Disclaimer-Same as the last one.
A/N-Alright, I'm sorry this update has taken me so long. I've been at work
and busy putting my life back together. Also, other story ideas keep
popping into my head and my muse, Alex, demands that I write them down. So
blame him, not me. And another thing, this may be the last chapter.
Blade smirked as I pulled him outside. "So whatdaya want me ta do, Storm?"
"Keep an eye on Cobalt. Make sure Spot doesn't touch her. I'm really not partial to losing her."
"None of us are. But den again, not many of us are partial ta Spot either."
I smiled. "No we aren't. Now go check up on her, then get back here. I owe you big time Blade."
He nodded quickly and left, running toward Brooklyn.
I decided to turn in and headed back to the lodging house. As I lay in bed, I thought. Who was Cobalt? Why did Xavier go crazy when she refused to work in a sweatshop? There had to be another reason...a reason she was hiding. I wanted to know but there wasn't a way to get into Brooklyn now. But I was screwed. Spot didn't want me there.
Blade came back everyday from Brooklyn with new dirt on Spot. He had kissed her...he said he loved her...they sold together. It made me sick, but I tolerated it. I couldn't take him on...not like that. Blade also said that Cobalt looked happy sometimes, and sad sometimes. Even when Spot was with her.
In the last two months, Blade had been telling me that Christelle seemed weak. She often fell asleep on Spot's shoulder, or sat down on the side of the road and didn't sell. Sometimes she didn't even come out with him. It frightened me.
Then what my subconscious had been dreading happened. Blade came back, caught and in Spot's vice grip. He growled at me. "What da hell is dis?"
I frowned. "It looks to me like your brother."
"I know its me bruddah! Ya been havin' him spy on me?!"
I shrugged. "Maybe. I was worried about Cobalt."
"She's fine!"
Blade pulled away from his brother. "Ya know she's not! Ya should tell him for Christ's sake!"
I stood up. "What is it?"
Spot took a deep breath. "She...she's dyin'. She had cancer, Storm...in her blood."
I fell back to my chair. "How long have you known," I whispered dangerously.
"Bout three months..."
"Spot, I know you're mad...but I have to see her. How long does she have left?"
"Dat's part a' da reason I came down...she ain't gonna make it through tanight."
I clenched my fists. I had kept a close watch on her all this time just to find out...that...this! "I'm leaving to see her. I don't care what you say Spot. I'm leaving."
Spot followed me as I walked out toward Brooklyn. There was no stopping me. I loved her and that was that. Nothing else.
I reached her room quicker than it had ever taken me to walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn. I sat down next to her. "Christelle?"
"Cal? That is you, no?" Her voice was hoarse and weak, her breathing labored, shallow, deathly.
"I'm here. Listen to me because...I don't have long alright? I love you Cobalt. I always did. I didn't leave by choice and I've had Blade following you around to make sure you were okay. I was kept from you. I hated every moment of it and I don't care if you don't believe me...its true."
"I believe you...I just...was so...lost..."
"I have questions I need you to answer so I can know who you really are...please?"
Spot stepped forward. "Let her go, Calahan...she's dyin'."
I ignored him. "Why was Xavier so mad? It wasn't because of the sweatshop, was it?"
She smiled weakly. "You found me out. Xavier wasn't my brother. He was my fiancé. I wanted a child, he didn't...so I...I...had an affair with his brother. That's why we left France and why he hit me."
It hurt to know all this but it made it easier on me. "How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen."
"Alright, last question...do you love me?"
Spot looked up. Cobalt smiled. "I had to chose between two boys that I loved...one had power...the other loved me...I chose the one with power at first. It had always gotten me somewhere...but in the end..." She took a breath that was to be her last. "I love you, Cal."
I kissed her softly and her eyes closed, her breath left her body, and she lay still...dead...gone.
Cobalt changed me that year. She made me into who I am today. The day she died I went down to the docks and bought a ticket back to Ireland. I found my family, finished school, and went to college to be a doctor. Spot...well, he never changed. He got into a street fight when he was twenty and died of injuries from it. Blade put himself in an orphanage and got adopted. He is a lawyer in Maine and owns his own practice. Top married a Viscount from England and lives there with her 4 children named Calahan, Alexander, Christelle, and Nicholas.
I married a woman named Paris, who ironically was from Paris. I have one son named Christopher. I visited Cobalt's grave once after I left. It was after I had treated a patient with leukemia. Cancer of the blood...what took her life. I can't cure it, no one can really cure it...but I can take the edge off the pain. I wish I could have done it for her. Maybe she would have made it longer.
Corner and Pocket, the two boys that saved her life, are, as far as I know still in New York. They work in factories and both have wives and children. Dante, as we now call Pocket, keeps in touch with me. He takes care of Cobalt's gravesite. He found Xavier...it turns out, Cobalt had a son to his brother. Pierre is the boy's name. He was given up for adoption and lives in Pennsylvania with a wealthy mine owning family. I met once. He has her eyes and smile...and her downfall. I treated Pierre for leukemia. He has it young...sadly enough, I'll be happy to see him go. That way his pain ends sooner than his mother's did.
Cobalt changed the lives of a lot of boys that year. She still changes mine.
Blade smirked as I pulled him outside. "So whatdaya want me ta do, Storm?"
"Keep an eye on Cobalt. Make sure Spot doesn't touch her. I'm really not partial to losing her."
"None of us are. But den again, not many of us are partial ta Spot either."
I smiled. "No we aren't. Now go check up on her, then get back here. I owe you big time Blade."
He nodded quickly and left, running toward Brooklyn.
I decided to turn in and headed back to the lodging house. As I lay in bed, I thought. Who was Cobalt? Why did Xavier go crazy when she refused to work in a sweatshop? There had to be another reason...a reason she was hiding. I wanted to know but there wasn't a way to get into Brooklyn now. But I was screwed. Spot didn't want me there.
Blade came back everyday from Brooklyn with new dirt on Spot. He had kissed her...he said he loved her...they sold together. It made me sick, but I tolerated it. I couldn't take him on...not like that. Blade also said that Cobalt looked happy sometimes, and sad sometimes. Even when Spot was with her.
In the last two months, Blade had been telling me that Christelle seemed weak. She often fell asleep on Spot's shoulder, or sat down on the side of the road and didn't sell. Sometimes she didn't even come out with him. It frightened me.
Then what my subconscious had been dreading happened. Blade came back, caught and in Spot's vice grip. He growled at me. "What da hell is dis?"
I frowned. "It looks to me like your brother."
"I know its me bruddah! Ya been havin' him spy on me?!"
I shrugged. "Maybe. I was worried about Cobalt."
"She's fine!"
Blade pulled away from his brother. "Ya know she's not! Ya should tell him for Christ's sake!"
I stood up. "What is it?"
Spot took a deep breath. "She...she's dyin'. She had cancer, Storm...in her blood."
I fell back to my chair. "How long have you known," I whispered dangerously.
"Bout three months..."
"Spot, I know you're mad...but I have to see her. How long does she have left?"
"Dat's part a' da reason I came down...she ain't gonna make it through tanight."
I clenched my fists. I had kept a close watch on her all this time just to find out...that...this! "I'm leaving to see her. I don't care what you say Spot. I'm leaving."
Spot followed me as I walked out toward Brooklyn. There was no stopping me. I loved her and that was that. Nothing else.
I reached her room quicker than it had ever taken me to walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn. I sat down next to her. "Christelle?"
"Cal? That is you, no?" Her voice was hoarse and weak, her breathing labored, shallow, deathly.
"I'm here. Listen to me because...I don't have long alright? I love you Cobalt. I always did. I didn't leave by choice and I've had Blade following you around to make sure you were okay. I was kept from you. I hated every moment of it and I don't care if you don't believe me...its true."
"I believe you...I just...was so...lost..."
"I have questions I need you to answer so I can know who you really are...please?"
Spot stepped forward. "Let her go, Calahan...she's dyin'."
I ignored him. "Why was Xavier so mad? It wasn't because of the sweatshop, was it?"
She smiled weakly. "You found me out. Xavier wasn't my brother. He was my fiancé. I wanted a child, he didn't...so I...I...had an affair with his brother. That's why we left France and why he hit me."
It hurt to know all this but it made it easier on me. "How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen."
"Alright, last question...do you love me?"
Spot looked up. Cobalt smiled. "I had to chose between two boys that I loved...one had power...the other loved me...I chose the one with power at first. It had always gotten me somewhere...but in the end..." She took a breath that was to be her last. "I love you, Cal."
I kissed her softly and her eyes closed, her breath left her body, and she lay still...dead...gone.
Cobalt changed me that year. She made me into who I am today. The day she died I went down to the docks and bought a ticket back to Ireland. I found my family, finished school, and went to college to be a doctor. Spot...well, he never changed. He got into a street fight when he was twenty and died of injuries from it. Blade put himself in an orphanage and got adopted. He is a lawyer in Maine and owns his own practice. Top married a Viscount from England and lives there with her 4 children named Calahan, Alexander, Christelle, and Nicholas.
I married a woman named Paris, who ironically was from Paris. I have one son named Christopher. I visited Cobalt's grave once after I left. It was after I had treated a patient with leukemia. Cancer of the blood...what took her life. I can't cure it, no one can really cure it...but I can take the edge off the pain. I wish I could have done it for her. Maybe she would have made it longer.
Corner and Pocket, the two boys that saved her life, are, as far as I know still in New York. They work in factories and both have wives and children. Dante, as we now call Pocket, keeps in touch with me. He takes care of Cobalt's gravesite. He found Xavier...it turns out, Cobalt had a son to his brother. Pierre is the boy's name. He was given up for adoption and lives in Pennsylvania with a wealthy mine owning family. I met once. He has her eyes and smile...and her downfall. I treated Pierre for leukemia. He has it young...sadly enough, I'll be happy to see him go. That way his pain ends sooner than his mother's did.
Cobalt changed the lives of a lot of boys that year. She still changes mine.