NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: HOLY SMOKE! I thought last week at work was tough. This week made the week before look like a VACATION! And on top of that, we have a sick horse that needs doctoring. Which leaves me with hardly a shred of free time to work on my stories!

Then, throw Carpal Tunnel Syndrome into the mix, and you have a recipe for suck! Luckily, that's improving, thanks to a wrist brace and Motrin at night.

If you're wondering what happened to Jay's house, his cats, etc, during his captivity, that will be addressed this chapter.

DISCLAIMERS: See Chapter One (I'm not typing the disclaimers out again) The dream sequence is based upon Chapter 24 of I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenburg. I thought it was appropriate for Jay's situation.

Chapter Three

"I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it's your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory."
-1 Peter 1:7, The Message

The image of Jay in his bedroom doorway, disheveled, bruised and blind, kindled Luke's anger and guilt as he stormed out of the house and stomped off the porch in search of Bray and Erick. If he couldn't protect Jay from Bray's unique brand of discipline, he'd reasoned, then he could sure as hell avenge him.

Luke found Bray and Erick (who didn't have his mask on) near the old hay barn, trying to fix a riding lawn mower so that they could cut some of the overgrown grass around the property. The two of them were in quiet conversation as they worked. He was on them in three huge strides, and he grabbed Erick by the collar of his blue coveralls and yanked him to his feet. Erick spun around in surprise, and was greeted by a hamlike fist to the jaw before he could so much as blink.

"HEY!" Bray sprang to his feet and stepped between Luke and the fallen Erick, who was now nursing a sore chin and jaw. He gave his First Son a good hard shove and threw him a look that could break glass. "What was that for?!"

"I think you know," Luke snarled. "How could you hurt Jay like that?"

Erick shook his head and blinked. "I didn't hurt him!" he exclaimed in his defense.

"Yeah, but you let Bray hurt him, Erick!" Luke paused and aimed his wrath at Bray. "And how could you, as a man of God, beat Jay like you did?"

"I did what I had to do to kill his old life," Bray fired back, unrepentant. "He has so much to give this world. I had to make him a blank slate so that he can completely understand my message and spread it to the masses. What did you think I was going to do, Luke? Read him fairy tales? Take him to Daddy's house and roll him down a field full of daisies?"

Erick climbed to his feet slowly. "If Bray didn't put Jay in chains and punish him, he would be DEAD right now!"

If Bray didn't put Jay in chains and punish him, he would be DEAD right now! The words echoed in Luke's head like a gong and gave him pause. When Erick spoke, it was for a good reason, and with a good point in mind. In the back of his mind, Luke knew that Erick had a point. And the point was that Jay would have taken his own life at the first opportunity if he hadn't been captured.

Luke stared at Bray and Erick in disbelief. "But whipping him like a dog? What was the point?"

"The point is that there'd be no happy ending for him or us if we kept doing what we were doing. Erick and I had to take Jay to the absolute limit of what he could endure, and then shove him past it. He had to be purged and cleansed from everything that's poisoned him."

"And if he'd just gotten with the program from the very beginning," Erick pointed out, "Then we never would have had to drag him into the garage. All the pain and suffering he's gone through...he brought it all on himself, Luke. He was gonna jump out of a window the night we took him, or maybe you've decided to gloss over that little detail."

"I haven't glossed over a damn thing. I KNOW what he was planning the night we took him," Luke fired back. "But neither of you realize what you've done to him. He's blind, you two! BLIND!"

"Blind?" Bray's eyes widened in concern.

"Yeah. Jay is blind," Luke reiterated. He paused, and then continued. "And not just spiritually, it's physical and it's literal. He can't see a damn thing. That's why he was glancing around my room and not looking at anything when you brought him in."

The silence that followed was almost sentient, and thick enough to slice. Luke paced in fury, Erick continued to nurse his bruised jaw, and Bray was trying to process this newest development.

After what felt like hours (it really was just two or three minutes), Luke fixed his angry dark gaze on Bray and continued. "You and Erick had better hope and pray that Jay gets his eyesight back, because if he doesn't, then we're gonna have a huge mess on our hands, not just with him, but with Vince McMahon, and possibly the authorities. It doesn't matter what our intentions were, or what the outcome might be. What we did was against the law. We kidnapped Jay. We held him hostage and we beat him! And if we don't mind our P's and Q's from here on out, then we could be arrested and charged for kidnapping and assault! And you can forget about Jay helping to spread your message, Bray, because there won't be a message to spread once we get thrown in jail for the rest of our lives!"

"We weren't gonna let Jay do something so selfish as to end his own life," Bray answered back; obviously, he was choosing his words carefully. "If he did that, you'd never forgive Erick and me. I'm sorry you don't agree with our methods, but Erick and I did what we had to do to save Jay from himself. And if that involved wrapping him in chains and beating him to a pulp, then that's what we had to do. And as far as the blindness goes...you have to trust the Lord and move closer to Him, and trust that He's going to see Jay through this. If Jay gets his eyesight back, then it's because of His will. If he doesn't, then we'll cross that bridge when we get there. And as far as the authorities go...there's no way in Hell that Jay's gonna report us now. He has nothing to go back to. He knows that now. This is his home, and his life now."

"You're forgetting something," Luke interjected. "His home in Florida. His cats. Whatever else he has down there. How's Jay gonna be able to settle those affairs when he can't even take care of himself?"

"Bray got on the phone with the woman who watches Jay's house while he's on the road," Erick explained. "It was before the night we took him out of Baltimore. Gave her some cover story about Jay falling ill and being in the hospital for an extended length of time. She's agreed to watch Jay's home and his cats for as long as necessary."

"Does Jay really believe that he has nothing to go back to?" Luke questioned. "Or are you guys saying that because he's so broken that he can't think for himself anymore?"

Bray placed a big hand on Luke's shoulder and fixed his fierce blue gaze on the First Son. "Luke, Jay's not broken. He's completely lucid. He knows that eventually, he'll need to settle his affairs. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. So for now, stay in prayer, pray that the Lord's will be done, not yours, not mine, and not Jay's. Stay close to the Lord. Take care of Jay and don't lose faith. You have to have faith that He's gonna work all of this out."

Bray paused, and then his tone became philosophical. "Luke, perhaps Jay's blind for a reason, as a way for you both to draw closer to each other. This could be the best way to show Jay how much you love him, by taking care of him when he's at his most helpless. And besides, part of love is seeing someone at their absolute worst, at their lowest and least, and STILL being there for them. You were the one who actually told me that, after Abigail died."

Luke nodded, bewildered. He'd come out to pummel Bray and Erick within an inch of their lives for their violence towards his beat-up angel. Now, he was agreeing with them. It didn't make sense, but then again, many things in life didn't make sense. "Alright. I'll trust Him. I still don't understand why you felt the need to hurt Jay like you did. But I know you did it for his own good. But if you or Erick so much as raise another hand to him again like you did, Eater Of Worlds or not, then I will beat both of you to a pulp. And that isn't a threat. That's a promise..."

~~~ANGEL~~~

The dream began in the garage where he had been locked up. Jay was curled up in a ball in the middle of the floor, familiar chains dangling from his wrists and ankles. He glanced up, and his eyes widened in surprise. There was a door there, that he hadn't noticed before. It was open slightly, and Jay could see a sliver of light peeking through.

Something in Jay's mind told him to get up and go outside. He hesitated. What if Bray or Erick was outside anticipating his next move, and planning his punishment? And what if he was still secured to the floor?

What if...no.

He couldn't hesitate. He had to try.

Jay staggered to his feet, surprised that the chains weren't secured to the eye bolt like they normally were in this God-awful place.

I can do this! he thought in shock, the sudden awareness galvanizing him. Cautiously, Jay made his way across the floor, the chains dragging and jangling like they normally did, but he was unaware of the sound.

He nudged open the garage door and stepped outside to a bleak landscape. Jay could recognize the assorted buildings as those on the Wyatt compound, but in the middle of the night, they looked very different. The cold moonlight painted the scenery and buildings a pale gray and pearly white. The sky was a soul-sucking black color, strewn with deep gray clouds that shifted and parted like curtains, and speckled with tiny stars that didn't twinkle, but stared down like millions of disapproving eyes. The air was cold enough to chill one's breath. And it was the middle of summer, right? So why was there snow on the ground?

Jay glanced up at the leaden winter sky. The thick gray clouds parted, and a giant hand emerged. It was a man's hand, clenched in a tight fist. The hand opened, revealing several pieces of coal, as black as the sky the hand had emerged from. Jay watched as the hand slowly closed around the black rocks and began to squeeze. He became fascinated as the hand began to glow with a white heat.

It was subtle at first, an unexpected pressure that Jay could feel in his arms and legs. Then, the pressure increased, and the white light glowed even brighter. Jay was suddenly aware of a crushing weight on his entire being. Every inch of him, from his head to the bottoms of his feet, was abruptly gripped in an unbreakable vice. The white light became blinding.

It was like staring into the heart of the sun.

Jay screamed and fell to the ground; the pain was sudden and unbearable. It felt like he was being crushed in the giant hand along with the pieces of coal. It felt like the white light was burning through Jay's skin, searing through his eyelids.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jay shouted, "STOP! WILL YOU STOP! I can't take anymore! Even a stone can't take this! Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!"

Wracked with unimaginable pain, Jay threw his hands over his head. At last, just when Jay thought he'd be crushed into millions of pieces, the fist relaxed. The blinding light softened, and the agony in Jay's body began to fade by degrees. The giant fist gradually opened, revealing a beautiful sight. Seven diamonds, all clear and brilliant and shot through with light, lay in the palm of the giant hand.

"JASON!" A loud, booming voice echoed in Jay's ears, and Jay lifted his head. The diamonds twinkled and sparkled merrily in the good palm as the giant hand approached. The voice became softer, kinder, as it said, "Jason...this will be you."

Jay glanced around in surprise. The chains that had bound his wrists and ankles were suddenly gone. His hands and feet were healed, free of the sore and abraded skin. His clothes were clean.

Cautiously, Jay climbed to his feet and glanced around. A stunned and wondrous look crossed his face as he let his gaze sweep across the landscape. As he did, he felt something in his hands. He looked down and gasped.

He was holding the diamonds.

A warm breeze drifted across Jay's skin, and he glanced up. To his surprise and wonder, winter had turned into spring in the blink of an eye. The grass was green and lush. The buildings were bright and clean and shining. The sun was beginning to rise, staining the clouds with an explosion of pinks and oranges, greens and golds. Birds were flittering about and singing in the trees. The ground was covered with flowers and plants of every color and shape imaginable. It was a beautiful riot of color and sound.

Still holding the diamonds, Jay watched enraptured as the sun rose and the day began, the warm breeze blowing through his hair...

~~~ANGEL~~~

…It was the whirring of a fan that gradually eased Jay out of his slumber. A sigh escaped the exhausted blonde's lips as he regained awareness. He was laying on his back, on something firm and comfortable. He smelled wood smoke, dry leaves, and a faint muskiness, mixed in with something salty. It wasn't an unpleasant smell, just different and oddly comforting. He immediately recognized the scent as the one he smelled when he curled up in Luke's arms, and he let a smile play across his lips.

Slowly Jay pried his eyes open and was unnerved to see only shadows and movement. He'd hoped that the blindness he'd been struck with would simply disappear, but that wasn't going to be the case. The black clouds had faded to a swirling, changeable gray, but he still wasn't able to make out shapes yet. The fact that the suffocating darkness he'd experienced previously was fading did put a measure of reassurance in his heart.

He smelled food cooking and heard activity-dishes being pulled out of cupboards, heavy footsteps, water running, pots and pans clinking—downstairs. Jay's stomach growled. How long had it been since he'd eaten properly? Of course, he wouldn't be able to see what he was eating, but at this point, he really didn't care. Whatever anyone put in front of him, he'd devour.

Jay struggled to sit up in bed as heavy footsteps clomped down the hall and into the bedroom. The voice that greeted him put him at ease: "Someone's awake."

Jay turned his head in the direction of Luke's voice. "How long have I been asleep?"

Luke set the tray that he'd been carrying down on the desk and pulled the chair up to the bed."You've been asleep nearly twenty hours. It's almost noon."

"August first, I assume? I must have needed the rest, if I slept that long." Jay paused. "Did you..."

"Sleep in the bed with you? No. Didn't wanna wake you up," Luke explained, helping Jay lean forward so that he could adjust the pillows at his back. Once completed, he eased Jay back against the comfortable nest. "I slept on the couch downstairs last night." He picked up the tray he'd brought in and sat it on the bed. "Thought you might be hungry."

Jay grinned. "Ravenous. I can't remember the last time I had a proper meal. What did you bring me?"

"Nothing fancy. Tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich." Luke scooped up a spoonful, blew on it gently to cool it, and offered it to the convalescing blonde. "I'll feed it to you. Don't want you getting sick from bolting your food down too fast."

"Good idea. And in the state I'm in, I'd probably wear more of it than eat it if I tried feeding myself." The old rhyme Over the teeth, past the gums, watch out stomach, here it comes! came to mind, and it made Jay snicker before he opened his mouth and accepted the offered spoonful of soup. It was the canned variety, but after days, maybe weeks, without proper nourishment, it tasted delicious.

Luke broke the sandwich into pieces and fed them to Jay in the same manner, even dunking a few of them into the soup for variety. The recovering blonde ate everything that was held out to him and sipped water through a straw.

"I picked some clothes up for you this morning. Nothing fancy. Just some pants, underwear, some t-shirts. Hopefully they should all fit you. Later I'll bring a radio up for you so you can have something to listen to. Hope you like classic rock."

"That's quite thoughtful of you." Jay's smile was genuine. "Thank you. And I don't mind classic rock."

Luke continued once Jay was finished with the meal. "Bray and Erick and I had a...few words yesterday about what they did to you. They're not gonna hurt you again."

Jay said nothing, but Luke could almost hear the wheels turning in the blonde's head. He sensed that Jay was about to blame himself again for his predicament, so he added, "Oh, and I wanted to tell you that Bray got in touch with the woman who watches your cats and your house while you're on the road. He told her that you'd fallen ill and that you were in the hospital. She's gonna take care of your place for as long as necessary."

Whatever tension was left in Jay's body dissipated upon hearing that news. "One less thing to worry about when I go back, I suppose," he sighed. "At least I know things are being taken care of."

"I'll check the scrapes on you and change the bandages. Last thing we need is those wounds getting infected. So how are you feeling?"

"Physically, I'm sore, hurting," Jay admitted, as Luke unwrapped his bandages. "Mentally, I'm still kinda numb. Trying to process everything."

Luke nodded, inspecting Jay's wounds. Now that they'd been cleaned and treated, the abrasions on the older blonde's wrists and ankles were beginning to heal. He would have to change the bandages, of course, but the wounds looked better than they did the day before.

"You look much better than you did yesterday." Luke remarked later, as he treated the recovering blonde and wrapped Jay's wrists and ankles in fresh bandages. And he was right about that. The bruises and cuts on Jay's face were fading and healing, with some of the bruises turning into pale greens and yellows. His hair was rumpled and it stuck up in several spots, but it was clean now, and nothing that a comb couldn't fix. There was even some color in Jay's cheeks; Luke attributed that to the meal that he'd just eaten, along with the hours of uninterrupted rest. Jay still had a ways to go before he was back to himself physically, but considering what he'd looked like when he was brought upstairs the day before, it was a marked improvement.

"I wish I could see what you can," Jay shrugged. "But I'll take it as a compliment."

"It is." Luke paused. "You looked like a trampled scarecrow yesterday."

Jay let a tentative smile play across his face. "I guess I have a pretty good doctor. You have a very nice bedside manner. You're patient, you're kind, and yet you don't mince words."

"I'm not the kind who's into nancying around."

"I like that."

"Thank you. That compliment has earned you a small discount off my final bill."

"I'm serious," Jay added. "It may sound odd and crazy, but when I was chained up, during the hours that I was alone, there were times that I actually thought about you."

Luke cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. I was past the point of self-pity. I'd given up on waiting for someone to swoop in and save me, and I'd stopped crying about going home. I was going numb at that point, but then I remembered that there were quite a few kindnesses you gave me. You know, sleeping on the floor when you could have slept in your own bed, giving me things to eat and drink, cleaning my cuts and bruises. You held me when I cried. Even when I wasn't crying, you still held me. Maybe they were small gestures to you, but thinking about those gestures kept me from losing my mind in that God-awful place."

Luke was taken slightly aback at Jay's admission. "Well, I...I was just doing what I could for you."

"Well, you did more for me than you think." Jay paused, and then folded his hands behind his head. "So, you used to drive a truck?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me all about it. We're not going anywhere for a while, right?"

"I guess not," Luke shrugged, and began to talk. He had been a truck driver before meeting Bray and working on the Wyatt compound and ultimately joining the WWE. Luke's dad had been a long haul trucker as well, and a young Luke spent his summers riding around with him cross-country. Luke liked traveling with his dad, and it was during those trips that he decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He entertained the convalescing blonde with quite a few tales from the road. Eventually, he got to a particularly funny story:

"Had a driver have an accident which messed up the cab pretty good, luckily he wasn't hurt, and the trailer looked like it didn't suffer any damage. So the boss pulled the trailer, which still had the load on it, and took it back to the yard and let it sit . Then he called me in the next morning to pick the trailer up and deliver the load. But when I got to the yard, the trailer was on the ground, and it had collapsed around the wheels.

"See, what nobody knew was that during the accident, there'd been a hole torn in the top of the trailer. And shortly after the trailer had been towed back to the yard, it started raining. It rained through the night and into the next morning. About five inches total. The rain had gotten into the load, and the weight had cracked the axles on the trailer and collapsed it."

"So what was in the trailer that caused it to collapse?"

Luke blushed. "I'm gonna get shot for this..."

"Aww, come on," Jay pressed on, a grin on his face. "It can't be that bad."

"You really wanna know?"

"Hey, you didn't set this up just so you could drop the ball at the last second. Absolutely I wanna know."

"Alright." Luke sighed and tried his hardest to keep a straight face. "It was a load of tampons."

Jay's bottom lip trembled...and then he let out a loud snort and busted up laughing. It wasn't forced or fake laughter. It was a full-on belly laugh, the kind that left you with tears in your eyes when you finished and brought others along for the ride.

Before Luke knew it, he was laughing just as hard as Jay was, and thrilled that his would-be-lover was able to laugh in spite of all the hell he'd been through.

~~~ANGEL~~~

Bray and Erick stood outside of Luke's room, away from the doorway so that they couldn't be seen. A knowing smile crossed Bray's lips as he turned to his companion.

"You knew they were gonna bond, didn't you?" Erick questioned.

"A little sooner than I expected, but yes." Bray nodded. "Blindness can be a curse or blessing, depending on how you look at it. Looking at those two, I'd say it's a blessing for both of them..."

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: YAWN! Didn't think banging this out would take so long! But when you're short-handed at work, taking care of a sick animal, and going to doctor's visits, writing takes a backseat. But I'm glad to have posted this for you folks.

Dream sequence is from Chapter 24 of I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenburg. BTW, did anyone catch how many diamonds were created? The funny trucking story came from the forum from classadrivers dot com, posted by bluebeetle.

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