Chapter Four-Hundred-Twenty-Five
“Who all is riding with who?” Nick wanted to know as he walked outside the diner with Dakota in his arms. Her head is rested upon his shoulder, as she is still sort of asleep. She had woken up before the sun came up with a typical night terror and she is exhausted.
“Wiley and Scott are both riding with Detective Stabler,” Kori informed while grabbing the bags that Wiley had stuck inside the van behind her back and taking them over to Detective Stabler’s car.
“What did I ever do to you?” Detective Stabler complained, with a look of utmost horror on his face. Kori just gave him a look and turned around and went to get Spencer in the van.
“If you think I’m going to put up with their bickering the whole way—“
“—You’re a cop. I’m sure you’ll think of someway to shut them up.” Detective Stabler glowered and AJ shook his head.
“Kori do you really think that’s such a good idea? They’ll kill each other.” AJ spoke up. “Do you really have the heart to put Detective Stabler through that?”
“I say go for it Kori,” Nick replied while looking at Detective Stabler with hard eyes, making it very clear that he is still very angry with him. Detective Stabler turned and looked at Scott who was standing there casually leaning against the car with his arms crossed over his chest.
“As long as I get the front seat and he behaves himself, all will be fine” Scott insisted.
“You both will behave yourselves Scott, or so help me you both will be sitting together side by side in the back wearing handcuffs like a couple of jailbirds. Got it?
“At least one of us should feel very much at home back there – right Scott? I’m sure it will bring back lovely memories of your gang days and everything,” Wiley replied while coming out of the diner with more bags. He had heard what was said. Scott opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly Detective Stabler waved a set of handcuffs in front of his face threateningly. He closed his mouth again, narrowed his eyes at Wiley dangerously and then slid into the car taking his claim on the front seat. Detective Stabler gave Wiley a look then.
“Anyone else care to challenge the police officer so early in the morning?” Wiley shrugged his shoulders and he glanced Kori’s way only to flinch upon seeing the same dark look Scott had given him on her face too.
“What?” he asked innocently.
“So I suppose that would mean I would feel at home back there too, Wi, huh?” Wiley stared at her for a moment, and when the meaning behind her question fully registered inside his head he suddenly felt the urge to kick himself. The insult was directed at Scott, he completely forgot however, that she was part of his gang back in the day too and like Scott, deeply regrets it. How had he managed to forget that? It is because she and Scott share that connection with each other that he’s losing her. He thinks about it every day.
“That wasn’t directed at you…I’m sorry, I didn’t think,” He said softly.
“You seem to be not thinking a lot lately huh?” Kori snapped, feeling too hurt by his words to accept any form of apology right now. Wiley didn’t respond he only quietly went and settled himself in the back seat of Detective Stabler’s car. Kori made brief eye contact with Scott then who was gazing back at her with a strong desire to go to her and ease her pain. She stared at him for a long while, and feeling her anger toward Wi at the moment burning inside her, she turned her head and looked at Marcus who was loading his things in his car along with the twins.
“Marcus?” she asked softly, and he turned to look at her.
“Yeah honey?”
“How much room is there in your car?”
“I think there’s room for about one person – two if you count the middle seat in the back but it wouldn’t be very comfortable.”
“Can Scott ride with you?”
“If he wants to,” Marcus shrugged. “It would probably save Elliot some gray hairs.” Kori turned to look at Scott then, who was out of the car already with his backpack on and he headed for Marcus’s car. He is grateful that Kori had saved him from having to sit in the police mobile and silently suffer the memories that they both try to make themselves forget. As he walked past her he leaned over and chanced a brief kiss on her cheek simply for his own pleasure, and because it would hurt Wiley as much as his words hurt Scott. He glanced back at her through the corner of his eye as he kept on walking and saw that she was literally biting back her anger with great difficulty. He knows she enjoyed it though deep down inside – he knows her. And that’s all that matters to him – that she secretly enjoyed it. Without looking at either of the men who were both ridiculously fighting over her now, she slid into the van next to Spencer, hugged her legs close to her chest, and silently waited for the road trip to begin. She already said goodbye to Isabel, and Isabel promised that she and Chris would be driving to Florida to be with them the very next day and would be staying with them for the weekend. When everybody was piled into the right cars, AJ in the driver seat glanced back at Kori concerned.
“You okay Kor?”
“As okay as to be expected,” Kori shrugged. “Hey Aje, can you do me a favor?”
“Anything, you know that.”
“Will you talk to Brooke and ask her if it would be okay for Wi to get his own room at the Orphanage for me please?”
“Absolutely.”
“And…if its not too much trouble…don’t make it so I’m stuck in the middle. Please.”
“You won’t have to be. Last time I checked there was a kid in the room on the other side of you.” Kori breathed a sigh of relief and she felt Ashley lean over the backseat and drape her arms over her sister’s shoulders as she hugged her from behind. Kori rested her head against Ashley’s arms comfortably, grateful for the gesture.
“Ashley, you have your seatbelt on, right?” AJ interrogated when he noticed.
“Course I do,” Ashley lied. “Eyes on the road Alex.” AJ narrowed his eyes, and then a moment later, she noticed he was pulling over to the side of he road.
“You can’t be serious,” She told him amusedly and he just stared at her, his eyes locked firmly on her through the rear view mirror.
“Now. Or we’ll sit here all day.” Ashley sat there stubbornly unmoving as she continued to hug her amused sister and a few seconds later, AJ’s phone rang. He picked it up, flipped it open, and placed it to his ear.
“Yes?”
“What’s the problem?” Marcus asked concerned.
“Nothing really. Just waiting on Ashley to put her seatbelt on. You know, the usual battle.” Everybody heard Marcus laughing on the other end of the phone and when he finally calmed down a few moments later he replied.
“You know she only puts up a fight because you make such a big fuss over it.”
“Yes well,” AJ replied indignantly. “I’m the one driving, therefore I get the chance to enforce it. We will sit here for however long it takes for her to put it on.” Nick rolled his eyes and reached over and grabbed Ashley’s seatbelt. He pulled it out far enough to reach her and wrapped it around her before pulling it back to where the buckle is and he pushed it in making a clicking sound.
“There. Happy?” he asked grumpily, as he is very tired from staying up late and then waking up early to deal with Dakota’s night terrors and then staying awake and packing their things and getting ready and such.
“Immensely,” AJ replied, and then started the car back up and pulling onto the road again and continuing their ride home. He and Marcus exchanged a couple of more words, and then hung up. Ashley let go of Kori then and sat back and slid her arms around Nick before gently making him rest his head against her shoulder.
“Take a nap baby, you are exhausted” She ordered and he slid his arms around her, deciding that wasn’t such a bad idea.
“You too,” He told her sleepily and she smiled down at him some and kissed his forehead softly.
“You know AJ, I wouldn’t be surprised if your kids turn out to be neurotic” Kori teased.
“It is your sister that makes me that way.”
“Oh, so she’s my sister now?” Kori laughed and that was the last thing Ashley heard before making herself comfortable, closing her eyes, and drifting off to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile in Oklahoma, Doctor Johnson who had woken up bright and early before everyone else with the exception of Julie the early bird, got dressed and such before instructing Julie to do the same and he took her with him to run errands after leaving a note for Annabelle. By the time he returned and was just walking into the kitchen with Julie on his hip the others were up and getting breakfast.
“Mommy!” Julie cheered happily, causing everyone to look up at them.
“There you are! Where’d you two run off to so early in the morning?” Annabelle asked, her whole face lighting up at the sight of her two favorite people. Doctor Johnson smirked.
“For us to know, and you to find out later” he told her mysteriously, before leaning forward and planting a kiss on her cheek.
“Yeah mommy, it’s a secret” Julie agreed.
“What are you up to now, Doctor Johnson?” Annabelle asked curiously, using his professional name in affectionate way like she always does and he just grinned even more.
“If I told you it would just ruin the surprise.” Annabelle eyed him for a long moment, the excitement evident on her face making her seem all the more beautiful in Doctor Johnson’s eyes, if that is even possible.
“Julie are you hungry? Brandon just made breakfast.”
“’Course I’m hungry, My Brandon cooked,” Julie insisted and everybody chuckled, Brandon shaking his head in amusement.
“I will fix you a plate then,” Annabelle announced and she got up and got right to work. Doctor Johnson set Julie in her chair and then went over to Annabelle. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her near before cupping her chin and tilting it up and he gazed into her eyes for a brief moment before closing in and kissing her, his lips brushing lightly over hers.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to tell you good morning…did you miss me?”
“Do you even have to ask?” Annabelle questioned as she leaned back against him. He rested his forehead against hers, as she looked sideways at him.
“I will make up for it I promise.”
“Its okay sweetie. You were out planning surprises for me, who am I to complain about that?” Doctor Johnson chuckled at this.
“It is a great surprise. You’re going to love it.” He stood there watching her fix Jade’s plate and when she finished, while she was headed back to the table she looked at him curiously.
“You going to eat with us?”
“Mhm, but in a minute. First I want to talk to Brandon about something,” he answered while eyeing his brother. Brandon got up then and followed Doctor Johnson out of the kitchen and into the living room. When they were alone he placed his hands to the younger man’s shoulders, looked into his eyes seriously, and spoke very quietly so no one would over hear.
“Do you still have it?”
“Of course I do. I will give it to you right before you leave like planned.”
“Did you check on it?”
“Steve don’t be so—“
“—Check on it Brandon. Please. Help your nervous brother feel more at ease.” Brandon sighed heavily and nodded.
“Fine. But can I finish eating first?” Doctor Johnson stared at him for a moment and then caved and nodded.
“Right after. Anna and I will do the dishes so that you can go check on it.” Brandon rolled his eyes but otherwise didn’t argue.
“Where did you and Julie go?”
“To run errands,” was all Doctor Johnson said. “Is there anyway Peyton might be able to distract Anna for me for the day?”
“Of course she will, this is Peyton we’re talking about here.”
“How about a little bit after breakfast?”
“Mhm,” Brandon agreed, and he slid his arm around Doctor Johnson’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry so much bro. Tonight is going to turn out fine I know it. She loves you, there is no way she is going to say no.”
“If you say so.”
“I know so, and you know why?” Brandon asked while starting toward the kitchen slowly, still talking quietly so they aren’t over heard.
“Why?”
“Because you’re my brother and I love you, and I know its finally your turn to be happy. I don’t know if I quite believe in this whole Kayline being here thing…its still way too confusing for me to wrap my head around, but you strongly believe it so who am I to tell you that your wrong? You know her better then anybody. The one thing I do know is, that if she is here, she has your best interest at heart, she always did. There was no one who believed as strongly as Kayline did that you deserved to be happy…everything she did – and does…was – is for you.” Doctor Johnson gazed at Brandon in silence feeling way too emotional for his own good at the sincere advice his younger brother was giving him. He’s never seen him be so deep about anything in all his life. “So stop worrying or you’ll give yourself an ulcer. Kayline has everything under control.”
“You almost sound like you believe that,” Doctor Johnson challenged.
“Remember the last time you doubted yourself so badly?” Brandon asked pointedly. “You worried yourself sick over Anna for so long and in the end she woke up muttering Kayline’s name.”
“I know that. That’s what I’ve been trying to get you to grasp all this time.”
“So, if she came through for you then – if she brought Annabelle back to be with you like the two of you keep going on about, then why would she ever let her say no to you in the end? What would be the point in that?”
“You’ve got a point.”
“Of course I do,” Brandon replied with a smug expression on his face and Doctor Johnson rolled his eyes.
“All right, All right you win. I won’t worry anymore.”
“Good,” Brandon smirked. “Then lets go eat before breakfast gets cold” he added and then dragged Doctor Johnson back into the kitchen grinning and feeling more giddier then ever.
~*~*~*~*~
“Daddy?” Dakota asked a couple of hours later after waking up from her nap and feeling a whole lot better then she had earlier – though she was feeling mighty love sick too. She’d dreamt of her Batman rescuing her from the clutches of Evil Shredder and woke up wanting him very badly. And also, the crazy crossover dream had reminded her of her best friend too and she suddenly missed her as well.
“Yeah baby?” Nick asked curiously, as he too was now awake from his nap feeling refreshed. He and Ashley were cuddling in the very back talking in quiet whispers.
“I miss my Batsman,” Dakota stated, her lower lip sticking out in an immediate pout. “Will he be waiting there to sees me when we gets home?” Nick regarded his daughter warily upon hearing this question, as he could sense the emotion in her voice as she spoke.
“I don’t know sweetheart,” he answered her cautiously after a moment. “Josh is still kind of in trouble. That’s all up to your Uncle Brian if he’s there…I don’t want to break your heart pumpkin but it doesn’t look like it…”
“Will Ellie?” Dakota asked, her voice cracking ever slightly.
“Of course she will,” Nick answered, fighting back his emotions himself. He doesn’t have to see her face to know she is trying very hard to hold it together. “Kev says she misses you very much and can’t wait until you come back.” Nick paused for a moment. “He was even saying it might be fun for you two to have a sleepover one of these nights – just you two girls. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
“Yeah, fun.” Dakota answered trying real hard to be enthused as she turned her head to stare out her window. She loves Ellie very much, and the idea of spending some very much-needed time with her sounds very nice. But she misses Josh too and she has not seen him since the day he rescued her from Sarah’s friends and hid her from trouble. Though he didn’t keep her from getting into trouble like he had planned, he still lessened it quite a bit and ended up getting the worst of it. Why should Josh be punished so badly for turning an emotional day into one of the most memorable days of her life? He made it so perfect. So special…they were in trouble, but they were together and no one could find them and she was happy. Her heart aches for him so bad. She has never gone this long without him, even back in the day when he hated her. He was never very far from her – all she had to do was turn around and he was there, goofing off with Chris. Come to think of it, it was a very rare thing for them to not be in the same room. Either she was following him around…or he was just…there. It makes her wonder now if maybe he might have done a little bit of following too without her realizing it since she was blinded by the fact that she thought he hated her.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah honey?” Nick asked sympathetically.
“Will you grounds me to the house for however long it takes for Joshy to gets un-grounded again?”
“Why would you want me to do that?” Nick asked, surprised by her request.
“Because its nots fair that Joshy is being grounded when he was only making my day perfect for me. Its all my fault daddy, not his.”
“Josh isn’t going to be grounded for much longer honey, Brian is starting to let up a little bit. I know you miss him, and I know you feel horrible, but he’ll be allowed to play soon so just hang in there okay?”
“No.”
“Kota…”
“I’ll grounds myself daddy if you won’t,” Dakota informed stubbornly. “I’ll throw all my toys out of my room an’ locks myself in until Joshy is free if that’s what it takes.”
“Dakota Ann.”
“Batsgirl will bring justice to her Batsman. You can drill a hole in my door an’ serves me meals that way.” All of he adults laughed upon hearing this and when AJ managed to calm down he shook his head amused.
“Well, I never thought I would see the day where I would hear my niece begging to be punished.” Dakota crossed her arms over her chest and turned to stare out the window again not caring in the least bit that her tears are clouding her eyesight at the moment.
“That’s the most purest act of love I’ve ever witnessed right there.” Nick however, didn’t say anything. He only sat there watching his daughter for a long moment, his heart aching right along with her when he saw just how miserable she is. After thinking about it, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and Ashley watched as he opened it up and text messaged Brian.
I thought I should inform you that you have my kid begging to be grounded here
A moment later, his phone vibrated and he opened up Brian’s response.
…Huh?
That was my reaction too.
Why is she begging to be grounded?
She wants to ‘bring justice to her batsman’.
When Brian didn’t reply after a long moment, Nick sent him another text message.
Shes practically in tears Bri…if you could see her now your heart would be aching right along with her.
When he still didn’t reply, Nick sent another one.
She misses him. She wants him to be there when she gets home.
He waited…no reply.
You will have him there waiting for her.
Or be there to open the door when I bring her over. Or you will have one angry bandmate to deal with.
He waited some more and when it was clear he was going to get no response out of him, he decided to throw one last guilt trip in just for the message to really sink in and he would leave him alone to make the right decision.
She told me that she would throw all of her toys out of her room and lock herself in there for however long it takes for him to be free. She even said that I could drill a hole in her door and serve her meals that way.
He went to close his phone, and then suddenly he got another idea. He pushed his buttons around until he got to the camera and he looked at Dakota.
“Dakota baby, look at me please.”
“No,” Dakota replied stubbornly and he could hear that she is silently crying.
“Please?” She was silent for a long moment, and then finally turned her head and he held his phone up and snapped a picture before sending it to Brian’s phone for him to have a visual image to look.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Gotta go to work now, I'll post more during my break at 6:00 pm AZ time. And Lenni I shall read your Hannah Montana Fic later on tonight. I promise! I'm just now getting caught up on EVERYTHING that I planned on doing on sunday, but didn't get done because I slept the entire day away.
Enjoy =)
Gotta go to work now, I'll post more during my break at 6:00 pm AZ time. And Lenni I shall read your Hannah Montana Fic later on tonight. I promise! I'm just now getting caught up on EVERYTHING that I planned on doing on sunday, but didn't get done because I slept the entire day away.
