Title: Push, Pull 8?
Rating: Hard PG-13 or most likely R. Use your own judgment.
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
A/N- Oh yeah, about the cliff-hangers…well I got to do something to leave you guys wanting more! (Don't hate me ) Anyway, sorry again about the delay. I think I've done something stupid—namely starting another story while trying to finish this one. Yeah well, damn those rabid-foaming-at-the-mouth Plot Bunnies! I'm attempting my first Pitch Black/Chronicles of Riddick story, which the first chapter I just posted. But don't revolt on me yet, I PROMISE to finish "Push, Pull". Hang in there!
To Piaffe417: Well start lining out your ideas for you next CI fic hon, cause this story is just about done! Only one more chapter to go, so I'm holding you to our deal you made in your review! Kisses and hugs
Chapter 8
"If we deny love that is given to us, if we refuse to give love because we fear pain or loss, then our lives will be empty—our loss greater." Unknown
"The dark is everywhere; and though the sun comes up, and though the fires blossom and are tamed; the darkness is there—the darkness is waiting." Unknown
Some people never experience the sensation of truly being in the dark. The sensations of utter hollowness—loneliness. To be able to fully understand, at last, what you had in front of you all the time—but let it slip through your fingers. Like trying to grasp the rain in your hands. Bobby Goren can tell you about those feelings. He's been living in quasi-darkness all his life—retreating into his mind with all the suffocating fears pressing down on his soul. But there was a ray of light that passed into his life, making the shadows lurking in the darkness shy away. And now, she had been spirited away from his grasp, by a monster in a dark blue sweater. Bobby Goren had teetered on the brink before, but this was the closest he's ever come to Hell.
Goren heard footsteps sloshing in the rain bearing down on him. He knew the other team members were called in by Deakins, but he didn't care. He just remained…still.
"Goren! What happened?" one asked.
"God man, I'm sorry," the cop who was supposed to be stationed at the end of this alley started, "there was a traffic altercation—just near me. I guess it just…I don't know …distracted me! I'm sorry, I should have been here."
"Damn straight you should have been here," Deakins bellowed above the rain. He continued to rant at the younger officers as Goren slowly moved away.
Deakins suddenly became aware that Goren was speaking—muttering to himself, his head down and the rain dripping off his soaked hair. Deakins moved to Goren's side.
"Bobby?"
"It's my fault. Should have…seen it. Should have seen…him." Bobby brought both hand to his head, tilting it back up toward the heavens as if to channel his anguish to God.
"Bobby…come on, focus here. We'll find her…he can't have gotten far. He's not a fuckin' ghost." Deakins was wary at Goren's side, afraid to get caught in the explosion what looked to be immanent from Goren's presence. He turned from Goren, heading back to the other police officers who were gathering at the street.
Bobby's hands fell from his temples, his face solidifying into some resolution he'd come to. "He's not a ghost. And Alex would have fought him…made it hard for him… e-even through the drugs. Only way he could have gotten her out at all was with drugs. Com'on Bobby! Think. Damnit!"
Suddenly his long legs spread into a dead sprint in the opposite direction from the street—further into the darkness of the maze of alleys.
"He'd take her to the nearest safe place. A place…he's prepared, with easy access. Quiet, alone. It's a damn warehouse district after all!"
--
"It's not that we fear the place of darkness, but we don't think we are worth the effort to find the place of light." Hugh Prather
--
The blood in her mouth tasted salty, coppery. The floor was cold and hard, and Alex had to force her muscles to cooperate in order to sit up. Her back found a place against the wall, obviously where Strider had flung her after they entered this place. Tilting her head up slowly, to fight the rising nausea, Alex knew she had to get a bearing on her surroundings—as well as on her captor.
One eye was swollen shut, but she managed to open the other. "Warehouse," she thought, "Abandoned. I can't be far from the club." Her head straightened, pinching with pain when one thought entered her mind, "BOBBY."
"Wake-ie, wake-ie 'Luv," Striders voice was calm as he crouched over Alex's head. "You've rested enough. I want you awake to enjoy all the fun."
Alex grunted as she lashed her foot out in a flailing attempt to kick the bastard. Her hands were bound behind her back, so she couldn't punch or move. Strider dodged her kick smoothly.
"Stop it bitch!" Strider landed another crushing blow to Alex's jaw. She coughed and sputtered, trying to spit out some curse—only another think glob of blood spurt from her mouth. Not a good sign. The drugs and the bludgeoning to the head were making Alex see things. As Strider leaned in, running his hands up her legs and thighs—up her skirt, Alex watched as the handsome features morphed into the green-eyed Demon. This demon was different than the Monster Goren of her night-terrors. He was smaller, of course, with a sheath of skin that resembled scales. Alex swore she could see the outline of leathery, spidery wings splayed behind him in the darkness. She turned her head away. Horrifyingly, she wondered if she was looking into the face of an incarnation of Satan.
Strider's hands continued to roam her body, working her skirt off and purring about how much he was going to enjoy "getting in her".
"I'm a cop," she stated, although with her mouth swollen it came out more like 'Mmm'ah cop'.
"You're what?" Strider stopped cold, and for the first time she thought she saw a little fear in his eyes.
"A cop… dickhead." Her head then lolled to the side, landing on the ground. Gazing past Strider's form, Alex saw what looked to be a bed of some kind—though even with the clean coverings, she could see the smatterings of blood. The altar—the one Monster Goren promised to consummate their connection on—sprang to her mind. "So this is it. This is how it's gonna end huh? Running from one monster, straight into the arms of another you didn't see coming. You're one great freakin' cop, Alex."
"That figures," Strider sighed, as he lifted a prostrate Alex from the grimy floor—bringing her to the bed, "all you stupid whores think you can obtain power in one way or another. What you don't understand is," he paused and looked down at her, "God created Man. And Woman was created, to service Man. Sub-serviant, an object for one thing only. Nothing more, nothing less."
Alex hung there in his arms, fading into nothingness. She wanted to die right there, anything to ease her pain. The 'fight' was oozing out of her, and Strider knew it.
"You are nothing, ya know," he said with a feral smile, "you belong—to me."
"WRONG!" The voice echoed and resonated in the cavernous building, making it sound like the voice of God himself. Strider jumped—almost dropping Alex—and whirled around.
--
Goren stood, feet firmly planted in firing stance—his huge black nine-millimeter at shoulder height, aimed at Strider's eyes. He had shrugged out of his leather coat, but the rain still glistened on his enormous bare forearms. His black shirt was clinging to his torso, exposing every muscle of his broad chest flexed and ready.
As if reading Striders mind, Goren stated simply, "You made it easy for me. This building was the only one with a working electric meter this close to the club." Bobby flicked his eyes to the two lone light bulbs that cast a dim light over the room.
Strider's jaw clenched.
Bobby kept his face neutral, belying the storm that was raging in his soul. This guy could easily have a knife in a hand under Alex, and he could also be planning to use her as a shield. Bobby forced himself not to look upon the damage that was Alex's face and body. He knew if he did…all bets were off.
Strider slowly bent down, Bobby's gun tracing his every move. He took a step toward Strider.
Alex was placed at Strider's feet, laying on her back as if she were and offering for sacrifice. She didn't offer to move, and Bobby's heart seized. Yet he could feel she was still alive, he knew his heart probably would have ceased to beat at the same time her own stopped—so at least she had a chance.
Strider splayed his hands out as Bobby advanced a little more on him.
"You wouldn't shoot and unarmed man would you…officer?" Bobby blinked a little too slowly, and Strider caught it. "Ah, you must be her partner," he cocked his head, almost Goren-like, "Maybe… something more than just her partner, eh?"
"You're one sick puppy, you know that," Goren tried to regroup, turn the tables, "you have a real hatred of women Mr…"
"Strider." He answered in a low tone as he back a step or so from Alex. She had turned her head toward Bobby, but her eyes were blank—motionless.
Bobby let a little grin spread on his lips. He was beginning the 'Game'.
"All that anger…frustration. The way you cut them—messy. Not as surgical as Verger…he probably didn't give you extra points for that, did he?"
"Verger was sad," something in Striders eyes changed. It was his 'Tell"--his flinch. It was the subtle piece Goren was watching for, the way to get in. "Verger didn't understand what the true meaning was… what those women were really there for."
"Degradation," Bobby said almost hushed. His eyes worked up and down Strider, his mind cranking in understanding. "Putting them in their…their place...for good."
"Yes," Strider's face almost lit up, he was making someone else see his views. "That's right. That's were they are meant to be! It's where God meant them to be—beneath us, beneath men…good for one thing."
"One thing…" Bobby muttered as if lost in a fog. His gun had even lowered itself a little, and Strider seized the opportunity. His arm flew blindingly behind himself producing a small gun—which he aimed at Alex's small frame.
"She's mine!" he spat. "She's going back to God after I put her in her rightful place!"
Bobby's head and gun snapped up—his eyes locking with Strider's. Alex watched as Bobby's form melded and morphed into the hulking Monster, with the rippling muscles and glowing eyes that had raped her internally. Out of the corner of her eye, the green-eyed Satanic Strider faced off under the looming beast of Goren.
Bobby saw the decision in Strider's eyes crystallize—his finger slowly tightening on the trigger. All motion and sound ceased. Alex saw fire explode from the Monster Goren, follow by a deafening roar—which she didn't know came from the combination of the gun and Goren's voice.
Three shots, hammered into Strider's chest, producing plumes of scarlet. His finger squeezed off a shot, but it went off to the side as he fell to his knees.
"God is not where you're going," Bobby growled as he connected eyes with the dying Strider. He fell in a crumpled heap, a few feet from Alex.
Alex felt herself being lifted up by monstrous arms. She heard words, but they were coming to her through a think stifling fog—blurred and garbled. Someone was stroking her head tenderly, and she tried to focus on the face. Only for a second, did the Monster Goren look back at her. Then, the features melted away, leaving only Bobby's soft eyes and frightened face.
Bobby searched her eyes. But the fire, the strength he was so accustomed to—what he loved to see sparkling and glittering in those dark eyes—was fading out.
"Alex? Com'on Alex, please…" his voice faltered - it was so soft…for her ears only, "God, please…" He bent his head to hers; his eyes squeezed shut as he softly beseeched God. "She's all I have. She's my life-line. Don't let her leave me."
Alex murmured - her breath airy, "Bobby?"
Bobby lifted his head, gazing unabashedly into her eyes. Every emotion, everything he'd felt stirring and battering his soul—radiated in his eyes. He couldn't hide them as he normally would, and for once he didn't care. He felt their link, fluttering in the wind—it was just out of his reach still, but it was there.
--
The police descended on the scene like a horde. Everyone from SWAT, down to the fellow detectives of Major Case who shared office space with Goren and Eames, had come to join in the search for their fellow officer. It was that Blue Wall of Loyalty to your fellow officer, some detectives looked like they had obviously thrown clothes on after jumping out of bed—they simply needed to be out there, helping.
Alex was taken to an ambulance, where the medics checked her wounds and gave her something to counter-act the drugs in her system. She sat numbly allowing the medics to work on her. Bobby had to be pried from her—so the medics could look at her. He wasn't far—standing off to the side letting Deakins talk while his eyes stayed firmly planted on Alex.
Deakins had been able (albeit not easily) to garner the information and details of the slaying of Strider. He wasn't about to question it. The ordeal was written all over his best detective's face. Deakins' gaze followed Goren's to the ambulance, where a small and very fragile looking Alex sat—staring into the night. She hadn't said a word, except to tell Bobby it was alright to leave her for the medics to check.
"She had a few pretty bad head wounds. That coupled with the drugs…" he paused and turned to Goren, "she's gonna have to stay with someone tonight. She can't be alone."
"She won't be alone," Bobby replied softly, tilting his head slightly to Deakins.
"Good." Deakins smiled. "I'll bring her to your place as soon as she's released. You should go home… you know…clean up." He patted Goren's shoulder, good-natured humor tinting his voice, "You look like shit."
He walked off just as Bobby's brows knitted together—the joke finally sinking in—and he glanced Deakins' way with a small smirk.
Alex tilted her head ever so slightly. Had she heard right? Or was it the drugs making her hallucinate?
"Spending the night…at Bobby's?"
--
"A friendship that like love is warm. A love, like friendship is steady." Charles Lamb
--
TBC…
Don't forget to Review! Did you like it!
WooHoo! One more chapter left! Be prepared, next chapter is going to resolve all this wonderful, torturous angst between Alex and Bobby. I will leave it up to your imagination as to the way it will be resolved (though I think most of you will know how..hee hee) until I get Chapt. 9 posted. Anyway, I'm gonna try to continue with my "Chronicles of Riddick" fic as well, so if you like that movie or "Pitch Black", head on over to that thread and read my new story "Oblivion is Now".