A/N: I know it's been a while and I'm very sorry, but writer's block got the best of me for a while. I'm hoping it won't happen again, but you never can tell when its gonna come lol. Enjoy! xx Mariah
Jim was just finishing up washing the dishes from dinner as the doorbell rang, making him turn his head.
"Look at me," Melinda called out, appearing in the foyer with a smile on her face. "Doing my part and getting the door."
"Don't hurt yourself on the doorknob now," he chuckled. Melinda opened the door smiling, but it was gone as soon as she saw who it was. She couldn't speak, only continued to stare down Gabriel. "Mel, who is it?"
Jim turned, drying his hands off as he placed the last plate in the drying rack. His eyes set on the male, who stood smugly in his doorway. He was by her side immediately, pushing Gabriel back and shoving him off the porch.
The man tumbled onto the ground roughly with a grunt, landing on his back with a thud.
Jim didn't have words for the man yet, only anger as he stared him down. He heard Melinda follow him off the steps of the porch soon after.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked softly.
She stayed behind Jim, not wanting to be close to her so-called brother.
"Wow." Gabriel groaned, coughing as he rolled onto his side to stand up. "You're mad," Gabriel smoothed his jacket out as he stood. "I was there when you got hurt. You think it's my fault, don't you?"
"You weren't just there, Gabriel," Jim pressed his hand into his chest, blocking him as Melinda came down the steps. "You were there, smiling, and she wasn't just hurt. For the longest minute of my life, she was dead."
"Yeah. A part of me didn't mind seeing you like that," Gabriel sighed, looking past Jim at the next moment to her. "I blamed a lot of people for leaving me locked up… in where I grew up." the man muttered.
"Too bad," he said. "Now go. We don't want you here."
"Melinda," Gabriel stepped toward her. "I'm trying to find dad."
"Mine or yours?" She clasped her hands together in front of her body as she stared him down.
"Ours," Gabriel replied.
"My father is dead," she stated, coldly.
"Why should that stop either of us from looking for him? We can see the dead, Melinda." Gabriel retorted.
"Look, are you done?" She asked. "I was having a perfectly fine evening with my husband before you showed up."
"Melinda, look-" Jim cut him off with a hand to chest, pushing him back as he tried to get closer to her. "I understand not wanting to think your old man had another family on the side, but it's true."
Melinda felt tears come to her eyes as she turned away from Gabriel. She didn't want him to see her so vulnerable.
"But are you going to tell me that you haven't seen him? Or had dreams about him?" She looked back as another tear fell. Jim had looked back too. He hadn't even known about her dreams of her father. Not completely. "Yeah. I thought so. Well, don't think you're special, because he has been visiting me too. How do you think I learned you were my sister?"
"Jim asked you to leave, nicely." She said softly, her tears getting caught in her voice.
"What are you hiding from, Melinda? We're both trying to find him. We both have unfinished business with him. We should be working together."
"That's enough," Jim shouted, blocking him as he tried to push past him. "Go."
"Look, my mother gave this to me when I was a kid. She said it belonged to my father," Gabriel held out a manila envelope to her. "Take it," Gabriel said. "It'll mean a lot more to you than ever will to me." She grabbed the envelope from him slowly, looking at him. "To you, they were family. To me, they were just more people he had to hide me from."
"Where was your mother through all this?" She asked.
"She was always close by," Gabriel muttered, straightening his jacket. "In the next ward of the mental hospital." The man started to walk back toward his car then and Jim reached out from Melinda, pulling her close. "I'll be waiting by the phone for when you call Melinda. You always do what's right."
Jim couldn't stand it. The audacity that man had.
"Let's go inside," he said, sliding his hand down from her shoulder to her lower back.
Melinda nodded as she leaned into him, feeling his lips peck her forehead before they turned to head back in.
It was later that week, and Jim couldn't catch his breath. Melinda was missing. Thirteen whole hours.
Taking a deep breath, he slammed the sledgehammer into the brick wall. He finally felt it give a little. He hit again. Again. No matter how much his arms ached, he picked the sledgehammer up and shoved it back against the wall.
"C'mon Jim, you haven't taken a break in almost hour. You need to hydrate," Delia held out a bottle of water as he slammed all of his force into the wall again.
He was dripping sweat, his shirt clung to him and his hair was a mop on his head. "I'm almost through," he grunted. "I'm not stopping. I can feel it."
Payne watched from afar, in amazement that Jim still had the energy to keep going. The professor knows he sure would've been out of energy after ten minutes. "Do you have any ice?" Payne took the bottle from Delia. "This is room temperature."
He could see the dagger the woman sent him as he took a sip of the water, just as Jim broke through on the wall. He kneeled down and pushed the excess bricks out from around the initial hole.
He shone his flashlight inside the tunnel and looked around. "You both are coming with me, right?" Jim asked.
Payne gulped and looked at the dark, nearly-cave-in tunnel, but Delia answered before he could.
"Of course! We have to save Mel." Delia exclaimed and they all stepped into the tunnel.
Jim, Delia, Payne, and Melinda climbed back through the hole an hour later. Melinda limped as Jim supported her, helping her sit down once they were back in the basement of her shop.
"Let me look at your ankle," he said, kneeling down to get a better look. Her foot was swollen and around her joints was bruised. He pressed a kiss to her foot, knowing it had gotten crushed after her fall. She'd also lost her shoe. "It's just a sprain. I'll wrap it at home."
"Home sounds nice," she coughed. "So no hospital?"
"You seem fine. Did you hit your head?" He asked.
"No," she reassured him.
"Then you should be fine," he said. "But let's get you home."
Jim pulled up outside their house not long after, and he carried her up the stairs to the bathroom. He helped her pull the torn and duty dress off and get her into a bath. Bruises scattered up her back and along her legs from the rough rocks she had landed on in the cave-in.
"Oh, Mel." He whispered, running the luffa across her back. He brought the warm water over her back and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "I wish you would've just told me where you were going. I would've gone with you."
"And got us both stuck?" She looked over at him. "That wouldn't have been very smart."
He leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips as he stood up. "I guess you're right there." He said. "Do you want some tea? I'm gonna get a beer."
"Sure, that would be nice." She said, leaning back against the clawfoot tub, still smiling, but it faded when he started toward the door that leads into the hallway. "Hurry back. I don't wanna be alone right now."
"I thought that nothing scares you." He said, looking back at her again. And yet you scare me so much with the thought of losing you, Jim added in his head.
"Just clowns. That's it." Melinda replied.
"Whatever you say, Honey," Jim said, turning serious as he went to get her tea. He came back a few minutes and sat beside her on the floor with a huff and then looked over at her.
"For some reason, I don't think I like where that look you're giving me is going," Melinda said, matching his tone. But the look on her face said it all; I'm so sorry for scaring you tonight.
"I really wish we didn't have to talk about this, but I can't take it anymore. I can't stand the thought of losing you." Jim admitted, handing her the steaming mug as he took a swig of his beer.
"That's what you're here for, though. I do dangerous things, you save me." Melinda reasoned.
"Yeah, maybe. But still, Mel. My point is that next time you're going to do something stupid and dangerous, call me, and I'll come with you." Jim said.
"Stupid? So now you're saying what I do is stupid. That's great, Jim, really great." Melinda said, setting her mug down on the nearby bathroom counter with unnecessary force. She pushed up off the back of the tub to sit up and turned away from him slightly as she washed the dust and clay off of her
"Mel, that's not what I meant and you know it," Jim said, instantly regretting his words. He was frustrated with himself. He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I'm sorry. Okay, I'm sorry. It was really bad word choice, but you know what I mean. I can't stand to lose you, Melinda. It scares the crap out of me." He paused, losing his reserve for a moment as he choked up on tears in his throat before he cleared it. "I just need you to know how much I care. Mel, my biggest fear is not being to save you one day." Jim said, defeat in his eyes.
Melinda's anger melted away. He wasn't trying to tell her what to do; he simply didn't know how to express himself anyway.
"I can take care of myself, Jim. You of all people should know that," she said softly, turning back toward him slowly. She sat on his lap, pulling his face up. Tears stained his cheeks and she wiped them away.
"I know. You just don't always think with the brilliant head of yours." Jim smiled, poking her head.
Melinda giggled, rolling her eyes at him. "I'll try to be more careful. I can't promise you, though." Melinda said.
"I'll take it. Almost done?" He asked.
She replied by leaning in to kiss him, his hand touching her cheek as their lips touched. His hands moved through her hair. He grasped the strands firmly enough in his large hand near the base of her skull so that it didn't hurt, but it did force her head back so he could get deeper into her mouth, letting his tongue and teeth travel inside and out, even past her bottom lip and over her chin in playful nips.
She detoured to his hair, but they didn't stay there long. She wanted new territory; anything she could get. Every inch of hair and skin she could grab onto. She grasped at his back, making him shudder and run his teeth along her tongue in response. Her hands grazed the soft ties of his pajama bottoms before moving up to his bare chest.
She pulled back, kissing his nose. "I should get out of the bath if we're gonna… you know."
He stood up and helped her out, giving her a towel as he cupped her cheeks and kissed her. He pulled down her towel and her breasts fell naturally on his hands. Grabbing them, massaging them, he licked the nipple as he looked up at her, causing her to squirm on his lap. He sucked at them softly, making her shudder with pleasure against him.
He felt so good. His scent was surrounding her, his mouth was soft but responsive again her, and he let her hand rub up against his erection until she was cursing at the layer of pants between them. He let her do all this and groaned through most of it. Groaned. Moaned quietly against her breast and cursed against her and then laved the flesh around her nipple with his tongue was apologizing for the filth he'd let into it. He grunted and picked her up so her knees didn't buck, and even still, she felt weightless in his arms.
He panted. "I thought you wanted to go to bed when we got home." His hands left her hips, trusting her to wrap her legs around, and they slid up and over her stomach. He looked up at her under lowered lids, his eyes drugged and dark. It was the hottest thing she'd ever seen.
She nodded and smiled suggestively. "I wanted you to take me to bed," she moaned quietly, attaching her mouth to his neck. It was rough with stubble. That was new. He had shaved just the other morning, and it had started to grow back in, she concluded. "Jim, go to the bedroom." She whispered, his name carried out of her mouth on a ragged breath.
He squeezed his eyes shut tight. "Say it again," he begged.
"Mmm, Jim." He didn't even have to tell her. She tried to wrap her arms around his neck, wanting to kiss him again.
He brought them down slowly, raising the tip of her chin, looking at her eyes. "Not till I tell you to," he whispered, then kissed her passionately on her lips. He gained his footing and turned around, holding her steady against him. "Now," he said and her hands moved around his neck as he walking into their bedroom, his mouth falling to her neck.
Once they were in bed, his arms wrapped around her and he undressed her slowly, caressing each inch of her exquisite skin as he moved down on the bed. He opened her thighs with his hands and spent an endless amount of time with his face buried between them.
Jim tormented her to the edge of orgasm over and over, pulling back just before she slipped over the edge, time and again. His face dripped with her juices as he thrust his tongue into her and alternate between sucking and nibbling on her swollen clit. He teased her with her fingers, inserting just the tips, then curling one inside her, then moving three at a time.
By the time he finally let her fall, she was begging with pleas of incoherence.
Before she can recover, he slid up and into her. He rested his weight on his forearms, tucking his face into the crook of her neck as he took her slowly. Melinda's breathing was erratic, and her eyes were shut in pleasure as her fingers opened and closed on his shoulders.
He let his head drop onto her chest as he came, and whispered to her, "I love you."
Her hands ran through his hair as he rolled himself underneath her, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I love you too."
She fell asleep within minutes. Here, Jim truly felt as though everything was alright. No fear, no death, ghosts. Even if it was only for a moment, he didn't have to worry about anything. Cause all he had to worry about was safe in his arms.
