Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 11:39:02 -0700 (PDT) From: James Geckler <jmsotc1@yahoo.com> Subject: Punisher 9 Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. It has no intentions of resembling any real persons dead or alive. This is entirely from my imagination, with a little help from already established sources. This story is based loosely on the comic book character "The Punisher" from Marvel Comics. Other characters may appear from Marvel comics as well as DC Comics. Punisher and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics. Blade and all related characters copyright Marvel Comics. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel copyright Joss Whedon, United Paramount Network and Warner Bros. Respectively. Moulin Rouge and all related characters, words and lyrics trademark and copyright 2001 Fox. I have written another story on nifty entitled "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". It is in the Celebrity/Boy Bands section. Batman may appear in this story once or twice, as the Punisher may appear in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight". Any comments may be sent to jmsotc1@yahoo.com Thank you and enjoy. Chapter 9 Come What May Punisher exited the apartment and headed back to Blade, Tandy and Kevin. He looked in the door and saw Ty performing some kind of spell on Kevin's leg and sprinkling a powder on the wound. The bullet moved to the surface and Ty pulled it out. He grabbed another pouch and sprinkled some of its contents on the wound. Saying several words in Latin, "Iubeo iussi iussum sano," and the wound closed before his eyes. "Handy," Punisher whispered. Kevin looked at Punisher standing in the doorway and frowned. "When can I leave?" he asked. "As soon as you are better, I can drive you back to your home," Ty offered. "Is that fine with you, Blade?" "Yes," Blade replied. "He should not have been involved." Punisher realized at Blade's words that Kevin was involved by merely knowing him. That being the case, anyone Punisher befriended would be a potential target for the Friends of Humanity. Despite his coldness and callousness, Punisher could not endanger someone who should not be endangered. Davey turned and saw Harris standing in the doorway. Harris, once seeing Davey looking at him, turned and walked away with his head down. "He doesn't like me. He doesn't think I can love," Davey said to no one in particular. "He doesn't think I'm capable of deep love, only shallow love. I never thought I could either." Softly Davey sang from his heart: Never knew I could feel like this Like I've never seen the sky before Want to vanish inside your kiss Everyday I love you more than this Listen to my heart can you hear it sing Telling me to give you everything Seasons may change winter to spring But I love until the end of time Come what may Come what may I will love you Until my dying day Harris walked back into the room he had been in. He was in love with Davey. Could it be possible that Davey loves him in return? For the first time in a long time, he felt love. His perceptions of this world as being shallow and superficial changed in moments of time. It was when he realized he was in love. Harris walked slowly toward the window and sang softly from his heart: Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace Suddenly my life doesn't seem such waste It all revolves around you Davey, after hearing Harris singing, walked to the door of Harris's room and joined in Harris's song. Together they sang: And there's no mountain too high, no river too wide Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side Storm clouds may gather and storms may collide Davey: But I love Harris: I love you Until the end of time Come what may Come what may I will love you Until my dying day Oh, come what may Come what may I will love you Harris: Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place Come what may Come what may I will love you Until my dying day Davey and Harris leaned into each other and gave one another their first kiss. Punisher watched the display of love between the two young men. They were embarking on a journey neither one had expected. The journey was one of love and hope and excitement, of sharing themselves to each other. "Who am I to jeopardize that?" Punisher asked himself. He turned and walked down the stairs to his Suburban. After moving all the supplies he could into Ty's car and putting the rest inside the apartment building, he climbed in his Suburban. "Take it easy, friends. I'll see you around." Punisher started up the motor and drove off into the night. "Where is Punisher?" Blade asked. "Damn, I wish I knew his real name." "It's Michael," Kevin offered. "Michael Weatherby." "I think you're ready to go. Ty, could you drive him to the hospital?" "Sure could. Let me help you," he said as he placed Kevin's arm around his neck. Slowly he lifted Kevin up and Blade and Ty helped the young man down the stairs and outside. "Where's the Suburban?" Ty asked. Blade looked around. "He left. The son of a bitch left. What in the hell is he thinking?" "He left a bunch of stuff," Kevin added. Ty and Blade saw their supplies sitting inside beside the stairs. "Damn him," Blade thought. The three men made their way over to the car. Kevin sat in the passenger side and walked to the driver's side. "Take it easy," Blade said. "The Friends of Humanity may be out in full force tonight, especially after we gave them a run for their money at the warehouse." "I'll be careful." Ty climbed in the car, started it up, and drove off toward Columbus. "I can't believe we just did that," Harris said. "What? Kiss?" "Yeah." "It was nice." "Yeah, it was." Harris looked into Davey's eyes and a disturbing thought came to him. "You realize this won't work." "What?" Davey replied in shock. "What do you mean?" "No one in school will believe we are together. Your friends will reject you. I know the difficulty of social pressure. You shouldn't be put in a place to pick between me, whom you've just gotten to know, and your friends, whom you've known for a long time." Harris stood and moved toward the door. To get his attention, Davey decided to sing. Harris seemed to respond to music. Davey: Don't leave me this way I can't survive without your sweet love Don't leave me this way Harris: You'd think that people would've had enough of silly love songs Davey: I look around me and I see it isn't so Harris: Some people want to fill the world with silly love song Davey: What's wrong with that? I'd like to know. Love lifts us up where we belong Where eagles fly On a mountain high Harris: Love makes us out like we are fools Throw our lives away For one happy day Davey walked up to Harris and took his hands. Davey: We should be lovers Harris: We can't do that. Davey: We should be lovers and that's a fact Harris: Though nothing will keep us together Davey: We could steal time Just for one day We could be heroes forever and ever We could be heroes forever and ever We could be heroes Davey: Just because I will always love you Harris: I will always love... Davey leaned in and kissed Harris again. They pull away from each other. Harris: How wonderful life is now you're in the world Harris finally gave up his heart to someone else. He finally allowed someone to love him and allowed himself to be loved. He and Davey embraced giving each other completely over. "What's going on?" Blade asked Tandy. She was standing in the doorway to Harris's chosen room. "I'm watching the two lovebirds act out a scene from Moulin Rouge. Did you ever see it?" "No," Blade answers. "I don't watch love stories. I have too many other concerns right now." Tandy noticed the concerned look on Blade's face. "What's wrong?" "Punisher left." "He what?" "He left. He took the supplies out of the Suburban and left." "Why?" "I have no idea. Ty is taking Kevin to the hospital and then he's coming back. We will have to figure something out." "What's to figure out? The Friends of Humanity don't want us in the area. They destroyed the only safe place we have. What else can we do?" "We can't leave this city to the F.O.H. They are evil, that's for sure. If you recall, the group of vampires we were busting up last night. There are vampires in this city. It needs protecting. You are a Vampire Slayer and you are needed in this city. You, especially, can't leave." Tandy was thoughtful for a moment. "You're right, of course. But where do we go?" "For right now, we are safe here. The F.O.H. has no idea where we are. As far as they are concerned, we are halfway out of the state or went with the mutants from the school. They don't think we are stupid enough to stick around." "Lucky for us we are," Tandy said with a smile. Blade looked upon her narrowly. To Be Continued... Okay, I admit the songs from Moulin Rouge were a bit on the corny side, as some of you may be thinking. But those words, the music, the feelings behind them, I feel those when I'm writing for Harris and Davey. There is an interesting battle going on between the two because of socialization and the love they are feeling for one another. They are redefining who they are. That is what happened in the movie between Christian and Satine. If you haven't seen the movie and you like musicals, you probably will enjoy this one. I told you this chapter would be pivotal for several of our characters. Punisher has left the group, Harris and Davey have fallen in love and accept it. But their struggle isn't over just yet. There will be more for them to deal with when it comes to their friends. But that's another chapter for the future. For right now, everyone seems to be in a predicament. More to come! Questions and comments are always welcome!