The Fighter

Chapter Nine

Getting back to Derek's place, I begin to pace back and forth, signing angrily about how stupid the woman is for almost calling the cops on a child when she knows who my brother is.  Jake is currently sitting on the couch with Addy's head in his lap, almost like a dog to its owner-- defensive and protecting.  Beast, Bear, and Derek all watch as I pace in anger and I glare at the three of them who remain silent as I rant without words.  Derek and Beast look amused, their eyes gleaming, while Bear looks confused and towards Derek for a translation.

"Lots of cussing and a bit of ranting about how ignorant the principle is towards someone, especially a child, who was so distressed.  She hates seeing children put down like they're nothing more than...objects in the world."  I nod, anger still written on my face and I groan.

Beast watches me and I look back at him, he seems to be studying me and takes everything that I have to show for what it is-- a defense mechanism.  Standing, he walks toward me and grips my face in between his large hands and I struggle to not flinch away from him but fail and he frowns a bit.  Leaning down, he places his forehead against mine and begins to slowly breathe; after a bit ore struggling, my breathing subconsciously begins to match his and my eyes close as the emotions from today begin to show themselves in the form of tears and I begin to cry silently.  His hold shifts from my face to my body and he pulls me into his warm embrace; the foreign feeling someone's arms around me overtakes me and I begin to freak out a bit, falling into a minor panic attack.  Attempting to push away from him, Beast's arms tighten further around me and soon my breathing becomes erratic as I can't escape without revealing what I do almost on a nightly basis.  My flight or flight responses are going against each other and I can't decide whether to take him down or punch him until he passes out.

"Get out of my hold and I'll never touch you again," he says quietly enough that only I can hear him and the shock of him speaking temporarily distracts me from trying to escape.  A part of me is screaming at him that I would gladly never be touched by him again but a larger part of me seems to hate the idea of that.  Not knowing this man for more than a day, I seem to have a sense of deja vu while in his arms and soon my breathing turns to normal again as I decide to calm down enough to get away from him.  "Good girl."

Feeling his arms loosen, I quickly push away from him and slap him harshly across the face.  The whole room seems to stop and I glare at him while he grips his cheek in either pain or shock, I don't know.  His mouth hangs open and his green eyes are wide; as he is about to say something, Jake opens his eyes after having fallen asleep not long after we got back.

"Your cheek is red," Jake says with a tired voice and then looks at me with a guarded expression.  "You hurt her."  Beast shakes his head slowly and signs that he was simply trying to calm me down.  "She doesn't like being touched."

"I think he figured that out," Derek and Bear say at the same as I end up walking to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and try to calm the shaking in my hands from the anger that is coursing through my body.  Taking a sip of my coffee, I feel a presence behind me and ignore it until I hear the same voice from earlier.

"I'm sorry, that always seemed to calm down an old friend of mine when she was going through what you were.  I thought it would work with you, but I'm sorry."  Staring at my coffee, I refused to acknowledge him, but my hand left my cup as I braced myself against the countertop.  "You know, your brother was like one to me as well.  He was always looking out for me and never shut up about this little brat that he loved more than anything in the world.  You would think that he would have found her annoying, but all he ever talked about was the little girl that he had to get back home to.

"Granted, I only know this because my dad worked with your brother and would come home some days with a smile on his face and the small girl in his arms with Damien and J trailing behind him."  Beast grins.  "Funny thing, the mind is."