Page 23 of Carver

"It's okay if you don't remember," he said. "We don't mind you being here. I don't mind. I'm the boss here."

His voice trailed off as the young man reached out towards him.

"What is your name, sweet boy?" Carver whispered as the young man's palm touched his cheek.

The boy didn't reply. He tilted his head to the side as if memorizing Carver's features in some way. His gaze was measured. It burned and it soothed all at once.

When his hand dropped away, Carver cautiously lifted his own. "May I?" he said.

The boy dipped his head just the slightest bit since Carver was watching him so intently. He saw it, and he took the chance. Moving slowly but earnestly, he raised his hand and pressed it against the boy's cheek. The boy leaned into the touch and closed his eyes.

A part of Carver's heart that had been damaged from his past soared. He felt this sort of completion within him, this locking into place.

He wanted to stand up and shout his joy.But no.That would likely startle him.

When the boy opened his eyes again, they widened, and he scurried away from Carver. His brow furrowed as he turned to look behind him. It was then he saw several of his men standing in the doorway.

Carver growled and the men scurried to leave. Only Slash stayed behind, appearing from behind the group as if he had only just walked up.

"Boss?" he questioned.

Carver shook his head, then turned to the boy who had tucked back into himself.

"It's okay, sweet boy," he said. "I sent the men off. None of them will hurt you. I wouldn't let them."

The boy continued to quiver as if he couldn't overcome the fear that had taken hold.

Carver turned back to Slash and said, "Go get Fury. I know he's already awake somewhere."

Slash didn't respond. He merely took off down the hall to do as he was ordered. Carver dropped to sit cross-legged on the floor. He began talking again, this time spouting random nonsense about the men.

“Slash, who was just here,” he started, “is my second-in-command. He's a good guy and my best friend. He makes sure that I don't lose myself to this club. You'll get to meet Hex too, though you saw him yesterday. He's Mr. Friendly. The guy who can make pretty much anyone laugh. He also knows about a million languages. There's a story behind that that you might get to ask him one day.

“Of course, there's Trix, who's our computer nerd. He does all our behind-the-scenes stuff to make sure each mission goes off without a hitch.”

Carver paused to take a breath. The boy hadn't moved, so he pressed on.

“We also have Doc, that's who was helping you in the med bay. He's the one who takes care of all our wounds and shit. Slayer is another you should know. As his name suggests, he's one of my enforcers. He doesn't have to do too much enforcing these days, but when we have a mission that goes wrong, he'sprepared to take control. I wanted him to be higher up the food chain, but he swore he didn’t want to take the lead. He's also Slash's twin. Not that it really matters because they look nothing alike, and you wouldn't know they were brothers other than their occasional freaky twin moments where they are so in tune with each other, it creeps me out.

“Then there's Silver, my sergeant at arms. He is the Casanova of the group. While Hex makes people laugh, Silver can pretty much melt someone's clothes off with his eyes. It's really fucking annoying, but it’s come in handy over the years. Bookie is the only other person you need to know about for now. He's a good guy. He and Knight are our current probies. The two of them are pretty much shoo-ins to become full Angels. I should probably explain what a probie is,” Carver pondered at the end of his rant.

A chuckle from behind had him turning. Fury strode into the room with Slash behind him. They moved to close the door, and the boy squeaked.

"Don't shut it," Carver said quickly. “He doesn't need to feel caged in.”

They nodded and left it open. Carver's immediate reaction seemed to have appeased the boy. He untangled himself a bit from his cocoon and faced the three men. His hand moved to his neck. It wasn't in a way that looked as if he would hurt himself, more like he needed the comfort of stroking the area.

Fury appeared to take note of the movement and of Carver's position. He walked over and sat beside the prez. "Hey there kid, I'm Fury. I hear you're our newest Angel."

The boy's gaze didn't change, but his shoulders dropped slightly.

Slash sat down on Carver's other side. The three of them looked like something out of a small children's classroom the way they sat lined up in front of him.

Slash chuckled. “It figures this guy gets a one-way ticket straight to being an Angel. Do you know how hard that is, kid?"

Carver laughed as well. "Yeah, Bookie and Knight, those two probies I told you about, had to work endlessly night and day to earn their spot.”

The boy tilted his head again. Carver now recognized it as his way of asking for further explanation.