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It was three-ten in the morning and the woman was unable to sleep so she sat staring out the window and down the street at the building in which her target resided. She’d been assigned her target the week before but had yet to catch a glimpse of him. The building was typically dark with low light emitting from the windows when night approached. The building, a house, was silent and the door remained closed up as tight as the first night she settled in to start her investigation.

A knock on the door startled her and she edged her away from the window and towards the door. She stood to the side and opened it a crack, the bolt lock still firmly in place. She sighed with relief when she saw Father standing outside the door.

“Beauty,” he used her code name as a greeting. She found her code name ironic; she wasn’t a great beauty but rather plain. She never wore makeup and dressing up was something she did when she went on a date, if she ever had a date. She closed the door so she could undo the deadbolt. She opened the door again and let the older gentleman inside. “Any new developments?” He asked as he looked around at the papers strewn around the room, the research she’d been provided on the subject.

“I’ve seen deliveries coming but no one going, makes it difficult to gather any further information.” She informed Father as she took her seat near the window again.

“Is it possible there was movement when you were unable to watch?”

Beauty pointed to the camera in the corner of her window pointed in the direction of the house she’d been watching for the last week.

“You look exhausted,” Father came over and touched the side of her face gently. Beauty sighed and nodded, she was tired. She didn’t think she’d be on this assignment as long as she had already. “Why don’t I help you clear these papers off the bed and you get some sleep while I watch for the target.”

Beauty smiled at her mentor, her friend, the man who had been like an actual father to her for the last several years since she entered the program. “Thanks.”

They worked in silence clearing the bed of the papers giving the vitals of the target she had been assigned too. Information on why it was he was a target and why he caught the attention of the program and needed to be watched. She stacked the papers neatly in a pile and placed them on the table next to the bed. She crawled under the covers and pulled them up as Father took a seat near the window. She watched the older man watching the window until she sleep came over her.

*****

The man held the curtain of his house off to the side glaring at the window across the way. He knew they were there. They thought they were sneaky and that they could watch his place without him knowing. He growled as he dropped the curtain and paced the room, his room, the only room he felt he could be himself. The only room he could release his anger without scaring those that remained with him, his friends. As a result he hardly ever left the room.

He moved the curtain again and looked out into the darkness. He sighed with relief when he noticed the light in the window had finally gone out. He was sure they were still watching his house even if they weren’t watching with their own eyes but he always felt better when he didn’t feel like eyes were always on his every move.

He turned back to his room and surveyed the mess that he chose to live in. Clothes were strewn all over the floor, tables overturned; plates were piling up near the door. He moved around the mess with ease and sat on his bed. He picked up one of the few things in the room that wasn’t broken, a mirror. He closed his eyes and turned the reflecting surface towards his face. On the count of three he opened his eyes and cringed at his reflection.

The brow above his eyes protruded, his eyebrows were shaggy and thick. His nose was flat, the teeth in his mouth were yellowed and crooked, and some were even too big for his mouth giving him the look of a Neanderthal. The hair on his upper lip and chin was as thick as his brows and no matter how he trimmed or shaved it the hair would always come back just as thick and matted. No matter how often he bathed his hair never looked clean and his skin continued to breakout, and there was an odor about him that he found repulsive and still had not grown accustomed to.

A soft knock came at his door. “What?” His voice was even more a growl than the voice he knew and loved, the voice that recorded several songs, and the voice that girls around the world adored.

“Nick,” Howie’s voice floated through the door.

Nick stood from the bed and opened the door for the only one of his friends that even dared come to his room. Howie brought his food, brought in any packages that arrived; he even brought fan mail in an attempt to cheer him up. Nick always tore the mail to shreds and tossed it without opening. He didn’t need to be reminded of who he no longer was, though he couldn’t fault Howie for trying. He returned to his bed and sat watching for Howie to enter.

Howie cautiously entered the room and Nick groaned internally as he always did when he caught sight of any of his friends and what he ultimately did to them. Howie had always been short but now he only came up to Nick’s knees and he had to carefully walk around Nick’s room as his feet had expanded and were too large for such a small frame. Ever the optimist, Howie had simply started calling himself Howie the Hobbit and would wink whenever he called himself this new name. Nick was sure it was part of an act so that Nick wouldn’t feel worse but it really wasn’t fooling Nick, how could he be happy about the changes forced on him.

“I brought breakfast,” Howie’s new high pitched voice managed to squeak out. “And some new letters,” Howie waved them in front of Nick smiling.


Nick glanced briefly at the letters then at the tray of food that followed Howie into the room. If Nick was positive like Howie he would probably enjoy that the one seemingly cool thing about the entire situation was the enchanted objects around the house.

“Thanks,” Nick growled. The smell of the food was starting to get to him and he waited patiently for Howie to leave so he could eat. Nobody needed to be subjected to the mess he made when he ate. His fingers were curved to look more like claws and he couldn’t grab silverware anymore so he resorted to eating like the beast he now was.

Howie continued to stand in front of him. “What?” He roared. Why was he still here? He then noticed the nervousness in Howie’s appearance.

“I just, uh, thought I should let you know that the others are eating with a guest…”

“What?” Nick roared knocking the small man over as he flew through the door he hadn’t stepped through in over a week. He was moving so fast he realized that he had hunched over and was running like an animal, but it didn’t matter, guests were not permitted it was the one rule they had all agreed upon when they moved into this house together after the…incident.

Voices could be heard coming from the grand room; Nick charged through the door and let out a massive howl. He looked around the room; all eyes had turned to him. His three remaining friends grumbled and groaned that he appeared. A fifth pair of eyes was looking at him in complete horror.

“What are you doing here?” he roared at the older man holding a cup of coffee in his hands. His hands shaking uncontrollably. Nick moved closer, he could smell the sweat dripping off the man before he could see it gathered on his forehead. “I know you,” He snarled.

“N….no…” the man stammered.

“Nick, calm down,” Brian spoke up. Nick looked at his friend who now looked more like a large golden retriever than the human he’d grown up with. He noticed A.J. and Kevin had conveniently left the room to avoid his anger. It was fine; he would deal with them later. He may be the youngest in the group but the curse made him the largest and they were all scared of him. He didn’t like that they were afraid of him, but it had kept them safe, kept the outside out, at least until today.

“What are you doing here? How did you get in?” Nick ignored Brian and moved closer still to the man sitting in the chair near the fire.

“He was mugged outside,” Brian stood between the man and Nick. “We weren’t about to let him lay on the ground bleeding.”

It was then Nick noticed the bandage wrapped around the man’s arm and the dry blood around his mouth. Nick tried to control his anger through breathing, something Howie insisted he try more often. “He’s one of …them,” Nick glared at Brian.

“I….I…. I didn’t know,” Brian dropped his head and moved away, his tail literally between his legs.

“Get out,” Nick screamed at the man still sitting staring.

The man still stared at Nick. Nick’s chest heaved as he tried to control his anger. He did not need to hurt this man; he did not need to yell more.

He started to turn to tell Brian to get the man out of there before something could happen when a flash of light brought his attention back to the stranger. The man had moved quickly from the chair and was bolting towards the door. Nick growled and could feel the hair on his back start to rise. He didn’t have time to be annoyed with the fact that he now had hair on his back; he had to stop the man that was going to make his way out of the house with a picture of him.

With the speed he inherited with his other less pleasant attributes, he was able to make it to the door before the older man. He stood in front of the door and easily grabbed the camera from the man. He threw it against the floor and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and began to drag him down towards the basement.

“Nick,” Howie came wobbling towards him. “What do you think you are doing?”

“He’s one of them Howie. He took a picture, he can’t be let loose.”

“Nick you can’t hold him hostage, there are consequences to keeping people against their will,” Howie squeaked out breathlessly as he followed Nick down into the basement.

“He should have thought about that before…” He yelled before throwing the other man down into what Nick assumed was a wine cellar and locking the door. He stormed back upstairs and moved easily past the astonished looks of all his friends finding comfort as he shut the door on his room again. He opened his hand and looked down at the key he clutched. He really was a monster now, but the others would sooner or later understand, he was protecting them all.

*****

Beauty stretched awake and glanced at the clock. “Crap,” she muttered when she realized it was after eleven o’clock already. Father was probably exhausted. Her head turned towards where she left him watching the night before and gasped when he was no longer sitting there. “Crap,” she muttered again.

She grabbed her cloak and ran out the door. She knew instinctively where Father had gone. He was always saying action was better than sitting around and watching. She threw her cloak over her shoulders as she ran towards the house she’d been watching. The gate that usually stood so closed was opened just a crack. She looked up and down the street. Everyone was going about their own lives, they had no idea what was behind the gate she was about to enter. Taking a deep breath she pushed open the gate and walked towards the front door.

She stood outside wondering if she should ring the bell, no that would only get her caught and if Father was sneaking around it would bring attention to him as well. “How am I supposed to find Father? I really didn’t think this through,” She muttered to herself as she glanced around for any possible way to enter. She was about to walk down the front steps to look around the grounds, maybe a window was open, when the front door creaked open.

She whipped her head around expecting to see someone standing in the doorway but it was empty. A faint light could be seen moving away.

“Hello?” she called out. She moved inside the door and started after the light. “Father,” she whispered as she looked around the house taking in what she could see. The house appeared perfectly normal, decorated in a modern fashion. “Father,” she whispered again as the light moved towards a staircase that looked to lead downstairs.

She really shouldn’t follow the light, she should find Father and leave, but it was in her nature to be curious. It was one of the traits that made her good at what she did. Walking quietly she decided to follow the light. Father might be hidden somewhere and safe; he would be disappointed with her if she did not take the time to investigate since she’d obviously been given access to the house.

She carefully walked down the stairs, the light was too far ahead for her to see where she was going but she could feel each step. It was slow going but she made it safely to the basement. The only light was sitting on a table near a door; the person who walked it down was nowhere to be seen. She smirked and walked over and poked the candlestick. No reaction. She laughed quietly at herself; did she think she’d walked into the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast? Candlesticks didn’t walk and talk in real life.

“Hello,” a voice came from behind the closed door she was standing next to. She knew the voice right away.

“Father?” she called and craned her neck to look through the opening in the door, she had to stand on her toes to even see through it a little. Father’s head speared in the opening and she stepped back in shock.

“Beauty, you have to leave. It is worse than anyone thought. It is not worth your safety to be here.”

“Who locked you up?”

“The target,” was his reply though his eyes were no longer looking at her but at something behind her. She could hear deep breathing behind her, it took all her courage to turn and look at what it was that had Father so spooked.

She gulped when she turned and saw a man who really was more a beast standing behind her glaring at her and the door behind her.

“Beauty, run,” Father called. His voice brought reason back to her and she moved towards the stairs, unfortunately it also gave the beast knowledge of what she was going to do and he easily moved in front of her.

She stood in front of him; it was hard to mask her nerves. He was so large and hideous but she was determined to keep eye contact with him. “Let us go,” she hoped she sounded braver than she felt.
The beast continued to stare her down, neither one of them would drop their eye contact. Soon she forgot what it was she was looking at, she was determined to show this animal that he could not intimidate her.

“I cannot,” The beast spoke as he dropped eye contact. “You have both seen too much and I know who you are and what you are doing here.”

“We won’t say anything, we’ll leave you alone even,” Father called out from behind the door. Beauty knew he was just trying to get out. He’d been in this game so long there was not a chance Father would pass up completing this mission and closing the case on this target.

Beauty could hear a growling coming from the beast and she knew that he didn’t believe Father either. “I would be willing to let one of you go but the other will stay here as hostage to make sure the other keeps that promise of leaving me in peace.”

“Keep me,” Beauty spoke immediately.

“Beauty you know I can’t let you…” Father spoke but it was too late the beast was already opening the door and pulling Father out, dragging him upstairs. Beauty ran after them.

“Be gentle with him, if you injure him I won’t be such a willing guest.” Beauty shouted at her now captor. The beast stopped dragging Father and instead hoisted him in the air and carried him the rest of the way out of the house. Once Father was gone the beast stormed past Beauty and left her standing in the entryway. She thought he would be taking her down into the cellar now but he just left her standing by herself. She watched him walk up stairs in disbelief.

“Rude,” she muttered.

“Yes, quite,” A voice behind her caused her to jump. She turned and saw what she could only describe as four creatures standing behind her. There was a short man that reminded her of a hobbit, a man that looked like a dog standing on two feet, a man whose face looked more like a snapping turtle than a humans and a man completely covered in tattoos, multiple piercings and his hair dyed in several different colors.

“Who are you?” she questioned. She wasn’t aware of anyone else living in the home. The beast was her target but now there were added complications with these four. She didn’t wait for a response before who the others were hit her. “I didn’t think it affected all of you.” She was astonished that there were more living in the house that her bosses would love to hear about and target.

“Don’t get any ideas. There is no internet or phone service here for you to access.” The hobbit man squeaked. “Howie,” he stuck his hand out for Beauty to shake.

“Brian,” The dog man barked out. Brian moved behind her but the turtle man pulled him away from her. Beauty could only guess at what he was going to do and she was glad the turtle man stopped him.

“Kevin,” the turtle man spoke up.

“You must be AJ then,” Beauty said to the tattooed man who only nodded. “You can call me Beauty,” She gave her code name. It was important that she keep herself separate from the situation, she couldn’t get involved it would only make her job more difficult.

The four guys looked at each other and smiled. She knew they were sharing a look of irony that she introduces herself as Beauty but she was not one.

“I’ll show you your room,” the hobbit, Howie, spoke up and took her hand leading her towards a set a stairs on the other side of the house. She hadn’t noticed this set before tucked away in the dark. Howie motioned for her to start up the stairs and she obliged. When she reached the top she was shocked to see a hallway with several doors. “Servants quarters,” Howie offered.

“There are servants?” Beauty asked surprised.

“Oh no, perhaps back in the day but the house only has the five, now six, of us living here.” Howie opened a door for her. The bed was impeccably made, a fire was already going in the fireplace and the wardrobe was open revealing several changes of clothes that looked her size.

“Is this someone’s….” she turned to look at Howie “…room.” she finished but he was nowhere to be seen. She shook her head and sat on the bed, a tray with piping hot tea sat next to her bed with some finger sandwiches. She was hungry so she took a bite and tasted the tea. Several books could be found on the shelf near the wardrobe. She stood and ran her fingers along the clothes before glancing at the titles of the books. She selected a title and moved back to her bed to start reading she would have time later to figure out how to get what she needed from her target and then escape.

*****

Nick continued to look at himself in the mirror. He was ghastly but she had continued to hold his eyes. His friends couldn’t even maintain eye contact with him but she stood there, right in front of him, and kept her eyes on his. He hated to admit it but his heart had fluttered in his chest as she continued to hold his gaze. Even if her face showed anger, disgust and determination he couldn’t help but start to feel something for this woman. When she volunteered to stay he didn’t have to think twice, he wanted her there, he needed her there. Even if he knew what her ultimate goal was, he needed her there.

“Nick,” Howie’s voice was accompanied with his usual soft knock.

“Yes?” He did not open the door for him this time but Howie opened the door and entered. He noted the usual growl in his voice as missing.

“She is set up in her room. I don’t suggest you keep her locked in her room, you need to get to know her.”

“Why?” he snarled. He really didn’t like to be told what he needed to do.

“She introduced herself to us as, Beauty.”

“She’s Beauty?” Nick asked in disbelief. He laughed to himself but he didn’t even recognize his laugh anymore.

“You…” Howie started but Nick held up his hand. He didn’t need his friend to say anymore. There was no need to point out the words that were flung at him when this all happened.

You who think you are better than the rest; the disgust you have thrown towards me any others will be sent back to you and you shall live surrounded by disgust at you. Only a true beauty can break the curse if she proclaims herself yours turning her back to her own life and those that love her.

He had laughed at the words flung at him that night at the club, but the next morning the nightmare he now lived in began and laughter did not escape his lips until just now. “You think she is the one the witch spoke about?”

Howie nodded. “Fate,” Howie said before turning and leaving Nick alone with his thoughts.

Nick let the words repeat in his head. “Only a true beauty,” he wouldn’t say the girl staying in the servants ward was what he would normally consider a true beauty but she called herself Beauty. That mixed with her determined gaze earlier, he needed to know her better. Quickly he left his room and ran all the way to the door that he knew she was behind, he could smell her. He shook his head disgusted with himself being able to smell someone.

He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer.

“Come in,” she called. Nick tried to open the door knob but this door was different from his own so he could not seem to manage to turn the knob. He finally managed to grab hold of it when the knob was yanked out of his hand as the door opened.

“Oh,” was the reaction from Beauty on the other side. He noted that she did not seem as scared of him now like she had earlier.

“I was hoping you’d join me for dinner tonight,” Nick attempted a subtle smile so as to not scare her.

“No thanks,” She said picking up the book on the end table and looking at the pages. She really didn’t want to go to dinner with the beast and his friends, she was hoping while they were eating she could find a way out of her room to snoop.

“You will join me for dinner,” Nick said more demanding this time. If she was the girl mentioned in the curse he needed her to come to dinner, the sooner she fell for him the sooner this would be over. Girls usually didn’t take long to fall for him but that was before everything happened. Maybe if they all had dinner together his old charm could come out and she would be won over before dessert.

“I think I’m going to have some time to myself tonight, perhaps tomorrow.” She looked at him and smiled. She hoped he wouldn’t be suspicious of her sudden act of ease around him. She just pretended he looked like his old self.

“If you do not join me you will not eat,” Nick added forcibly.

“That’s alright, I’m not that hungry.” She turned her attention to her book and ignored the beast that was Nick Carter before he was her target.

“Then starve!” He shouted as he slammed the door shut. He turned to Howie who had followed him. “Lock the door,” He growled.

“Nick, you can’t.”

“I can!” He demanded and watched as the other man locked the door and handed him the key. Maybe he should lock her in the cellar where he’d kept the guy, he could open, close and lock that door with much more ease and maybe then she would appreciate a dinner invitation.

Beauty listened at the door as they walked away. She tried the door and groaned when she realized that Howie had actually locked her in the room. She reached into her hair and pulled out a hair pin, Father always told her never to go anywhere without a hair pin for such cases. She managed to get the lock undone but kept the door closed until she felt it was safe for her to move. She glanced down the hall and started walking down the hall towards the back of the hall. The rest of the doors were locked but she could see no light coming from them so she assumed they were just shut up rooms.

She walked back towards her room and crept towards the stairs. She quietly snuck down and made her way through the entry way towards the big room. Nick was inside yelling at the people who were his friends. Why they stuck with him was obvious, they didn’t want to be seen by the outside world how they were now but if the situation were to change she did not think they would stick around any longer.

She didn’t stay long to hear what they were talking about, Nick was yelling, she didn’t need to hear more. She turned towards the main staircase and started to walk up looking around to make sure no one could see her. She heard a vacuum down the hall and cursed to herself finding a place to hide she waited until the person vacuuming passed. She watched for the person to walk by but she only saw the vacuum go by her hiding spot. She watched for the feet but none came. Beauty stood and stared down the hall where the vacuum was still headed, alone.

“No,” she shook her head. She moved in the opposite direction of the vacuum and started trying doors. She managed to get one open and closed it, a broom was going across the floor on its own and what appeared to be a duster was going over collectables. “No,” she muttered to herself.

“Very much so,” A voice behind her caused her to jump. “How did you get out?” She turned to see Nick standing behind her. He didn’t look angry, a first she thought.

“Trade secret,” She smirked and started to walk back towards the stairs. There was no point in continuing to look for anything interesting, for one she’d found something, for two she’d been caught.


Nick coughed and she turned towards him. “I’m sorry about earlier,” he told her and boy was he really sorry. The guys had not yelled at him since this whole thing happened but they weren’t going to back down this time. He needed to get his act together and try or they’d all be stuck this way forever.

“So enchanted objects came with this whole…” She started as they both started walking back down the stairs.

“Curse? Yes.” Nick noticed she ignored his apology but she was still talking to him so he assumed she accepted it. “A perk I suppose.” Nick shrugged.

Beauty tried hard not to laugh at how Nick looked when he shrugged. Nick directed Beauty towards the large room he’d been with the others earlier. She walked with him knowing that she had to walk with him now. He wasn’t yelling at her for breaking out of her room the least she could do was join him for dinner now.

They entered the fully lit and warm room and took seats opposite each other at the table. A tray rolled in by itself, two plates of steaming food. Nick took the plates and set one in front of Beauty and the other in front of him. He glanced down at the silverware next to his plate, with a grunt that should have been a sigh he picked up the fork and tried to get his gnarled fingers to hold it so he could eat. After a few minutes he looked across the table at Beauty. She hadn’t picked up her silverware at all but was watching him with interest.

“What?” He could feel the hair on his back start to rise, the shirt he wore covered it but he was irritated that she was just staring.

Beauty pushed her silverware away and picked up a piece of meat with her fingers and placed it in her mouth. She smiled as she chewed and prepared to eat a potato with her fingers. The food was hot but it was delicious.

Nick smiled and picked up his meat the same way and ate, he didn’t gobble but took his time so that he didn’t make a mess like he normally did while eating. “Tell me about how you go involved with your…work.” Nick spoke between bites.

Beauty wiped her fingers on her napkin and took a drink of water. “Orphaned at a young age makes me a prime candidate. I was young when they recruited me; they gave me a permanent home, a family and a good education. It was hard to refuse the offer. “

“And the work doesn’t bother you?”

Beauty shrugged. “We’ve done some good. How did you know who we were?”

“You have your networks to find your targets, those of us who are deemed targets also have ours.”

Beauty accepted that answer and took another drink of her water. “How did this happen?” She asked. Her files gave her some information but she wanted to hear the story from the beast himself.

Nick sighed, “There was an after party after one of our shows. Those parties are, were, great fun.” Beauty could tell from his eyes that he was smiling with the memory of his former life. “One of our fans had approached us and we took pictures, danced a little, gave her a memory. When she’d left I made a rude comment about how she looked something about having to use all my acting skills to not show my disgust at her appearance.” His smiling eyes were gone and now he looked uncomfortable.

Beauty gasped at his admission. She knew he had encountered a witch, someone else’s target now, but she did not know what he had said to trigger the curse.

“I had a few beers too many,” Nick offered up for his reasoning for why he’d spoken out. “Not that it really is an excuse for what I said.” Nick grabbed his glass and poured some water down his throat. “Can I ask what it is exactly you are supposed to do with me?”

Now it was Beauty’s turn to look uncomfortable. This was definitely not something she should be doing. It was unprecedented that she was even conversing with him; she should have taken care of her business and then escaped long ago. She was sure Father was gathering a group to come get her out thinking she was locked up and a prisoner. “I am sure you know what the end result of our involvement is.”

Nick nodded, “but I want to hear you say it.”

Beauty sighed and pushed her plate away no longer hungry. “The ultimate end is that the target is taken out, either taken in for study or killed depending on the threat level, though being studied usually ends in death anyway.”

“And my threat level?”

“I do not think I could capture you alone, so your threat is higher since you could easily take me out. You would be a kill target.”

“My friends?” Nick growled.

Beauty hesitated; she didn’t want to be part of this conversation anymore. She couldn’t quite understand why she was telling him this anyway, it was against protocol.

“My friends?” Nick repeated.

“We would capture for study, none of them seem to be much of a threat level.”

Nick pushed his plate away; the force upturned it on the table. Beauty could see the anger rising in the target. She should be running there was every possibility he would take her out and the first duty was always to stay alive. “Thank you for being honest with me,” Nick’s voice was deep growl; Beauty could tell that he was trying to keep his anger in check.

“I should get back to my room now and give you some time. I promise to stay there,” She stood and made her way out of the room.

“Beauty,” Nick called out to her. She stopped and looked at the beast, she no longer felt scared looking at him. She felt bad that one bad night had left him in this terrible position. “Will you come down and join us all for breakfast tomorrow?”

It didn’t take her long to think about her answer, “of course,” She smiled and continued to her room.

Nick watched her walk up the stairs and out of sight. “Way to keep your calm Nick,” Howie came out from behind a side door.

“You heard?” Nick asked.

“We all were listening of course,” Howie answered with a wink.

“Why she is here angers me, but there is something about her that I find…” Nick dropped the rest of the sentence and left the room for his own. He moved to his window and moved the curtain aside carefully and looked in the direction of the room he had known she had been in, though he didn’t know it was her at the time. A light was on in the room, the man must be there trying to figure out how to get in here again and save the girl. Nick dropped the curtain and paced his room. If she really was the one from the witch’s words he needed to get her to fall for him soon. He knew during dinner that he already felt more for her than he ever thought possible.

He fell asleep on his bed wondering how he could get Beauty to feel for him what he was already feeling for her especially if it meant turning her back on those that took her in, those that were here family.

A bird chirping outside his window woke up him up the next morning. How long had it been since he’d heard a bird? He stood and looked out the window and watched the bird in the tree outside warble before eventually flying off. Nick did his best to make himself presentable before heading down to meet everyone for breakfast. He heard the others talking and laughing before he opened the door. Beauty’s voice mingled with the voices of his friends, except AJ, poor AJ left without a voice as part of the curse.

“Morning,” Beauty said to him as he walked into the room. She moved the chair next to her out indicating she wanted him to sit next to her.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked as he sat.

“I did, thank you.” She smiled at him before returning to the others and their conversation.

Nick sat listening to them talk and laugh, it had been so long since conversation and laughter had been done with such ease around him. Breakfast was over much too quickly for Nick’s liking. The other’s dispersed leaving Nick alone with Beauty.

“If you don’t mind,” Beauty said standing. “I want to finish the book I started the other night, I didn’t think I’d find it so interesting or, honestly, be here long enough to finish it.” She touched Nick’s arm as she turned to leave the room.

“Maybe before lunch I can show you the house?” Nick asked. He wanted to spend more time with her but he didn’t want to push her, he couldn’t chance pushing her away.

“I’d like that,” she said squeezing his arm and then leaving.

Beauty walked back to her room with too many conflicting thoughts running through her mind. She had a mission to complete, she knew Father would be taking steps to save her, to bring the mission to a close but she didn’t want to see Nick killed. The paperwork she had on him only gave hint at his condition, there were no confirmed reports. She was to find out if he truly had been turned by magic into someone who could cause others harm, he had been. But, as far as she could tell he locked himself inside this house and away from others so that he wouldn’t hurt them. His friends told her this morning that he never hurt any of them, his temper was fierce but he would leave choosing to destroy his room instead of hurt them. The danger was there; her training told her it was only a matter of time until he hurt someone.

She arrived in her room and lay down on her bed. Now that her initial fear was gone there was something about him that she couldn’t stop thinking about. She looked at the book she really had come into her room to read and sighed. She wasn’t in the mood to read any more, she wanted to find Nick and talk with him again. She left her room and started walking back towards the dining hall when she bumped into him at the base of the servant stairs.

“Oh,” She exclaimed when she saw him.

“Sorry, I was coming to see how you were.” Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail; her gray eyes were watching him carefully.

“I was just coming to see you,” She smiled. “I guess I wasn’t in the mood to read after all.”

“Would you like the tour now then?” He held his arm out for her to take and his heart skipped a beat when she easily reached out and took hold of it. They started to walk, Nick talking about what he knew about the house he’d purchased after the curse took effect. They walked through several rooms talking about their childhoods and growing up. Nick told her what it was like to be famous and lose it almost as quickly as he gained it and Beauty told him about growing up without a family and finding one suddenly.

“Your upbringing sounds like mine even though I have parents. I didn’t have a real family until the guys.” Nick told her when they reached the bottom of the main staircase again. They stood facing each other, Nick touching a wisp of hair the escaped from Beauty’s pony tail. She didn’t flinch when his hand got close to her face.

A loud bang startled both of them and they looked towards the door of the house. A large hole could be seen and several people were now pouring into the house. They were all wearing black and had weapons of all kind strapped to them.

“NO!” Beauty called out putting herself between Nick and the others. “Father, he’s not what we thought.”

“You saw his temper, you saw his strength.” Father spoke moving closer. Nick felt the hair on his neck rise as the older man he had once locked up stared him down.

Beauty continued to stand between them. “He has never hurt anyone. He is just trying to stay away from others and keep him and his friends safe.”

“Nonsense, you’ve been trained better than that,” Father grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her away from Nick. “Take him out,” he barked his orders to those behind him.

“No,” Beauty muttered. Her training kicked in and she escaped Father’s hold and shoved him backwards. She ran back towards Nick.

“No Beauty,” he called out as he watched her come running as the others who had come with Father fired weapons at him. It was too late, Beauty managed to get between the weapons and Nick, catching everything fired at him in her back. Nick held her as she started to fall. She smiled up at him.

“Beauty no, you can’t leave.” Nick whispered as he buried his head in her chest.

“Beauty?” Father spoke softly. No one was moving to attack any further. One of their own had fallen by their own hand protecting her target. None had seen that before.

Nick set Beauty’s body down carefully and hovered over her crying. He could see his friends peeking out from behind the doors to the dining room. Nothing mattered to him now. His one hope to feel normal again was gone. He ran his hands through Beauty’s hair, her eyes were still moving slightly, she was still alive but not for much longer. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “I would live a thousand lifetimes in this form if it meant you would live even if it meant I never saw you again. I love you.” He kissed her check lightly and lay down next to her. He really didn’t care if the others in her group killed him now, let them. He would no longer feel this pain and he would no longer need to hide.

He closed his eyes to sleep unaware of the light that surrounded both himself and Beauty. He heard talking but he ignored it. He wanted to be left alone.

“Nick,” a voice he never thought he’d hear again called out to him. He sat up and looked around. The people in black were trickling out of the building. The older man Beauty called Father was kneeling on the floor a few feet away, tears running down his own cheeks. Nick looked up and saw his friends walking towards him and they were his friends again, no longer the creatures the curse turned them into.

“You guys are back?” He asked.

“So are you,” Brian added softly as he looked down next to the body of the girl who had ultimately saved them all with her sacrifice.

“If I had known this was what was meant…”Howie started as he knelt next to Beauty. “I would never…”

“I know,” Nick touched his friend’s shoulder noting his hands were no longer gangly like claws.

“Nick?” a small voice startled him.

Nick looked around but couldn’t find who had spoken.

“Help me up,” He felt a hand on his kneed and looked down to see Beauty struggling to sit up.

“You could die if you move too much.” But she continued to sit up. Nick noticed there wasn’t even any blood on the floor. “What?” He questioned as he realized the color was back in her face and she looked like she had not long ago.

“Magic,” Father’s voice rang out through the hall. He stood and shook his head mumbling about reevaluating the program and their mission.

“Well, I’m hungry.” Brian spoke breaking the silence that had fallen over them all. They all laughed releasing the tension that existed only moments before. Nick helped Beauty stand the rest of the way. He held her as she walked even though she insisted that she was fine and could walk. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, his heart skipping a beat when she returned his kiss.

“Did you know this would happen?” Nick asked when the broke apart. “When you volunteered to stay?”

Beauty shook her head and laughed. “No, but I should have, it’s a tale as old as time after all.”