Sunshowers - Part Nine
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
Oh, no, I say silently.
Noah stands there, grinning with my mouth, staring at the squad car like it’s a gift that just dropped from heaven.
Noosh, Ralph says warningly. Don’t you steal that. You’re gonna leave Jamie’s fingerprints all over it.
“Oh, I don’t want to.” Noah backs away, then sets off around the side of the villas again. “No worries there.”
I want to ask questions, a lot of questions. There’s just no time, though. Hanely and Grimm are somewhere close by in the forest looking for me, but only for now. Who knows how long it’ll take before they give up and go back to try and figure out why I ran in the first place?
We have to move fast. Clearly Noah realizes it, since he’s not wasting any time. Although - I’m not totally sure what he’s doing. Even though it’s my body doing it.
I dart around to the back of the villas, changing course when I spot the electrical meter. I rush up to it and take a look at the spinning gauges. None of the dials are moving, which somehow through Noah’s mind I understand to mean there’s no electricity being used by these buildings. Not even enough to power a security camera.
“Excellent,” Noah says happily, already breaking back into movement.
I rush up to the villa beside the one I already broke into, so I can peer in through the dusty window. It’s empty, like the first one. The coating of grime on both sides of the window suggests that no one’s been in or out in forever.
The third villa, though, shows some signs of recent use. The step up to it isn’t quite as dusty, and when I try the door I discover it must have something more than the flimsy, simple turn-lock the other ones have. Maybe this is the villa that Tucker mentioned, the one being used to store old stuff for the hotel.
“Here’s the one!” Noah says brightly, arriving at the same conclusion.
Um… I begin nervously, as Noah backs my body up. Noah, what are you gonna do? We can’t get in there -
I can only wince internally as Noah proves that we can in fact very easily get in there, by the simple means of applying a brutal kick that makes the fragile wooden door practically fold in half as it explodes inwards. The sharp crashing sound sends a few startled birds scattering up into the air from the nearest trees.
“Hello?” calls an alarmed, timid voice from somewhere around the side of the villa. “Is - is someone there?”
Noah stops on the doorstep of the villa, a baffled expression falling over his face. All three of us in this body recognize that voice, and we shouldn’t be hearing it here.
“Nolan?” Noah calls out in surprise.
There’s a pause, and then the other voice calls back to us, sounding equally taken aback. “What…? Jamie?”
Nolan peeks around the side of the villa cautiously, trembling a little, pale in the face. He looks infinitely relieved when he sees it’s really me. Although it’s actually Noah, at the moment.
“Heyo!” Noah says cheerfully, giving Nolan’s shoulder a slap enthusiastic enough to startle him. “Whatcha doin’ here, dude?”
Nolan nervously twists the car keys in his hands, shrugging his slender shoulders.
“Aiden sent me to - oh - oh, my god.” He points to the smashed door of the villa, his green eyes going very wide. “Did you do that?”
“Yep! Oh, that reminds me, we gotta keep it moving - c’mon, let’s talk on the go.”
Nolan looks like he has roughly a thousand questions, but he meekly follows me into the villa. He’s not wearing his ranger’s uniform, I notice, and I think I know why. On the off chance he runs into Hanely and Grimm, at least they won’t figure out what his new gig is, and therefore where to find him.
A warm rush of appreciation for Nolan wells up in my heart. He must have seen the squad car parked out front. He knew there was a good chance it was Hanely and Grimm he was hearing, but he came up to the villas anyways. Just in case it was us, and we needed help.
He seems familiar with the layout of the villa, if uneasy to be back on hotel property. He automatically goes around the stack of boxes by the door that I nearly bumped into.
The villa is dusty, like the others, packed with old stuff in storage. Pieces of furniture under sheeting make eerie figures in the gloom. Two looming storage cabinets are packed with holiday decorations and spare dishware for the cafe. There’s also some sports equipment laying around, maybe available to summertime hotel guests if they want it.
“D’you say Aiden sent you?” Noah asks, rummaging through the various piles of stacked-up stuff.
“Yeah,” Nolan says slowly, watching me with obvious confusion. “He got me on the radio a little while ago. Asked if I could drive over and check to see if you guys were here.”
“Cool, ‘cause I’m gonna need you to drive me somewhere in a minute. Where are you parked?”
“Down the road,” Nolan answers nervously. “I saw the squad car, so I got out, and, um - snuck over here.”
“Okay, go get your car and pull it up kinda close to the squad car. Unless you see Humper and Grinch coming-”
Nolan lets out a startled laugh, pressing his fingertips to his jaw. “Hanely and Grimm?”
“Yeah yeah yeah. Pull the car up close unless you see them coming, in which case you get lost. Sound good?”
“I-” Nolan stares at me in total bewilderment, fighting back another laugh. He gives his head a helpless shake. “Okay.”
He turns to leave, and I quickly catch his arm as a thought occurs to Noah. “Oh - Nolan, any chance the new squad car came equipped with a dash cam?”
Nolan shakes his head again, looking concerned by the question. “No, definitely not. I would know. I’ve heard every feature bragged about several times.”
The grin on my face widens. “Sweet. Alright, go, move fast. We don’t have much time, and this needs to get done!”
Trembling anxiously, Nolan stumbles for the door and rushes outside. Noah busily digs through a box of kitchen utensils, shoves it aside with a soft French curse, and - stops, catching sight of something. A blue and silver aluminum alloy Louisville slugger, leaning against the wall. Forgotten in a corner.
“Oh, perfect.” Noah breathes out a sigh of pure delight. He crosses to the baseball bat and pulls it out of the shadows. “Hello, beautiful. You and I are gonna have some fun.”
It settles into my palm with a cold bite, but my body is on fire with humming adrenaline. I pull the beanie down almost over my eyes, then zip the hoodie up.
Oh, Jesus, I say weakly, as Noah goes eagerly bounding for the door. It had to be my body we all ended up in, didn’t it? Couldn’t have been either of you? You guys have been at the wheel for like, less than ten minutes, and I have a feeling that I’m about to commit a felony. Guess I can’t say I’m surprised, exactly, but -
“Enjoy the ride, Keane!” Noah says cheerfully.
I honestly can’t help but enjoy the ride. Noah is beginning to feel a little crazed with mounting excitement, and it’s my body feeling all the giddiness. I’m actually trying not to laugh as I bound around the side of the villas with the bat resting on my shoulder like a rifle.
“Should we tell Kasey what we’re doing?” Noah asks, speeding along.
Kasey materializes almost instantly, her dark eyes wide with alarm.
“Um, I heard that, Jamie! Thank god you accidentally summoned me with it! What are you doing-?”
She breaks off in confusion as I jolt to a sharp stop, staring at her with astonished eyes.
“Well, holy fuck!” Noah sputters, amazed. “There she is, forreal! Kasey Lavoe! I can see you!”
Oh my fucking god, Ralph stammers, seeing her for the first time, too. Yeah, why not? Just why not? Why not add seeing a real-life ghost to the list of things that have happened to me in the last twenty-four hours? Good fucking god, man.
Kasey is staring at me in total bewilderment, her hands spread inquiringly. She has no idea what’s going on, so that makes sense. Even the baseball bat must be puzzling. I understand why she looks even more confused when I add -
“Yo, you look so cool! Being a ghost suits you. And aw, look at that, you even had the foresight to die in a sick jacket!” I offer her a fist bump, grinning widely. “Happy for you, dude! That’s good shit.”
“I… thanks?” Kasey giggles, trying to accept the fist bump and putting her fist right through mine. “What’s - what the fuck, Jamie? What’s going on, right now? Why do you have a baseball bat, and why are you talking like Noah, and - oh my god, why are you at the villas? Aiden explicitly said he didn’t want - where are Noah and Ralph, what happened-? Is that Hanely and Grimm’s squad car?”
I launch back into movement as Noah answers with my voice. “Yep! Our bodies are in the woods, but we’re fine!”
“What?” Kasey rushes after me towards the squad car, her eyes widening with alarm. “What did you say? Bodies? Is - is that Nolan?”
It is Nolan, pulling up in the forest ranger’s car. Noah gestures for him to park it a little ways back. He does, then hops out and hurries over, his slender frame visibly trembling. His wide eyes follow me as I flash him a thumbs up, racing right for the cop car.
“Okay, I left it running…”
“Good man, Nolan!” Noah calls approvingly, as Nolan accidentally comes to a stop beside Kasey.
I sprint up to the squad car. I don’t slow down once I reach it, instead bounding directly up to stand on the hood. I widen my stance a little, planting one boot firmly on the windshield. Getting a good grip on the baseball bat. Running my eyes over the police colors.
“Oh, I’ve always wanted to do this,” Noah sighs happily, beneath my breath.
“What are you doing?” Nolan gasps.
Kasey lets out a shocked laugh, lacing her fingers over her mouth. “Jamie! Seriously, what the fuck-?”
Noah points the bat at her very seriously. “No time to explain. No sweat, though. It’s all part of the plan, and Ralph-sanctioned, too. Stand back, ‘cause some stuff’s about to go flying.”
“Are you serious?” Nolan sputters, staggering a few steps back.
Hey, Noah says silently. Just double-checking. You said a big distraction, right, Ralph? How big?
There’s a pause, and then Ralph lets out a silent, affectionate sigh. Go wild, dude. Enjoy it.
My eyes sparkle with a manic grin, one I can see reflected back at me in the oh-so-breakable windshield. I’m bouncing so excitedly that the car is bouncing on its shocks.
I stop and stand still for a second, practically vibrating with adrenaline, gathering a giant breath into my lungs.
Oh, god, I laugh helplessly, within myself. This is about to be -
“OH, PIGGY PIGGIES!” Noah roars at the top of my lungs, my voice wild with deranged laughter. “I’M OVER HERE! YOU WANT SOME? COME AND GET SOME!”
I wind the bat back with a swinging flourish, then take a well-aimed, full-force swing. The red and blue light bar on the roof of the brand-new squad car explodes apart beneath the blow, shattering into colorful pieces.
I fling my head back to give a shout of adrenaline laughter, kicking what’s left of the lights directly off of the squad car.
“Oh my god!” Kasey shouts, breaking into stunned laughter.
I barely hear her over the roar of elated euphoria in my ears, the sound of my own wild laughter as I lay into the windshield, then everything else.
When I’m all done, I hop down to stand beside Kasey. I swing the bat up onto my shoulder, panting happily, beaming delightedly as I survey my work. My sides are sore from laughing.
“Jamie Keane!” Kasey wail-laughs, her eyes bewildered and shell-shocked. “What the hell has gotten into you? Is it weird that I’m kind of attracted to you, right now?”
It’s actually Noah, so I guess not? I answer, even though she can’t hear me.
Noah grins in flattered surprise. “Hey, thanks, Lavoe! That’s nice. Although… Huh, weird. Compliment from a girl isn’t hitting like it normally does.”
Really, dude? I ask dazedly, still in disbelief over what just happened. You can’t think why that might be?
“Oh, right.” Noah knocks my temple with my knuckles as the light breaks on him. “Gay. Duh. I forgot.”
“Jamie, wh…?” Kasey begins, then trails off into helpless laughter. “Alright, you know what? I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m having fun. What’s next, are we stealing it?”
“It’ll still drive, I bet, but nah. It’s all theirs.”
Nolan hasn’t noticed that I’m standing beside him talking to thin air. He’s frozen with his hands pressed over his mouth. His shocked eyes finally blink a few times, then break away from the car carnage to look at me.
“That’s - that’s Hanely and Grimm’s - brand new squad car-” he says faintly, his voice wavering.
He’s desperately trying not to burst out laughing, I realize suddenly. He can’t quite stop the grin that’s starting to take over his face.
“You-” he gasps, sounding dazed. “You - you-”
With my hand, Noah holds out the bat to Nolan. “Go on, Nolan. Take off the wing mirror I missed.”
“What?” Nolan lets out a scandalized laugh, even as he automatically accepts the bat. “I can’t - no, no, I can’t-”
“Smash one thing, dude, you’ll feel amazing! But do it fast, because we gotta move!”
Nolan gingerly stands there with the bat, staring at me, then turns to face the single remaining side-view mirror. There’s a second of silence.
Noah had me swinging like I was aiming to hit a home run. Nolan, on the other hand, lines up the bat like he’s playing whack-a-mole. He smacks the side-view straight off of the squad car, directly onto the pavement. The mirror remains intact, but the back of it shatters with a musical crash.
It happens so fast that Nolan can’t quite seem to believe it. He freezes again, staring, then startles violently as Noah lets out a thrilled crack of laughter.
“Fuck yeah, Long! Should’ve had you smash the whole thing!”
Nolan looks about ready to sink to the ground in disbelief.
We all look up sharply as distant shouting reaches us. We’ve got Hanely and Grimm’s attention again, unsurprisingly.
“It worked! No time to wait around!” Noah snatches the bat back and sets off for the forest ranger’s car, beckoning for Nolan with a toss of my head. “We gotta book it.”
Nolan rushes ahead to get into the car, and Ralph pulls for the controls. Noah, casting one last glowing look back at the cop car, hands them over. The wild grin on my face settles down into a serious, calm expression, and my skipping steps turn into long, swift strides.
“Kasey,” Ralph says, taking over my voice. “Can you find Aiden?”
“Yeah, I know which river he’s taking to get to you guys!”
“Bring him back to basically the same exact spot where you last left us in the forest. If he gets there before us, tell him, um - not to freak out at what he sees, and that everything is fine.”
Kasey stares at me in disbelief, then slowly shakes her head.
“Not to freak out!” she repeats faintly. “Everything is fine!”
She gives me a look of pure incredulity, then vanishes.
“Where am I taking you?” Nolan manages, quickly climbing into the driver’s seat. “To the hotel, or-?”
“No, just a little way down the road,” Ralph answers, calmly and smoothly dropping into the passenger’s side. “We’ve gotta go right back into the forest, but we need some space from Hanely and Grimm before we do that.”
Nolan stares at me, clearly wondering about my total change in demeanor, but he seems to decide it would be wiser not to ask. He silently puts the car in drive, and drives.
“You know,” he blurts out suddenly, around a helpless laugh, “I don’t - the last two days have been - this is-”
“Right here, Nolan,” Ralph cuts in, pointing with my hand at the side of the road.
“Yep, mhm,” Nolan says hastily, pulling over.
Ralph hops out, brushing some broken pieces of blue and red plastic from my shoulder. He stops for a second to lean against the doorframe, flashing Nolan an encouraging look.
“Hang in there, Nolan. You’re doing good.”
“Oh.” Nolan blinks at me in pleased surprise. “That’s-”
“Now get lost, dude, before they show up and spot your car! And hide that bat, you hear me?”
“Right, yeah, okay! Um - thank you! Bye!”
Nolan swiftly drives off, and I spring lightly up onto the slope of the hill, climbing back up into the forest. Ralph has me pause once we’ve got some cover, so I can watch the villas from above and afar.
Two blue-clad figures come bursting out of the treeline, panting hard. They skid to a stop when they see their squad car. There’s a moment of silence, and then they both start shouting, racing to see what happened.
With a little smirk, I slip back into the shadows, pulling my fallen hood back up over my head.
Ralph sets off at a brisk jog, being careful not to overtax my tired lungs. I can tell he’s itching to go faster, aware that Hanely and Grimm probably won’t be distracted for long.
We all fall silent. We’re all anxious to get back to Ralph and Noah’s bodies, and staying quiet to listen for footsteps following us.
I start to pick up a little speed once I get back up the ladder I slid down earlier. Ralph is still at the controls, and he must think Hanely and Grimm are back on the search by now.
Ralph, can I be in charge again? I know how fast I can go without overworking my lungs.
Ralph hands it over. I let out a grateful breath, glad to be back in control of myself. Ralph was actually being a bit more gentle with me than he needed to. I can go faster than this, and I’m desperate to get back.
I break into a sprint as soon as I recognize the cedars that encircle the little glade where I left Ralph and Noah’s bodies. All I can think at this point is Aiden, Aiden, get to Aiden…
He’s gonna be mad about all this, Ralph groans. Watch and see-
There he is! Noah blurts out in relief.
I gasp as I spot a familiar, powerful form, racing through the forest with his trademark grace and speed.
“Aiden!” I shout, sprinting for him, giddy with relief.
He stops, staring through the trees until his beautiful eyes find me. He lets out a shuddering breath of relief so huge it nearly folds him in half, then comes sprinting to meet me. We reach each other at the edge of the glade. I rush into his open arms.
I lean up to kiss him, then stop as Ralph and Noah both begin screaming.
“Oh, oops!” I fling myself backwards out of Aiden’s arms before he can so much as lean down towards me. “Okay, um - not right now!”
Aiden stares at me in considerable bewilderment, his blue eyes wide with concern.
God fucking damnit, Keane! Ralph roars in my head. That was altogether too close! Recall he’s our brother!
Jamie, we’s relatives! Noah shouts frantically, at the same time.
“I’m sorry, it was a reflex! Everybody just please shut up for a second so I can think!”
Aiden watches in obvious alarm as I stand there talking to myself. He takes my hand and opens his mouth to ask something, then stops, staring past me. He just caught sight of Noah’s body, laying motionless on the mossy earth.
Aiden’s hand tightens sharply around mine, his face going as pale as his warm complexion allows. “Jamie… what… what…?”
“It’s okay, they’re both fine!” I cut in urgently, tapping my temple. “They just won’t wake up because they’re in my head! The Witch put their minds in mine!”
Aiden’s blue eyes go perfectly round, snapping back to my face. “What?”
“They’re in my head, babe, and you need to get them out of there! Like, now, because Hanely and Grimm will probably be back this way any second now!”
Aiden stares at me in a daze, then looks past me at Ralph and Noah’s bodies again. “You - they’re-?”
“Yes!”
Aiden draws back in indignant alarm. “And you almost kissed me with them in there? Dude!”
“Just do it, Aiden, we don’t have time!”
Aiden takes a few fast, shallow breaths, then lets the connection fall open through our intertwined hands.
Somehow it only opens to me and him, even with Ralph and Noah in my mind. I assume so, anyways, because neither of them senses anything different enough to comment on.
But I feel the deep rush as Aiden releases some magic into me, his eyes flaring with sparkling, frosty blue light.
“Don’t overthink it!” I tell him.
Without another word, he puts his free hand to my chest. The sensation of being pushed hits me, although his hand didn’t push me. A rushing wave of magic snaps and sparkles through my chest, and - my mind goes dark.
Again, it feels like it was only for a few seconds. I awaken with a little jolt, my eyes fluttering open in confusion. I’m staring up at the canopy of the forest, far overhead. I’m disoriented, but… I must be flat on my back.
I stir on the leaves and moss, feeling taller than I remember being. The heels of my boots in the grass feel farther away than they should be, and I have more leg than usual to draw in as I shakily sit up.
I fumble automatically for my malachite necklace, but my fingers find an unfamiliar shape where the tiny glass bottle should be. Whatever’s there instead feels like it’s made of wood.
I open my eyes again in confusion, and find myself holding the pendant that Raj gave Noah for his wedding vow.
At the mere thought of Raj, the body I’m in has a wild, instinctive, explosive response. It’s like I thought Raj, and my heart, breathing pure love and adoration, answered RAJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and drew a million little hearts around his name. My whole body floods with warmth, with a soft melty feeling that makes me feel ridiculous and useless and so good.
I know now whose body I must be in. It’s definitely not mine. I look up in disbelief to see myself across the glade next to Aiden, staring around in confusion.
Ralph is sitting up on the forest floor, panting hard just like I am from his awakening. But when he looks at me, his expression doesn’t quite go with Ralph’s face -
“No, no!” I hear my own voice groan. “I’m still Keane!”
“Aiden - you sent me into Noah!” I gasp, sitting up on my knees.
“Goddamnit, Jamie!” Ralph says in frustration, revealing himself to be Noah. “Gimme my body back!”
“Okay,” Aiden says, a little breathlessly. “Okay, I think - I sent everybody one too far, that’s - that’s my bad-”
“Fix it!” Ralph insists, from me.
Aiden’s eyes fix uncertainly on Noah’s face. “Jamie, that’s you?”
“Yes!” I stagger to my feet and toss my suddenly long hair out of my face, rushing over to reach out for him. “It’s okay, just try it again! Will the connection work even if I’m not in my body?”
“You’re still yourself, so I think so, yeah! Just let me try-”
Aiden catches my inky hand, and the connection sweeps open easily. Almost a little too fast, since I think we were both expecting to have to work hard at it to make it cooperate. Before I have time to prepare myself, I’m swept out of the body I’m in, once again.
I blink awake a second later, gasping for breath. I sit up quicker this time, already struck with the sinking feeling that this body isn’t mine. Again, it’s too tall, and when I automatically drag my hand down my face I feel iron-hard bone structure that definitely doesn’t belong to me. There’s also a bump in the bridge of my nose.
I’m pretty sure I know who I am at the moment, I’m sure all I’d have to do is think of Calla to confirm -
At the thought of Calla, a fierce, protective rush of white-hot love sweeps my heart, a wildfire sensation so strong that I feel like I’d burn down everyone and everything for her. Not just if she needed me to for some reason, but just, like, if she asked me to…
“Aiden!” I spring back to my feet, shaking my head. “You put me in Ralph!”
“Fuck! Shit!” Aiden lets out a frantic sound, rushing over to meet me. “I’m sorry, this is - I’ve been freaking out for hours without stopping, okay? Hearing my brothers talking with your voice and vice versa isn’t helping!”
“Then just put me back in me! You’re changing around the illusion, but all you have to do is get rid of it!”
Aiden catches my hand - Ralph’s hand - and the connection opens up again.
“Who’s where?” he asks, a little out of breath.
“Over here, A,” Ralph says, with Noah’s voice.
“I’m Jamie again,” Noah groans as he sits up, having dropped to the ground when the transfer went down. “And I’m not getting up again. Getting tired of falling.”
“One more,” Aiden promises, then calls on his magic through the connection.
Again, I’m swept away, out of the body I’m in.
My eyes flutter open a second later, and… I let out a huge breath, smiling to myself. This body feels like home.
Aiden is crouching over me, the flannel I’d dropped on the forest floor earlier bunched up in his hand.
“Jamie?” he asks hopefully, gazing into my eyes.
“Oh,” I sigh, overcome with relief. “Yeah, hi.”
Aiden breaks into a relieved smile, bending over me to briefly press his forehead to mine. “Hi.”
He pulls me to my feet, handing me back my flannel. Behind us, Ralph and Noah are looking down at their hands, their bodies. They exchange a triumphant grin, then stagger to their feet and rush back over to join us.
“Everyone okay?” Aiden looks around at us worriedly, holding me to his side. “And - where they’re supposed to be?”
“Looks like it.” Ralph gives the sleeve of my hoodie a tug. I unzip it to give it back to him, and he hands it directly over to Aiden. “Can you do some kind of magic to get rid of this, A? The cops saw it-”
Ralph breaks off with a gasp as the hoodie erupts into flames in Aiden’s hand.
“Holy fuck, dude!”
“Well, you said get rid of it, I don’t know!” Aiden sputters, dropping the hoodie. It hangs in midair, burning up into flaming crisps that blow away and turn to smoke on the wind. “There’s a lot going on!”
Noah protectively hugs his beanie to his chest. “No one’s burning this. Raj gave it to me-”
“Nah, no one saw it, so it’s fine,” Ralph reassures him. “But we should really get the fuck out of here. Quick check of Jamie for broken glass?”
There must be some, because Noah hastily brushes off my shoulder.
“Broken glass?” Aiden asks, concerned. “What happened, Jamie?”
“I, um… the - the cop car - technically it wasn’t me, like-” I break off, blushing anxiously, then stab a finger at Aiden’s face. “Look, quit blaming me and stop throwing around accusations!”
Aiden widens his eyes in bewilderment, but Ralph quickly jumps in.
“Doesn’t matter right now. What matters is we’ve got to go. The cops are still around here, and the Witch could be, too. Time for the team to bail. Have we got everyone?”
“Kasey!” I call out.
Noah and Ralph both look for her when she appears, forgetting they can’t see her again. She’s slightly out of breath, torn between amusement and worry.
“Hanely and Grimm are big mad. Both of their faces are purple. Hanely is taking the squad car back to the hotel, but Grimm is on the prowl. You guys better get out of here.”
“I’m sorry about your hoodie, Ralph!” Aiden says, flustered and stressed out. “I’ll get you a new one.”
Ralph flashes him a look of warm appreciation. “I can afford to get myself a new hoodie these days, man.”
“Right. Of course, duh.” Aiden gives himself a shake, weaving his fingers through mine again as we all set off walking. “I’m sorry, I’m not thinking. This has been… and this is all after everything that happened at the hotel…” He breaks off, suddenly remembering something. “Oh - did you guys find the saucepan, by any chance?”
Noah, Ralph, and I stare at him blankly. I turn to stare at Kasey in bewilderment as she makes an agonized sound.
“No, they didn’t,” she groans. “They weren’t looking for it, since they don’t remember what happened at the hotel. And I couldn’t find it either! But I don’t think it made it all the way out here, do you, Aiden? I mean… I guess it was moving pretty fast…”
Noah’s eyebrows draw down and together as I repeat Kasey’s baffling words. “What?”
“Shit,” Aiden says, wincing deeply. “Alright, well - it’s - probably fine if we don’t find it.”
“Is it, though?” Kasey asks doubtfully.
“I’m sorry, what are we talking about?” I cut in, completely lost. “A saucepan?”
“The saucepan,” Kasey says darkly, and Aiden hastily flaps a hand at her.
“One problem at a time!” He flashes me a brief, pleading look. “It’s - I was just trying to - and it - look, it wasn’t my fault!”
“No, of course not, I’m sure it wasn’t!” I answer earnestly.
Noah lets out a snort of laughter. “You don’t even know what he’s talking about, dude.”
“I’m gonna go see if it ended up back at the hotel,” Kasey says worriedly, and disappears.
Ralph is staring at Aiden, out at sea. “Is it, like - some kind of magical saucepan that belongs to the Witch, or something…?”
“No, it’s just a regular saucepan from the kitchen at the hotel,” Aiden answers distractedly.
“Well, there’s four of my theories out the window,” Ralph sighs wearily. “Yet somehow no questions were answered.”
“Because this isn’t important right now!” Aiden insists. “For now let’s get the fuck out of here and back to the hotel. Before the cops catch us, because - Noah’s glowing like he just did something real against the rules.”
Noah, who certainly does have a glow of deeply-felt satisfaction about him, answers breezily - “Technically Jamie did it.”
“Oh, don’t you dare, technically you did it, Noah, and you know it!”
Aiden, glancing between us with total confusion in his blue eyes, pulls the radio out of his back pocket as it starts crackling.
“Aiden?” comes Nolan’s static-garbled voice. “Did Jamie make it back to you okay?”
Aiden blinks in surprise as he lifts the radio to his mouth. “You ran into Jamie?”
“Yeah, he was by himself, at the villas?”
I shrink back as Aiden turns an incredulous, betrayed glare on me. “No, no no no, I wasn’t-”
“Can you tell him that was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen?” Nolan adds, his laughter making his voice rough with radio static. “I’ve never seen such a berserk look in someone’s eye!”
Aiden flashes me a bewildered look, and Noah grins widely behind his back.
“I can’t believe he did that!” Nolan sputters, still sounding completely bowled over. “The squad car… I can’t believe… should, um - should I feel bad for feeling so good about all this?”
“Fuck, no,” Noah says firmly, catching Aiden’s wrist and pulling the radio over to his mouth. “Don’t feel bad about anything to do with those two. Their check was already in the mail. Long overdue, actually.”
“Alright,” Nolan laughs, clearly a little dizzy.
The alarm in Aiden’s expression is growing with each passing second. “Sorry, what happened to Hanely and Grimm’s squad car?”
“Don’t worry about it, Aiden!” Noah smiles brightly, gives Aiden’s shoulder a reassuring slap. “We checked to make sure no security cameras caught us.”
“Twice!” I add helpfully.
“If someone doesn’t tell me what happened, clearly, within the next thirty seconds,” Aiden says, in a carefully calm voice, “I am gonna slam my knee directly into somebody’s face. Jamie is obviously exempt, so-”
His powerful arms move swiftly, without warning. Suddenly he’s got Noah and Ralph in a headlock on either side of him, crushed against his ribs. Noah lets out a startled noise, and Ralph has to stagger to catch his footing, but neither of them seem all too surprised to find themselves in this situation. This is familiar, based on the way they both immediately, automatically start struggling to free themselves.
“What did you do?” Aiden asks grimly, glancing back and forth between their faces.
“Sounds like we should be asking you about what you did with the saucepan!” Ralph wheezes, fruitlessly trying to wrench himself out of Aiden’s grasp.
“Lemme go, Aiden!” Noah is trying to kick him sideways, unsuccessfully. “You’re gonna activate my killer instincts, I’m warning you!”
“You just have your hearts set on stressing me out beyond what a man can bear, don’t you?” Aiden says severely, his deep voice full of exasperation. “Can’t go two minutes without getting into some kind of trouble, and then I’ve got to come get you out of it. As always.”
“That’s one way to frame it,” Noah gasps, now trying to get Aiden into some kind of grappling hold. “Or, you could say we did some real rad shit that was totally worth a felony!”
“Maybe I don’t want to know what happened?” Aiden muses out loud.
Ralph adopts a dark, threatening growl. “Get the fuck off of me, Aiden! I’m the one in charge of this mission! I’m also the Warlord now, in case you forgot!”
“Oh, and you think that means you’re not subject to this sort of thing anymore?” Aiden asks, the amusement obvious in the rich bass of his voice. Without letting him go, he takes a fistful of Ralph’s blonde hair and messes it up. “I don’t think so, man, not when it comes to me.”
Ralph lets out a frustrated groan, trying to throw an elbow into Aiden’s ribs. “Technically it was Noah who did it, so just-”
“Wow, really?” Noah tries to punch Ralph around Aiden’s back. “Whatever, dude, as if you didn’t stamp your blessing on it! Which he did, Aiden! He totally did!”
Ralph informs Noah that he’s a fool, and tries to punch him back. Aiden sighs deeply, then gives his brothers a shake that jostles them apart.
“Point is Jamie’s fine!” Ralph sputters, slapping Aiden’s powerful forearm. “He’s fine, isn’t he? We looked after him!”
Aiden considers that, then lets Noah and Ralph go with a little shove in opposite directions, where they can’t take a swing at each other. They both straighten up, gasping with relief.
I was tempted to jump in during that, tell Aiden that Ralph and Noah actually did great considering the circumstances. But I didn’t miss the way Aiden was using the close proximity to run his worried blue eyes over them and make sure that they’re unhurt, so I let it go.
Besides, neither Ralph nor Noah looks all too bothered over it. Both of them appear to have lost interest in what just happened. Noah is already beaming with delight again, clearly reliving the destruction of the squad car in his memory. Ralph already looks preoccupied with making a new plan, his fingers absent-mindedly trying to fix his hair where Aiden ruffled it up.
“Sorry, can you just confirm that Jamie made it back to you safely, Aiden?” comes Nolan’s crackling voice through the radio.
Aiden falls back to walk next to me, his exasperated, loving blue eyes lingering on my face. “Yeah, I’ve got him. Thanks for your help, Nolan.”
“Okay,” I begin tentatively, as Aiden stuffs the radio back in his pocket and levels that intense blue gaze on me. “So, I can explain. Sort of. Or - maybe I should explain later? When we’re back in our tent, and alone, and I can distract you while I tell it-?”
I break off as Aiden catches my wrist and draws me closer to him. He slows us down, letting the others go ahead so we can talk in private.
“Are you alright, Linden?” he asks softly.
I nod earnestly, letting him gaze down into my eyes. “Yeah, I am. Honestly.”
He taps a fingertip on my forehead, narrowing his eyes to show me this is a very serious question. “And it’s only you in there?”
“Yes,” I laugh adoringly.
Aiden gathers me up against him, using one warm, muscular arm around my waist. His other hand catches my chin, tilts my face up to his. My heart flutters happily, and I roll up on my toes to meet him halfway as he leans down to kiss me.
“So - wait, am I in trouble?” I ask, once I get my breath back afterwards.
Aiden raises an incredulous eyebrow. “What, for disappearing again and scaring the hell out of me? Yes, dude. Obviously.”
I draw back warily. “Are you gonna put me in a headlock?”
“No, but don’t think that means you get a free pass.” Without letting go of my chin, he drags the pad of his thumb over my lips. His striking blue eyes glitter with their natural magic, his deep voice dropping to a growling purr. “Act naughty, get treated as such, Keane.”
I draw in a sharp, flustered breath, then scowl indignantly when Aiden smirks down at me, his gaze lingering on my violently blushing cheeks with obvious satisfaction.
“Oh, I see how it is! Now you’re saying things just to make me blush, Callahan!”
“The punishment begins,” he says gravely, lacing his fingers through mine, pulling me back into movement.
I let out a soft, adoring laugh, then speed up so I can walk at his side. I feel infinitely better with him here, even knowing that we haven’t exactly dealt with any of the problems that have been chasing us around the forest.
“Aiden,” I say softly, as we hurry to catch up with the others. “What happened at the hotel? None of us remember anything about it.”
“Really, nothing at all?” Aiden winces, running a hand over his beard. “Yeah, guess that checks out. I thought I sensed some illusion magic still hanging around you guys… shit. Okay, I’ll take care of that when we get back. Remembering will be easier than explaining. I don’t even know how to explain, anyways. It all happened so fast.”
I’d love at least an attempt at a very brief explanation, but as it turns out we don’t have the opportunity to talk on the way. Ralph radios for Nolan to meet us with the car further down the road from the villas, and once he picks us up we can’t really have any discussions about magic.
Nolan doesn’t say much of anything, himself. He’s still entirely thunderstruck by everything that happened, that much is clear. Mostly he sits in dazed silence, occasionally letting out a soft burst of stunned laughter, glancing up at me in the rearview.
That catches Aiden’s attention, unsurprisingly. His questioning gaze is on my profile, but I can’t explain with Nolan right there. There’s honestly no chance to explain anything until Nolan drops us off at the parking area just before the hotel.
“Let’s just get our picnic table back,” Ralph suggests, to a murmur of agreement from me, Aiden, and Noah.
We walk around the curve in the road, then stop right where we are.
At this moment, I think everybody wishes there had been more time for explanations.
Aiden’s wide, stunned eyes go right to Hanely and Grimm’s annihilated cop car, parked out front like a set piece from a disaster movie. As for me, Noah, and Ralph - our eyes go straight to the front of the hotel.
“Aiden,” Ralph says slowly, working hard to maintain the calm of his voice. “What the fuck happened with the saucepan?”
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