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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter Eighty-Three



"Are you thirsty?" Nick asked after a long while, as the two of them still sat in the hot tub comfortably, Ashley now sitting beside him on the step, though she is facing him and he has his arms wrapped protectively around her and her chin is rested against his shoulder as the two of them were sitting there talking.


"Mhm."


"Me too. I'll go in and get us some soda. Let me guess...dr pepper?"


"Yes, but I'm coming with you." Ashley insisted, looking up at him seriously.


"You can if you want baby, but there is no reason for you to be scared. You're perfectly safe, I promise..."


"But still...I want to come with you."


"Okay, come on." He replied and he got out of the hot tub and reached his hand out to her. She took it and allowed him to pull her out. When she was standing beside him he took her hand and brought her in the house and Nick didn't bother to shut the door as they were going to be right back out there in a couple of minutes anyway. When they were inside he led her into the kitchen and she sat at the stool to the island while he went straight to his refridgerator. He opened it up and pulled out a dr pepper and he handed it to her, before taking out a coke. He set it on the counter and then opened up the freezer and he peered inside.


"I have some ice cream too. Want some?"


"Do you have rocky road?"


"Sure do," Nick answered, and he pulled out the carton of rocky road. He put that on the counter and got out some bowls, and the ice cream scoop. He opened it up and was about to scoop some into a bowl when suddenly the phone rang. Nick turned and looked at the phone charger that he normally keeps in the kitchen, only to find that it's empty. Nick rolled his eyes.


"Leave it to me to not put the phone back where it goes..." he muttered to himself, though Ashley heard him. He turned and looked at her to find her sitting there watching him with an amused look on her face.


"I seemed to have misplaced the kitchen phone.... be right back honey." He told her, and he hurried into the living room, leaving the door to the kitchen open so that he can see her while he talks on the phone. When he got to the phone that belongs in the living room he picked it up, looked at the caller ID, and he saw that it's Brian. He hit the talk button and placed it to his ear.


"This had better be very important Rok, you interrupted me when I was about to get Ash and me some ice cream and I've left her in the kitchen all alone!" Nick lectured, pretending to be irritated, though he glanced inside the kitchen and he smiled when he saw that Ashley was sitting there watching him.


"It's not my fault you forget to put your phone back on the hook when your done with it," Brian replied, and Nick can tell that he is rolling his eyes at the mistake that he is known to make more then once.


"Yeah, yeah...what do you want?"


"Your daughter wants to talk to you. She is close to a tantrum and you know that's not like her at all."


"Why, what happened?" Nick asked worriedly.


"I don't know...one minute she was fine, and then the next she was close to tears and demanding I call you." Nick sighed, as he has a feeling he knows what it's about.


"Alright...put her on the phone then."


"Okay," Brian replied. Nick waited a couple of seconds, then suddenly he heard the phone being picked up.


"Daddy?" Dakota sniffled.


"Hi baby...what's the matter?"


"I wants you to come home now. You've been gone a long time. You promised me that you wouldn't be gone long."


"I'll be there to get you in a little bit honey, I promise. Have I ever made a promise to you that I haven't kept?"


"No…but..."


"What's going on Kota? Uncle Brian tells me that you were fine and then the next you got all upset. Aren't you having any fun with your friends?"


"Yeah but daddy I miss you...I want you to come home."


"I miss you too...but just hang in there okay? I'll be back in a little while."


"But I don'ts like it when your away. What ifs something bad happens? Daddy you and Ashee needs to come back..."


"Nothing is going to happen honey, you're perfectly safe. Brian, Howie, and Kevin aren't going to let anything happen to you and neither is security. Brian's house has a huge gate around it and no one can get past the guards that stand there and open and close it. There is also an alarm system that will set off and alert the police if anyone should even try to get in. You're fine."


"But what abouts you an' Ashee? What ifs something happens to you?"


"Then daddy will go Ninja Turtle on their sorry butts." Dakota couldn't help but giggle a little, though she can't stop feeling worried about her daddy and Ashley.


"Which turtle?"


"Raphael!" Dakota smiled a little, and Nick can tell that she is, he knows her that well.


"That's good. Raphie is the toughest."


"Huh? What?" Nick heard Elenore ask in the background. "You talkin' bouts me?" she asked, and Nick chuckled.


"Daddy is gonna go all Raphael on Sean's sorry butt if he should attack him an' Ashee while they're outs!" he listened to Dakota explain to her best friend.


"That's right. Daddy - I mean Raphael will get him. But I've gotta go baby, I'm sure Ashley is getting pretty lonely. She's waiting on me to get her some ice cream."


"Your eatin' ice cream without out me? I wants ice cream daddy!"


"Let me talk to Uncle Brian again and I will see if he will get you kids some ice cream, How's that?"


"Kay. Daddy makes Brian gets ice cream." She repeated, and she turned to her uncle who was in the middle of a playful argument with Kevin and Howie.


"Uncle Brian! Daddy wants you!"


"Okay," Nick heard Brian say, and a couple of seconds later, he heard his voice on the phone.


"Everything okay again?"


"Yeah, she was just a little scared and missed me. I made it all better though."


"That's good...she seemed very upset earlier, we were all slightly worried."


"Yeah, but in result of me cheering her up...she's asked me to ask you, if you will give her and the kids ice cream."


"Yup, sure thing. I will do anything to keep Kota from throwing a tantrum. They don't happen often but when they do they're pretty hard to handle."


"Yup. You do that...but I've gotta go. Ashley is---"


"--NICK HELP!!! STOP IT LEAVE ME ALONE!"


"ASHLEY?? Oh God!"


"Nick?? What? What's going on?"


"Nothing i've gotta go!" Nick replied, and he quickly hung up the phone, before running into the kitchen. When he got there, he discovered Jeff standing there, his arm wrapped around Ashley's neck and he's making a bad attempt to drag her out to the backyard, but Ashley is struggling and he is hitting her because of it.


"NICK HELP! MAKE HIM STOP, PLEASE!!" she cried.


"LEAVE HER ALONE! LET HER GO!" Nick shouted, when he found his voice to speak.


"YOU shut up! Stay back if you know what's good for you. If you know what's good for her!" Jeff threatened, and he grabbed Ashley by the hair and continued to yank her toward the door, and she shrieked in pain.


"OW! You're hurting me!" She wailed. Hearing Ashley's cries of pain, Nick grew angrier. No one messes with his baby girl. No one.


"You will let her go if you know what's good for you!" He replied, and he dove toward him. When he got to them he punched him hard in the face, causing him to yell out in pain and in the process he let go of Ashley. Nick grabbed her and gently pushed her away, before grabbing Jeff by the shirt, pulling him to him and punching him once again. "No one messes with my baby girl and gets away with it! I'll fucking kill you!" He told him, and he went to punch him once again, only to have Jeff grab his fist and he swung him around and shoved him against the wall.


"NICKY!" Ashley shrieked, as he watched Jeff punch him in the stomach and Nick grunt in agony.


"Not if I kill you first," he replied.


"Ashley go upstairs, now!" Nick ordered, as he looked at her and saw how upset and terrified she is.


"But Nick --"


"NOW goddamnit, listen to me! Get upstairs!" He yelled at her out of frustration, just as he received another blow to his stomach and he yelled out in sheer pain as he bent over. He looked at Ashley again and when he saw that she wasn't moving he became angry. He kneed Jeff hard where it counts.


"OW! Motherfucker!" he yelled, and he fell to the ground. While he is down, Nick looked at Ashley. He went over to her and took her hand and he led her to the door.

"Go upstairs right now while I take care of him!"


"But Nick I won't leave you! I won't go hide upstairs while someone I care about dies! NOT this time!" Ashley cried.


"I'll be fine! You need to go upstairs where it's safe. There is a phone up there. Call the the cops!" He ordered, and he lightly pushed her toward the door. "Now!"


"But Nicky...." Ashley cried, shaking her head.


"NOW!" Nick yelled, causing her to turn and run from the room crying. Nick turned around just on time to see a chair come flying at him, as Jeff had gotten to his feet, grabbed it up, and threw it at him. Nick ducked, narrowly missing it as it went flying over his head, and crashing into the wall. He dove toward him, grabbed him by the shirt and he punched him twice in the face, knocking him to the ground once more and he began kicking him in the side. He did this several times, until suddenly he heard Ashley scream once again, from the other room.


"Oh fuck, what now..." he muttered, and he turned and ran into the other room, leaving Jeff lying there trying to recover. When he got into the living room he discovered another guy attempting to drag her out of the house.


"LEAVE her the fuck alone!" He yelled, and he started toward him.


"STOP right there, Backstreet fag, or I will shoot her in the fucking head!" The man ordered, and he placed a gun to Ashley's head. Ashley whimpered as the man has his hand placed tightly over her mouth. She looked at Nick pleadingly, begging him for help with her eyes as tears fell from them. Nick came to an abrupt stop at the threat, and sight of the gun.


"LET her go!" he demanded, tears falling from his eyes as he is now even more afraid, his heart racing a hundred miles per minute.


"No can do. I have orders to take her with me. You will stand there and do nothing about it."


"Like hell I won't!" Nick growled.


"Then I will shoot her in the head. Which would you rather prefer?" Nick opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly he noticed Brian quietly appear at the front door that was left wide open. He must have come running when he heard Ashley scream over the phone and Nick panic. He quietly snuck up toward the unknown man holding Ashley and when he got to him he grabbed hold of the man's hand that holds the gun and he pulled it away from Ashley so that the gun is pointing away from her and the man's fingers slipped onto the trigger, causing it to go off and shoot in the air. Ashley shrieked.


"Ashley move!" Brian ordered. She did as she's told and slipped out of the man's grasp and she made a mad dash for it toward Nick. When she got to him he grabbed her hand and ran upstairs with her and he brought her into his bedroom, turned on the light, and shut the door and he brought her over to the bed.

"Sit down," he told her gently. She did as he said and he went to the phone, picked it up and dialed Detective Stabler's number. Meanwhile, downstairs, after struggling for a little bit Brian managed to handcuff the unknown man and Jeff back to back in a couple of chairs with the handcuffs they attempted to capture Ashley with. He sat on the couch watching them for ten minutes, then suddenly Detective's Stabler and Benson walked in the door and they looked at Brian, Detective Stabler raising his eyebrow and looking at him curiously and somewhat impressed.


"What? You obviously don't know what I'm capable of when someone threatens my baby brother." Detective Stabler shook his head smiling.


"Where is he?" Detective Benson questioned.


"Upstairs taking care of Ashley…who is probably going to be ten times more difficult then she already is after this…"


"No we aren't, we're right here." Nick replied, coming downstairs with Ashley by his side, and he is holding her hand. While they were up there they had time to change into their clothes.


"Is everything okay? Are you two alright?" Detective Benson asked concerned.


"Well we both got beat up pretty bad, but I cleaned us both up upstairs…other then that we'll live." Nick answered. "Thanks to Brian…"


"What happened?"


"I left Ashley in the kitchen by herself for a few minutes while I talked to Brian and Dakota on the phone. I had the door to the kitchen open so that I could see her, but I got so caught up in the conversation that I wasn't paying attention anymore. I talked to them for about ten minutes and was about to hang up when suddenly Ashley screamed. I hung up the phone, ran in to see what was going on, and she was being attacked…" Nick explained.


"When I heard her scream and Nick panic, I immediately hung up my phone and ran out of my house after demanding Howie, Kevin, Riley, and Kori to watch the kids — I didn't even explain to them what was going on, I was just concerned about getting here and seeing what was going on." Brian added. "When I got here the front door was wide open and I found that man right there," he said, pointing to the man that they don't yet know the name of. "Holding Ashley in his arms with a gun to her head and he was threatening to shoot her if Nick came any closer. I snuck up behind him, grabbed the gun and pulled it away from Ashley…it went off in the air, and while Nick ran upstairs with Ashley I fought with them and eventually got them handcuffed to those chairs."


"What were you two doing here in the first place?" Detective Stabler asked curiously.


"I was packing a few things to take to the Orphanage…I brought Ashley here to help me and we got KFC for dinner and went swimming in my heated pool." Nick explained, looking at Ashley who stood beside him quietly as tears streamed down her cheeks and she held onto his hand tightly.


"Oh," Detective Stabler replied, eyeing Nick curiously for a few minutes, then he looked at the two captured guys who are handcuffed together and bickering back and fourth to one another. He looked at Brian then.


"Can I have the key so that we can take those two in for questioning and jail time?" Brian nodded.


"Yeah here," he said, handing over the key. He and Detective Benson went over there and he un-handcuffed them from each other, grabbed them up from the chair and put them in their own handcuffs and the two detectives escorted them out of the house. Brian and Nick waited until they drove out of the house, then Brian looked at him.


"He's onto you, you know…that was a good lie…but Detective Stabler catches liars every day…I would be more careful around him."


"Yeah well…it was the best I could come up with in the ten minutes that we were upstairs. I wasn't exactly planning on being attacked and having to call him." Nick replied, pulling Ashley into a hug and kissed her forehead softly.


"Are you two okay?" Brian asked concerned and Nick nodded.


"I think so," he answered, looking down at Ashley and she looked up at him, as her eyes are still all watery. He wiped away her tears and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.


"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier baby…I didn't mean it, you know that right? I was just scared for you…I was panicking and you weren't listening to me." Ashley nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist, before resting her head against his shoulder.


"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Nicky…I was scared too. I was scared that if I went upstairs to hide the way I hid the day my mom and dad died…that I would lose you too…the same way that I lost them. And I can't have that Nicky…you're my entire world…"


"I'm not going anywhere honey. You can't lose me. Remember?" He asked gently, and he placed his hand to her cheek and carefully lifted her head so she's looking up at him. "I am bound to you." He explained, and he leaned down and brushed his lips softly against hers, before hugging her tightly. She again rested her head against his shoulder and he looked at Brian.


"So what's the plan? Are you two going to stay here or come back to my house?" Brian asked curiously.


"I think we've spent enough time here for one night…I want to get back to Dakota before she worries about me anymore. She's probably panicking by the way you ran out of the house earlier after talking to me on the phone. I just need to go upstairs and pack a few things to take to the orphanage…you know, so I can make my lie seem somewhat true…and because I really do need some things."


"Okay, and I will call Kevin and Howie to let them know everything is okay. Want me to clean up the backyard for you while I'm waiting?"


"If you don't mind…" Nick answered. "We left the KFC containers out there, and my radio and Ashley's clothes."


"What is she wearing now then?"


"Clothes that she left here when we had our barbeque awhile back ago. She went back to the Orphanage in her bathing suit remember?"


"Oh yeah huh…"


"Yeah…"


"Okay, well you two go pack and then meet me back down here." Brian replied.


"Kay," Nick said, and then he began to lead Ashley upstairs so she can help him pack what he needs, and because she wouldn't leave his side even if he asked her to.