Chapter 63

Brenda smiled to herself as Noah's hand enveloped hers. It had only been 18 hours since she had arrived on his doorstep and in many ways it felt like she had never left. It was the little things with Noah that made her heart soar - the way he always massaged her hand as he held it, his insistence at kissing off her lip gloss as soon as she applied it or the way he always reached for her in bed. The sex between them was good, great even but it was the every day moments, the smaller expressions of love that gave her a happiness not previously experienced. She struggled with feeling so much joy in the midst of such sadness and fear and knew that she needed to keep her on both her best friend and her boyfriend. It had only been three days since Nathalie and Patrick were taken - true despair had yet to set in and Brenda resolved to support them as they had supported her when she needed it. "You okay?" she asked as they walked up Robin's driveway.

Squeezing her hand, he gave her a small smile. "I'm better than I was." Reaching for the doorbell with his free hand, he stopped suddenly as Brenda slipped a key in to the lock. "You have a key?"

She nodded. "Part of the best friend rules. She has a key to my place in Rome- not that she ever uses it but you never know when a key might come in handy - keys are a good thing." Suddenly flashing back to Noah's Valentine's gift of a key to his apartment, she blushed to her roots. "I..uh..." her chest seized and her breathing became ragged.

Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against her cheek near her ear. "Breathe" he whispered. "It's okay."

Closing her eyes, Brenda took a deep, steadying breath. "Okay" she nodded. "But we will talk about it."

"We will - later."

Brenda opened the door and called out as they walked in. "Robs? It's Brenda."

Robin came from the kitchen and smirked as she saw Noah helping Brenda off with her coat. "Funny seeing you two together" she said.

Letting go of Noah's hand Brenda rushed to her friend and wrapped her arms around her. "I am so sorry Robs - I really am."

Robin relaxed slightly in the warm embrace of her friend who had seen her through so much. "Thanks Bren. I'm so glad you came."

The two women held hands as they walked to the kitchen with Noah following behind. Brenda squealed as she saw Rian sitting in his high chair. "Hello godson!" she said as she scooped him up and covered his face in kisses. Robin handed her his bottle and Brenda settled in to a chair to get reacquainted with Rian.

"I was just going to make a snack for him - would you guys like anything?"

Noah watched her carefully, knowing she was the only person who missed Patrick more than he did. He needed to watch out for her, he needed Patrick to know that no matter what happened he could be counted on to take care of the two people who meant everything to him. She looked tired but not moreso than usual but what bothered him was her calmness. Though Robin was normally an even-keeled person, she struck him as being too calm, too steady. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you let me do that?"

She smiled as she looked at her father-in-law. "It's okay Noah."
He gently pushed her to the side, taking the spoon from her hand. "Why don't you and Brenda get caught up and I'll make Rian's snack."

Robin put her hand on his arm. "How are you doing Noah?"

"Probably about as well as you."

She smiled knowingly. "Okay then." Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, she motioned to Brenda to join her in the family room. Rising from the chair with Rian in her arms, Brenda touched Noah on the hip as she passed him ; turning his head he winked at her.

Settling in to the couch, Brenda held Rian closely to her breathing in his baby scent. "How are you feeling Robin?"

Robin shrugged. "My husband is being held hostage by a psycho, so relatively speaking" she smiled weakly, "I'm okay."

Her friend rolled her eyes. "Your mommy thinks I don't know when she's lying" Brenda whispered loudly to Rian. "But remember baby boy, Brenda knows everything - Brenda knows all." Rian giggled as Brenda's breath tickled his skin.

"I'm fine Brenda - really."

"How about the new baby - how are you feeling with that? Are your meds okay?"

Nodding, Robin instinctively ran her hand over her belly. "Meds are fine - I'm really fine Brenda. My dad is on the case - Patrick and Nathalie will be home soon."

Brenda furrowed her brow watching Robin. She had always admired her confidence and her faith in things unseen but she wondered if Robin was somehow in denial, failing to understand just how serious the situation was. "I told Lulu"

"Told Lulu what?" Noah asked as he joined them in the living room. He handed a bowl of mushed cereal to Brenda to feed Rian and set down a plate with cheese, crackers and fruit.

Robin looked at Noah in surprise. "You put that together?" she asked admiring the artistic layout of the food.

He shrugged. "I can do more with my hands than barbecue a steak, you know."

"Oh yes he can" Brenda muttered. Looking up at their shocked faces, she batted her eyelashes. "What?"

"Good thing Patrick's not here - his head would explode" Robin said unthinkingly. Her mouth hung open with the realization of what she just said. "That's not what I meant" she stammered.

Noah reached for her hand. "We know Robin. It's okay." She squeezed Noah's hand in gratitude, struck for a moment at how similar his hand was to Patrick's. They felt about the same size and both possessed long, nimble fingers. "What did you tell Lulu?" Noah asked Brenda.

"About Patrick and Nathalie. I bumped in to her at Kelly's with Ethan and can you believe that neither Nik nor Lucky had told her?" she huffed. "There I am blurting out all over the place and she had NO idea."

"Poor Lulu" Robin said quietly as she reached for a piece of apple.

"Her and Ethan were off to visit Grace and tell her something about why her mom isn't around."

"Grace thinks her mother has the flu" Noah said. The two women looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"You told Grace about Nathalie?" Robin asked curiously.

"I go and see her after rounds and when I was with her yesterday, I told her that Nathalie had the flu and the doctors wouldn't let her visit but that she loved her very, very much."

"What will you do when the flu excuse doesn't work anymore?" Brenda asked.

Noah's eyes darkened at her question. "They'll be home by then Brenda. This is just a temproray thing. There is no reason for that poor child to know that her mother is missing. As if Nathalie hasn't endured enough" he said frustratedly. Brenda looked from Noah to Robin, surprised at Noah's sudden burst of passion. The doorbell rang and ended any further conversation on the subject. Robin moved to answer it but Noah stood up first. "I'll get it - you stay put."

He smiled as he opened the door. "Anna."

Walking through the door, she kissed his cheek. "I wish this were under better circumstances" she said, taking off her coat and hanging it up.

"Me too."

"How are you Noah?"

"I'm okay, thanks for asking." Noah was running out of answers to that question. His son was missing - taken for some reason known only by his captor - he didn't have the vocabularly to describe his feelings and even if he did, what difference would it make if could articulate his feelings, it would change nothing. All that mattered was getting his son and his friend home and back to their families. At a loss to understand why Helena would have taken his son, he had been tempted to ask Robert if there was any value in offering himself up as bait - one Drake for another. He decided to table his offer for another day - a day when desperate times would call for desperate measures; he just hoped that day never came.

"How is my daughter?" Anna asked quietly, as she tried to gather as much intelligence as she could.

Noah gave her a reassuring smile. "She's hanging in but I'm sure she'll be relieved to have you here." Anna nodded and headed to the living room.

Robin sensed her before she heard her. Looking up from her conversation with Brenda, her heart skipped when she saw her mother standing in the doorway. "Mom" she said softly.

"My luv" Anna said, crossing the room with her arms outstretched.

A few of the tears that Robin had been keeping at bay trickled down her face. "I'm pregnant" she blurted as she dove into her mother's welcoming arms.

******

"You're awfully quiet." Patrick stared at his friend as she sat unmoving on her bed. Nathalie, he had noticed over the years, had a remarkable ability to be completely still. It was one of the reasons why Drew was attracted to her and why Patrick had often sought her company over the years -she could calm even the most frenetic of people just by being in the same room. He understood now, in a way he never had before, that being still, being quiet, was also a survival technique for her.

"Do you think they know?" she asked softly.

"Who?"

"Robin, Nikolas, your dad - do you think they know we're missing?"

Patrick grimaced at Nathalie's question. He had been asking himself the same thing for hours and was trying hard not to drive himself crazy wondering what about their reactions. He knew Robin would kick into gear, that she would make phone calls and demand action by anyone and everyone. Robin was one of those people you wanted in a crisis - he had seen first hand during the epidemic how she could cut through all the extraneous noise and distractions and get straight to the problem. Once she identified the problem then she worked on the solution; she was methodical and determined - two qualities that would see her through this. He did worry about the impact of this on her pregnancy -on both of their children. "We've been gone for more than seven hours" he said pulling his watch from his pocket. "They know."

"I hope someone is with Gracie - god I wouldn't even care at this point if it were my parents - I just don't want her to be alone."

"Do you know that my dad visits with her every day?"

Nathalie looked at him in surprise. "I didn't - I mean I knew that he had been to see her a few times..."

"Every day" Patrick repeated. "He's brought her icepops and the other day I saw him in there reading to her."

She grinned, truly moved by the revelation. "Your father is an amazing man Patrick."

"I finally get that now" he admitted. "I could never see past the bottle to truly understand him but now I see him - really see him."

"That's good" she said quietly. Her hand moved back to her belly, the chains clanging against the metal bed frame as she did so.

"You should try and sleep." Patrick pulled his long, lean legs underneath him. His rolled his wrists inside the cuffs to keep the circulation going and prevent them from cramping.

"I'm not tired."
"Liar."

She flashed him a small smile. "You need some rest as well - why don't we sleep in shifts - you first."

He shook his head. "You always want to get your way, don't you?"

"Not want, do" she replied.

"What are you, Yoda?" he teased. "Speaking the secret language of Jedis?"

"Is that a crack about me being short there stretch?"

"Between you and Robin I feel like Gulliver among the Liliputians."

"Maybe we're not the abnormal ones - maybe you are."

He rolled his eyes, smiling. "Whatever." He looked at his watch again. "You really should sleep."

"So should you" she countered.

"Are you trying to drive me crazy?" He rubbed the fatigue from his face.

"It's a short trip" she teased. Pausing she sucked in a breath. "Patrick..."

His head snapped up at the sudden seriousness in her tone and looked over at her. "Yeah, Nat?"

"If there is an opportunity - if there is a chance to escape - I want you to take it - you have to take it."

Patrick groaned as he flopped back against the pillows. "Not this again."

"I'm serious P - you cannot wait for me if there's chance - you just have to go."

Swinging his legs over the bed, he leaned forward and stared at her. "Are you giving up?"

"Pardon?"

"Are you giving up? Because just before all this" he motioned around their prison "you were in the middle of a meltdown. You were saying some really scary things. So my question to you is, are you insisting I leave without you because you're giving up?"

She chewed on her bottom lip and shook her head. "No" she said hoarsely. "I'm not giving up but I do want us to be realistic..."

Their conversation ended as the door squeaked open. Both sat silently as the same three men descended the stairs. Nathalie stiffened as the men approached her bed. Grabbing her by the wrists, the first man pulled her back into a lying position as he unlocked her cuffs. As the second man moved to pick her up, she kicked and thrashed, clocking him on the chin with her foot.

"You fucking bitch!" he hissed as he lunged towards her. "I'll make you pay." Her hands suddenly freed, Nathalie sprang to her feet and smashed her fist in the face of the approaching captor.

Jumping from his bed, Patrick strained at the chains as he tried to reach her to help. With adrenaline coursing through his body, he was oblivious to the small cuts the metal cuffs were leaving around his wrists. "Leave her alone!" he yelled, his arms flailing in their restraints.

The third man turned to him furiously. "SIT DOWN" he yelled, slapping Patrick across the face. He ignored the red, stinging welt forming on his face. Chaos ensued as Nathalie threw anything she could get her hands on at the two aggressors. She landed a second blow but the third one was stopped as she was grabbed by the wrist and her hand bent back causing her to sink to her knees as she cried out in pain. Patrick made another lunge towards her and was stunned as he felt a fist plow into his cheek. He reeled backwards and collapsed on his bed, gasping for air.

"Patrick!" Nathalie cried to him but he was too breathless to speak. One of the men picked her up and threw her over his shoulder carrying her up the stairs. He tried to call her name as he watched her disappear but couldn't get the words out before everything turned black.