, one he didn't know if he enjoyed or was tortured by. Ariel's night was not looking any better. Otis had let her keep his hoodie, her shirt was still ripped and all her clothes were at home. Her mother was already in bed, thankfully, when her and her father came into the house. Her father had hugged her and told her he loved her, and then he retreated to his 'man cave', where he slept to escape her mother. Ariel had slowly walked up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to crawl into her bed and never leave it. She slowly took off the hoodie, savoring the scent that was Otis.

She used the restroom, and then changed into some pajama pants and a t-shirt. She stared at her bed for a minute, and she had the strangest feeling that she was unprotected here and that no matter how many blankets she was under, that she'd be cold. She spotted the hoodie where she had put it on her computer chair, and it was like a lifeline in a storm. She grabbed it and pulled it over her head, spotting herself in the mirror. She couldn't help but laugh.

Otis' hoodie was a 5x, mainly because that meant when it was cold he could wear extra shirts under it. She didn't know that, of course, but she couldn't help but smile at the comical image presented in the mirror. The sleeves extended well past her hands, at least 8 inches. She looked like a little girl wearing her father's jacket. But, to her, it didn't really matter. She immediately felt safer, and warmer. Maybe it was the smell on the hoodie, reminding her of him so much...

She lay down on her bed, curling up underneath the covers, her nose buried inside the soft fabric of the hoodie. It had a strange combination of smells, grease, motor oil, wood smoke, cigarettes, and something deep and earthy, which she could only guess was Otis himself. She rolled restlessly in the bed, trying to fall asleep but unable to. Her mind was too hectic. She kept thinking about him. She wanted to ask him about more of his tattoos, more about his life.

From what JB had told her, she guessed the three quarter sized scars were the bullet wounds. Now she wanted to know why they had tattooed designs around them, drawing attention to them. She had noticed them when he had taken his shirt off, had in fact, traced one of the swirling designs with her own fingers. She also wanted to know the story behind the dragon he had climbing his back, with its wings spread and dripping flames from its jaws. She had almost thought it was one of those Asian or tribal dragon tattoos complete tools got, but it wasn't.

Her phone vibrated, and she hooked the charger cord with her finger, dragging the phone from her night stand, off the edge, then up to her bed. As soon as she went to check it, it vibrated again, meaning she now had two messages. She decided to check them, even though she didn't really want to talk to anyone. She checked the newest message first.

--New Message— From: Otis Subject: Hey, I'm sorry if you're asleep. I just wanted to make sure you got home ok.

Ariel couldn't help but smile. She had never had anyone that had cared or worried about her enough that they would check up on her, besides her parents. She quickly replied, feeling the 'warm and fuzzies' in her stomach that her and her friends always joked about in high school.

--Sent Message— From: You RE: Yea, I got here safe, and I'm up in my room, safe and sound. Just can't sleep. Why are you still up? As she waited for a reply, she checked her other message.

--New Message— From: Danny Subject: I'm coming for you bitch. And I'll get you when your little protector isn't around, and can't save you. And don't worry slut. I'll take care of him to. He won't save you or anyone after I'm done.

Ariel stared at her phone dumfounded for a moment. Today hadn't taught him anything? Otis had broken his arm two days ago. Tracked him down today, and only the fact there had been others with him had saved his life. Now he wanted more? It made her wonder how stupid he really was, and why she had ever let her mother talk her into dating him. She decided to ignore him. She wasn't going to tell Otis either, it would be pretty hard to get to know him through a mirror and phone arrangement. Her phone started vibrating again, and she checked it for what she hoped was a new message from Otis, and it was. She contained her girly squeal noises, but only barely.

--New Message— From: Otis Subject: Can't sleep. To many thoughts, not enough skull to keep them contained. ;) How are you feeling?

--Sent Message— From: You RE: I've been a lot better, but I think I'm doing really well for the circumstances. I'm just so tired of all of this going on and happening.

Otis nodded to himself. He bet she was tired of all this happening, especially with what she had been through today. He really hated texting, his fingers were so big, and the keys so small. He thought hard for a moment, and then made his gamble, because he knew if he waited too long, Ariel would either fall asleep or think he had fallen asleep. So, he slowly typed what he wanted to say, and then, taking a deep breath, hit send.

Ariel waited and waited, hoping he hadn't fallen asleep. She really wanted to keep talking to him. She wanted to actually talk, not text, because she loved the raspy, smoky thing that was his voice. She knew that Otis was shy though, so she didn't really want to push him to talk to her. If he waited for more than two days to talk to her though, she would push. He wasn't getting away that easily.

--New Message— From: Otis Subject: Hey, if you don't mind, can I call? I really hate texting cause of my fingers being so big.

Ariel stopped breathing for a minute, she was sure she did. Nodding vigorously, it took her all of three or four minutes to comprehend that Otis couldn't see her nodding. She couldn't figure out what she wanted to do! If she texted him, he might think she was trying really hard, or that she was desperate. She chewed her fingernail on her left index, a nervous habit she had never broke.

--Sent Message— From: You RE: Sure, I'd love for you to call.

Otis hit the call button on his phone, and breathlessly waited. After three and a half rings, he heard the button get pushed, a deep breath get taken, and that beautiful silk voice say softly and hesitantly...

"Hello?"

Ariel waited, not really breathing. She was worried that Otis would let his shyness win out, and he wouldn't speak to her or something. She really did not want to deal with rejection right now; there was only so much in a day she was willing to take. About the time she was considering saying hello again, she heard that raspy rocky voice he had, that voice that was doing way to well at making her giddy.

"Hey Ariel... "

"Hi." She said back, not knowing what else to say at that moment. It felt weird to have already gone through so much with him, but this is one of their first real conversations. So, she asked the same thing that everyone asked for the first time on the phone together.

"What's up?"

Otis didn't really know what to say, like at all. He just kind of sat there and basked, if that was the right word, in the beauty of her voice. Finally realizing how stupid it was to just kind of sit there and not say anything, he merely replied with not much. They sat on the phones, wordless for a few more minutes until Ariel started laughing. Otis couldn't help himself.

"What's so funny?"

Ariel choked back her laughter.

"This. We aren't talking like at all, and we've been through a lot all ready as friends, the time comes to talk, we have no clue what to say. It's just funny to me."

Otis grinned as well. He could see the comedy in that, sure. They both sat in silence still, but the silence was more comfortable than anything now. After a few minutes, Otis started asking Ariel question, what her favorite color was, her favorite band, things like that. They slowly started to discover a lot of things they had similar interests in, like music, movies, and books. Otis had not struck Ariel as a strong reader, but he had some impressive reads under his belt. She hadn't really talked to people before that could talk about some of the best fantasy and then without changing pace, talk political theory and philosophy. Ariel hadn't really seemed a heavy metal kind of girl, but she showed Otis just how much she was by her knowledge, especially of Agents of Oblivion, one of his favorite bands.

Ariel startled both of them by yawning so loudly that her jaw cracked. Otis laughed quietly at her attempts to apologize; it was 3:30 in the morning anyways. He smiled briefly. It felt good to talk to someone besides his regular group, which were basically his grandfather and JB. She was like a fresh breeze. Ariel was smiling on her end of the phone as well, her smile bright enough to almost be seen in the dark room. Otis was the one to say good night first, and Ariel shyly replied the same to him. He followed with something that almost melted her heart, telling her to have sweet dreams, then hem hawing around to ask if he could text her when he went on lunch at work. Ariel didn't have to work on Saturday morning, but Otis did. She told him she'd love for him to text her, and the finally got off the phone, 20 minutes after they had originally said good night.

As Ariel and Otis started their phone conversation, Cole was awake and in his little den, or 'man cave' as Ariel liked to call it. It was just a room for him. It wasn't very large, but it had a couch with a pull out bed, a TV that was big without being huge, and his toys. Cole had always been a child at heart, and he really loved video games. It was something him and Ariel did a lot, was play video games in the man cave. At the moment though, video games were the furthest thing from his mind. He had his daughter to think about right now. He turned on the air purifier to indulge in one or two of his hidden cigarettes while he thought. What Danny had attempted.... That took it too far. Cole didn't care if his father was the mayor or the fucking King of England; this was not going to stand. As his mother would say, God takes care of all, but sometimes you have to give Him a little nudge.

Cole slowly drew in a lungful of the harsh smoke. It had been a long time since he had done anything that didn't fit in to the whole 'Upper Class Snobby Buckman Estates' image his wife wanted him to project and be a part of. He knew he was still strong and could still scrap, and probably knew a few tricks the boys from this area didn't, but he wasn't a River Rat anymore, hadn't wore that particular patch and vest of honor for a few years. He was an old man, who had sat behind a desk and went a lot softer than he had ever expected. He was going to protect his daughter though; there was no way in hell it was changing beyond that. He may not be able to help her as he could have 20 years ago, when he could run and gun, but he had made a few friends in the new circles he moved in, men who were like him, men who wished they had time to work on cars themselves or go fishing, not sit behind the desk of a company all day cause they had been groomed to do it their whole life.

Cole rose from the couch mattress, and walked to the closet. Reaching in, he pulled out a large, dusty box. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he slowly opened the top and began to look through the things inside. His old leather vest was inside, a black, dusty, and very musty smelling thing. It was covered in patches, things like 'Loud Pipes Save Lives', 'Smart Ass White boy', 'That's Mr. Sunshine to you Motherfucker!', and last but not least in his memory, the River Rats MC back patch. He had worked very hard, moving from prospect to member, from member to Sergeant-At-Arms. Then he had met Trish. Well, she was Trish back then; she wanted to be called Patricia now. Trish was to 'low class' she said, ignoring him when he had said she used to hate being called Patricia. He laid the vest on the corner of the bed, and began looking through pictures from his younger days. There were the pictures of him as a young child, just being crazy. One of his favorites was the picture of him knee deep in river mud, holding a red Ryder bb gun. As he dug deeper, the pictures showed him getting older, his first car, his first tattoo, his first bike. The picture of him receiving his GED, no High School graduation for him. The picture of him going to the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Storm, and the pictures of him returning home, Purple Heart on his chest for being wounded in action. Even further down was the first picture of him and Trish, sitting on his bike.




Across the Tracks Ch. 07



He remembered that day pretty well, which was shocking considering all the things he had done in those days. They had been going to a party at his friend Carl's house, and they were going back to his place after. The picture had been snapped as soon as he pulled up, before they got off the bike. He was smiling, and Trish was laughing, her hair tousled by the wind. That was actually the night he had proposed, sitting on the porch of his house, counting the stars. The first few years of marriage had been amazing, and then Trish had changed into Patricia. Even thinking of her as Patricia instead of his Trish brought a sour taste to his mouth. She was different, and he never found out why. She had started this whole transformation into 'Patricia' after her father had passed away. He guessed it had to do something with her father not being proud of her or something. Cole shook his head. He had no idea.

"You always look at those things when you think about how much you wish you were still your old self."

Cole had become used to Trish being so quiet many years ago. Now, it was like her second nature, just added passive aggressive to the quiet, and you had his wife.

Turning, he looked at her and stared for a moment.

"What do you want?" 

Patricia smiled. Always so blunt her Cole. Never had any notion of tact. She swirled the contents of her glass, a rather potent whisky and Coke, a holdover from her less 'refined' days. 

"What? A woman cannot come see her husband, especially one that returns so late in the night, to another room and not to his bed and wife?" 

"You said it there woman. YOUR bed. Not ours or mine. Yours. You kicked me out of it to be stuck down here. What, out of sight out of mind not working for you?"

She smirked, amused by his ire. "Maybe I simply wished to look at my husband, to remind myself of what a real man is NOT." 

Cole turned on her, a dark fury in his eyes. She had made him who he was when they were married. This was her choice, and his mistake in allowing it. "What's a real man? A man like your father? Rich, heartless, fucking didn't care at all about you?!?!" 

Patricia's anger flared. That was too far from him. "My father loved me! More than you ever did, or ever will!"

Cole jumped to his feet, and faced her down like he had needed to do for a while now. His words were mangled by his anger, and his veins stuck out on his neck and face. His eyes looked like they were about to bust out of his head.

"LOVED YOU? He didn't care when you almost died in that fucking wreck! He never once came to the Hospital! Who fucking held you as you cried and sobbed when you had your miscarriage? ME! Not him! He even said he was fucking glad you had them, not giving a child to trash like me!" 

Patricia sagged under the load, the word hitting her as hard as bullets. She sagged down to her knees, and began crying, bawling uncontrollably. She hadn't cried when her father died, but she was getting it out now for all Cole knew. He rushed to his wife, the woman he loved, and held her. She looked up at him, and then buried her head deep into his chest, sobbing, almost screaming. 

"Why was he always like that Cole? Why didn't he love me? I did everything he ever asked. The only thing I never did was leave you. I refused to do that and he refused to love me. Why?" 

Cole held the woman of his life and rocked her. He had no answers, and did not try to give any. He just held her, was her rock. Like always. Patricia was emotional, fickle, and raw was the best way to describe it. Cole had always been solid and thoughtful, a piece of granite. Someone had remarked once that Patricia was like a fast river, and Cole was the island in the middle of it. 

She poured out her grief like water during a storm. Cole held her through the storm. It didn't matter how she treated him or what she said. He loved her, and would always love her. He started humming as he rocked her, senseless noise trying to soothe her. She smiled against his chest, and started talking. "Do you remember the night we were out at the rock quarry and had just got done swimming? We lay out on that little camping mattress in the bed of your truck and you sang to me?"

Cole nodded. He remembered that night well. It was the first time they had made love. Patricia looked up at her husband, this man who was better than she had ever deserved or thought she would get, and the tear were still fresh on her face. "Sing to me now? Please Cole?" 

She hadn't called him by name in a long time. When they had first got together, she had refused to call him pet names. She loved his real name to much, and he always knew she was mad when she called him by anything but it. He nodded, and smiled at his wife. He stood with her still wrapped in his arms. He may not have been as strong as he was, but he was still strong enough to pick up his small wife. Laying her on the pullout, he laid beside her and she almost immediately took her old position of laying her head on his chest and her leg over him, like they had never slept apart. 

He gently stroked her back as he softly sang to her. Cole had been a huge fantasy nerd growing up, and had read alot of books while stationed in the military. He had memorized an Elvish love song from Lord of the Rings, or the snatches the books contained, about an Elvish woman who fell in love with a human. Patricia smiled. She loved this song, and she knew Cole had memorized it for her. He always compared her to an Elf, thinking her beautiful and unattainable. She slowly leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his neck, almost shyly. Cole cupped her face with his hand, and slowly kissed his wife on the lips. 

"We know each other too well to shyly kiss like teenagers baby. I've missed kissing you, that's for sure." 

At his words, Patricia kissed him again. He returned her kiss, and Patricia basked in the love and lust he placed in the kiss. It had been so long.... Patricia ran her hand down his body, feeling his growing manhood with her fingertips just as shyly as if it was her first time. She kissed him again, more like her old self, when she was full of passion and fire. Cole groaned. It had been almost two years since anything like this had happened. He probably wouldn't last long, but god he wanted her to touch him more. 

Patricia grinned, biting on her lip a bit. So long.... So long since he had been inside her. Unbuttoning his jeans, she slipped her hand inside his boxers and slowly wrapped her fingers around his expanding cock. It felt so good in her hand, throbbing slightly, silky and hot. Cole arched his back, not wanting her to stop. 

"It seems I have been very lax in my marital duties my dear husband. Can I please make up for it?" 

Cole nodded, he didn't trust himself to say anything, and just in case his mouth said something he didn't want it to. Patricia smiled and began to lay hot, nibbling kisses down his neck and body. When she reached his pants, she took both hands and worked his pants and boxers off of his body. Grasping his fully erect cock, she looked him in his eyes as she slowly ran her tongue from his base to the tip of his head. 

Taking his moans as a sign, she swirled her tongue around his head and slowly engulfed the head of his cock in her mouth, beginning a gentle suction. Grinning wickedly as she sucked back until her mouth was completely off him, she swiftly opened her mouth and engulfed as much of it as she could hold. Cole almost came right there. His back was arched, fingertips digging into the mattress with his tension and pleasure. She knew how long it had been for her husband. She slowly worked her mouth up and down his shaft as she worked her panties off underneath her nightgown. 

Pulling her mouth free, she grasped him with a hand and worked it, her saliva providing a good lubricant. Grinning she touched herself, and looked at him. "God Cole, I'd love to be sitting on your hard cock right now, but I don't think my pussy is wet enough..." 

Dirty talk! She was using the dirty talk that she knew he loved so much. Grabbing her arms, he pulled her up his body, placing her arms on the wall over the foldout. Lifting her gown up he placed his mouth almost on her pussy.

"I think I can help you with that baby girl." 

As Cole began to lick her slick folds, Patricia particularly glowed inside and out. It had been so long since he called her baby girl. She loved hea- Oh God. She lost all her train of thought and his tongue flicked her clit. 

Cole knew what his wife liked. Using his thumbs, he pulled her lips part and slid his tongue inside her, using his index finger to stimulate her clit. He faintly heard her panting and moaning, but her legs clamping on his head were impairing his hearing. This went on for at least five minutes before Patricia lifted herself. 

"I can't take anymore... Cole... I need you inside me... Please." 

He looked at his wife and smiled. 

"It's all for you Patricia. It always has been and always will be." 

She shook her head slowly and kissed him, tasting her own juices on his lips. As she slowly pressed his cock into her opening and began to slide done, she spoke. "Patricia is gone Cole. Trish is back, trust me." 

Cole smiled and couldn't stop his hips from bucking. She was still as tight as their first time together. She laughed, throwing her head back as the bodies finally met. She began rocking back and forth, grinding her clit against the base of his cock. 

"Impatient a little my love?"

Cole almost whimpered. She was so tight, so hot, and so good. He looked at her as she discarded her nightgown completely, her bare breasts bouncing with her movements and his thrusts. She looked so good on top of him, glistening with sweet, with a rosy color from exertion. 

"Cole... Take me like you used to... It's been so long and I'm so close... Please...." 

Cole was more than happy to oblige, grabbing her hips and taking over the rhythm. The sounds of their gasps and moans filled the air, and the sweat glistened on their bodies from the exertion. They hadn't fucked like this for years. Pulling her down, Cole kissed Trish as he slammed into her from beneath. She spoke his name over and over fast as it felt like a million little glass slivers broke inside her at once. She hadn't cum in so long.... So very long. 

Cole felt her tighten, and it was too much for him to take. It felt as if his cock swelled even more, and he exploded inside his wife, wave after wave of cum filling her, two years worth to be exact. He slowly moved his hips in circles, and she wearily collapsed on top of him. She chuckled wearily and he looked at her in wonder. "And what do you think is so funny little Miss? Was it so bad it's funny?" 

Trish swatted his arm playfully. She snuggled up between his neck and shoulder, squeezing his semi-erect cock inside of her. She didn't want it out of her for a while. 

"In the old days, that would have just been for a start. Now, I'm ready to lay her and go to sleep Cole." 

He hated to admit it, but he was alot more tired than he ever would have been in the old days. He nodded wearily, wrapping his arms around his wife. "Ain't that the truth.... Keep up that squeezing, and there will be more though, you can count on that." 

They both chuckled softly as Cole situated the blanket to cover them. As Trish fell asleep, she whispered in an already sleeping Cole's ear.

"I love you. And thank you for loving me enough to not leave me." 

Even though she knew he was asleep, she could almost swear she saw a smile right before she closed her eyes for the night. 



Across the Tracks Ch. 08



(This chapter has violence and non-consentual sex in it. This is my warning.) 

*

Danny sat on the plush leather couch in his basement room. He looked around for a moment. He had a pretty sweet deal. Mommy and dad paid for everything, bought him whatever he wanted, and he never had to pay rent. He had an assured job at his father's company, and who knew? Maybe one day he'd be a mayor himself. Then he would show all these motherfuckers in this Podunk town who was in charge, who was the fucking master of their lives. He didn't respect anything about anyone that wasn't him, not even his mother and father. As far as he was concerned, they were weaklings, giving him whatever he wanted like they did. They didn't even have the balls to stand up to him.

The only person that had even offered him any fun was that fucking bitch, and the only reason she was fun was because she still had a cherry. He intended to take it to. He would have had it today, but her new little lackey had to show up. He ruined the plan to take her cherry then pass her to his friends so they could have some fun to. That bastard was going to pay for breaking his arm. He ruined his fun as well. Danny had expected to bust a nut today, and instead had gotten chased out by that fucker and his little queer friend. He'd have killed that bastard when he had the chance if his friend hadn't dragged him off. He settled for beating on his fucking head, and that was almost as fun.

Danny grabbed his phone and looked through the contacts. He had a separate contact folder for all the little whores who wanted his dick, would drive to his house for it. He had fucked all these dumb whores behind Ariel's back, and didn't intend to stop fucking now. He finally stopped on a name and started texting her. Nikki was good for fucking, but that was about it. She would probably fuck anything with a dick, and she would sure as hell fuck him tonight. He got the confirmation text that she was on the way over, and smiled. Yea, he lied to the dumb bitch, told her he loved her, wanted to be with her just not right now. It wasn't his fault the dumb cunt believed it. If she wasn't so stupid, he wouldn't have to lie, she'd know she was nothing more than a fuck. Instead, she thought he'd love her some day or some shit, so he had to lie.

When he got done screwing that dumb bitch, he'd just move on to someone else. Everyone was expendable to him, no one had value. They were all just tools or toys, something to be used then discarded. If they didn't want to be discarded easily, he would always break them. A sickly smile crossed his face as he remembered Alexia, that dumb bitch thought she loved him to. Then she got pregnant and tried to say it was his kid! He had paid a little money; she tripped on the stairs, lost the baby. Sure, he had lost the piece of ass when she killed herself a few weeks later, but there was always a new piece of ass to be had. Pussy was one of the few things in the world there was enough of; he could always find a different piece.

He looked to the clock. Where was that dumb slut? If she was trying to get all dressed up, she may as well save it. He planned on getting her out of her clothes immediately, whether she liked it or not.

~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Nikki got the text from Danny and could barely hide her excitement. She started to get dressed, trying really hard to look good for him. Her friends said it was all a waste, that Danny was never going to do anything but chase after Ariel, but she knew different. He told her he loved her, and that was all she needed to know. She had wanted to be with him forever, and he was so nice and sweet to her. The day she turned 18 he had came to the field party and gave her his number. She had about passed out from excitement when he asked her to come over one night. They had made love that night to, he was just too persuasive. Nikki had liked Danny ever since high school; she was two years younger than his 21.

She finally felt pretty enough for him, and grabbed her phone and texted him to let him know she was on her way. Before she ran out the door, she checked herself for a final time in the mirror. Nikki had some self esteem issues, which was one of the reasons she had started having sex at a younger age than some and had sex with a few guys. Of course, she wasn't the whore everyone made her out to be, but she wasn't a saint either. Nikki was pretty. She had shoulder length red hair, which had a natural wavy curl to it. She had very bright green eyes, framed by soot black lashes on her pale skin. Nikki had what she referred to as the curse of the ginger, pale skin that burnt easily and a lot of freckles. She had caught a lot of shit in high school, getting called 'ginger kid' and being told that since she was a ginger she had no soul. It sucked a lot, and had given her some pretty rough issues with herself. She had a full mouth, with a slightly over full bottom lip.

She had chosen a cute outfit for Danny, and she hoped he liked it. The tight jeans emphasized her long, muscular and toned legs, courtesy of her running track for four years of high school. Her shirt wasn't tight, but it wasn't very baggy either. She was wearing her favorite t-shirt, and she hoped Danny liked it. She didn't really know much about him, he'd never talk about anything important or deep with her. Her mind just chalked it up to him being guarded because he was afraid of being hurt. Nikki was a very romantic girl, and she was also very naive about romance and love. Wild horse couldn't have drug it from her, but she still watched Disney movies were the main characters always fell in love and it worked out, and they lived happily ever after. It was her dream, and right now she saw that dream with Danny.

She had heard he was mean, but he had never laid a finger on her in anger. He was sweet to her, and talked to her so nice. She honestly thought he was the one, and would never hurt her ever, and would ask her to be his girlfriend soon. After girlfriend would come fiancé, then wife, then she could have his children. She hoped they'd all look like Danny, and not an ugly redhead like her. She wanted her children to be beautiful, not ugly.

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Danny growled in annoyance as the dumb bitch finally pulled up. His basement was more of a third floor surrounded by dirt o three sides, so you could walk directly into it. He unlocked the door and waited. Usually, he would be sweet and loving and draw this out, to make her want to come back. After this bullshit with the waiting, he wasn't going to be so nice. You didn't make him wait! He didn't care what the fuck the bitch had put on, he obviously thought she was fuckable; she should have been over here immediately to take care of his needs. Not trying to make herself look pretty. He had been ready to dump the redhead off to the side anyways; he was tired of the ugly freckles and her constant attempts to be with him. He knew the way to get his nut off, and get her away from him. She couldn't say it was rape, he had the texts from her saying she was coming over to fuck. Besides, the police chief was his Godfather, and most of the cocaine that went into his nose was bought for him by Danny's father. 

As Nikki walked through the door and looked for him, she felt someone smash into her back, driving her down onto the bed in the middle of the room. She felt like she had been hit by a semi. Before she could get up, she felt someone grab a large handful of her hair and force her head down. She struggled, trying to kick and mover her body, trying to get away. Who could it be doing this to her? Danny would never do this! He loved her! A nasty voice in her head, the same one that told her she was ugly and worthless said 'Then who the fuck else could it be?' She froze in her struggles for a moment; she was barely getting enough air in her lungs. Whoever had her hair yanked her head up, and she drew in a great gasp of air to scream. 

"If you scream bitch I swear to God you'll die." Wrapping his hand in her hair once again, Danny yanked hard enough he almost yanked the hair out of her head. "You don't ever make me fucking wait. You're about to pay for that shit."

Nikki felt her mind shut down. He couldn't be doing this to her. She loved him! He had told her that he loved her and wanted to be her boyfriend. Why why why was he doing this?!?!?! She started to struggle again as he yanked her up to her knees. He was having difficulty doing anything with the cast on his arm, and dragged Nikki to his dresser. He had enough mobility to get his handgun off the top of the dresser, and the dumb bitch probably would never know he couldn't cock it, but she knew it was there as soon as he placed the barrel against her forehead.

"Now listen here you little cunt. I'm going to let go of your hair. You are going to unzip my pants and you're going to start off by sucking my dick. You try to run, I'll shoot you. You bite down, I'll shoot you. You try to tell anyone about this, I'll kill you. Now, start sucking whore."

Nikki trembled as she reached for the top of his sweat pants. Her mind just couldn't process what was going on. He was supposed to love her. This wasn't love at all. This was hate. This was Danny, the man she wanted to love her and wanted to love forever, raping her. She entered a state of shock, and mechanically went through what she was doing. She pulled his pants and boxers down, and his length sprang from them almost smacking her in the face. She wouldn't have felt it. The soul of Nikki was buried deep into a private place in her mind. She was doing this as mechanical as any robot, like she was sleep walking.

She didn't feel it when Danny grabbed her head and shoved as much of his cock as he could down her throat. She didn't hear herself gag, or feel the bile almost rise up in her throat. She didn't feel it when Danny bellowed and pulled out of her mouth, spraying her face and favorite shirt with his seed. It was like she was out of her body as he yanked her by the head and threw her on the bed, making her take her jeans off. She came back to her body in a rush as he penetrated her, and she finally came out of her shock enough to fight back. She tried to claw him with her fingers as she had been taught, but any thoughts of fighting back were ended by him jamming the gun barrel into her mouth, loosening her two front teeth and causing her mouth to fill with blood.

Danny was harder than he had ever been. She had started fighting, and when he took the fight out of her with the gun in her mouth, he almost came. He took her power from her in that second. Switching the gun to his broken arms hand, he punched her in the face. He did it again, and again, and again, until he felt her nose break. He looked at her eyes, filled with pain and loss, and watched the tears stream down her face and he came again. He came deep in the stupid slut's pussy, marking her as his whore. He'd tell everyone about the slut Nikki letting him bust a nut inside her. He'd leave out what he had to do to get to that point, didn't want to scare all the other stupid bitches off. He moved off the bed, yanking the gun out of her mouth, tearing her lip open on the sight. He sat back down in his arm chair and lit a joint. Looking at Nikki, he sneered.

"What the fuck are you still doing here slut? Get the fuck out of my house. I never, EVER, want to hear from you again."

Nikki looked at him from her tear filled eyes as blood and his cum mixed on her face. She jumped from the bed, pulling her pants up and ran from the room, jumping into her car and speeding away. Danny smiled and took another hit. Grabbing his phone, he started to text his buddies about what a nasty slut Nikki was.

Nikki drove fast, trying to get away from that monster. Her tear filled eyes blurred the road, and she had to pull over and stop. She found a spare shirt in her car and whipped her face clean; looking at the mess that was her favorite t-shirt, the t-shirt she felt the cutest in. She couldn't even drive anymore, all she could do was rest her head on the steering wheel and weep. She had gone to Danny's close to 6 am; the whole life changing ordeal had taken almost an hour and a half. She was about to pull away when a loud bike thundered past her, making her jump. She sighed as the brake light lit up and the bike pulled a U-Turn. She cracked her window when the bike pulled up, one of the skinniest and tallest men she had ever seen sat on it.

"Excuse me ma'am is everything.... Holy shit. Are you ok?! "

Nikki tried to nod, she didn't want anyone to see her like this, but instead she shook her head and broke down crying again. She just wanted to die. She didn't want any part of this life anymore. What was she going to do if people found out? What if her mother found out? Her mom was sick, this would probably kill her to find out her daughter had been raped. And now she had some guy she didn't know standing at her car window, which seemed very concerned. She tried to wave him off, but he wasn't going to be moved that easily.

Deke looked at the girl. She had been hurt bad. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear she had been hit in the mouth with a damn tire iron. All he could see was blood from her mouth, and what looked like a ragged split running from the lip almost to her nose, that looked like something had been ripped from it or through it. Her nose was broken. It had to be. It was fucking crooked for God's sake! As soon as he subconsciously took the Lords name in vain Deke crossed himself. He gently knocked on the window and gulped as those green eyes filled with pain and loss looked at him.

"Miss, I got to get you to a hospital. They'll fix your nose and lip there."

Nikki hadn't even noticed the rip in her lip or the broken nose until he said something and the pain flared up immediately. Her eyes were starting to swell shut, so she wouldn't be able to drive soon. She couldn't go to the hospital. They asked questions there, and no one would ever believe her there either. Not about the Mayors son. Especially any of the cops, the police chief and Mayor was best friends. Shaking her head, she looked at the man. 

"No hospitals. I can't go to one... They'll ask questions. Is there any where else I can go to get it fixed...? Please?"

Deke looked at her face. Like Hell I'm not going to ask questions. He knew what she meant though. Hospitals would want to know what had happened, would want a police report if it was something bad. Looking at her, her eyes had almost swelled shut. He warred with his common sense, and then nodded.

"Let me make a call. I know a place. If he says yes, you can follow me, just be careful, and pull over if you're having trouble seeing. I'll give you a ride on the bike or drive your car if that happens."

The girl nodded and Deke tried to smile encouragingly. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialed a number, a friend he hadn't talked to in the almost 3 years since graduation. Granted, all three of those years had belonged to the Army, but he had just got home. He just hoped his old friend would answer.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Otis groaned. He had just got to sleep and now the damn phone was ringing. Fumbling for it, he seen a number he didn't recognize, but answered anyways. It may be important. 

"Hello...."

He grumbled into the phone. The voice that answered was a direct blast from the past, one that jolted Otis to being half asleep to being fully awake.

"Hey Big O, its Deke. Listen man, I ain't got much time. I was just cruising into town, just got back ya dig? Seen this little white 'Stang against the side of the curb, whipped around to make sure everything was cool. There's a girl in it, and she's banged up bad. Looks like a broken nose, ripped lip, lot of blood. She said no to a hospital. Still got those skills home grown surgeon?"

Otis had stitched quite a few nasty wounds for him and his friends back in the day, it was part of life. They couldn't always go to the hospital. He made sure Deke knew how to get to his place, and then hung up the phone. He pulled out an old first aid kit, and began to look through it. If she needed stitches, the best he could do was liquid band-aid. She'd have to go to the hospital for anything more advanced than that.

He looked to the clock and silently swore. Thirty five minutes. Thirty five minutes of sleep, that was it.

"Son of a fucking bitch."

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

Deke started his bike and motioned for the girl to follow him. They hadn't been on the road for more than twenty minutes before she pulled over. He circled back, and saw she had her head down on the wheel crying again. She rolled her window down, and Deke immediately knew what was wrong. Her eyes were swollen shut.

"Do you want to get on the bike or me to drive?"

"Bike. My car's touchy about other drivers."

She rolled her window up and got out, and Deke could see what looked like semen on her shirt. She must have gotten raped then... He thought to himself. Putting the kickstand down, he helped her up on the bike and got back on himself. He instructed her to wrap her arms around him, and then took off; finally arriving at the apartment complex Otis lived in. He got her to carefully get off, then placed his kickstand down and shut the bike off. He led her by hand to Otis's door, knocking gently. He heard the floor boards creak as someone stepped to it, and knew it was Otis. No one else was that goddamn big.

The door opened, and Nikki realized what the hell she was doing. She didn't know this man. Didn't know where she was or where he had taken her. She started to recoil, when she heard a familiar voice.

"Christ on a cracker, what the hell happened to you Firebird?!"

Deke looked at Otis then the look of recognition on the face of the girl. Firebird Otis had called her, which seemed appropriate given her bird like physique and flaming red hair. The next thing he knew, he was in the powerful grip of one of Otis's mitts. He looked down at a man who had been his best friend, and choked. There wasn't much else for him to do, and he wouldn't do it for longer if Otis didn't stop squeezing his throat. Deke made polite noises, trying to say Hello, how you been buddy, and please stop trying to kill me.

"Deke. Did you. Do. This."

Deke tried to shake his head no, but couldn't even move his head in Otis's hands. It was the girl who saved him on that. Rushing forward, she grabbed Otis, trying to get him to put Deke down.

"It wasn't him! He was just helping me! Quit strangling him!"

Otis placed Deke down, and had the audacity to look affronted. He led the girl he had called Firebird and Deke into the living room, were the medical supplies had been laid out. He gently sat her down and started cleaning the numerous scratches on her face and the cut in her lip. Once cleaned, the lip cut wasn't as big as it had seemed, and would be fixable by Otis. He ordered Deke around, making him get ice and towels so they could try to bring the swelling around her eyes down. As the swelling lessened a bit, Nikki got her first good, lit, look at her savior.

He was tall, taller than Otis. Not many men were. He had to be somewhere around 6'8", but looked like he only weighed around 200 pounds. To put it simply, he looked... Stretched. Like someone had grabbed an end and someone else the other and took off running. Everything about him was long, his arms, legs, even his neck and face. He had a crew cut, like he was in the army or something. He had eyes her daddy would have called 'shit brown'. Other than his height, he was really... Average. His skin was beautiful though. Like sun kissed bronze, it fairly shimmered in the light. 

At the same time she was studying him, Deke was studying her. She had really pretty red hair, Deke had always loved blondes, but her hair was an interesting shade of fire. She was paler than anyone he had seen in the past 2 years, but not in a way that looked like she never came out side. Her face looked like it could be beautiful, if it hadn't been beat within an inch of being unrecognizable. He went to take in more of her when he realized she was still wearing the shirt with the evidence of whoever had hurt her on it. Catching Otis's attention, Deke left the apartment, going to his back and the duffle strapped to the sissy bar. 




Across the Tracks Ch. 08



Nikki nervously picked at the legs of her jeans. She didn't feel right in these clothes. She didn't even feel right in her skin. She felt dirty and filthy. She felt.... Used. Otis finished cleaning the wounds on her face, and leaned back. 

"This is going to hurt Firebird. I've got to set that nose, and it ain't going to be no walk in the park." 

She looked right through him as she nodded. It's like she wasn't even there. Quickly setting her nose, he heard her scream of pain die in her throat. He leaned back again, making sure it was straight. It looked it, but he was no doctor or nurse. He began to clean the last traces of blood from her face. 

"I'm not going to tape your nose or glue your lip yet, you'll probably want to take a shower. What happened to you Firebird?" 

Deke stood at the door silently, waiting for her answer. She hadn't told him, and he wanted to know too. She cleared her throat several times before speaking. 

"You can't tell anyone. Ever. Not even poppop. Do you understand?" 

Otis nodded. He knew Nikki's grandpa, had worked on his cars. They were almost what you'd call friends. 

"Danny texted me and wanted me to come over. I took too long to get there, and when I did he... He.... Well, you can see what he did." 

Nikki broke down sobbing. Otis clenched his hands. Another broken life thanks to that little prick. He heard a throat clear and looked to Deke, who was standing there with what looked like a shirt and sweats in his hand. He looked at Nikki, and seemed to not know what to say, which Otis thought was a first. Deke had always been a talker. 

"Ma'am, they'll be big, but if you wanted to use Otis's shower, I got some clothes you can change into." 

Nikki nodded her thanks and took the clothes. She looked to Otis and he nodded, and she went to the bathroom with the shower. She turned the water on hot and didn't even bother getting undressed. She sat under the hot spray, trying to clean her skin of his touch. Her mouth felt like it burned with acid from the taste of him. She tilted her head back, filling her mouth up with water and gargling, spitting the water into the drain. It didn't work though, she still felt it. Eventually, she stood, disrobing, and cleaned herself. When she was clean and dry, she put on the clothes the man had given her. 

He was right; they were very big on her. The shirt reached her knees and the sleeves her mid-forearms. The sweats could have been pulled up to her armpits and still been too long. The clothes were warm and clean, and didn't have the smell of Danny on them, so she was grateful. She realized she still didn't know the man who had helped her, still didn't know his name. 

As she was in the shower, Deke and Otis sat down and talked. Deke gave Otis the run down, the last two years in a condensed version. Otis did basically the same, letting Deke know the girls name, what had been happening, and who Danny and Ariel were. Deke was shocked to hear JB had a kid, and was trying to stay sober. Deke asked about his grandpa and Otis told him Old Mans recent escapades. Deke had just finished laughing when Nikki walked into the living room, a bag holding her wet clothes. Deke jumped to his feet, almost fast enough to not avoid the fan. Nikki stared at him for a moment, and couldn't help but smile a little. He looked like Gumby. 

"I'd like to thank you for saying me..."

"Corporal Deacon James Evans, United States Army ma'am." 

Nikki nodded like she knew what the hell any of that was supposed to mean and sat back down on the couch for Otis to tape up her tender nose. After he was satisfied with his work, he gently covered the slight gash in her lip with liquid band-aid, sealing it together. He then pronounced her put together as best as he could make it, and told her if she got a fever to go to the doctor. He then told them in the nicest way his raddled brain could to get the fuck out his house; he was calling in to work so he could get some sleep. 

Nikki smiled and gave him a hug; she had seen Otis act like this before. He got grumpy like a bear when he didn't get any sleep. Giving him a hug, she thanked him for everything. She watched as him and 'Deke' slapped hands and promised to meet up soon, they had each other's numbers. Nikki and Deke went back downstairs and got on the bike. Deke rode them back over to her car, and then followed her home. Deke gave the girl a scrap of paper with his number on it, just in case she needed any help. He decided better safe than sorry, and made sure she got home and inside safe. 

Once she was inside, he turned the bike and headed to his parents house, where he was staying until he got on his feet. 

Nikki walked to her room and lay down, was another wave of bitter crying hit her. She couldn't believe what had happened in such a short time. It was all so unreal, her world was turned upside down. She spotted the wood plague above her bed that said 'Love Conquers All' and was filled with rage, her grief forgotten. Yanking it down, she threw it into the trash. She went on an anger filled rampage, tearing everything she had dealing with love and throwing it into the trash. When she was done, she couldn't help but collapse on her bed and cry some more.

As she lay down on her bed, she thought about the man who had helped her. People didn't do things like that anymore. You didn't stop and turn around to see if someone was ok. You kept driving. She was glad he did though. Her eyes would have swollen shut all the way and she wouldn't have been able to see to drive and she would have had to stay there in her car all night. She was thankful, but it was still weird. She briefly wondered if something was wrong with his left leg, he seems to walk weird with it. She moved, and felt the pain rip through her body. When she felt the pain, she busted out sobbing all over again. She wondered if she would ever run out of tears.

Finally, exhausted and weary to her very soul, she slept. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

When Ariel woke up, it was to the sound of something so strange she almost couldn't place it. When she realized what it was, she almost thought she was still dreaming. It was her mother's laughter! Her mother hadn't laughed, well really laughed, in a long time. Her laugh now days were usually so fake. Ariel knew this was the real deal though. 

Ariel wandered down the stairs, looking for her parents. If her mother's laugh shocked her, what was at the bottom of the stairs did even more so. Her father and mother were cooking breakfast, and her dad was behind her mother, with his arms wrapped around her. He kept whispering in her ear and biting at her neck, which seemed to be the source of all the laughter. 

Ariel couldn't really do more than look in shock. Her parents were flirting! It was kind of a weird moment for her. She knew they loved each other, but they had been really cold to each other. She really didn't know what to say, but she did know she didn't want to disturb their fun. She tried to turn and go back upstairs, but as she turned she was spotted by her father, who whispered in his wife's ear. 

"Ariel? Baby can you come here for a minute?"

Ariel turned around, fake smile plastered all over her face. She didn't even want to know what her mother wanted. She and her mother hadn't gotten along allot in the past few years, but she was still willing to try, just to see what her mom wanted. She stood on the other side of the kitchen island, and stared at her mother, just waiting. 

"Ariel, I just want to say I'm sorry. I never should have said those things to you, and I never should have pressured you to stay with Danny if he was abusive." 

Ariel couldn't do much more than stare at her mother for a moment. Her mother had never apologized to her, especially about Danny. She didn't even know what to say. Her mother and father looked at her, and she couldn't do much more than nod and make a plate of breakfast. She was looking down and missed the crestfallen look on her mother's face. 

Trish was trying to make amends to her daughter, and it didn't seem to be working. She was worried that the rift between them had grown too large, and she didn't want that to be that way. Trish had been unable to have children, and Ariel was her world. She had forgotten that in her own grief and shameful feelings. Remembering the fact that she tried to keep her beautiful daughter with an abusive boyfriend made her heart hurt. What had she been thinking? She couldn't help but bury her head in her husband's shoulder and cried.

As much as Ariel wanted to stay home and sleep after everything, she also wanted to see Otis. She took shower, singing horribly along to some pop jingle on the radio. She was humming happily as she got out of the shower and dried off, and then picked out her clothing. She decided since it was still nice weather for October, she'd go with jeans and a t-shirt. She hated skinny jeans, so she went with some comfortable Levis and her A Day to Remember shirt. Grabbing her hoodie just in case, she was halfway done the stairs before she realized she hadn't even asked Otis if she could come see him. Sitting down right in the middle of the steps, she grabbed her phone from her back pocket.

Otis felt himself drifting off to peaceful sleep, finally achieved by his over-tired and over imaginative mind. As soon as he closed his eyes and started dreaming of a mystical land where one could sleep to their hearts content until they were no longer tired, and the beds were motorized and he never had to leave the super comfy bed he was living in. It was glorious. Until his fucking phone rang and woke him up, shattering his sleep, dream and patience. Grabbing his phone, he seriously considered launching it and his arm was halfway in a fastball pitch with his phone before he managed to stop himself. Hitting talk, he barely managed to articulate a hello.

"Oh crap, did I wake you up?"

Otis was instantly awake.

"Naw, I'm up. What's up? You ain't in trouble are you?"

Ariel smiled. He had been asleep. She could hear it in his voice. She felt bad she woke him up, but if he wanted to act like he had been awake that was fine.

"I was wondering if you were doing anything today, I was going to come over and we could maybe hang out?"

All of the sudden she was nervous. What if he didn't want to hang out with her? What if he didn't like her at all? Why did she like him? Ariel was so wrapped up in everything that she almost missed him telling her she could come on over, he wasn't busy. She giggled like a little girl for a moment then hung up and went to leave.

Otis got out of his bed and began to get dressed when he heard a knocking on his door. Unless she had been sitting in the parking lot, she couldn't have gotten here that fast. Putting his eye to the peephole, it was covered. Goddamn it JB, he thought as he furiously undid the locks and threw the door open. Otis had enough time to realize it was not JB when the first shot was fired. He took three to the chest and watched as the shooter walked forward into the apartment living room.

_~_~_~_~_~_~ ~_~_~_~_~_~_ ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ 

Deke had gotten up early to change his clothes only to realize he had left his duffle bag at Otis's place. Hoping on his bike and riding over there, he briefly wondered if Otis would kill him for waking him up. He had just shut the bike down when he heard three shots. The soldier knew what those sounds were. Small arms fire, pistol. Running up the stairs, he saw the door at the end of the hallway open, one man on the floor and another standing over him. It was Otis's apartment. Charging forward for his downed friend, Deke tackled the guy with the gun. He was dressed in what Deke guessed counted as 'tactical' in the 'burbs, black hoodie, black Dickies pants, black skater shoes and a skull mask like bikers wore.

They fought desperately each trying to get a hold of the firearm. The other guy tried to get in a desperate kick at Deke, catching his left shin with savage force. Deke screamed in anger and pain as his prosthetic leg tore loose. The shooter got up and ran, Deke trying to place his leg back together to chase him. It wasn't going to work though, the shooter was gone. Pulling himself to the side of his fallen friend, trying to apply pressure to the three bullet holes in his chest. If he knew anything about wounds, it looked like Otis had two through his left lung and the other one in the meat of his left shoulder.

"Otis shit man. Stay with me man I'm going to call 911. Just stay with me bro!"

Deke hurriedly dialed and reported the shooting, telling them to hurry the fuck up; his friend was bleeding to death. Looking back to Otis, he watched as he gritted his teeth, blood rolling out around his teeth to spill down the side of his face. Otis had nothing but cold fury in his eyes as he looked at Deke.

"Deke, I am going to kill that motherfucker and that's fucking promise."

Ariel arrived at the apartment complex only to see someone go tearing off in a little black Honda Civic. It looked like Dale Enders car, this douche bag she worked with that would do anything for a little bit of money. She was never sure how he passed drug testing at work, but pass he did. She pulled into a parking space kind of close and looked at a bike parked a little weird. It wasn't Otis's, probably belonged to a friend of his though. As she was walking up the stairs, she started hearing sirens. She shook it off, and as she hit the landing, she looked down the hall. The door to his apartment was open, and someone was crouched over Otis's still form lying on the ground.

Ariel ran forward and saw the man holding pressure on the wounds. Obviously he wasn't bad if he was trying to save him. She looked at Otis. Three bullet holes! She had no idea how he was still alive. The ambulance arrived as Otis grabbed her hand and squeezed her hand in his. She was more worried than anything that she could barely feel his grip. She put his hand up by her face, the backside of his hand against her cheek. He felt her tears hit his hand and shook his head and tried to talk, his voice weak.

"Don't cry. I be alright. I promise."

Ariel couldn't help but keep crying as the paramedics pushed her and the other guy out of the way to work on Otis. They loaded him into the stretcher and took him down the stairs. Ariel ran to her car to follow them and was almost held up by a police officer. She finally got him to understand she had to leave, she had to follow the ambulance, and couldn't he just get her statement at the hospital?

Deke did the same as the girl, hobbling on his still fucked up prosthetic, getting on his bike and telling the cops they could wait til the hospital to take any statement he was gonna give, and if they didn't like that they'd better be ready to taze him. They made a strange procession five vehicles deep, a cop car with lights and sirens on, an ambulance with the same, a Dodge Neon, a motorcycle, and another cop car.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ _~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

They had been at the hospital for what had seemed like hours. Ariel had called JB and her parents, who had all, came, JB having gone and got Otis's grandpa. The old man was devastated. His grandson had already been shot and almost killed once. He couldn't lose Otis. You were supposed to be buried by your children. Not bury your sun and bury your grandson. This wasn't how life was supposed to be.

JB was having a moment of his own. His best friend was dying possibly. So much time had been wasted between them, so much left unsaid. JB did the only thing he could, he prayed. To anyone and anything. Sitting there with his ass on the cold hospital floor and his back against the wall, JB sold his soul to a thousand different demons, gods and angels. Anything to save Otis. 

Deke leaned against the wall in silence. He had left the killing sands of the Middle East, only to come home and have one of his buddies ripped from him. He replayed that fight over and over. If he had been better, stronger, something he could have won and they would at least have answers. Instead he had failed. Just like he had failed at everything since the IED took his left leg and ruined most of his side. 

Cole and Trish stood quietly together. They didn't know this boy, but he had saved their daughter. From hushed whispers between Ariel and JB, this was most likely because of saving her. Cole was proud of Otis. He had stayed conscious until he got to the hospital, and only letting them take him back when he got on the phone and assured his grandfather he was alright. He was tough. 

Ariel sat next to Pappaw, almost as shattered as he was. She didn't understand her feelings. She was worried for Otis, but she would be worried for any friend that was hurt. She also felt like her boyfriend was hurt. But Otis wasn't her boyfriend yet. She shocked herself by mentally adding yet, it seemed her mind and heart had already decided for her. She couldn't loose him until she found out if he was the one or not. 

Everyone looked up as a surgeon walked into the room, pulling his mask down. He looked at them uncomfortably, before the oppressive silence made him speak. 

"Mr.Andrei was wounded very badly. We've done what we can." 

Ariel took a shaky breath and grabbed Otis's grandfathers hand, finally speaking. 

"Is he going to make it?"

The doctor looked at everyone who was gathered, desperate for news. Grimacing, he began to speak. 

(Stay tuned for Chapter 9!) 



Across the Tracks Ch. 09



"It's touch and go. His left lung is deflated, and the subclavian artery in his left arm was clipped by the bullet. His heart stopped twice on the operating table. If Mr. Andrei is a fighter, he will make it. It's up to him; we've done all we can. If any of you are religious, I suggest you pray."

With those words the Doctor walked off. He hadn't seen this kind of extensive wounds in a while. He hadn't mentioned that the two bullets that had entered the chest cavity had torn out the back, severing muscles that they had desperately tried to reattach. The exit wound on the left arm had broken the humerus almost at a half-point for the bone, splintering it around the entry and exit wounds. His heart had stopped beating twice during operation, only coming back after they used a defibrillator. This was touch and go of a level most doctors did not want to see in their patients, all they could do was keep him on life support and hope he kept breathing.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~ _~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_ 

Otis was fighting a losing battle. He had expected to wake up on an operating table, but he hadn't. Instead, he had woken in a small cave wearing nothing but a loin cloth and sleeping next to an axe and shield. This was definitely one of his weirder fever dreams. Most likely a byproduct of no sleep, intense shock and pain, blood loss, and then whatever the hospital had pumped him up with. Deciding they meant something important in the dream, he grabbed the shield and axe, slipping his left arm into the straps on the backside of the shield and holding the axe with the handle in his hand and the head resting on his shoulder.

The shield was around three and a half feet all the way around, a center boss shield like Vikings had used, but instead of wood it was iron. It had a snarling wolf painted on it, with the words Iron Within, Iron Without in a raised Roman style type around the edges. Death Bringer was inscribed in the iron haft of the axe, pressed into the iron instead of raised like on the shield. As Otis walked across a hellish landscape of cracked earth and bone dust, a voice tore open the red and black sky, shaking the ground. Its sheer power and terror nearly dropped Otis to his knees, but he refused to bow, even in any fever dream.

"Listen to me mortal child! I have given you this chance, this chance to prove your deserve life and not death. If you show yourself worthy of all the attention I have placed in you, then you shall return to your body. If you fail, then your soul will be cast back into the forge until it is remade, like Iron."

Otis had no idea what any of that meant. A slight niggling at the back of his mind caused him to turn suddenly, barely avoiding been stabbed to death by a weapon he recognized as a spatha like the Roman infantry had used. The creature using it wasn't Roman, it wasn't even human. It wore a Roman cassis and lorica segmenta, and carried a clypeus shield. Otis almost lost to the spatha as he froze in a bit of consternation. He was a history buff sure, but he didn't know enough about the Roman army to give him that information. He felt a trickle in the back of his mind, a trickle of information telling him all kinds of things, battle, arms, armor, codes of honor, not just Roman in nature but from all over the world. Dodging the swing of the inhuman creature, Otis blocked the sword with his shield.

The Daemon was about six feet tall, and shaped like a gorilla. Short legs, long torso, long arms. Lots of muscle, and Otis felt another strike of the creatures' sword almost dislocate his shield arm. Dodging, Otis swung his axe in a one handed grip, lodging it deeply into the creatures' collarbone, smiling grimly as the subclavian artery was cut in half, drenching them both in the demons foul blood. Yanking the axe blade from the wound, Otis spun, putting all of his weight and force into the hit, striking the daemons head clean from its neck. As the head went flying, the daemon fell to its knees, its armor jangling and shield and sword striking the ground. Then, a whispered voice spoke from the very same ground the demon had spilt its black blood upon.

".... My name was Doras...."

Then the earth shaking voice roared with laughter and spoke again.

"Well done! You have only slain one. There will be many, many more my little warrior. Until you water these grounds with their blood, then we will see. If you die before then, go to hell knowing you are a failure!"

Otis still didn't understand what was going on. As he looked around for anywhere, anyone, to explain that voice, he watched new shapes rise from the ground. Two tall Daemons, dressed like medieval knights, both in full armor. One carried a sword and kite shield, while the other held an axe to mirror Otis's own. Gripping his axe handle hard enough for the depressions of the words to mark his hands, Otis waited for the charge.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_~_

Ariel knelt sat in the waiting room. Her parents had left, had asked her to go with them. Couldn't they see she couldn't leave until she knew? What if she left and he died? Or worse, what if she left and he woke up and she wasn't here? That would be worse to her. She wanted to go in his room and look at him, but the doctors were forbidding everyone except family, and his grandfather had just went in there about half an hour ago.

"Ariel, take this. You'll need it."

Ariel looked up as JB handed her a cup of coffee, sipping it thankfully. She looked over to the other man that had arrived with them, she still didn't know who it was. JB apparently knew him, and from what she understood, JB, Otis and the other guy had went to school together, and always ran around with each other. Whatever explanation he had given, JB was satisfied with it.

"What was it like last time? When he got shot over Makayla?"

JB looked at her, and the other man moved closer. JB thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"Just as bad. Didn't know if he was going to live. Didn't know if he was going to die. Doctors couldn't tell us a damn thing either way. One day he was never going to talk again, the next he'd be fine. One time Makayla came in here, trying to get them to turn over his wallet and apartment keys, even went toe to toe with Papaw. It was ugly. Then one day, the nurse went into his room and he was glaring at her, trying to talk around the tube keeping him alive. He was... Very unhappy to say the least."

Ariel nodded. She wouldn't mind him opening his eyes, she knew that much. As she thought, Otis's grandfather walked back into the waiting room. Sinking down into a chair offered by the still unnamed man, he looked to have aged 30 years in only thirty minutes. JB grabbed him some coffee as well, and the old man wrapped his hands around it, letting the cup warm his hands up. They all sat in silence for a moment or two, waiting on what the old man would say. Sipping some of his coffee, he blew out a long breath.

"He's fighting, that's for damn sure. I haven't seen him toss and turn that much since he was thirteen. They've got him strapped down to prevent harm to himself or others. He's fighting though. Fighting to stay alive."

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_~_ 

Otis grunted as his back got opened up by a shallow slash. Turning, he smacked his newest opponent in the face with the edge of his shield, then ducking a return slash of the scimitar, brought his axe up from underneath, the sharp edge splitting the tough leather armor and the skin underneath. The Daemons blood and intestines fell out of his stomach cavity, and he fell to the ground on one knee, using his blade to hold himself up. Looking at Otis from behind veiled turban, he spoke, his voice like snakes slithering over sand.

"My name was Ahmed Ibn Abbas."

The Daemon collapsed, turning into sand and rocks. Otis briefly rested, leaning into his axe. So that was Ahmed. Before him had been Alexander, in tough leather armor studded with metal and a mace. Then there had been Dak'ir, a Daemon with a lion's head and man's body, carrying short stabbing spears. The knights Sir Robert and Sir John, both the hardest fight so far. Then there was the first, Doras. Otis groaned as he watched the blood, bone and soil become a new opponent.

"Rest easy mortal. You are being granted a resting period, to recover your strength. They have decided you have proven yourself enough to earn that. I am Asclepius, and I am here to tend your wounds."

Otis wearily sat down on the hard packed Earth. He knew who his healer was. Greek healer, demi-god. Son of Apollo or some such shit. He flinched as Asclepius began pushing and prodding on the most recent cut on his back. Otis had been wounded by the scimitar, but not badly. It felt like Alexander's mace had broken his left arm, right in the middle of his bicep. It was making carrying the shield hard. Dak'ir's spear had punctured a lung, but Otis had kept fighting somehow.

Asclepius continued to poke and prod, rubbing the wounds with salves and unguents of his own make to heal the wounds. They weren't by themselves too bad except the lung, but together they were devastating. Healing the wounds, Asclepius stood. 

"There young man. You are healed. Prepare for battle."

"WAIT! What is going on? Why is this happening?"

"Because, they want to know you will fight for life and love before they let you have it."

Otis screamed in frustration as Asclepius disappeared into the ground, only for a huge hammer wielding Daemon to stand in his place, swinging the hammer like it was a twig. Otis was so pissed off he threw his axe at the creature, watching it bury itself eye deep into the Daemons skull. It crashed to the ground, looking at Otis before it dissolved into blood and gore, leaving his axe behind. Once again, the whisper started.

".... My name was Hager."

Otis grabbed his axe as more Daemons appeared. Apparently, whoever was doing this to him was a bit pissed off because he had killed the biggest one he had faced so easily. He lost count at five. Otis shrugged and started fighting. It was all he could do. And if that was what got him out of here, then he would kill all these fucking things. He had unfinished business. Taking three steps and jumping, he brought his axe down into a Daemons head. Rolling, jerking his axe from its head as he went, he caught two blows on his shield before dealing his own blow back to the dual sword wielding demon. As it fell, bleeding from a crushed and hacked chest, Otis smiled. He was going to die here. There was no end.

Roaring a battle cry, he spun, catching another axe on his own. Smashing a spear aside with his shield, he jerked the axe from the other warrior's hand, head butting the Daemon and breaking its nose. As it fell, he slashed vertically, splitting its head like a melon. His threw his shield, catching the second to last Daemon in its gut, knocking the air and balance from it. Grabbing the other axe from the ground, he waded back into the fight, burying both blades into the fallen Daemons skull. The last Daemon warily circled him, making short test slashes with its long sword. This Daemon was built like a human, only with longer arms and legs.

Otis charged, swinging both axes furiously. Parrying artfully, the creature tore the Daemonic axe from Otis's hand, stabbing him deep in the side. 

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~

"HE'S CRASHING!"

The doctors and nurses rushed around the bed, desperately trying to save this young man's life. He was hemorrhaging and they wheeled his gurney to surgery for the second time that day. As they went dashing past the waiting area, Ariel, JB, Deke and Papaw watched them go running by pushing him.

Papaw buried his face in his hands and the man cried.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Otis screamed as he took his free hand and savagely beat the Daemon who had stabbed him in the face. He was not going to die to someone who looked like a fucking praying mantis! Grabbing at the Daemons chin, he forced its jaw apart and grabbed the top part with his other hand. Digging at the mandible bone, he jerked in two opposite directions. With a wet tearing and popping noise, the mandible ripped off the Daemons head. 

It screamed a high pitched and terrible scream, grabbing its jaw off the ground and screaming. Otis picked up his axe and struck down from behind, burying it deep into the creature's spinal cord. Yanking it out, he kicked the jaw from its hand. 

"Tell me your name now motherfucker." 

All of the sudden, the whispers started, and he somehow knew it went from first death to last. 

"... My name was Marius..." 

"... My name was Bjorn..." 

"... My name was Andrei..." 

"... My name was Roland..." 

"... My name was Rhianna..."

Otis flinched as he realized the last Daemon was the equivalent of a female. He had never struck a woman. Now, he had brutally murdered one. If this was how he was supposed to show he wanted to live, he was done with it. As if they could read his mind, which they most likely could, the next shapes that coalesced were all recognizably female warriors. They all carried spears and shields similar to his own. Spears and shields were no good. They could stab him from behind, work with the shields to create a wall that was nothing but pure defense and stab him from above and below.

Gritting his teeth, he gripped his axe harder. He wasn't going to die like a bitch. He didn't want to hurt a woman, but he was not going to die in this place, not until he found that voice and ripped the tongue out of the fucking throat that used it.

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_

Ariel sank back down into the waiting room chair. She had been standing by the window, waiting for any news since they had rushed Otis by almost two hours ago. She barely noticed as Otis's grandfather sank into the seat beside her and placed his hand on her kneecap. She took her hand and grasped his, squeezing it gently. He looked at her, and she could see the heartbreak in the old man's eyes. She tried to give him some reassurance with her gaze and squeezing hand, but she wasn't sure it was working. JB stood against the wall across from them, about 4 feet away. Deke had wondered off, and none of them knew where he had got to. As they sat, the old man began to speak.

"Otis wanted to be so many things in life. A firefighter like his father. A soldier like his grandfather. When he was very young, he wanted things like all little boys. A ninja, a pirate, a cowboy. Just all the little things that kids want to be. He'd watch GI Joe and pretend to be Duke or Heavy Duty with JB and Deke."

JB broke in, smiling like a dead man.

"Yeah, we even all had to have those stupid ass codenames like the GI Joes did. He took it WAY to seriously."

Ariel smiled a bit, trying to imagine a young, untattooed Otis playing GI Joe. It was a little hard. She wished she had known him then, before his father had died. She just couldn't see that person. He was too much of him. She couldn't see him as anything else. She listened as his grandfather began talking again.

"I remember the night I was called by the Chief. Otis was asleep at their house, and they wanted me to go with them to tell him. They had a devastated old man go with them to explain to his thirteen year old grandson his father was never coming home. We did the best we could after that. I couldn't control him, hell; I still wasn't in control of myself. He and JB ran around like a couple of idiots. I'm really surprised you boys didn't die on me a few times back in those days. I knew how bad it was getting, how close y'all were to it. But I still didn't stop you. Not until he was shot for the first time. How did I even let it get to that in the first place? He was shot because I didn't tell him I thought that girl was bad business. Instead I kept it to myself, and she almost got him killed."

The old man took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. 

"And now, here we are again. For different reasons, the kind of reasons that make me proud of him. The kind of reasons that would have made his dad proud of him."

The old man gently squeezed Ariel's hand, and looked to her, with unshed tears in his eyes, eyes that had known a lot more loss than he had ever done anything to deserve.

"I'm glad he fought for you. He's here because of it, but he tried to do something good. And that's all that matters, that he done good for someone."

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_

Otis watched the warriors, guards was more like it. They had gathered around him in a circle, but hadn't done anything other than level their spears at him whenever he moved. He stared at them, ready for whatever they had planned. He was going to fight down to the bloody end. He had a shred of fear, a worm in his brain. If he died here, would someday in the future, another warrior kill a Daemon with shield and axe, who spoke his name as he fell? Otis didn't want that future. He would find a way to beat this. He had to get back to his grandfather and his friends. Not to mention, he had to get back to Ariel, to see what could happen between them. He didn't want to leave her yet; he had what felt like unfinished business with her.

He walked with the war maidens as they moved him forward. In the distance, a table sat with a small chair on one side and a large throne on the other. The throne had antlers and extensive knotwork carving, and gave off a pulsing feel of masculinity. The maidens stopped, with Otis next to the chair. Taking his cue from the maiden with a red crested helm, he sat and waited. A giant of a man appeared from no where and sat in the chair. He was dressed in leathers and chainmail, with a untrimmed red beard and red hair in a ponytail. 

"Well, my little warrior. Let us talk." 

Otis looked at the man. 

"Who the fuck are you?"

The man smiled. 

"I have many names, but I prefer and you may call me Thor."



Across the Tracks Ch. 10



"You doing alright man?"

Deke looked up at JB. They hadn't seen each other for a long time, but JB still looked just like he always did, ready for trouble and on the run from the police and several fathers. Deke couldn't help but smile a little, he had missed the shrimp. Their reunion was not built around the situation he would have ever wanted, but in his heart, he had always thought it would be the situation he would have to face when he came back home. In the hospital with one of them, in a prison visiting room, or at a graveyard. He and his friends hadn't been the most careful or law-abiding citizens in their younger days. 

"Yea man I guess. Other than I come home, see a friend, go to get something I left at his apartment, and he's being shot. Other than that yea, I'm doing good." 

JB stared at Deke, and even Deke could notice how his eyes were hard with suspicion and anger on the former friend. 

"It's a little odd Deacon, you coming back into town all the sudden, and magically being there when Otis is getting shot by some punk. We trusted you a long time ago, but that was then, and this is now. A now were my best friend got shot and you showed up after a few years, and a lot less years than you said you'd be gone to the army." 

Deke looked at JB for a minute. So that was the score? AS far as JB was concerned he was a suspect? Fuck that shit. Deke jumped up from the chair, forgetting that he still hadn't fixed his prosthetic leg right. The leg crumpled, and Deke started to fall, only to be caught by JB. Sitting back down, Deke started cursing under his breath as he began to roll his pants leg up. 

"Goddamn fucking piece of shit fucking fake ass motherfucking leg." 

JB just kind of stared. That would definitely explain why Deacon had come home a lot earlier than his original five years. Fuck, from the look of it, he didn't have much leg below his knee. Maybe 3 inches, but not much more than that. His fake leg was one of the fancier deals, the kind that would support running and walking. He knew he was about to ask a stupid question, but he had to ask it anyways. 

"How did that happen?"

Deke couldn't help himself. 

"We decided we'd rather stay friends so my lower leg moved back in with its parents." 

"You fucking smartass." 

Deke smiled a little. He was still pretty stung over what JB had said, but it was something he would have to get over. 

"IED's man. A little four door car on the side of the road that decided to explode next to my door on the hummer did it for me. My second tour was ended the moment I woke up and they said my leg was gone. The nerve and bone damage was just too much for the leg to ever recover from, so they had to take it. I got this shiny piece of shit, a plane ticket, a purple heart for being wounded and sent home. Now I'm here, sitting in this hospital as another person I consider a friend is possibly dying from being shot." 

"I'm sorry for saying that man. I'm just freaking out." 

"Nah it's ok man. It would seem fucked up to me to, so I know where you are coming from. Still hurts though you know?"

Jb and Deke sat in the room in semi-comfortable silence. JB had questions for Deke, but he wasn't going to ask them. He didn't know how he would feel about the answers, or if he could handle any stories Deke may tell. JB didn't really want to have to try and match up what was possibly an Army killer to his goofy friend who listened to Muck Sticky when they were growing up. The two sat in semi-comfortable silence for a few minutes. 

Deke looked over to see why the line of questioning had stopped from JB, and almost laughed. JB's head was cranked back; mouth opened and was starting to make a slight snoring sound. They had all been having a rough time, so sleep was something JB needed apparently. Deke knew what he was in need of, and walked off from the waiting room looking for the Hospital Chapel. 

As he entered the chapel, he nodded to another person sitting in one of the pews and went to another and sat. Deke had always liked to see where he was and try to commit it to memory for some reason, so he looked around the chapel, at the dim lighting, the heavily stained and varnished oaken pews, and the silver and gold cross. Reaching inside his shirt, Deke removed the simple wood and pewter crucifix that he had carried since he was 13 years old, and began to pray. 

Deacon had been raised in a strongly non-caring family. Sure, if you had asked his father, they had believed in God and Jesus, especially around the time that the churches were giving away free food or clothes for Deke or his three brothers. Deke's mother had been die-hard Catholic until she was killed in a car wreck along with Deke's two younger brothers when Deacon was 12. Roman, the oldest of the boys, had decided the best way to make money was to sell drugs to support his brother and now alcoholic father. Roman made the mistake of trying to sell crack to a man who wasn't a junkie, he was an undercover police officer. At that point all that was left anymore were Deacon and his father, who wasn't a father at all. There was only one place left for him to turn in his mind, and Deacon turned to God, following in his mother's religious footsteps. 

Meeting Otis and JB hadn't derailed him from his path, even though they had done a lot of sinning as teenagers, and he had regretted it. When Roman had been released from jail only to be busted on a parole violation when Deke was 17, he decided he was going to get away from that life. Signing up for the United States Army was his chosen way to get out. His faith got him through his time in the sandbox, and it got him through losing his leg. He knew he wasn't the same, but he also knew that his faith in Jesus could get him through anything. 

As he went to rise, the man who had been sitting in the other pew sat beside him and grabbed his arm. Deke looked at the man coolly, wondering how this was going to go down. He didn't want to have to walk away from a fanatic, nor did he really want this guy to attempt to mug him in the Chapel. Looking at the man, he seemed to be in his late 80's, white hair, pale complexion, and wasted away l8ke a cancer patient, which being where they were at, might not be too far from the truth. His eyes were what threw off any guess to his age. Where his face looked late 80's, his eyes looked timeless but young. They were filled with a great compassion and a great hunger for life. 

"Easy there soldier. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk." 

Deke looked at the man. Soldier was a pretty good guess, but there were signs that pointed to it. Deke still had a crew cut, was wearing an ARMY shirt, and he still wore his tags, which were hanging on the outside of his shirt.

"Then talk, but first, let go of my arm. I don't like people grabbing me." 

The man chuckled and released his arm. Stretching back, he surveyed Deke like someone he intended to buy. Deke tensed up, he wasn't really enjoying all of this attention and he wanted the man to say his piece then get the hell away from him. 

"I've seen the look in your eyes a thousand times kid. Have faith in the Almighty, and have faith in yourself. That will be all you will ever need in life. That faith will save you at your worst times." 

The old man stood with those words and walked away, leaving the chapel. Deacon bowed his head once more and talked to God, thanking him for the gentle reminder that he needed to keep his faith strong. Standing, he began to leave the Chapel, stepping out into the bright fluorescent lights of the hallway and immediately bumping into someone. Still dazed by the lights, he helped them off the floor and apologized profusely. 

"Don't worry; you never have to apologize to me." 

As the glare began to recede and his eyes adjusted, he could see who it was. It was Nikki, the girl from the other night. He blushed a bit, and still tried to stammer an apology. Nikki just smiled and him and shook her head. 

"So, what are you doing here? I thought Otis fixed you up pretty good." 

Nikki nodded and they started walking as she explained. 

"My mom is here for a doctor's appointment, and I have to drive her. I just always walk around and say hi to the people I know until it's time to go. What are you doing here? You didn't get hurt or something did you?"

Nikki felt a very really uneasiness at the thought of him getting hurt. He had helped her, who was someone he didn't even know, and she didn't want her savior getting hurt. True, Otis had done most of the medical work, but she would have never got that without Deacon. Besides, he was cute. And she still really loved his color, even if the bronze was tarnished by the glaring lights. 

Deacon shook his head and stopped, Nikki walking a couple of steps before realizing he had stopped and turning to look at him. Taking a deep breath, he filled her in on the events with Otis, and she grabbed his hand and began pulling him down the hallway before she stopped.

"I don't know what room he's in, hurry up and show me!"

"Nikki calm down! He's in surgery as far as I know, but Pappaw, JB and this girl that Otis is whatever with are all in the waiting room." 

Nikki about yanked his arm out of his socket yanking him down the hallway. Deke was glad he had firmly secured his leg, she yanked him like that again it'd probably come off. Thankfully it wasn't far to the waiting room. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You're a fever dream. All of this was nothing but a fever dream." 

The Hallucination smiled at Otis and began to laugh. Reaching towards the table and grabbing a cup, he motioned for Otis to sit. Being wary, Otis placed the shield at his side and planted the axe handle in the ground hanging onto it as he sat. He didn't care that it made him look like he would start swinging it any moment, he was suspicious. He had been fighting in this dream since it started; he wasn't going to let his guard down now. 

"I'm not a fever dream boy. And that axe wouldn't do you much good; I could crush your skull between my finger tips." 

Otis fairly bristled, almost snarling and baring his teeth. He spat out the first words that came to his mind 

"Hager probably thought that to. AS did every other creature you sent after me. But who is still standing? None of them! I am still standing!" 

The hallucination calling itself Thor laughed again. 

"You're proud boy. That's for sure. Next time you feel proud about being strong and deadly; remember that someone has almost killed you. Which is why you are here, fighting to prove you deserve to live." 

Otis scowled at the 'God'. Taking a drink, he sat the cup back down.

"I'm not a Christian, but you can't be real, because everyone says the only God is Jehovah." 

Thor snorted. 

"Now you're reaching. If everyone said that you could fly if you jumped off a bridge, would it be true?!?!?"

Otis sat back a little in his seat as dark clouds began rolling in from the west and thunder rumbled. The Hallucination jumped to his feet, his red hair and beard bristling and crackling like red forks of lightning. 

"I AM THOR! THE THUNDERER! DONNAR! THORR! TORAN! PERUN! UKKO! HORGALLES! A THOUSAND DIFFERENT NAMES BUT ONE GOD! ONE WARRIOR WHO SLEW THE GREAT GIANTS WITH NAUGHT BUT MY HANDS AND HAMMER! HUSBAND OF SIF, SON OF ODIN, FATHER TO MAGNI, MODI AND THRUD!"

A giant hammer appeared from nowhere, giant except for the short handle, and Thor struck the ground with it. As the ground actually fucking rippled, a golden hair woman appeared in a flash of green light, wearing a two color dress. Like ripe corn layered with the color of ripe wheat. She also had a look on her face like she was going to jerk a knot in someone's ass. 

"Thor. Calm down, right this second. I swear. I can't leave you alone for one hour without you getting angry about something."

Thor pointed a stiff and angry finger, fairly crackling with lightning at Otis, who was trying to hide equal parts terror and a smile, especially because of the look on the first Hallucinations face when the second one arrived. Thor knew he was in trouble. 

"Sif, he told me I wasn't real because only that damn Nazarene and his father are real!"

"Calm my husband. Calm."

Sif grabbed her husband's hand and lowered it to her face, gently rubbing her cheek against it. Thor visibly softened, and the air lost its electric feeling, and the darkened sky turned light and sunny again. Kissing his hand softly, Sif and Thor walked back to the table where Otis had sat still, not moving other than in his seat. 

Thor sat first, in his dramatic Barbarian chieftain seat, and Sif sat down on his leg. 

"Here's the deal Otis. My husband and I had a little argument about your will to live, and how well the possibility of love with Ariel, the love you feel for your friends and others, and the love you feel for your Grandfather would play into how hard you fight. We felt those things in your determination to live, but mainly felt was a general hatred of whomever was making you fight and a desire for revenge. Anger and hate do not rule the world. They look like they do. But this world is ruled by love, for when anger and hatred fail, the strength of love keeps the world turning."

She broke her speech as she took a drink. Otis looked at her unbelieving. He knew what the world was ruled by. Strength of one's arm and heart, and how far you were willing to go to get what you wanted in life. Looking at Thor roll his eyes, he couldn't help but believe the Thunderer believed the same as he did. Otis brought his attention back to Sif as she placed her cup down and began speaking again. 

"You won't remember any of this, except in your sub-conscious, as a little voice that offers advice when you make a choice from now own. My husband will also offer plant some of his choice words of wisdom into it as well, and it will also offer advice. Now, any questions before we return you to Midgard?"

Otis looked between them. If they weren't a fever dream, maybe they were real. He didn't know. Otis had never really believed in anything, nothing really besides himself and the strength of his arm. He wasn't going to start believing in anything besides those two things anyways. He may now that something greater than himself was out there, but he wasn't going to depend on them. Looking back at them, he shook his head no. 

Thor nodded, and reaching forward, placed his hand on Otis's chest, and then his world shattered like he had been struck by lightning. This, in truth, was what happened. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"CLEAR!"

The nurses and doctor looked at the screens worriedly. Right before they went to shock Otis again, the screen lit up with a single blip. Then another, and another, until a shallow heartbeat was steady on the monitor, and becoming stronger with every second. Then, they heard the telltale signs of the patient trying to breathe on his own, instead of the machine helping him. The Doctor bowed his head, giving thanks to whatever was out there for that. 

Finishing the operation took them almost two hours. Finally, the patient was stitched up and bandaged, the leaking artery firmly fastened this time. As they wheeled him out to his room, they once again passed a waiting room of hopeful and scared faces, with the addition of one. 

JB had woken, and been quietly chatting with Pappaw while Ariel had slept, only for her to wake up because of the uncomfortable chair she was sleeping on. Deacon and Nikki had arrived earlier, only to wait around, both nervously chit chatting with each other and waiting. Nikki had talked to a nurse she knew, who had told her mother about what was going on. Since she knew Otis as well, she was on her way as soon as her appointment ended. 

As the stretcher was wheeled past, the doctor stepped out of the doors walking towards the group. Looking at the expectant faces, he couldn't help but smile tiredly. 

"We've done all we can, barring fate, he'll make it." 

Pappaw grabbed the Doctor in a bear hug and then let go, grabbing both JB and Ariel in a similar hug. He then waved at Deacon and Nikki, and included them in his massive hug as well. No one commented on the old man's tears, more than one of them had tears in their eyes as well. Turning to the doctor, Ariel asked the question that was in her mind the most. 

"When can we see him?"

"I'd advise that he rest for the night at least. We don't even know when he'll wake up, let alone when he will be able to talk to visitors." 

Ariel nodded. She chatted with everyone, and since they finally knew their friend was safe, they had things to do. She needed a shower and real food desperately. JB had to go check in with people. Pappaw needed to go home and sleep in his own bed. The only one who had nothing to was Deacon, so he offered to stay and call people in case anything happened. 

Before everyone walked away, Pappaw thanked each of them for being there. He wanted them all to know they were welcome at his home anytime, as long as they weren't on the run. With a final wave, JB and Pappaw walked to his truck, since JB needed a ride home. Ariel waved bye to everyone, then got in her car and began to drive home. Deacon settled into a stiff hospital chair for his wait. 

"So, when did you and Otis meet?"

Deke looked up at Nikki. He smiled softly, remembering a past with a young man who was almost exactly like the person he was now. The biggest difference being that the young version believed he could never die, and the older Deacon knew very well how close to him Death would always be. Looking off into that distant past, Deacon gradually began to tell his own tale, about how he had met Otis and JB, and found brothers closer to him than any tie of blood could make them. 

"Let's see.... I was about 14 or 15. I'm a year older than both of them, but we had same classes because I was held back for unexcused absences. In case you didn't notice, my skin has a little bit of a darker cast than most around here. My father was from New York; his parents had decided that they didn't want their son growing up in the city. My grandfather got a job down here, packed everyone up and moved down. I don't think my grandpa realized that a Southern town wasn't a good idea for anyone of dark skin to live in. But, they were from Greece, and had scraped a living out of the bare rocks to move to America in the first place, they would work just as hard to make it in America. 

So anyways, Dad meets girl. Girl gets pregnant her Senior Year of school, girl becomes Mom. Which lead to Roman, then to Deacon then to Peter and Paul. My mother was religious, so we all got religious names. When I was young, Mom, Peter and Paul were killed in a car accident."

Deacon stopped for a moment as Nikki made some noises of consolation, but he just shook his head and said they were in a better place, and then continued. 

"So, that happened. I started having to go to a grief counselor at school. We did a group therapy thing once a week, and Otis was a part of it. He had just lost his dad. We just kind of bonded. His mom had ran off and his father was dead, my dad wasn't much of a father at all even when he was sober and mom was dead. And as you prolly know, when you get Otis, you have no choice but to get a JB. He didn't like me much. I was to dark for him. His dad taught him that I wasn't any good, but after a while he realized I wasn't my skin color, my color was a part of me. So that's the basic story. When I turned 18 around 3 years ago I left for the army and went to Afghanistan, and I lost my leg there. Now I'm back home, and wasn't here four days before my best friend from childhood was almost killed." 

Nikki stared at Deacon for a moment. 

"Well, I have to say Deacon, that I think your skin color is beautiful. It's like polished bronze. And you lost your leg?"




Across the Tracks Ch. 10



As she realized what she had just said, Nikki blushed. Deacon smiled at her again, and then nodded. 

"Yea, I lost it right below my knee, and have to wear a fake leg for it." 

Nikki gasped and slapped his arm.

"WHY DID YOU LET ME DRAG YOU AROUND LIKE THAT THEN?!?!?!?!"

She crossed her arms and stared at him with fiery eyes. Deacon had seen Army Officers he would have rather crossed at that moment over her. Gasping for an answer, he just shrugged. She stared at him for a moment more, and he had the uncomfortable feeling he was an ant, about to get squished. 

"Fine. Next time, remind me."

Deke smiled, "Oh so there will be a next time?"

Nikki blushed again, and Deacon smiled even broader. The red on her cheeks made her freckles stand out. And they way she looked down when she blushed made her dark eyelashes stand out on her pale skin in a way he found special. He heard her mumble something.

"What was that Nikki?" 

"I said maybe there will be a next time." 

Deacon smiled. "I'd like that."

As Nikki went to smile and say something back, her mother was wheeled into the waiting room. Nikki rose and walked over to her to see if anything new was wrong, or if her mom was ok for now. Deacon waited, thinking this was a private moment he didn't really need to intrude on. Nikki returned momentarily, rummaging in her pocket and holding a pen. After writing on a old receipt, she handed it to him with her number scrawled on it. 

"Text me sometime." She said as she walked away, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair and pushing to towards the elevator. As the door opened, she turned her head and smiled at Deacon one last time. He started laughing as the door closed and he heard the weak voice of her mom. 

"Nikki who was that pretty man? Is he single? I'm not too old for that, hush girl..." 

Deacon stopped laughing and settled into his chair. It was starting to get dark out, he could see it through the window. Now all that was left was to see what tomorrow brought. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So he is going to be alright?"

Ariel nodded her head, she had explained everything to her mom and dad, and they were happy for Otis. Stifling a yawn, she waved good night to both of them and headed up to her room. 

"Cole, I'm worried. Do you think what happened to him has anything to do with her? And if it does, what will Danny do when he finds out the boy is alive?"

Cole kissed his wife on the head. He had been thinking the same thing, which is why he had called some old friends, River Rat buddies who had also served in the Gulf War with him. They were watching the hospital. They had offered to protect Ariel as well, but Cole had declined. They had also invited him and Trish to one of their parties that Friday night, which had turned out to be the annual Rat's Ball. A thing he was going to ask her to tomorrow. 

"I think he'll be ok. A few friends are watching the Hospital, and from what I understand, they're looking for the guy who done this as well. Apparently Otis was a good friend of most of them. They want the guy who done it." 

When he had called Jesse and told him what was going on, Jesse had shouted the entire club quiet, including whatever they were using for a juke box now days. He had then told the club house what he had just been told, and Cole had to hold the phone away from his ear the angry shouts were so loud. They had promised to guard the Hospital, Otis's grandpa's house, and told Cole they were going to look for the trigger man. He had met with Jesse and Grub at the hospital and they had talked for a few moments about old times and what they needed to do now. 

Kissing Trish again, Cole rose to take his wife's hand and lead them both up the stairs and to bed. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ISN'T DEAD?!?!?!!?"

Danny's rage was huge. Throwing the phone, he cursed the incompetence of the guy he had asked to do the job. It was supposed to be really simple. Shoot him in the head. Not anywhere else, the head. He would not survive that, but no, the idiot shot him in the chest. Albeit, he shot him in the chest three times, but the idiot had went to the hospital and checked. Otis was alive. He also most likely knew that it was Danny behind his attempt murder. He was going to come looking for Danny. He looked to the drawer, where the gun sat. He had just cleaned all of that whore's blood from the barrel, and ut was loaded and ready. For anyone who got in his way. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jamie signaled Mikey, and they both casually walked across the street to a local Pub & Eatery called MacArthur's. Entering, they quickly picked out Jesse and Grub, and walked over and sat down. Jesse motioned for them to report. 

"Young guy, late teens early twenties, dark hair, blue eyes, entered the hospital a few moments ago. Drew said that he was asking the nurses about the condition of Otis, and then made a phone call. Drew rode down the elevator with him, and has him in the parking garage and the guy isn't going anywhere. Drew pulled a gun off of him, and he's also got bruises on his face like someone hit him. His car also matches what Cole's daughter said the guy who got Otis was driving. We're pretty positive it's him." 

Grub nodded, and he and Jesse rose, paying their bill. Walking out, the four River Rats got into the large cargo van they had drove, and then made a quick stop at the parking garage, picking up Drew and the suspect. They drove to the outskirts of the River District, one of the few buildings owned by the club. It was a combination garage and meet up spot, but tonight it was going to be used for something else. 

As Mikey and James held the guy in place, the 6'4" and 395 pound Drew went to work with his fists. After about five minutes of that, Jesse whistled and Drew stopped. Walking forward, he grabbed the young guys chin, not caring about the blood that dribbled out of his mouth all over Jesses hand and dripping to the floor. The kid was bleeding from the nose and mouth, and his eyes were rapidly swelling shut from the fists. 

Jesse spoke once, as coldly as an Arctic wind in the dead of night. 

"You get once chance. Tell us who sent you. Or you will be eating through a straw the rest of your life." 

The kid made the mistake of shaking his head no and Jesse motioned to Drew. 

After a few more moments, Drew stopped punching the boy in the face. He moved to the ribs, simply because he couldn't fuck his face up to bad. He had to be able to talk. The dull, hollow thumps of Drew's massive fists thumping into the kid's chest made Mikey wince. Yea, the guy had obviously done wrong. But in the end, what was happening to him could happen to one of them someday. Do the wrong job for the right reasons and end up getting worked over by the thugs of some other organization. Hell, it could happen to them for this. 

"I'll ask you again. What's your name and who hired you?"

The kid managed to look up, and Grub hoped he would say who it was. None of the Rats liked causing pain. It wasn't a part of them. But, sometimes it had to be done. Grub shook his head as the kid spit a stream of blood and mucus onto Jesses boot. 

"Fuck off." 

Jesse had had enough. Grabbing the little shit by the hair, he forced his head up and produced a knife from his belt. Inserting the tip in the kid's cheek, he started pushing it in. The kid screamed and Grub began to walk forward to his friend. The kid began babbling, but it wasn't desperate, please don't hurt me babble. It was a babble that was all different promises for revenge, along with a name. 

"Danny. Danny's idea. Danny will get you for hurting me. Then I'll stab you. I'll ruin your face. I'll make children afraid to look at you." 

Jesse gestured to Drew, who shoved a rag under the kids nose, the chloroform knocking him unconscious in seconds. 

"Go through his wallet. Find his name." 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cole was awakened by his phone ringing late into the night. Stumbling from his bed and knocking numerous things over, he finally got to the phone and picked it up. 

"H-Hello?" He managed to cough out. He wasn't at his best when he was freshly awoken. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the clock. 3 A.M. This had to be important then. 

"Cole, its Jesse. The shooters name is Dale Enders. He was hired by Danny, just like you thought. Apparently Danny is pretty pissed that Dale here failed. Ain't that right Dale?"

All Cole could hear was a steady drip and small groans of pain. Smiling grimly, he spoke. 

"Let me guess. He's in no condition to testify, and you coerced his confession."

Cole could almost hear the embarrassment in Jesse's voice as he mumbled yes. Cole shook his head and told Jesse what to do with Dale. Getting off the phone, Cole shook his head. They would drop him off at the emergency room, claiming they found him behind O'Flannery's. Victim of a mugging. The only one he had seen was Drew, who had always wanted to see the Rocky Mountains anyways. At least until things cooled down. 

Cole walked back to bed and crawled under the covers next to his warm wife. Kissing her neck, he softly rubbed her side, up and down her rib cage. Trish stirred, moaning a little bit. 

"Husband, don't start something you don't intend to finish."

Cole smirked and gently bit down on the soft skin between Trish's shoulder and neck. Then he gasped as she reached her hand back and grabbed a hold of his cock. Moving his hips as she massaged his gradually hardening penis, he ran his hand down her body from her ribs to her moistening womanhood. Trish arched her back as her gently traced her lips and rubbed a circle on her clitoral hood, making her even wetter. As she moved her hips in the general directions his fingers moved, his hard cock began to brush against her ass cheek. The soft, smooth skin began to drive him just as crazy as the gentle tugging and twisting her hand was involved in. 

Rolling over, his wife grabbed him by the head and kissed him hard, scratching her nails on his scalp and biting his lower lip. As he gently sucked and nibbled on her tongue, she pushed his body even more into a prone position. Once he was flat on his back, she crouched over him, rubbing his cock head against her soaked pussy. Engulfing just the head of him inside her, she looked him in the eyes and bit her lip as she let herself fall, fully impaling herself on him. Cole threw his head back, lifting his hips into his wife. As she slowly began to rock on top of him, Cole grabbed her hips and began to rock back. 

As Trish dragged her nails down Cole's chest, they both began to pick up in their speed and intensity, soon giving their all to each other. As his wife begin to stiffen and start to cum, Cole dragged her head down to his and kissed her hard, grabbing her hips and giving her every inch of himself, as hard as he could. As Trish came, she screamed her ecstasy into Cole's mouth, biting his lip. As her vaginal muscles clamped and released his shaft, Cole threw his head back once again and bellowed, exploding in his wife as she nibbled his neck. 

Grabbing the blanket and throwing it over themselves, the two reconnected lovers drifted into a tired and peaceful sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As Ariel lay in her bed, she couldn't help but think of the day she had first met Otis. Her mind kept returning to the time he had spent on her couch shirtless, covered in tattoos and nothing but his blue jeans and boots. Her heart began to speed up as she began to think of what could have happened maybe. As her thoughts continued, Ariel began to slowly stroke her pussy lips. She was a virgin, she had never been penetrated by anything, but she still knew how to have a little fun. 

...As she entered the room and traced his back tattoo, instead of jumping he merely lowered his head. Not able to help herself, she leaned forward and kissed the back of his neck. As he lifted his head and stared at her with those penetrating eyes, and stretched his neck and kissed her fully on her lips. Ariel broke the kiss, only to climb over the back of the couch to face Otis better. As he traced his rough finger tips across her cheek, Ariel shivered and crawled til she was sitting in his lap and kissed him deeply. As Otis ran his hands through her hair and tilted her head back, he began kissing down her throat. 

The sensation made Ariel slowly begin to move her hips in circular motions, trying to relieve the need she had been feeling for almost 6 years. Otis gently kissed and nibbled on her throat, and began to grind back against her moving hips. Ariel leaned back and removed her shirt, reaching behind to unhook her black lace bra. Otis's large and rough hands slowly touched them, until he had both his hands full with Ariel's breasts. As he rubbed her nipples to hardness between his fingers, Ariel felt him growing beneath her. Leaning back, she attacked his belt buckle and pants button with a passion. As she pulled the zipper apart, she snaked her hand down under the waistband of his boxers, her cool and hesitant fingers touching the base of his manhood. Otis tilted his head back and Ariel lifted herself up as she pulled his pants and boxers down his legs. As Otis kissed her, Ariel wrapped her hand around him, softly moving her hand up and down as she kissed him. Letting go and standing, she slowly worked her pants and panties off, fully expecting to sit right on it. Instead, Otis surprised her by grabbing her, and laying her down on the couch. As he began to kiss down her body, she curled her toes as he found sensitive spots and moaned out loud as his lips found her clit...

Ariel was lying in her bed rubbing her clit frantically, thrashing and moaning in her bed. God she wanted him so bad. She didn't care what anyone though; she wanted Otis to be her first! Lifting her hips as she strained and moaned from the good feelings, she felt herself start to lose it...

After Otis had almost made her cum from his talented lips and tongue, He placed his hands on either side of her and lined himself up with her entrance. As she looked into his beautiful eyes, she bit her lip and moaned as he broke through her hymen then stopped. Letting her adjust as he kissed her deeply and then nibbled her neck, he began to move in and out as she finally relaxed. Almost sliding all the way out of her, he would then slowly push his entire length all the way back into her, picking up on his speed and force slightly. Wrapping her legs around his waist, Ariel gave herself over to the experience, scratching his back from the feelings of pleasure. As he began to move into her fast and hard, he seemed to hit a certain spot in her repeatedly, Ariel clamping her teeth in his neck and driving her nails into his back as her entire world shattered. 

Ariel moaned and almost screamed into her pillow as she rode the throws of the most powerful climax she had ever brought herself. Standing on slightly wobbling legs, she managed to go into her bathroom to wash her hands and wipe the remnants of her climax from herself. Stripping her top sheet off the bed, she laughed as she realized it wouldn't do her any good, she had managed to soak through to the mattress. Laying down with the blanket wrapped around herself, she fell into a comfortable sleep, thinking about what it would be like to be wrapped in Otis's arms after sex like that.



Across the Tracks Ch. 11



(Hers chapter 11. Short Sweet, to the point. There is only one chapter left in the Across the Tracks series, and our next story will be picking up the relationship between Deacon and Nikki, and when that arc is done, we will be starting J.B.'s love story, with a character you haven't met yet. Enjoy, and as always, reviews and comments are welcome, and stroke me ego.) 



Otis slowly came to, the first noise he heard being the steady blip-blip of a heart monitor. Sighing, he tried to move his arms and legs, discovering his hunch that they were strapped down was correct. He tried to lift his head, but realized he didn't have the strength to do it when his head fell back onto the pillow and he passed out. Strange dreams he never remembered filtered from his subconscious. His nurses checked on him every hour, but it wasn't for another thirteen that he finally clawed his way back to being awake again. His nurse realized he was awake when she walked into his room and the first thing she saw was Otis staring at her balefully, yanking at the straps holding his arms down.

Instead of releasing him, she ran. After dragging Doctor Crozius from his post, he went to check on his patient, who had been flirting with the afterlife ever since the operation the good Doctor had performed. After removing the breathing apparatus from the airway, he quickly undid the straps holding Otis down, only to have to push back against the man's chest to get him to stay on the bed, instead of trying to get up. Otis continued to glare at the Doctor, and resolutely tried to rise again, in the midst of numerous protests from nurses and the Doctor.

"Mr. Andrei, if you don't calm down, I'm going to call Security, and we will sedate you until you are more civil."

Otis grinned, and the only word that could be used to describe it was feral. It wasn't the usual grin a man would make, but a wolf smile, a hunter smile. It was the kind of smile that would have made most men shiver. Doctor Armand Crozius was not that kind of man. He grabbed Otis by the arm and forcefully pushed him down once again. In his weakened state, there wasn't much Otis could do. The two attempts to rise already had him panting and sweating from exertion and pain. Armand began to explain what all had happened, when Otis waved him off with his hand. 

"Who in my group is here? I know someone stayed behind." Otis's deep voice had a rasp to it, from not talking and the tube that had been down his throat. Armand gently explained. 

"I think the one they call J.B. is switching the watch with Deke right now. Ariel may be here as well, I'm not sure. Your grandfather left earlier."

"Well? Are you going to get them or do I need to try and get up again?"

Armand motioned a nurse over and dispatched her to the waiting room to inform those the staff had taken to calling the Watchers that their vigil was over, the sleeping giant had awoken. Armand read a lot of fantasy novels, and the metaphors he used in work were a carryover from that. He had referred to Otis as the sleeping giant ever since the man had been brought in. As Otis laid back, a satisfied smile on his face, the Doctor became professional once more, and began to fully explain the amount of damage his body had taken.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Ariel rose to her feet, she had decided to leave. It had been four days. Otis had come out of surgery late Sunday night, and still hadn't come out of his coma. His grandfather was wilting, like a flower in too much heat with no water in sight. J.B. was starting to crack, she could feel it. If something didn't give soon, she just knew in her heart he was going to do something he would regret. Deacon.... She couldn't figure him out still. He was a hole. He never had any emotion on his face, or in his eyes, nothing in his posture gave him away. It was like he was an emotionless hole, doing nothing but gathering dust in the corner of the room. The only time he spoke was when spoken to, and the only time he smiled was when the redheaded girl that everyone but her seemed to know came to talk to him before she left with a woman in a wheelchair. She couldn't take this anymore. She was breaking, and would do anything to just hear his voice. 

J.B. looked at her as she walked to tell him bye, and he knew that he looked terrible, but so did everyone else who waited on Otis. Ariel looked as if she hadn't put any care in to her appearance, no makeup, a ponytail and some sweats. He knew his eyes were staring from a hollowed out face, with dark circles under his eyes were he wasn't sleeping. He'd been going to work, and he knew that even if he refused to admit it, his sponsor was getting pissed with his repeated phone calls. He just wanted to know something. Anything. If he was going to live, would he be a vegetable, anything about his friend. He stood as Ariel got closer, and asked her. 

"You leaving?"

All she did was nod at him, and he nodded back. She knew he would call if anything changed. After giving him a brief hug and waving to Deke, she started to walk away. As she entered the elevator, she saw a nurse running to J.B. and Deke jumping up. She went to hit the door open button, but it was too late, she was already headed down to the 1st floor, she'd have to come back up. She wanted to scream as the door opened, but thankfully no one got in as she frantically pushed the button to take her back up.

As the nurse told them about Otis waking up, JB knew what he had to do. Deacon didn't have a vehicle other than his bike, and J.B. was driving the truck, so it would have to be him that went to get Otis's grandfather. Running for the elevator, he made it to the open door just as Ariel was running out. Pointing back towards the waiting room, he didn't even stop to talk to her, but jumped into the elevator and jammed the parking garage floor button. As soon as he got into the truck, he slammed it into reverse and jammed the gas, peeling rubber as he slammed it into drive and tore off towards the road that would take him to Pappaw's house.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Ariel ran into the waiting room, scared to death. J.B. hadn't told her anything, just pointed. That could be either really good or really bad news. Deacon had grabbed her by the arm and was jerking her towards the room Otis was in, his limp more pronounced with him trying to run than ever. Nurses, Doctors and patients looked at the three people running down the hallway, the nurse who had originally shared the news trying to keep up with the two. As they got to the door, Doctor Crozius stepped out and looked at them in surprise.

"Ah. Deacon and Ariel. A little decorum in the hospital if you please? This isn't a track meet." 

He smiled at the slight blush on Ariel's face and the look of irritation in Deacon's eyes.

"Now, he's awake and has been told of the extent of his injuries. By his absence, I'll take it that J.B. went to get the elder Mr. Andrei. As soon as they arrive, I'll make sure they get back here." 

Deke and Ariel thanked the Doctor before he moved, opening the door and stepping away. Deacon and Ariel looked at each other, and Deacon extended his arm, mouthing 'Ladies first'. Ariel nodded and slowly walked into the dark room that Otis was in. Peeking around the corner of the door, all she could see was the glint of the dim lights, shining off of his teeth and eyes. 

"I was hoping you would be here." 

Ariel stopped. His voice sounded terrible! Like he had ate sandpaper or glass or something. But it was still his voice and Ariel started crying. He went to get up as soon as she started, and she almost leaped across the room to push him back down. 

"You can't get up!" Otis looked at her.

"FINE." He started to grumble about he wasn't hurting, he could get up just fine, and started to rise again.

"Otis, I swear to God that I will sit on you if you try to get up!"

"That gives me a perfect reason to try to get up then, doesn't it?" He said as he grinned at her, and winked. He started laughing as she blushed, only to groan in pain and grab at his chest. She looked panicked before he waved trying to calm her down.

"I'm okay I promise." He grinned weakly and looked at the giant hoodie she was wearing. "You know, I don't think someone as tiny as you was in mind when my hoodie was made." 

He smiled again as she blushed. She had been wearing his hoodie almost constantly since everything had happened. She decided to change the subject.

"I'm pretty sure J.B. went to get your Pappaw, and Deke is outside the door. I think they're only letting one person in at a time, so I might want to switch out with someone." 

"Or, you can grab a chair and sit next to me, and they can fuck off if they have an issue with the people I have in my room." 

Ariel smiled, that sounded like Otis. She nodded briefly and pulled a chair close to the side of his bed and sat down. She had her hands in her lap, fiddling with the sleeves of the hoodie until he sighed and reached over and grabbed one of her hands and held it. She looked at him for a moment and cocked an eyebrow questioningly. Her inner girl was freaking the fuck out though, and she knew she was smiling on the inside. He started talking, but she was so busy feeding her inner gloating that she almost missed it.

"So, I think after they let me leave, we should go out. Like on a date or something."

Ariel nodded with her mouth open in shock. Until she realized that he wasn't look at her, he was looking at their hands. So, she spoke up and told him yes, and he smiled at her and she melted inside. She couldn't keep her smile contained this time, and he squeezed her hand gently in his much larger hand. 

"Well... time to get on with it I guess." He raised his voice. "I'm not coming to get you brownie, get your ass in here."

Deacon walked in smiling.

"You know I hate that fucking name cracker."

Deacon looked at the two holding hands, and smiled. They would make a good couple. 

"So, according to the Doc, you two and J.B. have been doing surveillance on me to see when I would wake up." 

"Hell yea we did you dumbass. You're grandpa has been out of his goddamn mind worrying about you, so yes, we watched your ass. If you ever do something like this again, I'm going to bring you back from wherever the hell you went and beat the ever living shit out of you." 

Otis smiled at his friend's genuine concern and his outburst. Deke calmed down and stared at him for a minute then started grumbling and turned for the door. 

"I'm going to go wait for J.B. to get back, then I'm going home." As he walked out the door, he stopped and turned. "Good to have you back brother." 

"Good to be back, Coffee." 

"Oh fuck you Honky." Deacon smiled as he turned back around to walk to the waiting room, checking his watch. It was the usual time that Charlie walked through before taking her mother home....

Otis looked at Ariel. 

"I think I'm going to sleep a little before Pappaw and J.B. get here. Stay with me?"

Ariel nodded. "Of Course."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST DUDE SLOW THE FUCK DOWN BEFORE YOU GET US KILLED!"

Pappaw yanked hard on the wheel, throwing the old trucks ass end wide as he squealed around a curve, ignoring the blaring horns and shouted words. He looked over at J.B., who was grabbing the trucks shit handle and frantically trying to keep from getting slung around the cab. 

"One more outburst like that sonny and your ass can walk. And no, I will not be stopping for you to get out." 

J.B. just nodded and tried to calm down. He had pulled up, ran inside and told the old man the news, and then had to run to keep up with him, and narrowly missed being left behind as the old man took off, pedal to the metal. Now, they were speeding and driving like a maniac, a blue Chevy missile, through the streets to the hospital. J.B. just hoped when they got pulled over, the cop understood why the old man didn't stop and the chase that would result. As they blasted through another intersection, J.B. groaned. 

"I'm so going to jail."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Ariel watched Otis as he slept. He looked so peaceful, which was weird. Every time she had seen him, he had had a look on his face that fully consumed him. When he was working on her car, it was a look of concentration. When he had came over and watched the movie with her, he had been angry with Danny, then he had been irritated with her, and those emotions showed on his face. When he saved her, anger and rage. He had scared her almost as much as her situation. His eyes were cold, and she could practically feel the murderous intent rolling off him like heat from a flame. When they had got back to his place, he had so much sorrow in his face that it almost broke her heart. When he got hurt, all she could see was his pain. Now, he looked peaceful, and so much younger. Like so much of the bad shit that had happened in his life hadn't happened. This is what he would look like if his father had never died Ariel mused.

Her phone began to vibrate, and she knew it was her dad. Answering, she told him what was going on. After promising to bring her mom and come visit, he told her he loved her. Ariel smiled, her Dad told her he loved her a lot, and she really did appreciate it. After losing her birth parents, she didn't know what she would do if she lost her adopted parents. She brought her legs up and curled up in the chair, keeping her hand in his, and she quickly slipped into her own nap, the stress of the past few days melting off of her.

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Nikki opened her phone to see a text from Deke. Smiling she opened it up to look at it. 

'Firebird-

Sleepyhead is up and moving, I figured you'd want to know.'

Nikki smiled and took off running for the wing she knew Otis was in. As she skidded through the door, her slip on shoes betrayed her, and she almost fell. A pair of strong arms caught her with a slight grunt, and she managed to not bust her ass all over the ground. She knew it was Deke who had grabbed her; he had a certain smell that was distinctly him. Kind of like spice and spring. The first time she had come back after Otis had been admitted, and she found out about Deacon's leg, she had given him a goodbye hug and noticed it. It was intoxicating, and she was still pulled by it. It was maddening how much she loved that smell already. 

"You alright Firebird?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

They actually stood like that for a moment, Deacon's arms wrapped around her and her leaning into his chest. Finally, she reluctantly straightened her legs, and he even more reluctantly let go. Smiling, she looked towards the room Otis was in, and Deacon nodded. She grabbed his hand and pretty much drug her with him. She didn't want the girl who was obviously falling in love with Otis to think she was her to steal her man. Besides, she was finding herself interested in one very special man. Her mother even approved of her intrest in Deacon, and had flat out told her if she didn't get him, her mother was going to go after him herself. As she walked into the room, she noticed the girl, Ariel she thought her name was, was asleep and Otis was watching her out of the corner of his eyes. Nikki motioned Deacon to be quiet. She looked over Otis with a critical eye. She signed to him. Not many people knew that Nikki knew sign language, and even fewer realized Otis knew it. 

'You look like shit.'

He grunted, then signed back.

'Thanks a lot Captain Obvious. Anything else you want to tell me? Like that I may be tall?'

Nikki flipped him off and stuck her tongue out at him. She and Deacon hadn't noticed, but her hand had went from his wrist to their fingers entertwined. Otis smiled and waved at the two as they walked back out of his room. Leaving him in comparitive silence.

He knew it was Thursday, and Doctor Armand had agreed to let him go home today is someone was going to take care of him until he was fully healed. He was pretty sure he could find someone, he was more worried about being able to keep his place. Mrs. Worthington was a lovely landlady, but he didn't know how she was dealing with him being shot in her apartment. He would just have to wait and see. 

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J.B. almost kissed the ground when the truck screeched to a halt outside of the hospital. He didn't have time for that though, he had to follow behind the old man, making sure he didn't run over pregnant women or kick a baby in his haste. He had no idea the old man could move so fast, but he could by God. They ran past the startled nurses, who didn't try to stop them thanks to the warning from Doctor Armand and them recognizing the two men. When they finally spilled out of the elevator, they were stopped by Deke and Nikki. 

"Slow down guys. Otis is in there, he is awake, but Ariel is next to him and she's asleep. Calm down and go in a little quieter ok?'

Pappaw nodded, and so did J.B. They slowly entered the room, interrupting Otis in what looked like deep thought. The two didn't fail to notice him holding her hand still, and the content smile on her face as she slept. Pappaw walked up to his grandsons hospital bed and leaned in to hug him. Otis was his life. All he had left now. As he started to cry, he didn't feel shame for his tears. He knew that without him, without his grandson, he wouldn't live longer than a few months. A man could survive along time, but not when his reason for living was gone. No words were needed between the two. Otis hugged his grandfather fiercely. They loved each other, as only family, good family and strong blood ties, could love. 

His grandfather stood up, he would finally be able to sleep tonight. Otis signed to his grandfather, explaining about getting to go home that night if he wanted. His grandfather signed back, telling him that it was perfectly fine with him if he wanted to go home, and thay he would go speak to Doctor Crozius about it now. 

As Pappaw left, J.B. stepped forward and whispered to Otis. 

"We going to get revenge?"

Otis looked at his best friend. The change from peaceful to cold blooded anger was instant. He merely nodded his head, looking like anymore effort from him would result in violence. J.B. nodded back. He had never doubted his friend would survive. There were a few constants in this world. Death, Taxes, and Otis Andrei. As J.B. left, he gave one more look to his best friend, his blood brother.

"Good to have you back man."

Otis nodded as his friend walked out the door. He laid back, hitting the button to lean him back in a more comfortable position on his bed. He would be going for revenge. Something inside of him demanded it. Some nagging thought in the back of his mind, as cold as a hammer head and bright as lightning, loud as thunder. Otis closed his eyes, turning out the light and waited in the dark for Ariel to wake up. He wanted to talk to her, he had missed her, even in his coma. 

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Deacon and Nikki sat outside in silence, but not a bad silence. It was more of a companionable silence, like two people that had known each other so long that they didn't have to speak to have a good time. They hadn't really talked about anything, and as Deke took another drag on his cigarette, he broke that silence. 

"So... How's your momma?"

Nikki looked up, and it took her a moment to focus from her reverie. 

"She's doing better. Still not at full strength. They are saying good things about her beating the cancer, so that's good for us."




Across the Tracks Ch. 11



Deacon smiled and nodded. Nikki and her mother were both really strong, and if anyone would beat cancer, it was definitely going to be the fiery Charolette. Deke stretched his arms and legs, feeling the satisfying pops and cracks along his verterbrae and along his joints. As he hopped up, he stuck his hand out for Nikki. She took it, and as soon as she hopped up, slipped on the gravel of the smoking area and landed against Deacon's chest. Catching her close for the second time today, he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of her against him. Looking down he couldn't help but smile as he heard her cuss her shoes under her breath. She looked up at him and was captivated by his smile, and couldn't help herself. She rose up on her toes and grabbed his head, pulling him down for a kiss. It was the least expected thing by either of them. She didn't know why she did it, but she had to. He tasted like cinnamon and nutmeg. As she drew back from the kiss, she dropped her eyes and went to step away, turning fire engine red from the embarrassment. 

Deacon wasn't having that. Pulling her close to him, he decided it was his turn. Cupping her chin, he bent down and gave her a kiss of his own. Her mouth tasted like spearmint. He didn't know if that was from some gum or just her natural taste, but he liked it either way. Their kiss lasted a few minutes, before Nikki felt her phone vibrate. With Deacon here, the only person it could be was her mother. Breaking the kiss against her will, she looked at him and bit her lip. 

Deacon smiled. "Is it too late to ask you out on a date?" 

Nikki smiled and shook her head, and kissed him quickly again before they both walked towards the hospital to discuss date plans. 

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"But Cole, I don't have anything to wear!" 

Cole laughed as they sat at a stop light, his wifes hands wrapped with his, their fingers intertwined. He looked at his beautiful wife before the light turned green and he returned his attention to the road. 

"Baby, you got seven thousand dresses in that closet. Pick one." 

Trish sniffed, and for a moment looked exactly like her snobbier self. Cole started laughing as he heard her mutter under her breath that she only had five thousand dresses, thank you very much. They parked the car and walked to the elevators, Cole's arm finding it's way around his wife's shoulder. 

"Then go buy a new dress. Or wear nothing, I know that'll make me happy."

Trish swatted his side playfully. 

"Of course it would you horny man you. I'd bet you'd have sex with me in this elevator if I said yes." 

"Well.... It has been over 8 hours, and this elevator doesn't have a camera...."

Trish rolled her eyes at her husband as they neared the floor Otis was on. She wasn't even going to dignify that with comment. She was however, going to buy a new dress. 

As they walked in Otis's room, she smiled at her sleeping daughter. Without the stress of worrying if Otis would live, maybe she would eat something, and get a restful sleep. Cole and Trish thanked Otis for everything, and apologized to him for what had happened to him over their daughter, which he quickly waved off. Trish said she was going to grab a candy bar, and before she left invited Otis to take Ariel to the Rat Ball tomorrow as part of her and Cole's party. He told her he would think about it, and thanked her for the offer. She left, not really being hungry, but knowing Cole had words for Otis. 

"Otis.... The Rats did some work for me, found the guy who shot you. He's actually right down the hall in the ICU. They got a bit.... Overzealous in their work." 

Otis nodded. "Danny?"

Cole nodded. "Danny. The Rats didn't go after him, figuring that you'd want him for yourself." 

Cole heard, actually heard, Otis's hands tense into fists with rage behind them. 

"Yea. I want him for myself." 

Cole nodded and walked forward, clasping Otis's hand in a firm grip.

"Vengeance is yours to take, but don't let it consume you." He walked towards the door and turned, looking at his daughter. "She's special, you know? Make sure you treat her like it." 

Otis's words drifted to him as he walked away. 

"She's more special to me than you know."



Across the Tracks Ch. 12



(Next Chapter is what you've all been waiting for.) 
(Chapter 12 will not be the last Chapter, looks like I'll be typing a chapter 13.)



"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"

"I'm sorry! Why don't you bitch a little fucking more dude. Seriously!"

"DON'T SMACK MY FUCKING ARM INTO THE DOOR ASSHOLE, IT'S FUCKING BROKE!"

"If you don't shut your big fucking mouth, I'll break the goddamn thing all the way off and shove it so far down your throat it'll scratch your balls from the inside!"

Otis tried to think of something else to yell, but the imagery of his hand scratching his balls from the inside of his body was too much, and he cracked up and laughed. JB however, was still not amused. It had been hell o everyone getting Otis home, and now they were taking him right back out, to go to the Rat Ball of all things. Instead of making him rest, the doctor said to make him rest. Not go gallivanting about the fucking county. But noooo, Otis just had to go and say hello and thank you to everyone, and he just haaaaaad to see Ariel. It didn't matter that the only reason she left his side today was to shower and get ready, leaving JB to care for him. Even Deacon had ditched him, and wasn't even coming to help him out tonight. He was off doing something. JB muttered angrily about all this as he began lowering Otis step by step down the stairs, the wheelchair the only thing Otis was listening on. JB didn't know that Otis was merely doing it to piss JB off and save his strength for dancing with Ariel.

JB finally got Otis in the passenger seat, and then heaved the ungainly and heavy wheelchair in the back of the truck. The hospital had been going to give him a light weight model, but Otis was just too goddamn big. Grumbling about bastard crippled friends and darkly making death threats on the inventor of the wheelchair as a torture device for friends and family of said bastard crippled friends, JB climbed behind the wheel and began to drive to Rat Hall. They didn't talk much on the drive. Otis knew when he was pushing his best friend to far, and this was surely one of those times. Instead, he flipped down the mirror visor and appraised himself. The Rat Ball was an actual event, where you dressed a little nicer than usual, and had a good time with a live band. Everyone dressed nice, it wasn't a 'black tie' event, but you wore a nice outfit. It was considered a 'No Cut' event, meaning there was more than one Motorcycle Club there, and you left your vest at home and left your problems at the door.

The River Rats had started off as an outlaw biker gang, a bunch of young guys disillusioned with the world and their place in it. They just wanted to have a good time. When friends and brothers started dying from drugs, driving intoxicated, the men grew up quick. The club was more about having a good time, and keeping the neighborhood clean. They kept most of the other gangs out, and the people who dealt the harder drugs knew they wouldn't sell much in the River District. Since most of the guys smoked it, it was pretty easy to sell and buy pot in the district. But the minute you peddled something else, your selling rights were revoked.

Otis shook himself out of his musings and again checked his appearance. He had shaved, both his face and his head, leaving nothing but a goatee and a moustache. He had take out his usual 1" silicone ear skins and replaced them with a pair of teardrop shaped obsidian pieces he had bought just to have a nice looking pair of jewelry for his ears. They were a concave, black, shiny affair, and they went well with his shoes and belt. Being that he wanted to look nice and presentable, he had worn a black silk shirt with a black vest over it, and black dress pants. There was a hander kerchief in his pocket, which was a splash of bright red. It was as JB had said, 'the look of a personage that is pimping.' Because his friend was a jackass. Otis leaned back and closed his eyes, feeling the cool leather on his freshly shaved head.

JB snorted. If Otis kept looking in the mirror, he'd fall in love with himself and never leave. JB hadn't gone all out like Otis. He had gotten permission from his PO to stay out late, so he would get to fully enjoy the ball. He'd kept it simple, got his hair trimmed, some black dress pants and a blue dress shirt. He wore his black cowboy boots and he was ready, and dressed up to what he considered the nines. Some would disagree, but as far as he was concerned, he took a shower, he was going above and beyond.

As they pulled up, Otis grabbed the cane. He had bought it years ago, or so it seemed, and it was the completion to his pimp-ness. Really though, he could never remember exactly where he had bought it, or who he had got it from. It was black, made from mahogany with a really nice shine on it. The head was what had attracted him to borrow it. It was double faced, and looked silverish. One face was a raven head, with blue gem eyes. It flowed back, the feathers turning into fur as it formed the other side, a snarling wolf with black gem eyes. It was a beautiful cane, and Otis had always loved owning it. It was part of every serious outfit he wore, including his tux for his prom. Tonight, it was good for more than just looks; it was going to support him tonight. He had a feeling that he would need to lean on it a few times.

"C'mon man let me help you in."

Otis looked at his friend.

"Fuck off you old mother hen."



JB managed to look pissed, before the smile broke through the fake storm cloud he was trying to pull over his face.

"Come on then asshole; let's go have a good time."



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Ariel was nervous as she sat in the back of the car as her parents drove. She was nervous about the infamous 'Rats Ball', and she was nervous because she was worried Otis wouldn't think she looked nice. She had chosen a bright red dress that she and her mom thought went really good with her fair skin, red lips, and black hair. It wasn't a grandma dress or something a hooker would wear, just enough to give a hint of her sexiness. Her father of course, he disapproved, but he would rather have her dressed like an Amish wife than wear anything that showed off her body. He didn't want to admit that his little girl had grown up. Her mother didn't wither, but she was at least resigned to it, if not trying to at least accept it.

She let her mind wander as they finally arrived, and she got out of the back seat only to see Otis start to walk inside, aided by a cane. There was no mistaking him. The broadness of his shoulders, the height, his ears, just the way he stood told her it was him. The fact JB was clapping him on the back also gave it away. She smiled brightly, the diamond studs in her ears not even coming close to the brightness that her genuine happiness added. She slowly walked towards them, calling out to Otis.

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Otis heard a familiar voice call his name and turned around to see an angel straight from heaven. Judging by the red, she could also be a devil up from hell for a night of fun to. Either or, he intended to spend that time with her. Ariel fairly sparkled, her eyes and jewelry bright, and the red dress added to her beauty. JB waved and then Ariel waited to see what Otis would say. He just gaped.

"Hey, fish. Speak. Be a human!"

Otis shook his head and glared at JB, only to be speechless as soon as he looked at Ariel again. Finally gaining control over his brain and tongue, he told her.

"You look beautiful. Like an angel."

Ariel smiled and blushed, while JB made gagging noises and acted grossed out. They may have been adults, but they were all still big kids and laughed at his antics. Ariel's parents walked by, telling them to hurry. Otis stuck out his arm and Ariel took it, and they walked in together, JB mumbling as he walked behind them.

"What's next? I get to dress like a servant for His Highness and the Queen?"

His grumbles were lost though as they entered the room.



The River Rats didn't have the dance in their business club house; it was basically an old abandoned warehouse. Instead, the Ball was held at an older hotel in the district, a relic from its glory days when it wasn't a bad thing to be from the area. There was an old ballroom with a floor for dancing, and dozens of tables scattered through it. It was a beautiful sight.

Hours later, Otis wearily limped to a chair and sat down. They had ate, drank, and he and Ariel had danced several times to the music. He was starting to hurt though, and his arm was aching. He smiled wearily as she laughed when JB spun her in a circle. She was so beautiful it almost hurt. He had no idea what he would do without her already. Some people would argue she wasn't anything but trouble, but she made him happy. The woman in question popped him out of his introspection but hopping down into the chair beside him. It was the only way to describe it; she hopped down into the seat.

He smiled as she sucked in great gasps of air, and then he started laughing.

"You look a little tired darling."

She smiled, her cheeks flushed and her brow slightly damp with sweat. The dancers had kept a frantic pace, and she had barely managed to keep up, she was surprised Otis had. She slowly stretched, arching her back and groaning. It was probably one of the most erotic things, to him anyways, that Otis had ever seen. He smiled, but there was a certain hunger in his eyes that even Ariel could recognize. She bit her lip, and then made a choice.

"Can you drive your truck?"

Otis nodded, slightly confused.

"If JB can get a ride home, do you want to go back to your place and watch a movie or something? It's a little too crowded in here for me."

Otis nodded again, at a loss for words and Ariel left to tell her parents what was going on. He walked over to JB and didn't even give his friend a chance, just told him to find a way home. JB was going to get pissed and ask what the fuck, until he watched Ariel hug her parents and walk towards Otis.

"Ah."

"Mhm." Otis hummed. His vocal skills where very, very, very off tonight.

"Be good to her dude. She has been through a shit ton lately."

Otis had the good grace to look very offended that JB thought he would be anything less than wonderful to her, tonight or any other night.

"Ready to go?"

Otis managed a stuttered yes before she drug him out of the door to get in his truck and go back to his place.

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Cole watched his baby girl walk out of the front doors with Otis. He really wanted to hate the boy, but he just couldn't. He was a nice kid, hard-working, with a bit of a past, but Cole really wasn't one to talk about that. He had seen a lot of his old friends tonight, and was really enjoying himself. His wife had even managed to convince him to take a spin around the floor, ending in a great kiss beneath the chandelier to the hooting and hollering of the room full of bikers. He slowly stood and walked over to where Otis's friend JB sat. Sitting down, he waited for the young man to finish drinking his water.

"No beer JB?"

The young man smiled and held up a small chip with the Roman numeral for one on it.

"Honest program Mr.Cole."

Cole snorted and looked at the man.

"Little young for that aren't you?"

It was JB's turn to snort and stare at the older man askance.

"You wait til you was of age to walk on the wilder side?"

Cole laughed and shook his head no, and JB's icy façade cracked and he smiled.

The two men started talking, because Cole had went through an addiction spell of his own years earlier, before Ariel. He hadn't used the program, Trish had threatened to leave him for good and it straightened his ass up in a hurry. Some of Cole's friends had sat down with them, and as they traded stories, the other men began to really pay attention to the charismatic JB. He was telling the stories of his addiction and the things he had done that made some of the other men wonder why he was still alive, and when he spoke of the program and the peace and help a higher power, whether it be God, Buddha, Allah, or anything could give you over your addictions, the others listened. After the conversation petered out, JB's throat was raw and he drank deeply of some water. An older man stood and placed his hand on the boys shoulder.

"Son, if you can, I've got some friends in my family and club that could really use the advice and way you just talked."

JB looked at the others as many of them asked the same thing and he began to nod.

"Sure guys, I'd love to help."



Across the Tracks Ch. 13



(Bet you all thought I had died. I'm still alive, I swear! The scene that involves the fire crackers is from real life. A lot of our troops come home messed up and they don't get the help they need. They deserve our respect and our admiration.)



Otis looked to the side at the beautiful woman driving him home. She looked absolutely stunning, and he wanted to say so, but was too shy to do it. She always looked lovely, but tonight it was like she had set her looks from stun gun to the heart to downed electrical wire to the brain. Otis stopped and had a very stern discussion with himself about his similes, or was that a metaphor? Which in turn lead to a rather stern conversation that this was not an English lesson, they were talking about a beautiful woman here. Otis shook his head to dispel the thoughts and looked back at Ariel.

She bit her lip in concentration as she navigated the River District back to his house. He was over whelmed by a sudden urge to kiss her, but used his stalwart Russian will he had inherited to crush that urge. He wasn't going to kiss her until she asked him to; he didn't think it was right to do after all she had been through. But oh how he wanted to. In the dark corner of his mind where he stifled thoughts, there was a rebellious one, the thought of what else he would like to do with her. The rebellious thought wanted to be made know, not stifled. His other thoughts told it that she may not even like him that way, but the rebellious thought brought others to its cause. If she didn't like him like that, why had she offered to drive him home? Why would she be looking at him like she wisdom shit! She was looking at him and he was starting at her with his mouth open! Abort mission Pony Boy. ABORT MISSION AND ACT NORMAL!

Ariel looked at Otis, who looked like he was about to explode. She was slightly worried. "Are you okay?"

He nodded and smiled, and to his credit, it only had a slight strained feel to it. "Yea, I'm fine. I was just thinking about everything that has happened in the couple of weeks. It's been a lot."

Ariel nodded in agreement. It had been. She had been taken to a dark place she never wanted to visit again, but she had accepted what had happened to her. Danny was evil, and he wanted what he wanted. And she had refused him, so he had tried to take it. There was only one person she wanted to give that too now, and he was sitting next to her. But what if he didn't like her like that? What if he just wanted to have sex with her and then leave her? What if he left her after he found out about her and his dad? There were so many things that could go wrong. She was too scared to advance anything on her own, and if he didn't show her something was there, she didn't think she would. As she pulled up in front of his apartment, she realized the flaw in her plan. She would have to call someone to come get her. Otis opened the door and turned to step out of the truck and looked over at her.

"Would you like to come up?"

Ariel bit her lip and nodded. They walked up the steps together, and she was ready to at least pretend like she could catch him if he fell down the stairs or slipped. He had to still be hurting a lot, and she still felt like it was partially her fault. If she hadn't called him that day, he would never have been shot. His family would have never had to have gone through what they did, but at the same time she had a selfish feeling because she had got to get closer to him because of everything that had happened. She really liked him.

As they entered the apartment, he dropped his cane in the umbrella stand and stretched. His back made some of the weirdest and grossest popping noises she had ever heard, and when he jerked his head to pop his neck, she thought he had broken it. He lowered his arms and turned to her, all of the sudden looking like he was shy. She thought there was a point when shyness flew out the window, and it was definitely when the person you were looking at had put pressure on your bullet holes so you didn't die.

Otis cleared his throat. "I'm going to change into some more comfortable clothes, do you want some sweat pants or something?"

Ariel nodded, and as he walked back into his room, she began to explore. She had seen his room on that one day, but she hadn't really paid any attention to the rest of his home. Now, she walked through and looked at some of the things he had on the wall. She laughed when she saw the picture that could only be JB, Deke, and Otis as kids, in a frame that said Goonies Never Say Die. Through the pictures that he had hanging and on shelves, she could almost watch the changes he had made to himself. The bright pink Mohawk was a shock, but it was also very funny. She came to a photo of him and a man that could only be his father. His father was a lot like his son, and he looked very handsome in his uniform from what she assumed was the local fire department. Otis stood proudly next to his father, wearing a t-shirt that said "My Daddy is a Fireman". He couldn't be more than six or seven years old in the picture. A soft cough made her turn around, to see Otis holding a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie.

"They'll be huge on you, but it you loop the string and tie it enough; they might attempt to stay on you."

Ariel smiled and thanked him, and went into the bathroom to change. The sweat pants were HUGE on her, but she tied them tight and then rolled them a few times. The hoodie was also huge on her, but she was fine with that. She still wore the hoodie she had gotten from him every night when she went to bed or when she was just walking around the house. It was a big, warm, slightly fuzzy, security blanket. She shuffled out of the bathroom, holding up the pants. Otis started laughing as soon as he seen her, and she stuck her tongue out at him, only for him to laugh at her some more. He was sitting on the couch, and she thought he looked good enough to bite. He was wearing some shorts that had obviously started out as sweat pants, and a black wife beater that she thought showed off his muscled arms and a lot of his tattoos very well.

He smiled. She might be swamped by it, but she looked really good in his hoodies. It was just a thing. She shuffled over to him and sat down on the couch next to him. She pulled her phone out and checked the time; it was 12:30 in the morning! Her parents would kill her! Then again, she was an adult. They'd be fine for a while longer. She looked at Otis.

"Sooooooooooooo?"

"Want to watch a movie? Your choice."

Ariel smiled and jumped up, making a bee line for the movie rack. She forgot about the damn sweat pants, and they fell, baring her ass for the world to see. She quickly grabbed them and yanked them up, her face going supernova in seconds. She looked over her shoulder, expecting Otis to be laughing at her. The look in his eyes was for sure not a laughing one. It was desire, pure and simple. She blushed even more, and then bent down to look at what movies he had.

Otis tried to control himself. Now that, that was a nice ass. A really, really, really, nice ass. As evidenced by what was trying to make an appearance in his pants, he really liked that ass. Moving both to get comfortable and readjust, he finally found a position that wasn't too showing of what was going on and began to pray for a lowering. It wasn't the best conversation piece. Just in the nick of time, as Ariel made some weird squealing noise and put a DVD in. She sat on the couch next to him, and the look of excitement on her face had him racing through his movie collection in his head, trying to figure out what it could be. He was concentrating so hard that he missed the opening credits and the movie was already playing, and now he really had to wait. But not for long, he knew what it was as soon as the beautiful painting that made up the old Disney animation came up. Beauty and the Beast was, without a doubt, his favorite movie of all time.

As the movie went on, Ariel began to move, inch by inch, closer to Otis. When she was almost sitting on top of him, she went to lay her head on his shoulder, only to have him lift his arm up and put it around her, and it put her head on his chest instead. She looked up at him, but he was pretending to be focused on the movie so she happily snuggled her head onto his chest while he held her with his arm. She really liked it.

Otis smiled as she laid her head on his chest. It felt good. It was like being a puzzle, and one piece had always been missing, but someone found it under the couch and put it in the puzzle and now it was complete. Wow, he thought, I really need to learn how to do that better. I'm not sure she would like being called a puzzle piece that someone found under the couch. He focused on the movie, and the fact that he had the most beautiful girl in the world under his arm. When the movie ended, neither of them moved, and Ariel relaxed into him, molding her to the contours of his body she was laying against. He didn't have a problem with that at all, and pretty soon they were both starting to drift in and out, falling asleep.

Otis opened his eyes and looked at the clock, which was reading 3 A.M. Very late or very early, depending on your standards. He gently shook Ariels arm, and when she groggily demanded what he wanted, he told her.

"It's 3 in the morning. Want me to call you a ride?"

Ariel shook her head and burrowed herself even deeper into his side, mumbling something about wanting to stay. Otis smiled; he would like that very much. He finally cajoled her awake enough to call her parents and leave them a voicemail, and then they walked to his room together and laid down in his bed. Otis threw the covers over them, and Ariel was the little spoon, and she fell asleep almost instantly in his arms. Otis took a little longer, being able to touch her and to smell her perfume that close to him was causing a reaction that could be embarrassing if she noticed. But he was just too tired to care, and he fell asleep soon enough.

When Ariel woke up the next morning, she smiled because she was happy. She was still in his arms. When she moved a little to adjust a kink in her back, she felt something poking into her. Maybe he has a TV remote in the bed... she thought, her mind still pretty sleepy. When she reached behind her, she quickly discovered the only thing this remote would turn on is her. She felt up and down through his sweats with her hand, and almost jumped out of her skin when he spoke.

"As good as that feels, don't write any checks you don't want to cash."

Ariel shivered. She loved his voice when he just woke up. She continued to move her hand up and down his length, and looked over her shoulder at him.

"Honey, I never write a check I can't cash."

Otis looked at her hungrily. He wanted this. Badly. He had rules though, rules that he knew he would obey without question, no matter what. He grabbed her hand to stop the motion that was driving him up and down the walls of his mind.

"Ariel, I'm sorry but I can't. I've got this rule that I don't have sex unless I'm in a relationship with that person for a bit. Even though I really, really, really, want too, I can't."

Ariel bit her lip and let go, rolling her body over so she could look at him. She looked up into his eyes and almost lost her train of thought. His eyes were so beautiful. Two months ago she would have never said it, but he was so handsome. His personality shone through, and his face reflected that he lived, actually lived his life. In her eyes, he was amazing.

"And do you think you could ever be in a relationship with me?"

Otis looked down at her. She looked so scared that he was going to say no. How was he supposed to say that he had been thinking about it last night when they were watching the movie? He had just been waiting on a time to ask. Otis ran this thumb down her jaw line and tilted her head up and kissed her softly.

"So, is that a yes?"

He started laughing. "It is a most definite yes, darlin'."

"Good."

And they kissed again. They decided to spend their day lying in bed, kissing each other.

~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~ ~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~ ~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~ ~ *~ *~ *~ *~ * ~

"Ariel. That's our final word on the subject."

"But mom..."

"Do not but mom me. The boy is coming over for dinner, or we are going there, and that is that."

Ariel stuck her tongue out at her mom and turned around, and her mom snapped her on the ass with the dish towel she was holding. Ariel jumped in the air and stuck her tongue out at her mother again. It was going to be a long day, Trish thought as she sighed. She and Cole approved of this boyfriend though. He was strong, polite, a gentleman, and very protective of their daughter. They had faked being angry the night after the Rat Ball, but in the ensuing weeks, they had warmed up even more to the boy, and he and Cole had became great friends. They were out riding motorcycles now. Trish smiled to herself. Cole always wanted one thing after riding his bike, and she was ready. Their sex life had really picked up lately.

Ariel texted Otis, knowing he wouldn't get the message unless they stopped, but it helped. She knew her Dad was probably working on him to. She didn't understand why her parents were so adamant on this. They had hung out and they knew Otis, what was the deal with wanting him over for dinner tonight? Granted, he hadn't eaten dinner with them yet, but why was it such a big deal? She grabbed a random hoodie out of what was quickly becoming a collection of his hoodies in her house, and jammed her head phones in. They had been together two months now. The late summer had turned into fall, and pretty soon it would start getting cold. She had never been happier.

She wanted to move into his apartment with him, but she didn't know how he would respond, and she knew her parents wouldn't like it. She hated being away from him, and he hated being away from her. Trying to move her thoughts away from Otis, she decided to think about their friends. Something was wrong with JB. He had started acting really weird. He had done the counseling thing for maybe two weeks, and then stopped. He didn't want to be around them, he had quit work, and his Parole Officer had asked Otis if he knew why JB wasn't checking in. She was worried about him. If he got into a lot of trouble, he wouldn't be able to see his son. She made a mental note to tell Otis they needed to find out what was going on before something bad happened.

Deacon and Nikki were a completely different story. They hadn't started dating yet, and Nikki had confided in Ariel that she thought Deacon didn't want to be with her because he hadn't asked her out yet. Ariel knew from Otis that Deke really did want to be with her, but he was dealing with some of his own personal shit that he didn't want to bring her into. Ariel was laying back thinking when she had an idea hit her. If her mom was so stoked on having some big dinner, why didn't they invite a couple more people? Perfect! She scrambled out of bed and tore off down the stairs to talk to her mom.

~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~ ~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~ ~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~ ~ *~ *~ *~ *~ * ~

Otis groaned as he checked his phone. Cole and he had been riding for a good couple of hour's roundtrip, and had stopped at a gas station a few miles outside of town to fuel up and stretch their legs. They had also wanted some planning time to not have to go through whatever dinner thing Trish had planned, and they had been counting on Ariel and her stubborn streak to help them. Cole noticed the look on his face when he brought over their drinks.

"What now?"

"She got Ariel on board. Not only did she get her on board, Ariel now wants to invite my granpa, Deacon, Nikki, JB, and we have to get the truck and go get supplies for what is apparently going to be a cookout for all of us."

The two men both looked at each other and nodded. "Beer."

They got back on the bikes and rode to the apartment, locking them up in the storage shed Otis kept and taking his truck. The text messages with lists of things kept hammering both of their phones, until Otis was ready to throw his and Cole thought he was getting cross eyed. They had to stop at the lumber store and get wood for a bonfire. Stop at the meat store and get all the different meats the Terrible Twosome wanted them to barbeque. Stop at the actual store to get everything else. As a gift to themselves, they bought a shit ton of fireworks that were on sale because it was fall, and all of the holidays were done until Thanksgiving. They figured they would just set them off after dinner.

Ariel let him know that everyone had answered and said they would come except for JB. Otis shook his head and thought about his best friend. He was acting funny. Otis wanted to trust his friend, but he really thought that JB was using again. He resolved to find him and speak with him soon. He had to help his friend out, no matter what was going on. The boys arrived back at the house and Otis unloaded while Cole ran around back to prepare the grill and area for all the shit they had to buy. Otis looked up and saw Ariel coming down the steps. After a quick kiss, he looked at her.

"Thought you said you didn't have my Slayer hoodie?"

Ariel blushed and stuck her tongue out. "I didn't say I didn't have it, I just said I didn't know where it was. I found it under my bed."

Otis stared at her. Then he started laughing. "You're such a smartass baby girl. I swear."

After that, the two didn't have much time to be with each other, with them both getting foods ready. When Deke arrived with Nikki on the back of his bike, he declined the men's invitation to drink a beer and went inside to help cook, because it was something he truly enjoyed and liked doing. Nikki on the other hand, hung out with the guys, where she showed off a talent for bullshitting that surpassed Coles and rivaled Otis. She declined the offer of a beer too, and kept looking over her shoulder at the kitchen window. Ariel caught the girl looking and decided to work on Deke a little, see what she could find out.

"So Deke, how are you and Nikki doing?"

Deke looked up from chopping some lettuce. "I don't know. Me and her aren't really a 'we', ya know?"

Trish decided to jump into this conversation. "Why not? She seems like a really sweet girl."

Deacon looked back down and returned to cutting. "I've got some issues I need to deal with first." His tone of voice pretty clearly told them that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so they actually left it alone.

When the food was done, they all set up the outside table and ate in front of the bonfire that Otis had built. They started laughing and joking after the table was cleared, and Cole brought out a pair of guitars. Otis couldn't sing, but he could play. He winked at Ariel and started playing some old country songs. Pappaw glared at him but he started singing the Hank Williams Senior songs anyways. Otis joined in on the chorus, and even Cole knew a few of the words. As the night wore on, Otis started to get worried. It wasn't like JB to not even say he wasn't coming.

Cole and Otis winked at each other and disappeared. Grabbing the giant string firecrackers, the lit them and threw them towards the table. As they went off, Deacon dove under the table and started screaming. Otis and Cole ran to see what was wrong, and all they could see was Nikki trying to reach under the table to get someone.

"What the fuck happened?"

Ariel shrugged. "I have no idea."

Nikki climbed through the spaces of the picnic table to look at Deacon. He stared at her with his eyes open wide and manic, his breathing harsh.

"Please. Stop it. Make it stop. I can hear them screaming. Make it stop."

Nikki slowly crawled over to his side.

"It's okay baby. I'm here. No one is going to hurt you."




Across the Tracks Ch. 13



She wrapped her arms around Deacon and he buried his face into her shoulder and started crying. Nikki calmly rubbed his back and neck and tried to whisper words of encouragement to him.

After a while, they came out from under the table, Deacon had red eyes and was holding Nikki's hand, and Otis stood when they did.

"Man, I'm so sorry. I didn't think."

Deacon put his hand on his friends shoulder. That was all they needed. They said their goodbyes, and Deacon and Nikki left, followed shortly by Pappaw. Cole shook his head at Otis as they sat by the fire, their respective ladies sitting on their laps.

"Not how I saw the night turning out. You?"

Otis shook his head no. "No, and I feel like shit."

Ariel looked at him. Cole shook his head, but Trish was the one who spoke.

"Ain't your fault doll. You didn't know it'd happen. But know you do, and can work with it."

Otis nodded. "'Suppose so."

After a while, Cole and Trish told the kids good night, and Otis threw the last little bit of wood on the fire and opened up the last beer. As he sat down, Ariel climbed into his lap so she faced him.

"Are you gonna be okay? It's not your fault."

"I know baby. It just sucks. I feel like I've lost one friend, and might be losing another. I don't know what's going on with JB, and I don't know what'll help Deacon."

"I think Nikki can help him. If anything, she's the one that can keep him together."

Otis nodded. They sat there til the fire burnt down to coals, and then they decided it was time to go to the apartment. Otis didn't drink and drive, so Ariel drove the truck home. They walked up the stairs together, and Otis changed into his shorts and Ariel wore the sweat pants she had brought over and one of Otis's T-shirts. They lay down in the bed together, and Ariel started to kiss Otis. She'd been trying this for the last couple of weeks, and she wanted her man tonight.

Otis groaned when Ariel bit his lip. He was starting to think it was time. He just couldn't take it anymore. Every cell in his body burned with a need for her. He kissed her back and pulled her close to him.

"Baby... How far do you want to go tonight?"

Ariel smiled as she leaned back and took her shirt off. Kissing him deeply, she reached her hand down the front of his shorts and started to stroke him. She smiled as she felt him getting hard in the grip of her hand.

"Does that answer your question?"

Otis groaned as he kissed her, and gave no other answer except that. Ariel smiled and kissed him hard as she pulled his sweats the rest of the way down and took his cock in both hands. Ariel kissed him deeply and broke the kiss, smiling as she began to kiss down his chest. When she got to his hip, she gave him a smile bite and smiled as he jumped. Kissing further down, she started kissing up from the base until she got to his head. She engulfed it with her lips, sucking gently on it before she worked her way down a little before coming back up. She licked from the bottom of his shaft to the top, and then took him in her mouth again. She kept sucking for a few minutes, going as deeply as possible, and then she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted him inside of her. The whole time she had been sucking his cock, she had her hand down between her legs, tracing her clit and lips with her fingers. She was ready to go as far as she was concerned.

Otis groaned with every motion she made. When she stopped and started to stand over him, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to his face. She smelled so sweet, and she smelled like her. Even in the low light that bleed past his curtains from outside, he could see how wet she was.

"You got to taste me, I get to taste you."

Ariel gasped as his tongue touched her for the first time. Otis smiled and continued. He wanted her to buck and shake because of what he was doing to her. His older cousin had always told him to spell the alphabet on the clit, and you could never go wrong. He never went in order, but he would do it with the tip of his tongue, switching it with gently sucking on her clit. He felt her thighs tense up around his head, and if she squeezed he would repeat it. She was so wet. He loved tasting her like this. She tasted like summer and warmth. Whatever body washed she used accented her natural body smell, and it was some glorious combination that made his head spin. He kept licking and sucking and Ariel began to moan loudly.

"Otis. I'm going to -aaaah- cum..."

Otis stopped and looked up at her, his face glistening with her juices.

"That's a good thing baby girl."

Ariel lifted herself up and moved back down his body, gripping him in her hand.

"I want to make you cum too."

Otis almost did when she first engulfed him inside her. He managed to hold it inside, but only barely. It was like the hottest furnace he had ever felt, and the tightest of vices. He felt like he was engulfed in the core of the Earth, where it was nothing but heat and pressure. He had never felt anything like this in his entire life. He hadn't had a lot of sex, but nothing had ever compared to this feeling. The only thing close to it was the feeling of freedom he got from riding. Groaning, he grabbed her hips as she slid down fully and stopped for a moment.

Ariel closed her eyes and almost dug her nails into his chest. He filled her up, and it felt so good. When she had first seen it all the way hard, she had thought it would hurt like hell and feel like it was splitting her in half. Instead, it felt like he filled her all the way up, and it made her ache with how good it felt. The first time she lifted up a little bit, the feeling of not being full almost made her drop immediately back down. Instead, she slowly went up, until all that was left was his head inside her. Then she slowly slid back down onto him, letting herself feel that feeling of being full again. She started to move up and down on his shaft a little faster, rolling her hips. It felt so good.

Otis let Ariel set the pace. He knew it was her first time with a man, even though she had a broken her hymen when she was younger. He didn't want to hurry anything. It felt so good, that if she picked up the pace, he would probably explode inside her anyways. Until he could control himself, slow and steady would be just fine. He could enjoy the velvety slickness of her better and longer that way. She gripped him so tightly it was almost a pain. It was an exquisite pleasure, and it drew the line. Every time she slid down on him, she would dig her nails into his chest. It didn't take away from the pleasure; it grounded him from getting lost inside her and sent a thrill through him with every scratch.

They kept going. They lost all track of time, and completely lost themselves in each other's bodies. Every good thing must end, and at least this would end in pleasure. Ariel finally felt comfortable enough to pick up a face paced speed, and Otis felt his control start to slip when she did. She leaned down and kissed him, and Otis kissed her back hard, panting with desire and from the toll that the pleasure was taking on him. Otis grabbed her hips and began to thrust into her, taking control for the first time. He held Ariel in the air, thrusting inside her hard and fast, the only sounds in the room their moans and gasps and the sound of their bodies hitting each other. When it happened, Ariel screamed as the dam inside of her broke. Wave after wave of pleasure racked through her body, and she felt like she was being dropped onto the sun. Warmth and heat and fire and pleasure radiated from her pussy and swept her body up in wave after wave of pleasure. She felt her inner walls clamp down with the force of it, so tight she would have sworn she could feel every single bit of Otis inside her.

When she came, Otis felt the impossible tightness of her grip him even tighter and he rolled his hips, reaching a new height as his world came crashing down around him. It was like being lifted in the ocean and tossed about on waves he couldn't control. The ultimate freedom of slipping this world beneath you and flying high on just how it felt alone, never to come crashing down. He tried to say something, to move, to pull out, but he was so wrapped up in pleasure that he probably couldn't have moved his toes at that point. Otis screamed out her name as he came deep inside her, arching his hips straight up, almost bending double as he did.

Ariel collapsed on top of him, panting and smiling. Otis looked a little worried, and she felt horrible.

"Was I that bad baby?"

Otis shook his head. "God no baby. You were fantastic. But I came in you. You could get pregnant."

Ariel shook her head.

"I've been on birth control since we started dating. I didn't know when this moment would pop up."

Otis laughed. "You are entirely too smart for your own good."

- _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _

It had been three months since they had sex for the first time. They had survived Christmas and the New Year together, and hadn't had a serious fight yet. They had a few arguments, but they always made up. Otis still hadn't heard from JB, and no one knew where to find him. Deacon had started seeing someone to help him, but he still hadn't made it official with Nikki.

Ariel pulled up outside the apartment and carried her last box up the stairs. Her parents were fine with her moving in; she just had to stay one night a week with them. She was perfectly fine with that. When she walked in, Otis was sitting at the kitchen table filling something out.

"Whatcha doing babe?"

"Filling out an application for the fire department."

Ariel stopped. "What?"

"I think it's time to carry on with what my dad would have wanted me to do."

Ariel placed the box down. "Baby, I think we need to talk."

Otis looked up. "About?"

Ariel sat down and looked at him. She slowly told the story of what had happened the night his father had passed away, and what his father had lost his life over. She watched his face, and then looked down when she finished the story. He probably hates me or blames me for what happened with his dad.... She thought.

When she looked up, he was gone. Ariel started crying, and then heard Otis walk back into the room. He sat down with a photo binder in his hands and turned to a page and showed it to her. It was from an anniversary article talking about his father, and it showed some high school picture of Ariel, and described the person his father had saved as happy and enjoying the life she received when his father lost his.

"I've know for a while. The first time I came home after we watched that movie. I was just waiting for you to tell me. What took so long?"

Ariel looked at him and tried to wipe away her tears.

"I thought you would hate me or blame me for it."

Otis stood and knelt at her side and hugged her.

"No baby. I love you. I would never hate you. My dad knew what he was doing even back then."

Ariel kissed him and he wiped away her tears.

"So can I join the fire department?"

She smiled. "Yes baby. Yes you can."

- _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _ - _

JB shook and cursed his fate as he lay beside a dumpster, curled in the fetal position. He had sworn on everything he would never find himself like this again. Ever. Now, here he sat one dirty needle away from HIV or death. Maybe it would be better. He couldn't stop shaking, and his teeth were chattering so much that they might as well break soon. The sky was even showing its disapproval. It had been raining for several hours, and didn't look like it was going to let up. He had nowhere to go. He had left home, partially to get away from his PO, and to get away from Otis. Otis would see the tracks in his arm and beat him half to death in a heartbeat.

JB tried to stand, but he was too weak. He sat in that same spot, he didn't know how long. He threw up everything in his stomach, and by the fifth time, he didn't even move his head anymore. He sat there with his vomit in his lap, down on the ground in the garbage and rain runoff, crying. There wasn't anything he could do. He couldn't stop himself; He would always just want one more hit, one more snort, and one more pill. Always. He was worthless, and it would be better for everyone if he died in this shit hole beside a dumpster. He hoped when they found him they wouldn't even identify him. He hadn't seen his father in 3 years, and his mother had been gone longer than that. All the family he had were a son that would be ashamed of who he was once he was old enough to understand, and Otis, who would be ashamed of him now. His friend could lie, but how could he ever be trusted. He would always be a junkie. Always someone to be looked at with pity and used as a warning for everyone.

JB finally managed to courage to stand up. He would die, but he would do it on his own terms. There was a bridge right down the road. He could float away on that rivers current and maybe find some peace somewhere. Maybe find absolution in whatever new hell awaited him for killing himself. He looked out from the railing, laughing and crying at the same time. Every kid wanted to grow up to be something. Few rarely wanted to grow up to be a junkie. His dad had told him his mother was a worthless pill head. Just like him. Maybe it was fated, he didn't know. But that cycle would end tonight. He closed his eyes and prepared to fall forward into oblivion...

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Ashland tightened her shoe strings and began to bitch a mile a minute. She had become wrapped up in her work at the rescue, and the rain hadn't stopped. Now she and Brutus would have to run to the house in the rain. The giant freakazoid dog would surely love that, but she hated having to clean him up all the time. He knew it too. She sighed as she clipped the lead onto him and the bulldog started straining to the door. He was a big dog; easily able to put his paws on a six foot mans shoulders and weighing in at probably one hundred and ninety pounds. She still didn't understand what had possessed her to get such a large animal. Maybe it was the look of loneliness in his eyes when he had come into her shelter. He was big and scary looking, but he was also the world's biggest sweetheart. And chicken... she thought as she remembered what her cat had done to him his first week at her home. The dog ran from everything but thunder.

Before she locked up, she looked around with pride. Her clinic was one of the best in the state, and one of the only ones that accepted 'dangerous' breed dogs. Soon, her business with just those had almost pushed all her other practice out the door. People loved their animals, and if only one vet would see them, they went to that vet. People also dropped their animals off her, and she helped place them through rescues and programs. Ashland sighed and locked up, throwing her jacket hood over her head as she stood under the awning and prepared to run through the rain.

Before she had a chance, Brutus looked towards the bridge. The way he held himself was weird. She wouldn't describe it as tense, more like he was trying to pay close attention to something. Then he took off, almost jerking her arm from its socket as she desperately tried to keep up with him or get him to stop. He didn't pay her a lick of attention, just kept going. As they got closer to the bridge, she spotted what he had seen. Someone looked like they were going to jump from the bridge! Brutus finally succeeded in jerking the leash from her hand, and he jumped like his life depended on it. She couldn't tell what he grabbed the man by, maybe a shirt or a jacket, but her dog yanked him back over the railing, and the man started screaming in what she could only guess was fear. She ran the rest of the way to them, and took in the man.

He was skinny, almost malnourished looking. He wasn't wearing any shoes or socks, and his feet were black and blue from bruises and the ground. He looked and smelled like a dumpster, and like he had thrown up on himself. She grabbed Brutus by the collar and pulled out her cell phone to call the cops or the EMS.

The man on the ground opened his eyes.

"Mom... please.... help me. Please... kill... me."

Then he shut his eyes and passed out. From shock or excitement, maybe he hadn't slept. She didn't know which. But she had a good feeling that he was in trouble. And she had a knack for fixing broken things.

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JB didn't know what had grabbed him, and he didn't know who the woman was staring down at him. Maybe Death had grabbed him. Maybe this was his Mom, and Death had grabbed her to. He asked her to only thing he had wanted for a long time. For someone to help him. Someone to kill him. He was ready to rest his head on stone pillows beneath the dark earth. He was a prisoner, and he wanted to be free...