Gwen meets Declan
When Gwen was twenty two she and some of the other residents from the hospital she worked at went to a local pub, Gwen had the most peculiar felling upon entering the pub and quickly glanced around. Her gaze took her to the bar where a tall blonde soldier stood drinking a beer and chatting with the bartender. She joined her friends at a table near the bar but was distracted by his thoughts her telepathy was working overtime. His thoughts were ringing in her head as hard as she tried to not listen in she found herself getting up and walking to the bar to get another beer leaving an almost full glass at the table.
She stood rite next to him, he towered over by at least a foot. She beat him to it and told the bartender she was buying the soldier a drink. He thanked her and was wondering why she bought him a drink she turned and smiled a mischievous smile at him.
He's learned since then that that little smile screams I know what you are thinking pal….
Gwen was engaged in conversation with Declan, she was feeling pretty good flirting with him. She hoped she wasn't making a fool of herself since she wasn't much practiced at it .He kept thinking she was cute and had pretty blue eyes. This gave her confidence, they chatted about what they did for a living he was a Marine stationed at the local RAF Air Force base and she was a Doctor. He couldn't believe it because she was so young.
He noticed she didn't have a true English accent she explained how she was raised in the US by relatives after her mother died. He told her about his father's passing when he was a young boy and how his mother had remarried after shipping him off.
They both had in common that they both went to boarding school hers an all girls and his all boys' military school. Gwen thought they were getting on rather well and he was thinking the same, this is the one time Gwen was glad she had telepathy although she knew she was being bad but sometimes you just have to be bad.
That's when it happened the brawl started Gwen was caught off guard luckily Declan saw it coming. One guy raised his glass to strike the other. The other fellow ducked; Declan suddenly grabbed Gwen and pulled her into him shielding her head with his arm. She felt the thump on his hand and something hit her back and run the length of her leather jacket.
In that split second she realized what had happened and knew he was cut, he released her and she immediately went into doctor mode. The pub brawl was ragging around them as they made their way out Gwen leading the way only they didn't stop outside the pubs door she dragged him down the street to where her car was parked.
She dug in her pocket for her keys and out the trunk she pulled a doctors bag, it was dark and she handed him a torch to hold which he did as she examined the cut. There was a piece of glass in the wound and it was bleeding heavily she thought a vein might be nicked. She informed him she was driving him to the emergency room which he protested he didn't want this being on his record even though he was an innocent victim in the mess. She though he was being stupid but whatever.
She wasn't arguing with him just then her friend Jaclyn another doctor arrived and together they inspected his arm, in Jaclyn opinion the vein was fine but they needed better light, Gwen decided to take him back to her house to do a better patch up job. There was no room for Jaclyn in Gwen two seated sports car so she bid them goodbye winking and giggling at Gwen who shook her head in annoyance at her silly girlfriend.
Declan was shocked when they pulled up a long driveway to a large Edwardian Manor house, she lived on an estate. She interrupted his thoughts telling him she had inherited the place from her mother and she had only recently come to be living there.
She led him through the house to the kitchen where he took a seat at the table while she busied herself getting what she needed to stitch him up. She went through the routine asking about allergic reactions to meds, how much had he actually had to drink that night and so on. She was finished in no time, Declan was fascinated watching her work, turns out the glass weren't as large as she first thought it was and the wound not as deep. While she cleaned up she instructed him on caring for it and again suggesting he have the base doctor look at it and remove the stitches in ten to fifteen days.
Now what does she do with him she thought, she smirked to herself because he was thinking the same thing what's next.
Declan became a frequent houseguest over the next few months Gwen even gave him the Mercedes to use to get back and forth from the base to her house with, he and Gwen grew very close. Gwen would not allow Declan into her bed he was given one of the guest rooms to use and this frustrated him immensely. Jaclyn also lived there on a part time basis she kept a flat in the village; she did this because Gwen would not allow her to bring any one home with her.
He did enjoy living there part time; he oversaw the construction of the firing range Gwen was having built down past the Barn and the Kennels. He began to understand the dynamics of Gwen and Jaclyn's friendship and after a while stopped thinking they were probably lesbians which whenever he thought this around the two of them they would smirk to themselves.
He was often confused being around them, like he didn't get the joke.
They spent many a quiet evening together she going over her patient's files or reading up on the latest medical journals; Declan was studying for the tests for the Special Forces he was trying to get into. She would often suggest other books from her library for him to read. She was pushing him to expand his knowledge of the natural world and the not so natural one.
She gave him a stack of books on Zoology, Crypto zoology and Anthropology. He did read them and found them fascinating and they discussed them at length.
Gwen had never had a boyfriend and she had never been intimate with a man before and this terrified her very much. All her early childhood training told her to steer clear of close relationships with people, knowing what people are thinking can be a difficult pill to swallow. Although she did allow herself to be close to Jaclyn, but Jaclyn was also an empath to some degree so they had a shared understanding of one another's gifts.
When Gwen and Jaclyn were in college Jaclyn would drag Gwen along on double dates and set her up on blind dates. Gwen would always find some excuse not to see the guy again but Jaclyn never gave up she would chide her friend there is someone out there for you and Gwen would rebuff her by saying that she would find her own mate herself.
What bothered Gwen the most about dating especially blind dates that no matter how nice the guy was or how smart he was or how interesting he was she would be turned off when he would try to kiss her goodnight and be thinking about sex with her in most graphic detail. Jaclyn would laugh and tell her "All men want to do is get laid" this would just annoy Gwen. She didn't "not" want to have sex she was just afraid of it, she had issues.
One day Declan arrived in her office to speak to her he explained he had passed his exams and was on his way to training for special forces and that he didn't know exactly how long it would be and then after that where he would be stationed.. He wasn't sure how often he'd be able to see her but he would write and try to phone. Gwen was stunned then heartbroken but she held stoic in front of him after a long kiss goodbye Declan was gone and she was devastated.
He was good to his word he wrote and called weekly the course was 12 weeks, Declan called to tell her that he hadn't washed out and that he was being reassigned and being sent out of the country, he didn't know where to or for how long and even if he knew he wouldn't be able to tell her.
Christmas arrived and Gwen was depressed she never liked the holiday much even though Aunt Helen and The Big Guy made a wonderful celebration for her when she was a child. She held onto those memories like a life raft. She received a gift from Declan it was a Diamond Heart pendant that she never took off.
Three months went by and no word from him, Gwen was desperate and had no one to ask. She thought about James and his connections to the Government and the Military but she was unable to find it in herself to go see him and try and ask him for his help.
She did the next best thing she called Helen Magnus; she broke down into great sobs telling Aunt Helen about what had happened with Declan. She asked Helen to help her and find out if he was at least alive. She needed to know that much. Helen took the information on Declan and told Gwen she would ring her back after she made some calls, she warned her she may not hear back for a few days.
About three days later Helen rang Gwen up and told her what she was able to tell her. Being he was on "covert assignment" was all she could say and that "yes he is alive and he's been working" and that "he'd be back stationed at the airfield near Gwen shortly" what she failed to tell Gwen was that she requested that Declan's unit be reassigned at that air base, something not normally done.
Generally the British Military high command didn't refuse a request by Helen Magnus; she had special interest in this unit. This news bolstered Gwen some but then the nagging feeling set in that maybe he wasn't interested in her any longer.
A few weeks went by and Gwen was filling in at the local hospital emergency room they were short on doctors, she had been on for three days and was finishing up her shift when she got the strangest feeling and began getting a headache. She had a lot of headaches lately and attributed it the long hours she was working besides her clinic duties her extra hours at the hospital.
It was March and it was cold with rain showers for several days, just miserable and nasty outside. She put on her jacket and headed out as soon as she stepped outdoors she realized he was there. She started across the parking lot toward her Jeep and there he was sitting on the hood waiting patiently for her she wondered how long he'd been there and why hadn't he come in. The skies had cleared some but it was still cold and damp to the bone, she walked up to him and tossed the keys at him and told him to drive. No other greeting no hugs no kisses she was tired and out of sorts and just so unsure of herself she didn't want to fall apart and become a hysterical mess.
In the car she shivered, he asked her if she was sick he said that she looked tired. She mumbled about working for seventy two hours straight and she was exhausted and had a nasty headache. She couldn't really read his mind she was getting bits and pieces but nothing like before he was working hard at keeping her out and her headache was intensifying she just wanted to go home shower and go to sleep. She was sitting in the passenger seat miserable and looking down she was afraid if she looked at him he would disappear she just wanted to cry.
Declan was really confused by Gwen's behavior, when they started to pull in her driveway he stopped the car and grabbed her hands and kissed the back of it. "I've missed you terribly are you angry with me? I don't understand why you are acting like this".
It was inevitable she began to sob ,through jagged breath she said "I thought you were dead when I hadn't heard from you I called Aunt Helen to see if she get news on what had happened to you" she tried pulling her hand back but he had a tight grip on it and wasn't letting go.
"Gwendolyn I have something to say to you, refrain from having Aunt Helen make any more inquires about me in the future, also if I come into the house with you today I stay with you in your room and we sleep in the same bed Or else I won't come back at all!"
"Alright" she said pulling his hand to her lips and kissing it "But" she said "After what I tell you, you may just decide to leave anyway" she didn't wait she plunged in "Declan there are only 6 people on the face of this earth who know what I am and I trust you enough tell you, I hope I'm not making a mistake"
She was shivering now and she cranked up the heat, this wasn't going to be easy.
"Declan I'm a telepath, do you know what that is?" she didn't wait for his reply she could see he wasn't sure what was going on. "I can read people's minds, I know you've noticed I answered questions before you've asked them and that just to put your question to rest; No Jaclyn and I are not Lesbians and every time you had that little thought around us we would crack up laughing." Still not waiting she plunged on "Jaclyn is what is a called and Empath she doesn't have the abilities that I have. She is only capable of tuning into people's emotions and feelings."
She was beginning to shriek now the pain in her head was searing
"Why do you think I live out here in the country? I can't stand all the noise in people's heads"." If I didn't have this god dammed headache I'd be able to read your mind only now I can do a half assed job it".
She yanked her hand away from him with such force he let go, threw open the car door and jumped out, she ran over to the wall to lean on it and began to vomit. Her knees began to buckle, she felt herself going down. He grabbed her in an instant and was pushing her back into the car; he got her in and closed the door. He drove her up to the house. Jaclyn was racing down the front steps to the car she looked at Declan and yelled "What the hell is going on out here?" "What's happened to Gwen?"
"She's sick" is all he said and he went round the car and gathered her up in his arms, she was shivering and he was worried she was in shock. He took her directly upstairs to her bedroom, with Jaclyn rite behind she darted in front of him to get the door and then up to the bed to draw the covers back when he put her down he drew them back up over her and then Jaclyn was peppering him with question. She felt Gwen's head and realized she was burning up, she ran out of the room to grab her bag.
Jaclyn wasn't even paying attention to Declan now she was getting an IV ready and preparing a hypodermic needle. Suddenly Declan grabbed her wrist and asked "Is It true? IS it true what the two of you are? What your abilities are?"
Jaclyn stopped what she was doing, she turned to him with a hard look she was trying to read him, he wasn't angry he was worried; very worried and mostly he was in love.
"Yes it is true, she told you then?" "I'm glad I told her she should have said something to you when you first started coming round here. But No! she was afraid of you thinking her a freak and leave her" "Now get out of my way and let me examine her" "Go down stairs and make a tea for us and close the door behind you on your way out" she wasn't asking him she was ordering him. He leaned over and kissed Gwen temple and smoothed her hair a little, he turned and without looking at Jaclyn her walked out slamming the door behind him.
He went downstairs and out to the car to get his and Gwen's bags he bought them back up stairs and deposited them at the top of landing. He went back down the kitchen and pulled a beer out the fridge, Jaclyn had cooked dinner, and he helped himself to a plate and sat at the table.
He pushed the plate away he had no appetite; he was alone with his thoughts. So it was true, now he was worried he was thinking about his job. He was in the special services and he will have to do things that he won't even want to remember. How is he going to be involved with a woman who can easily extract those thoughts from him without his knowing?
Was this relationship worth it? Would he be a liability to his unit?
Just then Jaclyn came in and she too went to the fridge for a beer. "Oh stop worrying Marine" she said, "She's got the flu; did you kiss her?"
"Just the back of her hand" he said. Jaclyn took a long swig then replied "You're next then, it's going round".
She plopped down in the chair at the table next to him.
"So! Ask what you want I'll answer what I can" she said.
They spent about 2 hours talking, mostly Jaclyn talked and Declan listened, but Jaclyn only told him what she thought she should often saying "you will really need to ask Gwen that".
Declan didn't sleep well that night nor did Jaclyn she was worried about this new development she wasn't getting bad vibes from Declan he was just so very worried but she couldn't discern if it was for Gwen or his himself.
After 3 days Gwen dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, she was sheet white and weak. She tried to put some makeup on and dressed then wondered downstairs to find something to eat. She still had a slightly nasty headache she took some more Tylenol.
She looked out the back window and saw Declan in the yard playing with the dogs. She loved her Belgian Police dogs she named then Hansel and Gretel, they were having a blast playing with Declan and he appeared to be enjoying himself and he seemed more relaxed.
She decided she wasn't going to worry about it anymore, she told him and she knew Jaclyn had talked to him. She hadn't really spoken to Jaclyn, she was grateful she was there when this all happened she thought she'd have t buy a nice gift for her friend.
She wandered back to the den and turned on the tele, she snuggled up under a blanket and started to dose off. Declan had come in and brought the dogs with him, they stormed the den and pounced on her with wet cold noses and plenty of wagging tails. She sat up on the couch as Declan came in; he walked up behind her and kissed her on the top of the head then came round and sat with her.
He told her she looked better and she asked him how he was feeling if he was coming down with it. But luckily he hadn't contracted it and was busy taking care of things around the house for her. He told her that Jaclyn left very early this morning that she was taking Gwen's shift at the clinic for her plus her own. He also included that Jaclyn would be spending the rest of the week at her flat in the village. Gwen though she would have to buy something really nice now.
They sat in silence watching the tele and petting the dogs for some time, Gwen curled up and nodding in and out. Declan was thinking whether he could live with her, if he could do this. He didn't want to leave her or this house he had begun to think of it as his home. He hadn't had a real home since he was ten years old when he was sent off to military boarding school.
Gwen wanted to just tell him he didn't need to worry she would never divulge anything about his job nor would she ever want him to leave but she didn't want to intrude in his thoughts and speak. Finally he said "well what have you to say, I know you are awake over there and I know you are in my head".
Gwen sat up some and looked him square in the eye "I have three words to say to you Declan MacCrea, I love you! You have nothing to worry about and I want you to stay"
"If I felt better I'd take you upstairs and show you, but you'll just have to wait for that just a little longer". He feigned a shocked look upon his face.
"Declan I have to ask, how long are you going to be stationed here?" he told her was on a two week leave right now and then he wasn't sure he could be pulled out at anytime. He told her how at some point he would have to do a year overseas and that more than likely he'd be sent to the Middle East. He concluded by saying "As long as Aunt Helen doesn't interfere" he was wagging his finger at Gwen.
A thought suddenly occurred to Gwen and she felt she must act on it, in for a penny in far a pound.
"Declan have you ever been to the States?" she asked and he replied "No", she smirked at him. She got up and went over to her desk and started to make a call. First she called over to the medical school at Oxford and spoke to someone she was requesting a resident or two be sent to her hospital and the clinic to cover for her for a week and a half.
Then she called Aunt Helen and informed her she was coming for a visit the day after the next and that she'd be bringing Declan along. She asked for the Sanctuary Jet be sent to get them, Helen was agreeable on all counts and the call ended amicably. She called Jaclyn and put her in charge of the visiting residents and told her she was taking Declan home to meet the family in the states.