Disclaimer: I don't own.
Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Two chapters left. Hope you enjoy!
Warning: Language, a little suggestiveness.
For Her Sake
Chapter 25 - I Promise
All We Can Do Is Wait
Eric Forman stared at his father, unable to move, unable to really think, hardly able to keep breath coming. He sat on the couch, sandwiched between Donna and Kelso, with Fez on the other side of Kelso. Lined up like a group of naughty kids being disciplined by angry grown-ups. Only they weren't being disciplined. They were being told that Hyde hadn't died after all. They had just been informed that he'd left Point Place to escape serious problems with angry drug dealers. Red and Kitty were telling them that Hyde had come back and taken Jackie and the baby somewhere, they didn't know where, or if and when any of them were coming back.
"He said that we'd see them soon," Kitty said, her voice quivering nervously. She twisted her fingers together. "That has to mean he's planning on coming back."
Eric shook his head slowly, his eyes blurry. Not with tears, but with burgeoning anger. They'd known all along that Hyde hadn't died. He stood, his legs unsteady. "You let us believe that Hyde was dead," he accused in a dull voice. The shock was so much that he couldn't summon much emotion. It was almost numb. "We went through all that and we didn't even have to."
Red shook his head. "Look, we didn't know he was going to fake his death. Steven didn't tell us that. We were just as shocked as you when the store exploded, and we weren't sure…We couldn't tell you without being sure." He took his wife's hand and squeezed it. "We hoped, but we didn't know for sure until he called a little while ago."
Donna breathed deeply. "Does Jack know?"
Red shook his head. "I don't know. And I can't risk asking him. Who the hell knows what that bastard would do." He let go of Kitty's hand and began pacing. His gut was screaming that Jack did in fact know. In fact, he was beginning to suspect that Jack Burkhart had been responsible for Steven's taking off. If I find out…he's come back…going to pay…die. Those mumbled words were haunting Red, stuck in the back of his mind. Jack knew that Steven was alive. He stopped pacing near the window and stood still, closing his eyes. Damn it, boy, you've got yourself in a fine damn mess. And now Jackie and the baby are in it with you.
Eric glanced at his friends, all of them pale and quiet. He cleared his throat. "Uh…well, what can we do?" He looked at his father, who turned and met his eyes. Eric's shoulders lifted lightly. "Can we do anything?"
Red shook his head. "All we can do is wait." He turned back to the window and looked outside. Twilight was approaching. He wondered how many sunsets he'd have to watch with this sinking feeling in his gut.
Souvenir Of Our Captivity
Hyde lay on his back, a satisfied smile on his face, his eyes closed. Jackie was curled on top of him, her head resting on his chest, and the coolness of her soft hair wrapped his chest in soft silk. It felt so damn good. His eyes opened as he stroked that hair. Sex had never been so amazing. "You are badass, you know that, Jackie?" He smirked. "Jack's gonna just love watching you ride me and listening to you scream my name." And scream she had. Like a banshee.
Jackie lifted up, tried to smile, but thoughts and doubts had crept up on her, leaving her weak and exhausted. She rolled off of Steven and curled up on her side. Her eyes closed. Had he done that with other girls? Steven liked sex, and he liked sluts. Surely he'd found at least a few in Kansas. Surely he hadn't gone for a year without sex. The thought brought tears to her eyes. She'd spent the last year grieving him, having his baby, and he'd probably been sleeping with stupid, whorey farmer's daughters. She cursed herself for letting those thoughts ruin this. She'd longed to be with him for so long, and now she was, but she was miserable.
He rolled his head towards Jackie, his smile fading. "Jackie?" She didn't answer, and he thought he heard a stifled sob. He moved to spoon her, pressing his body against hers. He brushed the hair off her neck, nestled his lips near her ear, then wrapped his arms around her waist. "Jackie, what's wrong?" He closed his eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of Jackie after sex. His stomach tightened. Maybe she was disappointed…Every guy's nightmare was for the girl to roll away without saying anything. "Was it…" He cleared his throat. "Was it no good?"
Jackie shook her head. "Were you…I mean, when you were in Kansas…" She pressed his hand into her stomach, wishing he could touch her underneath her skin. "Were you with someone else like this?"
And with that, he understood why she'd turned away. Not because it wasn't any good, but because she was afraid. His chest ached; probably should have told her this before. He nuzzled her neck gently with his nose and lips, giving her feathery kisses. "No," he answered quietly, and honestly. He smirked against her skin. "I wasn't. All I had was my hand and a few pictures of you." Oh, there'd been a few girls in the bars who'd tried. But always, he thought of Jackie, he'd wondered what she was doing, if she was okay, if she was miserable. He'd never been able to do anything with those girls. Truth be told, he'd never really wanted to. Even when he was drunk, he'd thought of the chick he'd left in Point Place.
Jackie giggled and rolled over, and she looked into his eyes. Was he just trying to appease her? Was he telling her the truth? "Steven?"
He kissed her lips, his smile gone. "Honest, Jackie," he said huskily. "I wasn't with anyone. I didn't even want to be." Another kiss. "All I wanted was you." It wasn't a lie. Every night he'd gone to bed thinking of her. Every day he'd woken up missing her.
She melted into his arms, completely reassured by his touch, his soft words. "Steven," she breathed, her eyes closing as his hand began to fondle her breast. She smiled, and her eyes opened. "So. You and your hand, huh?" She arched an eyebrow, thinking of Steven, alone with only thoughts of her, getting impossibly turned on and only able to do one thing about it. She imagined his eyes closed, his face twisting, his hand slowly rubbing himself… She squirmed, rubbing against him. It was a surprisingly hot thought. "Mmmm…I'd kind of like to see that."
He arched an eyebrow. "Damn, Jackie." First the video, now a little bit of voyeurism. "You're a little kinky." He groaned softly, growing hard again. "God, that turns me on." He kissed her hard, shoving his tongue into her mouth insistently and swallowing her sweet moan of surprise and pleasure.
But she pulled away again, her face again revealing sadness. He tried not to get too annoyed. "What, Jackie?"
"You told the Formans you were leaving. Why didn't you tell me?"
He closed his eyes for a moment. Better than letting her see him roll them. "Jackie," he said slowly as he opened his eyes again. "I couldn't tell you. You had to think I was dead. That was the whole point." She didn't say anything, just stared at him with those little girl eyes. And he could only think of one thing to say. "Jackie, I love you."
It worked. Like magic.
Jackie's soul settled down, comforted by his low voice speaking such wonderful, precious words. She smiled saucily and arched her back, pressing her chest to his and shivering at the naked contact. "You know, Steven, Sammy left us two tapes."
Hyde grinned. Yeah. His chick was perfect. Abso-fricking-lutely perfect. And, he thought as she wiggled her body against his, hotter than hell. "So maybe we should make us a little souvenir of our captivity."
He rolled her over to her back and smothered her squeal with a deep kiss.
There's A Chance
Jack shook his head as he settled his gun in the holster around his waist. Damned assholes from New York. He didn't trust them as far as he could throw them. And with his bad back, he couldn't throw them more than a foot or two. Yep, it was better to be safe. He wasn't going to take any chances with this meeting. He smoothed his jacket down and checked. It was roomy enough, no one would be able to tell.
"Mr. Burkhart."
He looked up. His maid, Marina, stood in the doorway of his office, looking a little anxious. "Yes, Marina?" He turned and walked to his bar. A stiff brandy would settle his stomach. He took a glass and poured the liquor.
"There's someone here to see you. Someone named Carl."
Jack froze. Carl? He hadn't talked to Carl since he'd fired him. What in the hell could Carl want? He turned, keeping his face blank. "Send him in."
Carl walked in, a rather bemused smile on his face. "Hello, Jack." He strode to the desk, his eyes level with his former boss's. "I've got something you need to see. You have a video tape player, don't you?" He held the tape up.
Jack frowned. "Carl, what is this about? I'm about to head out."
"It's about your daughter." Carl smiled. "I know where she is."
Jack stood still, staring at Carl, his heart starting to pound harder. This bastard had his daughter. He should have known, should have guessed. Retaliation for his firing, obviously. "Where is she?"
Carl went to the television, on top of which was a video tape player. He put the tape in and turned on the set. "She's safe. And, as you'll see, extremely…well…happy." He pushed play.
To Jack's horror, his daughter was on the screen. She was naked, her head thrown back, her back arched, breasts exposed. She was on an equally naked Steven Hyde's lap, writhing on him, and that dirty asshole was feasting on her, touching her with his mouth and scummy hands.
"Oh, I should turn the sound up."
Jack's eyes closed, but he heard her. Panting, moaning, calling that godforsaken name. "Turn it off," he hissed, turning from the sight just as his baby girl's passionate voice rose higher and higher, while Steven Hyde's grunted at her, groaned at her. Told her to ride him harder…told her to do unspeakable things to him…And then she started screaming, in such a sexual way, he had to cover his ears like a child.
He almost vomited. "Turn that fucking thing OFF!"
Carl smiled and pressed stop. "She's enjoying herself very much, as you can tell."
Jack whirled around, his face burning. "What the hell do you want, Carl?"
"It's not so much what I want, but what you want. You see, I know it seems that Jackie's happy to be reunited with Steven, but I'm not so sure. She wants to see you, Jack. She wants to get your side of the story. See, the boy told her all about Las Vegas."
Jack closed his eyes. His nightmare had come true. That asshole had come back. And had told his daughter some half-truths about the entire situation. He stumbled forward to the desk, and gripped the sides of it tightly.
"I think if you come talk to her, Jack, there just might be a chance she'll get rid of the boy. And the baby."
"What?" Jack didn't believe him. This had to be a trap. Had to be. And yet, part of him clung to Carl's words. Part of him wanted it to be true. Carl reached out, holding a piece of paper towards him. He eyed it warily.
"It's a note from Jackie. Read it. You'll see that I'm telling the truth."
Jack took the note and opened it. Definitely his daughter's handwriting, that was reassuring, and his stomach loosened. As he read, he smiled. Everything he wanted to hear. And Carl was right. He needed to get to her, to talk to her, to explain himself, and she'd realize he'd been right all along. She'd get rid of that boy and that bastard child. She'd see reason. He folded the note and looked at Carl. "What do I need to do?"
Carl smiled. "Just come with me. I'll take you to her." Jack hesitated, and Carl arched an eyebrow. "If you don't come, Jack, I promise you she'll stay with Steven Hyde."
Jack took a deep breath and followed Carl, despite his misgivings. He instinctively patted his hip. The gun was there.
If he was walking into a trap, at least he had protection.
You're Here Now
It wasn't taking Hyde long to get used to sitting in a rocking chair with a baby in his arms. In fact, he was pretty much convinced he could do it for the rest of his life. He gazed down at the sleepy little girl with a full tummy. "Okay, my little Camaro," he said softly, hoping Jackie didn't hear him. "Sleep is good."
"Ninety-five…Ninety-six…oh, god…"
Hyde looked up, and grinned at Jackie. She was doing sit ups, a hundred a day, she'd told him, and was struggling to get the final few done. "Why are you doing so many sit ups anyway?"
Jackie finished with a groan and collapsed to her back. She breathed hard, and wished there was some way she could exercise without sweating. She felt gross when she sweated…except when Steven made her sweat. Then it felt so sexy. She smiled. "I still have baby weight to lose." She sat up and pouted at Steven. "You don't want me to be fat, do you?"
He chuckled. "You look fine, Jackie." An eyebrow raised. "You feel fine, too."
Jackie rolled her eyes, but giggled. And then she raised her own eyebrow. "You liked watching me, didn't you?"
He shrugged. "Would have been better if you had been naked."
"You're such a pervert, Steven!" She got up, still giggling, and walked over to him. She leaned down and kissed him. "Such a pervert!"
He slapped her backside. "You love it." He looked back at the baby. So tiny. So young. Just a few months ago, she'd been in Jackie's body. The realization made him swallow hard, and he looked up at Jackie, suddenly feeling a little empty. "Who was with you, you know, when you…when you had Stephanie?"
Jackie smiled and put her hand on the back of Steven's neck. They hadn't talked too much about it; she sensed it was hurting him, and she'd decided to wait until he brought it up. "Donna and Mrs. Forman. I mean, everyone was at the hospital, but they were in the delivery room with me. They were great."
He nodded and turned his eyes back to Stephanie. She was sleeping now. He wondered how she'd looked just after birth. Wondered how her first cry had sounded. Wondered how Jackie had worked, pushed, cried as she gave life to his child. "I should have been there," he mumbled, his heart so heavy. He traced Stephanie's little cheek with a fingertip. "I'm sorry I wasn't there, baby."
Jackie massaged his neck softly. "Steven, it's okay. You're here now." He looked up at her, and she smiled. "You're here now, and when all this is over with…you'll be there." She hesitated. "Right?"
Hyde nodded, looking Jackie deep in her eyes. There wasn't anything he was more sure of. "Of course I will, Jackie." He turned his head back and kissed her wrist, then looked at her again. "I promise you that."
A knock on the door sounded, but this time, Sammy didn't wait to be asked in. He opened the door and walked in, looking a little nervous, a little anxious. "Sorry to interrupt, but Carl just called." He cleared his throat, staring at Jackie. "They're on their way."
Jackie's breath caught. "My dad's with him?"
Sammy nodded.
She looked at Steven.
He raised an eyebrow. "You ready?"
She licked her lips, her hand tightening on his shoulder. "I…you'll be there, right?"
Hyde nodded, and again turned to kiss her, this time her fingers. "I promise."
Jackie took a deep, cleansing breath, closing her eyes. She imagined Steven's face, Stephanie's face. Her father's face.
And it was enough to restore her determination.
She opened her eyes and nodded at Sammy. "I'm ready."
