http://clampfix.fanworks.net/re-fix/bf17.txt </head><body><pre> Between Friends Part 17 "I see." Eagle conciously relaxed his hands, to keep them from tearing through the cushion. "I see." "Eagle," his mother said, starting to reach a hand out towards him. Eagle stood before she could touch him. He didn't want to be touched ever again. "Please excuse me," he murmured, and turned, walking to his room. "I need to think." He got only halfway before the fragile control he had over himself and Eagle ran, crying. The door to his room closed behind him and he threw the manual override on his door, locking everyone out, before collapsing onto his bed. "I see," he told himself harshly, hating himself. "I see. I see. I see." The pain in his lungs sliced through him like a knife, hurting worse than ever. "I see," Eagle whispered one last time before losing himself in the choking coughs of blood and the blindness of tears. Geo nodded at the door. "This's Lantis' quarters." "You know the code to open his door." Geo nodded. "Open it," Corona said tersely. "And then leave. I need to talk to him alone." Geo nodded and keyed in a sequence of numbers. Corona walked in and let the door close behind her. She walked into the living room and looked calmly at the tall young man who was her brother's boyfriend. She hoped that what she was doing would work. "Hi. My name is Corona. I'm Eagle's sister. Can we talk?" Lantis frowned as he looked at the door to Eagle's room. Corona had told him that Eagle had locked himself in last night, and was refusing to come out for any reason and refusing to let anyone in, even his parents, even his sister, even his best friends. "Eagle," Lantis said quietly, touching his hand to the voice panel, "you told Corona you won't come out. May I come in?" "No," Eagle instantly replied. His voice sounded rough and miserable. He had obviously been crying. Lantis mentally sighed and considered his options. He could go away, stay out here trying to talk some sense into Eagle, or simply go in. The door was locked, both electronically and physically, of course, but there were ways around that. With none of the skill and ease a native of Autozam would have shown, Lantis used his magic, directed through through electronical systems, to override the lock. Then he simply applied brute force and broke the hold the lock had on the door on the way in. Eagle lay curled up on his bed, his height disguised by the amazingly small amount of space he managed to take up. His face was traced with still-damp tears and, surprisingly, blood. Blood covered his pillow and part of his sheets too, though Lantis could see no injuries. It matted Eagle's beautifully soft hair as well. Lantis closed the door behind himself and walked silently over to the bed, kneeling down to look more closely at Eagle. "You don't look too good," he said softly, his hand brushing Eagle's hair back from his hidden eyes. "Don't touch me," Eagle snapped, his hand hitting Lantis' away as he shrank away from the touch. "Don't touch me... don't ever touch me...." He started crying again. Lantis felt his heart harden immediately. Whoever had done this to Eagle was dead, he vowed to himself. He frowned to himself, then took Eagle into his arms. "No," he told Eagle softly. "I'm not going to stop touching you, Eagle. I'm not going to let you go." "Don't touch me," Eagle sobbed, struggling to get away. "I don't deserve to be touched... not by you, not by anyone!" "You're talking nonsense," Lantis said gruffly, not wanting his friend to be in this much mental pain. "Tell me what's wrong, Eagle. Tell me." "No!" Eagle replied, choking the word out. Eagle stood still, numbly letting the water run over him. Lantis stood guard just outside the shower, making sure both that no one interrupted and that he didn't get out. Eagle looked downwards and saw the water swirling pink around his feet. He supposed he really ought to make an effort to clean the blood out of his hair, but he couldn't bring himself to care enough to move. "Start washing yourself," Lantis commanded. "You'll feel better." Eagle numbly doubted the truth of that statement, but mechanically obeyed nonetheless. "Here," Lantis said, handing Eagle a towel as he exited the shower. His eyes automatically avoided looking at Eagle. "You can go if you like," Eagle said miserably. "I can take care of myself." "No you can't," Lantis contradicted. "It's not like I'm going to kill myself or anything," Eagle insisted. "You don't have to stay anymore." "I'm not going anywhere," Lantis answered, his eyes hard on Eagle. "I'm staying here until I find out exactly what's wrong." "I don't want you to," Eagle whispered, tears misting his eyes again. "I don't want you to see me anymore, Lantis. Go away! I don't-- I don't need you anymore!" He tried to run past Lantis, but a wall of solid metal closed around him as he tried. "You're lying, Eagle," Lantis said softly, his arms holding Eagle tightly. "I'm no good at emotions, but I know that something is wrong, and I'm going to see you through it." "You can't," Eagle choked. "It happened a long time ago. It's over. Leave me alone, Lantis!" "No," Lantis replied quietly, seemingly indifferent to the pitch of Eagle's scream. "I'm staying, and that's final." Sobbing from mixed relief that Lantis wasn't going to leave him and fear that he would find out what he really was, Eagle submitted to being guided back to his room. Lantis looked at Eagle's pale face and pondered the wisdom of his actions. Some instinct was telling him not to leave Eagle alone right now, and it sounded like a very good idea. He listened to his friend's ragged breathing and suddenly just drew him into a hug, holding him tightly. "Whatever it is, it will pass," he murmured softly. "Everything gets better eventually, Eagle... everything." Eagle didn't even try to argue his words, instead just crying softly into Lantis' shirt. That worried Lantis slightly, but he remained silent and just held Eagle until the blond boy slowly drifted off into slumber. Then he gently settled Eagle between the changed sheets, looking at the pretty, tear-streaked face with a mix of emotions. Quietly, he left Eagle's room and went in search of Corona, who had answers to the questions he wanted to ask. He found her in the kitchen, replicating something that looked like extremely strong black coffee. "Have a seat," she said, pointing to one. He took it and she handed the mug to him, fetching another for herself that smelled suspiciously like one of the herbal teas Eagle liked. She blinked wearily before settling into a chair herself and sipping at the steaming hot tea, and Lantis noticed how tired she looked. "What happened?" he asked. "An earthquake," she replied quite flatly. "An earthquake the size of Eagle's soul." "Meaning...?" Lantis asked. "You're not going to like this any more than he did," she warned, "but you surely have the right to know. Please do not tell others, however... not that I think you would." She studied his face and seemed to approve of whatever she sought there. "When he was three, Eagle was left to the mercies of a young man named Cadillac for one evening. He'd always been a part of the group around here... Cadillac grew up in this neighborhood, he'd always been around, always seemed to like us kids. He volunteered to babysit Eagle for an evening once when I wanted to go to the mall and our parents had to attend a charity ball." Something in Corona's face shifted, twisting with distaste and old hate. "While I was at the mall, I *felt* Eagle calling for help... he'd never done that before... I'd never felt anything that strong before. I ran home immediately." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I ran in on Cadillac raping Eagle." </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>