Hold Me Down (Peterick) ➳ Book 3

Three

So Dallon hadn't been too thrilled about the new additions to the rebellion, but Patrick was. The minute Brendon had blabbed that Joe was around, Patrick was out of his seat and waddling towards the door.

"You're not gonna get very far," Brendon teased.

Patrick's response was a middle fingers and a grumbled "Fuck you."

His feet were sore and so was his back, but Patrick was determined. He should've asked where Joe was before leaving, but he'd been so eager to see his friend that he hadn't been thinking. So he wandered around until Brendon eventually caught up to him.

"C'mon," Brendon said as he took Patrick's hand and pulled him towards a corridor Patrick had never been down. They stepped through the only door and were encased in the glow of a hundred monitors, looking as if it was just taken from NASA.

Dallon was standing near the back of the room with several mean, cradling Milo in his arms. For some odd reason Milo liked the bright lights and the noise the keyboard made when someone was typing, so Dallon would bring the baby with him if the work schedule wasn't too busy.

"Hey, guys," Dallon said as Brendon and Patrick walked over.

Brendon stepped forward to give Dallon a kiss while Patrick held out his arms to Joe, a silent demand for a hug. "You made me do nearly a full lap around this place to find you," Patrick whined.

Joe laughed, but gave Patrick a hug none the less. When they pulled away Patrick was able to get a better look at the other men in the group. Along with Andy and Gabe, there were three other men who Patrick didn't know.

"Ah, so this must be Pete's, uh, lover?" one of the three men asked.

"Husband, actually," Patrick snapped. Usually he would've introduced himself politely, but he couldn't be bothered, and the cramps running down his sides were not helping.

"Right. If you'll excuse us we have some important things to discuss."

The three men, Andy, and Dallon walked off, leaving the rest of them to head to the dinning room where lunch was being served.

"That was Billie, by the way," Joe said as he and Patrick stood side by side in line. "He leads this whole thing. And the other two were Mike and Tre."

"Nice to know," Patrick muttered.

There was something about the three men that didn't sit right with Patrick. The way Billie's eyes seemed to be black holes, void of any feelings yet hiding many secrets. His voice was cold no doubt like his soul.

"You okay, man?" Joe asked as he gently nudged Patrick.

"Yeah. My left foot's sore."

Joe nodded.

When Patrick and Joe met they had been able to stay under the radar for a few months, making them less aware of what was going on around them. A few close calls later they had come up with a phrase that sounded completely normal to an alien, but held a great deal of meaning for the two of them. It meant they needed to talk in a secure location.

With everyone distracted by food, the two were able to slip out of the cafeteria and down the hall without anyone noticing. They remained silent until they were in Patrick's room, but even then they were cautious with what they said.

"Are you feeling okay?" Joe asked, noticing the wince on Patrick's face.

"Just some cramps."

"You sure?"

Patrick nodded. "Brendon said his started around this time. I talked to Doctor Ramsay, but now, I'm kinda scared."

"About having the baby?"

"Not so much that, but. . . ." Patrick shrugged.

"We'll figure it out. You've got me, Andy, Gabe, Brendon, and Dallon."

"True."

"Everything's going to be fine," Joe promised.

And for a while it was.

The next month and a half brought a lot of new changes to the base. With Gabe's vast knowledge the humans suddenly had an advantaged, and slowly they were using it. One by one the humans of the base were becoming less human and more alien. This surprised Patrick because wasn't staying human the whole point of them rebelling? However after a debriefing held by Billie he suddenly understood.

They wanted the power, the strength, the heightened senses. They wanted to be supernatural yet still human. Patrick knew the adjustments to the serum they were using would only satisfy the people for so long. They'd want more and eventually lose what humanity they had gone to great lengths to preserve.

Patrick was lucky he was pregnant. That bought him time to see what these hybrids were being used for. It was on strict lock down, but Joe, having been one of the many humans fully turned, was recruited to help with the transitioning and training. He hadn't gathered a lot of information, but it was almost as if a hybrid army was being made.

Joe and Andy caught Patrick just before he reached the clinic. Him and a handful of pregnant women were having a parenting class that he was slightly looking forward to. As close as he was to his due date Patrick was having a hard time relaxing. Nothing helped, but maybe one of the other women would have some advice. However, after being all but forced to drink some foul orange liquid by Joe—promptly throwing up a minute later—he was excused by Doctor Ramsay.

"Let's get you to bed," Andy said soothingly.

Patrick, in complete confusion, let himself be escorted back to his room where he was surprised to see Gabe, Dallon, Brendon and Milo, and Taylor all seated around.

"Lock the door," Joe instructed to Gabe as he and Andy set Patrick in a chair.

"What's going on?"

"It's not safe here any more. The serum they're using isn't even the serum used to change people. And the new target is babies."

"Don't panic," Gabe said. "We've got a plan."

So that was how Patrick found himself in the back of a car around two am. He and Dallon were seated side by side with bags of supplies at their feet. There was so much more to the story that he didn't know, but he could get that info later. All he cared about was his baby.

"Is Milo?"

"No," Dallon replied. "We managed to buy him some time since he had some issues at birth."

"Thank you. For all of this."

Dallon laughed. "Oddly enough, the first time I saw your face was a photograph from three years ago. There was a note on it telling me to kill you. I'm so glad I never got the chance."