Post by Skye on Jan 9, 2012 10:20:29 GMT -5
(a bit late, but the holidays were hectic around my house.. to say the least - lol - anyway... I know y'all have been wondering what Skye's angle on the whole story to date is... )
Skye watched Toby wheel his bike to the ramp and wait for his entrance cue. As the music started, he looked around, smiled and winked at her. She smiled back and blew him a kiss of encouragement. She let out a long sigh as he revved the engine and began his usual laps around the ring, bringing the crowds encouragement to a fever pitch. She walked slowly onto the arena floor as the crowd continued to roar and the announcers built up the match between the brothers. A few fans saw her take her place at Toby’s corner, waving at her or giving her a thumbs up, but most were too engrossed in the coming action in the ring to notice. The match began and Skye’s throat closed up in panic as Xplode tore into his brother like a man possessed. She hadn’t been sure Toby was ready, now she was… she was scared for him. She wanted desperately to leave, to not see this, but she couldn’t, not just as the fight had started, it would look like she had no faith in Toby at all. She hollered out some encouragement to Toby, and put on her stage face and turned her thoughts inward, in an attempt to keep from falling apart on world-wide television.
She reflected that this was the last time she was going to be standing at ringside, and hopefully it was the last time she was going to have to watch Toby get the shit beat out of him, or watch him beat the shit out of anyone else either. Seeing two brothers going at it like this made it worse. Skye cringed internally as another blow landed, and blood went splattering across the mat. If either of them walked out of that ring it would be amazing. As the match went on, Skye began to feel physically sick at the sight of them doing this to each other. Even though Toby had explained some of his youth to her, and how he thought Jaden felt, the intense rivalry between them often confused her, because she knew how important Toby’s family was to him.
Taking a deep breath, Skye realized that if she didn’t leave the arena floor, she was going to be sick on it. That wouldn’t look good, not for her, not for Toby, not for the EUW. She quietly made her way backstage, found a place to sit and put her head down. Breathing slowly, deeply, her stomach calmed itself after about five minutes. Backstage crew moved around her, going about their business, no one paying her much mind.
She decided it would probably be for the best to wait for the end of the match near the entrance. If Toby won, she could run out and into the ring to be with him, if he lost… she really didn’t want to think about that.
Listening to the announcers was nearly as bad as seeing what we going on, but at least she wasn’t feeling like she was going to barf again. It wasn’t sounding good for Toby, definitely sounded like Jaden had the upper hand. Skye paled as she heard the announcement that Xplode had pulled out a sledgehammer!
“Skye? Are you alright? Skye?” A voice penetrated Skye’s consciousness, “Skye, wake up. The fight’s over.” It was Sarah Thompson, an arm behind Skye’s back propping her up, and a hand fanning a show program in front of her face.
Skye’s eyes opened and she breathed deeply, “Are they alive? Who won?”
“They’re both alive,” Sarah informed her, “I’m more worried about you. I came down the hall and found you slumped over in the chair here. Are you okay?” Concern weighed Sarah’s voice .
“Yes yes, I will be,” Skye’s tone held an impatient note, “Who won?” she asked again, lifting a hand to smooth her forehead as if to rub away the tension.
“Oh, Xplode won, but I’d say it was a damned close call. They both look pretty worse for wear.” Sarah craned her neck to see the nearest monitor, “There’s a lot of EMTs out there. Oh wow, the guys are… hugging each other! And well… yeah. I think the feud is done. Their walking up the rampway together.”
Skye’s eyes were wide, and she blinked as if trying not to cry, “Thank God they didn’t kill each other.” She got to her feet, shakily. “I’d better go see if the EMTs will let me ride with him on the ambulance tonight.” She smiled wanly at Sarah, “Thanks, Sarah. For making sure I was okay, and waking me. I’ll call you soon.”
Sarah stood up, patted Skye on the arm, “Sure, no problem. You take care. Make sure you call me!” She watched her friend make her way to where a crowd of EMTs surrounded the Hunter brothers.
Sonny blended himself into the background, moving as unobtrusively as he could in the unfamiliar crowd, snapping photos of the people around him. It was his job, a job he was good at. In this case, it was a labor of love as well. He smiled and thanked people for taking the time out of their conversations for a quick pose here and there, and, despite the odd looks from the bikers, he was getting the shots he wanted.
When he’d heard about this welcome home for Toby, he’d had the notion to attend and memorialize it for Skye, so she could add the photos to the album she’d. He knew it was a special day for her as well, and she should be in the pictures, not taking them.
He turned and headed out the door at a murmur from the crowd, Toby had arrived. Positioning himself in a spot he had scoped out earlier, he prepared to take the shots he had planned out in his head. As he caught his first look of The Big Dog since the fight, he almost forgot to bring the camera up to his eye. Toby looked like he should still be in ICU. He was pale, walking with a pronounced limp, and he looked tired, older than his years. Sonny was shocked. Did Skye realize how bad off Toby was?
Sonny watched as Annette moved forward from the members of the Club to greet him, looking concerned. She led them all back into the tavern. She gestured to the back room, then to a nearby table. Toby gratefully lowered himself to the bench at the table, while Annette hurried off to the back room. Toby turned his head and started flipping through the photo albums lying there. Jaden approached and sat down with Toby. A few minutes passed and they had what appeared to be a short debate in low tones, resulting in Jaden leaving by the front door, looking frustrated and unhappy with his mission. Toby turned back to the photo albums.
The Club members stood nearby, waiting for Toby to… do what, Sonny wasn’t sure. He thought perhaps they were all as stunned by Toby’s frailty as he was. The crowd parted slightly as Skye hurried through from the office, Annette on her heels. Skye knelt in front of Toby, taking his hands in hers, concern written plainly across her face. They had a whispered conversation, ending with Toby getting to his feet and giving Skye a hand up. Moments passed and they kissed, just before a voice called from the front door, “Bike’s ready, Toby.”
All eyes turned to see Bobby holding the door, the afternoon sun pouring into the dim interior of the bar. Sonny continued to watch the interplay between Skye and Toby, catching some of it on film. The two of them walk out of the bar with their arms around each other, Sonny felt it was to mask that Toby was leaning on Skye a bit.
Annette turned happy eyes towards Skye, [color=yellow=“I had a hunch that’s why you weren’t feeling well. Why didn’t you tell me?”[/color] Her announcement that she was pregnant had surprised everyone present.
“I wanted Toby to be the first to know.” She whispered, “Well, third. It was meant to be another layer of happiness to add to today.” More tears spilled down Skye’s face as she looked at the now closed photo albums.
“What do you mean ‘third’?” Jaden interrupted, tensing as if readying himself for a fight, “Why would you tell others before Toby and us?”
Skye laughed slightly, “Umm… Me, doctor, Toby. Obviously I’d be the first to know. I didn’t want to tell Toby unless I was certain.” Jaden visibly relaxed and looked like he felt a bit foolish for not thinking of that himself.
Five of them sat in a booth in the tavern, taking in that Toby was gone. Jaden and Cole were also digesting Skye’s news that Toby in a way, would continue on. The rest of the motorcycle club had dissembled around the room, talking amongst themselves, but making it clear they were at hand should the most immediate family of Toby’s need them for anything.
Sonny broke the silence, “I sort of hate to bring this up, but…. Your grandparents… how are they going to react to this?” Annette turned questioning eyes towards Skye, and Sonny continued, “They are very old-fashioned. Skye wouldn’t be a single mom, as we would think of her. In their eyes, she’s an Unwed Mother.”[/b] His voice emphasized all of the old sins associated with the term.
“Yes, that’s about how they’d react.” Skye nodded grimly, “And even though she likes him, Grandma would likely say she’d known Toby was no good all along, and Grampa would sit quietly, looking at me lovingly but disappointed.” She shifted slightly on the bench.
Cole took the cigar from his mouth and waved his hand, as if brushing away the issue, “Just tell them you two were hitched, it’s not going to hurt anything.”
Annette turned and glared at him, “She’s not going to lie to her grandparents, Skye’s not like that.”
“Actually, I don’t have to lie,” Skye smiled, albeit sadly, shifting again on the bench, to pull her hand from her jeans pocket. She opened her hand to reveal a gold ring laying in her palm. Looking down at her hand, tears began to roll down her cheeks again, “That was the other part of today’s good news.” Picking up the ring, she slipped it on her finger, where it belonged.
“So, he wasn’t kidding when he told me to take care of you as if you were my sister.” Jaden looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time.
Skye nodded.
“So, what are you thinking of naming the boy?” Jaden continued after a moment of thought.
Skye elbowed Jaden, indicating she needed to get out of the booth. He shifted out of his seat and stood up. As she passed him, she raised an eyebrow and looked up at him, “It’s a bit early to be thinking of names. And… what makes you think I’m having a boy? Could be a girl… Uncle Jaden…”
Jaden blanched at the thought of pink ruffles and Barbie dolls… And someday... Boys at the door, boys like him maybe. He sat back down in the booth, hard. “Oh God…”
Skye moved out of sight of the booth, then turned to the front door, knowing everyone else would assume she’d gone to the ladies room. As she stepped out into the evening, Brenda stepped out behind her.
“That was wicked of you,” Brenda chided Skye, “teasing him like that.”
Skye turned her head, “I can’t seem to help myself, messing with him just blurts out.” She continued walking towards a row of motorcycles. Finding hers, she picked up the helmet and straddled the bike in nearly one smooth motion.
Brenda had followed her, “Where are you going?”
Skye started up the bike and gave Brenda an enigmatic look. “For a ride, I need to clear my head,” Skye backed the bike out of its spot and turned towards the road. To Brenda's relief, she turned the opposite direction that Toby had taken.
“Don’t do anything rash, Skye. You have more than just yourself to think of now.” She warned as Skye pulled away.
The ocean breeze picked up her hair and spread it behind her, drying the tears on her cheeks. It felt good. Skye stood on the shoulder of the highway and looked westward out over the cliffs, across the sea. Below, she could hear the waves wash the shore rhythmically, a soothing sound against her torn heart and soul. She thought on how empty she felt without Toby. This time was different than when he had been gone before, this time she felt he was really gone. As she stared blankly across the ocean, she thought back to earlier that day, and how close she had come to jumping on the back of Toby’s bike and going with him, consequences be damned. Fresh tears coursed down her face as her heart clenched again. It hurt that even knowing she carried their child, he had left.
She stood there for what seemed like hours, searching for solace, for answers to the questions in her head and heart. Tipping her head back, she gazed up at the night sky, and as her eyes sought her favorite constellations, a shooting star passed across her field of vision. Skye smiled, her grandmother had always said shooting stars were a sign. Funny thing about that though, Grandma never said what kind of a sign they were. With a sigh, Skye returned to her bike, getting back on it and turning back on to the road. As she rode, she wondered where she would find the strength to continue. She was so tired of holding it together, so tired of keeping up appearances. As she rounded a curve, the ocean came into view again, and she realized how easy it would be… just a quick hard pull to the right…
She felt a flutter low in her belly…
“Don’t do anything rash, Skye.”[/color] Brenda’s voice echoed in her head.
Shooting Star
Skye watched Toby wheel his bike to the ramp and wait for his entrance cue. As the music started, he looked around, smiled and winked at her. She smiled back and blew him a kiss of encouragement. She let out a long sigh as he revved the engine and began his usual laps around the ring, bringing the crowds encouragement to a fever pitch. She walked slowly onto the arena floor as the crowd continued to roar and the announcers built up the match between the brothers. A few fans saw her take her place at Toby’s corner, waving at her or giving her a thumbs up, but most were too engrossed in the coming action in the ring to notice. The match began and Skye’s throat closed up in panic as Xplode tore into his brother like a man possessed. She hadn’t been sure Toby was ready, now she was… she was scared for him. She wanted desperately to leave, to not see this, but she couldn’t, not just as the fight had started, it would look like she had no faith in Toby at all. She hollered out some encouragement to Toby, and put on her stage face and turned her thoughts inward, in an attempt to keep from falling apart on world-wide television.
She reflected that this was the last time she was going to be standing at ringside, and hopefully it was the last time she was going to have to watch Toby get the shit beat out of him, or watch him beat the shit out of anyone else either. Seeing two brothers going at it like this made it worse. Skye cringed internally as another blow landed, and blood went splattering across the mat. If either of them walked out of that ring it would be amazing. As the match went on, Skye began to feel physically sick at the sight of them doing this to each other. Even though Toby had explained some of his youth to her, and how he thought Jaden felt, the intense rivalry between them often confused her, because she knew how important Toby’s family was to him.
Taking a deep breath, Skye realized that if she didn’t leave the arena floor, she was going to be sick on it. That wouldn’t look good, not for her, not for Toby, not for the EUW. She quietly made her way backstage, found a place to sit and put her head down. Breathing slowly, deeply, her stomach calmed itself after about five minutes. Backstage crew moved around her, going about their business, no one paying her much mind.
She decided it would probably be for the best to wait for the end of the match near the entrance. If Toby won, she could run out and into the ring to be with him, if he lost… she really didn’t want to think about that.
Listening to the announcers was nearly as bad as seeing what we going on, but at least she wasn’t feeling like she was going to barf again. It wasn’t sounding good for Toby, definitely sounded like Jaden had the upper hand. Skye paled as she heard the announcement that Xplode had pulled out a sledgehammer!
“Skye? Are you alright? Skye?” A voice penetrated Skye’s consciousness, “Skye, wake up. The fight’s over.” It was Sarah Thompson, an arm behind Skye’s back propping her up, and a hand fanning a show program in front of her face.
“THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU” The crowd was screaming.
Skye’s eyes opened and she breathed deeply, “Are they alive? Who won?”
“They’re both alive,” Sarah informed her, “I’m more worried about you. I came down the hall and found you slumped over in the chair here. Are you okay?” Concern weighed Sarah’s voice .
“Yes yes, I will be,” Skye’s tone held an impatient note, “Who won?” she asked again, lifting a hand to smooth her forehead as if to rub away the tension.
“Oh, Xplode won, but I’d say it was a damned close call. They both look pretty worse for wear.” Sarah craned her neck to see the nearest monitor, “There’s a lot of EMTs out there. Oh wow, the guys are… hugging each other! And well… yeah. I think the feud is done. Their walking up the rampway together.”
Skye’s eyes were wide, and she blinked as if trying not to cry, “Thank God they didn’t kill each other.” She got to her feet, shakily. “I’d better go see if the EMTs will let me ride with him on the ambulance tonight.” She smiled wanly at Sarah, “Thanks, Sarah. For making sure I was okay, and waking me. I’ll call you soon.”
Sarah stood up, patted Skye on the arm, “Sure, no problem. You take care. Make sure you call me!” She watched her friend make her way to where a crowd of EMTs surrounded the Hunter brothers.
●
Sonny blended himself into the background, moving as unobtrusively as he could in the unfamiliar crowd, snapping photos of the people around him. It was his job, a job he was good at. In this case, it was a labor of love as well. He smiled and thanked people for taking the time out of their conversations for a quick pose here and there, and, despite the odd looks from the bikers, he was getting the shots he wanted.
When he’d heard about this welcome home for Toby, he’d had the notion to attend and memorialize it for Skye, so she could add the photos to the album she’d. He knew it was a special day for her as well, and she should be in the pictures, not taking them.
He turned and headed out the door at a murmur from the crowd, Toby had arrived. Positioning himself in a spot he had scoped out earlier, he prepared to take the shots he had planned out in his head. As he caught his first look of The Big Dog since the fight, he almost forgot to bring the camera up to his eye. Toby looked like he should still be in ICU. He was pale, walking with a pronounced limp, and he looked tired, older than his years. Sonny was shocked. Did Skye realize how bad off Toby was?
Sonny watched as Annette moved forward from the members of the Club to greet him, looking concerned. She led them all back into the tavern. She gestured to the back room, then to a nearby table. Toby gratefully lowered himself to the bench at the table, while Annette hurried off to the back room. Toby turned his head and started flipping through the photo albums lying there. Jaden approached and sat down with Toby. A few minutes passed and they had what appeared to be a short debate in low tones, resulting in Jaden leaving by the front door, looking frustrated and unhappy with his mission. Toby turned back to the photo albums.
The Club members stood nearby, waiting for Toby to… do what, Sonny wasn’t sure. He thought perhaps they were all as stunned by Toby’s frailty as he was. The crowd parted slightly as Skye hurried through from the office, Annette on her heels. Skye knelt in front of Toby, taking his hands in hers, concern written plainly across her face. They had a whispered conversation, ending with Toby getting to his feet and giving Skye a hand up. Moments passed and they kissed, just before a voice called from the front door, “Bike’s ready, Toby.”
All eyes turned to see Bobby holding the door, the afternoon sun pouring into the dim interior of the bar. Sonny continued to watch the interplay between Skye and Toby, catching some of it on film. The two of them walk out of the bar with their arms around each other, Sonny felt it was to mask that Toby was leaning on Skye a bit.
.....
Annette turned happy eyes towards Skye, [color=yellow=“I had a hunch that’s why you weren’t feeling well. Why didn’t you tell me?”[/color] Her announcement that she was pregnant had surprised everyone present.
“I wanted Toby to be the first to know.” She whispered, “Well, third. It was meant to be another layer of happiness to add to today.” More tears spilled down Skye’s face as she looked at the now closed photo albums.
“What do you mean ‘third’?” Jaden interrupted, tensing as if readying himself for a fight, “Why would you tell others before Toby and us?”
Skye laughed slightly, “Umm… Me, doctor, Toby. Obviously I’d be the first to know. I didn’t want to tell Toby unless I was certain.” Jaden visibly relaxed and looked like he felt a bit foolish for not thinking of that himself.
Five of them sat in a booth in the tavern, taking in that Toby was gone. Jaden and Cole were also digesting Skye’s news that Toby in a way, would continue on. The rest of the motorcycle club had dissembled around the room, talking amongst themselves, but making it clear they were at hand should the most immediate family of Toby’s need them for anything.
Sonny broke the silence, “I sort of hate to bring this up, but…. Your grandparents… how are they going to react to this?” Annette turned questioning eyes towards Skye, and Sonny continued, “They are very old-fashioned. Skye wouldn’t be a single mom, as we would think of her. In their eyes, she’s an Unwed Mother.”[/b] His voice emphasized all of the old sins associated with the term.
“Yes, that’s about how they’d react.” Skye nodded grimly, “And even though she likes him, Grandma would likely say she’d known Toby was no good all along, and Grampa would sit quietly, looking at me lovingly but disappointed.” She shifted slightly on the bench.
Cole took the cigar from his mouth and waved his hand, as if brushing away the issue, “Just tell them you two were hitched, it’s not going to hurt anything.”
Annette turned and glared at him, “She’s not going to lie to her grandparents, Skye’s not like that.”
“Actually, I don’t have to lie,” Skye smiled, albeit sadly, shifting again on the bench, to pull her hand from her jeans pocket. She opened her hand to reveal a gold ring laying in her palm. Looking down at her hand, tears began to roll down her cheeks again, “That was the other part of today’s good news.” Picking up the ring, she slipped it on her finger, where it belonged.
“So, he wasn’t kidding when he told me to take care of you as if you were my sister.” Jaden looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time.
Skye nodded.
“So, what are you thinking of naming the boy?” Jaden continued after a moment of thought.
Skye elbowed Jaden, indicating she needed to get out of the booth. He shifted out of his seat and stood up. As she passed him, she raised an eyebrow and looked up at him, “It’s a bit early to be thinking of names. And… what makes you think I’m having a boy? Could be a girl… Uncle Jaden…”
Jaden blanched at the thought of pink ruffles and Barbie dolls… And someday... Boys at the door, boys like him maybe. He sat back down in the booth, hard. “Oh God…”
Skye moved out of sight of the booth, then turned to the front door, knowing everyone else would assume she’d gone to the ladies room. As she stepped out into the evening, Brenda stepped out behind her.
“That was wicked of you,” Brenda chided Skye, “teasing him like that.”
Skye turned her head, “I can’t seem to help myself, messing with him just blurts out.” She continued walking towards a row of motorcycles. Finding hers, she picked up the helmet and straddled the bike in nearly one smooth motion.
Brenda had followed her, “Where are you going?”
Skye started up the bike and gave Brenda an enigmatic look. “For a ride, I need to clear my head,” Skye backed the bike out of its spot and turned towards the road. To Brenda's relief, she turned the opposite direction that Toby had taken.
“Don’t do anything rash, Skye. You have more than just yourself to think of now.” She warned as Skye pulled away.
.....
The ocean breeze picked up her hair and spread it behind her, drying the tears on her cheeks. It felt good. Skye stood on the shoulder of the highway and looked westward out over the cliffs, across the sea. Below, she could hear the waves wash the shore rhythmically, a soothing sound against her torn heart and soul. She thought on how empty she felt without Toby. This time was different than when he had been gone before, this time she felt he was really gone. As she stared blankly across the ocean, she thought back to earlier that day, and how close she had come to jumping on the back of Toby’s bike and going with him, consequences be damned. Fresh tears coursed down her face as her heart clenched again. It hurt that even knowing she carried their child, he had left.
She stood there for what seemed like hours, searching for solace, for answers to the questions in her head and heart. Tipping her head back, she gazed up at the night sky, and as her eyes sought her favorite constellations, a shooting star passed across her field of vision. Skye smiled, her grandmother had always said shooting stars were a sign. Funny thing about that though, Grandma never said what kind of a sign they were. With a sigh, Skye returned to her bike, getting back on it and turning back on to the road. As she rode, she wondered where she would find the strength to continue. She was so tired of holding it together, so tired of keeping up appearances. As she rounded a curve, the ocean came into view again, and she realized how easy it would be… just a quick hard pull to the right…
She felt a flutter low in her belly…
“Don’t do anything rash, Skye.”[/color] Brenda’s voice echoed in her head.