Who Would You Choose? ( Nathaniel/Gabriel )

[Ceraphine Davis]

Kevala was bored. It was nothing new really to the little female, in fact it happened at least 15 times each day, if not more. She was so very easily distracted, her ADHD not helping in the matter. So yeah, today was no different...Well except she had perhaps had a bit too much sugar this morning, and gone through all her daily chores like a breeze.

She had gotten up, bathed, clothed and fed Ezekial. She had then set about cleaning the house. Making sure she got all the stuff out of the way that Zeke could now reach, and of course vacuuming the living room, the hallways, the bedrooms, and deal with a son who hated the vacuum. He was in the way constantly, toddling after her and trying to unplug the noisy thing.

Sure, in its own way it was cute, but after her 5th trip to plug it back in, it had been a little much...Sooo into the play pen he went. Then once she was done, she washed up the laundry, which was a lot considering Zeke was so damn messy, he always changed at least three times a day.....

Then once that was done, she finished by dusting the furniture and making the beds. The house, as always, spotless, other than the usual baby toys that were currently stuck in either his play pen with him or his toy box...Though it was clear that as soon as she finished cleaning, he got the sudden urge to toss blocks and toy cars over the walls of his prison, giggling each time landed......

Yeah he knew that it bothered her...She just knew it.....But either way, but the time she was done, she had worked up a bit of a sweat, soooo shower time. Monitors in place she headed up, took her shower, and moved to the closet to get dressed.

Just about the time she was buttoning up her jeans she heard the doorbell, the sitter was here already..Gah....Sooo hopping down the stairs, trying to get the damn button into its hole, her hair still a bit of a mess and her shirt riding up to just below her breasts, she was clearly not ready....yet she answered the door anyway.

Giving a little smile to the girl she motioned with her head toward the living room....

"Is there anything I need to do today Ms. Katashi?"

Kevala thought over it for a moment and then spoke up softly...Her button finally sliding into place, allowing her to zip up her jeans....

"Just make sure that my son is in one piece when I get home. Also he is teething so he may bite, and he likes to build things and then destroy them. So make sure he has his blocks with him at all times. Umm....Lunch is at 12 noon exactly, his milk is in the fridge, you are welcome to anything you wish, and if he gets dirty he needs a bath and a change of clothes..His room is upstairs, third door on the left....Cant miss it, has his name on the door."

"Yes Ma'am..and might I say you look very pretty today."

~I know~

"Thank you sweety. Now if you will excuse me, I need to finish getting dressed."

With that she had gone back upstairs, hearing the sounds of Zeke laughing happily. Apparently the new nanny was doing well enough....Bitch better...Kev had nanny cams hidden all over the fucking house....

Yeah...she was paranoid...sue her....

Anyways, she had left the house not long after that, having put on her combat boots, brushed her hair and teeth, and applied her make-up......

Noting the fading bite marks on her neck, though they were still very evident....Meh, oh wells.

Grabbing up her purse, her cell phone and her keys, she made sure that the Nanny knew the emergency numbers were on the fridge, and then headed out the door.

Once in her car it had been just a short trip to the school, using her keys to get in, go to the office and remove the unneeded files that she had spotted the day before.......Yup...destroyed.....

Okay so that was done...and honestly she didnt feel like training. Two fights with Gabe in such a short time, and not to mention Jack....yeaaaahhh she needed to rest for at least one day....

But then her mind went to being bored in about two seconds flat...and as she drove away from the school she decided there was one place she would not mind checking out...

Emerald Skies........heh

Well it was a natural curiosity because if she planned on letting her son go to stay there, she was gonna have to see the damn place.

Not that she doubted it was nice...This was Nathaniel after all....But yeah, it was an excuse for something to do. Yay! So, with a little adjusting of her GPS in the car, she punched in the preset destination, which yeah, she had set like, the first day...out of.....yeah..paranoia......Crazy bitch.....

ANYWAYS......It took her a bit but she finally arrived, parking the car in the seemingly empty area and then climbing out. Her black hair now dry, and smelling of honey and vanilla, caught in the breeze and blew a few wavey strands into her face. Slipping on her sunglasses, she looked up at the club, pushing the button on her key chain to lock the car and set the alarm.

Hmm..yeah as expected, the place was amazing, even from the outside..But then as stated before....This was Nathaniel after all.

Sighing softly she moved to the front entrance, being fully surprised to find it open....Yay again! Yeah, though as her hand pressed against the cool material of the door, the thought entered her mind of just what he was doing in there.

Gods if he was with some of his bar bunnies she would so lose her mind, and she really didnt think killing somebody would be a good idea....But she already knew if she caught it, she would lose it...No matter how excepting of the fact she was.....

Shaking her head to clear such thoughts, she finally managed to push open the door, stepping into the bar and looking about as the door closed shut behind her.....

Again, just what she would expect from Nathaniel, nothing less than perfection for those damn men....Her stomach instinctively rubbing lightly over her stomach where that bruise still rested from her being hit so fucking hard by Gabriel....

Stay out of it...

Those thoughts lingered in her mind along with the other words that seemed to bite at her more than anything....

If you care about us....."

BAH! He knew just what to say to make her back off, and though she was still unsure about how their meeting would go, she had chosen to just stay out of it. Not sure how she would handle seeing the two go at each other....

Her instinct was to protect Gabriel, but her love belonged to Nathaniel.....Grrr....Men!!!

Shaking her head she just pulled her glasses free of her eyes and turned about to the room, noting the ones behind the bar who now looked at her, not giving them much mind....other than a polite enough little smile and wave.....

Her attention already diverted to the area where Nathaniel sat, doing something she could not quite make out. A smile lightly tugging at her lips as she hooked her glasses into the front of her shirt and made her way over to where he sat.....

It was only when she drew closer that she noted the thing he was playing with was a knife, her brow raising slightly as she came up beside him, brushing her soft and curvaceous body against his ever so slightly.

"Hmm..whatcha planning on doing with that thing? Carving somebody up? Fun or pleasure?"

She grinned as she shifted to stand before him now, just a bit away from him, though not so much he could not reach out for her if he wanted, though she had a feeling something was up..Despite her teasing nature.......

[Gabriel Seran]

The Red
~*~*~*~*~

Choice, the right to stand for what one believed in and make final passing at a decision. Something Gabriel Seran had lived by, that fate had no ties to his life so long as he was given the option to change it, to stand against all foes and rise better. It wasn't just him for that matter, through countless foes he rose others giving them the power to rise as well and make their choice. For in the end it was always theirs to alter the fate.

Presently as the rain tinkered down on the young man's head just outside of a bar downtown Gabriel took pleasure in the last few moments of pensive thought that triggered in his mind. Fires of conflict, tides of war, winds of change they were all innately linked to his past present and most notably the future.

Blood feuds far worse than this had appeared in a time not too long ago reflecting upon the sounds of terror.

"Michael you betrayed us!"

"None so foolish as to be betrayed as one who shan't see."

With a flash the man was gone, Gabriel left to burn in a pillar of flames. If not for the position he'd been left in be it Michael's keen sense of knowing or luck? Fate? He wouldn't be here today.

“You're and idiot….a pathetic…hopeless idiot”

The dying grin as Gabriel felt satisfied with what he'd done that day albeit not truly toppling the pillars.

The charbroiled body stuck under piles of rubble as Gabriel clambered for life, if even just barely. Alexis saving him that day clinging to his last lifeline. He'd barely even survived that day. Though all things change be it fate or did people choose to have him here another day.

Nowhere left to go but forward, to the future.

Gabriel strode from the dark alley-ways of the bar side, walking now rather than driving to his brother's club. He was in the neighborhood so to speak and there was room to make it there. His dark attire signifying a symbolic gesture to his brother perhaps a dark trench coat. Dark jeans to match, he wanted to be ready for when things got potentially harmful.

Arriving at the base of the club he found himself flocked by several gaudy stripper-esk females, their attire scantily clad, adorned in fishnets and high-heels. Something he'd expect from Nathaniel to keep in his company.

"Nathan, Honey your girlfriend is upstairs." Gabriel would turn swiftly to the girl who was speaking to him, to which she tilted her head before realizing under the dark lighting that he was not Nathaniel.

"Pardon, I'm looking for Nathaniel..." Gabriel would say lowering his steely emerald hues onto the girl.

"You wouldn't be a tax collector now would you?"

"No, I'm Nathaniel's Brother."

A group gasp before the girl flighty jostled about shooing the girls off. "Of course you are, I'll take you too him."

[nathaniel]

A normal day passed in the bustling city of San Diego. Vehicles drove to their destination, people mingled with others that they would probably never see again and the sun sat in the sky like it did every other day. So what was so special about this day? Why would it be remembered by so many for years to come? It was because the hit new club, Emerald Skies, had been shut down to the public for an indefinite amount of time. This had many of the regulars that went there in the morning and mid-day outraged, but there was nothing that they could do to get past the carefully selected bouncers that guarded all entrances to the building. So they would all have to wait... Wait for when whatever events that transpired within its thick walls to finally come to an end. Though they didn't know what was going long, or how long it would take, everyone went about their lives keeping that thought in the back of their heads.

Rumors had been getting passed along the in crowd of the club that the owner of the club, Nathaniel Beauvais, personally had the club closed for personal reasons. What these reasons were could have been any of the dozens of rumors that were being spread around, but the truth was something that no one could have ever predicted. Nathaniel had indeed closed the club for personal reasons, but they were far more personal then people could have known. He had heard that his brother, someone no one even knew about, was finally going to be getting in touch with him, and that their meeting place would more than likely be his own club. It wasn't in his best interest to have such a volatile meeting in his brand new club, and he knew that. He may have closed the club to the public, but that didn't mean he was going to go without company.

Inside of the blocked doors of the club, plenty of the female workers that he had hired went about their normal routine. It was as if the club wasn't even closed. The music was still playing, though it was more of a background music than the usual bass pumping beats that were usually being playing. The bartenders were still making drinks and socializing, though it was with their own co-workers and themselves. If it would have been any other time Nathaniel would have been having a hay day, flirting with all of his gorgeous employees without any interruption from the outside world. But this day was not like any other day, and he knew it. For this exact reason he had been keeping a distance from everyone in the building. No one knew where he was, and after awhile all of the girls just stopped worrying and continued to drink and enjoy themselves.

Nathaniel, on the other hand, sat on the floor of the mysterious second floor of the club. Very few people were ever even allowed to the third floor of the club, where Nathaniel lived, and the only person that could even enter the second floor was Nathaniel. There were no windows, and no other ways onto the floor than through the elevator, which held a mineral scanning device to limit access to this floor. Nathaniel had brought others to the second floor, but those that chose to pay attention had noticed that they never came back down. That was because the second floor was Nathaniel's 'Red Room'. It was the place that he did anything that he didn't want anyone, and I mean anyone, to see. He sat there on the far side of one of the corner rooms, a blood soaked knife in his hands and a still breathing man laying on a table behind him.

The man had deep cuts over nearly every inch of his body, except for any of the main arteries to keep him from bleeding out too quickly. Nathaniel's dress shirt had been taken off, as it was covered in blood, but his hands and arms were still soaked in the thick crimson substance. As he slowly got up to a standing position, his upper body seemingly limp as he stayed leaning down slightly with his arms swaying back and forth as his emerald eyes watched them in a trance. The man on the table, who was too weak to even move, watched in terror as his torturer stood with his back toward him, acting as though he was intoxicated or something. Taking in a deep breath, Nathaniel would slowly turned around and stare at the man, no emotion on his face, as he swiftly brought the knife to the mans heart and plunged it down into him.

Nathaniel would lower his lips down to the dieing mans ear, his heavy breathing keeping a small part of the man's slowly chilling body warm. "Listen... No feel, as your heart stops beating... Your lungs cease to work.. Your eyes fade into eternal darkness... And be glad that I spared you a life without meaning..." With that said, Nathaniel would turn away from the man, yanking the knife out of him as he did. He would listen as the man's last shallow breaths echoed through the nearly empty room. Was this man someone that was under Nathaniel's more shady employee? Was he part of some sort of mafia or underground organization? The answer was no. He was a simple banker, someone that did the same thing day after day, and in Nathaniel's weakened emotional state he had decided to end the man's miserable excuse for a life.

He had no friends, no family, no children, so why in the hell did it matter if he died? This was something that Nathaniel asked himself and answered nearly right away. It didn't matter, to him at least, and so he went through with it. Nathaniel would leave the mess for another day, as he exited the room and walked across the hall to the shower room. He needed to clean himself up to be more presentable, and this was the quickest way to do it. After washing all of the blood off of his body he would put on his black dress shirt and dress pants, rolling up the sleeves on his shirt, and slip on his leather dress shoes. He wanted to look good for the little meeting that he was no doubt going to have today, even though he knew that his outfit would be ruined in one way or another. He didn't see his little reunion with his brother being a happy one, but when was he ever truly happy.

Grabbing his freshly cleaned knife from the shelf on the way out of the shower room, he would close the sealed door to one of his many torture rooms and make his way to the elevator. The mineral scanner that was in the elevator was also on the wall outside of the second floor entrance. No one could get in or out without Nathaniel letting them, and the reason behind this was simple. There were no samples of Nathaniel's self-created mineral Seranium in the world, which made it impossible for anyone to hack his system. And so, altering the chemical composition of his skin, he placed it under the scanner, making the 'Access Granted' phrase appear on the screen as the elevator door opened for him to go back down to the club floor and wait for his brother to finally arrive. Elevator music was always soothing for Nathaniel, which helped set his mind at ease. That, and the fact that he had let his emotions out by killing a man.

The elevator door opened to soft music playing in the club, as Nathaniel noticed that a lot of the girls had actually left. He made his way over to the bar, taking a seat as he looked over at the two women that he knew wouldn't leave him when they knew him all too well. Megan and Brittany had been around him long enough to know when they believed something was up. It could have been anything, but it was either really good or really bad in their minds. They were at the other end of the bar, whispering to each other as with looked over at him with those worried eyes. It appeared that they were even about to make their way down to him, ask him what was wrong, and even try to help him if they could, but this was stopped as a figure caught their eyes. Someone had entered the empty club and gotten past both the bouncers and the few girls that were left in the lobby of the club. Nathaniel just sat there, spinning the blade tip down on the bar.

As the footsteps entered the room, he could tell right away that it wasn't Gabriel. In fact, it wasn't even a man that had entered the building, and so he could only put on guess as to who it was. "Kevala..." He would say this under his breath as she made her way toward him, stopping to his side and brushing up against him slightly. He knew that she could now see the knife in his hand, and the questioning look that appeared on her face told him that she didn't know what she had just walked into. She made a joke about the knife, asking if it was for carving someone up or possibly fun or pleasure. Nathaniel would not turn to her, instead keeping his gaze down at the blade that, moments before, had been bathing in the blood of an innocent man. "I don't think you want to know what I'm going to use this for..."

His voice held no emotion, and if she looked at his eyes or into his currently open emotions she would see nothing. There was a blackness in Nathaniel that swallowed him whole when he lost all purpose, if only for a second. This was something that rarely ever happened to him, through out his entire life, but when it did his body always ended up plastered in blood. This day had been no different, but he was only beginning. "You shouldn't be here..." He would say as he got up from his seat, pushing her away with his empty hand as he turned to face that entrance. "I don't need, or want, you near me right now..." His words were harsh, but still held no emotion. They were just cold, empty words. He would walk half way to the exit before stopping, as one of his employees came running toward him with Gabriel a good distance behind her.

Female Employee: "Hey Nathaniel, this guy says he's your brother and ugh...... Na... than..."

The girl's words were interrupted as Nathaniel shoved the knife into her chest, twisting it before pushing the poor girl off of the blade and onto the floor. "I know who this man is, you stupid little girl. Now close your eyes and rest..." As the girl finally went limp, Nathaniel would look at Gabriel with his head cocked slightly to the right, the bloody dagger being clenched tightly in his right hand. "Gabriel... Its been far too long... I've missed you..." His words came out like they had when he spoke to Kevala. There was no emotion to them, but he was sure that Gabriel would sense how this little reunion would go. The Seran's weren't idiots, at least not himself and his brother, which was something that he could always look forward to. "Why don't you come give your older brother a hug?"

[Ceraphine Davis]

It was a subtle brush to his body, each barely touching the other, yet as she did so, she instantly knew something was different. Yet it was not until after she had made her comment and he spoke that the air around them shifted, a knot forming in her stomach. Something was wrong, or about to be. There was no need to try and pry his emotions from him, there were none...The air was thick with a void almost, an emptiness that used to be Nathaniel.....

Then, with a shove of his hand, he pushed her away, his words cold as he spoke of not wanting or needing her near him......And despite all the reasons she KNEW he would say such a thing in this moment, knowing that darkness all too well herself, it still reached down into her heart and broke it.....

Nothing she knew that could not be repaired when she had time to logically think over the moment, but as it stood, she was hurt, yet she showed it not. Instead she just shook her head as she lowered it, fighting back her emotions, despite the soft wave of them that seemed to try and escape into the air around her.

Fine. She would leave, it was the best thing probably and honestly, she was not in the mood to deal with him in such a manner. It was best to let him return from the dark place his mind had gone. He was not like her, not needing somebody to pull him back the way she did....

So with her head down, she nodded softly.

"That is fine Nathaniel, you know where I and your son will be when you decide you once more need us."

With that she turned to leave, her hand reaching down to grasp her sunglasses, her attention diverted, and barely noticing a woman walking past her...

Though the unmistakable brick wall she ran into did indeed catch her attention, stumbling back a bit, that familiar scent catching her attention instantly as she looked up to see none other than Gabriel.

~Oh just fucking great! What is this? Some cosmic play at making sure that I am always in the wrong place at the wrong time? Some joke....given my love for each?~

Drawing in a deep breath she nodded her head to him, bad habit to show her respect for the man who had made her what she was today and the one who, despite everything, she would still give her life for....The emotions that she felt for him slowly filling the air about her, though they were mixed and easily confused as something else.....Not that anyone could tell besides her....She hoped......

"Gabriel....."

It was clear from the way she was heading, that she was leaving, so she had not gone against his wishes and shown up here during their meeting on purpose. That had soooo not been the plan. In fact she had planned to leave town that day, get out with Zeke for awhile, to prevent her urge to go there....

But no, leave it to the two Seran men to do something like this so unexpectedly, with her literally in the middle of them at the moment.....Then the sound of the woman speaking interrupted her thought pattern, and before Kevala could step aside from Gabriel to leave, she heard the sounds of the woman dying...The sound she knew all too well and one that had her spin around, stepping off to the side of both of them as she watched the girl fall to the floor........

It was nothing that really bothered her. In fact the little demon in her was now clawing at the corners of her mind as she watched the event unfold......Eyes locked on the blood as she brushed her tongue over her lips slowly....

Her mind blanked out for a moment, just memories of blood coating her hands, her lips.....screams, echoes in the night, the agony that everyone felt...this girl's confusion, disbelief, and eventually the fear, the pain, and then......nothing.....

Yes, those things were running through her like a drug, keeping her mind lost in its own dark place, her eyes slowly attempting to turn to crimson though as she heard that emotionless tone once more leaving Nathaniel's lips, this time directed at Gabriel.

This time, there was no struggle, no fight to get back from where she had just gone. Instantly she was focused on the matter at hand, taking another step back as to be out of the way....Icy hues flickering from one man to the other and feeling that knot in her stomach begin to tighten......

Then as those final words left Nathaniel's lips, she felt her instinct try and take hold, her body tensing up, her foot sliding forward, and an emotional wave she didnt have time to hold back flooded through the entire room.....carried by the air created by her bracelet in a soft wave that could be felt if only on the surface....As though a cold breeze had come from nowhere......The emotions......

Defensive........

Love........

Though it was unclear, at least to any who witnessed or felt it that icy breeze just who it was of the two that drew forth such a vivid and strong emotion, she was unclear as to if either one of the men would figure it out.......

She loved Nathaniel, and she did not want to see him hurt...She wanted him, and only him.....But then the part of her that loved Gabriel, that was bred with instinct to defend him...that had gone through hell and back both with and for the man demanded that she do what she was so inclined to do......Which was to defend him......

Yet she caught herself......Eyes locking on Gabriel with worry....She knew that he could handle himself. She had always known that, but he knew damn well that he had trusted her to protect him if the time ever came.....He knew how loyal she was and would always be to him........

Though, to what ends? What ever came of her protecting him? Whatever came of her loving him? Trusting him? Devoting everything she had to him?

The thoughts were like their own little demons, racing about her mind, prying at every past memory, every little thing that had ever happened between her and both men....

A glance to Nathaniel, sadness filling her eyes, she then turned her attention back to Gabriel and gave a single nod before she retracted her foot...No longer holding her stance and instead standing there in a casual fashion. If he knew her, like she knew he did, then he would know that she had just agreed to stand back......To do as he had wished of her and not get in the way....

But they both had to know that she could not leave...not now....

So, instead she backed away, finding a spot against the wall and folding her hands behind her back as she propped on leg up against the wall......Eyes lifting to watch, a calm exterior masking the hurricane of emotions that roared through her......

~Gods please don't make me have to choose. Do not do this to me.~

[Gabriel Seran]

Gabriel followed his way in, the small girl making a pathway for him but he hung back just enough to get a decent layout of the building, in the event he had to make a quick exit or even demolish a temporary piece of it to give him a leg up should this "talk" come to such ends.

His eyes flashed up hearing the woman's livid speech towards Nathaniel. Certainly he kept interesting enough company to keep him distracted. Noting the other employees, mostly a female run organization, dancers bartenders, escorts. The club was a bustling center for activity.

His forward motion cam to a stop, not by his own will but by the jostle of a small soul in his path. His eyes darting down hesitantly for a second to see who he didn't expect to be there.

"Gabriel....."

'Kevala' Of course she didn't listen to him, Stupid girl. Gabriel winced in the brief second they'd been given, the corners of his eyes were the only thing that revealed any sort of emotion telling her to get out now. While she still could.

"I know who this man is, you stupid little girl. Now close your eyes and rest..."

The scent of blood shifted his attention, it was in the air wafting about as Gabriel's emerald hues shifted towards the girl's chest as she cascaded backwards. A flash is all that was seen as Gabriel bolted across the room not disrupting Kevala's position to catch the wounded girl fall. The blow taken to the heart as the blood thickened and her life disappeared.

No.....

not another one, another he could have saved.

Fire burned in his cheeks as he sat there kneeling before Nathaniel holding a woman he didn't know and cared for only because she was human. Something the pair Gabriel stood before now seemingly had lost touch with. He could taste it on the air, the metallic copper twinge that he'd felt before paining the recollection of a great many days he'd nearly passed and died with nothing left to go on.

"Gabriel... Its been far too long... I've missed you..."

Eyes tearing up with water, Gabriel showing what emotion that was building up inside of him. Nathaniel knew just where to strike Although Gabriel could bluff like a true strategist could he couldn't hide or embellish his cold nature any longer before a man that took his power for granted.

"Save her...." Gabriel said in a cold and steady tone it was commanding and harsh only giving Nathaniel the presence he needed him for, his ability to cure her to keep her living, or the power to leave her to die. "Do it Nathaniel, I know what you can do..." This time his eyes locked on Nathaniel fiery with a mix of hatred.

I will not be responsible for another life, not when he could just as well save one now.

His eyes would dart back over his shoulder to catch Kevala, the slightest of movements from her concerned him as she was nearing away then the last moment a shift of her foot. She was back into the conflict. Stupid Girl.