Iero's Mountain!

Lucas was unusually distracted; he was normally the most attentive of students, applying himself to the subject at hand with almost phenomenal concentration, but tonight he had something else on his mind. He'd accepted without comment their move to the school for lessons and never even hinted that he'd learned the subject of the school board meeting that had resulted in the change of locations. As it was the beginning of May, and the day had been unseasonably warm, Gerard was half inclined to put his restlessness down to spring fever. It had been a long winter, and he was restless himself.
Finally Gerard closed the book before him.

"Why don't we go home early tonight?"

He suggested.

"We're not getting much done."

Lucas closed his own book and pushed his fingers through his thick black hair, identical to his father's. Gerard had to look away.

"Sorry."

He said on a long exhalation. It was typical that he didn't offer an explanation. Lucas didn't often feel the need to justify himself.
But in the weeks he'd been tutoring him, they had had a lot of personal conversations between the prepared lessons, and Gerard never hesitated when he thought one of his students might be troubled. If it were only spring fever gnawing at him, then he wanted him to say so.

"Is something bothering you?"

Lucas gave him a wry smile, one that was too adult to belong to a fifteen-year-old boy.

"You could say that."

"Ah."

That smile relieved him, because now he thought he knew the cause of Lucas' restlessness. It was indeed spring fever, after a fashion. As Grandma had often lectured him..

"When a young man's sap rises, a girl should look out. I declare, they seem to run mad."

Evidently Lucas' sap was rising. Gerard wondered idly if women had sap, too.
Lucas picked up his pen and fiddled with it for a moment before tossing it aside as he made up his mind to say more.

"Pam Hearst asked me to take her to a movie."

This was a surprise, and possible trouble. Ralph Hearst was one of the townspeople most adamantly opposed to the Ieros.
Lucas' ice-blue eyes were hooded as he glanced at his teacher.

"Pam is the girl I told you about before."

So, it was Pam Hearst. She was pretty and bright, and her slim young body had a form guaranteed to affect a young man's sap. Gerard wondered if Pam's father knew she had been flirting with Lucas and that was one reason for his hostility.

"Are you going to go?"

"No."

He said flatly, surprising him.

"Why?"

"There aren't any movie houses in Ruth."

"So?"

"That's the whole point. We'd have to go to another town. No one we know would be likely to see us. She wanted me to pick her up behind the school, after it got dark."

He leaned back in his chair and looped his hands behind his head.

"She was too ashamed to go to the dance with me, but I'm good enough for her to sneak around and see. Maybe she thought that even if we were seen, the idea that I might go to the Academy would keep her from getting in too much trouble. Folks seem taken with the idea."

His tone was ironic.

"I guess it makes a difference when the Indian wears a uniform."

Suddenly his impulsive announcement at the school board meeting didn't seem like such a good idea.

"Do you wish I hadn't told them?"

"You had to, considering."

He replied, and by that he knew Lucas was aware of the subject of that meeting.

"It puts extra pressure on me to get into the Academy, because if I don't they'll all say that the Indian just couldn't cut it, but that's not a bad thing. If it will push me to do more, then I'm that much closer to getting in."

Privately, Gerard didn't think Lucas needed any added incentive; he wanted it so badly now that the need burned in him. Gerard returned the conversation to Pam.

"Does it bother you, that she asked now?"

"It made me mad. And it really made me mad having to turn her down, because I sure would like to get my hands on her."

He stopped abruptly and gave Gerard another of those too-adult looks before a little grin tugged at his lips.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get too personal. Let's just say that I'm attracted to her physically, but that's all it is, and I can't afford to fool with that kind of situation. Pam's a nice girl, but she doesn't figure in my plans."

Gerard understood what he meant. No woman figured in his plans, other than to provide physical release, for a long time, if ever. There was something solitary about him, as there was about Frank, and in addition, Lucas was so possessed by the spectre of flight that part of him was already gone. Pam Hearst would marry some local boy, settle down in Ruth or nearby, and raise her own family in the same calm setting where she'd grown up; she wasn't meant for the brief attention Lucas Iero could give her before he moved on.

"Do you have any idea who started the gossip?"

Lucas asked, his pale eyes hard. He didn't like the idea of anyone hurting this fragile man.

"No. I haven't tried to find out. It could have been anyone who drove by and saw your truck at my house. But most people seemed to have forgotten about it now, except for—"

He stopped, his eyes troubled.

"Who?"

Lucas demanded flatly.

"I don't mean that I think she started the gossip.."

Gerard said hastily.

"I just feel uneasy around her. She dislikes me, and I don't know why. Maybe she's this way with everyone. Has Dottie Lancaster—"

"Dottie Lancaster!"

He gave a harsh laugh.

"Now there's a thought. Yeah, she could have started the gossip. She's had a rough life, and I kind of feel sorry for her, but she did her best to make my life hell when I was in her classes."

"Rough? How?"

"Her husband was a truck driver, and he was killed years ago when her son was just a baby. He was on a run in Colourado, and a drunk driver ran him off the side of a cliff. The drunk was an Indian. She never got over it and blames all Indians, I guess."

"That's irrational."

Lucas shrugged, as if to say a lot of things were irrational.

"Anyway, she was left alone with her kid, and she had a hard time. Not much money. She started teaching, but she had to pay someone to take care of the kid, and he needed special training when he was old enough to start school, which took even more money."

"I didn't know Dottie had any children."

Gerard said, surprised.

"Just Robert—Bobby. He's about twenty-three or four, I guess. He still lives with Mrs. Lancaster, but he doesn't go around other people much."

"What's wrong with him? Does he have Down's syndrome, or a learning disability?"

"He's not retarded. Bobby's just different. He likes people, but not in groups. A lot of people together make him nervous, so he pretty much stays to himself. He reads a lot, and listens to music. But once he had a summer job at the building supply store, and Mr. Watkins told Bobby to fill a wheelbarrow full of sand. Instead of pushing the wheelbarrow to the sandpile and shovelling the sand in, Bobby would get a shovelful of sand and carry it back to the wheelbarrow. It's things like that. He'd have trouble getting dressed, because he'd put his shoes on first, and then he couldn't get his jeans on."

Gerard had seen people like Bobby, who had trouble with practical problem-solving. It was a learning disability, and took a lot of patient, specialized training to handle. He felt sorry for him, and for Dottie, who couldn't have had a happy life.

Lucas pushed his chair back and stood up, stretching his cramped muscles.

"Do you ride?"

He asked suddenly.

"No. I've never even been on a horse."

Gerard chuckled.

"Will that get me thrown out of Wyoming?"

Lucas' tone was grave.

"It could. Why don't you come up on the mountain some Saturday and I'll give you riding lessons? School will be out for the summer soon, and you'll have a lot of time to practice."

He couldn't know how appealing the idea was, not only to ride but to see Frank again. The only thing was, it would hurt just as much to see him as it did not to see him, because he was still out of Gerard's reach.

"I'll think about it."

He promised, but he doubted he would ever take Lucas up on the offer.
Lucas didn't push it, but he didn't intend to let it drop, either. He'd get Gerard up on the mountain one way or another. He figured Frank had about reached the limits of his restraint. Parading Gerard right under his nose would be like leading a mare in heat in front of a stallion. His pretty, tart-tongued little teacher would be lucky if his dad didn't have him flat on his back before he had the hello out of his mouth. Lucas had to hide his smile. He'd never seen anyone get to Frank the way Mr. Gerard Way had. He had Frank so tied in knots he was as dangerous as a wounded cougar.

He mentally hummed a few bars of "Matchmaker."

When Gerard got home the next Friday afternoon, there was a letter in the mailbox from Senator Allard, and his fingers trembled as he tore it open. If it was bad news for Lucas, if Senator Allard had declined to recommend him to the Academy, he didn't know what he would do. Senator Allard wasn't their only possibility, but he had seemed the most receptive, and a turndown from him would really be discouraging.

The senator's letter to him was brief, thanking him for his efforts in bringing Lucas to his attention. He had decided to recommend Lucas for admittance to the Academy, for the freshman class beginning after Lucas' graduation from high school. From there on, it would be up to him to pass the rigorous academic and physical examinations.

Enclosed was a private letter of congratulations to Lucas.

Gerard hugged the letters to his chest, and tears welled in his eyes. They had done it, and it hadn't even been that difficult! He had been prepared to petition every congressman every week until Lucas was given his chance, but it hadn't been necessary. Lucas' grades and credits had done it for him.

It was news too good to wait, so he got back into his car and drove up Iero's Mountain. The drive was much different now; the snow had melted, and wildflowers bloomed beside the road. After the harsh winter cold, the spring warmth felt like a blessing on his skin, though it still wasn't nearly as warm as the springs he had known in California. He was so excited and happy that he didn't even notice the steep drop on the side of the road as it wound higher, but he did notice the wild grandeur of the mountains, stretching magnificently toward the dark blue heavens. He drew a deep breath and realized that the spring did make up for the winter. It felt like home, a new home, a place dear and familiar.

The tires threw out a spray of gravel as he slid to a stop at the kitchen door of Frank's one-story frame house, and before the vehicle had rocked back on its springs, he was bounding up the steps to pound on the door.

"Frank! Lucas!"

He knew he was yelling in a very uncouth manner, but he was too happy to care. Some situations just called for yelling.

"Gerard!"

The call came from behind him, and he whirled. Frank was coming from the barn at a dead run, his powerful body surging fluidly. Gerard yelped in excitement and launched himself from the steps, his hair flying behind him as he bolted down the gravelled drive toward the barn.

"He got it!"

He screamed, waving the letters.

"He got it!"

Frank skidded to a halt and watched the sedate teacher literally skipping and leaping toward him. He just had time to realise there was nothing wrong, that he was laughing, when, three steps away, Gerard went airborne. Frank braced himself and caught his weight against his chest, his brawny arms wrapping around him.

"He got it!"

Gerard shrieked again, and threw his arms around Frank's neck.
Frank could think of only one thing, and it made his mouth go dry.

"He got it?"

Gerard waved the letters under his nose.

"He got it! Senator Allard—the letter was in my mailbox—I couldn't wait—where's Lucas?"

He knew he was almost incoherent and made an effort to compose himself, but he just couldn't stop grinning.

"He's in town picking up a load of fencing. Damn it, are you sure that's what it says? He still has a year of school—"

"Not a year, not at the rate he's going. But he'll have to be seventeen, anyway. The senator has recommended him for the freshman class starting after he graduates. Less than a year and a half!"

Fierce pride filled Frank's face, the warrior's pride he'd inherited from his Comanche side. His eyes glittered with black fire, and exultantly he lifted Gerard high, his hands under the younger man's armpits, and twirled around with him. Gerard threw back his head, shrieking with laughter, and suddenly Frank felt his entire body clench with desire. It was as powerful as a blow to the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Gerard was soft and warm in his arms, his laughter was as fresh as the spring, and Frank wanted him out of the prim little button up and pants he wore.

Slowly Frank's face changed to a harder, more primitive cast. Gerard was still laughing as he lowered him, his hands braced on Frank's shoulders, but he stopped when Gerard's chest was level with his face. The laughter died in Gerard's throat as Frank deliberately brought him closer to him. His grip shifted, one arm locking around the teacher's buttocks and the other around his back, and Frank's hot mouth searched for his nipple. He found it, his mouth clamping down on it through the barrier of his pale blue shirt, but the sensation was still so exquisite that Gerard's breath caught on a moan and his back arched, pushing his chest against him.

It wasn't enough. Gerard burrowed his fingers through Frank's hair, digging into his skull to push his mouth harder against him, but it wasn't enough. He wanted him with sudden, fierce desperation. The layers of cloth that kept Frank from him drove him mad, and he squirmed against him, low whimpers coming from his throat.

"Please."

He begged.

"Frank—"

Frank lifted his head, his eyes savage with need. His blood was thundering through his veins, and he was breathing hard.

"Do you want more?"

The words were guttural, a normal tone beyond him.
Gerard squirmed against him again, his hands clutching desperately.

"Yes."

Very gently Frank let him slide down his body, deliberately rubbing him over the hardened bulge in his jeans, and both of them shuddered. Frank was beyond thinking of all his reasons for not becoming involved with him, beyond anything but the urge to take him. To hell with what anyone thought.

He looked around, gauging the distance to both house and barn. The barn was closer. Clamping his hand around Gerard's wrist, he strode toward the big open double doors that revealed the dim interior.

Gerard could barely get his breath as he was all but dragged in his wake. His senses bewildered by the sudden cessation of pleasure, he was confused by his actions and wanted to ask what he was doing, but he didn't have enough oxygen in his lungs to form the question. Then they were inside the barn, and he was swamped by the perceptions of dim light, animal warmth and the earthy smells of dust, hay, leather and horses. He heard soft nickers and the muffled stamping of hooves on straw. Frank led him into an empty stall and dragged him down onto the fresh hay. Gerard sprawled on his back, and Frank came down on top of him, his muscled weight pressing him even deeper into the hay.

"Kiss me."

Gerard whispered, reaching up to thrust his fingers into his long hair and pull Frank down to him.

"I'll kiss you all over before I'm through with you."

Frank muttered, and bent his head. Gerard's mouth opened under the force of his, and his tongue moved into him in a deep rhythm that he instinctively recognised and accepted, responded to eagerly. Frank was heavy, but it was so natural that Gerard bear his weight that he rejoiced in the pressure of his body. He wrapped his arms around Frank's thickly muscled shoulders and hugged him even tighter to him; he wanted to be as close as he could to him, and to that end his hips undulated slightly, adjusting to the carnal pressure of his loins.

The slow movements of his hips beneath him made Frank feel as if his head would explode from the rush of blood through his body. He made a low, rough sound in his throat and reached for the buttons on Gerard's shirt. Frank thought he would die if he didn't feel his silky skin under his hands, if he didn't sheathe his throbbing flesh inside him.

It was startlingly new to Gerard, bringing a delicate flush to his cheeks, but it was still so right that he didn't even think of protesting. He didn't want to protest. He wanted Frank. He felt warm and sexual, intensely aware of being a man and offering himself to the man he loved. He wanted to be naked for him, so he helped him by pulling his arms free of the sleeves as he tugged the shirt from his shoulders and let it fall to the ground. He had felt racy, daring to not wear an undershirt beneath his button up, but as Frank looked down at his chest, he was so glad he had done it.

Frank made that rough sound again, almost like a growl, and bent to nuzzle at him. His mouth, warm and wet, slid across his chest and clamped on the tightly beaded nipple. Gerard jumped, his entire body reacting to a pleasure so intense it bordered on pain, as Frank sucked strongly at him. Gerard's eyes closed, and he moaned. He couldn't bear it; it felt too good, a hot river of pleasure-pain impulses running from breast to loin, where an empty ache made him press his legs together and arch beneath him, silently begging for the release his body had never known, but sensed with ancient wisdom.

Frank felt him move beneath him again, and the last shred of control he'd retained, vanished. Roughly he jerked Gerard's suit pants down and off, and kneed his thighs apart, settling himself between the vulnerable V of his legs. Gerard opened his eyes, a little shocked by what he could feel down there, but eager to know more.

"Take off your clothes."

He whispered frantically, and tore at the buttons on his shirt. He still couldn't believe that he had the same effect on Frank, as Frank was having on him.

Frank reared back on his knees and tore his shirt open, then off. His naked skin glistened with a fine patina of sweat; in the dim light, filled with floating dust motes, the overlay of sleek bronze skin on powerful muscles gave him the look of live art sculpted by a master's hand. Gerard's gaze moved hungrily, feverishly, over him. He was perfect, strong and male, the scent of his body hot and faintly musky. He reached out for him, his hands sliding over Frank's broad chest, lightly haired in a diamond pattern stretching from nipple to nipple. He touched those tight little buds, and Frank froze, a massive shiver of pleasure rippling through his muscles.

He groaned aloud and dropped his hands to his belt. He unbuckled the wide band of leather, then unsnapped his jeans and jerked the zipper down, the hissing of the metal teeth blending with their harsh breathing. With some last desperate fragment of willpower, he kept himself from lowering his pants. Gerard was a virgin; he couldn't allow himself to forget that, even in his urgency. Damn it, he had to regain some control, or he'd both scare and hurt him, and he would die before he turned his first time into a nightmare.
Gerard's slim fingers curled in the hair on his chest and tugged lightly.

"Frank."

He said. Just his name, just that one word, but his voice was warm and low and drugged sounding, and it beckoned him more powerfully than anything he'd known before.

"Yes."

He said in response.

"Now."

He leaned forward to cover him again, then froze as a distant sound came to his ears.
He swore quietly and sank back on his heels, battling desperately to control his body and his frustration.

"Frank?"

Now Gerard's tone was hesitant, consternation and self-consciousness creeping into it. That inflection made Frank feel murderous, because he hadn't been self-conscious before. He had been warm and loving, willing to give himself without reserve.

"Lucas will be here in a few minutes.."

Frank said flatly.

"I can hear his truck coming up the mountain."

Gerard was still so far out of it that he merely looked confused.

"Lucas?"

"Yes, Lucas. Remember him? My son, the reason you're up here in the first place."

Gerard's cheeks flooded with colour, and he jerked into an upright position, as far as he could, because his thighs were still draped over Frank's.

"Oh my God."

He said.

"Oh my God. I'm naked. You're naked. Oh my God."

"We're not naked.."

Frank muttered, wiping his sweaty face.

"Damn it."

"Almost!"

"Not enough."

Even Gerard's nipples were rosy with embarrassment now. Frank looked at them with regret, remembering his sweet taste and the way his velvety little nipple had bloomed in his mouth. But the sound of the truck was much closer now, and with a low, obscene comment on his son's rotten timing, he got to his feet and effortlessly lifted Gerard to his.

Tears blurred Gerard's vision as he turned his back to fumble with his shirt buttons. Grandma would have been outraged. She would have fallen on the ground in a hissy fit if she'd even thought of her grandson rolling naked in the hay with another man. And, darn it, he hadn't even been able to finish his rolling!

"Here, I'll do it."

Frank said in a far gentler tone than Gerard had ever before heard from him. He turned him around and deftly handled the buttons. Gerard kept his head down, unable to look Frank in the eye, but the contrast of his sun-bronzed hands against his pale skin made him feel hot again. He swallowed and looked at Frank's belt buckle. He'd zipped his jeans back up and buckled his belt, but the visible swell of his loins told Gerard he wasn't completely unaffected by this interruption. That made him feel better, and he blinked the tears from his eyes as Frank helped him back into his pants, and fastened his flies.

"You have hay in your hair."

Frank teased, and picked the straw from the tangled tresses, then brushed it from his shirt.
Gerard put up both hands to discern the state of his hair and found it a complete mess.

"Leave it.."

Frank said.

"I like it messy. It looks like silk."

Nervously Gerard combed his fingers through the strands and watched as Frank leaned down to pick up his shirt from the hay.

"What will Lucas think?"

He blurted as the truck pulled to a stop outside the barn.

"That he's lucky he's my son, or I'd have killed him."

Frank muttered grimly, and Gerard wasn't certain he was teasing. He put his shirt on but didn't bother buttoning it before stepping into the open door. Taking a deep breath, Gerard braced himself to get through the embarrassment and followed him.
Lucas had just gotten out of the truck, and now he stood beside the door, his ice-blue eyes moving from his father to Gerard and back, taking in Frank's stone face and open shirt, and Gerard's tousled hair.

"Damn it!"

He swore and slammed the door shut.

"If it had just taken me fifteen minutes longer—"

"My feelings exactly."

Frank concurred.

"Hey, I'll leave—"

Frank sighed.

"No. He came to see you anyway."

"That's what you said the first time."

Lucas grinned hugely.

"And I just said it again."

Frank turned to Gerard, and some of the enjoyment of his stunning news returned to his eyes.

"Tell him."

Gerard couldn't think.

"Tell him?"

"Yeah. Tell him."

Slowly his dazed mind registered what he was saying. He looked in bewilderment at his empty hands. What had happened to the letters? Had they lost them in the hay? How mortifying it would be to have to search through the hay for them! Not knowing what else to do, he spread his hands and said simply,

"You're in. I got the letter today."

Blood drained from Lucas' face as he stared at him, and he reached out blindly to rest his hand on the truck as if to steady himself.

"I got in? The Academy? I got into the Academy?"

He asked hoarsely.

"You got the recommendation. It's up to you to pass the exams."

He threw back his head and screamed, an exultant, spine-chilling sound like that of a hunting panther, then leaped at Frank. The two of them pounded each other's backs, laughing and yelling, then finally just hugging each other in a way two weaker men couldn't have done. Gerard folded his hands and watched them, smiling, so happy his heart swelled to the point of pain. Then suddenly an arm reached out and snagged him, and he found himself sandwiched between the two Ieros, almost smashed flat by their celebration.

"You're smothering me!"

He protested in a gasping voice, wedging his hands against two broad chests and pushing. One of those chests was bare, exposed by an unbuttoned shirt, and the touch of his warm skin made him go weak in the knees. Both of them laughed at his protest, but both of them immediately gentled their embrace.
Gerard patted his hair down and smoothed his shirt.

"The letters are here somewhere. I must have dropped them."

Frank gave him a wicked look.

"You must have."

His teasing made Gerard happy deep inside, and he smiled up at him. It was a quietly intimate smile, the sort that someone gives the man they loves after they have been in his arms, and it warmed him. To cover his reaction, Frank turned to look for the dropped letters and spotted one on the drive, while the other had fallen close to the barn door. He retrieved both of them, and gave Lucas the one addressed to him.

The boy's hands shook as he read the letter, even though he already knew the contents. He couldn't believe it. It had happened so fast. A dream come true should have been harder to attain; he should have had to sweat blood to get it. Oh, he wasn't driving one of those twenty-million dollar babies yet, but he would. He had to, because he would be only half alive without wings.

Gerard was watching him with proud indulgence when he felt Frank stiffen beside him. He looked at him inquiringly. His head was lifted as if he scented danger, and his face was suddenly as impassive as stone. Then Gerard heard the sound of an engine and turned as a deputy sheriff's car rolled to a stop behind Lucas' truck.
Lucas turned, and his face took on the same stony look as Frank's as Clay Armstrong got out of the county car.

"Mr. Way."

Clay spoke to him first, tipping his hat.

"Deputy Armstrong."

Two hundred years of strict training on social behaviour were in his voice. Grandma would have been proud. But he sensed some threat to Frank, and it was all he could do not to put himself between him and the deputy. Only the knowledge that Frank wouldn't appreciate the action kept him standing at his side.
Clay's friendly blue eyes weren't friendly at all now.

"Why are you up here, Mr. Way?"

"Why are you asking?"

He shot back, putting his hands on his hips.

"Just skip to the good part, Armstrong."

Frank snapped.

"Fine.."

Clay snapped back.

"You're wanted for questioning. You can come with me now, the easy way, or I can get a warrant for your arrest."

Lucas stood frozen, fury and hell in his eyes. This had happened before, and he'd lost his father for two nightmarish years. It seemed even more terrible this time, because just moments before they had been celebrating, and he'd been on top of the world.
Frank began buttoning his shirt. In a voice like gravel he asked..

"What happened this time?"

"We'll talk about that at the sheriff's office."

"We'll talk about it now."

Black eyes met blue, and abruptly Clay realised this man wouldn't move a foot unless he had some answers.

"A girl was raped this morning."

Sulphuric rage burned in those night-dark eyes.

"So naturally you thought of the Indian."

He spat the words like bullets from between clenched teeth. God, this couldn't be happening again. Not twice in one lifetime. The first time had almost killed him, and he knew he'd never go back to that hellhole, no matter what he had to do.

"We're just questioning some people. If you have an alibi, there's no problem. You'll be free to go."

"I suppose you picked up every rancher in this area? Do you have Eli Baugh at the sheriff's office answering questions?"

Clay's face darkened with anger.

"No."

"Just the Indian, huh?"

"You have priors."

But Clay looked uncomfortable.

"I don't have... one... single... prior conviction."

Frank snarled.

"I was cleared."

"Damn it, man, I know that!"

Clay suddenly yelled.

"I was told to pick you up, and I'm going to do my job."

"Well, why didn't you just say so? I wouldn't want to stop a man from doing his job."

After that sarcastic jab, Frank strode to his truck.

"I'll follow you."

"You can ride in the car. I'll bring you back."

"No, thanks. I'd rather have my own wheels, just in case the sheriff decides a walk would do me good."

Swearing under his breath, Clay went to the car and got in. Dust and gravel flew from his tires as he headed back down the mountain, with Frank behind him slinging even more dust and gravel.

Gerard began shaking. At first it was just a tremor, but it swiftly escalated into shudders that rattled his entire body. Lucas was standing as if turned to stone, his fists clenched. Suddenly he whirled and slammed his fist into the hood of his truck.

"By God, they won't do it to him again.."

He whispered.

"Not again."

"No, they certainly won't."

Gerard was still shaking, but he squared his shoulders.

"If I have to get every judge and court in this country involved, I will. I'll call newspapers, I'll call television networks, I'll call—oh, they don't have any idea of who all I can call."

The network of Old Family contacts he had left behind in California was still there, and more favours would be called in than the sheriff of this county could count. He'd hang him out to dry!

"Why don't you go home?"

Lucas suggested in a flat tone.

"I want to stay."

He'd expected him to quietly walk to his car, but at his words he looked at him for the first time. Deep inside, part of him had thought Gerard wouldn't be able to leave fast enough, that he and Frank would be alone again, as they had always been. They were used to being alone. But Gerard stood his ground as if he had no intention of budging off this mountain, his soft hazel eyes full of fire and his fragile chin lifted in the way that Lucas had learned meant others could just get out of his path.

The boy, forced by circumstance to grow up hard and fast, put his strong arms around the trembling older man and held him, desperately absorbing some of his strength, because he was deathly afraid he'd need it. And Gerard held him. He was Frank's son, and he'd protect him with every ounce of fight he had.

Notes

Hi there chipmunks.. What's up?..

Trouble's abrewin' on Iero's mountain!..

Please comment, stay safe, and peace out babies!
<3