Disclaimer:
Poltergeist: The
Legacy is a registered trademark of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.I do not own
Poltergeist: The Legacy or any of the characters created by MGM Television or
Trilogy Entertainment. This is my first posted fan fic, please be gentle. I will
post more chapters asap.
–Destiny
or Fate—
—–
DESTINY—implies something foreordained and often suggests a
great or noble course or end.
FATE—implies an inevitable and usually an adverse
outcome.
FRIDAY,
3:00 a.m. E.S.T.
He hadn't slept at all on the
plane home. The heavy fog in London delayed his departure from Heathrow by four
hours. Nick Boyle thought wryly to himself how bad weather seemed to be
following him this trip. He'd suffered through severe thunderstorms and
consequential mudslides during his weeklong dig in Ireland and now more heavy
rainstorms in New York. The rain had caused the automatic breaking systems on
the plane to overcompensate, blowing out the left landing gear. By the time the
plane skidded to a halt and the passengers deplaned two hours later, the light
throbbing in his head had turned into a full-blown headache and his shoulders
were tight and his neck was stiff with tension. 'Man,' he thought to himself,
'this week just keeps on getting better.' As he waited for the airline to get
him on another connecting flight to San Francisco, having missed his original
flight due to the landing delay, he tried to catch a little shut-eye.
Fire. Around him all he saw
was fire. He stood there, mouth slack as he stared vacantly at the flames that
enveloped what had become his home. 'Derek,' he thought to himself. An
explosion shook the ground and he struggled to keep upright. The heat and smoke
burned his eyes, 'Derek…oh, God, no.' he thought again. The anger and grief
welling up in him, he ran toward the ruins of the castle on Angel Island,
screaming his precept's name.
"DEREK!!!" he screamed. He
felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped from a seated position before his
eyes could even register his surroundings. As the lights of the airport waiting
area came into focus, he was staring into the concerned eyes of both the
airline ticket agent he had been talking with earlier and another person he
didn't recognize.
"Sir," she began, "are you
alright? I think you were dreaming." She continued to look at him steadily,
trying to gauge his condition as best she could.
Nick slowly realized he had
been dreaming, 'God,' he thought to himself, 'it was SO real.' He was brought
out of his reverie by a touch to his shoulder. He blinked a couple of times and
saw the face of the man who was with the ticket agent. "Sir, sir," he repeated,
the concern growing in his voice.
"I'm sorry," Nick finally
stammered, "I guess…" he started fumbling for an explanation that wouldn't make
him sound crazy, "too little sleep and a tense landing, I'm just a little out
of it." Nick hoped this explanation would satisfy the concern in their eyes and
alleviate the tension of the situation. He had slowly realized he was the
center of a small circle of attention, thank heaven it was pre-dawn and the
airport was fairly deserted. "I'm okay," he stated more confidently as he
purposely forced his stance to relax.
"Are you sure, you look a
little under the weather," the man explained.
Nick was suddenly aware that
his headache from earlier had grown to nearly migraine proportions as he
squinted at the glare of the lights in the terminal. "I'm okay, really," Nick
began, "it's just been a really long week of traveling. Sorry I caused such a
commotion," he finished as he slowly started back to the chair he had vacated
so abruptly.
"Mr. Boyle, we're having
trouble getting you a flight because of the weather, the airline would be happy
to get you a hotel so you could rest properly," she explained, "these chairs
aren't exactly built for sleeping."
Nick thought about it for a
second as he turned to sit, but decided he wanted to remain in the airport. He
suddenly had a deep-seeded need to get back to San Francisco. If he hadn't
known himself so well, he would have sworn the feeling was that of panic. "No,
thank you," Nick began, "I'd rather wait, I really need to get back as soon as
possible." He knew he had to get back to Angel Island ASAP. A sense of urgency
growing in him that he could barely contain. He sat gingerly in the chair and
noticed they were still hovering.
"Sir, are you sure?" the man
asked as Nick slowly nodded. "Then is there anything we can get you?"
Nick thought about that,
"No. I'm fine really," he answered with more confidence in his voice than he
felt. 'I need to call Derek' he thought to himself. "Do you have the time?"
Nick asked.
The man looked at his watch,
"It's 3 a.m.," he answered.
"Thanks," Nick replied.
"Please let me know if
there's anything I can do, please," the ticket agent offered, "my name is
Deborah, please just ask." When Nick nodded his acceptance, both employees
turned slowly away and began to walk back to their posts.
Nick pulled the cell phone
from his inside jacket pocket, 'it's only midnight back home,' he thought to
himself as dialed the house, 'I have to talk to Derek.' He finished dialing and
put the phone to his ear. It rang and rang, Nick was about to hang up when
Dominic answered, "Luna Foundation," he stated wearily.
Nick immediately felt guilty
for disturbing the major domo, but he had to talk to Derek, "Dominic, it's
Nick, is Derek around?"
"Master Nick," the man's
voice immediately animated at hearing the young man's voice, but he also sensed
the urgency in Nick's tone. Dominic had a real soft spot for Nick. Dominic had
two grown sons himself, both Derek's age, so he felt a grandfatherly role to
the headstrong ex-Navy SEAL who seemed to constantly be taking the physical
brunt of the Legacy's battles. He knew Nick would do anything for anyone of the
members of the household that Dominic served, and he respected the youth's
courage. "I believe he's still in the library with Dr. Corrigan, please hold
and I'll get him."
Derek and Rachel were seated
in the library discussing their last case over a tray of tea Dominic had
arranged earlier. Alex wasn't due back from her seminar in Los Angeles until
Monday morning. Kat had already gone to bed in her room upstairs as Derek and
Rachel enjoyed a little downtime. Dominic entered the room swiftly, "Dr.
Rayne," he began, "Master Nick is on the phone for you sir."
"Thank you Dominic," Derek
stood and walked over the desk and put the call on speaker. "Nick, where are
you?" Derek knew Nick was delayed leaving London, but he didn't yet know about
the misfortune in New York.
"I'm still in New York, rain
delays, long story, is everything okay there?" Nick immediately chastised
himself for blurting it out like that, but he was having trouble controlling
his anxiety coupled with his lack of sleep and growing headache.
"Yes, things are fine here,"
Derek stated, although his mind was already trying to reconcile the strange
urgency in Nick's voice with the question he posed. "Rachel and I were just
discussing the haunting in Carmel," Derek began as he looked questioningly at
Rachel, she too seemed to be analyzing the conversation, "Nick, is something
wrong?" Rachel had risen and walked to the desk and sat in the chair opposite
Derek, who had also taken a seat at the desk.
Nick hesitated as he tried
to formulate a response to Derek's query, he didn't want to discuss this over
the phone and with his outburst still fresh in the minds of the people in the
airport terminal, he really didn't relish explaining his dream and feeling of
dread in their earshot. "Yeah…I just…it's nothing, I just," he started, 'damn,
why won't my brain work?' Nick thought to himself. He became aware of his
silence after Rachel's voice roused him from his thoughts.
"Nick, are you okay?" Rachel
asked, even over the phone, she could hear the rasp in his voice and the drain
in his tone.
'Damn,' Nick thought again,
'now I've done it. Rachel's gonna be all over me now.' "Yeah, I'm fine, just a
little out of sorts. You know airline terminal chairs aren't the most
comfortable things in the world. I'm just antsy for a flight home." He tried to
cover what he knew he'd already let slip and hoped to get Rachel off this trail
of his growing concern, "I just hadn't checked in and knew Alex was still gone
and you guys working on that case in Carmel and wanted to make sure everything
was A-okay there." He was babbling and realized it too late, he was so tired
and his head hurt so badly, he could barely think.
Derek picked up on Nick's
attempt at cover but also Nick was obviously struggling to allay suspicion and
not discuss this over the phone. He held up a hand to stop Rachel's next
question as he again spoke, "Nick, when do you expect to be back?" Derek asked
shaking his head to Rachel as she indicated she wanted to pursue this further
with Nick, 'Later' Derek mouthed.
Nick was relieved, they
weren't pursuing it, "I don't know, the rain seems to be letting up, hopefully
I'll get a flight out in the next hour, who knows."
"Just call us when you're on
your way and tell us what flight you're on, one of us will pick you up at the
airport," Derek stated still stifling Rachel's desire to question Nick about
this strange conversation and discuss her concerns over how he sounded
physically.
"Derek, I can catch a cab,"
Nick retorted.
"No, Rachel or I one will
pick you up, that's an order Nick," Derek stated forcefully.
'Crap' Nick thought, 'I just
thought I got away with it' "Okay, whatever, I'll call when I know," Nick
replied with a sarcastic bite.
"Good. I'll talk to you
later." With that said, Derek clicked off the speaker and leaned back in the
chair to meet Rachel's irritated gaze.
"Derek, I wanted to talk to
him. He doesn't sound good," she explained, "it would have done him good to
stay in New York, get a hotel room and rest instead of hopping on another plane
and flying another 10 hours cross country…"
"Rachel," Derek interrupted,
"I agree with you that he didn't sound good, but I also detected that there is
something obviously worrying him that he called to check on us. He could have
information or some other indication that something is amiss. He is returning
from London House remember."
That got Rachel's attention.
Since William Sloan's disappearance 2 years ago, Derek stayed abreast of
London's activities much more closely. Even though Derek didn't always agree
with how William conducted Legacy business, he did know that William's loyalty
was all about The Legacy. Derek did not share that confidence in William's
replacement and was constantly wary of the Ruling Council's actions. Derek had
talked at length with Nick before his departure for London and the Ireland dig
about watching for signs of tumult or unrest and to glean as much information
as he could, as discreetly as possible.
"Derek, did you send Nick on
a spying mission?" the doctor queried the precept. She was well aware of his
tendency to act with ulterior motive in mind. She worried sometimes that he
expected too much from Nick. She knew the young man's drive and dedication when
it came to protecting his "team." The team that had become his family and a
place to belong. But, she still worried how he took the weight of the world to
his own shoulders and the guilt he took upon himself for those around him. Nick
would do whatever was necessary to get the job done, part of his SEAL training.
"You know he'd do it without question because of how he feels about what makes
a team and loyalty to that team. Derek, with Nick's personality you have to be
careful. You and I have had this discussion before," the psychiatrist
admonished.
"Rachel, you know I would
never knowingly put any member of my team in danger, including Nick, even
though I know he can handle himself," Derek explained, "he thrives on this type
of mission. Remember Reed Horton?"
"Yes, Derek, how could I
forget? You and Nick both almost died. Derek, Nick's got a lot of issues
rolling around in that head of his. The Navy was the first place he ever felt
he belonged, and when he lost that…well, I just know from the one conversation
we had about it, that it cut him to the bone. His faith was shattered," Rachel
explained. "I don't know that he's ever truly gotten over it."
"Rachel, I know that as well
as anyone. It was that loss that brought him to The Legacy. He's rebuilt that
faith, and he and I both agree that we need to insure that those who have faith
in this organization can keep that peace of mind," Derek responded. Yes, he and
Rachel had had this discussion before. He was well aware of how she kept a wary
eye on Nick. She was constantly lecturing Derek about giving Nick assignments
that allowed him to feed that need to put himself in danger. The lectures of
course did no good, just like they did no good with Nick. But, Derek knew Nick
could handle himself. He had overcome the betrayal of his SEAL team in South
America. Destroying his former commanding officer, John Richter, had in Derek's
opinion, gone a long way to healing that particular open wound.
Rachel, however, was not to
be pacified that easily. "Derek," she began again, "has Nick ever discussed the
SEAL experience with you? Do you have any idea how that betrayal rattled him?
You know, his exact words to me was that 'to make it, you really had to want to
be there, and once you made it, you had to believe in the guy covering your
back' and he said he just didn't believe anymore." Rachel held up her hand in
the same gesture Derek had used on her earlier to silence Derek's protest until
she had finished what she had to say and continued, "Have you thought about the
danger he would willingly put himself in in order to make sure that never
happened again? You know his penchant for action."
"Rachel, I know Nick can
handle himself, he always has. It will be fine. All I asked him to do was keep
his ears tuned and his eyes open. Remember, his primary mission was the dig in
Ireland. He was only in London House for a couple of days," Derek responded.
"What about that phone call
Derek, he was obviously anxious about something," Rachel retorted.
"We'll know what he meant
when he gets back. It's late, we should retire," Derek stated matter-of-factly
as he had decided that the conversation was over.
Rachel obviously wasn't
satisfied, but she was tired. But, she had one more issue she wouldn't be put
off on, "Derek, I'm going with you to pick him up, no arguments." She waited
for his response.
"I wouldn't have it any
other way. Good night Rachel." Derek stood and nodded his head to her and left
the room.
'He can be so infuriating.'
Rachel cursed to herself and then followed him out of the room.
TO
BE CONTINUED…
