Chapter Five

It has often been said that it is good for a man to be stout of heart and strong of mind which is Slade's case proved most defiantly to be true, as any lesser man would have most defiantly shrank back in terror under the hatful stare which Ebony fixed him with.

Yet Slade who was made of much stronger stuff refused to back now to her, while he was almost overwhelmed that one look could contain such fury he also noticed the glimmer of a tear in her eye. Curiosity immediately gripped him as he realised that Ebony's reason for such hatred must have been based around a genuine hurt from her past in order for it to have become so virulent.

"Ebony", he tried in a calm tone, "what's wrong? It was just a nightmare". He didn't know what he was doing exactly so he did the only thing that he could think of and tried to calm her down.

To Ebony's mind there was nothing caring about Slade's manner and his gently words turned to mocking taunts as they reached her ears. She was positive that he didn't mean what he said and the thought that it had merely been a nightmare didn't enter her head, to Ebony's mind it was a prophecy of what was to come if she was not careful.

She had left the city not 24 hours before due to the disgusting manor in which Lex had treated her and she doubted if she could ever stop feeling so used and dirty. The one thing that Ebony had always believed in was that there was no such thing as love – although she longed for it with every fibre of her being – and that the earning and aching of her heart was in fact a weakness to be ignored.

Too many times Ebony had given her heart and got nothing in return, she should have learnt her lesson by now but she hadn't. Once again she had let subtle words and lingering touches get the better of her seducing her into feelings which she had no purpose entertaining and that she vowed would never again haunt her as they now did.

There was no way that she could let a man get close to her the way Lex had as he would hurt her again and damage her pride beyond all repair and so she gave in to the seductive voice in her head which told her to put up her defences, drive the man away and live alone so that only she would know that the great Ebony had been the victim of the man whore Lex.

The fire with which her emerald eyes blazed was nothing compared to the venom which poured from her lips, "Ebony, the little boy calls me as if he is my equal. It really is most amusing, or at least it would be if it wasn't so pathetic. I thought that I would hide my identity, you know, keep it a secrete, so that no one would find out who I was or that I left but you'll find out soon enough. I'm not just some little city girl, hunny, I am the head of the Locos, the scourge of the city, people quake in their boots at the sound of my name", her vile rampaging speech, designed to make him feel like scum, was powerful yet slightly slurred with lack of sleep, hunger and emotional turmoil.

Slade noticed the way in which her speech became slightly slurred, the image of a woman on the edge of loosing control before him was now so evident that without thinking he grabbed her it his arms in a hug but also to stop her moving, his instincts had been right he found as he felt her struggle and a warm moister on his shirt.

No sooner had Ebony mentioned her name and the Locos than she remembered all of the times that she had rode out in the car with Zoot, when she had had true power only to loose it. It would have been different if she had chosen Bray to start off with. No sooner had she thought of this than her thoughts turned to the Mall Rats and most of all to Lex.

The love which had burned in her for him now seemed to rage with blistering heat in her heart burning her from the inside out until there was nothing left. The fact that she hadn't eaten meant that her vision became blurry waves of dizziness which she had been barely able to combat before poured over her.

Upon feeling weakness grip her body she became even more furious with herself for what she had allowed to happen, causing the poisonous feeling of strength from a few seconds ago to leave her weak and alone.

Words failed her as the emotions that she had for years suppressed burst free and the only way of hurting Slade now became her fists. She moved to hit him yet found herself already enclosed in his arms and soon everything about Slade was forgotten as the pain from years slowly rendered her helpless.

Any doubt that he had about what course of action he should take evaporated as Slade felt Ebony struggle in his arms and knew that the only option that he had was to hold her until he calmed down. At one point Slade thought that her heart would break from the violent shakes which racked her body yet he held onto her tightly.

Although he was no doctor Slade knew the signs of a woman that had been pushed to the end of her rope and could tell that Ebony had. He wanted to rip the head off whoever was responsible from making a strong woman break down like this, yet on the other hand he also felt like yelling at Ebony for letting it get this far. Yet he supposed that if she had never had anyone to depend on before there was no one to whom she could have told her problems to have got it off her chest and avoided this.

Finally the tears subsided and her body stopped convulsing enough for Ebony to look up at Slade calmly, trying to read his expression in order to find out what he thought of her after her little breakdown.

Slade smiled kindly back and stroked her braids, "You alright now?" He asked.

Ebony couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable at that remark as it was a reminder that she wasn't unbreakable yet after the embrace that they had shared the barriers seemed to have been broken down and something solid was defiantly between them.

"Yes thanks, so on a scale to one to ten how weak do you now think that I am?" She asked, not sure how to handle the situation as she had expended so much energy now that she could barley keep upright.

"Zero. Crying isn't a weakness, no one can keep everything all bottled up all of the time. It is only weakness when you won't lean on someone at times", Slade said.

"What if you don't have someone that you can lean on?" Ebony asked, without thinking.

"I'll always be here for you Ebony", Slade promised, the words falling from his lips with earnest consideration even though he had only just met her.

"I believe you", she smiled as lent back against the bed head feeling drained yet comfortable with Slade.