Trial by fire (Talon)

[Asher LeBeau]

It’d been one whirlwind of a few weeks for her. Interviews with Harvard, making sure she was still on track and her GPA was spotless as well as her extracurriculars in order along with her volunteer experience. That was the first week alone, all week on the phone with them and her volunteer work.

The second week had been filing paper work for the first half and things slowed down for a day before something else happened. Talon had said that he’d be busy for a while and would call her when things calmed down. She’d laughed and said that she understood since she was busy as well, although she’d never mentioned anything to him about her plans after graduate. She figured she’d tell him later.

It was a few days before she received a phone call. The man on the other end spoke with a haughty air, as if everyone was below him. It didn’t take much for her to believe that it was Talon’s father, just from the way she was addressed. She frowned and wondered why the hell the man would be calling her when she’d never even met him and she had not been flaunting her relationship with Talon at all.

Of course, those words were meant to hurt, to instill doubt. She’d started to argue before he brought up her past, mentioning one word.

“Don’t get to comfortable, you’re just the latest plaything for him,” he’d said, voice crawling over the phone. “You’re a cheap piece of ass, everyone knows it. No wonder Remy left you. That child probably wasn’t even his,” he finished, hanging up.

She’d been completely shocked by the words, just sitting there holding the phone before her cell went off. She picked it up, frowning at the restricted number before opening the message. It was a photograph.

Of Talon and a blonde.

Who both looked like they were perfect together.

She sat down then, hard and just completely numb. She couldn’t believe it, but yet she could. After all, he had been too good to be true. All the fancy words hadn’t been necessary to get her to sleep with him. Hell, she would have done it regardless since he was hot. Now she was just angry at herself for getting fooled.

The last week, she’d heard nothing from Talon, which to her only confirmed what his father had told her and she’d steadily been getting even more and more depressed, silently berating herself for ever thinking that he’d actually care for a…a…

Slut. Whore. Cheap piece of ass.

It was almost enough to make her cry, but she managed to push back the tears, throwing herself into her studies and work with a fevered abandonment that had others wondering where this sudden genius came from. If only they knew. She stopped waiting for phone calls from him and decided that a canine companion was much better for her.

It was that Friday that she went out, deciding that she wanted to get a puppy. A scant few days after the phone call. She decided that she was going to get a Great Dane and so she headed out to the shelters and the pet stored looking for one.

She finally found one that she liked, but had to wait another few weeks in order to get the puppy. He needed to be weaned from his mother as well as given all his shots. She’d nodded and thanked them before heading back to her apartment.

That was where she was now, just laying on the couch, not bothering to do anything or move, or even answer her phone which was by the door. To her, nothing else was important. After all, no one cared about her.

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[Talon Green]

His father had kept him so busy that he had barely had time to think let alone fit in time with Asher, and honestly it had been killing him. But tonight he was gonna go see her, that was the plan when he woke up that morning anyways.

But before he could get out of the house his father had called him into the study. A roll of his eyes was all the protest Talon could really make before he would follow in and shut the door behind him.

But then, as he took his seat, the ranting and yelling started. His dad had found out about Asher, and he was going on about how she was using him. About how she wanted his money...on and on....None of which he believed, at least not until his father threw the file into his lap.

Shakey hands opened it to see her, at a store.....a guy.....t..touching her....and she was so happy...laughing....There was one of him with his arm around her....her hand touching him.......

Honestly it took all Talon had to not let the pain consume him, his father not letting up, just on and on.....Then he threw him another file....a list of boys, men she had slept with.....one in prison....none of which he knew about.....

But he didnt care about that, not until he saw the pregnancy.....she had been pregnant? She had ......had never told him......?

So many secrets when all he had done was try to be honest and open. More and more pain filled him, those normally shimmering emerald eyes growing darker and darker....

Then he called them in....the bartenders from the club he knew that Asher liked to visit before they got together.....And there they stood telling him about how she had gone bragging about how she was fucking the freak....How she had him tricked into falling for her....How he was so pathetic for thinking she would ever care about a freak like him.

That was all he could stand. Standing up he gripped the files and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard it knocked one of Mums priceless painting off the wall. But he did not care. He was mad, hurt.........destroyed........

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Arriving at her place, he stood outside the door for a long moment, breathing heavy as those dark eyes just stared at the door. Finally however he would knock, well more like pound on the door.

Those papers gripped tightly in his hand to the point a few had cut into his palm. But he didnt notice...all he could think of was the sound of those voices, telling him what she had said....The one thing she promised she would never do......He trusted her....He had...had cared so much for her.......

But there she was clear as day with another man......and those words........the past.......everything just piled into his mind and around him everything was dark, even his senses had shut down at this point.

Once more he slammed his fist against the door. He knew she was here, her car was outside........He needed to know why...that was it.......Why did she do this to him?

[Asher LeBeau]

The sound started her from whatever trance she’d been in. She frowned slightly, running a hand through her hair, appearance haggard. She hadn’t bothered to really properly dress or take care of herself, not really eating the past week or even caring about appearances. Her hair was a mess of waves, still somehow managing to look perfect. Her clothes were baggy on her frame, her eyes red from all the crying she swore she wouldn’t do…and she still managed to look pretty despite everything. It was a heart-wrenching pretty, but pretty nonetheless.

She ignored the first one, figuring it was someone on the wrong floor, but the second one got her attention and she rolled off the couch, shuffling her way to the door and taking off the chain, unfastening the deadbolt before throwing it open and stopping dead.

What the fuck was Talon doing here?

Her temper flared up a bit, covering up the depression and pain in her eyes, instead making it seem like her eyes glowed purple, glaring up at him.

“Some fucking nerve you have showing up here, Mahu[pretty much a gay whore]?” she asked, every word dripping ice and nothing in her body language giving away just how hurt she was. Crossing her arms and jutting a hip out to the side, she stood in her door way, keeping him out of her apartment. Not that it mattered since she was the only one on this floor…but still. It was the point of the matter.

“Kokahele ia paka. Lapuwale, Moloâ Kanapapiki!” were her next words, her emotions forcing her temporarily incapable of speaking the English language, reverting to her mother tongue. [Go to hell, you bugger. Worthless, lazybones, son of a bith]

She was hurt, and it may have shown in her eyes now, since her emotions were in control and she wasn’t thinking, couldn’t think anymore. She’d learned her lesson, alright. So why was he here? To rub it in her face?[/blockquote][/color][/size][/font]

[Talon Green]

The instant that door opened he felt his breath catch in his throat...she looked like she had been crying...she looked beautiful but like a wreck at the same time. To him...it just said she knew that she had done something wrong and now she felt bad.

Inside he felt like dying but the instant she started in on him his own pain turned into anger. A growl escaping him as he narrowed those dark emerald hues, a shade they had only been one other time when around her.....The night that he beat the shit out of that guy at the party.

She rambled on, asking why he was here. Fuck she really was sick of him.

Fist clenching those files he felt his body start to shake as dark colors started to swirl around the air in front of him.

"ME! What the fuck do you think I am doing here!?"

He reached down, dragging out the photos that showed her with that guy at the pet store. Slamming one against her open door way with every bit of strength he had, making it rattle on its hinges as he shot her a look that was filled with both anger and above all else pain.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out!? Did you think I would not fucking know!?"

He let the photo fall, taking out another, and another...Each one being slammed to the door for her to see before he would drop it.

Then he pulled out the other paper, the one that had a picture of some guy who he knew now to be in prison, along with a document about a pregnancy she had carried.

Slamming them against the door he shook his head, dropping his gaze downward only to fight back tears that threatened to build in his eyes.

"I told you everything! I opened up to you! I gave you every part of me and you couldnt even fucking tell me about this!!!?"

Breathing heavy he balled his hand into a fist as the rest of the documents fell to the floor, the names, the transcripts of conversations where people told of her calling him a freak, all of it laid there as he felt his stomach turn....

A flood of sheer pain filling his eyes as he looked away...but no matter how hard he tried, when he turned back there was the shimmer of tears there.....pain and nothing more to be seen.

"You swore you would never be like them! You swore you would never call me a freak! But no...You had to go around bragging about how you managed to lay the rich freak boy. Had to tell them all how pathetic I am......I trusted you! I was even starting to lo......."

He growled as he cut himself off and slammed his fist into the wall of the hallway, plaster crumbling around his fist as he continued to shake and tremble with both anger and pain.

"FUCK!!!"

He wanted so bad to just hurt somebody, but just looking at her he knew he could never lay a finger on her. But in this state, he was going to lose it if he did not cool down. Kicking the papers at her feet he would turn and lower his head......breathing heavy as he balled both hands into fists at his sides....

"All I ever wanted was you Angel.....you were my world....guess you were right...I was just a pathetic freak that fell for the beautiful girl....."

Then, he walked away.....He had to cool down before he could even try and figure out how to talk to her about this...he didnt know...he had no clue....But he would think of something....he didnt want to lose her......Maybe if he changed, hid his condition...did something...maybe then....

Stepping into the elevator he slammed his head against the wall as it closed......Feeling like by leaving he was leaving his very reason for being behind.....

[Asher LeBeau]

She was silent when he threw things in her face, glaring at him. She didn’t even bother responding, there was no point in it. She flinched at the anger the yelling, resisting the urge to curl into a ball and cover her ears, waiting for the first hit to land. It was all she could do to hold her ground, not run or cower or cry.

Her eyes were flooded with tears. He thought she was cheating on him? That was fucking ridiculous.

The pictures of her a few days ago looking for a puppy…the guy was GAY, damnit! As in, vaginas were gross and disgusting and he’d rather castrate himself than be near one, much less have sex with a girl.

The real kicker was when he pulled out part of her medical file. That was fucking lovely. She’d tried so goddamn hard to not think about it, not remember it. That was the first and only time she ever swore she’d let herself love someone. And it had ended disastrous. She flinched, closing her eyes and turning her head when he hit the wall, almost as if anticipating that he would turn in a split second hit her. After all, a worthless piece of garbage deserved it.

It was a few seconds, listening to him yell and only half hearing the words. Her thoughts had already turned inwards, berating her, jabbing her, telling her that she really was a piece of shit who deserved to be alone. No one cared. She deserved to die.

Deserved to die.

She hardly heard him when he left, instead looking at the papers on the floor and shaking her head sadly. Asher was convinced that he’d never come back. All well and good for him. Nothing mattered to her anymore.

She didn’t bother closing the door, instead pulling out her schedules and activities of the past month, laying them in a neat order, as she did towards the end of every week, as if she were going to go through them. At the end, neatly printed out was the picture of Talon with the blonde girl and underneath it, she wrote, in neat cursive

‘I’m just the mistress, aren’t I?’

Shaking her head, she stood, not really thinking or feeling anything anymore before heading into the bathroom. She was fairly certain that she had some prescription strength sleeping pills, maybe a few pain pills? left in her medicine cabinet. Maybe that would make some of this go away?

She opened the mirrored door, looking around before pulling out the bottles, haphazardly tossing a few back, followed by a few more, and several more…before she’d managed to down half of each bottle. As if that weren’t enough, she wanted to feel something. The kitchen seemed like a halfway decent idea. Stumbling her way there, she picked up a paring knife. All her knives were sharp.

She paused for a moment, watching as the silver blade dug into her skin, the dark red blood welling up. She didn’t feel anything, couldn’t feel anything, even as she worked both her arms, spilling the blood around her, making a trail before she headed back into the bathroom.

She just needed to sit down for a bit…

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[Talon Green]

He had made it to the ground level and had punched the inside of the elevator a couple times before he regretted what he had just done. He had been so mad and so hurt that he had never stopped to see the tears in her eyes.

She was hurting....and he had done it....Fuck fuck fuck!! He growled at himself as his hand slammed against his head and fingers ran through his hair.

Hitting the button to her floor once more he would continue to slam his head back into the elevator, trying to calm down as he reached up and rubbed his eyes. Fuck he was not gonna cry. That was bullshit. This was just something they needed to sit down and talk about.

As he exited the elevator, he would draw in a calming breath, eyes turning to look toward her door only to see all the paper still there and the door open.

Already he got that feeling, in the pit of his stomach...his steps falling a bit faster as he neared the door.

"Asher!!"

He moved through the door, eyes instantly falling on the picture that laid on the counter....He stopped, looking down at it and growling when he read the words she had written. That was Synthia...his fucking cousin! Only then did he notice the other papers....Harvard....plans.....yet the way they were laid out...it was........

"Asher!!! Answer me!"

He turned the corner and slipped, his foot catching something and making him reach out to steady himself. When he looked down, his heart stopped.....Blood....he had slipped in blood. Suddenly the scent hit him and it was not much but enough to send jolt of pain through him.

Yet he ignored it. Instead panic taking hold as he ran through the rest of the small apartment, stopping as he came to the bathroom. So much blood that he felt like somebody had just beat the shit out of his entire body, it was hard to even breath. Yet what got him moving was the fact that in the middle of it all was Asher...collapsed on the floor, her wrist cut....

Falling to his knees, his jeans getting soaked in her blood, he would scoop her up gently into his arms, his hand coming up and pushing her hair back out of her face.

"A..Angel...baby? Baby please no....I am sorry...D..Dont leave me..."

He felt it then, the heat of those tears starting to slide down his face as he laid her down and jerked off his shirt, ripping it apart to tie around her wrists, leaving him in that ever present undershirt.

Once he had the wounds tied off, he would scoop her up, pressing her against him as he carried out out of the apartment and into the elevator........Every second seemed like hours.....

Mentally he cursed himself over and over.....tears refusing to stop as he cradled her small, lifeless body against his own. Her blood soaking not only his jeans but his shirt now as well.

__________________________________________

He honestly didnt know how he got to the hospital, or how long it took, he just knew he had driven as fast as he could and now was in the E.R handing her over to a set of nurses.

"I...I think she..she took something...I saw pill bottles...and the....the wounds....h..her wrists...."

As they took her from him, he felt hands pushing him back trying to get him to leave. A growl sounding as he shot them a very angry and authoritative look.

"My name is Talon Nicholas Green and I am sure you know that means I could have your career on a platter in a heartbeat if I wanted it. Now get the fuck! out of my way and let me be with her!"

His voice loud and resounding through the entire hospital area they were in....He didnt want to let her out of his sight...He had done this...Him.....God if she died he would fucking never forgive himself....he wouldnt know what to do without her....He needed her too much. Why the fuck could he not have just pretended he never heard those things? Why did it have to be this way?!

Finally the doctor moved, allowing Talon past.....However, as he neared the room where they were working on her, he felt a hand grab his arm...another woman in his way......Ready to tear her head off unless she had a good reason for stopping him.....

[Asher LeBeau]

She was completely out of it, unconscious and oblivious to the world. She felt nothing, not even the dullest sensations as they pricked her skin, stitching her up and setting up IVs, cutting her clothes off, pumping her stomach, checking for any other injuries, setting up blood transfusions…

Asher had no next of kin listed in her medical forms, all she had was a simple folder that had all of her past history in it. The kind of history that usually was reserved for a movie, for someone that was a friend of a friend’s sister’s aunt. It never happened to them.

There were two people on the hospital who knew her on sight. One was a trauma doctor and the other was a nurse. A little old lady that looked sweet and innocent but the hospital’s patron saint of all those who entered those doors alone in the world. She’d stuck up for Asher in more than one situation.

It was her now who stopped the boy with a hand, herself barely a few inches taller than Asher. She frowned at him, shaking her head, powder white hair and red lips all just part of who she was. She scooted around to stand in front of Talon, the glare she gave him was almost as if Asher were one of her children.

“I don’t care if you’re a Green, boy. But if you’ve done this to her, I will make you suffer for it. The poor girl’s been through enough. Beaten at age sixteen by a boy that was two years older than she was for being pregnant with his child while he slept around. And before you even go there, she lost it. Then she spent the next year in and out of the hospital from various so-called boyfriends,” she said sharply, bright eyes glaring at him, daring him to step out of line in HER E.R..

She cleared her throat before continuing. “So, Mr. Green,” she said, the name inflected with sarcasm and clear disdain. “Why is she in here?”

Questions, questions, to get to the bottom of the mystery. Asher herself was one of the few who almost never spoke about her past, from fear of rejection as well as anything else that may come about. After all, who wanted to be with a girl that just kept getting beat?

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It was several hours later that Asher awoke to the sound of the machines, the slow and steady beep of the monitor. She was wrapped in a hospital gown, an IV in her arm and stitches in her wrist, a steady drip of pain killers flowing through her system.

She coughed once, to clear her head of the fuzziness there before shifting, pushing the button on the side to raise the bed, despite the sharp jolt of pain through her wrist at the action. Violet, pain-filled eyes, looked around the room, confused as to how she got here.

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[Talon Green]

He stopped and looked down at the old woman, his eyes brimming with tears, once beautiful emerald hues now dull and bloodshot. As she went on about the past, he just shook his head. He had seen that one file...he had not blamed her, he had just....he had just wanted to know.....

As she continued on, he felt himself growing weaker and weaker as he shook his head tears falling once more as he stumbled back and slammed into the wall, sliding down it as pain from the scent of the blood washed over him....

There was so much..on his clothes, on his hands.......Hands he just held up and stared at.....

"W...We had a fight...T..There were these pictures...I was mad..I..I left to cool off.....I c..couldnt hurt her...."

His words were barely audible as he choked them out before slamming his face against his blood stained hands, running them through his hair as he lowered his head.

"I went back to apologize...to say I was sorry....an...and....the blood....everywhere.....God what the fuck did I do?"

He drew his knees up as best he could and rested his elbows on them as he simply sat there.......Not moving.....everything else becoming a blur.............

____________________________________________

When they had moved her into her room he had forced them to let him in...Once they were sure he had not done this to her or course. Now here he sat, in the same position he had been in before they came to get him, his head down, hands tangled in his hair, blood covering him and his knees bent......

To say he was in pain was an understatement..He had been struggling to breath for the past hour or so....But he had refused to leave and pretended he was fine whenever somebody caught him flinching in pain.

As he heard the cough, his eyes shot up...now so very bloodshot and dull from the tears and the pain he was in that it didnt even look like him.

Something inside him had died almost....like his life source had been cut off and left him there.......empty.

As her bed rose he wanted to go to her..but fear held him back..fear she would be upset to see him.....fear she would get herself riled up and hurt herself.....

Yet his knees dropped, and all the blood became clear in the dim light of the room.

He couldn't even speak.....What if he said something wrong?

[Asher LeBeau]

It was a few moments that she had to clear her head before she heard the soft noise from the side of her bed, drawing her attention. It was probably a nurse, but she’d learned to treat the nurses well in the hospital. Never piss off the nurse, she knew, and she turned slowly, fighting off a few waves of nausea before she saw something that stirred up so many emotions in her she didn’t know where to begin.

Her heart dropped, her stomach did flips, a small shot of fear coursed through her, but most of all shock that he was here…covered in….blood?

It drew a sharp gasp from her before she dropped her head, sitting fully upright, her hair moving to hide her face as she chewed her lower lip. Her throat was horribly raw and she knew they had pumped her stomach to get the pills out. It would hurt to talk, but she had to try.

“T..ta..talon?” she managed, her voice raw and soft, hoarse as if she’d been crying for days on end. Violet eyes looked at him, filled with so much emotion, looking as if she herself might start crying. It hurt her to see him like this, to know it was her fault that he was in pain right now. If only she hadn’t…

But wasn’t he the one who was supposed to be using her? Then why…why was he here by her? In the hospital? Was it to rub salt in the already open wounds…?

That didn’t make sense, she decided, as she chewed her bottom lip, biting down hard enough that she swore she tasted blood…or maybe that was from her throat. Either way, he looked like shit. She could tell he’d been crying, but over what? That was what had confused her…she just didn’t know anymore.

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[Talon Green]

He flinched when she moved to sit up..not because he was hurting, well he was but that had nothing to do with it, no it was because instinct made him want to go to her right then and there. But he made himself stay in place. It was only when she spoke his name, that voice so raspy and broken...it broke down every ounce of resolve he still had left. Before he even knew what he was doing he had shifted and managed to crawl the small distance to her bed, his hands coming up and softly brushing back her hair and tucking it behind her ears as tears once more built up within his eyes.

"I am so sorry Angel. I...I was just....My Dad showed me all that stuff....and I got so mad....I should never have yelled at you..never have let it get to me like that....."

He could barely talk, his body high enough off the ground compared to her bed that he actually just buried his face in her lap, his nose brushing against her stomach as he trembled. He was so overcome with joy that she was okay....So sorry for what he had caused.

He knew he didnt deserve her touch, didnt deserve anything from her, but god how he needed it.

"I...I came back to apologize. To say I had over reacted....I found you.....God I thought I lost you....."

Another tremble as he tried to fight back the waves of pain, just wanting to be close to her, to be near her. Yet nothing would ever make him forgive himself for what he had done to her. Nothing could ever erase it from his mind. That image of her on that bathroom floor burned into every corner of his mind. Flashes of it over and over and over again.

"I am sorry baby....so fucking sorry...."

It was all he could say as his hands came up to hug her thighs, though not tightly, afraid he could cause more damage than anything. He just...he needed her to know he was sorry and that he never meant for any of this to happen. To hell with being a fucking man and pretending it was all alright. He had never hidden himself from her and he was not going to do so now. Even if the things his Father showed him were true.....

But that was something to go over later. For now, all he could think of was her...of being with her.....of telling her he was sorry.

[Asher LeBeau]

His actions startled her, enough that she listened before she gently lifted the hand that did not have the IV in it, running it through his hair in an almost comforting gesture as she let him hug her. It was his words that made her pause, eyes grow dark with an inner rage.

His father.

Of course the damn man would play them against each other. He hated Talon and Asher had no small reputation for being a slut and a party scene. She hadn’t been to the bars or clubs since she’d gotten together with Talon. The one exception had been that night they did get together.

She scowled, not that he could see with his head buried in her lap, her touch much more reassuring, but his father didn’t know what he’d done. The girl wasn’t an idiot, knew how to plan this.

Shame, humiliation, disgrace.

A game she knew much better than others. She knew almost every pimp, prostitute, stripper and escort in this damn town. Time she got a few favors repaid. It would take a few days, she would gather evidence to run in one tabloid, then the next, enough to keep them going for a few months at least. Blacklist him from every place that served sex on the west coast.

But first, amends had to be made with Talon. He was her priority, who she cared about most in the world. His trembled apologies, the way he held her. She knew what he needed most, what he wanted and she would give it to him.

Silently she bent forward and kissed his hair, his forehead gently, silently telling him it was alright since talking hurt far too much right now. Her eyes however spoke volumes for her, conveyed everything she was feeling, how much she actually cared about him, how much it hurt her to know he was in pain right now.

She used her unbound hand to tilt his head gently so she could lay a kiss on his lips, her own silent apology for everything she’d done.

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[Talon Green]

He never saw the look he just felt her move and felt that hand in his hair, instantly he felt a bit better, he felt as though he was somehow coming back from the edge of a very dangerous cliff he was about to jump off of.

Then came the kisses. Soft and delicate........Forgiving....That alone made him shudder as he buried his face harder into her lap, trying not to let those tears get the better of him yet again.

Then her hand touched his face and as always he found he could not deny her, lifting his eyes to meet her own and reading in them everything she wanted him to see.

As she kissed his lips his hand came up and to the side of her head, his fingers lightly curling in her hair as he rested his forehead against her own and closed his eyes.

"Please....please don't leave me like that again....I will walk away and never bother you again if that is what you want...Just please promise me you won't do that again."

His voice pleading....pain filled and desperate.

"I would rather live alone my entire life in pain knowing you are alive and well somewhere than go one second without you in this world."

He whispered softly, lips brushing against her own once more as he finally forced himself up and off the floor to sit on the edge of her bed, being careful as he pulled her against him and let his arms hold her there. Just soaking up the feel of her body next to his. Just happy to be able to hold her again.

[Asher LeBeau]

Asher smiled softly at him, shaking her head before pressing her lips against his again silently telling him as much as she could that she wouldn’t go anywhere, she didn’t want him to either. She carefully took his hand and laced her fingers with his, lifting his hand to kiss it, showing him that she didn’t want him to leave, she wanted him here, with her…

Maybe this was what she’d been missing all this time, someone to care about her, to show that she was actually worth something to someone. She hated the thought of him leaving, tears pricking at her own eyes before a few trailed down her cheeks, slight panic and fear rising at his words of leaving, before shaking her head more firmly.

“N..no. D..don’t leave,” she said, forcing the words past her throat, past the pain before she turned her head to cough again, wincing at the pain it caused. It was her own damn fault she was in this much pain, but waking up to him being there…it just filled her and made her happy.

When he held her, she curled against him, holding his shirt, despite the blood…

The blood. She frowned again, looking up at him and at the shirt, trying to figure out how to tell him he needed to get cleaned up…she didn’t want him to be in anymore pain. Her fingers fumbled and she pressed the call button, knowing exactly who would walk through the door.

The one nurse who had helped Asher, treated her as a daughter before she smiled slightly at her, motioning with one hand for water and a change of clothes for him. The nurse, Betty, smiled at her and nodded, coming over to check her vitals and telling her that she’d have a doctor in to take the IV out now that she was conscious.

Asher nodded as Betty left, tilting her head up to tug Talon down into a firm kiss, her hair curling in the hair at the back of his head, seeking as much comfort and reassurance as he was before Betty silently returned, laying down a small cup of water for Asher to drink to help the pain with her throat and a rag and a basin along with clean scrubs for Talon.

Asher made a motion for Talon, as soon as she managed to separate herself from him to get himself cleaned up and changed. She could tell he was in pain still and she wanted to do whatever she could to get that look out of his eyes.

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[Talon Green]

He saw that hint of panic in her eyes and those words tugged at his heart. As she curled against him his hand came up and softly stroked the back of her head, his own coming to rest atop of it.

"Shh...I am not going anywhere Angel....I promise."

He would then press a kiss to the top of her head as he drew in her scent, despite all the medical equipment around them and the many people that had touched her, she still had that natural scent that drove him wild.

Then she called in the nurse, his eyes looking to the woman and giving her a polite nod before he turned his full attention back to Asher.

As she curled her fingers into the back of his hair he could not resist kissing her in return, letting his hand rest on her jaw as his thumb smoothly stroked over her cheek. She was still rather pale but that was to be expected. But all he could think of was that she was here with him, alive and they were together.

When the extra set of scrubs was brought in and the basin with water he would look at her and sigh, her hand toying with a bit of her hair.

"I am fine beautiful. You need to worry about yourself more than silly old me."

He grinned, leaning in to kiss her nose playfully as he raised up his hands in a mock surrender. Yes he already knew how it would go by him protesting...his little hellcat would find a way to get him to do it whether he wanted to or not, so might as well surrender now and spare her the extra struggle.

Handing her the water the nurse had brought, her brushed his lips to her forehead and rose to stand, stumbling a bit as the pain seemed wash over him once more.

Wincing slightly he moved over to the basin of water, pulling his shirt off over his head and throwing it in the trash as he grabbed out the rag and twisted it to try and get some of the water out. Then, as he looked in the mirror, he would start to wipe away the blood that covered his hands and his face. Hell, he had pretty much covered himself in the shit in his state of panic and worry.

Not that he cared...She had been worth every bit of it.

Finally getting his upper torso clean, he would turn and hold his arms up, a little smile on his lips as he looked at her.

"Is that better?"

Yet somewhere behind him, came an all too familiar voice.

"Talon Nicholas Green. Just what the hell do you think you are doing here? Causing such a stir and getting me woken up at this time of evening?"

Even though he was grown, the sound of his Father's angered words made him flinch. His head momentarily lowering.

Yet soon enough he regained himself and turned to face him, dropping the rag back into the basin as he took a few steps forward to cut the man off who now stood in the door way.

"I am here Father because my girlfriend was in trouble and she needed me. Where else would I be?"

That growl from his Father was all too clear, and though they were about even in height his Father still never had a problem striking out at his son if the mood suited him. Only difference was now Talon had learned to just take it.

But instead of causing a scene such as that he would nod his head toward the exit.

"Come on. You are going home now."

Talon crossed his arms over his chest, a deep breath taken in as he shook his head.

"No...I am staying...Here...With Asher."

That set his Father off, the man closing the distance quickly, dressed in one of his finest business suites, quickly he reached out and jammed his finger into the center of Talon's chest as he neared his face, his words a harsh growl so that only those in the room could hear.

"You will NOT defy me. Do you understand? You are not going to stay here in some fucking hospital room with this town whore just because you feel like you owe her something. Now get your goddamn ass in the car."

Talon's eyes flared to life as he reached up and jerked his Father forward by the collar, bringing them face to face.

"She is not a whore and you better never call her that again or I swear I will make you pay for it, fuck your money and your company...I wont let you talk about my girlfriend like one of those tramps you run around with when you think nobody is looking."

That got a healthy slap to his face, making Talon's head turn to the side as he tasted a bit of blood on the inside of his mouth. Funny the taste of the stuff made him hear music in the air. Just great. Yeah but back to what was happening.

As his head turned back his Father was laughing, looking over his shoulder to the bed where Asher sat. Instinctively Talon moved, positioning himself between his Father and her once more.

"Don..Don't tell me that you are falling in love with this little whore are you?"

His muscles began to shake as he narrowed those once more fiery emerald hues on his Father. His own voice never wavering, not doubt, not fear in his words as he spoke.

"And so what if I am? She has given me more in the time we have been together than you or Mum ever did."

His Australian accent thicker now as his anger rose, his Fathers just as bad. Those last words were like a stun gun to his dad's chest. His precious heir loving a girl like that was just too much. He couldnt even think straight. Instead he jerked away from Talon and leaned in, his finger tapping against Talon's chest once more as he spoke.

"I tried to save you from this mess. But you just wouldn't let it lie. I had everything set up so perfectly so that you would both hate each other. Now you dare defy me and try and tell me you might love her? Watch your step boy, for the next one could very well be your last."

And just like that, he turned and stormed out, every part of Talon shaking with anger and yet he forced down the pain and rage and by the time he turned back to her he would give her a sorta half hearted grin.....Not about to let her see that it had stung him deep down but showing still that he had meant every word....Though honestly, how much she paid attention to or what she thought about any of it was beyond him.

"Thats my Dad. Heh. So now, to go change."

Oh he knew what he had said and he would try best to avoid it and hope she had not heard or caught on, instead he scooped up the clothes, kissed her forehead and hurried to the restroom. Yeah....Not coming back until he was all cleaned up, and dressed in scrubs...Those emerald hues looking at her a bit nervously now.

[Asher LeBeau]

Asher smiled at Talon, returning the kiss with eager tenderness, passionate and showing him just how she felt at the moment. Yeah, she felt like shit but right now, Talon was all that mattered. She smiled at him, running a hand through his hair before releasing him, letting him get cleaned up, shaking her head and laughing at his antics and blowing him a kiss, making a motion for him to just get cleaned up that she would be fine.

Accepting the water, she sipped it slowly, easing the burning sensation in her throat before she immediately shut down on the intrusion of Talon’s father. It made her eyes darken and an ugly sneer to crawl over her lips at his words.

She knew the signs, saw the flinch with crystal clarity. It was what she did. She sat up straighter, a look on her face that said she loathed the man and his actions. It was a dark look, one that promised hell would come on earth for the man. She heard every word that was passed between them, watched Talon step between her and his father…

Instinctively, she knew that he would protect her but that wouldn’t stop her from getting involved if she had to. The slap was what set her on edge, had her almost coming out of the bed, pressing the call button for the nurse, knowing that Betty would intercept the man as he left. Her more immediate concern was Talon.

Asher frowned when he looked back at her, as his father stormed from the room. She heard the words and knew they were no empty threat on Talon’s life. Brows drew together as a dark storm gathered in her eyes, something dark and evil brewing in them as her mind raced, actually using the full extent of her brain to plot something out that would make his father suffer, and only his father.

She cleared the look from her eyes for the most part when Talon turned to her, nodding and letting him go for a moment before getting up and knocking softly on the door, already having taken out the IV herself. She already knew how this worked and turned off the audible alarm on the monitor. The doctors knew her and knew she was up and out of bed.

Asher waited to see if he’d open the door and let her in.

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Betty heard the call and knew what had happened. She’d seen the elder Green come in and that alone had been what tipped her off, setting her out to the floor to intercept the man. She had no fear, none of the trauma room did, despite his threats and his power, his name. She’d only let Talon in the room with Asher because she could tell he truly was upset and he’d carried her in, looking completely lost and distraught.

“You are a cheap old bastard,” she said, storming in front of him, cutting him off, drawing herself up to her 5’4” height. She’d been an intimidating woman in her youth, but now she was old and had no fear.

“A miserly, common whore who doesn’t deserve an ounce of happiness. You are nothing more than a slut, a cheap distraction who would do well to remember your place, you tramp. I hope you get into an accident and die on your way out and learn your place in hell,” she said, glaring up at him as he glared down at her.

Her piece spoken, she gave him the nastiest smile, just a shade lighter than the look that had passed over Asher’s face earlier.

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She knocked softly on the door again, worried about Talon as she waited, chewing her lower lip, feeling much better, her voice a bit stronger.

“Talon?”

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