He had finished his research on Angel and Jake. There was a sense of foreboding in the air as he felt like this relationship would be something you see on daytime television. He hoped lunch with the girls would be enough to make him feel good again but he didn't expect the news.

"I got a report that Angel got out of the hospital…" Ema murmured through her food.

"You sound scared." Apollo pointed out. Why is she acting this way?

"Sorry…"

"I found out a little rumour about Angel that you might find interesting." Suddenly both the girls perked up and glared at poor Apollo.

"Go for it sport. We wanna hear some dirt!" Lana lowered her fork.

"There's a rumour going round she's been trying to get Jake to marry her for money to bail some prisoner called Grant or Grent or something."

"You mean Gant?" Both girls became paralysed with fear as the name was spoken by the lunch lady Angel herself.

She stood there, twirling a lock of her beige coloured hair around her finger and her white coat blew in the draft. Apollo, who's past was unknown to the two girls with him, gripped the leather of the seat in the booth until his knuckles turned white. One of his hands was hovering above Ema's before Angel turned up and now he was hurting her he was so scared. This was scaring Ema more.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Lana spat as she recovered from the fear.

"I deliver their food!" Angel said scornfully. "You should tell your little bastard of a friend there to keep his nose out of other's business!" Apollo and Ema were still terrified but they felt a spout of courage caused by the rage at her.

"Leave him alone!" Ema snarled.

"I do my job, nothing more!" Apollo barked.

"I don't want to cause a fuss around my boss…" She wondered away. "You should be careful…little brother…" She mumbled as she left.

"Apollo relax." Ema tugged his arm away from her hand, his whole body was rigid. Apollo felt each of his muscles relax one at a time.

"S-sorry Ema…" He realised what he had done which was making her blush.

"It's alright."

"Why'd you tense up?" Lana asked as she watched his hands shake violently.

"She and I don't get along. Her mother and my care worker when I was a kid are sisters…" Apollo tried to hold the bottle of soda but couldn't manage. "Ema, you know all the saxophones in my room?"

"Yeah."

"Every single one of them were gifts from Angel's mother and grandparents. I was considered a member of their family and she hated it." Apollo felt his neck for the silver chain that hung from it. "My necklace was a gift from Angel's mother."

Apollo needed sympathy as he felt sick and weak again. Lana was worried for him and offered to take him and his bike home or let him rest up somewhere.

"I'll be fine…I just need some air…" He mumbled groggily.

"If you're sure. I've got to be heading off now anyway, I have another client waiting." Lana grabbed her car keys and left enough money to pay for their food before leaving.

"Come on Apollo." Ema looked at their plates. "We should eat up." Neither really wanted to touch the food, they just ate a few meagre mouthfuls and got ready to leave.

As Apollo had to go past the police station to get back to the office he happily walked back with Ema.

"Apollo, you need someone to look at you, you look dreadful – like your going to faint." As she said it Apollo lost his balance. Her hands shot out to grab his shoulders and steady him. "You're not going home in this state!"

"Ugh…" Apollo groaned. "O-ok."

"Follow me." She ordered.

Before he realised it he was laying back on the leather couch on the left hand wall of her office, covered in a light sheet. He really did want to be sick, he felt horrid and wanted to faint.

"Stay here until the medic gets up here."

"But-"

"Don't argue." Ema leaned over him and he caught the scent of chocolates on her breath.

-x-x-

He'd had enough of waiting for that blasted cowboy to marry that gorgeous beauty called Angel. Over time he had worked the concrete out from the bricks and today was the day he would get out. The bricks fell silently and made a hole small enough for him to get through. He purred with delight as he grabbed his orange suit jacket in his arms.

"I'm free!" Damon Gant called to the sky.

-x-x-

He's kinda cute when he's asleep… Ema turned to watch the sleeping attorney. A knock on the door stopped her from staring for too long.

"Come in."

"I came to see your patient…" The police medic stepped forward.

"Apollo…" She whispered in his ear and shook him gently.

The check up was useless and all Apollo could do was groan his answers to her questions.

-x-x-

"Angel! Answer bambina!" Jake growled at the phone. "Grr…" That was the tenth time he called that day. "I need someone to talk to…I know!"

"Hello?" Lana washed the soothing oil off her hands and held the phone to her ear using her wrist.

"Hey bambina!"

"Hey Jake what's up?" She had a bad feeling he was going to tell her he regretted the night before.

"I need someone to talk to and…" He sighed. "I wanted to tell you I…"
"Regretted last night?"

"No not at all. I liked it, almost as much as I love you." He said it so fast it took a while for it to filter through to Lana.

"Do you…mean that?"

"I-I…uh…" He blushed. "Look…can we meet up tonight?"

-x-x-

It was about ten in the evening, Apollo had slept far too much already. He just sat there in the darkness of the office, flicking through the television channels. He was still semi-conscious, drifting away occasionally. He began to doze again.

It was when he woke with someone grabbing him by the throat with a strong constricting arm and a feminine voice with a pistol that Apollo realised he never should have stayed home alone that night. He could feel the pistol pressed just below his rib cage, whoever was planning on shooting him was trying to maim him and not killing (Not that there's much difference in Apollo's opinion - being maimed meant feeling so bad you wanted to be dead to him).

"Did you miss me little brother?" She purred by his ear, trying to push the pistol deeper into his chest.

"Not really Angel…" The arm gripped tighter and he spluttered. "Personally…the further away I am from you the better my life will be…" he wheezed.

"Don't forget Red Eyes! I know a heck of a lot about you." Angel whispered, the name Red Eyes made him whimper – it was a part of his power that lay dormant but had been unleashed once.

"Who's your friend?" Apollo groaned.

"Damon Gant." The husky voice replied.

"Charmed…" He mumbled sarcastically. "So you are using Jake for his cash aren't you big sister?"

"Don't you ever call me that!" She screamed slapping him hard across the face. "I'm just here to finish what I started…" She worked her hand under his shirt and dug her claw like nails into the sensitive flesh around his knife wounds. "My daddy's waiting to finish you this time as well…"

She lowered the pistol and produced a knife from under her dress. How do guys find that hot during movies? Apollo shuddered at that thought.

"What are you going to do? Daddy won't be too happy if you start without him…" Apollo felt the grip on his throat tighten again.

"I'm just going to leave a message for whichever sad sap happens to notice you're gone…" She pressed the blade against the sensitive skin beneath his right shoulder and began to pull the knife down. His moan was stifled by a second hand, covered in a thick leather glove over his mouth.

"Be a good boy now…let's go!" He couldn't fight…he had no choice but to comply. It was comply or die and right now the first one sounded a little better than the latter.

-x-x-

"Apollo. C'mon pick up the phone." That was the fifth attempt from Ema to get contact from him in the morning.

"Honey, he was dreadfully sick yesterday, he's probably passed out on the couch or something…" Lana didn't know what to say.

"That fills me with confidence…" She took a mouthful of the orange juice. "I've got to see if he's ok!"

-x-x-

That message Angel wrote on the wall would be the key to making Ema realise what Apollo meant to her and would give Jake the reason to reunite with his true love – Lana.