The In-Between Time: Part 2
By Morganperidot
1.
Natalie was curled up beside John on his bed, which had been their bed when they were a couple. Although it was so natural, it was still a strange thing to be there with him now, when not so long ago she had told John that she was together with Brody. But strange as it was, there was no question it was the right thing. John was the right man for her, the one who always would be in Natalie's heart.
"Are you going to answer that?" John asked. His arm was wrapped around her, and he spoke quietly into her hair.
"It's Brody," Natalie said, continuing to lie there as the phone finally fell silent.
"I know," John replied. He kissed her head. "We have to fix this," he said.
"Not on the phone," Natalie said. She moved away from John reluctantly. "I have to talk to him and explain things. I made promises to Brody and…"
"You made promises to me first," John said, "a long time before Brody Lovett ever came to Llanview."
Natalie smiled. "Are you suggesting I owe you something?" she teased.
John returned her smile. "I'll have what's mine," he said softly, and the words sent shivers of pleasure through her. Natalie leaned over him and kissed him gently but fully, only to have the kiss interrupted by the ringer on her phone sounding off once more.
"It could be about Liam," John said seriously.
Frustrated, Natalie got off the bed. "It's not," she said. "Brody tries to keep track of me. I'm sure he thinks there is the possibility of … this happening."
"This," John said.
"Yes," Natalie said.
"Seems very likely it could," John said.
"It's not funny," Natalie said, dressing quickly before going into the other room to retrieve her cell phone.
"No, funny isn't the right word for it, that's for sure," John called after her.
By the time Natalie had found her cell phone buried at the bottom of her purse, it had stopped ringing again, so she punched in Brody's number. She told him that she had lost track of time at work and would be coming home soon. She asked about Liam, and Brody told her he was fine. Natalie said good-bye and ended the call, dropping the phone back into her purse.
She turned and saw John in the doorway to the bedroom dressed only in his jeans. Natalie wanted so much to touch his bare chest and the rest of him all over again. "So this is work," he said.
"This is ours alone until I can explain it to Brody," Natalie said. "I can't just drop a bomb on him after…"
"You dropped some big ones on me," John said.
"I never wanted to hurt you," Natalie said.
"Lies hurt," John said.
"I know," Natalie said, "but I…"
"That's over now," John said, and Natalie could see that he meant it. "There's no point in going over it again." He came closer to her. "Do you want something to eat before you go?" he asked.
"I can have something at Llanfair," Natalie said, although she wanted to accept the not-so-subtle invitation to stay longer. "I need to get back to Liam," she said.
"I want to see him soon," John said.
"You know you can, whenever you want," Natalie said.
They were both silent for several seconds, and then John said, "I know it's hypocritical, but I can't have you being with him."
"You can't tell me what..."
"I know," John said. "I'm just saying this, because it should be said. I won't have him touching you like I did tonight."
"He couldn't," Natalie said. She looked at her watch; it was very late. "I have to go," she said.
"Do you want me to go with you?" John asked.
Natalie shook her head. "We need to talk to Brody, but not now," she said.
"Don't tell him about this without me there," John said. "There's no way to know how he'll react."
"He…"
"I mean it," John said seriously.
"OK," Natalie said, knowing he was overreacting. Brody was a good guy; it wasn't like finding out that she was going back with John would be the shock that sent him over the edge or something. Natalie and John shared a long, passionate goodnight kiss that had her aching to stay with him once more, before she finally tore herself away and left.
Back at Llanfair, Natalie checked on Liam and then had a small snack in the kitchen before going up to the room she shared with Brody. He was asleep on the bed, and she just stood there for a moment looking at him, knowing that she would never be with him again the way they briefly had been. It was no real loss to her; he was a likeable, average man, but there was no question that he paled quite a bit next to John. The idea of Brody touching her now made her skin crawl. She didn't even want to get into bed next to him to sleep. Instead she went back to the nursery where she slept in a chair by Liam and dreamed of John.
Natalie woke the next morning to the sound of Liam's hungry cries, and she fed him before going to shower. When she re-emerged dressed in a towel, she found Brody waiting for her. "Where were you last night?" he asked.
"I told you on the phone," Natalie said. She didn't like the idea of dressing in front of Brody now, although there was nothing he hadn't already seen. "Can you do me a favor and…"
"Was John there?" Brody asked.
"John works there," Natalie said, trying to remain calm. "We all work there, remember?"
"Our son needed you here," Brody said.
"He was fine," Natalie said. Brody was standing in front of her closet. "I need to get ready for work," she said.
"So you can go back to him," Brody said.
"What is this?" Natalie said. "Why are you suddenly so obsessed with John?"
"You were with him last night," Brody said. "Did you kiss him? Did you…"
"Stop it," Natalie said. She tried to push him aside so she could get into the closet. "I'm going to be late."
Brody grabbed her suddenly, his hands locking tightly on her arms. "Do you think you can play these games with John behind my back?" he growled in a voice she almost didn't recognize.
"Let go of me," Natalie said, trying to pull out of his grip. The look in his eyes had changed to something distant and fierce, and fear was starting to drip into her blood and pluck at her nerves.
"You're with me," Brody said, "and you are staying here with me."
"No one tells me what to do," Natalie said. She finally worked her way out of Brody's hold, but the moment she stepped toward the door he grabbed her again and threw her at the bed. Shocked and unable to stop the momentum, she bounced off the side of the bed and fell into a bureau, hitting her head and collapsing on the floor. She heard Brody's voice as if at a great distance though he still had to be in the same room. "John may be Liam's father," he said. "But he is never taking my family."
Confused and in great pain, Natalie whispered, "John," and then the world went black.
2.
John looked up from his desk in his office at the police station. Great, he thought, now he was imagining things. He wasn't imagining that Natalie was late though, and that bothered him. Something was wrong. His cop instincts were going off, and that bothered him even more. He took out his cell and punched in her number; there was no answer.
"Damn it," he said.
"Everything OK?" a familiar voice asked. John looked up and saw one of detectives – Roberts – standing there. He was a young man with short blond hair and blue eyes overdressed in what looked like business casual. The man was thin and wiry; he looked like and runner, and John seemed to remember something about him training for a marathon or being in one.
"Is there something you need?" John asked.
"I was wondering if I could bounce some ideas off you for a case I've got," Roberts said.
"Go ahead," John said, and he spent several minutes discussing the case. Roberts had some interesting leads, but he hadn't really thought them through. John tried to point him in some more helpful directions. At the same time he kept glancing toward the hallway and not seeing Natalie. Where the hell was she? "I have to make a call," he said finally, as the alarm bells in his mind were drowning out his conversation with Roberts.
When Roberts was gone John found Viki's number and dialed it, getting an answer on the fourth ring. "It's John," he said without any preamble. "I'm trying to reach Natalie."
"Oh, John, she's in the hospital," Viki said. "She been hurt – we don't really know what happened. We can't reach Brody, and Liam is gone."
John processed all of this instantaneously; he had no doubt about what had happened. "How is she?" John asked.
"She hit her head, and she's unconscious," Viki said. "There don't seem to be any other injuries aside from some bruises."
John felt his anger flare white hot, but he kept his voice under control. "Let me know when she wakes up," he said, keeping the words emotionless. "I'll find Liam."
"I will, John," Viki said. "Thank you."
John had never really understood the origin of the term "seeing red", but at that moment he could figuratively see blood – Brody's – which was close enough. He made a few phone calls to get some uniformed units out, and went himself to one of the places he had sent a unit – Llanfair.
He had a troubling sensation as soon as he entered Natalie's bedroom; there was an off-kilter, dangerous vibe that hung heavily in the air. He looked at the bed and then the bureau and saw how it had happened, then moved closer to see the blood stain on the bureau. He didn't hesitate any further in putting out an APB on Brody Lovett as armed and dangerous, but to be taken alive. He made it clear the Brody had already assaulted a member of the department and that he would mostly likely have a baby with him, so all care had to be taken.
Next, John went to Brody's old apartment, but it was cleared out. He found no signs of anyone being there recently.
As he got back to his car his cell phone rang. Viki told him that Natalie was awake and had said his name; John told her would be there as soon as he could. He drove to the hospital and tried to think of places Brody would take Liam. As a result, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings when he stepped out of the car in the emergency department parking lot.
"Don't move, or you will die right on this spot," Brody said. John felt the gun pressed lengthwise against his neck, the barrel pointed at his head. He used his anger to keep out the fear that fought to surface. Brody took his gun. "The best defense is a good offense," Brody said. "I am the only one who knows where Liam is, so you would be wise to do exactly what I tell you to do. Now walk."
John cleared from his mind of everything other than the survival training he had received as a Fed. He remembered that the number one thing to focus on when put in a life-and-death situation was to survive; taking down the enemy was a distant second. If you can run and get away, run. If you can't run, find a distraction and then run. If you can't do that, fight. And if you can't fight, find that moment when you can manipulate the situation and then fight. During training, John hadn't been entirely certain that such a moment would always present itself, but now when given the choice of finding it or having a bullet fired into his brain, he knew it would.
Brody took him to the roof of the hospital and then ordered him down on his knees. John looked across the empty roof at the sky; it was clear, and the sun was bright. He knew plenty of men had died on an average day under a sky like that. Brody stood behind him, most likely preparing for the kill shot. John thought the word – "execution" – and followed the path of the bullet in his mind. He felt the edge of the panic as it rose to meet the certainty of death, and he knew if he gave in to it there would be no moment for him to take control. He would die on his knees in front of the man who had hit Natalie and taken her child.
"How does it feel, John?" Brody said. "How does it feel to know you've failed?"
John closed his eyes and concentrated on the pressure of the gun and where Brody was standing. The moment will come, he thought. It has to come.
"Are you afraid?" Brody said.
"Yes," John said, but he wasn't. He could feel his adrenaline rising.
"You deserve that," Brody said, "to die like a weakling and a coward. And you deserve one thing more, to die with the knowledge of what I've been keeping from you."
And in that moment, as Brody prepared to deliver on his taunt, John felt his opportunity, grabbing the gun with one hand and striking out with the side of his hand against Brody's leg with the other, connecting with a sharp chop that elicited a wail from Brody as the gun discharged a few inches from John's head. John was on his feet and fighting, mindful of both Brody's gun and his that Brody had taken. Brody's fighting skills were excellent, but John had a few tricks that the government saved for its undercover Feds. John was finally able to land a blow that incapacitated Brody enough for him to take the guns. "Where is Liam?" John asked.
"He's mine," Brody said. "You are never going to get him."
John put his hand on Brody's throat and squeezed enough to shut off his air; he saw the panic on Brody's face. "Where is he?" John said, as Brody's face turned colors, he tried to fight against death. "I will kill you," John said darkly. "And I will do with my own hands. Not for what you did here but for what you did to Natalie at Llanfair. And the only thing that might save your life is to tell me where that child is with this next breath. Because if you don't, I promise that breath will be your last." John released his grip slightly. Brody's lips moved soundlessly for a moment and then he finally got out the word "car". John kept his grip on Brody's throat and used his free hand to call an officer to find and check out the car. When John heard that Liam was safe, he finally released Brody's throat and cuffed him, before turning him over to two officers. It was only after the three of them were gone for more than a minute that John allowed himself to drop his guard and briefly face the fact that he had almost died.
3.
Natalie was worried about John and Liam. The Brody she had seen – the one who had thrown her across the room – was a complete stranger. She didn't know what he was capable of. She didn't think he would hurt Liam, but all bets were off when it came to John. His jealousy of John had appeared to be psychotic.
It troubled Natalie that John hadn't shown up after telling her mother he was on his way. Where was he? If she didn't have the killer headache of the century she would have gotten out of bed to look for both of her guys. But as it was, she doubted she would make it out of the room.
When Natalie heard voices in the hallway she looked over at the door to her hospital room. She finally relaxed when she saw John appear there and then walk into the room – until she got a good look at him. "What happened to you?" she asked, taking in his dirty clothes, messy hair, cuts, and bruises.
"Brody," John said.
"He…"
"Later," John said. "Liam is fine."
"Thank God," Natalie said. "Are you?"
"Yeah," John said. "I am now." He touched her face gently with his fingertips. "How the did this happen?" he asked.
Natalie sighed. "Brody just knew," she said, "and he went nuts. I tried to talk around it, but he wasn't listening. He was just so angry about you."
"He shouldn't have put his hands on you," John said.
"Did you…"
"He's in custody," John said. "But I came damn close. I let him know what it feels like." John leaned over and kissed her lips lightly. "How are you?" he asked.
"My head hurts, but I'm OK," Natalie said. "I need to tell you something he said."
"I don't need to know anything from him," John said. "You should rest."
"Just listen, OK?" Natalie said.
"OK," John said, and he smiled.
"I may have misheard him, or maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but it seemed to me that he said something about you being Liam's father but…" Natalie had a sudden flash of memory, sitting with Liam and listening to Marty's tape. She remembered hearing the words: Natalie didn't have Brody's baby; she had John's. And Brody had the tape recorder, the one Gigi had with her the last day of her life. "Oh my God," she said, looking into to John's stunned eyes. "It's true, Liam is your son!"
