Fight By My Side

It was six years after the Battle of the City. To say that little had changed would be a HUGE understatement. The Barrier had been broken down, the City basically abandoned. The Range was expanding as the old City residents moved in.

Shifter children played with Usual children out in the streets. Neighbors welcomed each other, regardless of who had the Gift. The Guardians had been disbanded, but the Upgrades were never taken out. The hybrids weren’t evil….just unique.

It was how it should have always been.

My reflections on the old years were cut short as I saw two small children run through my vision. Austin wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. It had been five years since we had been married, but he never lost his charm. We lived on the old ashes of the Shadow’s Sanctuary, now rebuilt to accommodate our current living situation.

The two children tumbled and rough housed in the long green June grass. The oldest girl had flowing blonde hair with silver streaks lining the flow of gold. Her eyes reflected the sky in a light blue.

“Bryn Elayne Carlile, be careful with your brother!” I called to her. She looked up with a gleam in her blue eyes as she carried her little brother who grabbed at her ponytail. The boy had a mess of light brown hair and dark umber eyes. He always had a devilish smile plastered on his face, just like he was about to do something incredibly stupid.

These were our children. The boy was named Alexander Radke Carlile. He got his two names after two brave men we lost six years ago. Ronnie went out like he wanted to-in flame and danger. Alex….well his story was still painful to recall.

We will tell the children when they’re older.

Bryn put down her brother, who sat on the grass, sneezed, and Shifted. Austin and I both watched in amazement and stood up. Bryn had discovered her other form last year. It was a tawny wolf-no surprise.

To have Alex discover his form so young was what had surprised us. Now here he was, a beautiful little creature sitting in the grass and yawning in the sun.

He was a little mountain lion.

In a moment’s notice, the form quivered and a small human boy reappeared. He stared up to us as we beamed down at our son. Bryn clapped happily.

“Again!” The four year old cheered. I scooped the kid up in my arms and kissed his brown hair. He was a spitting image of a younger version of Alex. Jack would’ve been proud.

Shortly after the battle, Jack had wandered off and lost contact. As Vic settled into his home with his wife and Mike found his own Shifter to marry, we lost track of Jack. Both Fuentes were married, but who had Jack been with?

Vic now had a little boy and Mike didn’t have any children yet, but both stopped by to visit frequently. In fact, we were to host them later this afternoon. It had been a few months since we had last even seen Jack.

I would be sure to leave the porch light on incase he wanted to drop by.

“Oh, look who’s a big Shifter now!” Austin cooed to his son, gently tussling the light strands of hair. Bryn tugged on her daddy’s shirt, who picked her up.

“Let’s go inside.” I suggested.

Three hours later, it was about time for Vic and Jack to be arriving at our house. Alex and Bryn were on the dirt path and I watched them from outside the window. Bryn had Shifted into her little puppy wolf form, curling for a nap in a warm patch of sun. Alex was playing with pebbles and tossing them on the path. The boy was singing some babbling song to himself.

In the kitchen, I sighed in happiness. It was wonderful what a life I had. Austin was by my side, I had two beautiful children, and I got to stay in touch with my friends. In fact, I think I heard them start walking up the hill into the silence.

Silence.

Silence.

I froze and ran to the door, setting down the plate I was setting. As I stood in the doorway, I saw Alex sitting along on the porch step in an iced over shock. A mountain lion was crouched, as if ready to pounce, and was only a few inches away from him.

Just as my old friends walked over the hill, they froze as well. I was afraid to make any movements to get them away, or any sounds. What was this mountain lion doing here?

Alex reached a hand out to the cougar that didn’t move a muscle. I wanted to dash out and beat the animal with my bare hands, but I couldn’t provoke it to attack. The fear in Vic, Mike, and the other two woman’s eyes was evident.

As Alex stretched out, the mountain lion did something unexpected.

The creature let Alex gently stroke the fuzzy head of the creature. A rumble of pleasure emanated from the large chest. Alex giggled happily as the mountain lion rubbed his head against Alex’s forehead.

Wait, did mountain lions have a black and blonde little tuft of hair on their forehead?

Only one did.

Without another word, I watched as an old friend appeared from behind the mountain lion skin. The creature disappeared and was replaced with a grinning face and a crouched man who picked up my son.

“Jack.” I whispered to him. Austin watched over my shoulder as Jack held our son and didn’t stop smiling.

“I hope I was invited.” Jack Barakat joked. I nodded and came down to wrap him in a big hug. Alex went to his dad’s side.

“It’s been so long.” Whispered to him. Vic and his wife Lynn came up to greet him. Mike and Hayden came up as well.

“I’m sorry.” Jack’s face fell. I patted his shoulder affectionately. It was good just to be able to talk to him again. Our little party moved into the living room to discuss what had happened over the last few months.

Alex happily stayed with Jack the entire time. I explained what had happened earlier that day and Jack beamed at my son. The original Alex could never be replaced, but a little successor would’ve made the first one proud.

As the night wore on, I still couldn’t believe we had all made it to this point. It seemed like eternities ago that we were all younger and sitting around a TV, wondering when the Guardians would go away and we could be free again. Now we were living it.

Jack, Vic, Mike, and Austin were here. Alan couldn’t make it because he was planning the wedding with his wife.

Yes, even our raging ginger diva had gotten engaged and had his “happily ever after”.

What could be better than finally living out our dreams of freedom and final peace? The moon was starting to peak over the landscape and I saw that Alex had fallen asleep against Jack’s shoulder. Vic and Mike were chatting quietly, the two brothers conversing together.

I could’ve sworn I heard the old Alex’s laugh coming from somewhere beside Jack.

Notes

Okay, I'm sorry this was a little sloppily written, but it's eleven at night here and I'm starting to fall asleep.

Thanks for reading everyone and I hope to see you on future stories!