Hold Me Down (Peterick) ➳ Book 3

One

Patrick was surprised about the many secret hideouts buried deep beneath the base. Honestly, nothing had really impressed him until now. Not even the food. He sat next to Brendon, in the vast underground bunker, waiting for whatever would come.

"What if he's not okay?" Brendon asked, fidgeting in his seat. Patrick could see the dark shadows under his eyes—Milo must be keeping him up again.

"Dallon'll be fine, Brendon. I'm sure it's nothing serious."

One of the men who was sitting a few seats away snorted.

"Can I help you?" Patrick asked, clearly not in the mood to deal with whatever shit the man was trying to dish out.

"You're stupid if you think this isn't serious, and I'd be praying for little Dallon's life, Brendon. I'd be praying hard," he sneered.

Brendon's eyes filled with tears.

Angrily, Patrick stood up, waddled over to the man, and pulled him up by his shirt. "You listen here," he growled. "I am nearly seven months pregnant and am in no mood for whatever you're trying to accomplish. My suggestion would be to shut your fucking mouth before I do it for you. As for Dallon, let's just say he's not going to be pleased when he finds out what you've been doing to his boyfriend and son. So you better sleep with one eye open. Got it?"

Despite the fact that Patrick was nearly a foot shorter than the man, he was clearly intimidating. The man nodded rapidly, and Patrick let go of his shirt. After taking a deep breath, he rejoined Brendon and carefully took Milo.

The baby shifted slightly in Patrick's arms and continued to sleep.

"You really need to sleep, Brendon."

"But—"

"Nope. Sleep. Everything will be fine. I'll wake you up when we can leave."

"Thanks, Trick," Brendon muttered as he curled up on the bed. "For everything."

For the next two hours Patrick sat thinking about nothing in particular while Milo and Brendon slept. The baby had grown attached to him instantly when Brendon had first shown him off to Patirck, something Brendon was quick to use when he wanted some time to sleep—though Patrick assumed minimal sleep actually occurred when Brendon was "alone". "He doesn't like anyone else," Brendon always said. Though it was true that the baby liked him, it never really bothered Patrick when Brendon pulled that excuse out; he loved Milo, and he hoped Milo and his baby would be friends.

Eventually, they were cleared to go back upstairs, Patrick waiting until everyone else had filed out before he even attempted to stand. He nudged Brendon, who only rolled over, and sighed.

"Brendon? Oh, hey, Patrick," Dallon whispered as he stepped into the soft glow of an emergency light.

"Hi, Dallon. I tired getting him up, but as you can tell it's a lost cause."

"It's alright. I'll carry him. Are all of you alright? I heard you were outside when it started."

"Yeah, we're fine. The guards by the door were quick to react."

Dallon nodded. "That's good the hear. From now on we're taking extra measures to ensure everyone stays safe."

"Was it Pete?"

"Uh, no. Someone else," Dallon answered quickly. "Listen, I'm going to be busy more often, so would you do me a favour and keep an eye on Brendon and Milo?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

They ventured up the stairs together, and once Patrick had tucked Milo into his tiny cot, he headed towards the medic centre. There had been an announcement made shortly before they were allowed to leave that anyone who had been exposed to the explosion should be examined as soon as possible. There was a fear that radiation or slow acting poisons might have been released, and it was easier to treat as close to the exposure time as they could.

Since Patrick knew he wasn't going to sleep, he walked down the empty halls, vaguely wondering who had attacked them if it wasn't Pete. He was fairly certain earth didn't have any enemies, but the Arkkarredians did. They didn't just overtake earth for the hell of it.

"Hello, Patrick," Doctor Ramsay called as he stepped out of a patient's room. Patrick just caught sight of Taylor lying unconscious on a bed before the door was closed. Doctor Ramsay must've noticed the worried look on Patrick's face. "She's okay. Banged up a bit, but nothing serious."

"That's good. Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah. There's an open room right here."

*

Joe and Andy knew what they had singed up for the minute the turned against the crown. Gabe, well, they weren't so sure what his purpose in Doctor Beckett's life was, making Joe and Andy doubt why they'd brought him along. Sure he was resourceful, clever, funny at times, but where were his loyalties? What was his story?

The rumours that involved Gabe were far and few between, but they all centred around the fact he'd lost his memory shortly before his capture. Doctor Beckett had bargained a case of insanity with the past king and Gabe had been with him ever since.

"Does he know anything?" Joe had asked Andy the minute Gabe had fallen asleep in the backseat.

"I think so. Though it's going to be hard to get it out of him."

"What do you mean? He's terrible at hiding anything. You heard it from Pete."

"Gabe lost his memory, but I, and several others, don't think it happened randomly."

"You're saying it was induced."

Joe knew from experience that the king liked to interrogate traitors personally, and he could only assume Gabe had been seen as a traitor in the eyes of the Arkkarredians. It was the only way the king would speak to him.

Joe was fortunate. He was able to keep his memories, but maybe Gabe hadn't.

"Exactly. And unlike the others I don't think it was the king."

That made Joe look at him.

"Then who?"

In response, Andy only glanced in the rearview mirror.

"Wake him up. We're almost there."