Chapter 18, enjoy!

Warnings: None

UnbetaAF

Can You Keep A Secret

Chapter 18

A Family Affair

"Y-y-ou -andle it so weeeeell," The woman said, walking over to the towering man of blackness, her visage hazy, almost as if she was made of thick clouds and nothing else, her voice sounding just as soft and wispy, "My Wander Warrior-kdakljdwjdwa…"

The man looked from the spear in his hand and to the woman, who smiled softly and rested a hand on his arm. He gave the woman a smile of his own and said, "My b-c-, you always say-#######."

"I do so enjoy it when you train, in yoooour-," The hazy looking woman seemed to slur, her image fading in and out, taking in the man's bare frame which was pitch black and flickering, "My goodness, a-a-a-, sweat….." the woman's fingers slid up the man's arm, causing him to shudder at both the sensation and the heavy undertone in the woman's words, "I do so enjoy it indeed…My Wandering…." The woman let out a long breath of air, as if stuck, as the man's glitched to wrap around her waist, "Warrior…"

"Come, here, let me show you my strength," The man's voice was muffled, hard to hear, pulling the woman into a heated kiss, laying her down in a green patch of soft, silky grass, the image flickering fast, with bright lights, "Let your Wandering Warrior prove his worth again and again…."

Brittany let out a sigh, smashing her face between her hands, as she removed her hand from her left eye to stare at Diesel with her full vision. Strange, so very strange, Diesel's past was so distorted and so broken up, it hurt her head, when she looked at it, even for a few seconds. What was wrong with his past?

She frowned as she wiped blood from her nose and hoped no one had seen her clean at her nosebleed. That happened often, when she looked at Diesel's past, the people she talked to, from the Agency told her she most likely was using her gifts to the max, and to stop taxing herself like that. Okay, that was the last time she looked at Diesel's history, if he had any to begin with, maybe those were fake memories.

They were at a private restaurant, celebrating the holidays, with their families. Even before their kidnapping, Brittany could only handle many people at once, in small bunches so she had taken a booth, in the back of their private room, looking at the book she had found in her hands after the depository. It was hers now, hadn't been a school's book, so no need to return it.

It was merely a book of lost arts, or art thought to have been lost through the ages. As she flipped through the pages, she found herself pausing at one picture, a picture of a pair of blue roses that were finely detailed. Brittany looked down at the footnote and read it to herself.

'Roses of Memories, painted in the late 1400's, artist unknown,' Brittany sipped her drink and continued reading, 'A copy of this painting can be found at NYU, along with another painting of similar style.'

That's what made Brittany declare to Alejandro they were going to NYU in a few weeks. There was another painting. These roses, she had seen them before in Stephanie's past. She wanted to see the other painting as well, to see what had been painted. She wanted to know if the school had any other information regarding the paintings, the roses, anything!

"Hey there," Brittany looked up, closing her book to see Diesel standing before her, holding a slice of cake, "Cake?"

'Thank you,' Brittany thought as she took the plate and begin to eat the cake, 'At least the cake here is tasty,' Diesel sat across from her in the booth, making her look at the man, as he got comfortable, 'You aren't going to join in on the Memorial Day celebration?'

'I'm Swiss, I don't celebrate most American holidays, though, I do appreciate the day off,' Diesel said, looking to Brittany, "What about you?"

'I'm an introvert,' Diesel made an 'ah,' noise and nodded his head, 'Plus, sometimes, when I'm careless, I see bits of their past or future and it can be dizzying, I look weird when I have to close both my eyes to scratch one.'

"Must be shitty," Diesel agreed and then he looked at Brittany and then asked her, "What did you see, when you look at my past or future?"

Brittany knew that was going to be asked of her, Alejandro asked her often and now it was Diesel's turn. She licked frosting off her spoon and then finally answered his question.

'I can't see your future, for some reason and your past is so distorted, I often can't make heads or tail on it,' Brittany shrugged her shoulders, 'Whatever is in your past, it's your secret, which is fine, I can't handle the migraines or nosebleeds.'

"Sounds like a bad time," Diesel said and Brittany nodded her head and then finished her cake, "Brittany, you said that your gifts started manifesting after your time in the bunker, can you…maybe tell me what happened?"

Brittany gripped the spoon in her hand and then let out a shuddering sigh and the closed her eyes. She looked over to Diesel and then said, "Barton Wilkes died that night, for sure…however, Stephanie and I didn't touch him."

"So, there was someone else?" Diesel asked, perking up, but then Brittany shook her head almost violently, "No, well, what happened?"

"We didn't kill him, he-killed himself," Brittany watched Diesel's eyes widened and she pushed on, "I remember a bright light, it hurt my eyes, but-I remember, watching him, tear himself apart, he tore himself apart, that's how he died, Diesel, he used his-' She gagged once, composed herself and looked over to Diesel, 'Please, don't tell anyone, please, no one will understand what I saw, no one would believe me. I could have been sent to the mental hospital if I said anything.'

"I believe you," Diesel assured Brittany, who grabbed her cup of drink and chugged it in three big, gulps, "Hey, it's alright, Brittany" Diesel grabbed Brittany's hand and slowed her down, "It's okay…I really do believe you."

Brittany and Diesel looked down at their joined hands and then Diesel asked, "Do you feel a spark, or anything, when we hold hands?"

'No,' Brittany said as she removed her hand from Diesel's grasp and then looked at her fingers, "Why do you ask that?"

"Nothing, just-an Unmentionable thing," Diesel shrugged off and Brittany just gave him a funny look and then the two were chatting about Brittany's psychic gifts. Diesel told her, when she was able to master them, she might even be able to do more then send thoughts to people, she might be able to read people's thoughts. That excited the woman and made her want to master what she knew. It would be a long process, but she could do it.

Diesel got up and grab another slice of cake and drinks for them, and as the sun set and the rest of group began to settle down to talk during the last hour of the party, Brittany and Diesel spoke.

'I didn't know you were Swiss,' Brittany said as she ate her cake, 'You don't even have an accent.'

"I worked hard to lose it," Diesel said, his arm slung on the back of the booth, "I come from an old family, a bunch of recluses, I think you'd fit in nicely," Diesel winked to Brittany, who rolled her eyes, "It's a nice place, away from the world, but it's like a historical vault, every book in the house is written in Gaul, if you can believe that, and I barely paid attention during me lessons to learn how to read and write in Gaul."

'That's actually interesting,' Brittany perked up, her face thoughtful, 'Must be a nice place, I would love to see it.'

"Sorry, but family only,' Diesel said, with a sigh, 'I know, the only way I could get you there is if I married you but I think Puzzle Man would strangle me if I did that," Diesel ended it with a chuckle, looking at Brittany's confused face, "I'll let you figure that out on your own."

"You call Alejandro Puzzle Man, why is that?" Diesel smiled at the question, "Is it because of his gifts?"

"Yeah, man has photogenic memory, doesn't forget a thing, but he can take crime scenes or what have you and complete them tell you how it happened and why, missing items, he can tell you where they are, damn good at hunting down perps, better than me, can even say, which smarts, and he's a healer."

"Wow, pretty impressive, he's such a wonderful, handsome, man," Brittany's cheeks heated up and Diesel let out a muffled laugh, as the woman began to squirm.

"Diesel, Brittany," Alejandro walked over to the two and gave them both a smile, "The place is about to close up shop."

"She's all yours," Diesel said as he slid out of the booth, "I think I'm going to crash early tonight, have a good night, Brittany."

Brittany waved goodbye to Diesel and turned to Alejandro, who was looking at the man's retreating back. She frowned and told Alejandro, 'We were just talking about things, what's with the face?'

"Nothing," Alejandro said, looking over to Brittany who, gave him the stink eye, "Come on, it's my duty to make sure you're in bed at a decent time."

'Alright, fighting with you is hopeless, anyways,' Brittany pouted and let herself be pulled from the booth and led away, "Not after you caught me researching in the bathroom at 2AM.'

'Damn right! You are wild, woman!'

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I liked the idea of having a private dinner with friends and family, than having a BBQ," Stephanie said, as she and Carlos rocked together on the seat swing in manicured backyard of the house, it was well into the night, everyone else was settling in for the night but Carlos stood in Stephanie's doorway, holding two beers and a slice of cake and lured her out of the house and into the backyard, "Much easier to get someone else to clean our houses."

"Yeah, the older we get, the wiser we do, well, with some things," Carlos agreed, finishing off his beer and leaning back against the swing, looking over to Stephanie, "Babe, it was nice enjoying time with you."

"It's nice enjoying time with you as well, Carlos said," Stephanie smiled but frowned as Carlos let out a sigh and ran a hand through his head, "Carlos?"

"I'm not-I'm not good when it comes to things like this," Carlos said, looking over to Stephanie, who sat up, looking at the man, "Steph-"

"Carlos-" Stephanie started but then Carlos was cupping her chin, leaning forward, "Oh-"

"May I kiss you, Stephanie?" the man asked, softly, making the woman bit her lip, "Is it alright, if I kiss you?"

"Thank fuck," Stephanie said, with a sigh and then she was leaning forward and kissed the man, a long, slow kiss that lasted for what seemed like for ages, before they pulled apart, panting softly, their foreheads resting against one another, "Thank fuck," the woman repeated again, a smile on her face.

"You wanted that too?" Carlos asked, and Stephanie nodded her head, leaning back and resting her head against the back of the seat, "I shouldn't be too surprised, you did get too flustered around me."

"Can you blame me?" Stephanie asked, a smile on her face, her cheeks hot, "You are sexy as fuck, Carlos Manoso!"

"It's a little to late in the night to fuel my ego, Babe," Carlos teased but then he settled back in the chair, "I don't want to scare you off, not after all that you've been through."

"You won't, you really can't, made of tougher things," Stephanie said, flexing her arm muscles, "Plus, your self defense training should come in handy if you do try to scare me."

"I'm being serious, Babe," Carlos said to Stephanie, grabbing her hand, "I mean it, I want you to be in control Stephanie, I don't want you to be hurt in any way, by me. I don't know what you've been through, but I don't want you feel that way again."

Stephanie paused and then she gave Carlos a look, as he rubbed her hand. If she wasn't in deep for this man then, she was now. He was so attentive, to her needs, to try to protect her from harm. She hadn't gone through what Brittany had gone through, nearly all of last year, but still…She had been hurt, scared of many things, for a while and if it wasn't for Heidi in the back of her mind, she would have been in worse shape.

"Hey," Stephanie whispered, leaning in close to the man and then gently kissed the man on the cheek, "You won't hurt me, I know you won't you're a good man, Carlos, I can feel it, you can never hurt me."

Carlos pulled Stephanie to him and she took her time nestling against his chest. He held her close to him and said, "Stephanie, I'm not used to this, to want to be in a relationship, I used to think relationships could be a danger, people could be hurt because of my past and my connection. I used to think a lot in black and white, and then I met you and, you've challenged me, you made me start to find the color in life…"

Stephanie listened to Carlos speak, his voice rumbling in his chest that vibrated against her ear. She knew the man was spilling his guts to her and she would listen.

"I want a relationship with you, Stephanie," Carlos said, lifting Stephanie's head up so she could look up him, "I want a lot from you, Babe, but you're in control, we'll go as fast as you want this to go."

"Thank you," Stephanie smiled to Carlos and then leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips, "It-means a lot to me, Carlos, it means so much to me."

They spent the rest of the night acting like teenagers, kissing one another, getting to know one another until Carlos finally led Stephanie away and into the house to go to bed.

Stephanie let out a squeal of happiness, falling onto the blankets beside Heidi, who turned to look at the happy woman, squirming around on the silk sheets. Stephanie rolled on her stomach and then she said, to the woman, "He likes me, he really likes me, Heidi."

"I know," Heidi said as Stephanie smiled goofily, "And you really like him as well, Stephanie."

"This is…so much better than any other relationship, Heidi," Stephanie confessed, and she smiled, "Wy better than Morelli."

"I thought we swore not to speak on that man?" Heidi asked as she sat up on the blankets, "He has been nothing but trouble!"

"Yeah, you're right but, ever since he ran into me at the FBI, he…ugh…bastard," Stephanie sighed and then sat up and leaned against the woman's shoulder, "I don't want him on my mind, Heidi, but he…" She looked away from Heidi and played with a curl, "He stole something from me that I should have given away to someone else freely!"

Heidi looked to Stephanie and then said, "I'm sorry he did that to you, Stephanie. I know there is nothing much I can say, regarding that incident now, to make you feel better but, you now, this may sound silly and odd, but you can always just reclaim it."

Stephanie looked to Heidi, who smiled and then she returned the smile, "Yes, that's what I should do, Heidi, take back power, and give it to Carlos, when…we're ready to have sex."

The two laughed and giggled before Stephanie sighed and said, "A much better reaction than the first time, no?"

Heidi's face darkened and she said, in a low voice, "A way much better reaction, Stephanie," She hugged the woman to her tightly and repeated, "A way much better reaction."

Heidi wouldn't tell Stephanie what happened, after her fight with her mother, she most likely would never will, to be honest, Stephanie thought as the women fell together on the silk sheets of blue, tangled around each other. Whatever had happened to Stephanie had shaken Heidi to the core. Stephanie tried to broach the subject with the woman but the woman told her 'not yet…' and Stephanie doubted that yet would happen. 18 years of no dreams, she should be due an explanation.

For now, she would bask in the new found feeling of finally being able to start something with Carlos.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Diesel…" Heidi held her hand up, looking at the blond man, once again, through Stephanie's vision, "Why do you make me ache?"

Heidi lowered her hand into her lap as she turned her frame from the man's image. That loneliness that she felt had intensified, since Carlos and Stephanie confessed their feelings to one another. She found Stephanie's emotions to be wonderful and beautiful. However, they were a cruel reminder to Heidi that she herself had not felt that feeling, nor will she ever. She didn't know who she was but throughout all her time of awareness, she had never left this world of flowers inside the mind of those she found herself in no would she ever...

Being around Diesel, though, it made her ache and it made her weep often, that gnawing loneliness almost too much for her. Why did this man make her go almost insane with these feelings. She didn't want to do anything rash, couldn't afford to, she promised Stephanie she wouldn't take over her body.

Heidi stood up from her place and walked away from Stephanie's point of view, going into the deeper part of the woman's mind to sleep. She couldn't give into temptation, so she would sleep her time away and only wake when Stephanie came to her. She lay on a bed of silk, curling up into herself, tears filling her eyes. She fell asleep easily, it was just like before, when she saved Stephanie when she had been a child, almost compelling her to sleep away her pain.

As she slept the roses around her bedding began to curl up and turn an ashy grey, as if they were dying.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I want her," The person said to Joe, looking at the picture of the professor in front of him, "Brittany Thompson, I want her, she's strange gifts, I felt them, when I spooked her in that school, and I could use them to find whom I am looking for."

Joe almost let out a sigh of relief, as the man honed in on the picture of the woman before him. He didn't want Stephanie. That was good, that was great! He was excited at the prospect of having Stepanie once again, that first time had been amazing, even if he had to do some rough coaxing from the girl to fuck her.

"Your thoughts, Joesph Morelli are as dark as the night sky, but I'll amuse you," The person said, turning to the man, a devilish grin on his face, "If you give me this woman, I'll let you have the other woman and I'll make it so no one can ever find you both."

"That's impossible," Joe said, looking to the person who shrugged and looked away, tucking the picture of the professor in his pocket.

"Why don't you give me the professor and I'll just show you," The person sighed and then left the FBI agent's house with a silent pop.

The person reappeared in their own sanctuary, a lovely little villa on some coastline of some land. It had belonged to his father's family before he inherited it, unlike the other properties and titles he should have inherited, but no…those went to someone else.

His wretched cousin, the true heir of the Gario Clan and he, Geuwulf, was just a mere second thought. His mother had taken offense that his cousin had been given the keys and secrets to the Gario Clan while he was given nothing. Geuwulf could recall, quite fondly, his grandfather looking at him, his mother and father at the last family function they had attended and saying, quite off handedly, that Geuwulf's mark was not the one that would lead the Gario Clan.

His mark, the pale haired man, with sharp green eyes thought, as he walked over to a mirror and peered into it. Yes, his mark, that restless side of him that stirred, when he was 18. The one that had him searching high and low for someone, the 'Mother of All Stars.' He had to find her, he had the memories of those before him, who housed the same, almost manic need to find her. That magic, it could be used to rule the lands, but those before him failed to find her. Geuwulf was not like those weak men in the past. He was stronger, stronger than even the first of them, the one who started it all.

Geufwulf fixed his hair and walked away from the mirror, going over to his collection of fine wine and pouring himself a glass of red. He drank from it deeply and thought of his cousin. Diesel, that's what he called himself now and he swore he felt him in D.C. That was strange, the man was hardly around that area, what, in that area had him interested.

Geuwulf had an inkling it was the same professor he sent his lapdog after. He supposed, an unfriendly competition between family could happen. Geuwulf happened to hate losing at things, he was such a sore loser…

TBC….

I mean come on, Geuwulf should be man into an evil baddie and who I am to stop fate Besides, they're cousins...COUSINS! It's perfect!