Chapter 7: Ride Together

Angel's POV:

I gazed at a calendar in my hands and crossed off the day before, reflecting back that it had been a week since I had become the Chain Angel and had met up with Johnny and Luke. If I hadn't already become used to being surprised by now, I think it would have boggled me that a week prior, I had been a normal girl and if someone had told me I would end up like this, I would have brushed it off.

I glanced over at Luke, seeing he was sitting by the river we had stopped at to rest. Ever since finding out that the doctor had killed his mother and that he was charged for two other murders, he had been pretty much silent and it was starting to worry me because the young man hadn't really done anything for the past few days and seemed like he was just there physically. I moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you doing okay?" I asked him.

He looked at me and shook his head. "No," he said. "I've been trying to figure out how I was charged for my aunt's and my sister's murders too. At the courthourse, it was just for my mom's murder, so how did they sneak in two other charges without me knowing it?"

"I don't know," I admitted as it was puzzling even for me. "But Luke, you're beginning to worry me. You haven't really done or said anything since we caught the guy responsible for your mom's passing."

He sighed. "I guess I wonder if I am responsible for their deaths," he said.

"Luke, that's not true," I said, gently grasping the stainless steel link around his neck. "This proved you were innocent. I would know if you weren't."

"But this was just for my mom's death, Angel," he pointed out. "What about my sister and aunt?"

Okay, he had me there because it was true. I took a deep breath and looked at him. "Luke, do you trust me?" I asked.

He nodded and seemed to realize what I was going to do. "Please, Angel?" He said, looking at me with pleading eyes.

I took another deep breath and nodded before holding my hands out as if I was going to push him away, but stopped halfway between myself and Luke and closed my eyes. My chains came out and the left chains wrapped around the young man as I tried to 'look' deep. A stainless steel chain link formed in my left hand before those chains let go and the chains that came from my right wrapped around Luke and I again did a 'search', for lack of a better word. In my right hand, a stainless steel chain link formed and my chains let go after a moment. I opened my eyes and looked at him, holding up both chain links.

"You're innocent in all three crimes," I said.

He looked at me. "Are you sure?" He asked doubtfully.

I set the two links aside and took his hands in mine. "Luke, bad people don't become the Crow," I said as I had done a bit of research on the side about the Crow and their powers. "Those that have been wronged and given a chance to prove their innocence and make the real criminals pay are the Crow."

He bowed his head, but I lifted up his chin to make him look at me. "Do not blame yourself for something you didn't do," I continued. "You are not responsible for your mom's death, nor for the deaths of your aunt and sister." I pulled him into a hug. "We'll find out who killed them, just like we found out who killed your mom."

Luke hugged me back. "I just miss her so much, Angel," he admitted, tears running down his face.

"I know," I soothed, tears falling from my own eyes as I remembered how I felt when my grandfather had passed away. He hadn't wanted this to happen to me, but now it had and because he was gone, I would have had to face it all alone if not for Luke and Johnny.

Still, I knew how Luke felt because when I first realized my powers after my transformation, I felt lost and like the world was crashing down on me too. We sat there for a while before Johnny came up to us, having gotten us some food from the fast food place across the street. "I got us some tacos and quesadillas," he said. "Hope you guys are hungry."

Luke's stomach growled then, as did mine and we both looked sheepish before we both began laughing at the same time. "Yeah, I could eat," I said. "And I think Luke could too."

We dug into the food, which tasted amazing, along with the lime waters that Johnny had gotten for us. After we finished eating, I noticed the chain links I had set aside and I picked them up. "Luke, can I see your necklace?" I asked him.

He nodded and gave it to me. I made the three links join together like a chain and gave it back to him. "One for your mom, one for your aunt, and one for your sister," I said as he put it around his neck. "We're going to solve your aunt's murder next and after that, your sister's murder."

"She's right," Johnny said with a nod. "We'll help you find peace and join your family soon, Luke."

He nodded. "I just...while being the Crow is awesome...I miss my family," he admitted.

"I know how you feel," the stuntman said. "I miss my dad a lot. In fact, he's part of the reason I chose to continue being the Ghost Rider."

"Really?" I asked in surprise as Johnny had never talked about this before.

He nodded. "I got cheated out of being with my family," he said. "I don't want that to happen to anyone else."

I nodded as I realized his story was similar to mine. I had been cheated out of being with my family, even if it had just been my grandfather and I. "Maybe that's why we all connected when we met," I said. "We've all been cheated and we're trying to make things right."

Luke nodded as it made sense. "But...it sounds like Johnny already made things right," he said.

"I did, but now I've got to live with it," Johnny said. "I once tried to not be the Ghost Rider and it nearly backfired on me. Now, it's part of me and like I said, I don't want anyone else to go through what I did."

I got up and held my hand out to Johnny, my chains forming and wrapping around him gently before a chain link appeared in my hand, one that was stainless steel but something else was on it. Etched into it was a pair of angel wings. I gazed at it in surprise as this had never happened before. "What is it?" He asked.

"This has never happened before," I said as I showed him the link. He looked surprised too and smiled.

"Your mark?" He asked.

"I don't know," I admitted. "If it is, it's new to me."

Luke took a closer look at his and smiled. "It must be your mark," he said. "Look."

Before our eyes, the angel wings formed on the chain links he wore around his neck. "How is that happening?" I asked.

"Maybe it's because we're all close," Johnny said. "We have in a way become like a makeshift family."

As soon as he said that, it made sense to me and Luke. We had become a family in more ways than one. Johnny was like our older brother and protector, I was like a little sister to him and a big sister to Luke, and Luke was like our little brother. I smiled and saw Luke smile too. "I agree," he said. "We're like a family."

"And we're going to solve those murders together," I said.

Nodding, Johnny placed his hand out, palm facing the ground. Without hesitation, I placed my hand on top of his and Luke placed his hand over mine and we all nodded.

Yes, we were still being hunted by the police and we still had to figure out the other two murders Luke was convicted of, but we were going to stick together and solve the mysteries as a family.

As the Rider, the Angel, and the Crow.

And that concludes the first story of the trilogy. :) Thank you all who read, faved, followed, and reviewed. Keep your eyes peeled for the second story titled "The Rider, The Angel, And The Crow: The Middle". :)

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GoldGuardian2418