ABC Owns them

Chapter 2

Natalie walked off the plane and took a look around, it was night time, ten o'clock to be exact and the small airport was dead, quiet, very quiet, she make her way over towards one of the doors waiting for her ride, waiting for rex, he was late but that wasn't a big surprise to her, he was always late. She walked outside and got a chill down her spine as she felt like someone was watching her, she turned behind her and saw no one, she chalked it up to her being paranoid and she continued to wait as she saw Rex drive up in the tow away zone in his new BMW. She smiled thinking what a show off as she approached the car. Rex jumped out to help her with her bags but he was too late she had already carried them to the trunk of his car.

"Nice ride" Natalie told him as she met him at the trunk of the car. He smiled back at her, threw her bags in the trunk and looked at her.

"You look great Natty, really great, I'm so glad you're back, I missed you" Rex said as he pulled her in for a tight hug. Natalie was so happy to be back, she hugged her little brother back and then again felt like she was being watched, she turned slightly after Rex pulled out of the hug and she looked behind her.

"What's wrong?" Rex asked seeing her shiver a bit and turn

"Oh, nothing, just adjusting to the weather change that's all" Natalie said as they both got in the car and drove to the Angel Square Hotel.

"Are you sure you want to stay here? You can stay with me for the night" Rex told her as they arrived at the hotel

"Yes, I'm sure, I'll be fine here, and you're sure Roxy isn't around for a few days? I don't want anyone to know I'm here till I surprise Mom and Jess first." Natalie told him as she got out of his car

"Yup, Roxy's away for a few days on a gambling cruise" Rex told her as he also got out, he helped her up the stairs with her bags and to the room he had gotten for her earlier.

"Here it is, the fifth floor, nice and secluded like you wanted, you're the only one on this floor." Rex said as he opened the door with the key. Nat went into the room and took a look around, she shook her head.

"I can see why" she said laughing cause the room was a mess, more than a mess, it looked like Roxy never cleaned the room or probably never even came up to this floor, the last floor before the roof. Natalie thanked Rex and he left, she cleaned things up a bit and then decided to get some sleep.

It was about five am when the alarm clock went off; Natalie jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom to get dressed for her morning run. Running was something she started doing after she opened up the shelter, it helped her to clear her mind and keep focused on things. She usually didn't go for her run until the sun came up but she decided it would be less likely to see anyone she knew if she ran before it got light. She was dressed and headed out her door in a matter of minutes. She ran for a good hour and it was beginning to get light out when she took a break near the angel square statue. She walked closer to it and skimmed it briefly with her hand; she smiled thinking of how she even missed this statue made of concrete. She was so busy caught up in her own thoughts that she almost didn't hear the screeching coming from a few feet away.

"Oh. My. God. Natalie is it you, is it really you? I can't believe it, you're back for a visit, we haven't seen you in so long, it's been so long, my gosh I was just telling Michael the other day that it's been like forever since you left I mea--" Marcie said a mile a minute, never taking a breather till finally Natalie cut her off.

"It's nice to see you Marcie, how are you and how is Michael?" Natalie asked as Marcie calmed down and started to calmly speak

"I'm fine and Michael is great. How long are you in town for? I just spoke to Jess yesterday and she didn't mention anything about you being in town" Marcie asked her as she continued to smile at her.

"Actually, I'm home to stay and Jess doesn't know I'm here yet. I just got in late last night and I'm going to go surprise her and mom after my run." Natalie told her

"Home to stay, that's wonderful! They're going to be so happy" Marcie told her as Natalie started to move her feet to finish her run.

"Well, I've gotta finish up my run and go see them, so it was nice to see you, I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon. " Natalie told her as she started to slowly run off

"Nice to see you too, hey by the way I'm having a surprise birthday party for Michael tonight, why don't you come, if you can, Please?" Marcie called after her as she watched her run off. Marcie ran after her a bit and Natalie turned to look back at her.

"I'll try, okay?" Natalie told her to try and get her off her back.

"Great! It's on the roof at the hotel, about seven, see ya then" Marcie said with a smile and then she stopped and watched Nat run off.

Marcie walked over to the diner to meet Michael in between his double shift for breakfast. She was surprised to see him already there, waiting for her.

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late you're never gonna believe who I just saw, and she's not just back for a visit she's home to stay and boy does she look good" Marcie said as she hadn't seen John walk up behind her as she sat at the booth with Michael.

"Who?" Michael asked her as John approached them.

"Natalie" Marcie said as John heard her and he stopped dead in his tracks. Michael saw John approaching them and then saw John's face when Marcie mentioned her name. Michael just ignored John's reaction for a minute and smiled.

"Really, she's back and for good? And how good did she look?" Michael asked for John's benefit not knowing if he had heard Marcie the first time she said it.

"Yup for good, and she was running, could you believe it, Natalie a runner?" Marcie said as John still stood a few feet away listening to their conversation. Marcie changed subjects and John got lost in his own little world, he started to think about Natalie being back, all the things that had changed since she left, all the people who had changed since she left, how he had changed since she left. He remembered the last time he saw her, the awful conversation and fight they had, how he wanted so bad to tell her he loved her, that he had always loved her but his mouth just couldn't form the words. He thought about how he felt now about her, he knew he still loved her in his heart, distance and time didn't change that for him, it never could, not with the way he felt about her, but did it change for her, he kept expecting her to come back after a few weeks when she first left but weeks turned into months and then a few years. He had even tried once to get information on her from a colleague and the guy said he had the info but John decided it was best for him not to know. He didn't want to know if she was happy, maybe happy with someone else. He heard Michael say something to him and he came out of his thoughts.

John sat with Michael and Marcie for a few minutes and then Marcie had to leave, after she left Michael looked at John.

"It's great news isn't it? I mean that Nat's back, now you can get an undeserving second chance." Michael told him while giving him a smile

"What are ya getting at Michael?" John asked him

"You know what I'm saying, now that you dealt with your demons and obviously if she's back she's dealt with her stuff to, now maybe the time." Michael told him in an optimistic tone

"What time would that be Mikey?"

"The right time, time to tell her how you've felt about her, what you've felt for her since you met her, the timing is right, you've got a second chance" Michael again told him being optimistic

"Oh yeah, so I'm just suppose to tell her now after two years and expect her to just fall into my arms, expect that she still has those same feeling for me, expect that she hasn't found someone else. Okay Mikey, like that is going to happen" John said discouraging himself and then he got up and left.

"See ya tonight for your party" John said as he started to walk out of the door.

"It's supposed to be a surprise John, remember!" Michael screamed back at him as John continued to walk out.

"Your wife talks to much for it to be a surprise, Happy Birthday" John told him as he walked out the door.

John walked thru Angel Square and stopped briefly by the statue, he took a deep breath thinking about her, about her being back and what Michael said about a second chance to tell her. He heard a man clear his throat and looked over to see a very large built muscular man with brown short crew cut hair standing there staring at him.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you but can you tell me where the local police station is?" the man asked John.

"Is there something I can help you with I'm a Detective with the LPD?" John asked the man

"No. There isn't anything wrong, I'm just new in town and I need a job, I've been a cop in Fla. for the past seven years and was wondering if you guys were hiring" he told John as John thought about it for a few minutes

"I'm John Mcbain, chief of detective come with me I'm on my way over to the station now, you can speak to the commissioner if he's in"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kyle Anders" the men shook hands and walked to the station.