When Memories Turn Into Nightmares

Cade was making his way out of the building, his gun and knife back in place. He turned back before closing the door to look at Zarek. He was never good at farewells so rather than saying anything, he simply gave a parting nod and continued on his way.

He had to remind himself that he wasn't going home; it was annoying having to rely on other people for a place to stay. Soon he'd have to go back there and just hope it wasn't being watched. Whatever enemies were after him, he couldn't rule out the possibility that they would go so far as to bug the apartment or stake it out.

Once the keys were extracted from his pocket, he made his way down the sidewalk to his waiting car, picking out the right one and sticking it into the door. It stuck a bit, which wasn't too unusual, considering it was a fairly old car. When he heard it unlock, he took the key out to drop it back into his pocket. Just as he was going to open the door, something caught his eye. Someone was approaching, and even though it was probably just a pedestrian, he hated when people walked too close to him.

It was not just a pedestrian. Cade's eyes widened as he recognised the person as the man who had intruded his apartment on Halloween. How had he found him? With the assumption that it wasn't just a coincidence, he quickly spun on his heel and broke into a sprint back to the building he had just left. Getting into the car and starting it up would have taken too long; Zarek was his best chance.

His fears was proven well-founded as the trenchcoat-wearing man quickly chased after him, and faster than him as well! That was incredibly surprising; few people would have a chance to keep up with Cade, much less close in on him. Yet that was what the man did, and he heard a deep voice shout insistently at him. "Stop!"

"Fuck that!" Cade glanced over his shoulder, willing his pursuer to trip over something. What the hell did that prick want from him?

Just as he was about to reach the door, a hand shot out and grabbed his throat. He reached up automatically to try and pry the hand off, only to have his body slammed violently against the nearest wall. The man stared intently into his eyes and demanded, "Give me the pendant!"

For some reason, it seemed as his mind went blank. A moment later he saw his hand move up, grabbing ahold of the pendant. The grip around his throat was released as he started pulling the chain over his head to hand it over, then his feet left the ground as great force was applied to him from the side.

Staring dumbfoundedly up at Zarek who had just hurled him aside, he looked down at the pendant in his hand. What the hell happened? As his attention returned to the two figures in front of him, he saw the man that chased him lunge out at the oddball, who dodged the attack by jumping aside, his body slamming against the opposite wall a split-second later.

There was no time to think about it. Cade pushed the pendant into his pocket and grabbed his knife out of his ankle strap. Zarek was unarmed and that wasn't good, so as he tossed it, he shouted, "Zarek!" to get his oddball's attention. Thankfully, the Arabian managed to catch the handle mid-air. At this point, there was only one option left. The location was terrible for bringing out the artillery, but he couldn't let Zarek handle Cade's fight entirely on his own. He pulled out his gun. When he thumbed the hammer back and felt it click into place, he pulled the trigger, getting the stranger in the back of the shoulder.

Apparently that got both the other men's attention, and before a second had passed Zarek's piercing gaze met his. "Run, Cade. Drive away." The last thing he saw before turning around was the man in the trenchcoat starting in his direction, not taking his eyes off Zarek for a second. That let Cade outrun him easily to the car, and before long, he was several blocks away.

~~~~

After slowing down the car, he looked around. It was a familiar neighbourhood. Yes, he had gone in the right direction to go to the Pentele's. What was he thinking? Driving away like that was unlike him. He shook his head, trying to dispel the confusion. Zarek might be in trouble and like a coward he just drove away? No. No way in hell would he allow that.

Cade made a u-turn and headed back towards the fight. The anxiety of what he would find sent him speeding. Sure, Zarek was probably more than capable of handling himself, but there was no telling how capable the attacker was. After less than a minute, the car screeched to a halt outside of the building where he saw Zarek standing alone with a long curved sword.

It was over? Already? Even more confused, he got out of the car and started toward the man, unable to fight his worry. But before he made it, he noticed someone exiting a building across the street, carrying a shotgun. What the hell? He reached for his own gun, but it wasn't there. Confused, he seemed to vaguely recall leaving it in his car. "What the fuck is going on?"

It was over? Already? Even more confused, he got out of the car and started toward the man, unable to fight his worry. But before he made it, he noticed someone exiting a building across the street, carrying a shotgun. What the hell? He reached for his own gun, but remembered he had left it in his car. "What the fuck is going on?"

With a sigh of relief, Zarek took a few steps towards him. He smirked vaguely before speaking. "He ran off. Your knife is inside, do you need it? We have to get you somewhere safer." The oddball paused only for a brief moment, then turned towards the other man, shouting loudly. "Luigi! Get your car!"

The man nodded, then turned around. "Car? What about my car?" Cade frowned over at the man with the shotgun before eyeing Zarek skeptically. He would ask what happened, but figured he probably didn't want to know. "Who was that guy? No, what I want to know is why he was after me. I don't remember screwing anyone like that over in the past. Is he a hired goon or something?"

That earned him an amused grin. "What, I thought you knew. That was the sinister trenchcoat guy!" Zarek chuckled lightly, before taking his sword with the other hand so he could wrap the closest arm around Cade. As he playfully rested his head on the American's shoulder, he looked inquisitively up at his companion's face. "Your car? Yeah, I suppose I can ride with you this time. I'll just tell my guy to follow."

He had never seen someone so easy-going after a scuffle like that. With an sigh, he slipped his arm around Zarek's waist and glanced nervously at the sword. He didn't really mind that he wasn't getting a straight answer. He'd figure it out eventually, or his informant would figure it out for him. "The knife doesn't matter. I've got a few spares in the car... Where are we going to go?"

A hand wrapped behind Cade's head, and Zarek lifted his to meet it. They kissed firmly for a few moments, before the Arabian withdrew, gazing at him with concern. "I don't want anything to happen to you, and even if I didn't find Stoyan a favourite of mine, since he's your friend, I don't want him hurt either. So we're going back where we went the first night. There's people there now too."

Zarek paused only momentarily before he resumed talking. "No, that guy is not a hired goon. He's his own main guy, and he doesn't go after random people. By the looks of it, you were giving him something when I made it back. What was that, Cade?"

"Spence," he mumbled absently. When he thought better of his answer, he corrected it with a quick, "my pendant." Did it all have something to do with Spence? There was no telling what kind of weird things his former lover had gotten into when he was alive, so it wouldn't be a surprise if it was coming to haunt him. The main question was how anyone knew he had it. Very few people knew he was connected to the notorious Spence Storm in the first place.

His companion chuckled again. "Spence? It has a name...?" A thoughtful expression briefly visited his face, before he smiled sheepishly. "I guess I know who that might be named after. So that's what this is all about, then? A mumbo jumbo pendant? Didn't know you were into such things." He frowned lightly and shrugged, then wrapped his arm around Cade and started pushing gently in the direction of the American's car.

He was ready to refute the idea of him naming jewelry, but decided against it. There was no need to defend himself about something so trivial. As he went to open the passenger door, he paused and turned to give Zarek a quick, but sincere kiss. "Do you have to talk to your friend with the shotgun first or can we get going?"

Displaying his sword to make a point, the Arabian smirked as he quirked a brow. "Well, that'd mean I either have to drop this off at home or bring it for the ride. Not a problem, I guess. I'll just page Luigi to let him know when we're on our way." With a shrug, he got into the car and sat down, resting the blade between his knees.

"Try not to tear the seats with that thing." Shaking his head, Cade went around the front of the car to the driver's side, and climbed in. When he had closed the door, he grabbed his gun off the floor, wondering when he had been careless enough to let it drop, and took a minute to reload it then put it back into its holster. Once done with that, he glanced over at his companion and gently pulled the car into drive. "If he found me here, how do you know he won't find me there?"

A light sigh was heard before Zarek spoke up. "My guess is that now that you've shot him, he'll make sure to find you just about everywhere. But finding you where we are going isn't going to help him any." He shifted slightly in his seat and brought out his pager, then he let out an annoyed groan. "Alright, look. I don't know what you know, but it's probably more than me. Whereas I probably have more information about that fellow than you do, the question here is why he's after you. If it is the pendant, and you don't want him to have it, then we could find somewhere he wouldn't find it. But is that it?"

"All I know is that he broke into my house on Halloween, and I just found out he's after the pendant. I have no idea why." Cade made a couple turns, keeping his eyes on the road save for the brief glance in Zarek's direction to try and determine what kind of mood he was in. It was hard to tell with that guy.

"And I guess you don't want him to have it? So what's the plan? Ignoring him won't help, and taking them out of the equation is unrealistic." The Arabian's question took him off guard. Giving up the pendant was out of the question, and Cade decided he didn't want to honour that with a response. Instead, he glared out of the windshield. It was going to be a long trip.

~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260

~~~~~

green & riddlestar: We know - it took ages to get this chapter out. We've got other projects that have taken priority recently, but there's still lots of scenes and plot planned for this one, so let's try to keep it moving forward.