Isaac and Zac
It was evening when Zac picked up the ringing phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Zac? It's Ike."
"Ike! Hey! How you doing? Where are you? Is Tay okay?"
"Tay's fine. He's asleep at the moment. I'm fine too. We're just turning into the street now. You won't recognise the car though - we had to get a new one to throw The Eye off our scent."
"The Eye? Who's that?"
"The guy who had Taylor captive. I'll tell all when we arrive. Which should be in about ten seconds. See you soon!"
They hung up and Zac practically danced to the front door, shouting at the top of his lungs "Ike and Tay are back!"
He flung open the front door, and sure enough, there they were, pulling into the driveway.
"Ike! Tay!"
Isaac grinned and shook Taylor awake.
"Tay, we're home," he said.
Avery and Zoe
Avery ran after Zac, screaming for everyone to follow. She eagerly waited while they got out of the car, while Zoe came out of the house, rubbing her eyes from her little nap.
"TAY TAY!!"
Taylor
Taylor stirred, opening his eyes.
"Home?" he murmured, before seeing the house.
He grinned. Then he saw Zac.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and steadily got out of the car.
Isaac and Zac
"Tay!" Zac ran over to his brother and embraced him in a great big hug.
Isaac grinned.
"Hey Avie, Zoe," Isaac greeted, getting out of the car too.
Avery and Zoe
"Hey Ikey."
Avery and Zoe charged at Taylor. Avery jumped into his arms and Zoe collapsed at his feet and hugged his legs.
"TAY-TAY!!!!!"
Taylor and Walker
"Woah!" Taylor tried to steady himself with three siblings hugging him at once.
He was glad when Zac let go, and his eyes lit up at the sight of Avie.
He picked her up and spun her around, just happy she was ok.
"Hey Avie," he grinned, kissing her cheek.
When he set her down, he bent down to Zoe's level.
"Hey Zo', did you miss me?" he grinned, then pulled he rin for a hug.
Walker watched from the front door as the kids reunited with a smile on his face.
Avery and Zoe
Avery's eyes were twinkling with tears as Taylor let go of her.
"I love you Tay!"
Zoe wrapped her arms tightly around Taylor's neck. "Tay-Tay, don't you ever leave me again!"
Taylor
Taylor's face fell at that, knowing that the Eye was still after him.
"I... I'll try not to, I promise," he smiled slightly with a nod.
"TAYLOR!"
"Mac," Taylor grinned, as his younger brother sped into his arms.
Zoe
Zoe pushed Mac aside after he'd hugged Taylor and she jumped into his arms again.
"No, he's my Tay!"
Taylor and Walker
"Guys, guys," Taylor tried to calm them down, "I think Tay wants to get inside, ok?"
He pulled Zoe's arms from around him and began to head for the front door.
Meckenzie followed as he faced his father. They just stood and grinned at each other for a moment, before Walker pulled him into a hug.
"It's great to have you back son," he said.
"I'm glad I'm back too," Taylor replied, before his face fell again.
"I... I really need to tell you something."
Walker glanced at Isaac.
"Let's go inside first," he decided, "I also have something to tell you."
Mouse
Mouse had been crying herself to sleep since she found out about Christian. She couldn't stand it. It hurt. And then she felt something change. Fafnir started barking.
He's back!
"Yeah, he is too." A smile spread over her face. "Too bad no one thinks to call the girlfriend. I'm always the last to know." She flew out of bed, and hopped around cursing in French as she pulled some proper clothes on and her sneakers. She didn't want to be held up with lacing her boots. She grabbed her duster and ran out the door, Fafnir almost bouncing, definetly leaing towards gambolling as they hailed a taxi. She just hoped it wasn't a false alarm. They drove to the Hansons home, and she paid off the driver then, biting her lip in nervousness, and suddenly very aware of how pale and thin she looked from all the crying she'd been doing lately, she stepped up to the door. Fafnir had no such reservations and just howled.
Welcome back, Pack!
Taylor and Walker
Taylor spun around at the sound of Fafnir's howl.
His eyes lit up in a nanosecond and he ran towards her. Mouse. She'd been so close to saving him from the start...
"Jane!" he exclaimed, picking her up as he had Avery, then setting her down and hugging her as tight as he could.
Walker waited patiently.
Mouse
Mouse couldn't help it. She started crying. "Oh god, I was so worried, but not at first cos he was pretending to be you, and I'm so sorry! I thought he was you!" She just buried her head in his chest and cried as she hugged him back. "He, he, I can't believe I didn't know it wasn't you. I'm so sorry, Tay. I've been so worried, and now you're back, and that's just perfect."
If I find him, I'm ripping his throat out. He made Mouse cry. A lot. Fafnir nudged Taylor's leg with his nose. He pretended to be you. Fooled me. Fooled her. Fooled everyone. Fooled the little stalker girl too.
"Yeah, I don't know if Ike would've told you...that girl from the concert? She slept with Christian cos she thought she was you. I should have known then. Je suis si désolé pour douter de vous, mon amour."
Taylor
"Tout est pardonné, ange, il n'était pas moi. I never want to let go of you again," Taylor whispered, almost choking knowing what he said couldn't happen - strictly because he was being hunted.
"And there'll be no ripping of throats Fafnir," Taylor couldn't be bothered glaring, but if he was in a bad mood he would have, "you disobeyed me when Mouse was trying to save me. I told you not to let her go."
His voice cracked a little.
"But I don't care. I have her back, and I'm home."
MOuse
Fafnir whined apologetically and tucked his tail between his legs. Sorry.
"My fault. The whole thing was my fault, I'm so sorry..." Mouse whispered. "Pouvez-vous me pardonner? Je ne devrais pas avoir perdu mon trempe tellement mal. J'étais si fâché simplement. Si furieux. Que quelqu'un a eu... ne me laissez pas partir. S'il te plait. Ne me laissez pas partir."
Isaac and Zac
"So, what did happen?" Zac asked. "Christian said you were dead and the next thing I know, Mom's telling us that Ike got a call from you."
Isaac laid back on the lounge and looked at Taylor.
"I can only tell you about the trip back."
Taylor
"Well, ah..." Taylor looked around at his family nervously, before realizing his hand was shaking.
"Ah..." he began, quickly putting it in his pocket, "I..."
He glanced at his father desperately, knowing he couldn't say much.
"I was held prisoner by, someone," he began, "well obviously..."
Then he looked up curiously.
"What happened to Christian?"
Mouse
"Left. Got his power turned off. Good riddance." Mouse shrugged. "He's too confusing to track cos he smells like you, apparently."
Scent exactly the same. Fafnir agreed woefully. Wrong. The wolf didn't like things he couldn't understand. But Pack is together again. Good. Mouse reached down and rubbed his ears.
Avery
Avery hugged Mouse and then hugged Taylor.
"I love you both! I'm so glad you're home Tay."
Taylor and Walker
Taylor gulped, suddenly feeling nervous to the point of shaking.
"I'm glad too Avie," he said softly, bending down to kiss her forehead, "and I love you too. I love everyone here."
He glanced at his mother and father together.
"Dad? I need to talk to you later."
Walker nodded.
"But for now..." he glanced at Mouse, and let his shaking hand fall into hers, "I think I'll at least get changed."
He grinned.
"Haven't showered for a month. Coming?" he raised his eyebrows at Mouse.
Jessica
Jessi was sitting at the top of the stairs when Taylor headed up.
"You went away." she said, her face showing now expression, her voice hard, and her eyes full of pain. "You were gone. He said you were dead. I needed you and you weren't here." Before she even realized what she had done, Jessi reached out and slapped Taylor across the face, and then darted back up to her room.
Taylor
Taylor only touched his face where she'd hit him, completely shocked.
Didn't Isaac say she was ok?
He took a shaky breath and glanced at Mouse.
"I have a feeling I haven't been told... the whole story."
He frowned a little, then took Mouse's hand and led her up to his room.
Mouse
They sat down on Taylor's bed and Mouse took a breath. "She slashed her wrists," Mouse said bluntly. He wouldn't want it all toned down. And she wouldn't do it anyway. Enough people would be all tip toey. "She tried to kill herself and damn near succeded. Ike found her, I think. Me and her talked. We're good friends now." She traced one of the tat bracelets with her thumb, staring downwards. "I get her. Been there myself. Cigarette burning too. Nicks and cuts. Burns were never my deal though. It was always the knife. She hurt, so she took it out so she didn't feel. You all try...but I think probably me, Faith and the other girl, maybe you would be the only ones that get it." She couldn't stop tracing the interlocking blue lines of the Celtic artwork.
Taylor
"I knew Jess was hurting herself before, I mean it was obvious..."
He closed his eyes and went over to Flavian and Meena. Meena was laying in their small bed asleep. Flavian on the other hand...
"Yeah, it's good to see you too," Taylor smiled at the sight of the bouncing fuzzle.
He hesitated, petting him, before picking him up and turning to Mouse again.
"I've always been worried about Jess... even since before the whole thing started. I was always so afraid of someone hurting her... Now it finally happened and I wasn't there to help her."
He sat down next to her again as Flavian climbed up to his shoulder.
"I asked Isaac - when I was on the phone to him from Toronto - if she was awake. He said she was fine. I should have known better."
Mouse
Mouse yipped a sort of laugh. "Obvious? The rest of your family had no clue until they found her in the bathtub. Diana was, and still is, mostly clueless. Jessi's good at hiding. Empathic ability or not. Fafnir smelt the blood. I saw the oh so careful way she walked. You couldn't help her. No one could except her. I just showed her a way out of the pit." She shook her head. "You couldn't have known. For all you knew, she was fine. Or better. I hear the other girl, Isabell, has it worse though."
Taylor
"They can't have had no clue, I mean look at the scars on her..." he cut himself off from the thoughts.
"She may be good at hiding, but I think she might have picked it up from me," he chuckled, "remember when we first met? I knew you were trying to read me and couldn't."
He took Flavian from his shoulder and sat him in Mouse's lap.
"I don't if it's because I'm older or what. But You're still the only person I've opened up to as far as empathy goes. I'd hate to think how Izzy is taking it... if you say she's worse."
He bit his lip.
"Do you know what happened to them?"
Mouse
Mouse looked at him, deep pain in her brown eyes. "Trust me, you don't wanna know. She told me some. That's enough. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you. And people aren't so smart at picking up the hurts." She reached out and traced the side of his face. "I remember when we met. I was crying. As usual. I broke into your house, and Fafnir went insane." She smiled. "We've come a way since then."
Taylor
"To put it lightly," he grinned, leaning so his forehead was against hers.
He bent in slightly to kiss her.
"Thanks for trying to save me, by the way," he chuckled.
Mouse
"Eh. What else was I gonna do? You're Pack. We don't give up on Pack." Mouse grinned. "As you may learn even more if you stick with me. Fafnir is a bad influence. He makes me do the wild uncivilised things."
Taylor
Taylor grinned.
"I know you probably don't believe me when I say I understand, but I didn't get caught... no, that might be too gross for you. Let's just say I picked up a lot of bad habits from animals at an early age."
He kissed her again.
"Which reminds me. I need a shower. Well, it can wait."
He kissed her again.
Mouse
"I think you smell good." Mouse kissed him back. "I was so worried...so scared. And grr, Christian got me so pissed off! Should've known it wasn't you. You would've got annoyed when I turned up with Zac. It was pay back. I thought you had cheated on me," she hastened to explain. "Meant nothing. Zac's a good friend. He has a girlfriend anyway, but you can't tell your mom. She doesn't approve, which I think is crap. She's in hospital and Zac went to see her...if your mom saw what I saw..." Mouse shook her head.
Taylor
"Ike mentioned Zac had another girlfriend," Taylor frowned thoughtfully.
He playfully fiddled with a few strands of her hair.
"And I don't care about anything that happened with Christian, I'm sure I don't need to know. Anything anyone did with him is forgiven... it's only if someone did something good and knew he wasn't me."
He chuckled.
"Ok, I just confused myself. I have so much to catch up on."
Mouse
"Ohhh, you're a groomsman for Ash's wedding!" Mouse bounced on the bed. "That's some good news."
Taylor
"Really? Since whe- oh," he stopped himself, "damn, I missed the party."
He snapped his fingers.
"But that's cool. I guess I should give him a call later and make sure he knows I'm alive and willing before he replaces me."
He chuckled.
"And I even missed my 20th birthday. How sad is that?"
He put his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap.
Mouse
"I don't even know for sure when mine is. And we'll havta have another party." Mouse nodded firmly, and then she was struck by a thought. "I hope Faith's awake by then. She's in a coma. But she's a Slayer, so I really hope she wakes up soon." She bit her lip, thinking about Zac and Faith. "New magic evil villian, by the name of Glory. Very evil. And apparently hideous fashion sense, but Priss is a bit prejudiced seeing as how Glory threw her into a building and put Faith in the coma in the first place, but we don't need to be involved in that, and I'm babbling. The last thing you probably need is me babbling."
Taylor
"I don't mind," Taylor insisted, putting his nose into her shoulder to breath in her scent.
"I'm just glad to hear your voice again. I just hate to think I'm going to fall asleep tonight and wake up back where it all started. You know, Isaac never having come after me. Being hunted."
He kissed her neck.
"Not such a good thing, being hunted you know."
He hesitated, taking a deep breath.
"Who's Faith?"
Mouse
"Faith is...hard to describe. She's a Slayer, which brings its own problems with it. She's got a bad history, like me. She flaunts being a bad girl stereotype to the extreme, but she's really nice. Took me for retail therapy when...you don't wanna hear about that. She's a good person, but cos she dresses the way she does, she's not exactly your mom's favourite type of person." Mouse smiled thinking about Faith. "She's heaps brave. And very cat. Like Zac."
TAylor
"Well she doesn't sound too bad. Since when do any of your friends have to be my 'mom's type of person'?" he asked, clueless.
"We seem to meet a lot of people with bad histories, but you know, it comes with being who we are."
He nuzzled her neck a little as Flavian climbed up his arm.
Mouse
"Well, she gives me disapproving looks." Mouse didn't feel it was her place to tell Taylor what Zac might want to tell him himself. "Especially after Faith took me shopping. Leather has suddenly become a major component of my wardrobe." She laughed.
Taylor
"If my mother ever does wrong by you she'll have to answer to me, although that should be a problem. I think she understands us."
He kissed her neck again.
"Leather huh? You might have to flaunt your wardrobe for me one day," he grinned.
Mouse
"I think I could be persuaded to do that thing." Mouse leant back into his arms. "Oh, I missed this. You always make me feel...safe."
Taylor
"I'm glad I could make someone feel safe," he sighed.
He laid back and twisted a little so he was laying on the bed next to her, staring at the cieling.
"It's kind of amazing how close I came. To killing myself I mean. I almost slit my wrist, stabbed myself and threw myself off a balcony to name a few."
He frowned.
"But something kept me going."
He looked toward her, then took her hand.
"And I guess subconsciously, you were a large part of that."
Mouse
"I'm glad that you didn't manage it," Mouse said softly as she curled into his side. "I was kinda planning on seeing you again. I knew you weren't dead." She shook her head. "They won't understand how I knew. It's not an alien thing, not even really a human thing. I'm more wolf then person at points."
Taylor
"Well you do develop instincts after being with animals for so long," Taylor looked to the ceiling again.
"It's really hard to explain, isn't it? I've been asked to explain that so many times in my life and I can never seem to mesh it together."
He frowned.
"I'm starting to confuse myself again."
Mouse
"You think too much," Mouse said with a grin. "It's a major problem with people. They think. A lot. Animals aren't simpler, but they're quieter."
Taylor
Taylor chuckled.
"It's good to think deep sometimes. It's easy to inspire yourself that way. Speaking of which..."
He hesitated thoughtfully.
"I've had a whole month without anything musical. Now that's a disaster. Maybe I could con Ike and Zac into a band practice later or something."
Mouse
"You should. Whole male bonding thing, and it'll probably help you feel more like this isn't a dream." She ran a hand lightly through his hair. "I know I'm awake, but are you?"
Taylor
"God I hope so," Taylor closed his eyes with a yawn, "it feels real enough. Then agian, I haven't had a dream or even a nightmare since that whole thing with Avery, so I wouldn't know."
He smiled at her and maneuvered his arm underneath her shoulders, hugging her closer. Flavian moved and cuddled between them, so Taylor was careful not to squash him.
"How late are you gonna stay with me?" he asked softly, his eyes drooping.
Mouse
"As long as you want," she said, feeling very tired herself from all the crying and worrying. "Or more like, how long your parents think I can. You can be glad you weren't here for the safety talk. I can't believe that, still...am I allowed to be glad I don't have parents sometimes? Cos, that was waaaaay embarrassing."
Taylor
"Safety talk?" Taylor looked confused.
He looked at her facial expression, and his eyes widened.
"Oh no way," he shook his head sitting up.
He chuckled.
"My parents gave Christian the sex talk? They did that to Ike and Myra."
He hesitated at the thought of Myra, but quickly dismissed it.
Mouse
"Oh yeah. Diana did. I was so red. I didn't know where to look." Mouse rubbed her face with one hand. "You might've noticed I'm sometimes not so good with social situations that involve people. Animals, I can deal with. Aliens or humans...there's so much stuff! Really. All these rules, and no one ever talks about them or can even explain them."
Taylor
Taylor laughed.
"Oh God. I feel so sorry for you. Especially now that she knows it was Christian and she might do it again..."
He trailed off and bit his lip.
"Let's just hope she doesn't think about it."
Christian
"I feel sorry for her," Mouse said quietly. "I think she must be a very lonely type of person. But seriously, Christian could still be a problem. He looks like you. He has your fingerprints. I foresee much trouble."
Taylor
"Fingerprints? EVeryone's gotta have different fingerprints, and he's not me."
That particular comment made Taylor look at his hands for no reason.
"But dad's always there for mom when he can be. If he's not it's normally either Ike or I, sometimes Zac or Avie I guess."
He sighed and lay back again.
Mouse
"He has your scent," Mouse pointed out. "I think it's something to do with the duplicator. But I could be wrong...but he had your scent. Scents are even more individual then fingerprints. Oh, let's not worry about it. You're back. you're if not in perfect happy Tay- ness, at least well. Count the blessings."
Taylor
"Duplicator?" Taylor frowned.
"Oh wait, the guy from the car crash, huh?"
He rubbed his chin.
"Do the animals still follow him or what? We were gonna keep an eye on him, remember?"
Mouse
"They're know where he is." She yawned deeply. "They like you and me. He hurt you, and I asked them. Two reasons to keep track."
Taylor
"Maybe we could track him down again. I forgot what we were talking about him for."
He frowned a little.
"I have to admit, my memory isn't that good at the moment."
He yawned.
"Maybe I should get some sleep."
Mouse
"I should go then. Let you rest." Mouse got up reluctantly and kissed him before heading out the door. "I'll come over soon. We have more catching up to do." Like cats, Mouse wasn't one for long goodbyes.
Taylor
Taylor grabbed her arm and pulled her back for another prolonged kiss, their first since he'd gotten back.
"And je t'aime ange, vous vois bientôt," he said when he pulled away.
He smiled as she left and leant against the doorway.