Raven's challenge to kill a fictive stuck a nerve with me as did Ryan's dare to take up the challenge, as well as Duey's request that I do it in an alternative reality. So, I did it-all! Now, Ryan, you *really* owe me "Life's Little Emergencies" :P
This belongs to my 'Facing The Music' Timeline. As usual, if it belongs in a comic book, then it's not mine. Paul Fen, a.k.a. Freeze, a.k.a Tony's half-brother, belongs to the joint Keppel-Leary writing team and is going to be introduced in 'Scaling the Castle.' No money is being made off of this story or any other story.
***
He was sitting on the couch, a fraction of his attention devoted to the movie flickering on the television screen in front of him. The rest of him was simply absorbed in enjoying the presence of the woman sitting next to him. He could sense everything about her, from the soft way her hand felt when she accidentally touched his reaching for the buttered popcorn serving as a barrier between them, to the faint smell of strawberries and sunshine that radiated from her body. Her voice was gentle and happy as she laughed at the comedy and, for once in a long time, her body was stress-free.
It was mid-laugh that he just looked at her, absorbing her essence as the lamp lit her hair. Her blue eyes danced with a mirth that he had rarely seen in the time that he had known her and her smile was relaxed. This was the woman that he loved, he realized with a jolt.
He couldn't find the words to tell her that so he studied her, wishing he had a camera to capture the rare peaceful look on her face. Finally, he touched her knee. That gesture made her turn to him. "What?" she asked.
All he could think of at that moment was how perfectly kissable her lips were. How soft her voice was. How much he wanted to hold her.
"Celestee," Tony whispered, his Cherokee accent showing. He never could remember who started the soul-stirring kiss.
***
It was a dream, Tony Coyote Longhair knew that, but it was the best kind of dream. The kind that could come true, if he worked at it and believed in it. And, from what he was seeing, he would work at it. These kinds of dreams were more like visions, lucid dream that could foretell the future. His mother called them a gift from his birth father. And he wanted to know more about this gift.
***
Candles and moonlight bathed Celeste as she walked out of the bathroom of the honeymoon suite she had reserved. The long, champagne negligee fit her so perfectly that his heart stopped for a second. He studied her as he reminded her for the last time, "We don't have to do this, you know. If you have a shadow of a doubt that this is wrong, just say so." They had talked about this night for a long time before Celeste surprised him with the key to the suite.
She shook her head, confident in herself and their love. "We've waited so long for me to know that the time is right, Tony. You know I'd never hurt you like Torres did, that you can really trust me. I know you'd never leave me when I need you the most. I know that I want to make love to you, that I love you." A soft song spoke of love never ending as she continued, "I know that we are right, that I want you. Tonight is right." She moved the three steps separating them and reached up behind his neck, releasing his hair from the pony-tale he kept it in.
He reached down and grabbed her hands, pausing her as she unbuttoned his tuxedo. "Not so fast, baby." Motioning for her to have a seat, "There was one thing I had planned to do tonight that won't wait, not even for this." Taking her left hand in his, he knelt before her. His dark eyes looked straight into her blue ones. "Baby, will you marry me?" Maybe it would have been better to have asked her in the morning but he didn't want a doubt in her mind that he wanted to marry her for who she was, not what they were going to do.
Stunned beyond words, Celeste just nodded. Then tears of joy streaked down her face as she whispered, "Yes.... Yes..." The wonderful, joyous look on her face was something he knew he'd remember.
The rest of the night was a sensual memory made up of tender passion and tangled sheets.
***
"Father, you really don't have to do this." Paul informed the man standing next to him. Paul was too distanced from his feelings to beg but what his father had planned was very, very cruel. He glanced from his father to the bedroom window in his brother's private retreat.
The older man disagreed, "He has to know the real cost of belonging to the Network." He'd never win 'Father Of the Year' for what he was doing, but he never wanted the award. He had too many children to remember during the time that he walked the earth and saw too many die for worthless things. Now, as too many people were starting to forget his existence, he had learned to treasure what he had. "This may be the only way to really get the message through to him."
Paul walked away from his father. It was hard to believe that the man had any real desire to change Tony, not after he had let their sister die. This was just another one of the man's tricks.
***
The wedding had to be the most beautiful one that Snow Valley had seen in years. Roses and candles were everywhere in the chapel; the food was the finest that he had ever eaten, the band one of the best in the nation.
But, more important than that, were the people who came to watch them exchange vows of forever love. Ariel had come home from the rehab center and had given her sister away. Rahne was Celeste's maid of honor. Paul and Forrest were his best men.
After a long honeymoon in Paris, they moved into the home that Emma had built for them on the school grounds. Celeste went back to work for Emma, quickly rising up the corporate latter while Tony tried to reform the Network from their little piece of paradise. Together, they discovered a way to combine his electrical and hardware skills and her business instinct. Emma agreed to finance their venture.
It was funny, almost ironic, that even their infrequent fights didn't destroy the tranquility of their lives. It felt as if their love drew a circle around them, forbidding the bad from entering their lives. They were there for each other to cushion the mild stings of life. His life was as close to perfect as Tony had ever known.
One night about a year into their marriage, very spur of the moment, he made arrangements to take Celeste down to New York to a small, romantic restaurant that he'd heard of. It wasn't a special night or anything; he just wanted to surprise her.
They sat in the corner booth, hidden by the shadows, and enjoyed the ambiance. Under the tablecloth, her hand was working on a very sensitive area of his anatomy as Tony again surprised Celeste, this time about the hotel reservations he had made. From the way they were going, he had his doubts that they would last until the hotel.
Quickly, he paid the bill and tossed a healthy tip on the table before nearly running to the limo outside on the curb. Their driver wasn't sitting in the vehicle waiting. Tony started to look around for the man, expecting him to appear out of the nearby florist with the flowers he had ordered.
"Tony?" Celeste muffled a scream as she looked in the window. The man's bloody body was slumped over the front seat, his brains blown out. Tony turned just in time to see someone pop out of the back seat and fire three bullets into her body before running away. He could just make out the Network colors on the person.
Pulling out his cellular phone while running to her, he started to dial 911. He dropped the phone as he saw the blood pouring out of his wife. "Baby, hold on," he begged.
The bullets had gone into the trunk of her body. He noticed by the way that the blood was welling up that one had hit her in the chest, another in the stomach and a third just below that. "It hurts," she whispered.
"Just hold on," he repeated as he latched onto her hand like an anchor. He wasn't going to let her die. Not the one person that meant more than his life. "Just think about breathing. Don't think about the pain."
Blood bubbled out of her mouth as she struggled to speak. "I love you."
"I love you too." Her breathing was becoming raspier as she struggled. He knew she was dying. He had seen too many people die not to know that fact, but he could hope against hope that there was a chance that if she got to the hospital, she could live. "Fight, baby, just fight."
With a slight shake of her head, she disagreed as she felt the life leave her body. Fixing her eyes on a spot just beyond his left shoulder, she reached out her other hand as she whispered, "Grandmere?" Tony turned his head and blinked. He didn't see anybody. "Don't ... want.... to leave Tony. ... Can't leave him." She pushed those words out.
He had seen something like this once, the first time he saw a drive-by shooting. The guy fought to stay alive against a body that was dying. Before the last plead escaped the man's lips, the last breath left his body; he had died one of the most painful death Tony had ever seen. He couldn't let that happen. He kissed her lips, and then her cheek before whispering in her ear, "Just close your eyes and go."
Two tears hit her pale skin as she looked at him for the last time. Then, she closed her eyes. Her body went limp as she stopped fighting. She died the death that someone had decided he deserved.
***
Tony woke up in a cold sweat as the dream started to recede into to his sub-conscience. He climbed out of the bed as he tried to piece together the faded memories of something that had seemed too real, too life-like. Pieces danced together in his mind, images that wanted to retreat into nothingness.
He was dangerous, the fleeting ghosts warned. He could hurt those he loved. Loving him was dangerous. Leave the Network before it left him alone.
Trying to take his mind of the dream, he drew back the curtains covering his bedroom window. The view, the unchanged wilderness, was what had drawn him to this place. He stood and looked into the moonlit terrain. Staring back at him was a coyote.