18 comments/ 18408 views/ 51 favorites Rod's Quest Ch. 01 By: GrandTeton This is a story about renewal. That means there is a dark pit for our heroes to climb out of. If you are looking for sweetness and light, try the later chapters. I don't know that it happened this way; I don't know that it didn't, either. First posted March 2014. ***** Day 34 "Damn Damn Damn . . . Damn." The last word louder and more agonized as June ran to her brother's room. His nightmare continued to grip him as he fell into tears. June, free of her nightmare tonight, slipped into his bed and hugged him tightly. "It's all right, Rod, I'm here, I'm OK, it's all right." Her big brother awakened as his sister's silky smooth skin slid over his. "No, I was too late, I was too late, I failed . . . " "You did what you could, Rod - it wasn't your fault, not yours. Without you I'd be dead now. And Amy, too." And that was true. ********** Day 0-June June and her inseparable friend Amy had been cutting through the woods behind the dorm to meet Rod at the parking lot. They'd had plans for the evening. The two girls frequently went out with Rod. They'd all known each other since Amy and June were two - seventeen years ago that was. It was a typical April evening. The sun stayed up later but there was a nip in the air still. Tree branches seemed to look forward to getting their leaves back. The grass was starting to get greener. The woods was a stretch of trees and bushes a couple of hundred yards wide, kept undeveloped partly for landscaping reasons, partly as a reserve for future development. The university planners hadn't decided whether they would use the land for classrooms or dormitories. About half way through, June and Amy were attacked by five men intent on rape and perhaps robbery and murder. They'd had knives. They'd grabbed tiny Amy and thrown her down. She screamed. June had kicked the foremost with a soccer toned foot where it would do the most good - regretting she'd taken off her cleats. He, at least, was out of the fray for good. Three others, though, grappled with her and threw her down, ripping off her T-shirt and bra in the process. "Too snooty for the likes of us." one muttered. "We'll see about that." As two of the men held her arms, the third yanked her shorts and underwear down her long legs despite her kicking. He brandished a knife. "Hate to mess up that creamy skin," he threatened. For a moment June froze. He dropped his pants and freed his erect member. She started kicking again. He sliced the skin of her flat belly. "Hey, save some of that for us!" one of the others yelled. "Later, bitch," the first man said and forced his prick hard into her unready, dry vagina. She screamed at the pain of it. She wasn't a virgin - hadn't been since six months after her eighteenth birthday, and that had been a year and a half ago. But she wasn't into pain, either. Her past encounters had at least been loving even if most had been unsatisfactory. This felt like someone had thrust a red hot poker into her guts. She screamed, too. She feared as much for Amy and what was happening to her. Amy was still screaming in fear and pain. Her attacker thrust in and out, causing terrible pain each time. Slowly the pain diminished as he became more lubricated - by her blood, not her vaginal juices. She heard Amy screaming continuously, fading a bit. Whether the screams were from pain or fear or both or why they faded she didn't know. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice - "Damn Damn Damn . . . Damn". She saw one body, not one of her attackers, go flying and lie still. The next moment the man who was raping her went flying off her, his prick dripping her blood, his knife gouging the strong arm that had smashed him in the throat. The other two, with the odds in their favour vastly reduced, started to rise. She managed to grab one and hurl him into a tree. He broke her grip and tried to run. The other just ran. Thank heaven that was where June's nightmares usually ended. Her saviour dropped to his knees and hugged her tight. "June, I'm so sorry, so sorry . . . I let you down." "No, brother", she told Rod. "Roddie, you saved us. They were going to kill us." June was on the edge of hysteria herself by then. She shuddered and shook, her naked body grasped tightly by her brother, her breasts mashed against his chest. She realized there was no other sound. "Rod, where's AMY?" June shrieked. Amy's screams had accompanied her own horror, but were now gone. In a moment they found Amy's bloodied naked body. Her attacker lay next a tree, unmoving, his head at an odd angle. Amy was unmoving, too, her thighs oozing blood. June found her unresponsive. At least she was breathing. Rod had saved her life, too. For a long while Amy was not so sure that had been a good thing. "Rod, call the cops. Get Amy an ambulance. She could die of what those bastards did." June's directions were screamed in his ear. Having someone to look out for seemed to be keeping her from collapsing herself, but just barely. Rod grabbed his phone and called 911, asking for every kind of help they had. First on site were the campus cops. They covered June and Amy with T-shirts and blankets, being careful not to move Amy in case there had been broken bones. She was so badly bruised it was impossible to tell until the paramedics came. Then more paramedics, the police, and soon they were at the hospital. June saw her mother, knew she was safe, and collapsed. ********** Day 36 "Get him off, get him off, get him off." The screams echoed down the hallway from June's room. Then true agony: "Where's Amy? Did they kill Amy?" Rod raced in to seize and hold his sister as she fought her unseen assailants. He caught her thrashing arms, held her struggling body, calmed her hysteria. "It's OK, it's OK, Roddie's here," he murmured into her ear. He massaged her naked legs, working out the knots that the nightmare had driven into the taut flesh. His hand lingered but a moment over the delicious curves of her ass. He stroked her firm back, feeling the muscles relax in response. He continued to touch her, bringing her recovery through contact. Her body remembered his. Her skin was so smooth, her muscles so hard, her breasts so delectable. But she was in pain and needed his comfort, not his lust. He stroked her sleek, strong legs, seeking to revive her physical memories while her mind was still far away. The warmth and concern and simple physical presence emanating from Rod once more settled June into sleep and the siblings drifted off to sleep, curled tightly together. ********** Day 0 - Rod Rod was dawdling near the edge of the parking lot in a nondescript sort of way, if a six-footer built the way he was can actually ever be nondescript. He was waiting for his sister June and her friend Amy. Even though June was about twenty months younger than he was they hung out together simply because they enjoyed each other's company. They had a lot of shared tastes. They were each other's best friends. Both played soccer. They weren't the top stars, but they weren't forgettable, either. June was built for speed - long legs and a trim body - and was a top striker. Rod was a mid fielder. He wasn't quite as fast but could go all day. Amy was a cute little thing who had been a gymnast in high school. Now that they were at university the standard was a little too high for her. She was strong but too small, even for a gymnast, to have the upper body strength she needed for intercollegiate competition. Amy and June were the same age and shared a birthday. They had been friends for ages. Rod could barely remember a time when Amy hadn't been around. He looked on her as a younger sister, too, and a very good friend. Amy didn't go out much with boys. Rod would take her to the odd dance - he'd gone home for the weekend, taking time off work at his summer job even though he needed the hours, just to make sure Amy had a date for the prom in her last year of high school. He'd done it again for the graduation dance. Mostly the three of them would go out together, but Rod and Amy had even gone out a time or two without June, here at university. The girls were, unusually, a little late tonight. They were comfortable enough together they didn't need to play dominance games like who could make who wait. Rod wandered over towards the paved road in case they'd chosen to come that way. He was almost out to the main road when he heard a scream from the woods. He was almost certain it was Amy. He started to run back towards the woods. Another scream, June this time, "Roddie, Roddie, help," almost strangled at the end. "Damn Damn Damn . . . Damn." Rod ran as fast as he ever had. Anyone who thought him slow would have been cured by that race. He saw a small bundle on the ground, a man just rising, his prick dripping blood and semen after raping or killing Amy, his baby sister. Rod took off and the deep kick ended at the man's throat - Rod had played as if the ball was three inches farther back. The body just flew. There was no movement. Amy was unmoving, silent. That was where Rod usually woke up in his nightmare. Just to his left he saw another man trying to rape his sister June - and succeeding - at least until Rod smashed his face with a solid forearm. The man had had a knife. Rod hadn't noticed the knife until long after. Then he found he'd been cut to the bone. There were two others holding June. They took off when they saw Rod's smash. One fell heavily into a tree - June was down but she wasn't out yet. Later they found yet one more hugging himself - June's first victim. Rod seized June, hugged her tight, perhaps half suffocating her. He never noticed she was nude, just that she'd been hurt. Was hurt bad. "Rod, call the cops, call an ambulance. What's happened to Amy?" Trust June to be looking out for someone else, he thought. She could be half dead and she'd be thinking of someone else. Come to think of it, she was half dead. How had he messed up so badly. If only . . . Rod called 911. "We've had an attack." He gave the location. "Get campus security. Get the cops. Get us an ambulance. Fast. Someone could be dying." "Rod, it's Amy. Get over here." June stood hesitantly over Amy's body. "She's still breathing, no thanks to them." "Don't move her, keep her warm." Rod warned. The first of the campus security types seemed to be not too far away. "Look after her," he called, "I'm all right." "What about him?" they asked, pointing at the moaning attacker. "Don't know, don't care. Take care of the girls." A moment or two more and two paramedics arrived. One took a look around and immediately called for back up - at least two more vehicles, maybe more. "And tell the cops to bring the meat wagon," he ended. The other had a quick look at Amy. June was still wrapped around Rod. One or both were bleeding copiously. "Get the board and some shirts and blankets," she ordered her partner. "And tell the cops we've got two live ones and a body." "Done that," he replied, and ran back to their vehicle. The police arrived next - good response time for all, Rod thought disjointedly. A sergeant directed two constables to take over security on the live ones. "There's two more," June chattered through her shivering. Right now she was more stable than Rod. "We got one, hammered into a tree it seems and pretty woozy. Don't have the last one, but we will," the sergeant told her grimly. A third constable started taking their statement. "Shit, Sarge - these are cop's kids. A chief down south." "Get him up here." "Her, Sarge." "Oh shit, that one. Do it, now." Rod didn't hear what happened next, but there were sure a lot of yessirs flying around. He was vaguely aware that the first paramedic team had eased Amy onto the board and toted her into the ambulance. It took off, siren screaming, for the hospital. Strange, he hadn't noticed the sirens before. Another paramedic moved up. "Look, sir, let go of the woman. She's safe now. We have to get her warm and to the hospital." Rod continued to hold June tightly. "You're hurt, sir. We have to stop that bleeding. Your arm is really chopped, sir." June pushed away. "Fix him," she growled. "Roddie, go with them. I'll deal with the rest of this until Mom comes." "Ma'am, please come too, We can take both of you to the hospital in the one vehicle. Just get in and lie down as soon as we fix up this arm. That knife went halfway to China in there." As Rod and June stumbled to the ambulance they noticed the arrival of the EMT supervisor. June never knew what happened next. Rod found out a couple of months later. ********** Day 0 - the EMT supervisor First the EMT supervisor checked the attacker June had kicked so effectively, who was still moaning and hugging himself. "This hurt?" he asked as he grabbed the young man's testicles. "Shit, yes!" the man screamed. "Good. No nerve damage. I think she's ruptured you, my son, and a good thing, too." The sergeant nodded in agreement. "This one's a deader." The constable pointed to the body of Amy's attacker. He wasn't going anywhere, ever again. "Looks like he broke his neck on the tree when the young lady threw him off," the supervisor noted. "Excuse me," the constable started, "that young man kicked him in the throat. You can see the larynx is crushed. That little thing couldn't have done that, not even break the skin." "Amazing what can happen to someone facing evil. Hysterical strength, they call it." "The boy's a hero. You can't take that away from him." "I don't intend to. But Judge Prendergast has peculiar ideas about what constitutes reasonable force. We aren't going to put that boy through that. He's a hero and we are not going to make him pay for being a hero. Accidental death in the commission of a crime, I'd say." "Right," the sergeant growled, and looked meaningfully at the constable. "Of course," the constable relented, "should have seen that for myself." ********** Day 0 - the hospital Rod and June were at least ambulatory wounded as the paramedics offloaded them from the ambulance at the hospital and ushered them into the emergency receiving room. "Mom!" they both exclaimed as they saw their mother waiting for them, in full uniform. "It's OK, kids," their mother reassured them. "You're checked in. Let's go see the doctors and then you can tell me what's going on. It's all under control for now. Later, someone's going to pay big time. Later . . . ." With that reassurance, that someone else would look after Rod, and she no longer had to hold on, June fainted dead away. *********** Day 40 "Get him off, get him off, get him off." The screams echoed down the hallway from June's room. Rod raced in to seize and hold his sister as she fought her covers. "It's OK, it's OK, Roddie's here," he murmured into her ear, kissing lightly and urgently along the line of her jaw. He started to massage her arms and her back, suddenly realizing both he and his sister were stark naked. He knew he slept raw but always thought June wore a nightshirt. What the hell, he thought. June needs me. He continued to touch her, bringing her recovery through contact. He rubbed her breasts, noting with interest and pleasure how her nipples rose to the occasion. Her skin was so smooth, her muscles so hard, her mind so fragile. He stroked her sleek, strong legs lightly, cupping the curves of her firm and delectable bottom. The warmth and concern emanating from Rod once more settled June into sleep and the siblings drifted off into slumber, curled tightly together. Neither noticed their mother smile wryly at June's door. "Naked as the day they were born. Don't know how I'm gonna handle this," she muttered to herself. "But for now, whatever works." ********** Day 0 - at the hospital After June collapsed at the hospital the staff had diagnosed delayed shock and maybe blood loss. No one had sorted out how much blood was Rod's and how much June's. They carted her off for treatment, leaving a couple of orderlies to make sure neither Rod nor their mother followed. "She'll be all right," an intern lied soothingly. A doctor saw to Rod's cut, irrigated the wound, stitched it up and prescribed tranquilizers and antibiotics. "Take vitamins with those," he warned. "Antibiotics leach vitamins out of your system as part of the cure. You were a damn fool, you know. That knife was sharp and he knew how to use it. And if you say you only did what a man had to do I'll kick your ass. Dead heroes," he muttered. Rod didn't answer. He'd never thought about the guy's knife. He didn't remember that he'd even seen it. Later they'd tracked Amy down, still unconscious from shock and blood loss but finally stable. "For now," the charge nurse told them. "I've seen all too many just will themselves to die when they realize what's happened. We try, but she's going to need a lot of support. She's not going to want it from you, young man - or any man, not for a good long while. Get her parents up here - " "They're on the way," Rod's mother interrupted. "- and I'll let you know when you can see her. The doctor's very worried about this one." They tried to follow June's stretcher and were shooed out by another nurse, perhaps the first person in the hospital who hadn't looked nervously at Rod's uniformed mother absently shifting the regulation five-cell flashlight from hand to hand. "This one'll be all right, eventually. She's just exhausted. Later on, she'll seem strong and be fragile. Pay attention to that. "You two are almost as bad as she is. Go, get some sleep, we don't have any more rooms if you collapse on us. Come back in the morning - late morning. She might be awake by then." They tried to get out as prescribed. Before they could do so they met Amy's parents hurtling through the emergency receiving doors. Amy's mother, distraught, screamed. "Rod, how could you let this happen! It's so demeaning. We trusted you, counted on you . . . " "Shut the fuck up, Livia," Rod's mother ordered. "The boy's almost out on his feet. He saved their lives, Livia. From what I hear if it weren't for him they'd be dead now. Leave him the hell alone. He doesn't need this shit." A mother bear would be less fierce in defence of her young. "You can't talk to me like that, Joan." "Watch me." His mother wrestled Rod out the door. Amy's step-father just stood there, his mouth hanging open. Amy's mother was aghast. "Stupid bitch cares more about what people will say than she does about her daughter," Joan commented. "Get in the car, Rod." Rod and his mother got into the cruiser, emergency lights still flashing. The sergeant who'd been at the university had hung around - one of the constables had been keeping an eye on the vehicle. "Sorry about all this ma'am. We picked up the last of them a couple of hours ago, wandering around screaming to himself. I'd guess your son scared the piss out of him. We'll need identifications from your kids, later, sorry." "We're not going anywhere until June gets out, sergeant. Rod, give him your cell and landline." She passed over her card . "Not that you need that, sergeant. After they feel she can go we'll check in, and you know where we'll be after that." "Fine, ma'am. Thank you. Maybe this time we can get them to implement proper security, but ... Anyway, I'm real sorry for your family." He saluted and left. "OK, Rico," they heard. "Let's go. Time enough to check out the perps in the morning." Now they were both in the patrol car. Rod's mother started up, driving the two of them over to Rod's dorm. "Gee, Mom," he tried. Something, anything, that wasn't about the assault, or whether June would survive, or whether Amy would survive, or how slow he'd been when they needed him. "How'd you get here so fast? It's at least a two-hour drive anytime I've done it. Not that I don't really really appreciate you being here for us." Rod's Quest Ch. 01 "I was in Beldun" - a small community a few miles north of home - "when the call came in. You use the lights and the siren and put the pedal to the metal and this baby'll fly. I wasn't holding anything back. You're my kids for Pete's sake." By this time they were at the dorm. "Uh Mom, you're not allowed to park there. They towed Al's car last week." "Let them try. Know how many years stealing a patrol car gets you?" Mom must have been pissed. She never traded on her privileges as a police officer. "Uh Mom, I only have one bed." "Think I've never slept on a floor, Roddie?" "Mom, at least let me be the one to sleep on the floor." "I'm not the one who took the knife, Roddie. I'll take the floor." Just as she turned out the light, him in bed on the verge of collapse, she in a blanket on the floor, "Roddie - you know I'm damned proud of you, don't you?" ********** Day 43 "Damn Damn Damn . . . Damn." June ran to her brother's room again. His nightmare continued. He began to cry. June slipped into his bed and hugged him tightly. "It's all right, Rod, I'm here, I'm OK, we're both OK. It's all right." Her big brother awakened as his sister's silky smooth skin slid over his. He grasped her firmly and clutched her to him. His hands clenched over her firm bum. He drew her into his flaccid member. "No, I failed . . . " "You did everything you could, Rod. Let's sleep, to be strong." Being strong for each other was even more important, now. ********** Day 1 Rod woke later than usual to the sound of half a telephone conversation in his room - who else was in his room? How'd they get in? Oh, it was Mom - and the memories of the awful evening before washed over him. "Hi, Charlie. Charlie, look, you've got to get over here."..."I tried calling three times last night."..."Right now, Charlie."... "The kids have been hurt, Charlie. They need both of us." "What?" Rod could hear that well enough from where he lay. Who was this Charlie, though? The only one he'd ever heard of was his Dad. Why would Mom be calling Dad? Didn't they hate each other? They'd been split since he was four. "Charlie, they're hurt bad. Real bad."..."It will have to wait Charlie. This is more important than anything."..."The hospital in Midland. Yeah, there's an airport here."... "Oh and Charlie, bring Behan."..."Yeah, it might be that bad."..."No, I don't know whether before or after."..."There's a man dead, Charlie."..."Yeah, that bad."... "OK. Let me know. This number."..."Five minutes, OK. Bye. Love you." "Who was that, Mom? Was it Dad?" "Yes, of course it was, Rod. He had to be told, has to be here for you, too. He wants to be." "He's never been here for us before," Rod muttered. "Why'd you say you loved him?" "Yes, he has, young man. Who do you think pays your tuitions? Who has been here for every graduation for you or your sister? Who has been here for every birthday? Who has called every first Sunday, without fail, without missing even once, for the past sixteen years? And yes, I love him. We can't stand to live together, but we still love each other." How could that be? Rod wondered. Didn't people who loved each other want to be together all the time? "Where is Dad, anyway?" "I don't know. Somewhere four hours flying time away. Draw a circle on a map and see where it falls. Couple thousand miles anyway, I'd guess." Precisely five minutes later the phone rang. "Three o'clock?" ... "We'll be there." ... "Charlie, we'll be there." ... "See you at three. Love you." "Doesn't he believe I want to pick him up? Sure he could get a cab. What else are we going to be doing anyway?" Joan asked rhetorically of the room. The room, Rod actually, answered. "Maybe he doesn't want to see us." "No, he's just being stupidly polite, as usual. One of the reasons we can't stand to live with each other." "Mom, who's Behan? You told Dad to bring Behan." "Hmm? Oh, Behan's an associate of your father's. A fixer, you could say. I think we're gonna need a fixer by the time we're done. That or you or I, probably both of us, are going to end up in jail. Let's eat and go roust out your sister." ********** Back at the hospital Rod and his mother stopped at the nurses' station for an update on June. "I'll let you talk to the doctor. Oh Doctor Kintail, this is the young lady's mother and brother." "Mrs. Ransom, young man, June's body is going to get over this. She'll have a scar where he knifed her, but it was a shallow cut. I only wish there were some way to eliminate that reminder of this experience for her, but it's not going to go away. "I worry about her mind. I worry about the mental state of every girl I have to deal with as a victim of this crime. I worry about the state of my immortal soul when I consider what I want to have done to the perpetrators. Or do myself if the opportunity arises. But I don't worry very much. . . . "Sorry, what we all have to cope with is providing support. Letting her talk if she wants. Not asking or making her talk. Being there. Strong silent types, I guess. Absolutely no guilt trips. But no men. We've had to make sure all the doctors and nurses were female. Never knew anyone could scream so loud. Poor Doctor Benjamin may never recover. I don't mean family men - she's looking for you, son. But it's going to be a long and rocky road. No telling how long. What are your plans?" "As soon as June can be released - " "Tomorrow. It could be today but I need more observation to advise you more precisely, to see whether drug therapy can help or should be avoided. Right now I'd say no drugs. Sorry, I interrupted." "We needed to know. When June is released I plan to take both of them home. After a shock like this they should be in familiar surroundings. To coin a phrase, they should be in the bosoms of their family. And they should be together." "I couldn't agree more. There's a little more support here - rape counselling, for example - but nothing's as effective as family. "Son, your mother knows what's going down here, but you don't. There's never a worse violation of a person than forced sexual intercourse - rape. It clobbers the mind as well as the body. Too many women think somehow they were to blame. They weren't. They can't be. You make damned sure your sister knows that and believes it. If you can't do that stay away from her. And some poor damned souls believe they deserved it. No one ever could. No one is that lost. No one is that guilty. I'll dig out whatever resources exist near your place and let you know soonest. Call me if you have questions or worries, any time. I don't want to lose another one. Some of them you can't save no matter how hard you try. Thank heaven June isn't one of those. But it'll be damned hard work. "Another thing, son - you blame yourself. You know it's stupid. Those animals did it. You didn't. You think there must have been something you could have done to prevent it. I'm telling you now there was not one thing you could have done. Not one. You won't believe me, or anyone else. Get over it. Hide it. You can't help your sister moaning over your own inadequacies. Especially since they don't exist. "Your sister thinks you were a hero. You probably were. You probably saved their lives. Be that hero for your sister. Be strong. Be caring and affectionate and strong. She has to have that. You have to be that. Do it, son. Call me if you need help. Nobody does this alone." "What about Amy?" Rod asked. June would want to know. He wanted to know. "I shouldn't discuss her with you, but you have a right to know. That's one I'm less sure of. She scares me. I don't know whether we can pull her through. She was badly hurt, physically as well as mentally, worse than we thought. We can get her through that if she wants to. I don't think she wants to." "Look, ma'am," to Rod's mother. "It's not fair to ask, you've got troubles enough with your own family, but you're who I've got. Is there some way you can keep her asshole parents away? First time they saw her, torn up and still bleeding, that idiot woman starts going on about how Amy is defiled, spoiled - asking how she could have done that to her mother. Telling her she might as well be dead. I wasn't there but the orderly had to leave or he'd have decked her. Me, I wouldn't have gone out of the room, but I'd be answering to the Medical Board today I'm sure. That idiot husband of hers just stands and grins. "Amy was unconscious for that, but I'm none too sure she didn't hear. The unconscious does strange things. "She needs even more strength than June, and she's not going to get that at home. "Sorry, I'm preaching now. Maybe there's nothing you can do. Maybe she's the one I'm going to lose. Shit!" "No," Rod exclaimed. "If I can be there for June, I can be there for Amy." "We needed to know," Rod's mother said. "Amy's always been part of our family. We'll do what we can. Amy's of age. Too bad you can't take older children into care. Sometimes they need it more. "What we'll do, you tell us when Amy can come home. We'll pick her up. She can stay with us at least a few days. Rod will be there. June will be there. Maybe Charlie, too. It'll be a start." "That will help, yes. I'm sorry, I take these poor girls too much to heart, sometimes. Please do what you can for Amy. Now you'd better pay attention to June - she's looking forward to seeing her brother. I don't think she remembers her mother's here, too." June was awake when they went in, pale, bruised, almost ethereal. Rod thought he'd never seen anyone as beautiful in his life. June and her mother embraced. "Thanks, Mom," she whispered. Rod leaned over to give a peck on her cheek and found himself seized by arms that would have left him breathless if there had been any strength behind the intent. His peck on the cheek was moved into a full kiss on the lips - soft, loving lips - that went on and on. They had to break for air. "Thank you, Rod," June whispered. "I love you." Rod nearly melted. "Love you, too." "We're going to see Amy for a few minutes," Mom said. "We'll be back shortly. Then we have to pick your father up." "Dad's coming?" "Breathing fire. He'd have been here by now if we had connected last night. About 4:30 we should be ushering him in the door." "Great." Amy was pretty groggy. The IV was stuck in her arm and the arm was tied to the bedframe, which made a hug pretty difficult. Rod's Mom made a pretty good effort nevertheless. "Thanks." They could barely hear her. Rod got away with a little peck - Amy had started to pull back until she recognized him. "Love you." He wasn't even sure she'd said that. "Love you, too, pumpkin." Amy was exhausted already. As she lay back and closed her eyes they both eased out of the room. A quick duck back to see June, and they were on the way to the airport. "Wish I had something else but this uniform," Joan muttered. "Getting a bit whiff if I do say so." "You're fine, Mom." At the baggage claim, the passengers from the most recent arrival had deplaned and were beginning to straggle down the stairs to leave the secure area and pick up their bags. A few people were there with Rod and his mother to greet family arriving. Most of the mid-day travel seemed to be for business, or maybe frequent flyers whose absence from home was no longer remarkable. Rod noted at least one professor. Of particular note was a fit handsome forty-something man a little above middle height in a navy blazer and impeccable grey flannels, followed closely by a shorter, squarer man dressed identically. It was Dad and his associate. Once the pair had swung through the security gate his mother threw herself at him. "Thank you, Charlie. You're a sight for sore eyes." "Being picked up by the cops this soon after my arrival is not going to do my reputation any good, beautiful." He swung her off the ground and kissed her soundly. Rod thought he heard his mother squeal. It couldn't have been. "How's June?" "Not real good, holding on. She's looking forward to seeing you." "And this is our knight in shining armour. Seriously, Rod, I want to thank you for saving one of the three most precious people in the world to me. Good to see you Rod - not under these circumstances, though. You're looking good. Probably don't feel as good as you look. Neither do I. "Joan, you remember Behan, of course. Rod, this is my associate, Mark Behan. Anything you need, anything at all, if I'm not around Behan will take care of you. Remember that. "Behan, this is my son Rod. He's a pearl. He's got call for anything, anything at all." "I am very pleased to meet you, Master Rod," the man introduced as Mark Behan said. "As your father said, if there is anything at all I can do for you, please call on me. It will be a pleasure to help." Rod muttered a pleasantry in reply. The two shook hands, a firm, unchallenging grip of alliance. "And you, Joanie, if you were to grow even more beautiful we would all be star struck and you could not get work out of any of us. Speaking of which, let us gather the luggage. These are dire times, and we have to talk." Soon all four of them had entered the patrol car, still parked safely in a no parking tow-away zone, and started back into the city. As they drove Joan explained as much as she knew of what had happened. Rod's Dad explored a few more details with Rod. Mark Behan bored in on one or two aspects, mostly the identities of the attackers, and in a most polite and respectful way pried more out of Rod than he'd realized he knew. "We'll drop by to see the girls for a bit before we take you to the hotel," Joan advised. "I promised June I would, and I think Amy would love to see you, Charlie. I don't know about Behan - sorry, Behan - but both girls are, naturally enough, very man shy at present." "I think we should make an effort with Behan, Joan. He is usually extremely presentable and can always leave if he is upsetting them. If I were to guess, knowing someone as solid as Behan is looking out for them cannot help but be reassuring." Soon they were back in the hospital. "Everything stable," the nurse on duty reported. "June's been asking for her visitors every five minutes - here's the call again," she laughed. "Tell her we'll be right down." "Daddy," a weak voice called as Charlie turned into June's room. "Hello, precious. Here I am all the way from Bali Hai, just for you." "Don't be foolish, you can't get here from Bali Hai in four hours, and Mom said that was all there was. Besides, you are here for Mom and Rod and Amy, too, I hope." "Well I would have come all the way from Bali Hai if I had had to. And I am here just for you and just for all of the foregoing, as well. I am a divisible exclusive entity." Gesturing to Behan, Charlie went on. "June. We've talked about Behan in the past, and here is the impeccable, incorrigible and incredibly competent man in person." June started to flinch, but it was only seen as a signal, one immediately overridden before it became a movement. Somehow Behan conveyed to her a sense of absolute security. He was a scary guy, Rod thought, but he was their scary guy. "I am very pleased to meet you in person, Miss June, though not in these circumstances," Behan said, reflecting Charlie's greeting to Rod. "Your father has often mentioned you and your latest achievements. Unfortunately he only said you were beautiful, perhaps as all daughters are beautiful, but stunning is a much more accurate word. Please be assured that steps will be taken to prevent a recurrence. Also, I beg you to ask favours of me. There is nothing I would enjoy more than to be of service to such a beautiful damsel, even though she is a touch bruised." June softened noticeably. He lifted her pale hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips gently. Damn, Rod thought, amazed more than jealous, I think I might marry him myself. "Behan is correct, my dear," Charlie told June. "Although I could never express myself in such flowery terms without laughing myself silly, it is true that if there is anything at all that either of us can do for you, you have only to ask. We did not tell Rod, because he is not a fair damsel in distress, but please remember there is very little we cannot do. Very little indeed. "It is possible I will have to return to my duties sooner than I wish. If so, Behan will stay on. Behan insists on working only on the most important of my files. Your welfare, all of you, including Amy, is currently the most important file I have. Behan has never failed me. He will not fail you." Amy was barely awake when they dropped in to see her. Behan courteously waited out of sight by the door. "Amy, here's Dad," Rod announced quietly. The nurse had been at least a little wrong. Amy had been glad to see Rod before, and seemed to be just as happy to see him this time. "It's good to see you, Mr. Ransom," Amy breathed. "Thank you for coming." "It's Charlie, Amy. You are an adult now, and a very beautiful one to my eyes. I came because you are as much my family as my own flesh and blood, and I wanted you to know that from me. Will you give an old man a kiss?" Amy almost giggled. "Sure." Charlie made a real production out of his kiss, and pulled a small smile out of Amy, another sign that maybe she wasn't going to give in to despair. "Amy, I want you to meet my associate." Charlie waved Behan into the room. "Mark Behan is my right hand. If there is anything whatever you need, get hold of him if I can't be found. He will see to it. Big or small. And probably a lot more than you think possible." Amy flinched at the strange male, but Behan took no note of it. In his cosmopolitan urbane manner, he took Amy's hand in his own. "It is my pleasure to meet you, Miss Amy. A previously unknown extension to my employer's family brings joy. Please feel free to call on me for anything at all." Rod almost died when Behan again kissed the fingertips of the hand he held before releasing her. Amy just sighed. "Thank you" ********** Day 2 The next day they picked up June when she was released from the hospital and took her home. The doctor had ordered a week in bed, or at least five days, and then up, no lying around once she had recovered her physical health. Once home, his mother shepherded June up to her room, threatening to have Rod make supper if she didn't behave. June shuddered theatrically. "I promise to be good, Mom. Just don't let Roddie at the dinner fixings, and I'll do whatever you want." They both knew it wasn't fair. Rod was a good cook. But it was an old joke, something from better times for both of them. Rod scowled fiercely, his part in the byplay. Rod, under orders, started work cleaning up and rearranging the spare room. His mother had determined Amy was going to stay with them for at least a few days. ********** Day 5 June was getting a bit of her old spark back. She was looking forward to going in with Rod and her mother to pick Amy up. She was depressed a lot, but both Rod and her mother worked hard to get her out of herself enough to respond, even to make feeble jokes. Now she was going to get her best friend in all the world, and have her all to herself for at least a few days. The hospital staff wheeled Amy out to the waiting car in a wheelchair. June was shocked at the feeble spectre they were trying to pass off as her vibrant friend. Rod was hit pretty hard, too. Amy looked worse than she had the day after the attack, paler, weaker, almost ghostly. Her bones jutted against an almost translucent skin. Joan, too, was appalled by the change. She'd never seen a quiet Amy. They were careful getting her into the car. June had to fasten her seatbelt for her. June took the middle seat so she could hold Amy's hand, while Amy leaned against the window. Amy didn't have the strength to sit without side support. Rod spent most of the return trip hanging over the back of the passenger seat. Rod's Quest Ch. 01 "Roddie, you're going to have to carry Amy up to the spare room, all right?" "Sure, Mom." He reached in and, with June's help, lifted Amy carefully out of the car. He almost dropped her in surprise. The three of them had horsed around enough that Rod knew Amy's weight, steady since she was fifteen. This felt like half that weight, even if it could not have been more than ten pounds less. Joan saw the look he gave Amy, and realized what he was feeling. Nothing came out of his mouth about it. He was already being strong. Once they got Amy settled in Joan made June stop hovering and get back into bed herself. Watching that pale waif was doing June no good. She was running herself straight back into her depression with worry over Amy. "Junebug," Rod cajoled. "We have to be strong for Amy. We're crying inside. It's terrible. But we have to be strong for her. You can't be her friend and cry in front of her. You have to be the oak tree she needs to have to hang onto." "Roddie, it's too awful. I can't." "We can do this because we have to." ********** Day 46 "Get him off, get him off, get him off." The screams echoed down the hallway from June's room once more. Rod raced in to hold his sister as she fought her covers, his comforting hands all over her nearly nude body. "It's OK, it's OK, Roddie's here," he murmured into her ear, kissing lightly and urgently. His hands roamed over her shoulders and arms. So strong, so smooth, so frightened. He started to massage her back and her legs, suddenly realizing his hands were massaging her naked buttocks. He loved the feel of her. His sister was stark naked. He realized that so was he. His hands sought out her firm breasts. Should I really be doing this, he wondered. What the hell, he thought. June needs me. He continued to touch her, bringing her recovery through contact. Her skin was so smooth, her muscles so hard, her need so great. He stroked her sleek, strong legs lightly, cupping the curves of her firm and delectable bottom. The warmth and concern emanating from Rod once more settled June into sleep and the siblings drifted off, curled tightly together. ***** To be continued This is a re-posting at the request of FeyGrandad. As with all my re-postings, voting is disabled. This was the first story I ever posted. It seems to be worth seeing again. There are four chapters, five if FeyGrandad is right that there's something missing between chapters three and four.