Nathan turned around when he could hear shouting and then saw Ben before grunting, "Fuck."
Now with even less time than before, he went over to the edge of the steel wall and slammed his hand against the red button that started pulling down the chained wall from the ceiling.
As it was closing, Ben shouted, "Nathan! Nathan, no!"
Nathan looked at Ben, tilting his head with a painful look etched on his face until it was completely shielding him on the other side of the metal door. He turned around, leaning his head against the door just as Ben pounding against the door. He could hear his friend's desperate cries for the door to open, but Nathan knew he couldn't do that.
This was the worst way to say goodbye to his friend.
Travosky and his men slowed when they reached the part of the factory where Nathan was only standing. He didn't move away from where he was, just continued to give a vacant glare at the blonde man.
The man latched on his menacing grin as his men were forming a half circle around him, to block Nathan. Travosky chuckled, "Well, well, well. Looks like I get to pay you back after all, Mr. Henry."
Nathan's jaw tightened, narrowing his eyes before glancing behind the round bellied man and over at the C4 that was perfectly in place.
Travosky, unnoticing Nathan's glance, nodded towards his men on each side of him, "Get him. We'll bring him back to the quarters. I have so much planned for you that I am too ecstatic to not go through with it right here. There's just not enough space."
Grinning, Nathan cocked a brow, shrugging, "Don't plan on it."
Before Travosky's men could nab him, Nathan sped forward and threw himself down, sliding to slip by Travosky and another henchman. He pushed himself onto his feet with a grunt and grabbed hold of the remote control he hid earlier. He spun around, extending the remote control arm outward at Travosky and raised a brow again.
"Any last words?"
Travosky's eyes widened catching sight of the control then dropped his vision to follow the wires now suddenly present under his own feet. He slowly raised his eyes to Nathan and took a deep breath, grinning back once he knew he'd finally met his match.
"Well played, Mr. Henry."
☙ღ❧
Ben panted, shaking his head, "Nathan!"
By the time he reached the door, he slammed his hands against it; balling them up to pound them over and over again. His tears stung his eyes, frantically trying to pry the door open.
"Don't do this, Nathan! Nathan, open the door! Nathan!"
Adam panted, finally reaching Ben. It was a subtle moment that he could linger on the surprise of how quick the older man was on his feet when the brunette was always joking about what a damn slow poke Ben was; usually tossing in something about using a cane to speed up the walking.
His arms wrapped around the man's chest, attempting to pull him back.
"Ben! Ben, we can't stay here! Come on!"
"No! Not without Nathan!"
Panic ensued Adam with the little bit of time he had to get he and the others away from the factory. Nathan's whole plan would be a waste if they remained in this close proximity. Having no other option, and using the older man's panic to his advantage, Adam reeled back his arm and knocked his elbow on the back of the older man's head.
Ben doubled over against the metal door, groaning with a hand to his head. Adam quickly grabbed the collar of the man's shirt and began to drag Ben away as the older man was shaking his head, and through tears mumbled, "Nathan... we have to... we have to get Nathan!"
The weight he had to carry was burning Adam's thighs, but his determination to keep his word to his friend was pushing him along. He grunted, looking back at the man still moaning out tearful pleas in the direction of the factory.
Adam whipped his head forward just as Rory came over once the two had reached a good distance. He bent, using his good arm, to help Ben up and nodded at the young man that he could take hold of Ben on his own.
Adam nodded back, his shoulders slumped down. He frowned at the pavement, swallowing hard at what was going to be branded in his mind for the rest of his life. He feared that damn noise that was soon to come. At this same time that he was off in his own mind, another brunette had already jumped out of the Bronco and scanned the men in front of her.
Mara noticed there was one missing. She frowned, turning to the blue eyed man lifting his wide eyes at her.
"Where is he? Where's Henry?"
The moment Adam opened his mouth, stuttering, "Mara..." and started to shake his head, her eyes widened. Her vision switched to the building and her heart pounded rapidly in her chest. She didn't even hesitate to run towards it.
With her sudden take off, Adam escaped his blank stare and whipped around just as Mara passed him by; wrapping his arm around her waist. Mara screamed; demanding Adam let her go. She used her arms to push against his stronger hold, shouting that she had to go.
"You have to let me go! Let me go, Adam! I have to go to him!"
He shook his head and tightened his grip. Adam knew Nathan wouldn't want Mara anywhere near that building and he had given his word to keep her safe. "I can't do that, Mara! I can't! I'm sorry!"
"Please!" she screeched, her eyes locked on the building. Mara looked back at him, crying, "Please, I have to go to him! Henry!"
The next moment, Adam's eyes shut, his teeth gritting with his head turned away against her back when there was a loud, massive explosion. Mara's scream of Nathan's name was tuned out from the continuous explosions from the building; the sky filling with the fiery color of the flames.
"Nooo!" Mara gasped, shaking her head as she was still looking at the faltering building.
She wanted for Nathan to come out of the building from the side, where he made it just in time before the explosives went off. Where he would hold her to him and kiss away her worries that he was okay; that they would be okay.
Adam was quietly trying to ease Mara, pressing his cheek against her head, biting down to control his own tears from breaking through their barrier.
"Shh. Mara, shh..." was his weak attempt to ease them both, knowing it would do nothing.
Mara closed her eyes, shaking her head as she leaned back against his chest, gripping his forearm that still draped across her chest. If he hadn't been holding her, she would have crumpled to the floor and never got up again. Eventually, she and Adam stumbled to the ground; him lowering to his knees, unable to stand anymore and he held Mara tightly to him for his own comfort.
Mara sobbed, gasping breaths, and finding it harder to breathe more than ever. The sparked blaze reflected in her teary blue eye, and her heart was crumbling; burning into ash. Everything was so painful. Nothing would be able to take away this emptiness in her chest that was swallowing her up.
Behind the weeping woman, Adam sighed, shaking his head. His eyes fell on the burning factory; his ears hearing both Mara and Ben crying out for his fallen friend.
'That bastard actually went through with it,' he sulked. Adam knew better that Nathan would have sacrificed himself for them. He'd been doing so his whole life, why would this time be any different? It was never going to be the same without him.
Adam knew that they couldn't stay here. They had to leave. He shouldn't be letting Mara suffer like this; watching the flames eat up the building and everything and everyone in it. His responsibility now was to get her and her father back to the city.
Mara was still on the floor staring numbly into the flames. Tears slithered down her cheeks, dripping onto the pavement underneath her. She tried to keep her bottom lip from trembling, but it was no use. Her heart couldn't take it. It lost itself completely; the other half tore away from her in that mass explosion.
Once he rose to his feet, using his hands on his knees to push himself up after realizing how weak his legs were, Adam slowly bent and scooped Mara up. She didn't reject it, considering she couldn't move at all. Instead, she rested her head against his chest under his chin.
It wasn't until hours later when she was looking out of the balcony window of the Henrys' home that she came back to the real world.
Mara was now painfully aware of the other people nearby.
She looked over at the sofa where Nathan's sister was fast asleep after hours of crying when told of what happened to her older brother. Lily stumbled backward, shaking her head and shouting back at Adam that it wasn't true. She pointed at the door behind them and was convinced that Nathan was going to come through the door at any minute to surprise them all.
But he didn't. They knew he wouldn't. Lily then crumpled to the floor, hugging herself and screaming for her brother.
Mrs. Henry reacted in a less frightening way.
Ben had taken responsibility of sitting her down at the kitchen table. He softly smiled and asked her to remember how funny, charming, and accountable her son was as a buildup of what he had to confess. However, it was heartbreaking to see the woman blink, with tears coming down her cheeks. Her motherly instinct had told her about Nathan before Ben did.
The man gripping her hands in his, pulling them to his lips, nodded, whispering, "He's gone, Trish. I'm so sorry... I told you I'd look after him... and I... I lost him."
He dropped his head onto the back of her hands as broke down again. Though he wasn't Nathan's father, Ben was pretty damn close to it.
Then there was Chambers.
When Mara had been lead into the apartment, she vaguely remembered anything at all, except to find her heart racing when the teenager jumped up from sitting on the sofa. He had his brows lowered and his jaw tensed. He looked exactly like Nathan.
For a moment, Mara was going to run to him, but thankfully her father's grip held her back because then Nathan spoke, and it turned out not to be Nathan at all. His voice was in a higher octave; still too young to be the same husky and deep charming voice her ears knew.
Chambers stood there for the longest time after Adam mumbled to Lily what happened to Nathan. The boy was rooted to his spot, staring at the carpet until Adam moved over to him and lightly touched his shoulder. Chambers jumped, pulling away from the taller man glaring up at him like he was a stranger.
Adam took no offense to this aggressive reaction and noticed how difficult it was for the teenager to hold back the tears behind his shock. Without hesitation, he pulled Chambers into a hug where the younger struggled, shaking his head and tried to push away but eventually, he gave in. He wrapped his arms around Adam's waist and buried his head in his chest. With his heavy sobbing, he had eventually put himself to sleep, too.
Mara sadly smiled downward to see that Chambers had rested his head in her lap, completely worn out from the crying. He had taken a quick liking to Mara, remembering that she was the closest thing he would have to his brother, and wanted to be near Mara as much as possible.
She ran her fingers over his hair, making his bangs stick up as her hand smoothed his hair back.
Mara remembered the last time that she had seen Nathan sleeping like this; so peacefully. The night she gave herself to him, they'd fallen asleep with his arm around her waist. She had stirred awake, blinking open her eyes and smiled when he'd pulled her to him burying his face into his pillow. She stared at him for such a long time, tracing the curvature of his jaw with her fingertips before, sighing and leaned forward to kiss his lips prior to snuggling closely under his chin.
"Mara..."
She broke her gaze from Chambers's sleeping face and lifted her eyes to her father standing beside her. His expression was solemn, regretful, but Mara wasn't sure why other than thinking it was his way giving respects to her losing Nathan.
His eyes then fell on Chambers. Mara looked down at him too, hearing her father say quietly, "He looks just like him."
Mara brushed back the boy's hair once again, who snuggled closer to her touch. She swallowed in agreement, "He really does..."
She smiled a little, although it hurt to think that once this boy was all grown up, he'd be the spitting image of Nathan. It would be too hard to look at Chambers without her breaking down into heavy sobs.
"Mara, we have to go. Jane is waiting." Her father pressed. He placed a hand on her shoulder, not trying to rush her.
If there was anything in the world Mara wanted, it was to stay right where she was.
As painful as it would be to see Chambers, or Ben, or Adam, it felt right to be there with them. She wanted to be there when this bouncy teenager woke up and asked her a million questions, whether they were good or bad, to hug Lily until they cried with one another to sleep again and to tell Mrs. Henry all about the wonderful times she spent with her son; even if there were times they wanted to kill one another.
Mara wanted to stay with this family because, in her heart, they were hers.
Adam appeared around her father, giving a small smile in her direction. His red teary eyes dropped down quickly and bent to lift Chambers off Mara. Cradling him in his arms, Adam looked at Chambers with the same grim smile he'd given to her.
Clearing his throat, Hallden nodded, somberly choking out, "Thank you for everything. Without you... all of you... I'd have lost Mara."
Mara frowned at those words.
It only made her feel worse than she already did. She was responsible for everything that happened; Her kidnapping, Ben and Rory's injuries, and Nathan's death.
Adam shook his head, smiling a little wider and shrugged a shoulder.
"We were happy to help. Mara's family, now and forever."
He then looked at Mara who was now standing beside her father. She raised her blue eyes from Chambers's face one last time to his.
Her eyes were tearing, but Adam shook his head, a pitiful expression crossing his face, "He wouldn't want you to live your life moping, you know. It'll hurt for a little while, Mara... but you have to promise yourself that you will move on. Nate would want it that way. Stubborn ass."
Mara couldn't help, but laugh a sigh, crying again. She went forward and hugged Adam from the side. He bent his head to rest against hers, allowing her to look up and kiss his cheek.
"Good bye, Adam."
"Goodbye, Mara... Mr. Hallden."
She stopped at the doorway after her father already made his way out into the hall and towards the stairs. Her head turned over her shoulder to find that Adam had disappeared with Chambers. The living room she'd sat in for hours was now empty; sorrow-filled.
Mara took a deep breath as she reached in and pulled on the handle, closing the door shut. She continued to stare at the door; scanning the tiny crooked lines running down the wood. Her hand lifted against it, knowing that it would be a while before she could move on.
To let it finally sink in that Nathan was no longer there.
Mara turned her head when her father said her name softly. She sighed, dropping her arm to her side. Her heavy footsteps made their way down the hall, stairs, and out into the bright light.
There was a car waiting, and the back door opened where her cousin stepped out, dressed so beautifully as she always was. She had her red hair pinned back, with two tiny braids on each side. Purple mascara lightly feathered her eyelids, and a bright pink lipstick glittered her lips.
The corners of Mara's lips tugged up helplessly, a part of her so happy to see her cousin again.
Her cousin held out her arms, embracing Mara tightly. The shorter woman closed her eyes, sighing and returned the hug.
"Oh, Mara! I'm so glad you are alright!"
Jane pulled back, holding her cousin at shoulders length. Jane's bottom lip stuck out slightly, her violet eyes' usual spark was now dimmed and Mara knew why.
"I'm sorry about Nathan." She frowned, dropping her gaze guiltily.
Mara looked down and bit back her tears, lifting them back up with a smile. She shook her head, wiping away at her traitor tears.
"Don't... please. I'll be fine. Henry wouldn't want me to be a complete mess."
She gave a forced laugh, and Jane shook her head, a grim smile appearing as if she knew Mara wasn't fooling her but let it slide.
Tycoon Hallden ushered the girls inside after they stood in the apartment complex far longer than expected. He wanted to get the girls home; safe and sound. Once they were all inside, he reached for the handle to close the door behind them.
As Mara looked out her side of the window, she thought to herself how different her life would be now. She was no longer hidden away from the world, but she wouldn't be facing it with Nathan beside her. Mara had always been the type to not depend on anyone. And she knew that she just had to get a little part of that back... eventually.
She leaned her head against the window, taking in everything that passed her by.
Her eyes closed, pressing her forehead farther against the glass with a frown. She couldn't hold it back anymore; Mara knew that she was still alive because Nathan had given up his life, and he wouldn't want her to mope or cry all the time.
Once in a while would be fine, she supposed, but not forever.
Eventually, she might have to one day open her heart to someone new. However, no matter who it was she met after today, Mara knew one thing as the car turned left, taking her further away from the Henry home and the lovely people in it.
She was always going to love Nathan Henry.