Unlikely Meetings

CHAPTER 19 - TURNING THE KEYS

The clatter and sizzle of utensils searing up bacon, hashbrowns and eggs sang to the morbid couple. A quaint diner met them as they sat across from each other, black and white pictures of the town of Jackson from its early history. It was the perfect place for a hearty breakfast on a cold morning unless the current pair didn't receive some stark news. From what Max just imparted on Elianora was sickening to say the least, the color drained from her scales as she processed the new information from his best friend. The silence sat between them as Max didn't know what to feel. A pit settled under his heart making him feel queasy and swallowed his appetite to tie his stomach in knots. "I have to help him."

The words fell lazily out of his mouth and shocked Eli from her silence, ruby eyes widening at his statement. "Max you can't, they're forcing your move. Everything so far was pushed into place by you, you had them on the backfoot and the one time you didn't you were almost killed out in the snow!" Her shoulders slumped as she added her final point. "Even when you were the one forcing them to react you were nearly killed."

"I know but I won't be able to stop him. This is beyond just us now and I know that the only way I can keep Noah out of prison is if I'm there with him." Max sipped from the simple ceramic mug in his hands, the black coffee being surprisingly tasteless to him. "What else am I supposed to do?"

Eli truly didn't know. The police might as well have told them that they were on their own. That the wolves gnashing at their ankles were in the right and their hands were tied. "So what am I supposed to do? Let you run off to get yourself killed in the woods? I can't lose you, just like how you've said you can't lose me."

Max just sat silently across from his scaled lover. No words coming to his mind as he was torn between his best friend and the love of his life. His mind was screaming as the two prospects warred in his conscious mind. He was slipping and he knew it was showing. The lines on his face creased deeper, bags under his eyes darkened and his eyes were bloodshot as he just wanted to break something. "I don't know."

Eli sat up as he spoke, the words surprised her as he always seemed to have a plan. A contingency in place for any occasion. Her heart warmed to know that underneath the grizzled vet peppered with wounds he was just as much alive and could feel the pain of the situation. Certainly more than her. She decided that she would be the shoulder he could lean on just like he did for her after the home invasion and her saving his life. "We'll figure it out, we've got each other like how you've got Noah."

His jaw clenched, muscles straining under the stress piling up upon his shoulders. A cool sensation washed over his hand as she spoke, her sweet words bringing a small amount of assurance into his form. Her grip grounded him, even if it was a small amount, enough to shoulder the new problems in his life. For once he really felt like he could count on someone as much as his best friend. He mentally slapped himself when he thought of that, 'you should have already trusted her that much you idiot!' His own words cut but didn't sting so badly. She was there to cool that burn. "Yeah we'll figure it out...together."

Max's heart warmed as he looked up to his red eyed partner, adoration and assurance creased her features. "So the cops are out, fuckers still have my gun. Going public at this point would burn the candle at both ends yes but we'd be burned as well. Meeting them on even ground would be a death sentence because they know we're packing heat and would just bring more guys with guns. Eli, I think our only play is the nuclear option."

Eli only lifted an eyebrow as their breakfast reached them. An older human woman placed their plates of greasy food down between them before refilling both of their coffees with Max making sure that Eli got decaf. As she left Eli returned her attention back to Max. "What do you mean by nuclear option?" Her tongue went mad as she tasted the air wafting in front of her, the steam tickling her scales and tongue with warmth and the hearty flavor. "The only thing I can think of is the media and we both don't like that idea."