When Parker heard Artemis nearly stutter out "It's… it's… it's Acheron's rule, so you know it can't be broken", she knew that she was sunk. No one argued with Acheron, at least no sane human being that Parker had met had ever claimed to have done something so daring.
She sucked in a painful breath and was more than willing to silently wallow in self-pity when she saw Nick dramatically roll his eyes. Although she had heard rumors about the rift between the former friends, she really didn't want to be the reason that he took the big guy on; she wasn't worth that because they weren't close. They had only just met and despite him knowing and possibly having befriended her father, it still wasn't her that he owed any type of allegiance. Maybe one day they could have become that close, but it was looking like that dream was completely lost.
Parker then gently touched Nick's arm to try to keep him silent before she meekly replied, "Of course, it's one of the cardinal rules. You are more than correct my goddess. I'll… I'll just…"
At that point she felt her voice start to crack, so she heaved in a breath and tried her best to hold in her tears. Since she wasn't that she would be able to hold in the waterworks, she chose to just leave. Parker knew that she was a woman in a man's world, so she didn't want any of them to misinterpret the origins of her tears; especially when it came to Otto. She felt like she had already shared too much with him and had been at the receiving end of enough of his judgments that she really didn't need to hear it from him when she felt like her world was crashing and burning around her.
Miraculously she made it down the stairs without anyone trying to stop her and (more importantly) without falling flat on her face by tripping down them. Her breathing had started to even out as she moved through the dining room, so she decided to make a bee-line straight to her bedroom to start cleaning and packing up. While she did that she hoped that she could come up with the words to explain everything to Aimée and Dev. She doubted that they would ever fully understand her rationale, but she knew that she at least had to try to get them to see her side.
As she swiftly moved between the tables in the dining room she caught a glimpse of Aimée as she entered the same room. Parker immediately abandoned her original plan because it would mean that she would have to pass right by her friend. As much as she loved the bears and all of the other Were-Hunters she had being living with for the last week, she knew that their concern for her would mean that she wouldn't get a moment alone to think or re-evaluate; plus she really needed some time to wallow in self-pity after seeing that look in Otto's eyes. Yeah that topic so wasn't something that she was ready to get into with anyone, especially Aimée, just yet.
Parker then diverted her course for a door that would lead to the back alley that wasn't close to the kitchen or Peltier House. She prayed to any god or goddess that might help her that Aimée wouldn't see her. As her luck would usually have it, which meant it was pretty much non-existent, she thought that she heard Aimée call out her name. The next breath she took in was shaky and verged on turning into a sob, so she kept her focus solely on the door that was her temporary salvation. As she reached it she noticed that she hadn't heard Aimée call out her name again, so she let out a sigh of relief thinking that she had hallucinated that whole scenario.
Once she reached the exit door, she paused and took in a deep breath. Immediately she was assaulted by the scents of the food coming out of the kitchen, the stale beer people had spilled all over the room and just the generic scent of sweaty people. It was supposed to be a cleansing breath to help center herself, but instead it was so revolting that she now had a new reason to get the hell out of the building.
Parker shoved at the door until she was met with the sweet odor of fresh air. She took in another deep breath and this time she got hints of fresh air, rotting fish, stale alcohol and creole food cooking that she always associated with New Orleans. It might not be the most inviting scents to some, but to her it was home.
When that comforting scent assailed her, Parker whispered out a relieved, "Thank the gods." Now she was feeling a bit more prepared to get her thoughts in order.
But her first plan of action was to find a new sanctuary, so to speak. As she moved through the alley, her true clumsy nature came out and she tripped over basically the first box she encountered. That in turn led to a half a dozen or so bottles tumbling out of it and rolling all over Parker's path to relative freedom.
"Are you…? Who the fuck…?" She started mumbling to herself as she corralled some bottles together. "Who in Hades did I piss off to deserve all of this bullshit?"
Once Parker had an armful of bottles gathered together she kicked the box so that it was right side up and tried to dump the bottles back into it. A good two thirds of the glass receptacles escaped the cardboard confines of the box, but somehow they didn't break. Parker decided to turn the bottles upright before she turned her attention to her escapees.
There were a couple of bottles close to her, so Parker remained on her knees as she tried to retrieve them. Somewhat to her surprise they started to roll away from her. Every time that she tried to reclaim it, the bottle seemed to move just far enough to be out of her reach.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Parker growled under her breath. "I swear Atë, if this is you and you're just fucking with me… I'll… I'll… Okay I have no comeback, but I still don't need your shit right now."
This time when Parker reached out to pick up the beer bottle, she was actually able to grasp its neck. As she looked at it she realized it wasn't Atë or Artemis or anyone else in the Greek pantheon that was the target of her wrath. No, right now she was mad at someone that she knew that she was going to always forgive no matter what.
Before she really became conscious that she was doing it, Parker noticed that she had thrown the bottle towards a brick wall at the opposite end of the alley. As she picked up the next bottle she found, she let her rage take over and she threw it as well towards that same wall yelling, "Fine! If you don't want to go back where you belong then fine… this is what you get!"
As she found bottles, whether they were the ones that rolled away from her or not, Parker tossed them against the wall.
Remi stepped out into the alleyway with an overfilled bag of garbage when he heard the sound of glass breaking. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that they would lose patrons if this area suddenly became known as a crime riddled neighborhood. That would mean that his brothers and, more importantly, his sister would become more antsy and anxious about their business. That of course brought his thought to his family, his nieces and nephews specifically, which made it absolutely unacceptable for anyone to victimize their neighborhood.
The sound of the glass breaking became a more frequent, steady, patterned sound, so he figured that the sounds, much to his relief, weren't coming from a car thief. But as he drew closer to the noise he could hear the distant sound of a female grunting that accompanied the echoes of shattering glass.
"Damn it? Who decided to find Daimons on a slow night?" Remi quietly asked himself as he rushed towards the noise.
By the time Remi rounded the corner where Parker was all but tossing random glass bottles against the wall, she was no longer screaming any discernable words. He was sure that when he first heard the Squire that she was cursing the bottles and their makers, but now she seemed to be trying to scream out her rage with every bottle thrown.
"Parker? PARKER?!" He tried calling out a couple of times. When that didn't work, Remi then tried using the nickname some of his family used during the Squire's relatively short lifetime. "Parker? Uhh… Cub? CUB?! Are you alright?"
Parker didn't acknowledge his presence and instead continued to pick up random bottles off of the ground to hurl at the brick wall. That meant that with every throw she took a few steps and she got closer and closer to the flying debris. For Remi that meant that he would have to follow her somewhat in order to try to get her to listen to him.
"Parker?" He tried again as he got closer to her.
She appeared to almost be in a trance and only had eyes for the bottles that she could destroy. She was still screaming nonsensical words as the bottles left her hand. When he reached her side he flinched and had to duck because they were so close to the wall that the shards of glass were bouncing back and hitting them. If Remi had been slightly concerned about Parker's mental state, he was now fully worried about her because she didn't seem to notice that the glass was also hitting her.
As he dodged more shards of glass, Remi noticed what he thought looked like a thin trail of blood running down Parker's left cheek. He could now also see that she had a wild look in her eyes that told him that trying to reason with her right now would be completely futile. Much like Aimée and his other siblings, Remi didn't like to draw attention to himself by using his supernatural abilities around humans (truth be told he didn't like to draw attention to himself period), but he was more than willing to make an exception right now. Using his super human speed, he grabbed her right hand that was still holding a bottle and spun her around so that he could pin her against the wall.
Remi didn't want to hurt Parker at all, but he still squeezed her wrist tightly while he tried to get her attention saying, "Parker? Hey, can you hear me Parker?"
He only reply was to grunt and try to twist out of his hold. She was actually stronger than he had anticipated so he grabbed her other hand and wrenched it above her head as well. Once he had both of her wrists secured over her head, he used his right foot to kick her legs apart. The last thing he needed was for her to try to incapacitate him by ramming her knee into a very vulnerable and sensitive part of his body. She seethed and actually did try to land a hard blow to exactly where he had predicted, so he slammed his left hip against her right leg to keep Parker from making a second attempt.
"Enough!" He ordered with a quiet growl as he tightened his already painful grip on Parker's wrist. "Parker! Enough! You have to stop before someone gets hurt… well gets hurt worse."
After he squeezed her wrist, he noticed some recognition returning to her eyes. He knew she was going to be bruised in the morning, but he couldn't think of anything else to do right now. As he tightened his hold on her wrists even further, Parker's eyes started to focus even more.
She then whispered out a quiet, "Ow."
"There we are. Come on now Cub, just put down the bottle."
"Ow… ow… it… it hurts," she complained softly without making any attempts to move.
"Come on Sweetheart, we've just got to…" Remi explained as he guided her right hand down by her side.
He tapped her hand lightly against the wall hoping that she would comply with his wishes. Her only response was a tearful, "It hurts."
"I know, but I need you to "
Remi had started to unwrap her fingers from around the bottle's neck when someone used their full body weight to tackle the bear away from the human. Luckily Remi had released his hold of both of Parker's wrists or else he would have pulled her down to the ground when he stumbled away from her. Parker remained stock still in her spot while Remi regained his footing.
"Parker? Hey… hey… are you alright?" Otto asked as he placed his hands on both of Parker's cheeks. Almost immediately he saw the small river of blood that had begun to flow down her cheek. Almost as quickly he found the piece of glass that had imbedded itself just above her eyebrow which was the origin of all of the blood. "Oh no, Parker. Kiddo… what did he do to you?"
Parker's bottom lip started to tremble as she replied a noncommittal, "Hurts."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Park completely lost her resolve. Forgetting that the man in front of her was one of the primary reasons she didn't' want to cry in front of anyone, she let out a loud, gut wrenching sob. She finally released her hold on the bottle and she let Otto claim the majority of her weight while she continued to cry.
"Here Squire let me help " Remi started as he moved his arms as if he was going to help Otto by claiming some of Parker's weight.
Otto didn't smack Remi's hands away like he wanted to, but he did raise one of his arms to block Remi from being able to touch the other Squire as he replied, "I think you've done enough."
Remi looked shocked for a second before he threw his hands up in defeat and said, "You know what? Whatever… I really don't care."
With that said he turned on his heel and stomped away to return to the task that had originally brought him out into the alley.
Otto didn't pay Remi any mind and kept his attention focused on Parker. She hadn't been able to say anything to him beyond 'hurts' and 'ow' because he sobs had become so profound. She also appeared to be losing her ability to coordinate her limbs, so Otto scooped her up into his arms to carry her back to the bar to find someone to tend to the wound above her eye.
Aimée had been keeping an eye on the door Otto had exited through when she had finally convinced him that someone should check on Parker. Much to her surprise Remi was the first person to re-enter the building from the alleyway. She hadn't noticed that he had gone outside and reasoned that he must have done so when she was practically begging and pleading with Otto to at least try to get an eye on Parker to make sure that she was safe. Both of them had concurred that they should give Parker some time to cool down before they tried to discuss this latest tragedy with her, but Aimée also pointed out that if the young Squire was that emotionally distressed that it would leave her open to an attack. That reasoning had finally piqued Otto's sense of self-preservation and he had agreed to watch Parker covertly to make sure no one did her any harm, but he only did so to keep himself on the bear's good side.
About a full minute after Remi had entered through the door, Otto emerged with a sobbing Parker cradled against his chest like a small child in his arms. Aimée rushed to his side as fast as her feet could take her. In all honesty she would have gladly broken the rules and would have teleported to his side in front of the general public in the dining room. Thankfully she remembered that she couldn't teleport right now because she was pregnant, which was the only way she kept herself out of a compromising position.
"What happened?" She worriedly questioned once she was by Otto's side.
He continued moving towards the kitchen in the hopes to keep from drawing attention to them as he answered, "I'm not entirely sure. When I got out there it looked like she was trying to fight off one of the bears. As soon as he was gone I noticed the blood and she broke down into a sobbing mess before I could question her."
"Fight off…? You don't mean Remi, do you?"
Otto shrugged as best as he could with Parker in his arms answering, "Is that who came in before us? Sorry I have a hard time telling your brothers apart."
By this time they had made it into the kitchen. Staff at Sanctuary, whether they knew the truth of the world of Were-Hunters and Dark-Hunters or not, had grown desensitized to strange happenings at the bar, so no one paid the newcomers any heed and continued about their business as usual.
Aimée grabbed one of Otto's forearms to get his attention as she said, "There's no way that Remi would hurt her."
"I'm sure that you believe that, but all I know is that she told him that he was hurting her and now she has blood running down the side of her face. It doesn't take a huge leap to come to that conclusion."
"No, he wouldn't. They're friends," she stated matter-of-factly to herself. She then turned her eyes up to look at Parker, who was still being held in Otto's protective embrace. Her sobs had completely sub-sided, but her tears still continued to flow. More importantly the blood running down her temple continued to do so at an alarming rate. It was then that Aimée noticed that Parker had a fairly sizeable piece of glass imbedded in her brow.
Aimée started to reach out to touch it, but stopped herself short of doing that as she sympathetically said, "Oh Cub that must hurt something terrible." She then turned her eyes up to Otto's face as he scoffed indignantly. "We need to get her up to Carson, he'll be able to fix her up."
"That was my thought too. What floor is his clinic on again?"
"No need," Aimée replied with a faraway look on her face. Before Otto could ask her to clarify, Aimée nodded towards a door that he heard open and close as she added, "The cavalry is here."
Otto twisted slightly at the waist to look towards that direction. First he noticed the barreled chest of a muscular male wearing a familiar 'Sanctuary Security' t-shirt. He then let his eyes travel up to the man's face. Seeing what he thought was the face of the man he wrongfully assumed had hurt Parker, Otto squeezed Parker tightly and took a step away from both of the bears saying, "Oh, hell no."
"Otto that isn't Remi, it's our brother Dev. I swear he would never do anything to hurt Parker," Aimée explained in a desperate tone.
Otto eyed them both wearily then said, "She talked about you. Why don't you prove you're you by showing me whatever makes you unique from your brothers?"
Dev had rushed to the kitchen because Aimée had contacted him telepathically to tell him Parker desperately needed his help. Now he was being confronted by a Squire that looked like he was holding Dev's friend somewhat defensively in his arms. Dev wanted to play with the human and act like he had no idea to what the Squire referred, but he knew that could potentially hurt Parker, so he didn't even try. Instead he turned to one side and pulled up his t-shirt's sleeve to reveal his double bow and arrow tattoo.
All of the tension left Otto's body as he turned to hand Parker over to Dev. She immediately tried to snuggle into the bear's chest, but he stopped her because that meant that she would have pressed the glass shard even further into her flesh. Not to mention the damage it would have done when it punctured his flesh as well.
"Oh Cub," he commented forlornly just before they both disappeared.
Otto stiffened in his place as he looked around the room nervously. Aimée wrapped her arm around one of his and tugged him gently towards the general vicinity of Peltier House.
Once Otto's feet started moving, Aimée explained, "It was the fastest way to get her to Carson. Now come on, I'll take you up to her."
Carson looked up from the paperwork he was looking over on his desk when he felt Dev enter the room. Although it wasn't unusual for Were-Hunters to literally pop into his office unannounced, he still gave Dev a wide-eyed, surprised look at seeing him with a human in his arms. Dev remained silent and moved towards the door that led to the exam room area with Parker still gently cushioned in his arms.
Dev was gently placing the now unconscious Squire down on the stainless steel exam table when Carson finally arrived at the door. He watched the bear for a couple of seconds and when he was convinced that the other man had everything under control, the doctor moved swiftly to put on a pair of latex gloves.
Dev was repositioning Parker's head so that her hair was out of the way as Carson approached him saying, "Dare I ask how this happened?"
"You can ask all you want, but the only answer I'll be able to give you is 'I have no idea'."
Since that was practically a stock answer for most situations when people found themselves under his care, Carson just shrugged then continued on with his examination. He gently moved Parker's head from side to side to make sure that she didn't have any other significant cuts, beyond the obvious, that he would have to tend to once he got started.
"How long has she been out cold," Carson asked as he started collecting items from his cupboard.
"Just before I teleported her here. She was pretty distraught, so I think she tired herself out from crying," Dev answered from his place by Parker's head. "Did you want me to go get Maggie to help you?"
The doctor shook his head, placing his tools on the steel bed by Parker's right cheek. "It shouldn't take me too long to stitch her up." He caught the brief look of uncertainty on Dev's face so he added, "It's a clean cut and the glass will be easy to remove. I know there's a lot of blood, but that's common for head wounds. It honestly does look worse that it is Dev."
The bear let out a sigh and slumped slightly in his spot. "Thanks Carson. Would you mind if I stayed in here while you work on her? Ever since her mom's last stay in the hospital, Parker has sort of inherited a phobia and all…"
"Say no more," Carson replied. "If you being here might make my life easier, I won't kick you out. Just…"
"Don't get in your way," Dev finished for him as he pulled up a chair to sit by Parker's head.
Carson first cleaned up the majority of the blood on Parker's face before he carefully extracted the sizeable piece of glass from her flesh. Without being asked Dev pressed a large wad of gauze against the now revealed cut. Carson flashed him a grateful smile before exchanging his Kelly Forceps and tweezers for a plastic bottle of water that he used to irrigate the wound.
As he cleaned away the fresh blood so that he could check out the cut to ensure there were no pieces of glass left behind. The doctor took in a loud breath before commenting, "I wonder what the other guy looks like if she took a bottle to the head and didn't fall down in her place."
"Not a scratch on him that I could see," a voice answered from behind him.
Carson's hands paused while he looked over his shoulder. He recognized the male in the doorway to be a Squire, so he returned to stitching the wound without further commentary. He did, however, give Dev a look to have him question the other man further. Carson would have done it himself, but he wanted to keep his focus on his patient and doing the best job that he could while stitching her up. He hadn't had a chance to get to know the young Squire well, but since she was female he wanted to make sure that he kept the scarring on her face to a minimum just in case she was vane enough to care once she woke up.
"So you saw the guy that did this to her and just let him go? Or did you dust him before you brought her back inside?" Dev finally asked.
"I would have loved to…" Otto started to reply only to have Aimée push him aside so that she could step inside of the room.
"Don't start with that again Otto. Until we can ask either of them about what happened, it would be best if we didn't start jumping to conclusions," the bearswan stated in a tone that left no room for argument. "How is she doing Carson?"
The doctor dabbed the stitches and cleaned around them as he replied, "It's not as bad as it looked. Just under a dozen stitches and she's all patched up. After I give her a tetanus shot, one of you can take her to her room to sleep it all off. After a good night's… well day's sleep, Parker should be absolutely fine."
Aimée walked over to Parker's side and pet the side of her head. Dev caught the sad look in his sister's eyes so he place a comforting hand over hers. They both had adopted Parker as a little sister long before she moved to the United Kingdom and they continued to care for her as the same today. They had had enough family tragedies that even the smallest incidences seemed to hit them hard. They both knew that Parker was strong and that she would be able to live through this, but that didn't stop them from worrying about and wanting to baby her.
Otto watched the interaction between the two bears and he started to actually feel uncomfortable. The love that the Were-Hunters felt for the human was more than evident on their faces, so he started to feel like he was intruding on a private moment and like he truly didn't belong there. He initially justified his presence there as him watching out for Parker's best interests and making sure no one else hurt a fellow Squire. Now he could see that she was in the hands of people who truly did care about her, so why was he still standing there? He and Parker weren't friends, he had been the one to ensure that that was a crystal clear fact. They weren't really colleagues. Again he was the one that always made sure that Parker felt inferior to him in every way.
"Why?" He quietly asked himself out loud.
Aimée held Otto's arm in a soft grip as she slowly turned him to one side and explained, "I know you helped her tonight, but I've never heard her talk about you, so I don't know how comfortable she would be with you seeing her like that."
Otto frowned at the bear's run-on sentence before he stole a glance over his shoulder. The doctor was turning Parker over onto her side so that he could pull her sweater up to reach the waist of her tights to pull them down. He kept tugging on the fabric until Parker's left…
"Oh!" Otto exclaimed as he whipped his head back to where Aimée had pointed it.
His embarrassment only eased up when he heard Carson chuckle and announce, "Alright you three, I'm done giving Parker her shot." Once they had all turned around he gave each of them a questioning look and said, "She should sleep through the rest of the night and most of the morning. She'll probably be sore once she wakes up, so here are some pain killers to make things easier for her." He pointed the bottle towards each of them then asked, "So? Who do I give these to?"
Otto made a move to step forward, but Dev beat him to the punch. He picked Parker up off the table then put his hand out for the bottle saying, "I'll take her to her room. Does someone have to stay with her 'til she wakes up or do we just have to check in on her from time to time?"
"Someone with her until she's alert would be the ideal, but frequent check could work too, I guess."
Aimée shook her head replying, "Someone will be with her at all times until she wakes up. There's enough of us to do it in shifts, no problem."
Dev caught her eye and nodded to show he understood exactly what she was saying. "I'll take first watch then."
Before he could disappear with the Squire, Aimée held his arm so that she could look Parker over one more time. She pet the length of her face then kissed one of her hands. Dev stood still and just watched his sister which earned him a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek from Aimée.
"While you get her settled, I'll try to work on a schedule of people to watch over her."
"Alright Sis, just send my relief up at shift change."
After Dev had disappeared with Parker once again, Otto quietly said to Aimée, "Here's my card. Let me know if any of us Squires can be of any help."
Aimée stared at the card in her hand, but she couldn't find the words to reply. If Otto was the type of person who would squirm during an uncomfortable silence, he would have been nearly twitching by now. But Otto never let anyone see any hint of vulnerability, so instead he just shrugged and then turned to walk away.
Once he was at the door, Otto stopped but didn't turn his body at all as he announced, "She's one of us and we take care of our own."
With that he continued out of the room. Aimée let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and jumped when she heard Carson let out a tension easing laugh.
"Isn't he Mr. Intense?" Carson asked through his chuckling.
Aimée gave him a hesitant smile and replied with her own question of, "If she's a Squire, do you think we should call Acheron about this?"
"Even though she IS a Squire," Carson replied with an extra emphasis on Aimée's misspoken title for the human. "I think we should hold off getting any of the Squires or Dark Hunters involved until we know exactly what happened tonight."
"Right," Aimée answered sounding very distracted. "You're totally right. So it's up to just us to watch over our Cub."
Her sleep had been deep and restful, but her waking up was terribly uncomfortable. She rolled onto her back and suddenly her eyes snapped open as she let out a silent scream of protest. Parker tried to scramble back onto her side to ease the throbbing in her buttocks, but she was still feeling so sleep deprived that she couldn't force her body to maneuver it.
"Here, let me help you," a kind, quiet voice offered as they eased her onto her side.
Parker kept her eyes squeezed closed tightly until she was safely back onto her left side. It took a couple of breaths for the throbbing to subside when she felt like she wasn't going to scream out in pain, she eased one and then her other eye open.
It took a couple of seconds before her eyes were able to focus on her 'savior'. When his face finally did come into view, she gave him a lazy smile as she hoarsely whispered, "Remi?"
"Sorry Cub, but you're stuck with me."
Her smile turned into a cheeky grin as she replied, "It's good to see you Devereaux. So can you tell me about the pain in my ass?" Dev's smile faltered slightly which caused Parker to cough out a laugh. "I mean the literal pinching and throbbing pain I felt when I tried to lay down on my back. I wasn't trying to get all metaphorical on you."
"Good because if you keep using those fancy, big, schooling words I might not be able to keep up with you, Cub."
Those words had the desired effect on Parker and she fell into a fit of quiet giggles. Dev relaxed in his seat and couldn't help but to smile at the bright look on Parker's face. She had barely moved during her sleep and hadn't uttered a single sound which had prompted Aimée, Dev and Talon to place a mirror under her nose to make sure that she was still breathing more than once. (The Peltiers had decided not to tell anyone in the Dark-Hunter circle about Parker until they heard her side of the story. Talon showed up unexpectedly in the afternoon to check on how the meeting went and refused to leave until he got to at least see Parker in the flesh. Aimée then gave him a quick synopsis of the events of the night before and Talon insisted on taking a turn watching over his young Squire friend.)
Suddenly Parker's features pinched up into a painful scowl. She raised her hand up and inadvertently smacked her fingertips against her stitches. She let out a noise of complaint but looked like she was going to touch them again, so Dev leaned forward and caught her wandering hand in one of his own.
"Carson gave you a tetanus shot after he finished up with your stitches," Dev explained as he gently rested her arm down against her side.
Parker couldn't help but to scowl as she digested his words. "He… he… a shot… in my ass? Really?"
Although he tried not to, but Dev chuckled softly as he answered, "Yes he did… in your gluteus maximus. He said that it was the easiest muscle for him to reach without wrecking any of your clothes."
"Oh… okay… yeah… that makes sense. Now what about these stitches? How did I get these?"
"Well Cub, none of us are entirely sure," Dev started slowly.
"All we know is that when Otto brought you back inside you had a HUGE chunk of glass imbedded in your head," Aimée continued from behind where Parker was laying down.
The human once again tried to roll over onto her back so that she could see her friend. Dev quickly stood up to stop her as he commented, "It wasn't a huge chunk; it was a sizeable shard."
"Same thing," Aimée retorted petulantly. She then placed a comforting hand on Parker's shoulder to quietly say, "Don't try to move too much, Cub. We know that you must be sore."
"Thanks Aims, but did you say that Otto brought be back inside? Like OTTO Otto? And he still has both balls intact?" Parker asked as she settled back into place so that she could look at both of the bears comfortably.
Aimée and Dev shared a look that made even Parker feel uneasy. The two bears appeared to have a silent conversation and then they seemed to have some to some sort of a resolution.
Aimée picked up one of Parker's hands and held it in both of hers as she explained, "Yes… on all counts Cub. When he brought you in, you had the cut on your brow and you were sobbing something fierce."
"Okay," Parker replied with her scowl somehow deepening. "Are you sure he wasn't the cause of both?"
The bears shared a surprised look and this time it was Dev that replied, "Actually we really aren't sure about what happened at all. The Squire seemed to think that Remi had something to do with hurting you. We wanted to ask you about it, but you were too distraught to speak and then you passed out on me."
Tears pooled in Parker's eyes while she listened to Dev and the night's events started to replay themselves in her mind. She squeezed her eyes closed and pulled her knees up to her chest to hide her face into them. Pulling her knees up to her face seemed like the best way to hide from her friends, but that action actually pulled on her glute muscles uncomfortably, so she quickly abandoned that course of action.
As Parker let her legs fall back down, Aimée stepped forward with something in each hand as she explained, "You haven't had any pain meds Cub, so once you eat this cracker and cheese you can have something for the pain. That should make moving around a lot more comfortable."
Parker immediately started to nibble on the cracker and cheese before she replied, "Sorry that I'm being such a wuss, but for some reason I've never reacted well when I've had to have a tetanus shot."
"It's alright Sweetie, Dev and I are in no rush," Aimée offered trying to sound supportive and helpful.
Parker tried not to choke as a sob creeped into her throat. She managed to swallow it down along with her food. As soon as her mouth was empty, Aimée presented her with a glass of water and a small light pink colored pill. Parker took both from her and swallowed them down greedily. After the glass was empty, Aimée took it from her and placed it on Parker's side table.
Aimée pulled up a chair to sit beside her brother. The two of them sat silently as they watched Parker move some of her pillows around as she tried to make herself comfortable on her bed. Or so they thought. In reality Parker was trying to do whatever she could to delay the conversation that she knew was to come. Because of her own stupidity and recklessness, she hadn't had a chance to figure out how she was going to explain her new situation to Aimée and Dev.
"It'll be fine Cub, just take your time," Aimée offered in a soft, comforting voice.
Parker centered herself the best that she could by taking in a slow deep breath before she attempted to make eye contact with either of her friends. When her eyes locked with Aimée's she almost lost her nerve, but she forced herself not to chicken out.
"So I guess you guys heard the news about me and my… I mean not my… umm… about what happened," Parker awkwardly explained.
The bears shared a look and shook their heads as Dev answered, "Actually no, we haven't heard anything about the meeting."
"Really? I was sure that Otto would have jumped at the chance to tell everyone about how I got humiliated."
"Oh Cub, no he seemed to be more worried about you being hurt than anything else," Aimée answered. "He actually became really protective of you when he brought you inside."
"Protective?" Parker hid a derisive laugh very poorly before she added, "Aims are you sure you aren't the one who had Carson remove a huge chunk of glass from your head last night?"
Aimée's eyes narrowed as she inquired, "Parker? Is Otto the 'problem' you wanted to leave to discuss at a later date?"
The Squire's cheeks turned a dark shade of red as she answered, "Yeah he sort of is, but… umm…"
"But it can still wait," Dev cut in mercifully. "Personally I'm more interested in hearing about what happened last night."
Parker gave him a grateful smile. "Okay. So… where to start? Well I got to meet the Hunter I was supposed to work for, but not long after he showed up, Artemis did too. She said that there was some sort of mix up and that I was supposed to be a boy and… well… I'm so not… so… she was 'kind' enough to remind us of Acheron's number one rule for Squires; we can't work for someone who we might become attracted to, so that meant that I can't Squire for Nick. I mean I know he's kind of cute, but he is so not my type. Plus he didn't seem to be interested in me… well he was… I mean… but not like that… not like… err… Anyways, Artemis said that it didn't matter. Rules are rules, so I can't be his Squire. After I told her she was right, I went outside to think because I didn't want anyone to see me cry."
"Oh Cub," Aimée replied as she brushed a tear off of Parker's cheek. "I'm so sorry to hear that happened."
"Although I do agree that it sucks, especially after you were so excited about getting this job, you may have dodged a bullet on this one. It sounds like he was kind to you, but Nick… he… he can be pretty nasty sometimes. I honestly don't think anyone would survive as his Squire," Dev commented in an uncharacteristically somber tone.
"He's right Parker. I really want you to have your dream job, but I'm pretty sure this one would have turned into a nightmare eventually."
Parker stared at both of them for a breath then asked, "Is it because of the stuff between him and Ash?"
"Partially," Aimée answered. "But mostly it all started when he lost his maman. Cherise… she was…"
"Something special," Parker finished for her. Aimée gaped at her in surprise causing Parker to chuckle. "Sorry a lot of the regulars are super chatty. They've told me a lot of stories about her and just from the way they tell those stories… well, it just sounds like she was pretty extraordinary."
"That she was. Now that we've established that, how about we get back to you filling us in on how you ended up needing stitches when you were just going outside to think?" Dev asked without a hint of teasing in his tone.
Parker stared at him for a moment, but when he didn't attempt to crack a smile at all, she instead tried to explain what happened. "Right, the glass in my head. Well I went out into the alley and then I tripped over a box. It had a bunch of bottles in it and they fell out. I felt bad about making a mess so I tried putting them back. I don't know exactly how but since I'm such a total klutz I couldn't even do that right, so I… umm… well… I got frustrated and then… uhh… then everything… all of it… having to pack again, having to leave again, seeing Otto's stupid face… all of it hit me at once and I just got so mad… and destructive. Since the bottles were already in my hand they seemed like as good a target as any for my anger. I don't even really remember what happened next. I guess it's what people call a blind rage, but then I was suddenly pinned against the wall and Remi was telling me I had to stop hurting myself or something like that and then… well I woke up with a pain in my ass… literal Aims, not Dev. He's been a sweetheart."
"Cub," Aimée whispered forlornly as she leaned forward and brushed Parker's hair back and out of her face. "What do you mean you have to leave again?"
Parker's lip started to tremble as fresh tears gathered in her eyes. Her breathing started to come in as shallow gasps, as she tried to answer, "I… I promised him. I told him that… that… that I wouldn't… wouldn't… that I…" She sobbed in a breath then continued through her tears. "If I have no Hunter to Squire for then it means that I don't have a job… so… so… I have to leave because that's what I promised." She could tell that the two of them didn't seem to fully understand what she was saying, so Parker added a very soft, almost inaudible, "My dad. It's what my dad made me promise him one of the last times we saw each other."
"Do you mean that thing in his will about you not coming back to New Orleans unless it was to be housed with a hunter?" Aimée asked.
Parker nodded softly then answered, "That's exactly it. I know it might sound silly and trivial to some people, but I gave him my word and I don't go back on my word."
"Of course not Cub," Aimée agreed instantly. "Why don't you try to get a bit more rest and once you're feeling up to it come down and have something to eat, okay? We'll try to figure out something from there."
"Okay… yeah… that sounds good. But before you go…" Aimée and Dev paused where they were now standing beside her bed. "I just wanted to make sure you guys heard me. I was stupid and hurt myself. Remi had absolutely nothing to do with it."
Aimée leaned down and kissed Parker's forehead before she replied, "We heard you loud and clear Cub."
Parker once again fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, however this time she woke up feeling not only rested, but she was also relatively pain free. She wasn't feeling particularly hungry, which she found odd because she had slept most of the day and probably should have been feeling more side effects of that, but she wasn't going to dwell on that now. First she wanted to freshen up so that she could find Remi and try to apologize to him. Since she was so anxious to find him and clear the air, she was now actually feeling grateful for her lack of appetite because if she had nothing in her stomach then she was hoping that meant she wouldn't be vomiting anytime soon.
After her shower, Parker threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. One of the first things she noticed when she returned to her room was that everything had been cleaned up and put back where it belonged. Well not in their exact spots, but Parker was sure that Aimée and her helpers had done the best they could considering the incredible job she had done of destroying her room and her non-existent organizational scheme. Even though everything hadn't been put back how she had unpacked them, Parker still managed to put an outfit together quickly as she reminded herself to think of a way to thank Aimée and everyone else for their help.
As she made her way through the house on her way to the bar she asked everyone she met where she could find Remi. Most people gave her a strange look and told her they weren't his keeper. Well the polite people said that, others were a bit more colorful in their descriptions of how strange they thoughts she was for making such an inquiry. Normally that would have given Parker a moment of pause, but for now she remained too task-driven to pretend that she cared that anyone found her question odd.
In the end she found him on her own in a back room moving some of their sound equipment. She figured that meant that the Howlers would be playing a gig tonight. She smiled sadly to herself that at least she would get to see them play before she had to leave.
Parker let out a sigh at the thought before she called out, "Remi? Do you have a second?"
He briefly paused to look at her then shook his head replying, "Sorry kid, after I'm done in here I have a huge to do list to get through."
She frowned at the new moniker he had never used for her before, but she just ignored that thought. She was here for a reason and she wasn't going to be deterred. "It'll honestly be less than a minute. I… I could help you if you wanted… that should make your list shorter… I mean if I helped it would."
"Nope, you're supposed to be resting," he practically snapped without pausing his movements or looking over at her.
"Remi? Please?" She tried again as she tried to follow his movements.
Since it was day time she knew that he wouldn't be able to teleport to move the equipment to the stage. She tried to shadow his movements, but he still was moving too fast for her to keep up. Since he wasn't even acknowledging her anymore when she called out his name she decided to try a different approach. She had helped out as a quasi-Roadie at the pub she had worked at in England, so she knew that she would be able to carry a speaker or an amp no problem. Although it was awkward, especially since the injection site in her rear-end was still tender and sore, she managed to pick up one of the amps and slowly followed Remi to the backstage area.
Remi didn't notice Parker until he turned around to retrieve his next load of equipment. As he snatched the amp out of the human's hands he growled out, "What do you think you are doing? I told you I don't want your help! My sister "
As soon as her hands were empty, Parker grabbed Remi by both of his cheeks to pull him down for a kiss. Miraculously he didn't catch either of their feet when he practically dropped the amp to the floor in surprise.
Once she broke the embrace he glared at her and demanded, "What the hell was that?!"
Parker wanted to be cheeky and facetious and reply 'a kiss' but he looked genuinely angry so she decided not to play around. Instead she took a step back and meekly replied, "You wouldn't stop to talk so… well I… I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" He asked as he stalked towards her and backed her up against a wall. "And why would you want to thank me?"
"Be… because you stopped me. If… if you hadn't… well… with my luck I probably would have gotten glass in my eye and… y'know gone blind or something. I… umm… I know Otto accused you of… anyway, I've told Aimée and Dev that he was totally wrong and that… well that he had no idea what he was talking about, so I umm… I wanted to find you and tell you that I straightened them out and to thank you for helping me."
He leaned down so that their noses were almost touching and quietly said, "And who gave you permission to kiss me Human?"
"I… umm… I wasn't… I mean, I didn't… I just… I mean you wouldn't… wouldn't stop moving, so it… I… I… I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? Because you stole a kiss?" He questioned in the same low tone as he combed his fingers through her hair.
"No, I didn't… I'm… I'm not sorry about the kiss, I'm sorry that I… that it pissed you off. That so wasn't my intention."
"I'm not mad at you Cub, I'm just…" He paused there and made painfully direct eye contact with Parker.
She wasn't sure what was going on in his head, so she stayed as still as possible to keep from annoying him any further. The hand that had been running through her hair stopped and he fisted a painful chunk of it. Parker's eyes widened in fear and surprise, but before she could open her mouth to speak, Remi's was covering it with a surprisingly gentle kiss. His hand loosened its grip but remained angled in her long mane while his other hand guided her right leg up to his hip. Parker immediately took the hint and wrapped her arms around his neck so that he could more easily encircle his waist with her legs. As soon as the height difference disappeared, Remi deepened the kiss and practically ravished Parker's mouth with every part of his own. His kiss was so exquisite and like none that she had ever felt before, so she couldn't help but to moan into his mouth.
Remi chuckled at her response and backed out of the embrace to catch his breath. Parker's hold around his neck loosened slightly so that it was easier for Remi to move. They shared a lazy smile and seemed content to remain how they were with Parker wrapped protectively in his arms.
As they both panted in shallow breaths, they heard someone calling out, "Remi? Remi? Hey man, are you back here?"
Parker started to drop her legs from his waist, but Remi pressed her into him to keep her close to his flesh. He growled out a noise and then within a blink of an eye they were up in Parker's room. This time he let Parker detach herself, but he quickly caught her by the elbows when it looked like she was going to fall over.
"Hey… are you okay Parker?" He asked as he gently led her over to her bed.
She nodded and sat down replying, "Yeah… sorry… just got a total head rush there. Sorry."
"It's fine," he answered as he started to pet her hair again.
Parker tugged on his arm and guided him to sit down beside her on her bed. She still had a bright smile on her face as she said, "So…? About downstairs…?"
She was abruptly cut off by the sound of someone knocking on her door. They both scowled and Parker contemplated not answering when she heard another authoritative knock followed by a familiar voice calling out, "Parker? Are you awake?"
Parker stared at Remi like a deer caught in headlights. She didn't know what she should do. Something was happening between her and Remi and she really wanted to talk to him about it. But in the next breath she knew that she shouldn't ignore the man that was now knocking at her door.
Seeing the dilemma in her eyes, Remi pecked her lips then whispered, "We will talk soon."
Parker blinked then suddenly Remi was nowhere to be seen. She remained seated on her bed while she caught her breath and tried to come to terms with what had just happened. Her friendship with Remi was so new that she was stunned at the fact that she might have feelings for him or that he might even have feelings for her.
But she pushed those thought aside for now. She quickly checked her reflection to make sure that she still looked presentable. Her lips were a dark shade of pink and looked slightly puffy, but she didn't think it was glaringly obvious that she had just been making out with a bear.
She pressed her fingertips to her still tingling lips then whispered, "Really? Remi?"
To force herself from letting her mind wander, Parker shook her head and straightened her top as she walked to her door. She wasn't sure what to expect from her visitor, so she took a deep breath and braced herself for the worse as she opened the door.
Her visitor had a warm smile on his unnaturally handsome face as he asked, "I'm sorry, but Aimée said you should have been awake by now and that I wouldn't be disturbing you. I didn't…?"
"Oh no! Ash, you didn't wake me at all," Parker quickly replied. "Umm… won't you come in?"