On Hallowed Ground, Chapter 4 - Xena Uber

[calliopes_muse]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, I'm a little late doing this.  This was submitted for Ralst's Epic Proportions challenge.  I thought I'd do a little self-pimping.  This is more or less an original fic that I have been meaning to write for a long time, but I used the basic charactistics of Xena and Gabrielle for our main characters.
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2:  I will post this in chapters for those who like it that way, but the link to the full story is below.
THANKS: To my primary beta, Sofia Lindsay, for listening to my insecurities and reading and re-reading this fic. It wouldn’t have been done had she not poked the daylights out of me. That sounded very wrong! Also, thanks to my secondary betas on this fic, Darkbardzero and Sinjenkai. Last but not least, to my partner Michelle for puttng up with my late nights working on this.

SUMMARY: Young and ambitious journalist Riley Jacobsen returns home to Alabama for an undercover story on her town’s former church and opens the door to more than she ever expected.

RATING: Mature, for descriptions of violence, abuse, and f/f sex.

CHALLENGE: Submitted as part of the Epic Proportions challenge.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

©April 2009

Feedback is crack, folks.  Let me know what you think.

ON HALLOWED GROUND (link to full story)

By Calliope’s Muse

 

CHAPTER 4

 

Riley watched the blonde as she barreled south down the interstate into Birmingham.  She had been thinking about her most of last night.  Mainly she wondered if she had imagined Sam’s sudden awkwardness and withdrawal when she came close to her yesterday.  It was hard for Riley to put away who she was, ignore the way she interacted with women, especially women she found attractive.  It was hard for her to admit, but she did find Sam attractive.  Damn, Al, and his ridiculous assumptions!

She looked at Sam again.  Her blonde hair fell from the ponytail in ringlets around her face.  There wasn’t a drop of make-up on her face, but she was naturally beautiful.  Her lips curled into a soft smile as she talked about some of the new attractions that had recently opened up in town.  Apparently, there was a new planetarium on the edge of the city, and Sam became quite animated when she talked about the planets and stars.

Riley smiled as she listened to Sam rattle off constellation information, while at the same time, she pushed down her own desire to stare endlessly at the younger woman.  Images of the two of them lying on a blanket in an open field staring up at the stars and laughing flitted in and out of Riley’s mind.  She shook her head to clear it of the image.  It all felt so real, yet so impossible.

Sam was the epitome of the girl-next-door, and Riley had a hopeless weakness for that type.  Susie Graham was proof of that, and that was a mistake Riley didn’t intend on making again.  Besides, she reminded herself, she was here to get a story.  That’s all.  Sam was a great inside track to that story.

Heading the wrong way down the parking lot, Sam pulled into the closest spot to the store’s entrance.  Riley always hated big box retail and looked up at the huge blue letters with a sigh.  When she moved to Chicago, she made it a mission of hers to shop at small, local stores.  It was her small way of sticking it to the big stores who ran the little guys out.  But, she was back in Alabama and avoiding the fill-in-the-blank marts was about as likely as avoiding hitting a deer at sunset.

They had barely made it down two aisles when Riley already felt drained and tired from the fluorescent lighting.  It didn’t faze Sam though.  She seemed even more animated, checking out the sales racks.

“Oh, these pants are adorable!  Don’t you think so, Riley?”

Riley lifted her head from her chin resting in her hand, which was resting on the handle of the basket, “Oh, yeah, adorable.”

Sam carried a deep purple blouse over to Riley and held it up to her, “This would look great with your eyes.”

Riley looked down at it with barely withheld disgust, “It has kittens on it.”

“Yeah, well, except for the kittens.” Sam shrugged as she put the shirt back on the rack.  “You’re not much of a shopper, are you?”

“Am I that obvious?  I tried so hard to hide it!” Riley sarcastically replied.

Sam pulled on the front of the basket, “Come on, spoil sport!”

Sam had the basket half full with enough paper plates and cups for a small army when she headed down the seasonal decoration aisle.

“So, which one do you like?”  She held up a generic red, white, and blue table topper decoration in her right hand and an even more hideous version of it in her left.

Riley gave her the same look as the one with the noxious shirt, making Sam laugh out loud, “Look, it’s either this or you’re going to be spending every night this week with me doing red, white, and blue color-by-numbers.”

Riley gave a pained look and pointed at the lesser of the two evils in Sam’s right hand, “Oh, don’t threaten me.  That one, please!”

Sam grabbed a handful of table toppers, an equal handful of table covers and a mix and match variety of napkins decorated as the flag.  In spite of understanding the inherent importance of the holiday, after all her ancestors had been Revolutionary War soldiers, Riley found the grotesque misuse of the flag insulting to those who had sacrificed their lives for it.  However, being proud of her heritage, she couldn’t deny the significance of the symbolism either.

She watched as Sam threw a few more miscellaneous items in the basket, “I’m hungry.  Wanna get some lunch?”

Riley didn’t even hesitate with her answer, “Sure.”

On the way out, Sam deliberately went past the pant’s rack from before and pulled her size off.

Riley laughed, “You just couldn’t resist, could you?”

“Nope.”

*******

Both women had their heads deep into their menus trying to decide between the smart choice of a salad bar and the fun choice of a double bacon cheeseburger when the voice of their waitress interrupted them.

“Hey, my name’s Natalie.  Can I get you ladies some drinks?  We have a 2-for-1 special on margaritas.”  Riley’s mouth watered at the thought of a good margarita, but knew that was not an option with the preacher’s daughter across the table from her.

“Natalie?  Natalie Smithfield?  Oh my God, how are you!?”  Sam jumped up from her seat and hugged the other woman.

“Oh wow, Sammie!  It’s been so long!”  She pulled back and looked Sam over with an observant eye.  “You haven’t changed a bit.”

Sam sat back down, “I didn’t know you were back in town.  I thought you went to school out west somewhere.”

“Southern Cal.  Business, yeah.  They didn’t tell me that general business majors are a dime a dozen, and that I’d end up back home working my way up to management.  I could have done that without the degree!  Oh well, school was great and I met a great guy there.  We got married last year.”

Riley rolled her eyes, and had the urge to excuse herself to the restroom at Sam’s exuberant reaction, “Oh, that’s wonderful!  Congratulations!  So, any plans for kids?”

“Oh, believe me, we’re working on it.” Natalie giggled, feigning false embarrassment.

“If you two would excuse me,” Riley stood up, “I’ll have that margarita special, by the way.”

Natalie looked at the tall brunette seemingly for the first time, “Sure.”

Sam watched Riley’s quickly retreating figure, “Sammie, is that Riley Jacobsen?”

“Yeah.”

Natalie sat down across from Sam, leaning over intent on some juicy gossip, “Oh my God, is she at that camp of yours?  I heard what happened to her.  I can’t believe she likes to,” Natalie cast her eyes downward, “you know, to other women.  That’s just gross!”

Sam squirmed, uncomfortable with where this was going.  The mental image of Riley doing that with another woman wasn’t helping either. 

“That’s my brother’s camp, not mine, and you know I can’t talk about who’s there and who isn’t.”  Sam undid the wrapper holding her napkin and silverware together, ready for Natalie to leave.  For some reason, she didn’t want to talk to her about this.

“Well,” Natalie stood, “I sure hope she’s getting some help.  If she isn’t, then I’d watch out for her if I was you.”

“What does that mean?”

“From what I’ve heard, she likes the young, innocent types.  The younger, the better, if you know what I mean.”  Sam felt sick to her stomach, but she wasn’t sure if it was from Natalie’s implication or Natalie herself.

“Well, you haven’t been around her for what…years?  I don’t think you’re an expert on Riley Jacobsen, so until you have proof, maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow and huffed off in the other direction, nearly running into Riley as she made her way back to the booth.

“She looked ticked.  Is everything okay?”

Sam smiled at her, trying to put Natalie’s comments out of her mind and enjoy the moment, “Yeah, her boss just came by and chewed her out for making chit chat.”

“Ah!  That would make me mad too.”  A few minutes later, another server came by to drop off the drinks.  Sam was relieved that Natalie had seemed to trade off her table with someone else because she never came back.

******

It was mid afternoon when Sam and Riley made it back to the camp.  Riley offered to help her unload their party stash before heading back to her place.

Riley had dropped the last bag on the kitchen counter when John came in the back door, “Sam, did you get me some beer at the…?”  He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Riley and Sam in the kitchen.

He looked Riley up and down with obvious disgust, and something else Riley would rather not think about, “What are you doing here…with my sister?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Junior?  I’m converting her to my evil ways.”  She didn’t like John in school, and she really didn’t like him now, especially since she had a strong suspicion that he smacked Sam around.  It was becoming an effort to contain the urge to kick his ass. 

“That’s not funny.”

Riley was ready to respond when Sam stepped in front of her, “Thanks for your help getting this stuff in, Riley.  I really appreciate it.” 

Sam’s eyes sent the message loud and clear, and Riley stepped back, “Sure, no problem.”

John glared as he watched the exchange and Riley heading out the door.  When he looked back at his sister, she was busy putting away snacks in the refrigerator.

“Samantha,” he started with his warning voice, but Sam cut him off hoping to deter him.

“I forgot the beer.  I’m sorry.  I’ll go back in a little while and get it.”

“Hear me.  Don’t let your guard down with her.  She’s a predator, just like the rest, and she’ll latch on to you because you trust too easily.  You’re naïve, and you have no idea what these people are like.”

Sam ground her teeth together at being talked to like a child for the second time today.  When she didn’t respond, John slammed his hand down on the counter with a loud smack, “Answer me!”

Sam jumped, immediately responding, “Yeah, okay.  I hear you.”

“Good.”  He opened the refrigerator and pulled the last beer from it.  “Yeah, maybe you should go back tonight for the beer.  This is the last one.”

“Sure, no problem.”  She went upstairs to check on her father, who was sleeping soundly.  She looked at the chart and saw that the day nurse had given him a dose of morphine two hours ago.  She checked to make sure his diaper didn’t need changing and when she was confident that he would be okay until she returned, she gave him a kiss on the forehead and left the house again.

******

The sun was setting as Sam made her way back into camp.  She slowed to a crawl when she got close to Riley’s house.  Taking a deep breath, she stopped the car and got out.  She looked through the window and saw Riley on the back deck rhythmically punching the bag.  Instead of risking her life a second time, she walked around the house and up the deck.

Riley stopped when she saw her approach, “Smart girl!  You learned.”

“Maybe.  Sometimes I doubt my logic.”  Sam wasn’t sure why her heartbeat was beating wildly, but the sensation left her feeling off balance and slightly lightheaded.  She was kind of surprised to realize that she didn’t mind the sensation.

Riley simply smiled at her, “Look, I’m sorry about John.”

“Don’t apologize for him.  He’s not you and you’re not him.  It’s okay.  Besides,” she smiled wickedly at Sam, “he gave me focus for my workout.”  With that, she set loose with a rapid fire succession of punches and kicks that stunned Sam.  She watched as the weighted bag moved a few inches back along the deck. 

“Wow!  Did you train to hit like that?” 

Riley shrugged, “I took a few kickboxing lessons in college, but got bored with them.  I just really needed something to take my aggression out on.”

Riley pulled her gloves off and watched as Sam’s eyes glanced at the bag, then back to her, as if contemplating something before stepping forward, motioning for the gloves.

“Show me.”

“Ah, ha!  I knew I’d tempt you to do my evil bidding!”  Sam laughed at Riley’s fake evil laugh.

Riley slipped the gloves onto her hands and showed her the basic fighting stance, “Almost.  Not quite.  Here, let me show you.”

She stepped behind Sam and placed her hands on her hips, guiding her into position.  Sam had her hands up, in a fighting pose, when she felt Riley’s hands caress the bare skin along her waist.  A rush raced through her body and she struggled with the urge to lean back into Riley or simply run away.

As hard as she tried, Riley couldn’t stop her hands from softly touching the exposed skin under her hands.  She knew she shouldn’t do it.  She knew she was playing with fire.  As quickly as it started, Riley stopped and pulled away. 

“That’s it.  Now let’s see a punch.”

A part of Sam was disappointed when Riley moved off and she tucked away the emotions it provoked for another time.  Instead, she reared back and threw the hardest punch she had.  

“Not bad,” Riley smiled, “How did it feel?”

Sam nodded, putting her gloved hands on her hips, “Good.  I can see what the fuss is all about.”

“Want to do some more?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright,” Riley went into full teacher mode, “Now, when you do it this time, I want you to put your body into it.  Women are stronger in the legs so to get the full effect of a good punch, you need to twist from the hips and put the power of your legs behind it.  Like this.”

Riley demonstrated slowly for Sam, twisting at the hips like she had told her.  Sam watched the muscles of Riley’s thighs bunch and tighten.  She had the urge to reach out and touch the sweat-glistened skin and feel the muscles move under her fingers.

A hard thwack snapped Sam out of it.  Riley had finished her demonstration and Sam had completely zoned out thinking about things she had no business thinking.  Sam needed to leave.  She had to get her bearings and put some distance between herself and Riley.  She pulled the gloves off and handed them over.

“I better go,” Riley looked at her puzzled, but let it go.

“Sure.  Come by any time you need to hit something.”

“I’ll remember that,” Sam smiled, but Riley noticed it didn’t reach her eyes.  She watched the blonde leave, not quite sure what had just happened.

When Sam rounded the corner of the house, she broke into a run.  She didn’t stop until she reached the creek a few hundred feet past the property line of the church.  She fell to her knees and looked up to the swaying branches above her.

“Help me.  Show me the way.”  Her whispered plea dissipated on the humid air, mocking her with silence in her time of need.  Slowly, from deep within, a pain she had long ignored surfaced and the helpless cries came with it until she was doubled over with her head in her hands.

*********

When Sam entered the house, she heard laughter coming from the living room.  Seated in front of the TV watching some random sitcom she didn’t recognize was John and Bobby.  Bobby jumped up when she came in and gave her a friendly hug.

“Hey, baby!”  Sam patted his back and moved to the refrigerator for some water.

“Hey…what are you doing here?”

He shrugged his big shoulders and smiled at her sweetly, “Just thought I’d drop by.  I hope that’s okay.  Where in the world were you anyway?  I looked all over for you.”

Sam bit her lip and tried to act nonchalant, “I went for a walk.  It was kind of nice out tonight.”

Bobby looked over his shoulder at John, “Too bad, I was kind of hoping we could take a walk.  There’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight.  Thought it would be cool to see.”

Sam watched Bobby shift uneasily on his feet and put his hands in his back pocket.  It was a nervous gesture she first noticed when he asked her out for the first time.  Suddenly, her mouth went dry and she didn’t even want to be in the same room with him.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw John stand up.

“I think that’s my cue to leave.”  He gave Bobby a hearty pat on the back as he headed out the door.  “Good luck, buddy.”

Sam swallowed hard and looked back to Bobby.

“Can we talk, Sam?”

“Um, yeah.  I guess.”  Bobby went into the living room and sat on the sofa, taking liberties to cut off the TV himself.  Sam regretted the loss of background noise.  Right now, she really wanted to imagine that none of this was happening or pretend she didn’t hear anything Bobby was saying.  She sat safely on the edge of the recliner across from Bobby.

He looked at her oddly, “What are you doing way over there?  Come here, baby.”  He reached out for her.  Instead of taking the proffered hand though, she went around the table and sat down on the other side of the couch.

He shook his head and shrugged, “Okay.”

Sam raised her hand to stop him from saying anything else, “Bobby…”

“Wait, Samantha.  Please, let me say this.  If I don’t, I may never get the nerve up again.”  He slid closer to her on the sofa and took her hand in his.  “I know this is moving kind of quick, and that we’ve only been dating for a few months.  But we’ve known each other forever and I really care about you.  I…love you, and I need for you to know it.  I want everyone else to know it too.”

He reached into his pocket and produced a small black box.  Sam closed her eyes as her head started to spin.  She put her hand over the box to stop him from opening it and looked into his eyes, the now confused and vulnerable look in them making tears spill from her own easily.

“Don’t…please.  Don’t do this.”

“I…I don’t understand.  I thought…,” his voice broke at the realization that his proposal wasn’t going to go as planned or hoped.  He gritted his teeth to hold back tears he refused to let fall.  It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

“Bobby, you’re a great guy.  I like you, but I don’t...,” Sam fought to get the words out around the lump in her throat.

“I even asked John for your hand.  I bet he’s out telling everyone we’re getting hitched.”  Bobby made a quick swipe at his eyes before Sam could see the tears.

“I’m sorry.”

Anger was starting to win over the hurt and humiliation, “Why?  Why did you lead me on?”

“I wasn’t trying to.  I just realized not long ago that I didn’t feel the same way about you.  I thought I did, but I don’t.  It’s not your fault, Bobby.  It’s me.  It’s not you.”

Bobby stood and walked to the door, “Bobby, don’t go.”

He turned back with his hand on the knob, “Why shouldn’t I?  There’s no reason for me to stay.”

“But we’re friends too.”

He looked at her sadly, the tears freely falling without pride, “We were.  A real friend would have told the truth though, a long time ago, before I fell in love with you.”

Sam was still sitting in the dark when John came home.  She slunk deeper into the cushions, hoping he didn’t see her.  He went to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer.  Popping the top, he leaned against the counter still facing away from her.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking, but don’t do something stupid,” his voice was deadly calm. 

Without another word, he climbed the steps, leaving Sam alone in the dark.