((still not mine, still not feeling great, I slept for 16 hours yesterday into today bt oddly enough I dreamed about this. I know how it ends. the epilogue is already written. it's just getting the damn story from this point to there out of my brain and not ruining it. Please review. IT's the only way I'll get better. Mind the language. remember it's rated this way for a reason and the next few chapters will be getting worse with language and subject matter. You've been warned. I don't want to offend anyone, and i don't feel this way personally, it only to help tell the story. I will put trigger warnings before the worst of it. Thank you))
Lin could remember the exact moment that he knew Noll was in love with Mai. He could recall every detail of the day because it had been such a momentous occasion. Oh he'd had inkling that perhaps the boy had an attraction to his clumsy, loud, stubborn assistant, but he had no idea the depth until he ordered Lin to keep her safe. They had been in the former Prime Minister's mansion on what was probably one of the most dangerous cases even he had ever been on. When assigning bodyguards Noll had told Lin that he'd be keeping her safe. Lin had been shocked.
Oliver had always been extremely fond of himself. The name Naru was a spot on descriptor for him; although he'd hated it at first. When announced that Lin would be responsible for Mai's safety he was taken aback. He couldn't believe that Noll was putting someone's well being above his own. While he couldn't comply as Oliver wasn't the man who signed the checks he'd been supremely impressed with just what a great sacrifice his ward was willing to make. When asked about it in private Noll had smirked at Lin and told him that his reasons were private and he didn't appreciate Lin violating his privacy by talking about Martin and Luella to the group. They were after all undercover. Lin kept pushing and asked just what in the bloody hell Oliver had been thinking, he wouldn't look Lin in the eye. As Lin stared him down Noll answered him in the quietest of voices.
"Haven't I lost enough Lin? Can you please just help keep her safe? I'd do it myself if I could" They both let the fight go at that. The tin man had a heart after all, it hadn't died with Eugene. At least that's what Madoka had said when he shared the news with her. In retrospect perhaps he should have also told Noll since he didn't seem to figure it out till much later.
As Lin watched the younger man help Mai into the base and wrap a blanket around her with the utmost care he wondered what ha happened to the carefree young woman to put such sadness in he eyes. When he'd pressed the Monk even he wouldn't budge, saying it was Mai's choice whom she wanted to know and he wouldn't betray her again. He wondered if Oliver knew or if the young man was only being so kind in an effort to win over the woman he'd so desperately wanted for the past three years. Dr. Oliver Davis was nothing if not single minded when he wanted something. Lin had never seen him fail, but he also knew that he was up against something very formidable; himself.
Though Noll would probably never admit it aloud his aura told how deeply afraid of the love he held for Mai being rejected in favor of his dead twin. Had he been in competition with anyone else Lin had no doubt that Noll would have already declared himself the victor, but it's hard to compete; even if it was in his own mind, with a dead man. The irony was that if Eugene were alive Noll would have never met Mai. Or if he did it was very likely that he and Miss Taniyama would have been come romantically involved. A bitter smile settled upon his lips. It would do no good to think in such circles. The fact was the Noll was helplessly involve. He could deny it if he wanted to but the softness in his eyes and he kissed her forehead and the gentle lilt of his voice when he told her to wait in the base while they unloaded told Lin all he needed. Oliver even reached into his own jacket pocket and removed a charm, placing it on Mai for protection.
It wasn't until they reached the van that Lin broached the topic that needed to be dealt with, "What if that charm isn't enough?
"I expect you to protect her Lin." Oliver said it as if the answer were obvious. HE began to gather the equipment they'd need not paying Lin a second thought.
"I can't protect you both if things get bad."
"You'll keep her safe above all else. I'll handle myself"
Oliver expected Lin to put up more of a fight when he demanded that the onmyouji put Mai's safety above his own. While he couldn't perform warding magic, or any magic for that matter the level of PK he held inside of him was without rival and it had only grown. Unbeknownst to anyone he'd been practicing in secret to increase his body's tolerance to wielding the power. While he hoped that it wouldn't come down to a choice between himself or Mai he knew that if it did he could throw his PK at anything that threatened them while Mai could not. When gave a small nod Oliver knew that he had his friend's compliance in the matter. Besides, what gentleman would allow a lady to come to harm when they could prevent it.
With the equipment unloaded and the base set up for the night Oliver tried to force himself to leave Mai again and go set up cameras and take temperature readings. Truth be told he found he had no desire to leave the sleeping woman's side. He'd never been an overly tactile person, and usually limited contact with others to the perfunctory handshakes. He found himself wanting to linger when he came into contact with Mai's flesh. His fingers seemed to hold on a moment or two more than needed, his lips settled against her temple for just a second more than required and when he kissed her it was all he could do to not eat her whole.
He'd had a few kisses in England. None of them compared in his mind to the ones he'd shared with Mai over the past day and a half. They were mostly the result of over eager young women; not ladies, either trying to improve their grades in his classes or social standing by flirting with him. A few had ambushed him and taken him by surprise in his early days home from Japan. While they had imagined themselves quite bold for coming on to the aloof professor or by taking him by surprise they were always met coldly. One very brave woman had asked to come by during his office hours under the guise of needing tutoring. When she arrived in a trench coat despite the warm season Oliver should have been suspicious but he'd never imagined what she'd do next.
When he'd turned to retrieve a text from the shelf behind him to show her evidence that would have helped to strengthen her shaky thesis she'd shed her coat and perched herself on his desk wearing little more than a pair of boots and a suggestive smile. Oliver had grabbed the offending woman by her arm, used his pk to open his office door and propelled her into the hallway as she'd pleaded with him to top. As she struggled to close her coat quickly while being forcefully removed from his office, his secretary raised both eye brows in shock. Oliver didn't spare the woman a glance told the man that handled his schedule that not only was the young woman to be removed from the roll in all classes he taught for the current semester that she was also to be permanently banned from any lectures he gave at the university in the future. When he turned his back to her she began to hurl obscenities at him.
"What are you, some kinda homo? Everybody knows you were hot for your brother! What's a matter, can't get it up anymore since he's gone?" When Oliver turned around to look at her with murder in his eyes everyone stopped to stare at what was going on. Even Martin and Luella were standing in the doorway of their office waiting for his reaction. Luella brought a hand to her chest and her mouth gaped in shock. Martin stood wide eyed. The entire department was silent as they waited for his response. He turned back towards the woman who'd had the gall to speak to him in such a way and took a step towards her. He narrowed his eyes and took another step. She took a trembling step backwards and fell on her ass over her silly heels. He couldn't recall having ever been so angry in his entire life.
When the now former student looked up at him he stood over her and lowered his voice. "You will never speak about my brother in such a manner, is that clear? As a matter of fact, you are never to speak of him at all. Do you understand?" When the woman didn't answer him he grew louder, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Tears began to roll down the woman's cheeks and she trembled in fear, she nodded at him as he glared at her. "As for my sexual orientation, just because I don't find YOU attractive doesn't mean I'm a homosexual. It just means I have taste and no desire to contract any sexual transmitted diseases you are no doubt carrying. Now I suggest you remove yourself from the floor and leave this department quickly before I really get angry. I will be speaking with the Dean this afternoon about your behavior. I'll be very surprised if you're still a student at this University in a week's time." With that the woman scrambled to her feet and fled, stumbling over her ridiculous shoes and coat as she ran. He stopped before going back into his office to address his parents.
"The nerve of some people," was all he said to a still recovering Martin and Luella Davis. Martin merely quirked at eyebrow at Oliver while Luella stared openly at his retreating back. While that experience had been the most uncomfortable and upsetting of the advances he'd had to deal with there had been others. Had he had the inclination he could have had his pick of sexual partners. If he had crooked his finger at any number of women they'd have gladly fallen on their backs; legs spread, for him, but he had no desire for any other woman. There had been times when his sexual frustration had caused him a great deal of physical discomfort but he'd never been tempted by another woman. No other woman created such a fire in him. Even a world apart he'd dream of her. Every day and night, sometimes multiple times he'd imagine what it would be like to have her, to hold her close, to just enjoy the breathing in her scent or hear her heart beat.
For three years he'd dreamed of his clumsy assistant who'd made excellent tea and never failed to call him out when he was being an ass. For three years he'd been plagued with fear that her dream guide, his smiling brother she cared for. As he jotted down some temperature readings he noticed that the house had a much different feeling atmosphere tonight. It seemed that with Mr. Hines gone the tension in the home had lifted considerably. Not for the first time he wondered if David Hines was the focus of a curse or the haunting that was threatening his young family and why he seems so violently opposed to the help that was being offered.
When he stopped in front of Adia Hines's room he watched for a moment as the strangest sense of deja vu settled over him.
Mai sat in the base patiently wondering if this was indeed the house that Gene had brought her to the night before last. She hadn't seen all the rooms but based upon the color scheme and decoration style it seemed to fit with what she'd seem. A sense of fear ran through her veins and she really was in the right place and that there wasn't more than one little girl being scared by a poltergeist. She didn't know the first time about true investigative work and if this wasn't dream girl's home she was going to be pretty screwed. Sighing she had to not focus on that.
Naru had asked her to trust him. That was another problem. It was easy to admit that she was still very in much in love with him. His good looks had only gotten better and she was surprised at the heat he sparked between her legs. She hadn't wanted anyone in that way since the night Naru had left her after Gene was found. Ayako had told Mai that she thought that Mai was suffering from something called Post Traumatic Stress disorder or PTSD. She'd made Mai promise that when she and Monk returned from their island honeymoon that Mai would attend at least one sexual assault victim's support group or therapy session. All of friends, including Yasuhara had offered to attend with her out of love and support but Mai gently told them that she'd be uncomfortable with the men there so Ayako and Masako told her to pick the time and place of the one she wanted to attend and they would clear their schedule to go with her. Masako had even told Mai that they could go together while Ayako was away and find a group she liked best. Mai had promised her friend she would consider it, but truthfully between Naru's sudden reappearance in her life, the wedding and Gene's dreams she hadn't found much time to do anything else.
Since she was alone in the base she reached for Lin's laptop. Mai didn't imagine he'd mind if she looked up some information in it. Opening the web browser she went to a search engine and stopped. For a minute all she could do was look at the screen. It had all seemed more real since she told her friends what had happened For so long she didn't walk about it. She still hadn't been about to say 'I was raped'. Instead she referred to it in her mind as 'the thing' or 'what happened'.
She was scared he'd call her an idiot or worse. What would Naru think when she told him she wasn't a virgin? How would he feel about the circumstances Would he think it was her fault? He'd seemed to want her when he kissed her, and as they danced closely a few hours ago she'd blushed when she felt his erection in her stomach after they'd kissed and held their bodies together. Would he think her dirty when he found out? What about Lin? Would he blame her for wearing her short skits or not being mindful of her environment?
Taking a breath and deciding that she'd deal with those things if and when they happened she typed what she was looking for into the search bar. Sexual Assault Survivors Support and selected to narrow her search to findings within twenty-five miles of her location. She was rewarded with numerous hits and she began to scroll through them reading about the privacy policies each offered as well as the services they provided in addition to the fees they charged. As she was looking through the third site she had the strangest feeling come over her. IT\s was if she was suddenly thousands of miles away and out of her own body.
Closing the laptop when the feeling persisted she pushed it away and walked over to the monitors to watch the camera feed. She was strangely sad,very angry, and incredibly lonely at the same time but didn't feel like the feelings were her own. Just as she found Naru on the bottom monitor she heard his soft foot falls on the wooden floor coming towards the base.
When he pushed open the door Mai him with a small smile and walked across the room towards him. He raised a brow at her as she reached out and placed her hand over his heart softly. "Where were you just now?"
"I was taking temperature feelings upstairs here, why?"
"Not physically..I mean..where were you in your head? Or your heart? You weren't here, in Japan. Were you?" He didn't answer her right away, only seemed to search her eyes as if asking how she could possibly know that.
"Did you fall asleep again?" She shook her head, knowing he thought it was Gene who'd shared something with her about his mental state. "Has Lin been back?" She shook her head again and he pursed his lips in thought. When she slowly started to pull her hand away from his heart he covered it with his own and held it there.
"I was in a bad memory, it was not too long after we'd buried Gene. A few months perhaps? I was back in England at Cambridge and someone said something that hurt me a great deal. It's not important. I'm here now." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. It seems as it he was about to do more but let her go reluctantly as a small bit of anxiety built behind her eyes.
"All's quiet tonight. Would you like to go to bed? I can introduce you to the family in the morning.
"No. Would you..would you sit and talk with me some?"
"Of course. But..perhaps we could have some tea first?" Mai felt herself smile.
"Did you just ASK me for tea Naru?" He smirked at her. Mai pushed away her worries and giggled quietly as she turned around and set about making a pot of tea. 'The more things change the more they stay the same' she mused.