Alpha and Omega - 8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: A Good Deed?

"I don't like this one bit," stated God the Father. He was sitting in the Communications Centre along with St. Peter, going through the video the latter had just recorded.

"Yes, My Lord. I also just noticed the silhouette outside the window. It is not something that should be taken lightly."

"Whatever it is, we must be careful. We cannot take any chances with the boy. Inform her about this person and tell her to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Whoever this person was did not come to pay a friendly visit," said Father.

********

Ryan and Josh were having lunch with their group in the cafeteria. Ever since they both became an item, their individual friend groups had merged. Not that anyone knew about their relationship, they were very careful not to let anyone get suspicious about it. To everybody except Jessica, they were roommates and exceptionally close friends.

John was sitting with Jessica on Ryan's left and Mark sat with Scott to Josh's right. On the other side of the table sat Steve, with an arm around Lisa, and Kyle along with some cheerleader friend of Lisa's. Apparently, she was Kyle's latest conquest and had introduced herself as Gina.

The conversation kept to random things like classes, teachers and girlfriends until it came to the recent attacks on the World Trade Centre. Ryan squirmed at the mention of the attacks. If what God the Father had told him was true, he was indirectly responsible for the insanity that led to the terrorists slamming the planes into those buildings.

"Who do you all think did it?" Mark asked.

"Well, don't tell anyone, but Dad mentioned that the U.S Government has got intelligence reports of it being the work of Al Qaeda," answered John.

"Al Qaeda? Who're they?" asked Gina.

"I believe they are the ones in control of the southern part of Afghanistan," John informed her.

"That's right, but do you really believe that those Afghans would have guts to attack the U.S!" exclaimed Kyle.

"There is another theory as well," Scott said somberly. Everyone looked at the otherwise quiet and shy boy with a bemused look on their faces. Taken aback by the sudden attention he was getting, Scott quickly continued, "It may not be true, but I read it somewhere on the internet. They said that the WTC's were built to sustain such impacts, even when the jets had a lot of fuel in them. The way the towers fell like a pack of cards suggests foul play."

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me!" remarked Steve, joining the discussion and earning a smack on his arm from Lisa due to his language. "Sorry love, but seriously, y'all don't believe alla this, do you?"

Scott shrugged in response. Ryan, sensing this as the right time to change the topic asked the group about the upcoming Annual Function in December. "You guys doing anything?" he asked.

"Well, I'm in the dance," Lisa answered.

"I'm in the play," Jessica replied.

"Me too," said Kyle and John together.

"Dance and scriptwriter for the play," said Steve.

"Choir," came from Mark and Scott.

"Compere," Josh said.

"That's great! I'm in the exhibitions," Ryan said enthusiastically.

"Audience," Gina drawled, making everyone roll their eyes and groan together.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period and with a mumble of ‘byes' and ‘cya laters', the group went their respective ways.

********

All classes after lunch had been cancelled in preparation of the forthcoming annual day. It was supposed to be special as the school was celebrating its 85th Founder's Day this year.

The whole student body, as well as the staff and the administration, had another two months to set up and prepare for this gala event. The function was scheduled for the sixteenth of December and that would be the last day of school before it closed for the winter holidays.

Everyone could feel the excitement in the air. The mood throughout the campus was festive. The Principal wanted this function to be a memorable one and that was why he was leaving no stone unturned to ensure its success.

Josh was sitting with Ms. Sanders in a corner of the massive auditorium, preparing his speech for the event when Jamie, a boy in his class, came up to them.

"Ms. Sanders, could you go over this script for me?" Jamie asked.

"Certainly," Ms. Sanders said, taking the papers from Jamie.

While the English teacher read the script, Jamie turned his attention to Josh. "Dude! How's the speech coming through?" he asked.

"Quite fine indeed," Josh replied.

"That's great! I hope you keep it humorous like the previous one."

Ms. Sanders cleared her throat and pointed to the script in her hand. "I don't think this is an appropriate ending. The play is for a happy occasion and this is a bit tense in the end. Surely, you wouldn't want to leave your audience hanging, would you?"

"Of course not!" Jamie remarked. "It's all Steve's fault! I told him that the ending I had written was perfectly fine, but he always has to have his own way."

"Hey! That ending was entirely yours," Steve said coming up behind the trio. "Don't blame me."

Ms. Sanders and Josh looked at each other in amusement. Quietly, they slipped away from the two boys, who continued their arguing and leg-pulling.

********

The day finally over, Ryan lay on his bed, reading a book he had borrowed from the library. Even though his eyes were transfixed on the coarse material in his hands, he had not turned the page for over an hour, a fact that was not missed by Josh.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he asked Ryan, "Babe, what's the matter? You don't seem yourself."

"Huh..?" Ryan said, breaking out of his trance. "Nothing's wrong, Josh. Why? What makes you feel there is?"

"Ever since lunch, you've been a bit distant, as if lost somewhere. What's bothering you?"

"Josh, trust me, if there was something wrong, I would have already told you," Ryan assured him with a smile. Josh could see that Ryan was lying, but he let it drop. Ryan gave him a grateful look and went back to reading his book, not even noticing when Josh left the room a little while later.

Ryan was busy in his thoughts, lost in them. The discussion they had had today at lunch had left him visibly disturbed. If he were responsible for the terrorist attack on the WTC in some way, he felt that it was his obligation to do something to rectify it.

A thought struck his mind. If it was indeed the Taliban and the Al Qaeda who had sponsored the attacks, he could...

No, that would be unethical according to him, messing with time and all that crap. But he could at least find out who did it.

His resolve strengthened after that last thought, Ryan sat in Indian style and began meditating. He focused on the day the attacks took place, bringing forth the pictures he remembered from the news. Picturing himself in one of the aircrafts, he opened his eyes.

To his utter shock and amazement, Ryan found himself sitting on a seat at the end of the aisle in what appeared to be an airplane.

Intangible and invisible, Ryan made his way up to the door of the cockpit. Throughout his way, he could feel the torrent of emotions flooding him; fear, uncertainty, horror, panic and much to Ryan's surprise, excitement.

That must be the hijackers, he thought.

Shaking his head to clear away the emotions and blocking them out, he stepped through the closed door into the cockpit. What he saw there made his stomach churn. The captain and his co-pilot lay in a mess near the seats. They were, thankfully, alive. Two men, obviously from the Middle-East as they talked in rapid Arabic, were manning the controls.

Ryan closed his eyes and delved into the mind of the person sitting in the pilot's seat. What he read made him gasp. These guys were planning to hit the Pentagon. He was correct in his assumption that they were Al Qaeda operatives, but he could have never imagined that they were about to destroy the most secure building in America.

It was at that moment he decided to do something. Regardless of the warning bells ringing in his head, he felt it was necessary for him to intervene. Gathering his power, he healed the injured men on the floor and knocked out the hijackers at the same time. Ryan kept the plane steady while he implanted a memory of a successful fight in the pilots' minds, making them think that they overpowered the hijackers, saving the plane in the process. He then ‘implanted' the same memories in the hijackers' minds and added a plethora of bruises on them for good measure.

The hijackers, now incapacitated, lay in place of the pilots as the latter stood over them heroically. Ryan gave them their senses and retreated.

"Take that you bastards!" were the last words he heard from the cockpit as Ryan came back to his own time, satisfied that he had done a good deed.

********

Josh was sitting in the common room twiddling with the remote, idly flipping through channels. His mind was somewhere else, though. He was quite concerned as well as disturbed over Ryan's somber mood. The fact that Ryan refused to tell him anything did not bode well with him.

Josh had purposely not pushed Ryan into telling him the cause of his brooding at that time. But now, this was eating him alive. He had to know what was wrong.

With that in mind, he got up to go to his room. Once there, he paused for just a second before entering.

********

Ryan opened his eyes and took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. He felt great on saving those innocent passengers and the Pentagon. He was able to make good use of his gift and Ryan was proud of it.

The door to the room opened and he saw Josh walk in. Ryan, happy to see his love, met him halfway. Josh opened his mouth to say something but was silenced by a big wet kiss from Ryan. Not complaining about the sudden change in Ryan's attitude, Josh kissed him back.

"Wow!" he exclaimed when they finally surfaced for air. Josh looked at the beautiful boy in his arms. Again, his attention was drawn to Ryan's mesmerizing eyes. Those brown orbs were filled with a passion that sent shivers down Josh's spine.

They stood there, hugging and staring at each other for what seemed like eternity. The world outside held little importance to them as they immersed themselves in the ocean of love.

As though a switch had gone off inside him, Ryan attacked Josh's shirt, tugging at its buttons. When they refused to cooperate, his impatient hands ripped them off, leaving the owner of the shirt shocked and in a few seconds, shirtless.

De-shirting himself as well, Ryan maneuvered, or rather pushed, Josh onto the bed and climbed on top of him, resuming his fervent assault on Josh's lips. He unbuttoned his lover's jeans while Josh, recovering from the shock of losing his shirt, ran a hand through Ryan's hair.

Ryan's attention turned to Josh's chest and a moan escaped Josh's lips when Ryan took the boy's left nipple in his mouth, making it erect. Encouraged, Ryan smiled at Josh and swept a tongue over the sensitive spot, not breaking his gaze over Josh for even a second.

Ryan teased each of Josh's nipples, making his lover squirm, before moving down towards the ultimate prize. He left a trail of kisses and paused to lick Josh's navel and came to a halt on reaching the coarse material of the denims.

Ryan unzipped them using his teeth, knowing full well that it would get Josh worked up. His hands played with Josh's nipple and at the same time, he slowly pulled the zipper down. Josh, unable to bear the teasing any longer, took Ryan's hands in his and urged him to hurry.

Smirking and acceding to his love's demand, Ryan lowered the zipper all the way. Josh raised his hips, helping Ryan to get the jeans off of him as Ryan admired his boxer-clad partner before devouring his neck.

Satisfied that his efforts on Josh's neck would leave a nice mark, Ryan shifted so as to position his mouth over Josh's manhood. He teased Josh's member before removing the last bit of clothing covering it.

Josh's engorged penis lay in all its pristine glory beckoning Ryan to come and please it. Ryan wasted no time in thinking twice and lowered his head to take Josh in his mouth.

********

Ryan awoke the next morning with his head on Josh's chest. Josh had an arm around Ryan and when Ryan moved slightly, Josh pulled him closer to himself.

Ryan looked at Josh's serene face and broke into a smile upon seeing the content expression on his boyfriend's face. Josh looked so peaceful and Ryan hoped that he could wake up like this for the rest of his life.

"Mmmm... Not that I mind, but why do I always wake up to you staring at me?"

Ryan didn't reply, instead he kissed Josh's nose and gave a goofy smile in return.

"I like it when you're like this, babe. This mood suits you far better. I don't know what it was that had you so down yesterday, but last night was awesome.

"Ryan, I hate to see you sad," he continued. "I want to give you all the happiness that this world has to offer. I love you so much, babe."

"I love you too," Ryan said, hugging Josh tightly. "I have something to tell..."

All good things come to an abrupt end and so did this perfect moment. It was Mr. Fernandez who did the honors by knocking on the door and announcing that if Ryan and Josh didn't get up in the next two minutes, they'd be late for breakfast. Rolling their eyes, Ryan and Josh replied together, "We're up, Mr. D, go wake up the others."

They laughed as Dennis Fernandez, the hostel warden, noisily made his way to the next room and banged on the door to wake its occupants.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me?" Josh asked Ryan.

"Never mind. I'll tell you later."

********

Ryan was standing with Josh and Jessica in the auditorium, talking about the upcoming Annual Function. The Principal had called for the whole school to be gathered inside the auditorium for some announcement.

The topic gradually shifted towards Josh's injury. "How are you doing?" Jessica asked Josh.

"I still get a little tired if I exert myself. That's why I'm not taking an active part in the function."

"Smart decision," Jessica decided. "I was so scared for the both of you. I'm just glad that you're fine now and that this idiot is okay as well," she said pointing to Ryan.

"Thanks Jess," Ryan said gratefully. "You know how much I love Josh, and that's why I reacted the way I did. If anything had happened..."

"Ryan!" Jessica hissed, looking over Josh and his shoulders.

The boys turned to look at the reason Jessica looked so mortified. The shocked looks on Mark and Scott's faces were all they needed to realize that they had heard everything.

********

"Dude, just ask her!" Steve said, playfully punching John's arm.

John sighed. "That's the problem. I always chicken out at the last moment."

"You don't seem to have any hassles talking to her otherwise. I'd say go for it and leave the rest to fate. Everything'll work out for you."

"I sure hope so dude. I sure hope so."

********

"Did we really hear what we just heard?" Mark asked in disbelief.

"Ryan, are Josh and you really a couple?" Scott inquired. Seeing no way out of this predicament, Ryan and Josh nodded.

"Since when?"

"May," Ryan answered.

"Six months!" Mark exclaimed. "Six god damned fucking months and you didn't even bother to tell us?!"

Scott put a hand on Mark's shoulder. "Dude, calm down. It's not as if we have been completely honest with them as well."

The ever perceptive Jessica caught on to the hidden meaning before Ryan and Josh could. "I knew it!" she squealed.

"Yeah," Mark laughed. "We were rather surprised that it took you that long to figure out, given how famous your ESP is around here."

Ryan and Josh still hadn't caught on to what was being said, judging by the looks on their faces. So, Scott had to literally spell it out for them by taking Mark's hand in his and waving them in front of the astounded boys' faces.

The look Ryan and Josh gave was priceless, their eyes widened in synchronization as realization dawned and the other three burst out laughing at their expense.

"Guys! Hey Guys!" Kyle came up running behind them. He paused to catch his breath and continued, "Did you hear? This just came in the news. The Northern Alliance lost the war in Afghanistan. The Taliban has full control of the country now."

"Holy shit!" Mark exclaimed. "When did this happen?"

"The official announcement was made an hour ago," Kyle answered.

"I wanna see this. You coming Mark?" Scott asked. Mark nodded and left after saying a quick bye to Ryan, Jess and Josh.

"Finally! We're alone," Ryan sighed. "Josh, Jess, there's something I want to tell you."