A/N- Hope you like this chapter, will try to get the next one out sooner, am working hard at finishing this story also.
Gone are the chances I have passed by
-Sewn all my seeds to the wind
Time can be nothing but pain in disguise
-I'll never see you again
And it's too late
To think of what I've left behind
-Dreams that have faded from view
Too late ' too late
I've burned all my bridges with you
And I can't walk on water
The road that I've traveled is all that I know
-Paved with each piece of my soul
And it's taken me far - but left you behind
And I'm longing to see you again
But it's too late
To think of what I've left behind
-Dreams that have faded from view
Too late ' too late
I've burned all my bridges with you
Did I reach for a sky that wasn't my own?
Lost in my own world
-Now I can never come home
To you
And it's too late
To think of what I've left behind
-Dreams that have faded from view
Too late- there's no turning back
-Nothing that I can undo
And I can't walk on water
Too Late - Fisher
With shifts cut to three a week Joey sighed as she left Hell's Kitchen for the night, a month had passed without a word from Pacey. Part of her wondered if he was even still in Boston. She knew he was however as while he refused to speak to her he did talk to both Jen and Jack often. Jen mentioned he had gone back to Capeside just before the end of summer, taken his boat out for a sail along the cape.
All this information relayed to her from either Jen or Jack. Not one word from him, she had not even caught even the smallest of glimpses of him. She had called and he never answered, she went to his apartment which he never answered the door.
Jen said to her he didn't want to see her.
Jack told her he didn't want to speak to her.
Joey knew why, his best friend was dead and it was all Joey fault. She understood why he hated her, she didn't blame him. Not in the least. Despite she understood, despite she could empathise it still hurt. It tore at every fibre inside of her.
Joey only had the memories, of that one spectacular moment in the courtyard of the Mayor's house, beneath the stars, two people entangled with one another.
Hearts beating as one.
If only for that one moment, a moment of perfection Joey wished she could get back, have Pacey back in the moment where he didn't hate her. Joey pulled her coat around her tightly, the brisk air of early Autumn swirled around her body and tugged at her hair. Joey made her way home, everything seemed different in so many ways, her tenure on her current life appeared tentative and ready to slip from her. Everything felt different now, small things and big things.
Melanie had left, they were in their final year of college. Jen spent much of her time, like Jack working or studying. Joey was the same, she had work and her studies, she was preoccupied with thoughts too, thoughts of a man who didn't think of her, who had pushed her away and made it perfectly clear he could easily live without her in his life. Joey wasn't so sure the same could be said about her, while she had thought she could be okay, because she did have work and school to occupy her time she understood the problem was she had known Pacey.
Now it seemed empty, it wasn't just because he had kissed her and held her so rightfully, so perfectly against him. That, she was almost certain she could over come, deal with and get over, what she was afraid of not getting over was his friendship, regardless of how biting and acidic it could be. She almost wished for the nasty barbs because then it meant he was there, right there talking to her, acknowledging her existence because even with the diatribe, it still meant something to him.
Joey's boots collided with the pavement below, the dull thudding sounding around her as she walked, each step deliberate and directional. Preoccupied by her own thoughts, the sound of a second set of footfall was almost lost until Joey felt a long ago felt familiarity behind her. Momentarily wrestling how to react Joey stopped and turned. It took a moment for her to discover there was no one there, or at least no one she could see. Joey stood for a beat, looking back down from where she came. She shook her head and took a breath to steady her nerves before tugging her coat closer against her body, Joey allowed a long shaky breath to escape her lips, she closed her eyes briefly.
She started off again toward home, the urgency she had felt momentarily before now bubbled within her belly, sending her whole body on alert and while she was unaware of any immediate danger to her or around her she could not hide the feeling of panic as it rose within her and gripped her.
She spun around again, her eyes darting around her, searching her surroundings for anything that was out of place, for something that shouldn't be there. Her breath came out in ragged gasps, frightened and more than understanding she was beginning to act irrational Joey pushed forward, with just a block to go before she would be safely ensconced in the place she shared with Jen and Jack she moved quickly along the pavement, the sound of her boots hitting the hard surface the loudest sound in the late night air.
Joey could see the light ahead from the front porch and while she let out a relieved breath the light went out. Joey stopped, her heart thumping wildly within her chest, beating loudly throughout her entire body, she stood, frozen in place. Joey dipped her hand into the pocket of her jacket and withdrew her phone, she dialed Jen's number and held her phone between her ear and shoulder while she searched for the small, pocket flashlight Pacey had given her one night.
"Hello?" Jen's sleepy voice came through the phone "Joey, where are you?"
"I'm almost home, hey did you turn the light -" A large hand clamped over Joey's mouth, Joey dropped her phone, her hands wend straight to the large hand gagging her, she desperately tried to grip onto fingers, anything. The thick woollen gloves she wore proved futile for getting a decent hold on. A strong arm around her waist dragged her toward the kerb where a van sat waiting, Joey caught a vague logo of a hammer on the side of the van before she was dragged into it and the door slid shut, shrouding her in darkness and stealing into the early hours of the morning in a squeal of tires.
Pacey was quietly dozing in the hard plastic chairs in the break room, a bottle of water on the table in front of him. Trent sat beside him watching the infomercials with a small smirk of amusement on his face. Loud footsteps resonated down the corridor, pulling Pacey out from his state of exhaustion and causing him to sit up quickly. Chief Goodwin entered the room, drawing the attention of every man and woman in the room. Others who had not been in the break room were suddenly filing in, Pacey looked around and noted all people on shift except those currently out on a call were in the room.
"What the hell we got here?" Came Trent's wary whisper as he leaned close to Pacey, who shook his head in turn. Goodwin held up a file, the low murmuring ceased and all eyes were on the Fire Chief.
"I have the reports back from the Mayors fire." He took a breath "It was deliberate." The whispered murmurs had now escalated to outright yelling. Chief held his hand up to quiet his men down. "I know what you are all thinking, we lost one of our own in the line of duty. This was a deliberate act and he was murdered. The proper authorities are working on this so I don't want to hear about any of you going off half cocked thinking you can all play private investigators you hear." Chief placed his hands firmly on his hips " I am telling you this out of respect for you all, you all deserved to know the truth-" Goodwin's speech was interrupted by the internal fire alarm going off. Pacey and Trent jumped up, Pacey moved off and towards the exit. He locked eyes briefly with Chief Goodwin who gave him a curt nod of the head.
"Come on boys, get moving!" He yelled as they took off.
Pacey sat in the seat beside his driver as his company made their way along the streets of Boston. The dispatcher cut through the din to alert Pacey of the current situation.
"Single vehicle collision, unknown number of casualties. EMS en route, ETA three minutes."
Pacey could see a panel van up ahead, it's back door wide open and the front passenger door thrown open. It looked as thought the front driver side had taken the impact, it had plowed into a telegraph pole. Pacey jumped from the truck as soon as it had stopped. Pacey jerked his head, ordering Trent to get onto creating a perimeter.
"Get them away from the vehicle until we can secure it." Pacey made his way to the van, he could hear the wail of the ambulance in the distance. Pacey leaned into the smashed driver's window to find the driver still, his face coated in blood. She rested against the steering wheel unmoving. Pacey frowned and placed two fingers on the drivers throat, feeling for a pulse. There was nothing, Pacey frowned and gingerly pushed the woman's blood soaked blonde hair from her face.
Trent made a check around and under the van for leaks finally standing, happy that no fuel had been released in the collision. He looked to Pacey who stood, his face pale and his body unmoving.
"Hey, Captain, you okay?" Trent moved around from the passenger side of the vehicle to stand by Pacey's side. He allowed his eyes to follow Pacey's line of sight to the woman who sat, unmoving in the driver's seat. His eyes narrowed as he noted a familiarity about her.
"We need to get in there." Came a voice behind them.
"She's gone" Came Pacey's response. "She's dead." The paramedic checked for vital signs, frowned and nodded her head in agreement. She moved back and looked to Pacey.
"Nothing we can do here, once you are able to get that door open we'll transport the body to the morgue." Pacey nodded his head and moved back to the truck for the equipment they needed to access the woman.
Trent watched Pacey carefully as he reached in to pull out the spreader and lift it out of the toolbox.
"Pacey, who is she?" Trent asked, his hand on Pacey's arm "I know the face, just can't place her."
"Audrey." Pacey replied without emotion "Her name is- was Audrey."
Eddie paced the dark, wet floor of the abandoned building, his heart beating hard and fast with the rush of adrenalin as it began to fade. He watched as Joey's hands were being tied behind her back, a cloth had already been secured around her mouth.
"What am I going to do, she's dead. She's dead" Eddie said, dropping to his knees and sobbing, his head held miserably by two shaking hands. "It's your fault, yours and that fucking bitch." Eddie spat, his chin jutting towards Joey who sat silently, her head bleeding from the hit from the butt of the gun which had rendered her unconscious, her head dropped to the side in her chair. "Dammit Jack, no one was supposed to get hurt. Now Audrey's dead and it's your fault, yours and Joey's" He pointed an accusatory finger at him.
"Hey, Joey was the one who tried for the wheel, if you had a fucking hold on her..." Jack sneered at Eddie, bending down to finish duct taping Joey's ankles to the wooden chair. Eddie stood to resume his pacing of the room.
Jack threw the remaining roll on the table nearby and moved to sit close by, waiting for Joey to wake up, he knew he was going to have to deal with Eddie sooner rather than later. After losing Audrey there was no way of telling what he would do.
Jack looked over to Eddie, he was pathetic. How could he have been in love with a woman who was happy to spread her legs for anyone, he was amazed Eddie honestly thought that by helping to get Joey out of the picture, Audrey would be in his debt, sure, Audrey hated Joey, she hated her because she was too close to Pacey. Jack smiled, Audrey wanted nothing to do with Eddie. She knew what he felt and she manipulated him into thinking he had a chance with her. She wanted Pacey, still.
Pacey, what the hell was it about Pacey?
It was his fault, Andie was dead because of him. He would take Joey from him, she was supposed to die a month before, Matt died instead. It was a pity, he was a great guy. Pacey hurt because of his best friends death, it had helped to ease Jack's pain but it was not enough, it just was not enough.
Joey was enough, Joey would make it even.
Jack stood up and checked his watch, he glanced over to Eddie who stood, staring off into space.
"Watch her for me, i'll be back soon" Jack turned and left, leaving Eddie sputtering behind him. Jack made a mental note to get rid of Eddie before he gained a conscience.
Jen sat in the middle of her living room, a female officer sat with her while a Detective stood a notebook in hand asking Jen yet another question. It felt as though they were going around in circles, Jen couldn't answer any more of the detective's questions, Jack appeared to be AWOL and she couldn't get hold of Pacey. Jen had called Joey's sister, Bessie.
"Are you sure there isn't more you can tell me?" The detective asked, hoping to jolt Jen's thoughts. Jen only frowned, trying to think of even the smallest of details.
"No, The last month we've been getting back into classes and before that both of us have been really busy with work. I spent a bit of time in Capeside so we didn't get to talk as often as I would have liked to." The Detective slowly nodded his head, jotting down notes. He looked up and pointed around him with his pen.
"Does anyone else besides you and Miss Potter live here?"
"Yes, Jack but I haven't seen him since last night. He was working but then was going out and said he'd crash at a friends place nearby." Jen smiled softly, happy Jack was finally get back into old Jack.
"Did Miss Potter have other friends, close friends besides you, a boyfriend?" Jen bit down on her lip and nodded slowly.
"Pacey, a good friend. I mean they were."
"Were?"
Jen sighed and said, "They haven't spoken to each other in over a month since the fire."
"Fire?" Jen nodded her head and watched as the Detective said down in a chair adjacent to her, waiting for her to elaborate. Jen took a long, shaky breath and began to tell the detective about the fire at the Auxiliary Ball, how Matt had died and how Pacey had shunned Joey since then. "Do you think Pacey would-" Jen's head snapped up, her eyes wide with alarm.
"Pacey would what?" Her voice was hard and accusatory.
"Harm Miss Potter, you said yourself he wasn't talking to her. Perhaps he blamed her for the death of Matt?"
"No, god. No, that's ridiculous." Jen said, twisting her fingers anxiously in her lap. She looked to the Detective, searching his eyes for some sign of recognition or understanding. "Pacey, he's not that sort of person." The Detective nodded his head, not believing or disbelieving. He was appearing to reserve judgement. Jen gripped the phone she held in her hand tighter, she held it up for him to see. "I've tried to call him, and Jack. I got through to Bessie, her sister. She's on her way here." Jen drew a breath, her breath shaky while she nodded her head. "Pacey's probably asleep, he would have only got home a hour or two ago. I don't know where Jack is." Jen frowned, where the hell was he?
Outside, the sound of an urgent voice came through from outside and Jack burst through the front door.
"Jack!" Jen leaped from the comfort of her sofa and raced across the living room into Jack's arms. He held her to him, holding on fiercely as he looked around the room. The inside was crawling with police in uniform and plain clothes Detectives. Jen began to sob into Jacks chest, her fingers tangled in his sweater anxiously.
"What the hell is going on?" Jack turned to the Detective who stood before him, a man in his late forties with a mop of curly salt and pepper hair, he extended a large, beefy hand to Jack.
"Detective Vincent, you must be, Jack?" Vincent tilted his head to the side, sizing the Jack up before him, Jack offered a curt nod to the large man. "Okay Jack, have a seat and we will fill you in on what's happening."
Joey became aware of her surroundings as she slowly lifted her head up, her neck and shoulders stiff, her head pounded beneath her skull, Joey attempted to lift her hand up to her head, she was unable to move them, panicking she realised they were secured behind her. Joey blinked rapidly, trying to remove the haze engulfing her mind, she couldn't think properly. She sat in a chair, hands behind her back, legs unable to move. The wad of cloth in her mouth caused her to panic again. She looked around her, eyes wild, it was dark and smelt of dirt, damp and smoke. The smell caused her stomach to roll with nausea, faint shuffling beside her became louder as a figure came into her view.
"You killed her Joey." His voice was low, familiar. He stepped closer so she could see him better in the moonlight as it pushed through the darkness from a shattered window. "Audrey's dead because of you." He spat. "I loved her, don't you remember. I wanted her back, I told you that. We were going to be together again. You ruined everything." Muffled sounds of protest was all Joey could give him. She knew the face, Eddie.
Joey shook her head, having her head filled with cotton was not helping her to understand what was going on. She looked around her trying to find clues to her whereabouts, they were in a large building, she knew that much. The sound of Eddie's voice and the shuffling of his feet echoed around them and while the moonlight which streamed from one of the many broken windows was not a lot to allow her to see well, it at least told her the building they were in appeared expansive. It also appeared abandoned, and the size meant it was a commercial building or more likely an industrial building. That, naturally meant nothing. Joey was tied up and gagged and was unlikely able to do anything with the information. Joey tried to remember what had happened, she was walking home from work and was feeling uneasy. The light, yes she remembered the light on the porch go out and she rang Jen.
Joey blinked rapidly around her, was it just Eddie here?
She remembered it was just Eddie, he had dragged her into the van, Audrey was driving, she remembered. She had fought with Eddie and had pulled at Audrey's hair, grabbed the wheel, which at the time she thought was a great idea, judging by how she felt now it was pretty stupid. She wondered about her head, she must have hit it in the accident. Joey closed her eyes to try and push the sick feeling in her belly, her mouth was dry and the cloth was making it worse, her jaw ached from not being able to shut it.
What did Eddie want?
Why did he and Audrey take her and now that Audrey was dead what was Eddie going to do now?
Dawn had begun to creep its way over the Boston skyline by the time Pacey found his way to his bed. He threw his exhausted body down. He lay for a moment, fisting his eyes, trying to rid his head of the vision of Audrey, her bloodied hair plastered to her forehead.
Audrey was dead.
Pacey swallowed the bile burning the back of his throat, his head was swimming with everything which had happened that night. Audrey was dead. Other things had happened, he knew that but couldn't for the life of him remember anything except one thing.
Audrey was dead.
Pacey pat down his pants in search of his phone and drew it out. Jen had called at least ten times the day before, wanting to set up lunch with him, jen, jack and Joey. Pacey, being the adult he was, completely avoided all of her calls and when it got too much he simply turned his phone off. Pacey now lay on his bed staring at the blank screen of his phone, he switched it on. Pacey fell asleep before the phone had completed it boot up sequence and didn't hear the constant binging of his phone to signal text messages or missed calls.
The smoke was so thick it could have easily been mistaken for a solid, physical entity. Pacey forged forward through the building, a long corridor cut through the belly of the factory. Pacey breathed in the oxygen through his mask. He searched the area surrounding him, he felt panicked, he was looking for someone. She was in there. He knew it, she was still there he just knew it, he couldn't find her through the smoke.
'Matt' Where the hell was Matt? He pushed through, the lights flickered momentarily before the went out. Pacey could feel his heart pounding beneath his ribs, he needed to get to her, he didn't have much time. Frantically now he was throwing doors open, the factory was dark and abandoned, not another soul in sight.
He called for her, again and again until he found himself in the large manufacturing floor of the factory. The smoke had receded, it was dark, cold and smelled of smoke. Pacey removed his helmet and mask, she sat in a chair, her head to one side and bleeding. Pacey ran to her and dropped before her.
"Jo?" He touched her cheeks with shaky fingers, he cupped her face gingerly "Joey?" His voice hoarse and gravelly, blood dripped from her hairline in a river of crimson down her face to congeal along her jaw. Her eyes were closed, Pacey spoke her name again.
'you can't save us Pacey, we die, we all die.'
Pacey sat bolt upright on his bed, the sound of beating upon his door came through to his ears. Pacey choked back the emotion from seeing Joey sitting, tied up and lifeless. It was just a dream, he knew that, he'd had dreams before. He had so many of them. Ever since the factory fire and more recently, since the fire at the Mayors, the fire which had claimed the life of Matt Hastings. Pacey had dreamed most nights since Matt had died, the dreams were all different but they all ended the same, someone died in it, someone he cared for.
The loud bashing continued, Pacey stood up and made his way down into the living area, he threw the door open madly, he took a step back to see a large man accompanied by a young woman in the uniform of the Boston Police Department. Pacey's eyes widened.
"Pacey Witter?" The man asked, Pacey nodded his head, "Detective Vincent, Boston Police, missing persons department" Vincent held out his hand, his mouth set in a grim line. Pacey shook the man's hand before stepping aside for him to enter.
"Officer Daniels" The woman extended her hand to Pacey, a smile on her face to reassure him. Pacey licked his lips, hoping to also calm him heart down. Once Pacey had his guests seated he had managed to calm himself down enough to seat as well.
"You look a little anxious, everything okay?" Vincent eyed Pacey while he removed his notebook from his coat pocket. Pacey shook his head and cleared his throat.
"No, i'm fine, haven't been sleeping well." Pacey bit down on his lip and raised his brows. "What's this about, you mentioned missing persons department." Pacey inched forward in his seat, waiting for the Detective to answer. He nodded his head.
"Miss Josephine Potter, reported missing by her roommate." Vincent flipped back through his notebook, noticing the colour drain from Pacey's face. "We had reason to believe she has been abducted."