The Wind beneath My Wings

Chapter Fourteen

Previously: "Do you see what I see?" Gideon started towards the pair only to have Heath pull his gun and tell him to back off.

"Come on Barkleyyy," Hank said with a slur in his voice. "Can't hurt to let us look, neverrrr seen a woman like th..at before."

"Don't come any closer or…" Heath started to warn them only to get the shock of his life as a gust of wind blew between him and the two men. One minute he was telling the men to back off, the next he and Hank were both staring, eyes wide open as they watched Gideon being swept off his feet and lifted up into the air.

~oOo~

Heath, who had been thrown into shock when he saw Gideon yanked off the ground, forced himself to quit staring at the sight above his head as Hank started to run in the opposite direction screaming, saying all he and his friend had been doing was a little bit of hunting and to leave them alone. "Oh no you don't!" Heath lunged at the man and, grabbing him around the chest, pulled him to the ground. An all-out fight between the two men broke out while Starr was spinning Gideon around in the air faster than any train wheel ever thought of going. It would have been enough to make Eugene dizzy, only he had started convulsing again; Dawn quickly knelt behind him and held on tight, as she could tell that his wings were in the process of changing for the last time.

Hank cursed and did his best to keep fighting Heath, but he had not only been drinking, but he kept allowing himself to look at the strange woman who knelt beside another man who was obviously one of her kind. Little did he know it was the youngest Barkley who no longer resembled the young man he had once been. With this being the case, Heath was easily able to knock Hank out. Within a couple of minutes, Heath stood above an unconscious Hank, trying to catch his breath. Not a split second later, Gideon was lying on the ground as unconscious as his friend.

"Who…" Heath started to ask only to watch stunned, as the stranger who, like Dawn-had wings on his back and was dressed in the same type of pants and boots as Eugene was, threw some kind of dust over the two men lying on the ground.

"My name is Starr." Dawn's brother introduced himself and then turned on Dawn, demanding to know what had been going on, and doing it in a rather loud voice.

"Boy howdy," Heath thought only to himself, "and here I thought Nick was loud."

Naturally, Dawn told her brother everything. "He," Dawn gestured towards Heath, "has protected us. And, yes, mother is right. This," she held Gene, who was no longer thrashing but was only semi aware of what was going on around him, "is my mate now."

Starr shook his head. Out of his three sisters, Dawn would be the one to pull a stunt like this…and still come out smelling like roses. "Well, I admit, it will be good to at last have another male around the house." He then turned to Heath, who he could tell was still unsure of what to think.

"My family owes you a great deal. Thank you." Starr nodded his head ever so slightly as he smiled; a smile full of gratitude at Heath.

"You're welcome." Heath paused and then continued. "He's my brother and, I guess, she's my sister in law now, but…" Heath said with an exasperated sigh, "my family will want answers. What do I tell them without being labeled as crazy?"

Starr looked at the men who lay on the ground and then at his sister. Her people had the power to communicate silently with each other. Her eyes widened as she heard Starr speak. "Is that the only way?" she replied just as silently. Starr thought a minute and then, grinning, turned towards Heath and apologized to the blonde haired cowboy, saying it was best if, in this case, life was altered ever so slightly. Before Heath could ask what he meant, he found himself falling, unconscious, to the ground, covered in the same dust Starr had thrown on the other two men.

"Come," Starr looked at his sister as he lifted Gene up in his arms, "wrap your arms around my waist. We need to get out of here now!" He waited until Dawn had done as he bade her too, and then the two of them took a few hurried steps, before Starr lifted all of them into the air and disappeared into the clouds.

~oOo~

Heath stirred just as he heard a horse approaching. Before he could open his eyes, Heath heard Nick hollering. "Heath!" Nick flew off his horse and over to Heath. "Careful there, boy," Nick laid his hand upon Heath's shoulder. "What got into you? You were supposed to wait for Jarrod, me and the rest of the posse before you started trailing these two. You were lucky we got here in time. "Nick looked at the bodies of Gideon and Hank, which the sheriff and one of his men were throwing over the back of a couple of horses.

Before Heath opened eyes; however, before he could answer, Jarrod was also by his side asking the same thing.

Posse? Got here in time? Heath slowly opened his eyes and looked at them confused, even as he felt a sharp pain in his side. What were they talking about? He hadn't been riding with any posse. He was help… Heath's thoughts stopped mid center, as he was shocked to realize his memories were all jumbled up and confused. "Gene…" he heard himself say as he slipped back into unconscious, asking himself why he'd said that name.

"Gene?" Nick looked at Jarrod. "Who's Gene?"

"I don't know, but we best get him home; he needs medical attention." Jarrod said as he looked upon the Heath's cut lip, the bruising that upon his cheek and the blood on his right side. "We can ask him to explain later." He then hurried to get their horses.

Epilogue

Heath sat in his bed, propped up against numerous pillows and staring out the window. The sun was going down, and his mind was on the strange dreams he continued to have…and the fact that, when asked by his family, he could not tell them why he had called out the name of Gene when Nick, Jarrod and the posse had found him. "Doc says not to worry," Nick stood next to his bed smiling. "He says for the injuries you had; which not only included that bullet wound, but a good bump on the back of your head, he's not surprised you were saying things that have no bearing of reality."

Heath watched the clouds that he could see through his window; they were drifting along in the sky. He caught his breath as he saw six winged beings flying towards the top of the far off mountain; the last two were flying hand in hand. For a split second, he thought about calling for one of the Barkleys, but just as he did, the two beings flying hand in hand turned and flew to his window. Heath was shocked to see a long black haired male and his female companion smile upon him and mouth 'thank you' before sending some sort of light through his window. Before he could find his voice, Heath was aware of the truth…knew why he'd called out the name Gene. His smile got wider as his younger brother and his new wife turned and flew away, rejoining their family. Heath closed his eyes; he wasn't going to say a word. "Be happy with the life you've chosen, Gene." Heath whispered only to himself, as he fell back to sleep, grateful that, even if the rest of the family had been made to forget the youngest Barkley, he had remembered and would never forget again.

A/N The fact that the bodies of the two men from Stockton wound up thrown over the back of horses, along with Heath being shot, is supposed to imply a fight-one that included guns- took place between the three men. I know I could have put the actual fight in only...it wouldn't come that way.

A/N Thanks to the readers who pointed out that Heath's remembering Gene needed to be explained.