Deception

Chapter: Nine

Chapter: Nine

"She'll be okay, Britt," Louis assured me from the driver's seat as we headed to the hotel.

Louis and I had left en route to the hotel not long after. I hadn't really wanted to leave her, but this time I knew there wasn't much I could do to help her. I was just concerned Henry hadn't come back yet. It was a hard choice for me. Feeling like I was choosing between Megan and Max, along with Tamron and Lily. It wasn't easy, but thankfully, the others eased my worries.

"You aren't going to leave her, are you?" I'd questioned.

"No, we'll be here until Henry returns. We wouldn't leave her," Liam assured me.

"So go be with the others now," Niles said softly.

"It just seems like-

"O'Neill, I can't be with Lily right now, so I need you to," Zeke spoke not looking at me.

"You trust me?" I looked at him in wonder.

"Not to protect her, obviously, because you're a danger magnet if you haven't noticed."

"I've noticed," I sighed.

"I do trust that if she needed a friend, someone to talk to that you'd be there for her. I hope I'm not wrong."

You're not," I promise I'll be there for her."

Zeke cared about Lily so much, yet he couldn't be there for her. How horrible that must be and I wondered if that's how Niles felt with me right now. At least Zeke trusted me to help her. I hoped I didn't let him down and that I could help her and help Max as well as Tam and eventually Megan as well.

"Good," he nodded, and that was the closest to a thank you that I would be getting from him, but I was satisfied.

"You need to go now. Louis will take care of you," Liam assured me.

"Okay."

Now Louis and I were alone in the car and I was unable to stop thinking about her. What I could have done. My never-ending grief about Abel, Greg, and Susan. How I wished they were still here. That I could hold Abel in my arms and see him smile as his tiny hands reached for me. Hear his baby noises and see him with his parents. Have one more hug from Greg and Susan. One more conversation. One more normal talk with my dad here in the living would be nice as well.

"I hoped she would be okay after last night, but she's just the same. She seemed better at first, but she wasn't." I turned to look at him.

"She's going through a lot right now, so it's probably a good idea she's able to get a lot of her feelings out. After she rests, Henry and the others are going to talk to her about visiting her family for a while. He'll be able to convince her."

"Are you sure? It wasn't an easy sell to keep her from going to talk with Victor or to stop trying to bring that bird back to life."

"She can be reasoned with, and I think having him there will be better."

"What if she doesn't want to leave?"

"Well, if we can't convince her, we might have to knock her out and just get her in the car. That or get her dad to come down here and get her. She wouldn't like that, but he might convince her if nothing else."

"Would you guys really knock her out?"

"There are gentle ways to do that, you know. Anyway, hopefully, she'll just decide to go on her own. Fingers crossed."

"I didn't know Liam tried to get her to leave."

"That was before Victor found out, and the whole point was to keep it that way. We all agreed she should go there, but he found out before we carried it out and she didn't want to leave, anyway."