A/N Shorter chapter tonight because I'm going to post the second half of this (Gail and co) tomorrow hopefully! Hopefully being the word. I'm almost done an update with Moments of Pleasure too, making up for the two week absence earlier haha.
Enjoy!
D x
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Chapter twelve.
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Eleven years ago…
Grey Mansion,
Grey Estate,
Seattle,
Washington,
Gail smiled down at Teddy, running a damp cloth over his floury hands and cheeks, "Oh Mr Grey," she chuckled, rubbing his copper coloured fringe, "How did you get flour in your hair?"
Teddy grinned big as he looked up at his housekeeper, the second most important woman in his life. More important than Phoebe. She sucked.
"I was being a ghost," Teddy giggled, loving when he and Stephen got to bake with this woman. Taylor called her 'Little Woman' but Teddy could think of so many different, nicer names.
Beautiful Woman.
Cosy Woman.
Mothering Woman.
Safe Woman.
"Oh Mr Grey," Gail chuckled, stroking his cheek livingly, "Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you," she hummed, Teddy feeling his heart flutter, "Shall I stay? Would it be a sin if I can't help falling in love with you?"
"Gail," Teddy giggled, holding her hands to his cheeks and smiling when she made a funny face.
"Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes; some things are meant to be," Gail continued to sing, looking up when Taylor came out of the security office. He looked tired, Teddy knew he and daddy were working doubly hard which was why Gail was babysitting Teddy and Stephen whilst mommy when to see nana Carla with Phoebe and Sawyer.
"Mrs Taylor," Taylor called out, picking up the cake batter spoon and licking it before Teddy got a chance to eat it.
"Hey!" Teddy grumbled, Taylor looking down at him and sticking his tongue out playfully.
Stupid Taylor; Teddy got to lick the spoon. Always.
"Mr Taylor," Gail responded, however, standing up and kissing Taylor on the chin, "Are you hungry?"
"Starving; I'm excited for Teddy and Stephen's cakes; I'm going to eat them all," he said and winked in Teddy's direction to let Teddy know that he was kidding and would only eat Stephen's, Teddy was sure.
"You're a bad man, Mr Taylor; stealing cakes from children," Gail said with a little smirk.
"I am a bad man, Mrs Taylor; but I'm your bad man," he commented and Teddy watched him walking over to Gail at the sink and wrapping his arms around her, his tummy against her back, "Mmmm…Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes; some things are meant to be," Taylor sung, kissing her ear and then swaying with her in his arms like what Daddy did with mommy.
Like mommy, Gail smiled over her shoulder at Taylor.
"Take my hand. Take my whole life too," Taylor continued, his voice rubbish and low unlike Gail's, "For I can't help falling in love with you."
"Mr Taylor," Gail chuckled, both turning when Stephen finally came back from pooping, "There you are, mister. I thought you'd fallen in."
"No, Ma'am," Stephen said with that stupid English accent; it sounded like 'mum' when he should be saying 'ma'am', "Good afternoon, Mr Taylor."
"Good afternoon, Stephen," Taylor smiled, letting go of Gail and ruffling Stephan's short hair, "Can I get a sandwich, Gail?"
"Of course," Gail said, "Just the regular; Turkey, ham, cheese, bacon and chicken?"
"I'm feeling healthy today," Taylor mused, making both boys giggle, "Put one of those little tomato things on it too?"
"A single cherry tomato?" Gail questioned, "Are you sure? That's a little risky for you."
"You're right, like always," Taylor nodded, pouring himself a coffee, "Maybe half of a cherry tomato?"
"One Cholesterol Crumpler and a side salad of one half of a cherry tomato coming your way, Mr Taylor," Gail cooed.
"Is delivery an option? I have ten minutes to spare and I was going to go to the cottage…"
"Taylor," Teddy laughed, "You're so silly; there's no delivery to the cottage. Just eat it here. This isn't McDonalds."
"Damn, Teddy, it's a shame it's not McDonalds here," Taylor pouted, looking at Gail, "I like my food…given to me hot and fast and extra saucy."
"Right, Mr Taylor, that's enough of your brattling on," Gail snipped, shooing Taylor from her kitchen, "Enough of that; go ask Mr Grey if he wants an early dinner."
"But-"
"Go away Taylor!" Teddy laughed, loving when Taylor was in a funny mood.
"Awww, you guys…." Taylor pouted again and sulked away towards the stairs, going to Daddy's office.
"I love Taylor, Gail," Teddy clarified, "When he's not shouting."
"Taylor loves you too, Master Grey," Gail chuckled, "When you're not causing him to shout."
Stephen leant forward and picked a couple of the grapes from the fruitbowl, Teddy doing the same and giggling at his best friend.
"Right, your father wants egg mayo and salad," Gail reported to both Taylor and Stephen, looking at her mobile phone, "I have fresh eggs in the pantry. Behave for two minutes."
"Okay," both boys sung, Teddy giggling at Stephen being silly and eating his grapes like a hamster.
He burst out laughing when Stephen put five grapes in between his cheek and teeth and squished them, the juices running down his chin. Copying his friend, Teddy reached over and grabbed four himself and put them in his mouth.
"You're so gross," Teddy laughed, then gasped; the grapes falling back down his throat.
He took a breath but couldn't get the air into his lungs.
He tried coughing but it was stuck and his chest couldn't work.
Stephen looked at him worriedly, "Teddy?"
Teddy grabbed his throat, feeling his face getting red and warm as he kept trying to cough.
And cough.
But nothing was working.
He couldn't breathe; it was stuck in his throat.
Stephen jumped out of his seat and ran to Teddy, pulling him out of his own seat and wrapping his arms around Teddy's tummy.
He squeezed and it hurt.
But he did it again and then again and then again and then again.
"Mrs Taylor?" he called calmly, still continuing to squeeze Teddy tighter and tighter.
"Yes?" Gail called, hurrying through to the kitchen and gasping when she saw Teddy, "JASON!"
Just as she reached Teddy, however, Stephen squeezed him so tight that two grapes fired out of his mouth and hit the floor.
"Oh Teddy," Gail gasped, pulling Stephen away and giving him space to lie down and breathe just as Taylor's heavy footsteps bounded into the kitchen. He squished the grapes with his brogue which would have made Teddy laugh if he could breathe okay.
"What happened?" Taylor demanded.
"He choked on the grapes," Gail said, rubbing Teddy's back for him, "I was in the pantry getting the eggs."
"Right," Taylor nodded and knelt down in front of Teddy, "Don't panic, son, you're going to be okay. It's scary choking but don't get upset, okay?"
Teddy nodded; he was eight after all. But Taylor's friendly face and kind voice made him cry and Teddy reached out his hands to be held by his family's protector. Taylor pulled him up off the floor the minute Teddy asked.
"Oh me, me, me," Taylor cooed, hugging Teddy tightly in his arms, "It's okay. It's okay."
"My…tummy hurts," he whined burying his face into Taylor's neck but then he had to turn it again to keep breathing lots and lots and lots, "Stephen squeezed it."
Stephen nodded then, sitting in Gail's lap on the chair because he was upset too, "My Papa choked on his lobster and daddy did that to help him."
"You're a hero, Stephen," Gail nodded, kissing Stephen's cheek.
"Come on, Teddy, lets go see Dad," Taylor nodded, holding him, "then we'll go to the hospital to be checked."
"No, daddy…will yell…because I put four…grapes in…muh-muh-my mouth," Teddy gasped, crying hard now from his fright.
"I think Dad will just be glad Stephen was so quick to action," Taylor promised, kissing Teddy's tear soaked cheek, "It's okay, Tedster. It's okay. I won't let Daddy yell at you."
"Promise?"
"I promise; I'll protect you," Taylor laughed, knocking on the office door, "Mr Grey?..."
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Present day…
Midnight,
An hour's drive from the Canadian-Washington boarder,
Canada,
.
"Do you even know where we're going?" Teddy huffed then, "I think you've forgotten and that's why we're driving around all across the country."
"I've not forgotten," Taylor retorted, unlocking the car for them both, "My memory's perfect. Unlike your manners."
"Oh that's good that your memory's working since Gail's isn't," Teddy mumbled under his breath then paused, seeing Jason freeze up with his hand on the door handle.
Ah…Gail.
Gotcha.
Teddy smirked, "She probably forgot to tell the other guards your clues," he pressed, "She's probably in La-la-land right now, cooking spaghetti sauces while we're-"
A fist smashed Teddy so hard in the jaw that he fell clean off his feet and fell back against the piss soaked verge.
The pain was a relief to the young man and he welcomed the darkness as he blacked out…
.
Jason's fist smacked Teddy's jaw and knocked the teen back onto the grassy verge they'd just pissed on.
"Get up," he ordered the young man and Teddy, stupidly, stood. He was a little dazed, staggering and confused, his jeans wet with the piss he'd landed in.
Slowly he lifted his arms in defeat…but Jason punched him again.
Then hooked him harder.
He fell back against a tree this time, coughing and then spitting out a trickle of blood. He seemed to regain his sense of balance as he looked up at Jason with a self-loathing smirk which reminded Jason of how his father once was. "Fuck, Taylor. That the best you've got? Thought you were a Marine?" he grinned, teeth red with his blood.
Arrogant prick.
Jason saw red and charged forward like a bull, spearing Teddy's stomach and pushing both of them through the forest and onto the floor, Jason pinning Teddy under his bodyweight, "Fucking worm," Jason snapped as he punched Teddy again, feeling the young man's own fist colliding with Jason's jaw.
Cheap, lucky, shot.
It did nothing but further aggravate Jason, his hands squeezing Teddy's throat.
Choking him.
Teddy's eyes lit with panic as he struggled, and failed, to wriggle free from Taylor's hold.
"Let…go," Teddy struggled to choke out.
"I'll fucking kill you," Jason threatened, pressing down on Teddy's windpipe more and more before gasping and losing his grip when Teddy used all his might to drive his fist right into Jason's crotch.
"Fuck!" Jason gasped, falling back and grabbing himself tightly.
Dirty fucking move.
Teddy gasped himself, rolling onto his feet and assuming the classic kickboxing position, kicking out sharply when Jason stood and hitting his head. Again, it was a lucky blow, but Jason caught Teddy's foot on the second kick and twisted it hard, causing him to lose his balance and tumble again.
The second he got his footing, however, Teddy was back at Jason and lashing out viciously, "You fucking killed him you ugly bastard!" he screamed in Jason's face, punching and kicking out, tears pouring in his eyes, "You fucking ruined my fucking life you lazy, good for nothing cunt! You let him die! You and my whore mother!"
Jason received a few lucky hits to his torso but he defended his head as he retreated from Teddy's advances before he began to reciprocate the onslaught and fight back again, his own punches doing more damage to Teddy than the young man's were doing to himself.
"I hate you!"
"I hate you too!" Jason shouted back, Teddy not the only one hurting, "You think of no one else! I should fucking kill you and get back to my wife before-"
"Before she forgets you? She's so old, her memory is horrific," Teddy sneered then gasped as Jason hooked him again, breaking Teddy's rib.
Before she forgets you…
Jason felt his own eyes water momentarily but he focused his efforts on killing this little prick, grabbing Teddy's throat again and slamming him against a pine tree. He'd kill him, ditch the body somewhere and go get his wife and drive her to the hospital himself for her surgery because he was so…fucking…DONE with this Grey shit.
Fuck Christian Grey. Fuck his family. Fuck his one son in particular.
Teddy's face was a wonderful shade of purple, Jason not even acknowledging the few kicks Teddy managed to hit him with. Nothing hurt him more than the reminder that his wife had a brain tumour and would need brain surgery.
The love of his life.
His protector.
Teddy was struggling less and less and Taylor pressed down on his windpipe, his muscles shaking in his arms.
"…this is the car but where are they?"
Jason froze and looked over towards where they'd parked their car, seeing a set of headlights glowing.
"Slick says they were last seen on CCTV driving into Canada twenty minutes ago. This is their car."
"Then where the fuck are they?"
Jason slackened his hold on Teddy's throat, covering his mouth instead and pulling him tight against one of the thick fir trees. At first, Teddy struggled until Jason pointed towards where the headlight was.
"Who should I know?"
"They aint gettin' far without their car. Probably off shitting."
"Keep your guns up,"
Jason heard them moving but couldn't see them through the thicket, just see the shadows caused by their car's headlights.
Fuck, all their stuff was in the car.
"This way," Jason whispered in Teddy's ear, slowly nudging him forwards, "When I say run, don't stop."
"Okay," Teddy nodded, taking a deep breath and taking a tentative step away from the car and deeper into the woods. Jason was right behind him, his hand lightly brushing Teddy's finger to make sure they didn't lose each other in the darkness.
They'd made about four paces when someone, one of them, stood on a branch.
They froze and Jason could see the whites of Teddy's eyes.
"Over there,"
"Run." Jason said, taking off at a sprint, Teddy right behind him and then overtaking him. He was a fast bastard, Jason realised, chasing after him.
Behind, Jason could hear the sound of the Esposito's thugs hot on their tails however, and he was sure that there was a barking dog in the distance too. The branches were cutting and it was incredibly hard to make out where they were even gunning too.
"I hear water, Jason!" Teddy yelled from up ahead, coming to a stop so that Jason could catch up.
"Go, go, go!" Jason nodded, turning swiftly on his toes and pointing his gun behind him, firing a warning shot before chasing after Teddy again, "Don't stop running, Teddy!"
"Hurry up, then!" Teddy shouted angrily, jumping when the Thugs behind them fired their own guns, "Faster, Jason!"
A bullet barely missed Jason's ear as he followed Teddy, hearing the sound of water just as Teddy informed him there was. It was thunderous in sound and Jason imagined that the heavy rain they'd driven through earlier in the morning had done nothing but strengthened the rapids. He was hopeful for a bridge; there was always a bridge. Otherwise they were looking for a cold dip into a Canadian river.
"Shit, Jason, it's a river!" Teddy cursed, coming to a stop in a little clearing, "Fuck it's wild!"
Jason skidded to a stop and turned around again, firing his weapon back towards the forest as a warning to the thugs before he turned on his heels, quickly assessing the situation entirely.
There was no bridge. Fuck.
The rapids were wild. Fuck.
It was dark and Jason couldn't see completely whether it was a survivable torrent. Double fuck.
It was a drop to the water itself and Jason could just see one large boulder gleaming in the night with no idea how many more sharp rocks would await them in the water. Triple Fuck.
"We have to jump," Teddy insisted which was good, Jason supposed, because it meant Teddy understood that their hands were tied and they were trapped. Jason didn't have enough bullets to hold off their attackers so it was either stand and hope they didn't get shot or jump and hope they didn't drown, or hit their heads, or lose each other in the rapids, or die of hypothermia once they reached the bottom.
Fuck those were shit options.
"Jason, can you swim?" Teddy asked.
The question shocked Jason, staring at the boy in confusion for a second; did he honestly care or was he just worried for himself again?
"Yes," Jason eventually nodded, "My arm's still not a hundred per-Fuck!" he fired again, hitting the Esposito's damn dog; a lurcher thing with barbed teeth and a horrible snarl. It fell with a whine, dying eventually from the gunshot just as one of the thugs broke through the trees and received a bullet to the face.
"Hold my hand then, we can help each other," Teddy suggested, seeing that the aggravated moving had, indeed, caused Jason's healing arm to begin bleeding again.
Jason nodded, continuing to fire before chucking his gun in his pants and turning to face the river.
He took Teddy's hand, took a deep breath, and leapt off the cliff verge into the freezing cold unknown.
