Hi everybody! Sorry it took me so long to update, but between school, personal crisis, and writer's block, I couldn't really get a chapter out. This chapter is short, but I'll have a new one up in a couple of days, if not hours. Hope you enjoy and thanks for the awesome reviews!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Covenant anything. I do own my OC's.
Dice. The guy from L.A.
Pogue stared up at the boy, his body shaking and his hand placed over Astaire's cold one.
"Help her, damn it!" Pogue spat at the newcomer. "If you're a healer, then bring her back!"
Dice raised an eyebrow.
"Bring her back from what?" he asked casually, tossing the die again. She's not dead."
The Sons' eyes widened and Reid jerked violently.
"Well, not yet anyway."
"What?" the blonde exclaimed, ice blue eyes holding hope.
Dice rolled his eyes, tossed and caught the die once more, then slid them into his jeans pocket.
"She still has a life force. It's dwindling, but it's there."
"Then save her!" Pogue snapped. "What the hell are you waiting around for? I don't care what you have to do, just save her!"
Dice moved his dark gray eyes to Pogue.
"Even if I have to take some of your life force?"
There was silence for a split second. Then Pogue and Caleb spoke simultaneously.
"Yes!"
"What?"
The longhaired teen turned to look at Caleb. His face showed pain and determination as he spoke to the eldest.
"I'm going to do whatever it takes to bring her back. You know that."
Caleb didn't answer Pogue and looked instead at Dice.
"What do you mean 'life force?' Is it going to kill him?"
Dice stared at Caleb seriously.
"So you're the leader." He pulled out the die and threw them up, suddenly glib again. "Well, don't worry boys. I don't actually need anyone's life force."
The Sons bristled, Pogue looking at Dice with hateful eyes as Reid took a step forward.
"You bastard. If you weren't going to save Astaire's life, I would kick your ass five ways from Sunday."
Dice laughed outright.
"I'm sure. Move over," he then told Pogue, waving the teen aside. "I need to hold her hand in order to do this."
After Pogue moved, Dice squatted down beside Astaire and picked up her hand.
"My my…" he whispered to her, " You seem to get yourself in the worst predicaments."
Then the healing process began. A faded green light surrounded Astaire as Dice closed his eyes. He placed the hand that wasn't in hers over her forehead. No words were said, but the look of concentration on Dice's face told the Sons it was working. Slowly, the ruined and mashed bullet began to rise out of the wound. Then, as it began to float out of the light, it fixed itself, becoming perfect before dropping to the ground. Tyler went and picked it up, pocketing it. At Reid's quizzical glance, he explained.
"If she's alright after this, we can't leave any evidence of the shooting. People can't ask questions, and you know Caleb's neighbors are middle-aged, jogging busybodies. They'll run to the police if one of their dogs finds the bullet out here while on a walk."
Suddenly, the light vanished, and Dice stepped away.
"Well?" an agitated voice asked.
Dice looked at Pogue in slight annoyance.
"Calm down, tough guy. She's going to be fine. Her body just needs to rest before she wakes up." He took out the die and tossed them. "So who's up for a trip to the Montgomery estate?"
Reid stared at the boy, arms crossed.
"She lives by herself, not at home."
"Thank you, Malfoy," the healer said amusedly as Reid scowled and tried not to pull his beanie to farther cover his golden locks. "But wouldn't you rather have someone around if she relapses?"
Pogue picked up Astaire, cradling her in his arms protectively. She was so light, so fragile. He felt he would break her just by touching her, but at the same time he never wanted to let her go. Had there been different circumstances, he would have laughed at himself for being such a chick-flick guy about things. But these were serious circumstances in which he almost lost the love of his life, so he deserved to be less than a macho man about things.
"Let's go, then," he said, sounding commanding through his worry. "We're wasting time."
The Sons of Ipswich turned towards the Danvers' Manor, Tyler wordlessly handing his keys over to Reid.
"You drive faster," Caleb explained to a confused Reid. "Go get the car ready. I'll be there in a second." Though it was said calmly, authority rang through in every word. For once, Reid simply nodded and headed off. Then, it was just Caleb and Dice in the clearing.
Dice looked at the other teen with ease. Caleb's tense posture made him smirk. The fearless leader looked like a tight-ass.
"Lucky I showed up," Dice said casually.
"Yeah. Lucky." Caleb didn't move an inch as he stared Dice down. "Your timing was…perfect." He didn't need to add the cliché "a little too perfect." It was clearly implied.
Dice raised a brow.
"Suspicious, huh?" The smirk grew at Caleb's silence. " Well, well. The plot thickens. I guess we need to find out who shot our poor damsel."
"I will."
Slipping the die in his pocket, Dice turned to go. Caleb "Stick-up-his-crack" Danvers was started to get boring.
"Good. It's bad to have a gun-wielding lunatic running around." He waved over his shoulder. "I'll leave you four golden boys to coddle her," Then, after an almost theatrical pause, "See you at school." With that, Dice walked into the trees and disappeared.
Trying to suppress his anger, Caleb stood there for a brief moment and pulled himself together. That Dice guy made his blood boil. He was aggravating, with his smug demeanor and cynicism…Caleb sighed. This was not the time to sit and stew in his dislike for a guy he just met. He had a friend to go help.
Ten minutes later, Tyler knocked urgently on the door to the Montgomery estate. Pogue still held Astaire protectively in his arms as he stared at the door apprehensively.
" Can't somebody hurry up and answer the door?" he said, anxiety coming off as gruffness. " It's too cold for her to be out here!"
Caleb put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Ms. Montgomery's probably on her way to the door. Just wait."
Seconds later, a confused Lyla Montgomery opened the door.
"Boys, what are you…" She trailed off, seeing her daughter in Pogue's arms. As her eyes widened, the temperature dropped to freezing levels and the doorframe the woman was standing in covered in ice. "What happened?" she demanded, her voice matching the temperature.
As Caleb explained, Reid thawed the ice. The blonde shook his head. He'd forgotten how Ms. M's powers kicked into gear when she was upset. And though usually cool, no pun intended, her freezing talents were not going to help Astaire.
Looking slightly calmer after an explanation, Ms. Montgomery ushered the boys inside and hurriedly closed the door before she started to quickly climb the stairs.
" Come. Her room is up here." She smiled a little. "Its one of the few places that stays pretty warm."
Soon the group made their way into Astaire's bedroom, a large gold and ivory colored room with an enormous bed that would help the girl rest fully. Ms. Montgomery walked over to the state-of-the-art stereo equipment in the corner and turned it on, a soft classical melody filling the room. Pogue moved swiftly and steadily over to the bed and laid Astaire down on top of the comforter.
"Should I have put her under the covers?" he asked her mother.
"No," the woman responded. "She'll be fine as she is."
Lyla Montgomery then gracefully walked over to the bed and gingerly sat down by her daughter. Her hand hovered over the girl's forehead, but did not make contact. Lyla was well aware that her temperature was several degrees below a normal person's and that the cold would not help her recuperating child.
Sensing Ms. Montgomery wanted to be alone with Astaire, the boys left silently, each casting a worried look at the form on the bed.
"Oh sweetheart," Lyla murmured. "Please get better."
Thanks for reading!