Author's Notes: Final chapter :)I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to have one of my new stories (standalones; and some Syl and Krit for Somebody's Dark Angel) posted soon - hopefully before my exams!
Thank you for reading and I hope you review.
Jondy woke up around seven the next morning, her legs supporting a dead weight. She lifted her head to see Millie curled up at the end of the bed, pinning both her legs and Zane's to the bed. She settled back next to Zane, his arm curled loosely around her stomach. She could close her eyes and feign sleep for a few hours, feeling safe and warm, or she could go in search of food. Dinner suddenly seemed like a long time ago.
As she slid out of bed, Zane's hand whipped out and caught her wrist, his eyes following every movement she made.
"I'm getting something to eat," she murmured, "I'm coming back." And to her own ears, the last part sounded hollow.
Zane nodded and closed his eyes, rolling over and going back to sleep. Jondy slipped out of bed, grabbing one of Zane's shirts as she walked into the kitchen. She could see the abandoned plates and bottles from last night's dinner abandoned on the balcony, along with her top and bra, and Zane's top. The sky was clearer now, and Jondy stared out as she made her way into the kitchen, eyeing the fridge. She'd have to clean up the leftovers from dinner that were still on the table later… tomorrow, because if it was up to her, Zane wouldn't be leaving the apartment. Jondy pulled open the fridge, and before she could have a coherent thought, a fist hit her in the side of her face, knocking her sideways and onto the floor.
Later on, she would wonder what would have happened if she didn't catch a pile of plates as she fell. Zane wouldn't have heard them shatter as they hit the floor and Jondy wouldn't have grunted in pain as the porcelain shards embedded themselves in her side.
And she would have been left to Ben.
He stood before her glowering, his eyes almost black in anger or desire or whatever emotion he was harbouring. Jondy stared up at him, her eyes wide with something akin to fear… but she also felt very, very numb.
"Jondy? Are you okay?" Zane appeared, doing his jeans up as he came. And he froze as he came upon the scene in the kitchen. Jondy knew there was blood on her cheek from where a shard of plate had caught her. But it wasn't her he was staring horrified at.
"You," Zane breathed, taking a step backwards. The man from the garage with the stolen Beemer was staring down at Jondy. "What the hell is going on?"
"Don't recognise me, big brother," Ben looked up at Zane, his green eyes sparkling with something that Zane didn't recognize; a glint that warned Zane off.
"What are you doing here, Ben?" Jondy's voice was steady but Zane looked at her; the fear, the hunted look in her eyes. Zane's eyes refocused on the man before him. Ben; the one who used to tell the X5s bedtime stories after lights out, the brother who used to catch animals during training exercises and let the smallest ones hold them.
"I found you," Ben smiled. "I tracked you all the way here." He sounded almost proud, like he expected Jondy to praise his efforts. "I was looking for you, Jondy."
Zane stared at the two of them, seeing the intimate look Ben shot Jondy, crouched against the cabinets. Ben's gaze travelled down Jondy's body, taking in the swell of her breasts under the shirt and her long, toned legs. Zane frowned as Ben smiled once again at Jondy.
Jondy stood up slowly, keeping her eyes on Ben. "Why did you come after me, Ben? I left you for a reason," she said slowly, as if she was trying to buy herself time.
"You ran off to tell Zack everything," Ben shrugged. "I thought maybe we could talk before you went to see big brother." His eyes glittered dangerously and Jondy unconsciously took a step back. Zane moved to get between Ben and Jondy but Ben stepped in front of him.
"Jondy and I have some unfinished business to settle," Ben said almost kindly, but his tone hardly mattered now. As far as Zane was considered, he'd threatened Jondy's life. Zane didn't move another inch, staring hard into Ben's eyes.
"Why don't you go and check on your dog?" Ben suggested, his voice too sweet and his eyes too innocent. Zane span on his foot and walked into the bedroom, where Millie lay. He'd thought she'd been too calm, lying heavily on the bed and his heart was in his throat as he touched her, expecting her to be dead and cold. But she lifted her head and gave a half hearted tail wag and Zane saw the strange angle of her paw. Ben had intentionally harmed his dog. Ben, who used to catch the animals back at Manticore.
"It'll be okay, girl," Zane says softly to his dog. "I'll call a vet for you. Get you all bandaged up."
Millie's ears pricked and she looked passed him, out to where Ben and Jondy were. Zane got the message and stood up, hanging in the doorway.
"You didn't tell him, did you?" Ben said in a conversational tone. "You didn't breathe a word, you just smiled prettily and let him undress you and then you spread your legs and didn't say anything." Zane flinched as Ben slammed his fist into the cabinet. "Whore."
"Ben…" Jondy said in a wobbly voice. "It was never like that…"
"You understood me, Jondy!" Ben yelled, pulling away. "You said you'd always be there for me and you're not. You're running off to tell Zack all about how bad you think I've been – when you stabbed me – and let Zane think you're not spoken for."
"I'm not," Jondy straightened up. "I'm not; I was never in love with you, Ben. I said I'd be there for you because I am your sister. You're killing innocent people, Ben. I wanted Zack to help you."
"And instead, Zack got held up," Ben said simply. "I only hope Syl recovers okay."
And before Jondy could register what his words meant, Zane had Ben pinned by the throat to the fridge, Ben's feet dangling helplessly.
"What did you do to Syl?" Zane hissed. Ben spluttered a reply and Zane released his grip, his eyes cold.
"I see how you jump to the defence of your sisters, Zane," Ben croaked, his windpipe crushed. "And you like them in bed too… do you know how Jondy likes it?" Ben moved to Jondy's side and Jondy warily took a step back.
"I watched you, you know," Ben said solemnly, resting his hand on Jondy's shoulder. "I watched you undress your little sister, I watched you drag her into your bed and fumble at her body. Did it feel good for you? Because that's not the way she likes it, Zane…" Jondy jerked away from Ben's grasp as Zane's fist met Ben's face, his nose crumpling and spraying blood down his shirt.
"You're not worthy, Zane," Ben spat, attempting to wipe the blood from his face but only smearing it. "Jondy was worthy. Jondy was the best of all of us and you ruined her. She isn't worthy now."
And it was Jondy who swung the first punch, catching Ben in the temple. And Zane resisted the urge to pull Jondy out of Ben's reach and take on their brother himself. But before either could move, Ben reached into his jacket and drew out a knife.
And it was Jondy who ended up hurled against the fridge, her arm catching on the blade of Ben's knife as he leant down to finish whatever he arrived there to start. Zane grabbed Ben by the collar of his jacket and hurled him off Jondy and backwards…
They fell back against the kitchen counter and onto the floor, not before several well aimed blows found their target – from both men. Jondy flinched as she heard a bone crack and grabbed Ben's knife off the floor and jammed it downwards, catching the top part of Ben's arm. He hissed in pain and tried to recoil as Jondy and Zane picked themselves up off the kitchen floor.
"Get out, Ben," Zane spat. "Get out and I don't give a damn where you go. And stay the fuck away from the girls."
"The Blue Lady told me the girls are unworthy," Ben breathed, staring up at them. Jondy stared almost sadly down at him.
"There's no such thing as the Blue Lady, Ben," she whispered back. "She was just a comforting story to a bunch of scared little children, Ben. She's not real."
Ben pulled the knife from his arm, blood pooling on the floor beneath him and stood, favouring his left knee. He gave Jondy a kind look, an almost sympathetic look, before touching her cheek. "She's always with me, Jondy. She tells me who is worthy. And you aren't anymore."
And he turned and left, limping slowly and leaving bloody smears on the carpet behind him. Jondy bit her lip and watched him go; almost forgetting Zane was standing beside her.
"Jondy?" Zane said quietly, holding his right arm – dislocated by Ben in the scuffle. She turned around with a distant look in her eyes and he resisted the urge to step forward and take her into his arms – her hair was tangled around her face, there was a cut oozing blood on one cheek, and a smear of blood on the other where Ben touched her. The shirt she wore was ripped down from one shoulder, to her stomach, revealing the bruises marring her skin from where Ben had hurled her to one side. And the look on her face was one of guilt and sadness.
"Are you okay?" her eyes focused on his arm hanging at an awkward angle.
"I will be as soon as you put my shoulder back in it's socket," Zane said with a grin, but it fell flat. "I'll need to fix Millie up too. He did something to her paw." Jondy looked away as Zane's expression darkened in anger. She should've known Ben would come after her. She wasn't safe with Lydecker on one side and Ben on the other. And she'd gotten Zane hurt too.
'He would have killed you if Zane hadn't been here,' she chided herself silently. 'Zane saved your life and he got hurt in the process.'
Jondy sidled up to Zane. "Ready?" she said, keeping her face and voice free of emotion and trying to keep her hands steady. And when Zane nodded, she slid his shoulder back into the socket with an unnerving cracking noise and pulled back.
"Are you okay?" Zane grabbed her hand and pulled her back up against him.
"I'll be in the shower," Jondy said quietly, looking down. "You should patch up Millie." And she slipped into the bathroom, not locking the bathroom door and hoped Zane would come in after her.
The lukewarm water felt good as she scrubbed her face free of blood and suffocated her senses with the smell of shampoo and soap. She felt wetness on her face but it was the water from the shower rather than tears. Tears of grief and regret and fear.
She didn't remember how long she stood under the water and she didn't notice the water turning cold and she barely noticed as Zane slipped into the bathroom and stripped off his pants, climbing in behind her and taking the soap from her.
She felt his hands on her body and leant back against his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he murmured into her ear, on hand snaking around her waist.
"I didn't want to think about it," Jondy murmured back, closing her eyes. "I was hoping he'd just leave me alone." Zane's hands left soapy trails down her stomach, dipping lower. Jondy bit her lip, relaxing against him.
"We need to talk," she twisted her arms back around his neck.
"We do," Zane pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "Later."
Jondy sighed in Zane's arms as he kissed the water away from her face and turned off the now-cold water and carried her to bed, where they could both put everything out of their minds for awhile. And maybe Zane was gentler than the night before, and maybe Jondy clung to him harder and maybe neither of them wanted to sleep later because they could smell the blood from the kitchen and hear Millie's uneven gait.
Zane was the first one to wake, late afternoon. It had been a fitful nap; he kept hearing the apartment creak and he worried Ben was back to finish off their so-called unworthy asses.
He struggled into some jeans and a clean shirt and slipped into the kitchen. Blood had congealed on the lino and the broken plates seemed old and not quite so sharp anymore. He didn't move for awhile, just stood there and stared at the blood and the broken plates and thought of the girl dozing in his bed.
How did this happen again?
"Zane," Jondy padded out, wrapped in one of his clean t shirts and a pair of his old boxers. Her hair swung loose and she twisted the silver bracelets around her hand. "Are you okay?"
Zane ignored her and knelt down to pick up the plate. "You're going to leave, aren't you?" he said coolly, as if his heart wasn't pounding, waiting for her answer. "You're going to go to Zack and then move on. And the odds of you coming back to find me…" He turned around, his face a mask of hurt. "You could have told me you loved him and you were leaving."
Jondy knelt beside him, her hand on his shoulder, staring at the shard of plate in his hand. "I didn't tell you I loved him because I didn't… not even as a brother by the end," she said flatly. "I was running scared and I wanted to be with someone I trusted."
"You didn't have to… I would have kept you safe no matter what," Zane replied, gazing at the plate.
"I know that," Jondy slid her arm around his neck and leant against him. "And I am going to leave and find Zack and check on Syl. I'm going to tell Zack everything from the beginning about me and Ben and you and me and what happened. And then I'll come back." Her lips brushed against his neck as Zane looped an arm around her waist.
"You're coming back?"
"If you wait around for me," she said with a grin reminiscent of only days ago. "I'll have to get a job at a local bar and stuff, but if you want me here, I'm here."
Zane cupped her cheek and nodded. "I do want you here," he murmured. "What'll Zack say?"
Jondy smiled mischievously. "We'll have to ask Syl and Krit, but I hear being cut off is the best thing in the world."
And she kissed him.
Such a pretty picture that you paint… I'm so vile while you're a saint.
