(2) Two vampires, a ghoul and a shifter.

"Piers, clean up the mess you made."

Piers scowled at his Sire. "Isn't that what the servants are for?"

"They are here to serve, not to be janitors. Now find a broom and get to work."

"Fine," Piers huffed, stalking off to look for one.

"That boy is going to drive me insane. I had hopes that bringing him here might mellow him. Apparently it hasn't."

Linden agreed wholeheartedly. "What he really needs is to be sequestered at the estate. No night life, no clubs, no—nothing."

Roderick tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I don't want to quell his spirit, but he does need to channel his energies into something other than partying and fucking any man who'll bend over for him."

"Like playing janitor?" Piers grumbled, coming back in with a broom and dustpan.

"Eavesdropping again, Piers?" Linden asked with a grin.

"Moi? Always if I can. It's the only way I can find out what torture Rod has lined up next for me." He set to work sweeping up the shattered pieces of dinnerware, still talking as he did. "First he drags me away from my friends the minute I've survived the turning. Then he takes me from city to city with him while he does whatever it is he does for the King, and finally we end up in this backwater burg with only two decent clubs and one of them is for straights. Though the bands they have there almost make that one tolerable."

"You seem to deal with it just fine when you take me along," Linden pointed out.

Throwing an arm around Linden's shoulder, Piers told him with a smile, "You keep me grounded."

Linden shrugged. "That's a ghoul's job."

"You do it exceptionally well." Piers kissed his cheek before going back to work.

Smiling to himself, Linden touched his cheek, and then reddened when he realized Roderick had been watching. "I—umm—had better get back to what I was doing," he muttered, hastily leaving the room.

"When you have finished, Piers, please come to my quarters. We need to talk."

Piers nodded while watching Roderick stride through the doorway. "Talk," he muttered disconsolately. "That's all you ever do. Talk." Angrily he reached for another plate then changed his mind. He still hadn't gotten all the shards swept up from the last pieces he'd thrown. Smash another one and he might never get finished.

(1) Two vampires, a ghoul and a shifter.

(Note: This story was previously published, a billion years ago it feels like, by a now defunct publisher I was with. This is the original version.)

The cup hit the wall with a satisfying crash, followed by a plate thrown with such force that it cut through one of the tapestries, part of it becoming imbedded in the rough plaster behind it, the shattered remains falling to the floor.

Linden covered his mouth to hide him amused smile, saying sternly from behind it, "Someone had better chill out."

Pierson hissed, picking up another cup, studying it for a long moment before he hurled it after the first one. "I'll chill when I'm dead and not before. And that's a long ways off."

"Not that far off," a deep voice said angrily. "Not if you keep destroying original Meissen tableware, Piers."

Piers rolled his eyes.

"What has you so upset this time?" Roderick inquired, looking at his recalcitrant Child.

Linden snickered. "His most recent conquest decided he was tired of spending his nights at the clubs."

"Just what's wrong with clubs? They're alive, exciting and filled with all sorts of beautiful boys," Piers grumbled.

"Dinner and sex on the hoof, right Piers?" Linden snickered again.

"Pierson!" Roderick growled.

"For crying out loud, Rod, when are you going to realize I'm not an Adolescent anymore?"

"When you stop acting like one. It's time to face up to your responsibilities."

"We're fricking vampires. Since when do we have 'responsibilities'?"

"You are my Child. That alone gives you the responsibility to behave like an adult."

'You are my Child,' Piers mouthed, wrinkling his nose, though he made certain his Sire couldn't see him doing it.

Linden saw it and laughed. "A hundred and twenty going on nineteen,"  

"Hey, not my fault he turned me before I reached my prime."

'Oh you are very prime.' Linden hoped Roderick wasn’t listening in.

Roderick was; and he agreed although he would never tell Piers. They were after all Sire and Child, and as a result that was the only relationship that the King allowed. 

Piers, not really wanting a confrontation with Roderick, started to leave the room. A firm hand gripped his shoulder.

My Brother’s Keeper - 45

Roy put a hand over Tad’s mouth. “Shush up for a minute. I’m not mad, well not really. I think it’s a wonderful idea. Hey!” He pulled his hand back fast when Tad nipped his palm. “Fight fair, no biting.”

Tad chuckled. “I’ll remember that for later. But really, I mean look at this place. It’s big enough but not too big and it’s close enough to both our jobs and the realtor said the neighborhood is, umm, ‘tolerant’ I think was her word.”

“Tolerant is good,” Roy admitted. “So, show us around.”

“On your left you’ll see…” Tad began in his best tour-guide voice.

Three months later they had moved into the house. It had taken most of what was left of his trust fund to pay for it but as far as Tad was concerned it was well worth it not to have to worry about mortgage payments and all the potential hassle surrounding them. Roy had gone from ‘No way in hell are you doing that’ to ‘You buy the house and Jerry and I will furnish it’. In the end they had compromised since neither of the brothers had any money other than what they were earning from their jobs. The three of them pooled half their incomes for a couple of months to buy furniture with the agreement that the brothers would start savings accounts, the monies to be used for any future major purchases.

During one of their furniture shopping forays Jerry had run into a girl he knew from high school. They began hanging out together and while he wasn’t willing to commit to the idea that they had something serious going on. he did admit that he liked her more than a little. That had earned him a stern lecture from Roy on the joys and dangers of sex that had him rolling his eyes.

“So help me if she turns up pregnant…” Roy had growled to Tad that evening as they got ready for bed.

“Trust Jer. He’s a good kid,” Tad had admonished him, which in the end Roy had admitted he knew.

“I guess it’s my parental instincts coming out,” he’d grumbled.

“And you do the whole thing very well. You have since the day I met you and for a long time before that. So stop worrying.”

“I think we’re both pretty good at it when it comes right down to it,” Roy commented.

“And that my dear man is because we both love him, and each other. That is what makes a family a family.”

Roy smiled, wrapping his arms around Tad. “That’s exactly what we are. Family.”

The End

Guardian Angels – Ambivalent - 4

"What the hell? Well I'll be damned," Vic said in surprise when Paddy appeared in the middle of his office. "Uh-oh, don't tell me someone's after me for some reason."

Paddy laughed, shaking his head. "Nope, not after you or Evan."

Vic sighed with relief. "Then why are you here?"

"I need your expertise," Paddy told him.

"Have a seat and tell me how."

Paddy did. Then he rattled off the license plate number he'd memorized from Mr. Keefe's car. "Can you trace it?"

"This is me you're talking to. Off course I can." Vic turned to his computer, opening a web site, and entered the number. He grinned at Paddy. "Don't ever tell anyone I can get in here. Some people would not be happy if they found out."

"Like who would I tell? Evan? I know he's more than aware of your special talents."

Vic waggled his eyebrows while he waited for the information he was seeking. "Let's just say some of my 'special talents' lay in other things not the least bit computer related."

Paddy shook his head in amusement. "I take it that means you two have moved into a permanent relationship."

"Given that I'm living at his house now, I'd say that's a yes."

"Great!" Paddy eyed the computer. "Is it finding anything?"

"It is. The car was registered just over two weeks ago to a company called Keefe Investigations, owned by one John Keefe." Vic frowned. "They must be new in town since I've never heard of them." Picking up a pen, he wrote down the address.

"Interesting," Paddy said.

"How so?"

"The young man I'm assigned to protect? His father died a month ago, but not here in the city. Mr. Keefe is trying to find Mike."

"Mike's your charge?"

"Yes. He's twenty-one, and works at a shelter for street kids. This Keefe guy showed up there today claiming Mike's father had hired him to find Mike."

"He thought he'd be there?"

"What I picked up from Mike's thoughts, the man said he was visiting all the shelters in the city. Mike ran away from home when he was seventeen. Presumably Mr. Keefe figures he might have stayed at one or more of the shelters to get off the streets for a night or two. He's undoubtedly hoping someone recognizes him from the pictures he's flashing, and can tell him where Mike is now."

"That's sort of stupid. After four years Mike could be anywhere in the country."

"True, but if you were looking for him, wouldn't you start out the same way?"

Vic nodded. "I suppose so, and hope someone remembered him and maybe knew enough about him to know if he was still around."  Vic tilted his head in question. "If Keefe knows Mike's name, and has pictures of him, why didn't he recognize him? Or didn't they actually meet?"

"They met. He didn't recognize him."

"Okay. A person can change a lot in four years, especially at that age, and if Mike did live on the streets the changes could be major." Vic leaned back, looking at Paddy. "So now what are you going to do? And why are you here, not with him? Never mind the last question. You can sense if he's in danger."

"Yep. As far as what I'll do next, I'm still debating that. Can you run a check on Keefe Investigations and find out if they're legit?"

"You bet." Vic returned his attention to the computer.

My Brother’s Keeper - 44

(Epilogue - 1)

“I did it!” Jerry was grinning ear to ear, the tails of his graduation robe flying out behind him as he raced over to join Roy and Tad, showing Roy his diploma.

Roy hugged him hard, as did Tad seconds later. Then Tad looked at Roy and winked. “You might as well let him know.”

Jerry looked between them. “Know what?”

“I didn’t want to take your big day away from you, but…” Roy took a well-folded piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to Jerry.

“Oh yeah, hot damn! This is super cool,” Jerry said once he’d read it. “So we’re both high school graduates.

“Yep, but you earned your diploma legitimately. I just have a GED.”

“That’s totally legit too,” Jerry assured him as he linked his arms with Roy and Tad. “So, where are we going to celebrate?”

“Well, I have an idea but you’re going to have to trust me,” Tad replied.

Roy smiled at him. “Always, so lead on.”

It took twenty minutes to arrive at their destination, although ten of them were spent just getting out of the high school parking lot since everyone seemed to be trying to leave at the same time.

When Tad pulled off main road onto a side street, Roy shot a look at Jerry. He shrugged. When the car stopped in front of a small house in the middle of the block the two brothers were really confused.

“Are we picking up someone else?” Roy asked.

“No. There’s something I wanted to show you.” Tad got out of the car, waiting for the others to join him before he started up the walk. When he got to the front door he unlocked it, standing back to let them go inside first.

“It’s umm, nice,” Roy said hesitantly as he looked around the large, unfurnished living room.

“Great kitchen,” Jerry said moments later as he began exploring. He came back with the idea that he should check out the rest of the first floor.

Roy held up a hand to stop him. “This isn’t our house and whoever it belongs…too…” He stopped as it finally hit him. “Don’t tell me you bought this,” he growled at Tad. “Without even consulting me? Us?”

Tad shook his head. “I wanted you two to see it first. If you don’t like it there are a couple of others…”

“I know we talked about maybe, someday, getting a house but damn it Tad. I mean couldn’t you at least have talked to me first?”

“Sorry,” Tad said, a hangdog expression on his face. “I wanted to surprise you. Both of you have been working so hard and I had some free time so I figured I’d at least see what was available but I guess I screwed up and…”

My Brother’s Keeper - 43

“Why were you late? Didn’t you get my message?” Roy asked as soon as he and the others were in the hall outside of Max’s office.

“I did, but not until after I got finished talking with the committee.”

“What committee?” Jerry wanted to know.

“The one that had to approve my photos for the Winter Art Show.”

Roy grabbed his arm to make him standstill. “And did they?” he asked excitedly.

“Yes.” Tad grinned at him. “Not only did they like them, they’re going to give me one of the places of honor in the exhibit.”

“Hot damn!” Roy threw his arms around Tad, hugging him tightly. “That’s fantastic.”

Jerry hugged him too, although not quite so closely. “You’re going to be famous.”

Tad shrugged. “I doubt that, but it’s nice knowing people will get to see them and hopefully like them.”

“Of course they’ll like them, look who the subjects are,” Jerry told him with a broad grin.

“I was thinking,” Tad said seriously as he looked at Roy. “Maybe I should blur your faces in them?”

“Why?” Roy was puzzled for a second and then he got it. “I’m not ashamed that we were on the streets. It was part of our life and what we had to do. If anyone should be ashamed it would be my parents for forcing us into that situation.”

“I totally agree,” Jerry said adamantly. “Show away. Damn the torpedoes or something like that.”

Tad cocked an eyebrow. “Where on earth did you learn that?”

“In school. We were studying the Civil War and some navy guy said it.”

“School.” Roy snapped his fingers. “We have to get you enrolled as soon as possible.”

“After I talk to the realty company and get you on the lease,” Tad pointed out.

“And then we have to…”

The discussion continued as they walked to the bus stop, Roy checking his notes and adding to them. It didn’t stop until they were almost back to the apartment.

My Brother’s Keeper - 42

“Why isn’t he answering?” Roy asked; a rhetorical question of course since Jerry and Max had no answer for him. Roy had tried calling before they’d left Tad’s apartment and had been sent to his voicemail where he left a message. Now they were at Max’s office after a twenty minute walk and he still couldn’t get through to Tad.

“I bet he turns his phone off when he’s in class,” Jerry suggested.

“But he knew I was going to call. He’d at least have left it on vibrate.”

“Guys, how about we get started,” Max said. He commiserated with them but he did have his own schedules to meet.

Once they were all settled in his office he laid out exactly what was going to happen and what Roy had to do in order to obtain guardianship of Jerry. When he finished, Roy nodded slowly as he looked at the notes he’d taken. Then, hesitantly, he asked the two questions that were uppermost in his mind at the moment.

“Will the court have a problem if Jerry and I are living with Tad, and what happens if my parent’s fight me on this?”

“As long as you can prove you legally live there you should be fine. I would suggest however that you omit the fact that you and he are in a relationship, if you are that is. As for your parents, I’m quite certain they’ll fight this, but I’ll fight harder and I have the weapons and the training to do that.”

“Then my name needs to be on the lease too?”

“It does.” Max stopped when the office door opened. Tad stood there and Max beckoned for him to join them.

Tad did, apologizing profusely for being late. “But I have a good reason, which I’ll tell you later,” he whispered to Roy.

“We were just discussing Roy’s need for a permanent residence.”

Tad looked at them in surprise. “I though that had been decided, they’re going to live at the apartment.” He frowned at Roy. “Or did you change your mind?”

“No, no,” Roy hastily assured him. “But…” he looked at Max.

“If this is going to work his name has to be on the lease as well,” Max explained.

“Oh, is that all. That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll talk to the rental company as soon as we finish here. It is a two bedroom apartment so they must expect people to have roommates.”

“Just make certain you let them know that’s what he is. There’s no sense in giving his family any unnecessary ammunition,” Max cautioned.

“But I was planning on marching in there and telling them I was moving my boyfriend in,” Tad replied with a straight face. Then he chuckled. “I’m not a complete idiot, Max. I already figured that part out.”

“Thought you would,” Max told him. “Now let’s get some paperwork done and then you’re free to leave.

My Brother’s Keeper - 41

Tad tossed some cash at the cab driver, grabbed his bag and portfolio, and dashed into the building. He slid into his seat just as the professor entered the room. An hour later, after he’d explained why he had missed some classes, which the professor accepted with reasonably good grace, he was walking on to his next class.

As he crossed the campus he heard Melodie call his name. With a sigh he waited for her to catch up. When she linked her arm with his and asked in a very aggravated voice why he hadn’t called her he gave her a brief rundown on what had happened.

“Well you should have called anyway,” she pouted. “After all I am your girlfriend. You’re supposed to let me know what’s going on.”

Tad bit his lip, and then bit the bullet. “About that, I think it’s time we went our separate ways,” he replied.

“You what?” she screeched. “Are you breaking up with me?” Before he could reply in the affirmative she said almost as loudly, “After all we’ve been to each other, how could you?”

“That’s rather cliché,” he muttered. “And if you want to face the truth, Mel, the only thing I’ve been to you is a source of help with your class work and someone to be with to show your friends that you did have a boyfriend.”

“That’s so not true.” She glared daggers at him for a long moment. “Well you know what, I was going to break up with you anyway. Paul Arthur’s been after me for ages and he’s much more interesting than you.” With that said she flounced away.

“Well that went well, not,” he commented under his breath, ignoring the looks some of the other students who had watched Melodie’s little scene sent him. When he got to his next class, which was Mr. Moore’s, he dropped into his seat with some relief.

“Nice of you to decide to join us again, Mr. Cooper,” the professor said acerbically. “Where’s your sidekick?”

“I have a feeling she’s going to drop the class,” Tad replied quietly.

Mr. Moore nodded and class began. When it was over he told Tad to meet him in his office. “Close the door, please,” Mr. Moore said when Tad came in. “Now, would you mind telling me why you’ve been MIA?”

Tad did and when he’d finished Mr. Moore actually smiled. “That is quite a story. It will add something to your portion of the Winter art show.”

“Umm,” Tad said hesitantly, “I never got a chance to submit my photos to the committee.”

“I’m aware of that. I managed to wrangle you an extension. Do you have them with you?” He glanced at Tad’s portfolio.

“Yes, sir.”

“Very good. Come with me. Oh, and from what you implied before class I have the feeling you and Miss Raines have had a parting of the ways. Congratulations.”

Guardian Angels – Ambivalent - 3

The more Mike thought about it, the more he wondered what would have possessed his father to start searching for him after four years.

I suppose the simplest way to find out would be to call him. He snorted derisively. As if. I don't believe for one second he suddenly wants to become a loving parent. He never was. Okay, he never was after I reached my teens and mom died. By then I figured out I was my own person, not someone he could mold into the image he had of the perfect son. 

"I could call Mandy," he murmured. "She must still be living at home since Mr. Keefe said she's the one who had the pictures." He chuckled softly. "I bet Father blew a gasket when he found out she kept them. Call and ask for her. If Father answers the phone, I'll say I'm a friend of hers. That could work. Then I'll have her meet me somewhere." 

Taking out his phone, he called the number he knew by heart, even though he hadn't used it in over four years. When it was answered, by a voice he didn't recognize, he asked to speak to Amanda O'Donnell.

"I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number," the person replied.

"Is this 555-6389?" Mike asked.

"Yes, but there's no Amanda here."

"Oh," he said dispiritedly. "I guess… How long have you had this number, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Over two years."

"Thank you." Mike sighed and hung up. "Now what?" Using his phone to go online, he ran a search for his father's name, hoping to get his new number. "What the hell?" he spat out moments later. The first thing to come up when he searched was an obituary, dated a month ago. In it, it said his father had died from a massive heart attack. He felt an instant sense of grief as he shut down his phone.

How could he have died and I didn't know about it? It must have been in the papers, and on the news. He wiped his eyes, realizing they were tearing up. Is that why Mr. Keefe is looking for me? If so, why did he say he'd been hired by Father? Something's not right here.

Turning on his phone again, Mike went back to the obituary. It was from an online newspaper site in a city halfway across the country. As he read the story, he realized his family, well his father and sister since his mother was dead, had moved there a year after he had left home.

Mike blew out a long breath. "Okay, Mr. Keefe, I think it's time I had a talk with you. Presuming of course that you're still at the shelter." He was on his feet seconds later, walking swiftly back to Crossroads House.   

* * * *

Paddy followed Mike, albeit invisibly. The young man was angry and it showed.

No wonder. I would be too under the circumstances. However, it might not be such a good idea for Mike to reveal who he is to this Keefe person. At least not until I find out why the man is looking for him.

Instantly Paddy was inside Crossroads House. It took him a couple of minutes to locate Mr. Keefe in the employee's area. The man was talking to two of the people who worked at the shelter, showing them a picture.

"Nope, never seen him," one man said. The other one nodded in agreement.

Mr. Keefe's mouth tightened in apparent frustration. "Is there anyone else I could ask?"

The man shrugged. "Try Mr. Jones. He's the head of Crossroads and had been here forever. He should be in his office."

Paddy gave Mr. Keefe a small nudge, implanting the idea that he had already talked to Mr. Jones—and everyone else who worked there.

"I have already and he doesn't remember the kid either," Mr. Keefe told the men. "I guess I'll have to keep searching other places. Thanks for your help."

Mr. Keefe started toward the door to the front counter area, until one of the employees suggest he use the side door instead, saying, "We're about to get hit with all the kids who know they have to be here early to get in line for a meal and a bed."

That worked well as far as Paddy was concerned since Mike had just come in the front door. Paddy got there in time to hear Mike ask the girl at the counter "Is that man, Mr. Keefe, still here?"

"He was a few minutes ago," she replied. "I haven't seen him leave."

"Buzz me through," Mike said, and a moment later he was striding down the hallway in the employee's area with Paddy right behind him. Mike stopped to talk to a couple of people, shaking his head angrily when he found out Mr. Keefe had just left via the side door.

"You might be able to catch him," the guy suggested.

With a nod, Mike went out the door. A car was just pulling away from the curb half a block down. "Damn it all to hell," Mike growled.

Paddy, being a fairly smart angel with a penchant for investigation, took note of the license plate number. I bet Vic can track it down. Vic was one of Paddy's past charges, a private investigator who had gotten himself involved in trying to stop a blackmailer. Paddy, with help, had kept Vic from harm, more or less.  Which means—he grinned—it's time to pay him a visit.

My Brother’s Keeper - 40

“I’m going to kill him,” Roy growled.

“Not if I get to him first.” Tad laughed, curling up closer behind Roy as he called out, “Go make your own breakfast Jerry and leave us alone.”

“Well, if that’s the way you’re going to be,” Jerry huffed. He smacked the bedroom door one more time before he walked away.

Tad rolled his eyes when Jerry’s laughter drifted back to them. “This is going to be very interesting. Maybe you should send him off to military school until he’s eighteen?”

Roy chuckled. “I’ll definitely consider it if he keeps this up.”

“I suppose we should get up and moving, now that he’s awake. Besides you two have to meet with Max sometime today.”

Roy rolled over to look at him. “You’ll come too? I mean this does sort of involve you now. That is if you meant it when you said… Well…you know.”

“I meant every word of it. I want you here and he’s part of the package, so of course I’ll come with you.” He cupped Roy’s cheek in one hand while kissing him deeply. When he decided that another second more and they wouldn’t be getting up he pulled away. “Move it boy.”

Roy groaned as he sat up. “Tomorrow morning…”

“I have classes, which I’ve missed for the last couple of days. But tonight…”

“Damn. Don’t you have them today too? You’d better be the one to get moving.”

“At this point missing one more day isn’t going to make that much difference.”

“Go. I don’t want to feel responsible for your flunking out or something.”

Tad smiled and slid out of bed. “Make you a deal. I’ll go but you have to call me the second you know when and where you’re meeting Max and I’ll cut out and join you.”

“All right, I guess that works. How are you getting there though? Your car is useless now.”

“Ugh, good point. I could…no, that wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Roy’s eyebrows rose. “Call the girlfriend?”

“Ex-girlfriend at this point as far as I’m concerned though I guess…” Tad sighed, “I guess I have to tell her that.”

“That would probably be a good idea.”

My Brother’s Keeper - 39

Tad opened the bathroom door to be met by a thick cloud of steam and quickly shut it again to keep the heat in. As he undressed and dropped his clothes on top of Roy’s he watched the younger man’s silhouetted body through the glass shower door. Praying that Roy wouldn’t ask him to get out, he stepped into the shower.

“What are you doing here?” Roy asked. He tensed but didn’t turn around.

“Taking a shower? Saving water?”

Roy snorted. “Some excuse. Like you have to worry about that.”

Tad hesitated then said softly, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Roy turned slowly to look at him.

“For being insensitive in what I said to you earlier. I was just trying to get you to see that things were working out for you finally.”

“And you. Now you get your apartment back all to yourself.”

“What if I don’t want it all to myself?”

“Then call up your girlfriend. I’m sure she’d be glad to keep you company.”

“Believe me that is the last thing I want.”

Roy hid a small smile. He was beginning to enjoy this game although he’d never admit it to Tad. “Then I guess you’re shit out of luck, aren’t you.” He reached for the shampoo, squeezing a dollop into his hand.

“Guess I am.” With a sigh Tad opened the shower door enough to step out.

“You give up too easily,” Roy replied quietly as he began to wash his hair.

Tad hesitated, one foot in the shower, the other on the floor outside.

“And you’re making more than a mess out there,” Roy added. “Hope the bathmat can soak it all up.”

“I hope.” Tad finished getting out, closing the door behind him.

“Tad, get back in here. I need…umm…my back washed?”

“Thought you were doing your hair,” Tad muttered but he rejoined Roy.

“I think that’s a hopeless cause. How long ‘til the dye washes out anyway?”

“Hell if I know. Days, weeks, and you won’t want to leave until it does you know.”

“Oh? Is that the reason I’m staying around?” Roy cocked an eyebrow, smirking.

“Maybe, or maybe because you want to, and I want you too.”

“Possibly.” Roy smiled, tracing the line of Tad’s jaw with one finger. “Probably.” He put his hands on Tad’s hips to pull him closer. “Or just perhaps…definitely.”

“My favorite word.” Tad cupped Roy’s face in his hands, studying it.

“Do I pass inspection?” Roy asked. When he got a nod in return he said, “Then prove it. Kiss me.”

My Brother’s Keeper - 38

Tad dropped down onto the sofa, shaking his head. “What did I say to bring that on?” he muttered.

“Do you want to know?” Jerry said from the door to the hallway.

Tad looked up. “Thought you’d be asleep by now.”

“I told you I wasn’t tired,” Jerry replied as he came into the room, settling down at the other end of the sofa. “So I umm, sort of eavesdropped?”

With a small nod, Tad asked, “What did I do wrong?”

“I think, probably, it was when you told him he’d have a job and his own apartment.”

Tad frowned. “Well he will. He’ll have to if he’s going to become your guardian.”

“Honest truth,” Jerry said, leaning in conspiratorially, “I think he was sort of hoping we could stay here with you. If you know what I mean.”

“I…well hell…Of course you can if it doesn’t screw things up. I thought he knew that.”

“Hate to say this, Tad, but he can be sort of dense at times. He thinks we’re only here to keep us safe and now that we are, well…” Jerry shrugged.

“And when I said he’d be able to have his own place… I wasn’t thinking how that would sound.”

“That’s why I’m around, to point this stuff out to the two of you.” Jerry wrinkled his nose dramatically then. “You know, you could do with a shower, too. You smell.”

“Well I have been on the streets for the last forty-eight so I’m not surprised,” Tad said before he got the message. He got up, looking down at Jerry. “You are a little conniver aren’t you?”

“When it comes to making my brother happy, you bet. Now go shower before he gets finished. I’m going back to bed.” He stood, heading to the door, saying over his shoulder, “And I’d better wake up alone in the bedroom the morning.”

Guardian Angels – Ambivalent – 2

"Pádrig, in my office, please."

Paddy sighed when he heard Samuel's request in his mind. "Now what?" he muttered, saving the game he was playing before shutting down the computer.

Hal looked up from the book he was reading. "You've been summoned?"

"Yep," Paddy replied as he strode out of the community room into the long white hallway leading to Samuel's office. When he got there, he knocked and Samuel called out 'Enter'.

Folding his wings tightly against his body, Paddy did. Samuel had recently made it mandatory that there were to be no outspread wings in his office. "I'm tired of picking up papers when one or another of you youngsters gets upset with an assignment and waves them too hard," had been his excuse. One Paddy could understand. Even though he was hardly a youngster—he'd been around for longer than he liked to think about—he, too, had a habit of doing that from time to time.

"Sit, please," Samuel said when he saw Paddy.

"You're being awfully free with the 'pleases'," Paddy replied, sitting. "What did I do wrong this time and when are you going to blow up at me? Or, to the contrary, what assignment do you have for me that you know I'm not going to like."

Samuel chuckled. "As far as I know, and I would, you've done nothing to earn you a lecture."

"So it's a bum assignment." Paddy sighed. "Lay it on me."

"There's a young man, his given name is Michael O'Donnell but he calls himself Mike Desmond now. Someone is looking for him but it's not who he thinks it is."

"You want me to keep them from finding him."

"That would have been the best option. However, since the man hired to locate him already has, although at the moment he doesn't know it, you need to protect Michael."

"Why didn't you send me down sooner? I could have stopped this man before he found this Michael."

"We"—Samuel glanced upward—"didn't realize why Michael needed a guardian until today."

"Let me guess. The fate of the world depends on keeping him safe."

Samuel chuckled. "Nothing quite that earth shattering. You know as well as I do our main purpose is to protect someone who needs it, whether from themselves or from others. Yes, there are occasions when doing so is of vital importance to what will happen in the future. Generally however we only need to keep our charges safe from whatever danger might befall them."

Paddy nodded. "So who's after this Michael?"

"He thinks it's his father, wanting reconciliation. It's not." 

"Then who?"

"That, Pádrig, is what you have to find out. And when you do, you have to stop them."

"That's a lot of help." Paddy shook his head disgustedly. "I presume you'd rather I don't reveal myself to Michael."

"If possible, of course you shouldn't. But you've been around long enough that I trust you to play it by ear."

Paddy rapped his knuckles on the desk. "You said he thinks it's his father. I'm presuming they're estranged?"

"Yes. Michael ran away from home when he was seventeen. He spent two years living on the streets before he ended up at the shelter where he's now working. During that time he's had no contact with his family."

"What shelter?"

"Crossroads House. You might have seen it when you were helping Evan and Victor, if you got around that part of the city."

Paddy broke into a wide grin at the mention of the two men's names. "Maybe I can pull Vic in on this and learn more about being a PI."

"Why did I think you might suggest that," Samuel said in exasperation. "Still, if you find you do need his help I suppose there's no harm in it. It might be better than revealing yourself to Michael."

Paddy waggled his hand. "Could be fifty-fifty. We'll see."

Samuel smiled slightly. "You won't see anything if you don't get down there."

With a salute, and a "Your wish is my command," Paddy homed in on Michael and vanished.

My Brother’s Keeper - 37

Jerry greeted Roy as if he’d been gone for years, not just a little over two days. When he found out that their father had shown up at the police station and what had transpired his grin turned almost malicious. “That’ll teach him to mess with us.”

“I doubt anything will teach him that,” Roy replied with some asperity.

“Probably not,” Tad agreed. “But at least you have right, and Max, on your sides.”

“A very tired Max at this point,” the man in question said as he looked a bit pointedly at the front door of Denise’s apartment. “Jerry, Roy, we’ll meet sometime tomorrow to go over what needs to be done next.”

“I think that’s our cue to leave.” Tad said.

When they got up to his apartment Jerry wanted a blow-by-blow of what had happened. What he got was a very brief synopsis before Roy told him to get to bed. When Jerry protested that he wasn’t tired, Roy took a page from Max’s book and said, “But I am, so off with you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jerry muttered as he vanished down the hall to the guest bedroom.

“How are you doing?” Tad asked quietly once he heard the bedroom door close.

“I think I’m still in shock,” Roy admitted. “I can’t believe we really have a chance to get off the streets and back to a normal life.”

“More than a chance; it’s going to happen,” Tad told him firmly. “You’re going to have a whole new life soon, a job, your own apartment, the whole nine yards.”

“I suppose,” Roy replied, but he didn’t look as happy about that as Tad would have expected.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Roy shook his head. “I’m going to go get out of these clothes, shower and get to bed.”

“Roy…” Tad put a hand on his arm. “Talk to me.”

“Nothing to talk about. Besides I am tired so if you’ll excuse me.” He started towards the hallway only to find himself wrapped in Tad’s arms.

“Don’t walk away. I want to know what’s going on with you.”

“Not a damned thing. I’m happy about all this. See.” Roy smiled tightly, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Tad saw that and was about to press the issue and then thought better of it. “Go shower,” he muttered as he stepped back.

Roy growled, “Thanks for the permission,” as he walked away.