The Way Home

by Shannon Flagg

  Susan wanted to say something to comfort him, but there was no time to think of anything because he was gone. Silence fell heavy around her. Susan's hands shook, her body trembled and her stomach turned slowly. But she wouldn't be sick, she couldn't be. So she forced it down, breathed in and out to calm herself. They'd come back to Nate, if they were whole, and give him the send off that he deserved, but right now she needed to find Mike and then somehow manage to kill whoever was left out there.

  Mike was easy enough to find. He was unconscious, but his pulse was strong and his breathing sounded good. Susan dug through his pockets until she found his burner phone and used it to call Houdini's burner. “What's happening there, Mike?”

  “It's not Mike. He's out for the count. Nate's dead and there's one shooter left here.” Susan whispered the words into the phone, all too aware that whoever was still out there could be listening and figuring out her location from the sound of her voice.

  “Go lock yourself in the apartment, Susan. Lock yourself in and wait.” Houdini shouted the words.

  “I can't do that. I'm not leaving Mike here to get put down like a rabid dog if the shooter comes inside. Maybe Nate killing all his friends scared him away, but if it didn't, if he's still here I can take him.”

  “Susan, don't...”

  She cut his words off by ending the call as she heard the sound of footsteps on the concrete floor of the warehouse. A phone rang, and it came from the wrong direction to be Nate's phone and she'd been sure to silence Mike's.

  “Yeah,” a male voice echoed through the building. “I'm there now. They had two guys watching the good doctor.” He paused. “No sign of her. She probably ran. Word around town is she came back wrong.” The man laughed and Susan knew who he was. Will Brothers, former Sheriff and arch nemesis of Deacon and The Vikings. “Probably rocking back and forth in a fetal position somewhere. She's no threat. You get your girl? Wait, you got them both?” Susan's heart began to beat faster. He had to be talking to Michael, which meant that he was talking about Vera. “I'll meet you at my place.”

  Susan remained where she was. She knew where Will's place was, it was on a dead end street with woods behind it about three miles from the warehouse. If Michael truly did have Vera and Adelaide, there was no time to waste, because she knew just what he was capable of. Once she was sure that Will had left, she took out the phone and dialed Houdini.

  “Don't ever hang up on me again.”

  “Nice way to answer the phone,” Susan reminded herself to stay on track. “Listen, Michael has Vera and Adelaide and they're headed to Will Brothers' house. Don't ask questions. Just go. I need to stay here and get Mike stable. I think it's a through-and-through, but I need more light.”

  “And you're going to need help moving him,” Houdini replied. “Give me five minutes and I'll be there.”

  “You should go with them. We don't know what to expect. We'll be okay here.”

  “Five minutes, Susan.” He replied before he ended the call. Susan wasn't exactly surprised; she knew the issues that Houdini had with feeling like he hadn't kept her safe. He wouldn't leave her alone now, she should have never thought that he would. Deacon and the others would go on and he'd come to her.

  A feeling of relief flooded through Susan that he was on his way. She hadn't expected it, and it made her pause. In moments like this she could remember what it had been like before she was taken, how happy she was. Every time that she tried to hold onto it, other memories would push into her brain, gentle touches followed by painful blows, soft kisses replaced by bites. It was too much to think about, but there was no pushing it down, there was no forgetting about it. How could she?

  By the time that she heard Houdini's bike approaching the relief was gone, replaced by something much darker. Susan forced herself to her feet, ran her hands over her clothes and realized she had blood on her. It was soaked through the legs of her jeans, on her shirt and even on her hands. She'd been touching her face so she could only imagine the way she looked as Houdini came in the door.

  “Jesus Christ,” he exclaimed as he moved towards her.

  “It's not mine, I'm okay.” Susan gasped as he cupped her face with his hands. Her heart began to pound in her chest, and she felt herself start to shake. “I'm okay.” She tried to speak in a normal tone but it came out a whisper.

  “Good.” He leaned in, pressed his lips against her forehead. “Go on and get cleaned up, I'll bring Mike back.”

  “Thank you.” Susan wondered if he realized she was thanking him for more than just taking Mike back. “Houdini, I....” No words came out, only the start of a sob. Susan choked it back, pulled back from him and turned to head for the apartment. The tears burned her eyes, and it felt like someone was squeezing her chest, which was a nice distraction from the sudden image of Michael which had popped into her mind.

  She locked herself in their small bathroom, scrubbed from head to toe but still felt dirty when she stepped out from under the spray. Susan reached for a towel, realized that she'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes in with her. There was no sound in the apartment, Houdini was most likely in the treatment room with Mike. “For fuck's sake,” she told herself. “Focus and be a doctor.”

  Susan was just slipping her feet into a pair of sneakers when she heard Houdini shout and then there was a loud crash. And she knew that something was wrong, very wrong. Susan stumbled but managed to get the sneakers on her feet and her hand on her gun.

  The sound of a scuffle filled the air, grunts and groans, the sound of things hitting the floor. What the fuck had happened? Susan opened the door to the apartment slowly and wished that her hand would stop shaking as she caught sight of Houdini and Will locked in battle.

  From what she could see, they were both bleeding. Houdini more severely than Will due to a deep gash on his upper arm. Fuck. If it was deep enough, if it had hit the artery, then there really wasn't much time. There certainly wasn't time for her hands to keep shaking. Susan sucked in a deep breath. Neither man had noticed her so far, so she stepped closer, tried to get a clean shot on Will but she couldn't. They were moving too much.

  Susan knew the moment that Houdini saw her because his attention wavered from the fight just long enough for Will to land another strike with the knife. Blood colored his white shirt red.. Will raised the knife again, but Houdini moved out of his way. Will was thrown off balance and suddenly Houdini had the upper hand. And just as quickly, Will knocked him to the ground.

  Susan moved closer but there was still no way she could risk a shot with the way that her hands were shaking, but she couldn't let the fight go on, so she fired up into the ceiling. The sound startled Will. He looked over, saw her and started to laugh. “And what are you going to do with that? Shaking like a leaf. Only time I've seen you shake more was with Rick. Oh wait, it was Michael. Yeah, that's right. He was...”

  Will never got to finish the sentence, because Susan pulled the trigger. The shot hit his chest and the force sent him down to the floor, and she didn't give him another thought. She moved over to Houdini, dropped down to her knees. “We've got to get pressure on the cuts.”

  “Nice shot, Baby.” He grinned at her as she started to undo his belt. “Whoa, at least buy me dinner first.”

  “That's not funny.” Susan glared at him as she pulled his belt out. “I need to do a tourniquet, it might hurt. How do you feel?”

  “Not so good actually.” His words were slightly slurred, his skin paler than she would have liked. “I think I might need some stitches. Good thing I've got you here.”

  “I am here. I'm not going anywhere.” Susan tightened the belt as much as she could. “I need you to get up and walk for me because I can't carry you. I can't.”

  “If you could, we could make some serious money entering you in strength contests.”

  “Stop joking around. This is serious, really serious. If the brachial artery was hit, you could be bleeding out right now and the tourniquet wouldn't be enough. I don't
have what I need here to do an artery repair, I need a sterile environment and special equipment and...” There was so much that she didn't have, so much that she needed and above anything, Susan realized that she needed Houdini to be okay.

  “Hey. Hey. Look at me.” Houdini grabbed her hands. “If it was the artery and I was bleeding out, would I be awake? Would I be talking?”

  “Stranger things have happened. Get up so that I can take a proper look at you.” Susan felt her hands still shaking even inside of his firm grip. Maybe she'd never stop shaking, never stop being scared. She didn't want to be scared. She was tired of being scared.

  “Help me up,” he replied and she did. “Thanks.” Houdini winced as he moved his arm. “I think it's fine.”

  “You're still bleeding. And where's Mike? Did you get him into the room before Will showed up?” Susan was ashamed to realize that she hadn't spared a thought for Mike since the moment she heard Houdini shout. What kind of doctor was she?

  “He's in the treatment room, was sleeping or passed out. It's for the best he stayed out. He's got heart. He'd have tried to get involved.” Houdini took several slow steps, and Susan rushed to duck under his arm and support his weight the best that she could.

  They were nearly to the door of the apartment when the sound of engines filled the air. “That better be our people.” Susan sighed.

  “If it's not, I want you to run.” Houdini stood up straighter. “I want you to run as far and fast as you can and not look back.”

  “No.”

  “I can't do what I need to do if I'm worried about you getting hurt.”

  “You're in no shape to fight, Houdini. If that's one of our enemies at the door, like it or not, you're going to need my help. I'm not going to run. I'm not going to leave you.”

  “Susan....”

  “I'm not going to leave you. I love you.” Susan met his eyes. “And I've treated you horribly since I've been home and I'm sorry and I'm not going to leave you so just don't ask me to, okay?”

  “Say it again.”

  “I'm not going to leave you.”

  “Not that.”

  Susan felt herself smiling, really smiling despite the fucked up circumstances that they found themselves in once again. “I love you.”

  “I know you do, Baby. You've got no idea how nice it is to hear you say it, though.” A horn blared outside, three long blasts. “That's our people. Go on and open the bay door. Let 'em in.”

  Susan ran to do just that and as soon as the doors rolled up there was complete chaos inside of the warehouse. In addition to the bikes, there was Vera's SUV, and that was what Deacon jumped out of. It wasn't a good sign to see Deacon behind a wheel, not on his bike. “Susan, get over here, now. Vera's hurt.”

  Susan looked between Deacon and Houdini. Houdini met her eyes and motioned with his head for her to go to Vera. “Eddie!” She grabbed the man as he went to move past her. “Get Houdini back into the apartment. If anything happens to him, I will kill you.” With that she moved over to the SUV. “Talk to me, Deke.”

  “She's having pains, I think. I don't know.” Deacon's face was pale. “She won't talk to me, she just keeps on crying. I don't know what she's feeling, she's blocking me out.” A hint of anger was obvious in his voice. “I think she's losing the baby.”

  “Don't jump to conclusions,” Susan told him sternly. “What did he do to them?”

  “Nothing,” Adelaide spoke from the back. “Nothing like you're thinking. He cut us off, we nearly went off the road and then he had the passenger door opened and pulled Vera out. I went willingly at that point.”

  “Help me get her out. I think I know what's going on.” It had been a while since Vera had a panic attack, somehow being with Deacon had eased them for her. In a highly stressful situation, though, it was possible the feelings came back. “Vera, listen to me. Vera, you need to breathe.”

  It took what seemed like forever for her to actually do that or to come out of the truck. Susan hated that she felt her patience running thin, but all she could think about was Houdini. After Vera was breathing normally and not holding every muscle in her body rigid, Deacon began to relax too. “Is anyone else hurt?”

  “Nothing that can't wait until after you check on Houdini.” Deacon replied.

  Susan didn't need to be told twice; she turned towards the apartment at nearly a run. It was a speed she'd perfected in hospital corridors; she'd arrive quickly but not winded or breaking a sweat. She burst through the apartment door, found Houdini on the bed with Eddie and a blonde woman at his side.

  “It's about time,” Houdini winked at her from where he was propped up on the bed. “I was starting to think that you forgot about me.”

  “That's not likely. How do you feel?”

  “Better than before, a little tired. Why don't you come join me? We can take a little nap.” There was a leer to his voice which told her he was feeling better, but she doubted he was feeling well enough to do much more than sleep. She wanted more. She wanted it so badly that the thought of it made her body cramp in anticipation. It was the first time she'd felt true arousal since she'd been taken.

  Susan cleared her throat, stood up straighter. “I think I should completely stop your bleeding first.” She looked over to Eddie. “Thanks Eddie and Eddie's friend.”

  “Anything for a Brother,” Eddie replied. “And this is Sam.”

  “Nice to meet you,” the blonde smiled at her. “C'mon Eddie, lets get out of here and give them some privacy.”

  Susan barely noticed them leave. She walked over to the bed. “How do you really feel?”

  “Like a lucky son of a bitch.”

  “Yeah, that's not really far off. If this cut was a few centimeters higher, we wouldn't be having this conversation.” Susan lifted the bandage away from his side. “Do you remember the first time I stitched you up?”

  “We were in Deke's kitchen. You didn't seem to like me much.” He chuckled. “And I really liked you. You had the most beautiful eyes and you were hot, smoking hot.”

  “You weren't so bad yourself. Pretty impressive, actually.” Susan rose from the bed, found one of her bags with a suture kit. “Sometimes I forget it really wasn't that long ago with everything that happened, but I wasted time with you. I took you for granted.”

  “Baby, don't say that.”

  “It's true and I'm sorry for it. I can't tell you how sorry.” Susan needed to try. “From the beginning, I fought against everything that I felt for you and I...”

  “Baby,” Houdini gripped her arm tightly. “Look at me.” He waited until she did. “I knew what you couldn't tell me by the way you slept with me at night. We're good, Susan. We'll always be good.

  Chapter Seventeen.

  Houdini was about sick of bed rest, and it hadn't even been a full day, only about eight hours or so since he'd woken up with Susan in his arms. She'd fallen asleep the second that she joined him in bed and had slept deeply. From what he could tell, she hadn't woken even once, which made it the first full night of sleep since he had her back. And now she really was back, when he'd just been starting to wonder if she ever would be.

  “He needs to rest, Deke.” Susan's voice carried from outside of the apartment. “Whatever it is, it'll need to wait until he's feeling better.”

  “Is he dying?”

  “No, of course he's not dying.”

  “Then it can't wait. It's club business, Susan.”

  “You've got ten minutes.”

  “I'll take all the time I need.”

  Houdini winced, waited for Susan to explode and was surprised when she didn't. Seconds later there was a knock on the door. “Come in.” He sat up as best he could.

  Deacon came in, shut the door behind him. “If looks could kill, I'd be dead right now.”

  Houdini chuckled. “You expect anything less?”

  “Nope. I actually expected that she'd physically try and hurt me. I guess things are getting back to normal for the two of you.” Deacon sat
on the edge of the bed. “Or what passes for normal with us, which really isn't that normal at all. There's always something, always.”

  “Now there isn't,” Houdini pointed out. “The Hunters are gone. Michael is dead. He is dead, right?”

  “Damn right he is.” Deacon snarled the words. “It was quicker than I'd have liked, but I was more worried about Vera and the baby. He's dead, he won't hurt anyone again. Guess we're going to find out what quiet is like.”

  “Until the next thing,” Houdini knew they would never lead average, normal lives, and he was okay with that. “But that's life, right?”

  Deacon chuckled. “Our lives, at least. We're thinking we'll bury Nate tomorrow. Found an “in case” letter in his cut. He wants to be put in the ground, in his family plot.”

  “And he will be.” It wasn't lost on Houdini that if Nate and Mike hadn't been left with Susan, Will very well may have killed her. “He went down fighting, took out everyone but Will. He was a good brother, and he'll be missed.”

  “That's for sure, and without him, we're down to five.”

  “We've never been a large club, Deke. We can make it with five.” Houdini was trying to be diplomatic. Five was far from a strong number, but if it was what they had to work with they'd find a way to make it work.

  “I'd feel better with six, which is one of the reasons why I'm here. I'm thinking that we need to talk to Shepard and talk about Fire.”

  “To Shepard? You're thinking about asking him to patch?” The thought had never occurred to Houdini. Shepard was a member of The High Council, something that made him a Stray through and through. Was there room for something else there?

  “What do you think?”

  “I like Shepard, I do, but I'm not sure that he's going to want to just stay in Center City. He's getting itchy here, restless. You can see it.”

  “I don't think that's from being here,” Deacon replied. “I think that's got more to do with a certain blonde. Figured he might like a reason to stick around and the possibility of some quiet.”