It's been way too long... Over a month, since I posted chapter three. Well, here it is: Nick and Cassie's date...
Or is it? MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!
*coughs harshly*
Excuse me. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
Cassie looked at Nick, an odd look on her face. She tentatively opened her mouth, as though she was debating the mere act of speaking her mind in front of Nick.
Not that she was afraid of being herself with Nick. On the contrary, Nick was the only person she knew that she could be herself around, and who wouldn't want to iether run away screaming or want to lock her up for good.
In a moment's time, though, she decided not to say anything yet, so she simply shut her mouth without a single syllable escaping her lips.
Nick caught the tail end of of her split-second action, and asked her, "Were you about to say something?"
This slightly shocked Cassie; she didn't think Nick had seen her. She answered him slowly, weighing every word carefully: "Nick, I don't want to force you to go on this date with me. I think hearing from Kira again was a pretty big shocker for you, and well... If you want to wait until after you go meet Kira for us to do this, then I'd be fine with that."
"She's got a point," Pinky added. "This thing with Kira might distract you from giving Cassie your full attention during... well, whatever it is you two are planning on doing together."
Nick thought about this for a moment. He couldn't deny that he wanted to go on the date with an almost child-like impatience, but at the same time, he also couldn't deny that the two of them had a point.
Decisions, decisions...
Before Nick could speak a word, though, Cassie said first, "I don't know what's going on in your head right now, Nick, but in case my hunch is correct... I'm not saying this 'cause I don't want to go on our date. That's not it, at all. I just think this thing with Kira is more important than our little tryst tonight."
That wasn't exactly the term that Nick would have used to describe what they were discussing, but he appreciated her thoughtfulness all the same.
Pinky couldn't help but speak up: "Cassie, do you even know what a 'tryst' is?"
"Of course I do..." she muttered.
Neither of them believed her, but they let it slide anyways.
"I appreciate the gesture," Nick replied, "but really, I think I'm okay with it. Besides, Kira wanted to meet me at five, right? I could just make sure our meeting doesn't go too long, then we can meet up around seven. How does that sound?"
Both Cassie and Pinky agreed that this was definitely reasonable.
With that out of the way, they turned to other matters.
"Okay," Pinky said, "so I've got the restaurant picked out already. I'll tell y'all about it later. But now, what are you going to wear? Or have you not thought of that yet?"
Nick and Cassie looked at each other in bemusement. As a matter of fact, they hadn't thought about that, but they definitely weren't about to let Pinky in on that.
"As a matter of fact," Cassie replied, "we were both going to go buy something beforehand. Nick, 'cause he wanted to surprise me, and me... well, none of my clothes are really date-appropriate."
"You got that right..." Pinky muttered.
Cassie heard it, but decided not to comment on it.
A moment later, Pinky got up and stretched. "If you'll excuse me, I have to use the little men's room."
As Pinky left the room, Nick turned to Cassie. "Nice save," he said appreciatively.
Cassie laughed. "I've gotten good at lying. The only person to this day, I can never really lie to, is my mom."
Nick smiled, getting the point. Out of curiosity, he asked, "Have you ever lied to me?"
Cassie looked over at Nick, a pained expression on her face. "Nick... don't ever think that I would lie to you. You've done too much for me to ever justify lying to you." Without even seeming to realize it, she reached her hand underneath the table and took Nick's hand into her own.
Nick hadn't seen that coming- but then again, Watching just wasn't his thing.
As he curled his fingers around Cassie's hand, he was struck by just how soft Cassie's hands were. She was only 13, he reminded himself, but then again, she'd had to survive on the streets for so long...
It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least.
Cassie's voice snapped him back to the present: "... lot of lotion."
"Sorry, what?" Nick asked, trying to clear his head. "I took a brief detour to Cloud Nine..."
Cassie laughed and said, "You asked me how my hands were so soft. I use a lot of lotion."
Nick hadn't even realized he'd spoken his thoughts aloud. What else did she hear...?
Suddenly, Cassie's grip on Nick's hand tightened dramatically. Nick was about to ask her what was wrong, when he recognized the focused but slightly vacant expression on her face.
She's having another vision...
Almost a minute passed before Cassie came back to reality. The expression on her face told Nick that her vision definitely hadn't brought them good tidings of great joy for all the people.
"What was it?" Nick asked after a moment, trying to give Cassie a bit to bring her heart rate back down to (relatively) normal.
Cassie looked at Nick with fear in her eyes, only slightly relenting the death grip she had on his hand. "I think you might want to consider going earlier to meet Kira..."
"Your vision was about her?"
Cassie nodded. "She got attacked by someone. It was weird, though... This was the first vision I've ever had where it actually showed the time that it was supposed to happen?"
This brought an odd look to Nick's face. "What time did it show?"
"Four twenty-six. She had looked at her watch right before she got attacked.
"Thanks, Cassie," Nick said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I can handle that."
Up until then, Cassie had almost forgotten she was holding hands with Nick.
Almost.
When Nick had squeezed her hand, though, it brought her attention fully back to him. She smiled at him, one thought floating clearly through her muddled mind.
I am liking this way more than I should...
Without realizing it, the two were drawing nearer and nearer to each other, their eyes closing, slowly closing...
And at that moment, with the most imperfect timing ever, Pinky walked into the room again. The two resumed their previous positions before he had looked over at them.
"That was close..." Cassie whispered.
Nick laughed softly. "Don't worry; I'll make it up to you tonight."
Cassie smiled. "I'll hold you to thtat, you know."
Nick was about to respond when Pinky spoke up: Guys, it's one-thirty. When were you planning on shopping? Or were you two just going to make out all afternoon?"
"It crossed my mind," Nick said with a wicked smile, and Cassie playfully punched him with her free hand.
"No, but seriously, we should probably head out." Nick looked over at Cassie. "You wanna go shopping with me?"
"No offense, but no. Besides, you said you wanted it to be a surprise, right? Well, so do I."
"Fair enough," Nick said, standing. "Come on, let's go."
In a moment, they were gone.
The Tower, 4:15 p.m.
Nick sat on a concrete slab outside the tower. He was hoping he had beat Kira there, but he couldn't know for sure. All he could do was wait.
He didn't have to wait long, though- a sleek, black car pulled up in the parking lot, pulling in directly in front of where Nick was sitting.
An odd anxiety welled up in him. Something about this moment just didn't seem right. At that moment, he realized he'd forgotten his gun at home.
Though, he mused, how the hell was he to know that he'd actually need it?
One of the passenger doors opened, and Kira stepped out into the sun. Kira had obviously tried to throw whoever was searching for her, off her track; she'd dyed her hair almost jet black, lost a few pounds... But her eyes were still the same as the last time he'd seen them. Cold. Emotionless.
Haunting.
Eventually, Kira saw Nick, and a smile lit her face. She waved at Nick, and he returned the favor.
When she got to where Nick was, he stood, and the two shared a quick hug.
"Nice to see you again," Kira said.
"Likewise. Though, I am kind of curious... Why here?"
Kira laughed. "No sentimental reasons, that's for sure. This was just the only place where I was sure we both knew where it was."
"Smart girl."
The two began to walk into the tower to get out of the wind.
"So why did you want to talk to me?" Nick asked.
Kira was silent for a moment, then said, "Because I missed you. And because I think that the people who are after me, might be coming after you soon, too."
"Who's after you?"
"Division. Some guys from high up."
Nick slowly processed this. "Do they know you're here?"
"Maybe. They've got Sniffs, Watchers, only God knows what else after me."
Nick laughed, though the mirth was absent from his exclamation. "Kira... God had nothing to do with us. Being what we are, I mean."
Kira absentmindedly glanced down at her watch. It was four twenty-seven.
She was about to respond when Nick held a finger up to his lips.
"Hold on. I hear someone."
Kira began cutting her eyes off to the side, and instinctually, Nick knew what she was trying to say.
Someone's behind me...
Nick whirled around and saw three men advancing toward them.
"I don't recognize them," Nick muttered.
"Neither do I," whispered Kira.
Instinctively, Nick pulled Kira close to him. Kira wasn't sure whether he was just doing it to protect her, or whether there was some other reason, but her heart skipped a beat all the same.
"Who are you?" Nick called out.
One of the men replied, "Division."
Nick sneered at them. "No shit, you're Division. I mean, what are you doing here? Which one of us do you want this time?"
"Either of you will do."
Nick heard scuffling sounds behind him. Craning his neck, he saw three more Division agents coming towards them. One of them, he recognized as one of the Sniffs who had originally questioned him about Kira.
"Can you Push them?" Nick asked.
"I don't know..." was her response. Kira sounded like she was absolutely terrified.
Not that Nick could blame her...
As Nick looked at their situation, he could only think of one thing.
It's ruined. Everything's ruined. I may not get out of this...
Alive, anyways.
The Restaurant, 7:00 p.m.
Cassie and Pinky entered the restaurant, with Pinky holding the door open for her.
"You're such a gentleman," Cassie said, slipping him a playful wink. "Who'd have thought?"
"I don't show this side of me too often," Pinky replied. "Just be glad I'm not rusty, like the last time I went out on a date."
"When was that?"
"About twenty-x years ago."
Cassie groaned, and Pinky laughed.
"I have to say, though," he continued, "you do look angelic in that dress."
And she did. It was only the third time she'd worn a dress in her entire life, but this one was just perfect for her. It was fully black, with tiny silver and gold flowers embroidered all around it.
Personally, she loved it.
"Wow, just makes me wonder what Nick will say about it."
Pinky smiled. "the same thing, though not in as many words."
They both laughed.
Just then, the maitre-d called out: "Adams, table of three."
Pinky tugged on Cassie's dress. "That's us; let's go."
Cassie looked a bit confused. "I didn't know Nick's last name was Adams..."
Pinky laughed. "I don't know what the hell Nick's last name is. I just had to guess when I made the reservation for us."
"Nice thinking," Cassie said with a smile. Pinky took a bow with an exaggerated flourish, and Cassie couldn't help but laugh.
The waiter led them to their table. "Will the third person be joining you shortly?"
"Should be," Cassie said, and the waiter left.
As Pinky and Cassie waited, they talked about a lot of things: their regular lives, past significant others (Cassie's list was much shorter than Pinky's was, though this surprised neither of them), places they'd been to... They were so engrossed in their conversation, it took them almost an hour for one of them to bring it back to the present.
"Where's Nick?" Cassie asked in a fearful tone. "He should be here by now..."
"I'll call him," Pinky replied. He dialed his number bot got his answering machine. Pinky left a message, then hung up.
"I think he might be in trouble," Pinky said.
"Why?"
"He always answers when I call. Never lets it go through to voice mail."
Cassie couldn't help but think that Pinky may have been right.
"He'll be here, though, I know he will."
So there they sat, very worried, doing exactly that.
Waiting. Waiting for her love to come to them.
He never did. Not that night.
FIRST DISCLAIMER: To all you Push purists out there, I realize Nick's last name is Gant. I just did the whole last name confusion thing to advance the story.
SECOND DISCLAIMER: Ha. I left you all hanging from ANOTHER cliff!!! If you thought this chapter was good, just wait 'til five. MUAHAHAHAHA!!!