Midnight Flock

Chapter 3: Betrayal

A/N: Thank-you to Jen/ibewaiting for your thoughts, bitchin beta skills and encouragement. Thank-you to my readers for continuing to follow my story, read it, enjoy it, and I love your comments and votes. 

 North parked the jeep in the parking garage, everyone else's vehicles were still here. That was rare for a Saturday afternoon. I waited for North to get out and get my door since I was sitting right behind him. The success of my safety certification had cheered me up considerably and I was willing to overlook the car maintenance I walked in on this morning. North looked more resigned than possessive and worry ate at him. I sighed internally. I need to talk to him. Something was obviously bothering him and he wasn't volunteering the information.

"North, Sang, I think we should have a family meeting." North went to follow Owen into the building, but I grabbed North's hand, stopping him in his tracks. He looked back at me questioningly.

"Owen, I need to talk to North for a moment first. This is important." I willed Owen to see how important this was to me in my look to him, that I really did need to talk to North, alone.

"Very well," he straightened the collar on his polo, "We will wait for you inside." With that, Owen turned and walked into the building. If our family meeting was here, we always had it in the common room on the main floor. It was plenty big enough for us and had several large couches facing one another in a square. If the meetings weren't here, then we had them at Owen and Sean's house. Unfortunately, North and Silas' loft didn't usually fit our needs. Though it was spacious, the layout wasn't conducive to the family meetings.

I grabbed North's hand and tugged him out through a side door toward the Waterfront Park across the small street. We walked for a few minutes until I found an empty bench and tugged him down beside me. He didn't resist and I didn't say anything. I knew something was eating at him and he would tell me when he was given the opportunity and time to do so. I watched the waves lap calmly against the sea wall as I waited for North to find his words. North sighed, that was the first sign he was breaking through the silence he was holding onto. He ran his hand through his hair, a look of contemplation on his face. I could see him working out how he wanted to approach what he had to say to me. His black crew neck t-shirt stretched over his back as he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. I knew this posture; I wasn't going to like what he was about to say. But, we had been working on our communication skills with one another, I was just thankful he was talking to me about it before we got into another yelling match over how many veggies to put in a salad.

"Sang baby, I don't like the idea of you being in danger." He holds his hand up to stop me from reciting the same spiel he's probably heard a hundred times already. "I don't like the idea that you could be put into a dangerous situation that I can't protect you in, that none of us may be able to protect you in." He sighs deeply, his shoulders sagging forward. There had to be a reason he was repeating this fear, yet again. It was the basis for many of our arguments. "I love you Sang, all of us do. Just please, keep that in mind."

"I love you too, Northstar. I'd never be able to forget that. What is going on?"

He let out a long breath, preparing himself for what he was about to reveal. "The guys and I agreed to keep you out of that certification class for as long as humanly possible." He eyed me wearily, afraid to face me full on, his hands tightened into fists. His whole body vibrating with the anticipation of my reaction.

"You what?!" I all but screeched, leaping off the bench to pace in front of him. "Why would you do something like that? It would have impeded my ability to go on missions with you if you had kept this up. Don't you want me on the team?" I stopped in my tracks, swiveling to look at him again. Was that what this was all about? They didn't want me in the Academy with them? Wasn't I good enough? The words I admitted to Raven came ringing back into my ears. Hadn't I proven myself since joining? Maybe I was holding them back. Tears welled up in my eyes. I loved what we did, I loved helping others and being a part of the family. Have they finally realized I'm not good enough, that I can't keep up? Maybe they got tired of waiting for me to improve.