The Man on the White Horse (Emilie/Open)

[emilie]

When Emilie had apologised to Matt for crashing on his sofa the way she had she saw that smile that he gave her and then he told her not to be silly and if she wanted to stay the night he wouldn’t say no after everything she had been through. She gave him a smile then, but knew that she wouldn’t do that, she would ask him to take her home to her father, she didn’t want to get herself too attached to Matt too soon, if at all. Yes she might feel something toward him, but with everything she had been through over the past couple of years she just felt as if she had to be extra careful even though she had initiated the kiss between them way back at their first disastrous date, but that was to avoid contact with the mafia guys and it hadn’t even worked. “It’s nice of you suggest that Matt but I think I would just be happy if you could take me home to my dad please. I am sure he’ll be pleased to see that I’m alright.”

Emilie had then thanked him for the food and everything he had done for her that day and she had to give him a smile as he said that he was only doing his job and calling her Ms. Swan. Matt then placed a glass of water on the coffee table in front of her, which she took some gulps of almost immediately. “Thanks again.” She said referring to the water that he had given her. When Matt spoke again he told her he was going to take a shower before taking her home to her dad and added about the blood stained clothes not flying well with her dad. “Okay, I’ll be alright I hope.” She said in a soft voice. There was no way they would be able to track her back down that quickly again would there?

As Matt was away for his shower Emilie ate the rest of the take-away he had given her and finished the water actually feeling quite full, probably due to the fact she had eaten so little over the past few weeks that her stomach had shrunk and it took less to make her feel full. However she still felt very weak despite the blood that Matt had given her. She then leant her head back on the sofa and soon enough she had closed her eyes and didn’t even realise that she had fallen asleep. She wasn’t in a complete deep sleep however, it was the sort of sleep when your conscious allows you to dream and as Emilie continued to lie back with her eyes closed she began to do just that, only it wasn’t a dream, it was a nightmare as she was once more back at the warehouse with the mafia men, only in the dream it was a different warehouse and different mafia men and this time they weren’t playing around as they pointed a gun into her head and it was at that point she began to scream out, “No!! No, not again, why can’t you just leave me alo...” But her voice trailed off as that was the point they fired the gun killing her and then everything went black for her.

[shadnicth]

When Matt had explained to her that she didn't need to apologize for lounging around and if she wished she could stay night, she simply replied saying that she'd like to return home to her father. Matt nodded in response, knowing that she wanted to be with her father, at least to let him know that she was alright.
"It's ok... I understand." He said with a smile. With that being said, he proceeded to her a glass of water, and placed it in front of her. She thanked him and Matt nodded is response.

So after asking Emilie to wait until he had taken a shower, she replied saying she'll be fine. So with that, Matt proceeded into the shower, burning all his blood-stained clothing, should the police get involved in the matter. He'd have to make sure he cleaned the bathroom afterward, since tiny traces of blood would be in the shower. As he showered, he couldn't help but think of the past people he had been with that ended up hurt or dead. His parents, died in a crash. his brothers, estranged. His grandfather, serving 5 years for malicious assault on Matt. Previous work partners killed in action. And now Emilie. It made Matt think if he really deserved to be around people.

However he was soon thrown from his thoughts as he heard Emilie screaming from the living room. They couldn't have tracked him here. It wasn't possible! So Matt quickly turned the water off, the blood off his body by now and with a quick jab of his hands, sent the water on his body down to the floor, making a small puddle as he quickly wrapped himself in a towel securely, and ran out to the living room, seeing Emilie on the couch. His eyes widened with fear as he ran in front of her, bringing her body forward and supporting her neck with one hand, gently slapped the side of her face to wake her up.

"Emilie? Emilie! Wake up! Please, for the love of God, wake up." He said to her, his voice frantic with fear. He had never been like this with anyone before... His voice had emotion. Pure emotion. Something Matt could never express before.

[emilie]

Once Emilie had said that she would just like it if Matt took her home to her dad rather than stay the night she managed to give him a smile as he smiled back and replied that it was okay and he understood. “Thanks Matt.” She replied and then he had handed her a glass of water and said he was going to take a shower. She had said that would be fine and in the time he had gone she had finished the food he had given her and drank all the water. Then she had leant her head back onto the sofa and closed her eyes because she was still feeling quite drained. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep but that’s what was happening as she fell into the semi-conscious dream state.

This resulted in Emilie having a rather full on dream, well nightmare more like as she found herself back in a warehouse with more mafia men and in the nightmare they weren’t playing around as they had a gun to her head. She had began to shout out in her sleep about not again and why couldn’t they just leave her alone and then in the nightmare they had fired the gun killing her and everything had sort of went black for her. Then she heard her name being shouted on and for a minute she thought it was the mafia men and then thought how she could hear voices at all, she was dead, they had killed her. Then the voice became more clear and she felt as if she was floating.

She wasn’t floating however, it was Matt holding her body up and then she realised that it had all just been a horrible nightmare and her eyes snapped open and then emotion and fear took over her and she just began to cry as she threw herself forward onto Matt’s shoulder wrapping her arms around his torso, “Oh god Matt,... it was awful,...I was back in a warehouse,...there was more of them and they killed me,...shot me in the head.” She said between her cries and then swallowed a couple of times trying to gain her composure, “It was...so real.” She then sniffed a few times, knowing that it was far from real as she was there awake and in Matt’s house, not in a warehouse filled with mafia men.

[shadnicth]

Matt simply looked at Emilie with a face filled with pity as she threw himself onto him, despite the fact that he was pretty much naked, save for the towel. She wrapped her arms around him and he simply gulped a breath as she explained her dream. She had been kidnapped and shot in the head and she commented on how real it was. Matt simply sighed a breath and placed her back on the couch gently, letting her go back onto it before he tightened his towel slightly.

"That's normal to have those sort of dreams... You're suffering from Post Traumatic Stress... You'll be having those dreams for a while... Maybe for the rest of life..." Matt said to her with a grim tone. He knew perfectly well about the effects of PTS, having suffered from it himself. Even to this day. But he realised that the longer she stayed here, the longer she'd be having these sort of feelings. She had to be with her father, not the random guy from the bar who saved her.

"Just wait here for a second. I'm going to go get dressed and I'll take you back to your dad." Matt said with a weak smile as he walked back into his room and closed the door. He took his towel off, throwing it in the laundry basket near the door and put his clothes on, which consisted of jeans, sneakers and a white button up shirt. As he got dressed, he still couldn't help but think about how Emilie threw herself onto him like that. As though she wanted him to protect her.

As he buttoned up the last button on his shirt, he noticed the photo of his family that was on the dresser next to his bed. It had a photo of him, his brothers and their parents. Matt was about 10 in the photo. He walked over to it and held it up, looking into it. What seemed like hours were actually seconds as Matt looked at the photo, closing his eyes and holding back the tears. He just went back to the thoughts he had been thinking before in the shower about how everyone around him got hurt. That photo was a perfect reminder of who were the first people who got hurt.

His mind went back 11 years as he remembered that day his parents were driving to his school. He had gotten in trouble for fighting and they were going to pick him up. On the way, they had been hit by a semi-trailer, the car being ripped in half and his parents dying instantly. Matt was unaware until the school was notified about 2 hours later, Matt still waiting for his parents to come. As the memory flooded his mind, he couldn't take it anymore. Tears were falling from his eyes as he began to cry, his body aching from the deep emotional pain he felt, and he simply fell back onto the bed with the photo now clutched to his chest, hunching forward on the bed and crying.

He hadn't noticed that Emilie had walked into the room and was watching him...

[emilie]

When Emilie had gone to throw herself at Matt after waking up from the nightmare she’d had which had felt so real, she had caught that look he had given her. Her life had been going good, why did it have to screw up again? She had hugged herself to Matt and explained about the nightmare, but also feeling kind of stupid for having thrown herself at him, but really there was nobody else there she could throw herself at. After she had explained about it being so real she felt Matt push her back gently onto the sofa and she watched as he fixed the towel. She felt worse than ever, she hadn’t even given it a thought that she had hugged him while he was probably naked under that towel. She should just go home she thought. She needed to be at home, she needed to be with her father.

Matt then began to speak to her telling her she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress and would be having those kinds of nightmares for a while adding that she might suffer them for the rest of her life. That wasn’t a good thing to look forward to. The sighed deeply and then replied saying, “As if I don’t have enough to deal with.” Then in her head she said maybe they should have just killed me, then I wouldn’t have to deal with the aftermath of it all. Soon enough Matt spoke again saying she was to wait there a second and he was going to get dressed and he was going to take her back to her dad. She just nodded her head, “I think that might be for the best to be honest.” She had missed her dad so much while she had been gone and she knew that he would have been going out of his mind with worry over her, after all they only had each other.

Emilie continued to sit back on the sofa while Matt went to get dressed but as he seemed to have been taking longer than she thought he would she began to panic slightly in case some more mafia guys had managed to get into Matt’s bedroom or something. Not that there would be much she could do about it if that was the case she slowly got up from the sofa and made her way in the direction she had seen Matt walk previously. She wasn’t sure where he would be and there were two or three rooms, so she opened the first door quietly and gently and saw by peeking in that he wasn’t there. The next door she opened was the bathroom and she knew he wouldn’t be there as he was getting dressed. The third door she tried was when she saw him lying on his bed with something clutched to his chest and he was crying, a lot.

Emilie’s eyes opened wide not sure what to do or say, as really they hardly knew each other and whatever was getting him so upset wasn’t really any of her business and yet she felt like she couldn’t just walk back out and say nothing. “I...I’m sorry for intruding, but I...I...” she stammered with her words not knowing how he was going to react to the fact she had seen him in the state he was in, “...I just, you were taking a while... just wondered if, you know they were... Matt are you okay?” She asked knowing that it was the most ridiculous question because he was obviously far from okay.

[shadnicth]

As Emilie had commented on how she didn't have enough to deal with, let alone the PTS from her ordeal with the mafia. However as she hugged his almost naked body, he couldn't help but think about if she knew he wasn't wearing anything underneath that towel... Well he was a guy after all. He had to be concerned about things like that. However that thought soon drifted away as he told her that he would be taking her to her father soon, Emilie agreeing that that would be for the better.

However as he got dressed, he had been distracted by the photo on the dresser of his family. After having a moment down memory lane, his emotions had gotten the better of him and he didn't hear Emilie's concerns as she entered the room. She commented on how he had taken his time, and then asked if he was ok. Matt's head whipped towards her, his face filled with sorrow for a moment, before turning to one of anger.
"Get... Out... Of my room..." He simply said, his voice filled with a poisonous tone. Who the hell was she to just walk into his room without even knocking. And furthermore she had seen him in a state of emotional weakness.

He got up off the bed, putting the photo back onto the dresser and walked out to Emilie, wiping his eyes from the tears that had been been pouring moments ago.
"I'm taking you to your father now..." He said, his tone very bitter, and his face serious as he walked up to Emilie, grabbing her shoulder, a little more tightly than he had in the past and within seconds, they had teleported to the bar where he father worked.

"Gary! Are you here?" Matt called out, hoping that he would be here.

[emilie]

Emilie hadn’t meant to walk into Matt’s room without knocking the door at least but she was too shocked by the emotional scene that greeted her knocking the door escaped her. She stammered over her words as she apologised for intruding and had asked if he was okay. However she soon realised that he was far from okay when he whipped his head round and the look on his face grew from one of sorrow to one of anger and basically snapped at her to get out of his room. Her eyes opened wide, this was the side of Matt that she had seen earlier at the warehouse where he had saved her, but it was also a side she wasn’t sure wanted to witness all the time. “I...uhm... I’m sorry, I didn’t... mean to... okay.” She then basically ran out of the room and into the living room wondering what she should do now.

She was just about to make up her mind to contact her father and ask him to come for her when Matt walked into the living room and grabbed at her shoulder rather tightly. The pain of it made her flinch slightly and he spoke in a bitter voice about taking her to her father now. She never even said anything, she was in too much shock over the way Matt had reacted and soon enough he had teleported them both into her father’s bar. It was good to see the place, familiar surroundings even if it was a bit different to how she saw it last what with it having to be restored from the damage when she had been kidnapped.

Matt shouted out for her father, but she suddenly didn’t want to confront him, Matt’s reaction had freaked her out. So she broke away from Matt and ran toward the back area of the bar and the soon as she found a seat she sat in it and put her head in her hands and began to cry again. The day was one full of emotion for her and she knew it wasn’t about to get any easier for her either.

{ooc - its a short post and she hasn't really spoken, but I feel it does the trick to lead it to Gary's post}

[gary]

Gary had been searching for his daughter for weeks now but he had got nowhere with his search and after a while it began to wear him down. He knew that Matt had been searching for her as well but as he hadn’t heard anything from him he had assumed that up to this point he had been unlucky in finding her. Gary had finally come to think that he had lost Emilie, that his last family connection had been ripped away from him. Every time he thought about it he would get angrier and angrier wanting to gather all the mafia together in one place and bomb the bastards to hell.

However he had spent the last couple of weeks paying for restoration to his bar which had gotten destroyed the day Emilie had been taken from him. The next step was to hire an assistant manager who could start covering shifts so he could take more time to search for his daughter. He was down behind the bar fixing something when he heard that familiar voice of Matt’s and he got up as fast as anything only to see Emilie go running passed him in what looked like a very upset manner. It was almost as if she couldn’t get away from Matt fast enough.

After Gary looked in her direction he turned to Matt with a frown on his face, “I know she’s probably been through a terrible ordeal, but what the hell did you say to her to make her look like that? She’s running away from you as if she’s scared of you.” He didn’t raise his voice at all because he didn’t know the story after all one minute he was thinking about how long it had taken him to find his daughter thinking the worst and the next thing she was there in front of his eyes so to speak. “Although I have to say, thank you so much for finding her, how did you find her? What happened? Is she okay? She looks okay?” Gary rattled one question off after another not meaning to bombard Matt but he was just so glad to see his precious daughter back in his life.

[shadnicth]

As Emilie had walked in and asked if he was OK, Matt's emotions were in overload at that moment. He merely had snapped at her, asking her to get out of his room with a tone so dangerous, it could kill. And with that Emilie merely stuttered for a moment before leaving the room. Matt followed suite afterward, grabbing her and teleporting her to her father's bar. The moment he had done so, Emilie fled him as though he were about to kill her. After calling out for her father, he noticed how she had reacted and truly felt like a monster at that moment.

It was extremely rare for someone to be saved to someone else, only to then fear their hero. But Matt was no hero. He wasn't a good guy so to speak. Good guys didn't leave the bad guys in pieces. So as she ran off, Gary then came out and saw her face.
I swear to fucking God, if he starts me... Matt began to think to himself as Gary approached him, a frown on his face. Matt simply braced himself for a telling off, as well to restrain himself. He asked why his daughter was like that and if Matt had said something to her.

"That's between me and her." Matt simply replied, his voice not raised, but stern. He was in no mood to deal with Gary's attitude right now. However Gary then flooded Matt with questions, Matt putting a hand to his head, another in front of Gary in a hushing manner.
"Hey, hey, relax... I know she's your daughter, but seriously..." Matt said before putting his hands to his side, looking at Gary.

"I found her by tracking various members. Systematically. Start with the lowest in the chain of command and move up. That's why it took longer than I planned. Also there were... complications at first... Complications dealt with in the end..." Matt said, looking at his hand for a moment before looking back to Gary.

"I found her in New York. A warehouse by the docks. 50 men were there... Now they're in pieces..." Matt said, chuckling a little before continuing.
"She's not ok though... They stripped her of her powers, as well as got her addicted again. That, and she's clearly suffering PTS..." Matt said, thinking for a moment if Gary knew what that stood for.
"Post Traumatic Stress." Matt clarified, as he looked at Gary.

"So... I like what you've done to the place..." Matt said to Gary, a little change in topic to break the mood. However somehow Matt knew Gary wouldn't see it like that.

[gary]

When Gary had asked what the hell Matt has said to Emilie to make her run off the way she had he just replied saying that it was between him and her. All Gary could do was shrug it off, it wasn’t as if Emilie was a sweet little teenager anymore, she was old enough to make her own decisions in life and so if she had said something to upset Matt or offend him in anyway then it was up to her to sort it with him, not her dad. If he found out however that Matt had hurt her and he highly doubted that since he was the one to bring her back to him, then he would have plenty to say on the matter. Gary replied with a slight frown but weak smile, “Fair enough, I am sure she’ll tell me when she’s ready.”

Gary had then begun to rattle off question after question about how he had found her and was she okay adding that she looked okay. He then saw Matt put a hand up to his head and holding the other out in front of him and Gary knew that he had sort of bombarded him a little too much, “Sorry Matt, it’s just it’s been so long, just can’t believe you found her.” He gave him another weak smile as he then stayed quiet long enough to hear what Matt had to tell him and not interrupting once until he was certain he was finished or made a break in speech, although as he spoke, he kept rubbing at his chin with his thumb and forefinger and sighing and could feel the anger build within him at what they had done to his daughter.

“You took out all the men by yourself?” Gary asked knowing it to be a stupid question, he could tell that was the case; Matt was a power mimicker so he was bound to have a few good fighting abilities under his belt. “I’m guessing that you might get pulled in for that though huh, unless they cover it up given the circumstances?” Gary knew that they weren’t supposed to use their abilities in public but just about every single one of them did it in one way or another. When Matt said that she wasn’t okay adding that they had stripped her of her powers and that she was addicted again and then adding that she was clearly suffering from PTS he had gone on to say that it was Post Traumatic Stress, he nodded his head, “I know what PTS stands for, damn it, those bastards, how come she looks so good if her powers are stripped then? I would have half expected her to be battered and bruised as I remember what they did to her last time for fun just because she could heal.”

It would seem that he was going to have his hands full with his daughter again, making sure she got clean of the addiction again. Then there was the whole thing with her power, “I wonder if there’s any way of being able to restore her power at least, not that it bothers me having a daughter who isn’t special with a power, she’s special anyway, but I liked the fact she could heal, somehow made me worry a little less about her whenever she was out and about.” If Matt hadn’t taken them all out himself he would have gone and murdered them all himself for what they had done to his daughter. They better just not try anything again, obviously not the same men, but he knew they had connections.

[shadnicth]

When Gary replied to Matt's comment about him and Emilie, Matt just gave a nod as a response. Well it was it was nice to see in his absence, Gary had slightly changed his attitude somewhat. Either that or he was eternally grateful for Matt saving his daughter. This was proved again after Matt was getting overwhelmed by Gary's questions. Gary had just replied with an apology.
"Hey, it's fine... She is your daughter after all..." Matt simply said as he made a weak smile. He still felt like shit for making her cry like that, but he wasn't going to think about that now.

Gary had then soon after asked how Emilie had been looking so good, despite the fact her powers were no longer in tact. Matt just smiled weakly.
"I kind of injected her with my healing blood... She... She wasn't in a good condition when I found her..." He said, lowering his head slightly. Gary then asked if there was a way to restore her power so that she could be safe. Matt just smiled weakly.
"There are ways... but they're complicated. There's this supposed formula that gives abilities to people... but rumour is that it's been destroyed. So the next alternative is to find a special who can jumpstart or restore powers." Matt said, his look turning into a less hopeful one than it already was.

"But they're very rare. More rare than power mimickers... I doubt there would be one around here. Overseas maybe... I had heard rumours of a guy in Russia, but then again, it's a rumour..." Matt said, unsure of where to go from there.

When Matt had explained everything, Gary seemed shocked that Matt had taken out all those men by himself. Matt just scoffed.
"Gary, please... I'm not in the Secret Service, just because I can wave my hand and make cups float." Matt said with a chuckle, Gary soon after commented on how Matt would be brought in.
"No... No, they wouldn't bring me in. I'm too valuable for them... I'll be punished... but not out..." Matt said with a weak smile. D'Costa was going to have lots of fun punishing Matt, seeing as he hated him enough as it was.

[gary]

{ooc - sorry it took so long - like 5 days - that's the longest I've kept a post for a while now - but figured you wouldn't care as you haven't posted anywhere else yet anyways - also I'm going to change Emilie to a normal human for now if there's no way of us writing it in that she gets it back well she'll just have to stay human lol}

After Gary had apologised for rambling off question after question at Matt he said that it was fine and how she was his daughter after all. Well he knew that, but still the poor guy didn’t need the Spanish Inquisition set upon him. He gave Matt a weak smile in return, “Yeah, but... well anyway, thanks again.” Was pretty much all Gary could think of to say, he had found Emilie and brought her back to him but suddenly he was lost for the right words to give Matt the gratitude he deserved.

When Gary had remarked on how Emilie looked good despite having her powers removed Matt soon explained the reason for that. Well that was just something else that he was grateful for. He put his hand on Matt’s shoulder, “I honestly can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for my Emilie, really, words don’t express.” Gary had then asked if there was a way to restore Emilie’s power so that she could be safe again and all he could do was nod his head in acknowledgement as Matt answered his question about it.

“Well, if there’s no way to restore her power then I guess I’m just going to have to make sure I look after her even more than before.” He wasn’t even sure if that was going to be possible because there was no way he could keep his eye on her twenty four seven and the fact that she was taken from his bar all those weeks ago just proved that fact.

After Gary had made the comment about Matt taking out all the men by himself he heard him scoff and then he spoke saying that he wasn’t in the Secret Service just because he could make cups float with his hand and then chuckled. This made Gary chuckle a little too, “Yeah I guess not.” It did make Gary realise that Matt must be fairly powerful and began to wonder just how many powers he had mimicked.

Matt then said that they wouldn’t bring him in because he was too valuable to them, so that made Gary feel a little better, although it did make him wonder what kind of punishment they would give him. “I see, well I’m glad that you won’t be out, I would hate to think you had gone to that trouble to help Emilie and then lose your job through it.”