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Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter Four-Hundred-Thirty-Five




By the time Ashley had Ellie calmed down somewhat, she got up from sitting on the floor still cradling her.


"Kevin is waiting outside the door for you sweetheart. You have him worried sick. We have to go out there and let him know you aren't hurt."


"No," Ellie pouted and she clung to Ashley tightly. "He'll be mad at me an' takes my pictures."


"I won't let him take your pictures, I promise. They aren't hurting you any he has no right to take them." Ellie looked up at her skeptically and he hugged her pictures face down into her chest protectively.


"Hide them in your pocket. As soon as we let Kevin see that you are fine, i'm going to hand you over to Marcus and ask to speak to Kevin alone. I will explain things to him and get him to understand before he even sees them." Ellie did as she was told not having to be told twice and she stuffed her pictures in the pocket of her hoodie. When they were safely hidden, Ashley carried her out of the stall and out of the bathroom where she found Kevin and Marcus waiting patiently.


"Ellie? Princess what's wrong?" Kevin asked worriedly when he noticed her red puffy eyes and teary cheeks right away. He stepped closer to Ashley and gently cradled her face in his hands so he could see her face clearly. "Are you hurt?"


"No, daddy, i'm okay..."


"You don't look okay...why were you in the bathroom crying?" He then gently took her from Ashley and began to check her body for brusies just incase. He's learned his lesson that's for sure. When he didn't see any new ones he looked at her concerned. "Honey talk to me. What's going on?" Ellie looked up at Ashley for help then and Kevin looked at her too wanting an answer.


"She's okay...physically," Ashley reassured as she swept Ellie's hair to the side and tucked it behind her ear. "Emotionally...not so much. You and I should talk...will you let Marcus take her for a little bit?" Kevin eyed her for a long moment.


"No secrets honey, please."


"I'm going to be very honest with you I promise." Kevin looked down at Ellie then and he hugged her close to him and kissed her cheek affectionately before reluctantly handing her over to Marcus. Marcus walked away then but not too far away where he wouldn't be able to see Ashley anymore and he kept an eye on her protectively.


"What's going on honey?"


"Remember back when Ellie and I were both kidnapped?" She began softly.


"I'll never forget the awful day.,."


"Remember how Ellie came back and said Sean took her to a playground to calm down after he rescued her?"


"Yeah..."


"Well it was a once in a life time moment that she will never get again, Kev... It was the very last time that she will ever get to spend with her biological father...and he made it very special for her. It was his goodbye gift to her. And she wants to hold onto it forever...can you understand that?"


"I can try to...where are you getting at Ash?"


"While they were at the playground with her and Sean was busy playing with her...Trevor found a way for her to have something special that she could keep forever. He took pictures of her and Sean playing together and then later found a way to give them to her." Kevin arched his eyebrow.


"Do I even want to know how he got them to her?"


"I don't know," Ashley shrugged. "You would have to ask her that question, she didn't tell me."


"So...she has the pictures Trevor gave her...what does that have to do with her crying in the bathroom?"


"Sean was just outside the Orphanage in the woods about an hour ago," Ashley answered softly and he noticed the fear in her eyes as she did and she crossed her arms over her stomach looking very vulnerable all of the sudden. "Ellie sensed him and that's why she came inside earlier. She convinced Q to take her out to the car because she 'forgot Lil' Rok's favorite toy' but she really only wanted a glimpse of Sean - he was gone by then though, and it upset her. When I went into the bathroom I found her sitting there looking at her pictures and crying."


"Oh..."


"And she's really scared that you will take them away from her. I promised her I wouldn't let you. You have to understand Kev...its all she has left of him."


"I guess I can in a way..." Kevin admitted softly. "My father died years ago and I am still trying to find ways to hold onto him as much as I can..." Ashley reached out and took his hand into hers gently squeezing it and she gave him a look that clearly stated that she can empathize with him. "Is it bad of me to feel jealous though?" he added softly. "Though I completely understand, sometimes I can't help but feel jealous that she still holds onto him and has that connection with him."


"That's understandable...but Kev no matter what kind of connection she has with Sean, she has one with you that is even greater. She picked you out of all the others the day she arrived here...and attatched herself to you ever since. She was meant to be yours...and you can give her things that Sean never could. You showed her what love is...and you mean the world to her." She reached out and touched his cheek affectionately.


"And while Sean is out being the devil that he is...you are the one who is going to be here to hold her when she is upset and needs a daddy. Just remember that." Kevin couldn't help but smile some.


"When did you become so wise huh? It's usually one of us giving you the advice."


"Well, I like to think that I learn from the best" Ashley answered simply and she slid her arms around Kevin and pulled him into a hug.


"Thanks sweetie," Kevin smiled. "I love it that you always find a way to make me feel appreciated."


"Why don't you go give your daughter a hug and a kiss and tell her you love her now? Something that only you as her chosen father can give her?" Ashley asked softly and Kevin pulled back, kissed her forehead softly, and then headed in the direction of Ellie and Marcus. Ashley watched him as he wordlessly took a wary Ellie into his arms and cuddled her close to him affectionately. Ellie, though confused that he isn't mad at her or demanding to see or have her pictures, slid her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck as she hugged him back and he slowly swayed with her, giving her butterfly kisses.


"I love you princess," She heard him tell her softly.


"I loves you too daddy" she replied in the same soft tone and Ashley smiled at the scene before her, before turning around and setting off to retrieve her own daughter from Kristin who must still be out on the playground and Marcus darted after her protectively.



~*~*~*~*~*~



Meanwhile, upstairs in Nick and Ashley's apartment, Nick sat on the couch with Angel next to him lying with her head rested on a pillow that he had placed in his lap and he was just idly playing with her hair while the two of them watched cartoons. He had stuck them on after their continued fight and they've been sitting there in silence ever since just enjoying their alone time together.


"Nick," She spoke softly after a long while.


"Hmm?"


"I really am sorry, you know..."


"I know Ange," Nick reassured and he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I know Aaron can be a pain in the butt and really knows how to get under your skin but it's not worth risking your life all right?"


"Kay." He placed his forefinger and thumb to her chin then and gently tilted it up so that she is looking at him.


"I can't lose you. Please promise me you won't pull a stupid stunt like that again. Promise me Angel."


"I promise." She lay there gazing up at him in silence for a few moments more, and then spoke up again.


"Did you mean it Nick?"


"Mean what?"


"That you would spank me if I do anything that stupid again?"


"I dont know...maybe. I was upset." She arched her eyebrow at him.


"Do you know how wrong that is? You are my brother. Not a father - i'm getting just a little too old for my brother to be spanking me." "Infact, I'm getting a little too old for dad to be spanking me too if you think about it."


"If you scare me half to death like that again the only thing i'm going to be thinking about at the time is getting you to understand the seriousness of what you've done." Angel continued to stare at him skeptically. "What would you have me do? Yelling isn't going to faze you obviously, and neither will sending you to your room - or a room, I should say..."


"Yelling at me has more effect then you realize," Angel insisted. "I'm not accustomed to you yelling at me...trust me i'm not going to do anything to make you that mad at me again."


"Where was BJ and Leslie huh? What frustrates me about the whole situation, is that they let you go. They know better."


"Leslie was out with a boyfriend and BJ was up in her room not wanting anything to do with twins today - she had no idea what was going on." Nick shook his head irritably, and then slid his arms around Angel and hugged her close to him protectively. The two of them sat there watching TV together for awhile, until suddenly they heard a light knock on the door. Nick and Angel turned their heads toward it and they saw Conner standing there with Rosalie at his side holding his hand.


"Is it okay for me to come in now?" Nick looked down at Angel and she looked up at him with a look that clearly said please tell him no. Sure she wanted to talk to him and make things better, but that was before she got to have all of this alone time with her brother. It's been forever since they've just vegged out on the couch and watched cartoons together. Nick automatically picked up on the reason for her silent request without her actually having to use words to tell him. He knows she's not rejecting him because of him but he also knows that she can't keep putting it off.


"Angel you really need to talk to him."


"But..."


"...I will put a special time aside for you and I to really vegge out in front of the TV tomorrow okay? I'll go out and buy a ton of junk food and you and I will have a movie marathon - just the two of us. But right now, you need to make up with your boyfriend."


"Fine..." Angel sighed, and Nick kissed her forehead softly.


"Now let me up." Angel sat up upon his request and he got up and turned his attention on Conner and Rosalie.


"Sure Conner, come on in. Hey Rosie! How about you and I go raid Dakota and Sarah's toys huh? I bet they have a lot of cool things for you to play with."


"Kay," Rosalie replied happily and she allowed Nick to take her hand and usher her toward his room where Dakota and Sarah's boxes of toys are at. When Conner and Angel were left completely alone - with Nick's bedroom door shut and everything, Angel looked at Conner quietly and he continued to stand there keeping a reasonable enough distance between them. The last time they discussed their rocky relationship with one another, he had said the wrong thing and she smacked him. He won't make that mistake again.


"Do you have any idea how terrified I was for you earlier when I heard Nick talking to Aaron on the phone?" He asked softly, and she just shrugged and darted her eyes away from him. "I thought I was going to have to cause a bloody massacre in order to find you - and I’ll have you know I would've tortured and killed every single baddie in Florida until I finally did."

And of course he wouldn't have any trouble finding those baddies, right? Since he probably knows them all and everything Angel suddenly heard Aaron comment in her thoughts.

Go Away.

No way. You are going to get a taste of your own medicine Twinna. Angel rolled her eyes and concentrated on Conner then.

"Oh yeah, that would be a real good thing for Rosalie," she told him sarcastically despite the fact that Conner's words had made her heart flutter - hence why Aaron suddenly tuned in. Or had he been there all along?

The latter. "What would happen to her while you are in jail for killing all of those baddies?" she added, ignoring him.

"I wasn't thinking clearly about things at the time," Conner insisted. "All I could think about is you and the possible danger you were in - and the fact that I have the connections to save you - and you better know that I will try my hardest if it should ever come to that. You mean the world to me Angel...I would've acted on impulse and grief." Angel waited to hear what smart ass comment Aaron had next but he was utterly silent - with an exception of the fact that she could feel that he was impressed by Conner's words.

“If you have the connections to save me,” Angel began, picking a distant thought from Aaron’s mind that he was trying to keep to himself – it made her curious too. If he’s going to be there, she might as well use it to her advantage. And besides…she likes having her twin there while having this emotional conversation with Conner – even if he’s a pain in the butt and not doing it because he simply cares about her pain. She can pretend he is though. “Why didn’t you do anything about Ashley’s kidnapping? Or better yet…why don’t you use it to help Stabler find Sean like you are supposed to be doing?”

“If I could help Detective Stabler find Sean without creating a blood bath amongst the baddies, believe me I would, Angel.”

“But you have connections to all of the baddies all the same.”

“So does Detective Stabler,” Conner pointed out patiently. “Scott gave him a list of everyone’s names hence the fact that they attacked him. Imagine what would happen to me if I started going around demanding answers.” Angel cringed at the thought and she reached out and grabbed Conner’s hand out of subconscious. She held it tightly in her own protectively and he delicately rubbed his fingers over the back of her hand as he looked into her eyes sincerely. “I’m doing everything I possibly can without breaking the law or getting myself killed here honey…please understand that.”

“What about the contact that you have with Sean? He thinks you are on his side right? Why can’t you arrange to meet him somewhere and trap him or something? Isn’t that what you and Elliot planned to do in the first place?” she asked softly.

“That’s the thing…he hasn’t been calling me lately. Ever since Max got arrested I’ve lost contact with him. Elliot had me try to reach out to him yesterday and I got a disconnected number.” Angel tightened his hand in her own.

“So what does that mean? Why would he suddenly disconnect the number that you kept in touch with him on? Do you think he found out you betrayed him?”

“He probably just got pissed off and threw his phone against the wall again or something…he does that at least two times a month. And he doesn’t have Max anymore to get him a new phone.” Conner told her, protecting her from his and Detective Stabler’s shared fears. Angel stared at him with worry in her eyes for a long moment, and then pulled him closer to her before lying back so her head is rested against the arm rest of the couch and she gently made him lie down with her, resting his head against her chest. Conner slid his arms around her waist protectively and shifted so his forehead was against hers and he looked into her eyes curiously.

“I thought you were mad at me,” he told her in slight amusement.


“I don’t have time to be mad at you,” Angel insisted while cupping his cheek in her hand and kissing the tip of his nose. He gazed down at her seriously as he understood the meaning behind her words all too well and she grazed her lips lightly over his causing him to kiss her back much deeper and she instantly blocked Aaron out.

“Let’s go to your room,” she insisted eagerly when he ended their kisses though he kept their lips just inches apart.

“Rosalie,” He reminded. Half of his mind wants to obey her every request, and the other half dutifully remembered his responsibilities.

“Nick will take care of her. If we’re quiet he won’t notice we’re gone,” she whispered.

“Until he comes out here and checks on you,” Conner chuckled.

“And by then we’ll be gone. Nevermind your room…we’ll go somewhere that he can’t find us.”

“Where would we find a place like that in a heavily protected building such as this?” Conner asked, highly turned on by her rebellious mood. Angel grabbed his chin then and pulled his lips down on hers in a hard kiss.

“Don’t ask questions, just get out of here” She told him between kisses, the words coming out mumbled and he instantly obeyed. He got up from the couch cradling her and quietly walked out of the apartment. She shifted so she is straddling his waist and he stumbled back ever so slightly against the wall in the hallway, causing her to giggle quietly against his lips. He tightened his arms around her waist and brought his mouth down to her neck where he placed feathery light kisses. After a few seconds his lips traveled up to her ear and he whispered “Where are we going baby?” before lightly nibbling on her lobe. She got down from his arms then and took his hand before turning around and he slid his arms around her waist, intertwining their fingers together with both hands before leaning down and kissing the back of her neck as she led him where she wanted to go. They walked through the hall until they came across his bedroom. She brought him in there, took him into his closet, and glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Help me up onto the dresser," she instructed. He lifted her up and helped her onto the dresser like she asked and she opened up the air vent, crawled in, and looked down at him expectantly. He followed her lead by getting on top of the dresser and he allowed her to pull him in on top of her as she laid back. They pulled their feet and legs all the way in and closed the vent behind them and they crawled their way through the vents until they were down by the one to the basement. She once again lay down and pulled him on top of her and his lips captured hers in a hungry kiss. They lay there making out, kissing, and touching, all the while only thinking about how they can't seem to get enough of each other. Before they knew it article of clothing was removed until he lie there on top of her in his boxers while she only had on her bra and panties.

"Conner," she whimpered as he lightly nibbled her neck and she felt his hand go between her legs as he lightly caressed them. "Make love to me...please."

"Angel..." Conner replied skeptically and he rested his forehead against hers and looked into her eager eyes that were filled with want and need.

"...Please? Conner please?"

"But you told me--"

"--I know what I told you," she whispered and she cradled his face in her hands. "But I love you baby...you are it."

"Are you sure? I can just hear what everybody will say if they ever find out Angel...we're thirteen and fourteen years old."

"That may be the case...but I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life. I love you Conner...don't you love me too?"

"Of course I do...I’m making out with you in an air vent of all places Angel...but..."

"...Please. I need this Conner...we need this. What if Sean attacks tomorrow and takes you away from me forever and I never get to see you again?" Or you away from me...Conner thought, a new wave of panic rising in him as he suddenly grasped her point. He gazed into her eager brown eyes for a long moment, and then without another word claimed her lips for his own and she felt great satisfaction and a new wave of desire as he began to slide her panties down her legs. Aaron is going to kill him. And if Aaron doesn't, Nick surely will. But all of the sudden, he doesn't care. All he cares about is he could die tomorrow - or the next day. Or the other way around and he may never get the opportunity to grow up with Angel and wait until then to make love to her. And that is not a risk he is willing to take. He removed her bra, and then his boxers - the last bit of clothing that was keeping them from being them together.