I would like to thank Athena_by_night and Dcraig for their help in getting this finished and edited. I thank you for your creative input that really made this chapter much better.
And here is it, my wonderful readers, the next chapter that will be followed with a few more. But this will begin the daring ride to the end. Are you ready? lol Let's just find out. So, without further ado, I give you Chapter 13.
*
The next morning they all sat together for breakfast at a local favorite restaurant. Having finished eating, they enjoyed relaxing with their coffees when Bruce lit up a cigarette.
Jonathan eyed him doing so with some interest. But having not had a smoke in so many months it really didn't pay for him to begin again. Plus the fact that it might start World War 3 with Greg and Tony, so he remained silent about it.
"I'll drive you to work and hide your car at the yard. I think Ben is going to issue you a different one, from what he said this morning." Bruce informed him.
"Okay, it'll be good that he does. They know my car now."
"Yes, he said that, too. He also said you'll be stayin'..."
"Bruce..." Tony reached across the table getting his attention, as he eyed the two men that walked in. They were dressed professionally in suites and dark shades. This early in the morning there was no need for the shades, it still being dark outside, really. It was a give away from the moment they waltzed in. And he thought he recognized one of them, but wasn't sure.
Jonathan turned looking at them too. He gasped when he saw Peter accompanied by Maurice. When he recognized Maurice, he spun back around, his face turning white.
"What is it, Jon?" Bruce leaned to his right asking softly. His arm moved to the back of the cushion and around Jonathan's shoulders for comfort.
"The man with the dark hair, that's Maurice. The other guy is Peter." He whispered.
Bruce looked at the tall handsome blonde that Jonathan knew as his friend. He was not able to see his eyes until he was sitting and pulled his shades almost completely off his nose. Peter looked over at Bruce fully showing him the light crystalline blue of them readily.
In them he saw a purity he had never seen before. They were kind and full of hope and gentleness. The color was also nothing like he had ever seen in anyone. "Angel" came to mind as Bruce stared right into them. The man called Peter barely smiled with a very slight nod, and as if to answer his thought. He then pushed the shades back on that mirrored Bruce's stare.
Now Bruce gave attention to his perfectly full lips that appeared to turn up even more. They were very attractive to say the least. He was obviously muscular beneath the jacket and vest he wore. A trim waist was accentuated by the tailored aspects of his clothes. And his hair was long, straight and yellow blonde.
Bruce watched him lean to the man next to him that was speaking to him in a whisper. His attention then went to the man sitting there making mental notes about his appearance.
His short dark hair seemed to lie in wisps about his ears and neck. He seemed a bit shorter to the man next to him. And his face was rugged with a squared jaw line, eyes that appeared cold and malevolent, and a coarse contrast to Peter all the way around. He now understood what Greg had meant when he looked into those eyes.
"Mr. Bowman only wants him alive." He heard Peter's soft baritone voice with its thick accent return to Maurice.
Jonathan shuddered having heard it, too. Bruce looked at the young man next to him feeling his sudden quiver.
"I want to leave, Bruce." He whispered his breath shaking as he spoke. "Peter won't let Maurice hurt me. But he won't follow us either."
Bruce watched the waitress approach the two men across the room. "Let them order and we'll leave when their food comes to them." He suggested softly, hoping that with their meals before them they would leave them well enough alone.
"He then leaned across the table toward Tony. "Why are they here?"
"They're making a statement, Bruce." Tony leaned as close as possible, whispering.
"What statement?"
"That they're watchin' us and know every move we make."
"But Peter won't let Maurice hurt us." Jonathan had joined them whispering also.
"Yes, true..." Tony glanced at the blonde who gave him a nod that was so slight he almost missed it. He saw a look of respect in his expression, one he had not seen in a long while. He nodded in return. "...He's only a man." His attention went back to the group he was with. "...If Maurice gets a wild enough hair up his ass, he'll kill Peter himself."
"NO!" Jonathan barked sitting back suddenly. "Don't you ever say that again!" he pointed a deeply emotional, trembling finger at the man.
Tony stared at him long, as did everyone else in the room.
"Tony, you know how he feels about the man. Why would you torment him with a statement like that?" Bruce asked then.
"I wasn't meaning to torment him. I was only stating a fact."
"A fact that I believe was very unnecessary and very mistaken." Bruce chided gently.
"What do you mean?" Tony's brow furrowed not understanding the second part of Bruce's statement.
"I don't believe he is of this world. And you can think whatever you like, I don't care."
"Bruce..." Tony leaned back grinning. "...Are you alright?"
"Yes, I am..." The man stated firmly.
"Then what do you think he is? Or where from?" he leaned toward Bruce again, asking quietly.
"Not from here. That's all I have to say on the matter."
"Why? What makes you think that?"
"Have you really looked into his eyes?"
