My Motorcycle Guardian

Chapter twenty-eight: Flame Riders-unmasked. P1

         The Flame Riders and I sat on the long couch, focused on the movie playing before us. It was The Phantom of the Opera, 2004 version. My personal favorite.

Falcon, who sat next to me, was clutching a popcorn bowl in his grasp, and was chucking handfuls at his helmeted face. I couldn't tell if he was doing it as a joke, or if he was so engrossed in the movie to realize it.

The Heat sat on my other side, and had an arm wrapped comfortably around my shoulders.
Surprisingly, it felt natural to be curled into his side, resting my head against his shoulder.

"But why does she like him? Isn't he like, insane?" Falcon asked, gesturing to the TV.

"Yeah, but maybe he has her under a spell." Flippity said. He held a pint sized bottle of Mountain Dew, and had connected three straws together so they could reach under his helmet.

"She's not under a spell." The Eye scoffed, rubbing his wrapped leg. His helmet had a large white eye on the front, and I was beginning to think that they decorated their helmets just so I wouldn't get confused.

"How do you know?" Flippity snapped, reaching over and chucking popcorn at him.

"Shush!" I hissed, leaning forward as The Sound of Night started.

***

By the time the movie went to That's All I Ask of You, Falcon was getting antsy.

"Hey Flip, want some?" He asked, holding out the bowl.

"Thanks dude." Flippity said, grabbing a handful and tossing it at his helmet. It of course bounced right off, and I fought down a giggle.
"Delicious." Flippity drawled.

The Heat scoffed, and turned his helmet towards them.
"Cut it out."

"But why? We're just eating popcorn."

"You're making a mess."

"Well maybe if you would allow us to take off our helmets..." Falcon hissed, gesturing wildly to his helmeted expression. I watched the exchange with interest, not paying attention to the TV at all.

"You know why we can't do that!" The Heat snapped, nodding towards me.

"Why not? Huh? What's so wrong about Hanna knowing-" Falcon was cut off when Flippity shoved his straw up under his helmet and ordered him to drink the Mountain Dew.

Everyone fell into a tense silence after that, and I fidgeted with my hands.
Falcon was right. What's so bad about me knowing who they were?

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted C-Shot sitting quietly by himself reading a magazine.

Frowning, I momentarily forgot about the movie as he shifted and I could see the magazine.

It was a comic book, a rather familiar comic book.
Captain Mega-bulge and the one tentacled octopus!
Issue#176.

It was the exact same copy that Quinn had.
Feeling my throat suddenly run dry, I took a shuddering breath and averted my gaze.

"Nice comic book." I mumbled just loud enough to be heard.
A few seconds passed before the boys registered it.
When they did, everyone froze and Flippity yanked the comic from C-Shot so he could see it.

His face moved as he observed the cover, then he rolled it up and proceeded to whack C-Shot with it.

As C-Shot yelped for help, The Heat suddenly stood to his feet, yanking me up as well.

"Come. You should call your friend and tell her your okay." He said curtly, steering me from the living room.

We walked in heavy silence, and his arm never left my shoulders. It was almost like he was afraid of me disappearing.

We reentered the kitchen, and I spotted a cord phone attached to the wall.
Leaving The Heat's side, I crossed the tiled floor and grabbed the phone.

Seven numbers later and a few seconds of dial tone, Rachel's watery voice came on.

"Hello?" She croaked, obviously about to cry.
My breath hitched, and I suddenly couldn't speak.
"Hello?" She called again.

Licking my lips, I took a shuddering breath.
"Rachel. It's me...Hanna."

A loud crash resounded, and I guessed she dropped her phone.
After a few seconds of frantic rushing noises, she came back on-obviously sobbing.

"Hanna?!" She cried.

I nodded, then gave a weak laugh. "I'm alright Rach. I'm fine." I said quietly, hugging my other hand close to my chest.

"CJ! CJ it's Hanna! She's alive!" Rachel screamed.

"Hanna?!" CJ's voice said a moment later.

"You're on speaker. Tell us everything." Rachel's voice quavered, and I felt another painful tug at my heart at the thought of how much she worried.

"I was saved. By, get this...The Flame Riders." I said excitedly. They responded appropriately, gasping and yelping in surprise.

"Really?! Where are you now?!" Rachel said.

"Um...I'm not sure. But I'll be home soon. I promise." I said, meaning every word.

"Thank God you're okay Hanna..." CJ whispered, and I heard Rachel sniffle again.

"Alright. Promise us you'll call soon or else I'll hunt you down myself." Rachel croaked.
I laughed and nodded.

"And those punks better take care of you! Or else I'll kill 'em!" CJ threatened. Chuckling, I said my goodbyes and reluctantly hung up the phone.

Silence filled the kitchen as I stood there a moment, staring down at the phone.

"Everything go okay?"

Yelping in surprise, I spun around and collided into The Heat, sending us tumbling to the floor.

His helmet hit the floor with a thud, and I landed on top of him a moment later.
We stared at each other in silence, and I began to realize where each of our hands were. The Heat had his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, and my hands lay just inches from the sides of his helmet.

Sudden realization made us both stiffen, and I looked into the visor, hoping to catch a glimpse of a face.

My hands, as if by their own accord, inched closer to his helmet and curled around the sides. The Heat stiffened, and I felt his breath catch from under me.

Pausing, I held my breath as I waited. A heart stopping moment passed before finally, he nodded just the smallest bit.

With my heart practically jumping out of my chest, I slowly tugged off the helmet inch by inch.

The black hard plastic rolled away, to uncover thick black hair and piercing blue eyes that watched me apprehensively.

My jaw hit the floor and my eyes must have bulged out of their sockets.

"Noah?!"

A/N: Surprise....lol.