Chapter 4

Mac grabbed the tiny girl as she passed out. He had a strange feeling of her the moment he saw her. The girl was special and needed to be taken care of. He held her in his arms and carried the child off the ring.

"Where are you taking her?" Keri said looking at Mac.

"Upstairs to my place. Do you mind taking over for me for the rest of the day?" He answered back getting into the elevator.

"No problem." She smiled getting back to the office to finish paper work.

After getting off the elevator that lead to his loft, Mac walked straight to his bed and laid the girl down. He looked at her sweet gentle face. He could see old bruises on her face that were about done healing, but still left a slight purple mark on her cheek. He also noticed the whelps forming on her body from Daemon punching her. Mac smiled and laughed at the fact that he knew the boy she fought was going to have marks as well. The girl was the first one to ever be able to hit him back to the point of pissing him off .

Mac got up and went to the fridge to get some ice so that the bruises on the girl's face would not swell. When he came back and placed the wash cloth full of ice on her she didn't move. The bags under her eyes told the story of how she hadn't really slept in a while. He knew what she was, but he wandered where she came from.

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Richie was glad to park his motorcycle in front of the café. He had been driving for quite some time. His butt ached from not taking a break from the 6 hour trip from when he last stopped. The only thing he could think of now was his apetite, Joe's homemade apple pie.

He walked in the diner and took his helmet off. "Hey Claude he smiled, Joe anywhere to be seen?" He said sitting down at the bar.

"Yeah in the back. Yo Joe! Richie is here to see ya!" the native New York cook yelled to his boss.

Joe appeared from the back only a second later. "Hey Richie how was your trip? Find anything out?" He smiled at his friend.

"No couldn't find Adam, nor the phsychic he has been buddy buddy with for the past while. So I just decided to make it a vacation. And it went good. No hassles what-so-ever. How have you been?"

"Good, oh yeah here." Joe mentioned getting Richie a piece of his pie.

"Ah, Joe you always could read what my stomach is saying." He smiled picking a fork and digging into the pie. "How's Mac? Have I missed anything exciting?" He said with his mouth half fool.

"No things have been pretty quiet around here. A little too quiet." Joe winked.

"Yeah I know what you mean." Richie nodded at his old friend. He sat in silence as he finished his pie. He took his time, knowing as soon as he was done at the diner he would have to go and check on the gym and see if he had to clean up or not. It was 8pm and it was nearly closing time.

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Mac had just finished eating his dinner when he heard the little girl start to stir on the bed. She seemed to be in the beginning of having a bad dream. Mac got up and walked from the couch to the girl, he layed his hand upon her cheek to see if he could gently get her to come out of her dream. It failed. She grabbed his hand quickly and popped open her eyes. She was frightened.

"Where the Hell am I?" She looked at Mac who she was still holding his wrist.

"You passed out, you are at my place. Do you remember anything that went on?" Mac questoned the girl.

"Yeah I was in the middle of kicking some guys ass when I felt faint, did you catch me?" She looked at him as she let go of his wrist remembering that this wasn't the bad guy.

"Yeah," he smiled. "Look, my name is Duncan McCloude, but most call me Mac." He put his hand out for a shake.

"Brekan Center, most people call me Brek." She smiled shaking his hand.

"What brought you to my place?" He asked while walking to the kitchen to get her some food he had left over.

"I'm new in the neighborhood. I have belonged to a place like this before. Just wanted to come in and see what it was all about." Brek lied.

"Really? Did you just get done with a competition?"

"No why?" Brek was wandering where he was coming from.

"I noticed you had some old bruises on your face that I know Daemon didn't give you." Mac wasn't stupid. He had seen those kinds of bruises before, especially the ones shaped like fingers.

Brek put her hands to her face forgetting that she was recovering from Cameron still. "Oh, these. Well, come to think of it, yeah Daemon didnt give me some of these bruises. My old instructor and I like to play rough, the one i just left in fact." She only half lied this time.

"Did you need me to call your parents? It is late and I'm sure they are worried, not only that but i dont want you to walk around here by yourself." Mac said

"Oh no, I'm fine i can handle myself. I have to go now, if you don't mind is it possible i come back around the same time tomorrow." she said as she got up and put her feet on the ground and started walking to the elevator.

"Well, no I dont mind. Hey im serious arent your parents going to worry?" He walked after her. Surely somone had to be taking care of her. Then he stopped and that awful headache he knew very well came to him. he grabbed Brek quickly. "Brek you need to stay here for a moment." he grabbed her arm.

"What? No i cant." She stammered. But she recognized the look in Mac's face. She had seen it before. But where. It only took a second for her memory to lapse and her eyes grew wide as she looked back up at Mac who was looking at the elevator and moving away. "Get off of me." She slid from his reach. "Youre one of them, i should have known Cameron has people all around." She ran.

"Brek, wait!" Duncan shouted. Just then the elevator stopped at Duncan's loft. But what the two of them, Mac and Brek, saw amazed them.

Brek looked deep into the brown eyes she had known all her life. Could it be? Could it really be him? That is when she felt faint again and hit the ground.