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laniew1TITLE: The Guardians – JC/Justin – JC/AJ
Author: Melanie
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing at all, least of all those contained within.
Chapter 15
Megan struggled against the bonds that secured her. She recognized the table she was strapped to. Her blood was no longer staining its surface, no longer staining the floor around it because here she hadn’t already been tortured for days on end… but it was the same place that Sam had taken her before.
She hoped the others would realize this quickly.
She had winced every time he’d drawn the sharp edge of his blade down her skin; he insisted it was only to cut away her clothing so her wings wouldn’t destroy them when he forced them to appear. She knew it was because he was hoping that she would break like she had before.
To beg him to release her, to beg him to not hurt her.
She was not the same person that she’d been before, she had those memories, she remembered how weak she had been. She wouldn’t be that weak again. Not for him, not for anyone.
He was angry now she knew, which might actually kind of bad for her. He was furious that she had escaped him even though it wasn’t her doing, he was furious that he had to start all over again. That he’d lost all his previous notes and tapes.
She herself was kind of grateful, she was stronger now. Knowing JC, knowing Nick had made her that way and she certainly wasn’t going to dignify his mistreatment of her with a response.
She had not uttered a word since he’d taken her. She hadn’t even screamed when his knife had ‘slipped’ and he’d drawn a line of blood on her leg.
She hadn’t released her wings yet either which was making him even angrier. All she needed to do to focus her energy, to remain in control, was remember Sarah’s face as Sam had slammed his knife into her.
She was going to be as strong as Sarah had been; Sarah hadn’t made a sound, hadn’t even breathed when Sam had stabbed her.
Her mind knew that it was because Sarah couldn’t make a sound; her heart knew it was because Sarah was giving her strength to fight. To hold on as the others tried to free her.
She closed her eyes, drawing a deep calming breath. Like Sarah she would be silent, she wouldn’t make a sound as he strove to break her.
For the first time in years AJ was at a loss at how to deal with JC. He thought he’d been through all the moods that JC was capable of during their remembered years together.
It seemed he was wrong.
JC right now was so prickly and angry that for the first time he could recall he was actually afraid to approach him. Justin it seemed was feeling the same thing and both of them were trying to hover around him without making it appear as if they were doing so.
Of course it wasn’t just JC. All present Guardians’, the ones that were special anyway were pissed.
AJ had already tried to get JC (and by extension Damian) to change out of his costume, his shirt and pants were stained with Sarah’s blood. The red showing up as nothing more than dark splotches… but they all knew what it was.
The hospital was quiet now, security, both the Guardian’s and the Backstreet Boy’s, had enclosed them all within a small waiting room as they waited for word on Sarah’s condition.
The press was outside the front, circling like vultures. They’d descended almost seconds after they’d arrived at the hospital. The first room they’d been situated in had been bombarded with lights when reporters realized where they were. They’d been moved, the blinds had been drawn and now all was quiet.
Hours had passed, the police had been called and even as they were waiting he knew that every possible mode of locating Megan quickly was being utilized. That meant TV, radio and internet. For once AJ was glad that Brian and Howie had taken Nick in hand.
He didn’t think he could handle both JC’s pain and Nick’s at the same time.
A glance over at the couch showed a very close to catatonic Nick sitting sandwiched between Brian and Howie. Considering his current state AJ didn’t think there would be any way to stop Nick from performing some act of retribution.
That was if they could find where she was. Find the man that had taken her and thought nothing about stabbing Sarah.
Leaning his head back against the wall he closed his eyes. Justin was an unhappy presence at his side and AJ shared his unhappiness. They’d had a few short hours where he’d thought they might be able to make this work, that the three of them together could be happy.
Now he wasn’t so sure. Some horrible part of him, some pessimistic side that told him he didn’t deserve shit let alone both JC and Justin, was telling him that his momentary happiness was fleeting. Because he was pretty sure that after all this was over, if Megan was rescued or god forbid killed, that JC was going to pull away.
He’d say it was to protect them but they’d all know that it was to protect himself.
“We need to do something,” Justin hissed at him. His voice low, his lips didn’t even move. Across the room his friends were watching him worriedly. Joey and Lance sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor, Chris sitting on the arm of the couch touching Howie’s shoulder every now and then.
Kevin had his phone to his ear, AJ didn’t know he was calling but he would hate to be the one on the other end of the phone when Kevin had that expression on his face.
“I’m open to suggestions,” AJ muttered. Opening his eyes he glanced over at Justin, saw his own pain was mirrored on the younger males.
“He’s shutting us out,” Justin crossed his arms over his chest and they both looked over at where JC had just moments earlier had been standing flanked by Damian and Drew.
He was gone.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” AJ raced through the corridors of the hallway. Justin by his side, his personal guard running along behind them.
Drew and Damian had split off and raced down another corridor. The rest of their group hopefully staying put within the room they’d been secluded in.
AJ wasn’t sure what they were going to do about the bodyguard behind them, he didn’t know about JC and he was almost positive that when they found him that JC was going to have very little control left.
He wouldn’t have gone outside on the bottom floor, not with all the reporters swarming the place. There was only one other place he could have gone.
AJ took the steps two at a time, pushing the door open he winced at the sound of the hinges creaking. Breathing a sigh of relief when he caught sight of JC standing at the edge of the roof. He waved a hand at his guard, indicating with his motions for him to stay at the door.
“JC,” Justin’s voice was calm, belying the agitation that AJ knew he felt. He’d scared the hell out of them.
“We can’t die by conventional means,” JC didn’t turn to them. Just stared at whatever had caught his interest. And AJ had been right about his loss of control, he was flashing. His wings and armor alternating between his costume.
He closed his eyes momentarily, swallowing back the nausea when JC turned to them because there was blood on his white armor. Sarah’s lifesblood staining the purity of it.
“JC why don’t you just…” AJ gestured to himself, to Justin. Come to us, don’t leave us.
JC stayed still, didn’t move and AJ went to move forward. Even lifted his foot to take the step.
“Holy fuck,” AJ’s eyes went wide with alarm, as did Justin’s as they both whirled. Chris and Brian had obviously followed to attempt to help and were now staring with shock at JC.
Chris had been the one that spoke; AJ figured this out because Brian seemed to have lost total control of his vocal cords and by extension his mouth. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened, then closed until finally he shook his head. Probably trying to shake out whatever delusion he thought had gotten stuck in there.
“It’s okay,” Justin said calmly, his entire being focused on JC he took the step that AJ had been meaning to. Stopping in front of him, touching his hand. Reaching out. “It’s okay.”
That left AJ to deal with Brian and Chris.
“Brian…” AJ started. Brian looked at him with a startled expression. “Brian. It’s okay.”
“You’re… he’s… what the…”
“You broke Brian,” Chris accused them tossing an arm over Brian’s shoulder. “It’s okay Brian, maybe if we just click our heels together three times we’ll go back home to auntie Em.”
“Abuse of sarcasm Chris,” Justin muttered keeping his eyes locked on JC, lest he try to dive over the side of the building. JC’d already admitted that he could fly; and while normally Justin would be all for actually seeing it he didn’t want to see it right then. His nerves were just a bit on edge and JC taking a header off the top of a building would probably send him into cardiac arrest.
“Well what the hell did you expect J?” Chris’ hand waved frantically in the air. “There’s a man standing there with fucking wings!!”
“Chris you need to calm down.”
“Don’t tell me what to do AJ,” Chris snarled. “You may lead Howie and the others around by the balls but you don’t lead me around by mine.”
Justin ignored him his hands reaching out for JC, not touching because JC backed away. “JC you need to calm down, you need to relax.”
“She’s scared,” JC whispered. “She’s so scared.”
“Megan?” Brian asked in disbelief. “Is he talking about Megan?”
“Baby you’re out of phase, you need to calm down.”
“This is how she showed you isn’t it?” JC asked softly, his eyes didn’t meet Justin’s instead focused on the clenching and unclenching of his hands. “Put herself out of phase so she could show you the truth.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, you didn’t do anything wrong,” AJ’s voice was emphatic and from the grateful look that Justin shot him he understood that they were of the same mind. Nothing that JC could have said would change what either of them felt for him.
“I should have told you, before… so you’d know…”
“I’ve loved you for half my life JC, nothing that you’d said, not even this would have changed that.”
“You should have had the choice; you should have known what I was before… so you could have made an informed decision,” JC’s voice broke and a tears rolled down his cheek.
The sound of footsteps approaching drew AJ’s attention away from where Justin was close to being able to touch JC. Damian and Drew, both obviously relieved to have found JC came into view.
“Is he human?” Brian’s quiet voice asked. All eyes flew to him with the exception of JC’s.
“No,” JC’s soft whisper was cut off by Damian’s emphatic, “Yes.”
“We’re not,” JC stated, shaking his head in denial.
“Jace,” Damian moved forward, Justin took a step back allowing Damian to take his place. AJ moved to stand beside him. Chris and Brian moving along with them. They had front row seats to the spectacle after all; they weren’t going anywhere until questions were answered to their satisfaction.
“We’re not,” JC growled, wiping frantically at his face. “We’re freaks. Abominations. Is it any wonder that we’re not safe, that people keep trying to destroy us?”
“JC,” Damian sounded as if he wanted to cry and AJ wondered briefly if JC wasn’t just voicing fears that every Guardian had ever had.
“We’re not anything, we can’t defend ourselves, we have no weapons. We have nothing. You can feel her can’t you…” the expression on Damian’s face wavered and pain flitted across it. “She’s in pain and we can’t even do anything to stop it, we’re helpless.”
“We’re not helpless,” Damian mumbled.
“We’re helpless.” JC’s voice was emphatic. “How can we even call ourselves warriors when we can’t even save one of our own.”
“JC.”
“We’re not even human.”
“Yes we are,” Drew said softly, his voice barely a whisper. He walked forward as he talked, each step drawing him closer and closer to JC, whose wings continued to flicker in and out of phase. “We have families JC, we were born to parents just like everyone else, we have brothers, we have sisters… we have families. You have a family, so does Megan… the family you were born into and the family you were born with. And we’ll all do whatever it takes to protect you, to protect each other and we’ll do whatever we have to in order to save her.”
Tears streamed down JC’s face, and AJ could feel his sadness, his despair crushing him suddenly.
JC was so close to giving up. And he realized that while JC, so bogged down in his own guilt and pain, wouldn’t listen to either him or Justin he would most certainly listen to Drew and Damian. These were people just like him, feeling the same exact emotions as him.
“We’ll save her,” Drew vowed his eyes locked with JC’s unwaveringly. They never looked away from each other, not even when the flash of light blinded everyone else and drew their attention.
AJ was among the speechless this time as the newcomer surveyed them, smiling when he completed it. Dismissing them as he waved his hand at the three Guardians.
JC’s wings and armor solidified, the only sound the ripping of his shirt as they did so. The same sound mirrored by Drew and Damian.
“What the…?” JC looked down at himself in shock and then over at the man standing to one side.
This man definitely epitomized exactly what AJ had envisioned an Angel looking like before he’d known about JC.
Huge, fluffy white wings. Check.
Black armor instead of the white worn by the Guardians. Check.
Sword hanging from his waist. Check.
He’d never envisioned the dagger but there it was, stuck in the band of his pants. If he bent over at the waist AJ was almost positive he’d unman himself… if he even could.
Shoulder length curly black hair swirled around his face; dark black eyes glittered fiercely as he focused all of his attention on the three.
“Michael,” JC breathed eyes wide. Beside him AJ could feel Brian draw in a breath and he grabbed his arm, squeezing to silence him.
The less attention they drew to themselves the better. Because AJ had a feeling he knew what Michael was… and he wasn’t real anxious to test his theory out.
“I hear we’ve had some trouble down here…” Michael grinned thinly, AJ sure as hell didn’t want to be Sam because as angry as Michael was, Sam was not long for this world. “I’m here to help you fix it.”