Part One - The Final Straw

Aisha's eyes scanned the pages that the estate agent had given her. "How about this one?" She pointed at a modest little house with 3 bedrooms, and a small garden out the back. It seemed the perfect house for them to settle down in properly, start a family.

She looked at Nabu, hopeful, but he frowned. "Maybe...I dunno." He said. "It could work."

Aisha sighed. "This is like the fifth house you've dismissed in the space of ten minutes! Something's got to give."

"Hey! Easy there. This is a big decision. I just want to make sure everything's perfect for us. And for the baby." His voice trailed off and his face clouded over. His mouth was a thin line.

A wave of guilt crashed over Aisha and she reached across the table, taking his hands. "Nabu, you know I didn't want things to turn out like this! If I could turn back time, I swear I would...it just happened. I want to make it up to you but after-"

"A passion fruit smoothie for you," Roy appeared beside them, a tray balanced on his arm, placing a tall glass in front of Nabu. "And a watermelon crush for you." He smiled warmly at Aisha as he put the drink in front of her, then moved away to the next table.

They were in the Fruity Music Bar, meeting up with everyone else. Most of them were all out on the dance floor, strutting their stuff to one of Musa's latest hits. All of them in fact, except for Timmy and Tecna, who didn't dance full stop, and Flora and Helia, who were probably out taking a walk along the beach. But Aisha and Nabu were sat to the side of all the commotion, and had taken to house hunting literally anywhere. Aisha was getting rather desperate, but Nabu was quite laid back about the whole thing. Well, the house bit anyway. Everything else? Not so much.

She cleared her throat, taking a delicate sip of her drink. The crushed ice clinked against the glass as she put it back down on the table. Nabu wasn't meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry, Nabu. In spite of everything, even if it doesn't look like it, I...I love you. Isn't that all we need to know?"

He raised his head, and gave a small smile. "I love you too, Aisha, it's just I'm taking some time to get used to everything, you know?"

Aisha nodded. "I know, but you are being so patient with me. The both of you are. Things weren't meant to turn out like this. If I were you, by now I would have left me."

"But I haven't left you." He pointed out. "As much as I want to be mad at you, I can't be." He smiled, a real smile, and turned back to the sheets of paper. "I guess we can give this one a look around."

"Thank you!" Aisha said, exasperated. It had taken long enough for him to come to a decision. "It would be the perfect family home. You'll see. We'll make this work."

Over on the stage, the band rounded up the song and the customers erupted into applause. Musa said a few quick thank you's, grabbed her water bottle from the edge of the stage and came down the stairs to the left. The dance floor emptied out and a crowd gathered around the bar. Bloom and Stella approached Aisha and Nabu's table, soon followed by everyone else. Chairs were pulled from the surrounding tables and soon they were at the centre of the crowd. House hunting would have to wait.

"What are you looking at now?" Brandon asked, peering over Nabu's shoulder. "I thought you already knew what you were looking for?"

Nabu nodded. "Exactly, we know what we're looking for, but finding it's the problem." He sighed back.

"But," Aisha continued. "We have found a few possibilities."

"Ohhh, let's see!" Bloom leaned in over the table, angling the paper to get a better look.

Aisha pointed out the house they were checking out earlier, followed by approving ah's from Bloom, Stella and Musa. Tecna and Timmy were buying more drinks and Flora and Helia still hadn't returned. Giving Nabu a look to say I told you so, I was right, again, Aisha took a victorious sip of her drink.

Nabu leaned backwards and murmured to the guys, "I have no idea what's going on, but I'm just gonna agree anyway. It's the easiest thing to do. I've not been so sure about any of it, to be honest. Can't see the problem with our current house..."

Brandon sniggered under his breath, Aisha shooting him and Nabu a glare to kill, and Nabu smiled sweetly. Riven was looking at them, frowning, shaking his head slightly. It made her feel uncomfortable and awkward. She shifted in her seat.

"What?" Aisha demanded.

"Nothing, I was just wondering how you think you can pull all of this off." He replied. "You can't just act like nothing's happened. How do you think this'll all work, huh? You may act like you want to start afresh, but what's done is done. You don't know how you'll feel in a few weeks time, and when junior arrives- OW!" He was cut off as Musa gave him a sharp nudge in the side with her elbow.

Everyone sat in silence, not daring to say anything, in case it sent Aisha or Nabu off the rails. Every now and then, someone would scowl at Riven, but he'd shrug as if he'd done nothing wrong, which, Aisha thought, he hadn't really. Everything he'd said had been completely and utterly true. But hearing it from someone else made the pain even more real. The stares continued to fly around the group.

"What?" Riven asked. "I'm just saying what we all want to. It's not my fault all of you are too scared to speak up. I'm right aren't I?"

Aisha's face was hard, but she was screaming for mercy inside. Everything was crashing down around her, but there was nothing she could do to stabilise it. Blinking back tears, she stared straight ahead, eyes unfocused, not meeting Riven's gaze.

"Oh come on Aisha!"

"Just leave it, Riven." Nabu's voice was monotone.

"Leave what?" Riven was not about to give it up. "This is the real world. You can't just wave a magic wand and hope everything will go back to normal!"

"I said leave it." Nabu looked him in the eye, his voice more forceful now.

Riven scoffed at his efforts. "And you're not much better. You seriously believe that you can handle this?" Musa laid a warning hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly, but he shook her off. "No, just let me finish."

"I think you've said enough." Sky spat.

Riven ignored him, turning back to Nabu and carrying on regardless. "This was supposed to be yours, all of it! But someone beat you to it. Why stick around? It's all her fault after all."

"Riven!" Musa gasped, disgusted.

"You think I don't already know that?" Aisha shrieked, standing up and leaning over him. "You think I wanted all of this? I hardly even want this baby!" She was deteriorating into an emotional wreck, screaming through her sobs. "I didn't plan all of this! The number of times I have told Nabu to leave, told both of them to leave...they choose to stay. Just because you would have fucked off doesn't mean everyone else would!"

Startled customers were staring at her now, but she didn't care anymore.

Nabu was stood now too, pulling Aisha away from Riven, but she wasn't coming quietly. "Aisha...come on, leave it- Aisha! It's okay..."

"You think you're so great, pointing out everyone's flaws!" She continued to yell at Riven. "I never wanted this, I never wanted any of it, I just...I just-" Her voice was becoming quieter. She could hardly catch her breath through the tears, and didn't know what to say anymore. What was the point?

"No one blames you Aisha." Stella told her, laying a hand on her arm.

"I blame myself!" Aisha sobbed.

"Don't listen to him." Nabu whispered into her ear. "No matter what he says, I'm not going to leave you. Not now, not ever. Sure, things are rough, but I couldn't leave you on your own. Like you said, we'll get through this, Aisha. You'll be alright. Everything's okay."

"No! No it isn't! He's right. This is all my fault! Why was I so stupid? I've ruined everything, I can't do it! I just can't! How can we get through this? Even you hated me earlier! But who could blame you? Look at what a mess I made." She tried to pull away from him, feeling like an intruder in his arms, but he held on tight.

"No, Aisha." He said, lifting her chin, wiping away the tears with his thumbs, forcing her to look deep into his hazel eyes. "Look at what a mess we made."

She sniffed, shaking her head. What had Nabu done? But he was so serious, so honest. She buried her face in his chest, enjoying the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her. He held a hand to the back of her head, holding her close, protective. She could hear Musa arguing with Riven quietly. She hadn't the strength nor the energy to confront him again. All she could do was stand there. Why couldn't things just be normal? Why did fate choose this path for her? Standing there made her realise that she was so lucky to still have Nabu, when she came so close to losing him. Behind her, glasses clinked as Tecna and Timmy arrived at the table with a tray of drinks for everyone. She didn't turn around though. She couldn't bear the thought of showing her face, she felt so ashamed.

"Man, that queue was mental!" Timmy grumbled. "We were standing in that line for exactly 11 minutes and 37 seconds, just for a few drinks!"

Tecna seemed to notice the atmosphere wasn't exactly cheerful. "Hey, what's...?"

Nabu was shaking his head at her, and she fell into silence. That awkward silence settled over them all again. Even Riven's smarmy comments subsided. Aisha pulled away from Nabu. She couldn't hide forever. He frowned at her, his face concerned. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and nodding to tell him she was okay. She wasn't sure of it herself, could she ever really be okay again? Letting go of her, Nabu returned to his seat, and Aisha pulled her chair around to sit beside him. Her eyes felt sore and swollen from the crying, but she tried to smile through it. Her friends all grinned at her, but none of them were real. They were just trying to be kind. Aisha knew what they all thought of her. Even Riven was making an effort now. He looked almost apologetic. Nabu had his arm around her shoulder, and she took another sip of her drink.

"So, Musa, that was a great song!" Sky broke the silence. "How long did that take? Will we be seeing it on your album?"

Musa smiled, glad of the distraction. "Yeah, hopefully. It seems to be a big hit so far, but you never really know. Things could change like that," she clicked her fingers, "in the music industry, so I'm lucky that I've got this place to perform small gigs and stuff."

A conversation finally started, moving on from Musa's music, to Brandon's new job as Assistant Manager at a new props store in town and then on to Stella's growing success in costume design because fashion didn't really work out for her. Life was carrying on, regardless of Aisha's problems. Her friends may be moving on, or at least making a good act of it, but for Aisha, she didn't think she could ever move on. That guilt would be with her forever, her child a constant reminder of the wreck she made of her life. Her parents weren't happy with her either. She was the only one not joining in with the conversation, staring at the wall. Nabu was getting on with it, and she admired him for that. But everything had changed, and just like Riven said, what's done is done, there's no going back.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Nabu had perfected the art of pretending you're interested when someone's speaking to you over the years. Every now and then he would nod and say yes, or no, or shrug his shoulders. He would laugh in all the right places and show sympathy when necessary. To be honest, he couldn't care less about Stella's terrible experience at the biggest fashion show in London to which she'd gained VIP access, or her miraculous talent for costume design. He hardly spoke to any of his friends anymore, only when they all decided to meet up so as not to lose contact with each other completely. Quite frankly, he had his own problems to deal with, and old school friends didn't exactly come into the picture.

He hadn't really lied to Aisha when he said they could do it, but Riven's words had placed new doubts in his heart, the anger still underlying everything, the pressure to help her through it all pushing him to the limit. He knew that he was going to try his bloody best to get them all past this, but how good was his best in a situation like this? Too shocked to be angry when everything first broke out, anger had come slowly, brewing in the pit of his stomach. Seeing Aisha like this made him feel sick, constantly beating herself up, threatening to give up her baby as soon as she can, always wishing she'd made the decision to have an abortion whilst she still had the chance. That wasn't like her, but her mask had slipped long ago. Nabu was still desperately clinging on to his, if not to protect his pride, then to protect Aisha. She found it all way harder than he did. The fear of becoming a single mother kept her awake at night, the fear of being left alone, the fear of how other people would judge her. The whole thing was destroying her, and slowly picking holes in their relationship.

"Nabu?"

He became aware of his name being called.

It was Bloom, waving a hand at him. "Hello? I asked you what you thought I should do?"

Nabu looked confused. "Hmmm? Oh, what I thought you should do...right...um, sorry, Bloom, but what were you saying? I kinda switched off for a minute there..."

Riven sniggered in the background. Bloom sighed, smiling sweetly, and began to ask the question again.

Nabu was so tempted to roll his eyes at her. Why was his opinion so important? What about Sky, or Stella? "Look, Bloom, I've got a lot on my mind right now, I don't want to upset you or anything, but can this wait?"

"I bet we can all guess what's on his mind..." Riven muttered under his breath, but still loud enough to guarantee that everyone heard.

Bloom glared at him, but nodded her head at Nabu. "Yeah, I get it. Don't worry, take all the time you need."

She glanced sideways at Aisha, who turned her head away, hiding it in his shoulder. He could feel the tears seeping into his shirt, and reached across his chest to her hands, squeezing them gently. Her breaths were shaking ever so slightly.

Suddenly, a door slammed behind them, and everyone turned to see a man standing in the doorway. Everyone fell silent, staring at him for a moment. He was dressed from head to foot in black: A leather coat, black jeans and a pair of heavy black boots. His coat was fastened with silver buckles and thick straps. His eyes were cold, shrouded in mystery and icy grey in colour. He had wavy orange hair that came down to his shoulders, two stands falling over his face, which was hard and unreadable. Scarily confident, broad shoulders rolled back, standing tall, he had captured the attention of every single person in the place. He began to move forward, ignoring the whispers and the pointing, the glances of confusion, awe.

"Check out Macho Man over there." Brandon said sarcastically, nodding his head in the direction of the door.

Not that he needed pointing out. He still held everyone's eyes, as if holding their lives in the palm of his hand, holding them still. Everyone looked on in amazement. Who was this stranger? Nabu couldn't help but notice that Klaus, the bartender and owner of The Fruity Music Bar had seen "Macho" in a completely different light. His face had registered recognition on the first sight of him, but his features had contorted into something no on could deny. Fear. Customers were starting to move on now, turning back to their tables and carrying on with their normal lives. Those at the bar were banging their fists on the counter, shouting at Klaus, but he had completely frozen.

Musa suddenly leapt up behind Nabu, smiling hastily and running over to the stage where her band were doing the final checks. Before he knew it, the music had kicked in again, and people were sighing, giving up on the drinks until the next round of songs had been played. No one else left their table though, all too exhausted to go back and dance again. Nabu watched Klaus and this newbie intently. What was going on? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good...for anyone. Macho arrived at the bar, and greeted Klaus like an old friend, but with an icy edge to it. He placed some money on the counter, and smiled, one of those smiles with too many teeth, like a shark closing in for the kill. Klaus seemed to notice this too, because as he shuffled about with the glasses and jugs, his hands were shaking uncontrollably. Macho continued to smile at him, laughing at his nervousness. From behind the bar, the door leading to the kitchen opened, and Roxy stepped out, stopping short when she saw her dad, and looking even more concerned when she saw who was with him. Nabu watched as she put down her overloaded tray and walked over to the two men, standing protectively beside her dad. Klaus looked even more terrified now, glancing from Macho to Roxy. He held up his hands and took Roxy to the side. They had a short conversation, Roxy looking equally as desperate as her father, but eventually, she reluctantly took the tray and headed away from the bar, glancing over her shoulder as she went.

Nabu frowned. Why was Klaus so afraid of this freak? What had happened between them? No one else seemed to realise what was going on. The pointless conversations about current occupations and shattered dreams and rough patches in life were still going on. Roxy handed out the drinks and platters of food absent mindedly, hardly noticing the customers' thanks or extra requests. Her eyes were fixed on her dad and this man, examining their every move. Her tray emptied out and she was getting ready to return to the bar. But Nabu wanted answers. As she passed their table, he reached out suddenly and grabbed her wrist. She jumped, nearly dropping the tray as she was hauled backwards. She whipped around to face her captor angrily.

"Nabu!" She hissed. "What is it? I'm kinda busy at the moment."

She tried to pull away from him, but he held tight. "Roxy, calm down. Look, I'm worried about your dad too, okay?"

At this she seemed to collapse in on herself for a moment. She sighed and looked towards the two men. "You've noticed it too then? The way that creep looks at my dad? I swear that every time my back is turned, I'm going to return to find him dead somewhere. I've never liked that guy. I don't trust him."

"Who is he?" Nabu asked, aware that everyone was listening now, catching on to his strange behaviour.

"His name's Ogron." Roxy replied. "He's been seeing my dad a lot lately. Every time he arrives on the doorstep, my dad has a mental breakdown, and makes sure that I'm upstairs out of the way. I'm never allowed to be anywhere near them when he comes around. I mean, just a second ago when I tried to talk to him, dad just told me to go away, and Ogron was just snarling behind his back, staring at us. I could feel his eyes watching me as I walked away."

"What's going on between them?" He pressed. "They must get quite aggressive towards each other sometimes...you must have heard something?"

Roxy nodded. "I always hear them. Bits of the conversations anyhow. They shout and yell at each other, and Ogron threatens my dad so much...he tells him he's gonna kill him, destroy everything he loves, get what he deserves." Her voice was shaking and tears glistened in her eyes. "From what I can make out, my dad has something of Ogron's, and he wants it back. But I don't know what. It's important to my dad anyway, because he is risking everything we have to keep hold of it, but I just wish he would talk to me sometimes!"

Not knowing what to say, Nabu just sat there, watching Klaus set out two drinks. Roxy also looked on in silence. Klaus pushed one drink towards Ogron and then took the other one himself.

"See? Dad's not supposed to drink on the job, it's against regulations. He can't have drinks that the customers buy for him! He's not one to break the rules either..."

Roxy was right. Klaus was completely out of character. Ogron was up to something.

"Look, I have to go, now." Roxy urged, slipping away from Nabu and moving through the crowds of dancing people towards the bar, where she could watch Ogron's every move.

"What was that all about?" Stella asked, stirring her drink casually with her straw.

"I'm not entirely sure, but basically, Ogron? Equals trouble. Big trouble." Nabu replied.

Everyone was serious now. Except perhaps for Stella. "So what? Two blokes having some territorial issues. What's new?"

"They're not having territorial issues." Brandon said. "Ogron just wants whatever's his back. But Klaus isn't the type to steal...is he?"

"No!" Bloom piped up, indignant. "Of course not..." But even she was starting to doubt it.

Nabu sat in silence, deep in thought. Aisha looked at him quizzically. "What are you thinking?"

"Roxy said that whatever Klaus has taken was important to him, enough to make him risk everything. What if it was Klaus' first? What if Ogron stole from Klaus before and Klaus just...took it back?"

Aisha contemplated this for a moment and nodded slowly. "That would make a lot more sense."

Nabu caught Roxy's gaze as she flitted between the tables. She looked petrified. Ogron had clearly done something to them before. Not just the threats and fighting. That fear had to have come from somewhere. He beckoned her over, and she came towards him, rather reluctantly.

She knew questions were coming because she demanded, "What do you want now? I've told you all there is."

"Ah, but I don't think you have, have you?" Nabu questioned. Her eyes slid away from his. "Roxy?"

"I don't know anything else, okay?"

"Why are you so afraid of him? What has he done to you?"

Roxy was in tears now, silent drops sliding down her cheeks. She wiped them away furiously, shaking her head. "Nothing...he's never done anything to me."

They way she said it made something slide into place in Nabu's mind. "What did he do to your dad?" Roxy remained silent, looking everywhere except at Nabu. She was falling apart in front of him. "Roxy, I can't help you and your dad unless you tell me the truth."

"I never asked for your help!" Roxy hissed. "You came over here, asking questions, and I told you what you wanted to know. That is it. Okay? We don't need your help, alright? We can handle this by ourselves." With that she turned and stalked off, her watchful eye back on her dad.

"But that's not true, is it?" Nabu called casually after her, stopping her in her tracks. "I know this is difficult, Roxy, but you know that you can't help your dad on your own. And your dad clearly isn't going to help himself."

There was a long pause, Nabu's words lingering in the air.

"He attacked him." Roxy's voice was barely a whisper.

The words sat around them for a moment, heavy. Nabu opened his mouth to ask yet another question, to squeeze more information from this statement, but Aisha put her hand on his, signalling him to stay.

"Give her time, Nabu." She murmured. "Things like this require it."

"Yeah, well, I don't know how much time Klaus has left..." He muttered under his breath, watching the skittish bar tender drumming his fingers against the side of his glass.

Aisha nudged him in the side, giving him a warning glare. Roxy was finding this hard enough as it was.

"It was in the early hours." Roxy continued, stone faced. "Maybe one, two o'clock? Anyway, I was asleep, until I heard dad come in the door. At first, I thought nothing of it. It had been a busy night, lots of customers, that kind if thing, and dad had been working long hours. I usually hear him locking up and the final drunken eejits leaving the bar. But someone followed him through the back that night."

"Ogron." Nabu snarled. He was starting to hate this man more and more by the second.

"Like I say, it wasn't the first time." Roxy's face had been drained of all colour, her eyes sunken hollows in her frightfully pale skin. It became clear that it wasn't just Klaus who was petrified of Ogron. "Ogron had followed my dad inside on many occasions, and the shouting tended to build. But not that night. That night, as soon as they were in the door they-" she broke off, her voice choking.

"Roxy?" Bloom's voice was concerned. "You don't have to do this now, okay?"

Nabu shot her an angry look. What was she on about? Roxy kinda did need to do this now, for Klaus. He appreciated it was difficult, but it was important. Bloom just glared back at him.

"We know this is hard. Ogron's a monster, and we can only imagine what he's done..." Bloom continued.

"No." Roxy broke in. "You can't possibly imagine."

"Then tell us." Stella was beginning to push now, gentler than Nabu, but the pressure was definitely there.

Roxy opened her mouth, but only silence came out. Her breaths were shallow, and she was clearly panicking. She looked away, violet eyes shrouded in tears. In a heartbeat, she fell apart, sobbing uncontrollably. Her empty tray clattered to the floor as her fingers went limp. Nabu doubted she'd be able to support her own body weight for much longer. Brandon, always the gentleman, stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She collapsed into him, and he helped her over to his chair, sitting her down. Aisha shuffled closer, clutching Roxy's hand, and Musa had one arm draped around her shoulders. Everyone was trying to soothe the traumatised girl, all muttering to her and whispering, saying it was going to be alright.

But Nabu had noticed something. If Roxy had been his daughter, and he'd seen her breaking down like this, he'd be by her side in an instant. Klaus, however, who'd definitely spotted Roxy and witnessed her melt down, seemed to have other things on his mind. Dare Nabu say it, more important things. He saw how Klaus was trying his best to ignore his daughter's cries, keep himself square to Ogron. This meant something but Nabu just...couldn't work out what. It seemed to go deeper than him trying to protect Roxy from physical harm. He had that edge to him, like he was hiding something. So if not to keep her from being attacked like he was, why was Klaus so intent on distancing Ogron from Roxy?