Hide and Seek

Title: Hide And Seek (5/10)
Author: scots_rock
Beta: rotcknn_ahren
Pairing: Dom/Billy, eventually Billy/? and Dom/?
Summary: Heavy AU, visions-having!dom and kidnapped!billy: Billy and Dom are a happy couple, only sometimes disturbed by Dom’s terrible death visions. But one day Billy vanishes. Kidnapped? Dom tries to find his lover again, entering a mysterious adventure… This chapter: Dom finds out something about his past and gets help.
Special Guest Appearance: Christina Ricci as Riz (Dom’s friend)
Rating: R to NC-17, this chapter R
Disclaimer: FICTION
Feedback: yes, please! XD
Author's Notes: longer chapter, cause – *ducks* - I’m going to visit my grandparents for 5 days and won’t have time to update! T__T So, enjoy it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dominic had sat in the first cab he had been able to stop. It had been a long ride and it had cost him a lot of his money to get there. But now that he stood in front of this huge iron gate he didn’t regret it. He needed help now and she was the only one that could help him. He hoped so.

The gate had patterns, a big C and R. Her initials. Behind that gate lay a huge area, it looked more like a park than a garden, and right there which seemed meters away stood that building, a villa, a little palace. Here she lived. All alone. She managed everything on her own. And she didn’t complain about her lonesome life. She was stronger than Dominic. Had always been. He smiled sadly as he rang the bell once, twice.

“Yes, please?”, a male voice sounded from the intercom.

“Err… This is Dominic Monaghan. I want to speak to…”

“Yes, Mr. Monaghan. She has been awaiting you.”

The gates opened automatically and Dom entered her life. As he went down the path to the front door it struck him that he hadn’t visited her for a long time. The last time he had been here he had told her about his new boyfriend, Billy. And how happy he felt, that life meant something to him again. She had smiled, she had looked happy but she hadn’t said anything. She wasn’t much of a talker, in some way she reminded him of Billy. She was a quiet person, intelligent, she had a friendly soul and a good heart.

Finally he reached the front door and was about to knock when it opened and an older man greeted him. He let Dom in and led him through the house to a large living room. Dom grinned as he recognized that she held on to her antique furniture style. Everything looked very royal and noble. Red sofas and chairs, dark wooden tables and desks, stone mantelpieces, huge paintings on the walls. The butler told him to wait here and then left Dominic alone. He looked around until one picture caught his attention. It showed her standing in front of a tree, a white horse to her left. Though she didn’t smile in that painting, her appearance was very stunning and gained a lot of liking. Yes, she was rich, and her blood line went far back into royal history. Her family had lost the title some years ago, but that didn’t change anything to Dom. To him she was and always would be a princess.

“I see you like my new painting.”

Dominic turned around and looked into her dark eyes. She had come through a secret backdoor and now she stood in front of Dominic. Her black hair surrounded her white skin, her lips red as blood, yet she still looked childlike, like Snow White, Dom thought.

“It’s very… impressing. You look so…” Dom struggled for words.

She giggled. “It’s good to see you.” She embraced him tightly. “I missed you. We didn’t see each other in a long time.”

Dom held on to her, didn’t want to let her go. It felt so good to be loved and cared for. He needed strength and she gave it to him. They parted and she went over to sit down behind a large desk.

“And though you know everything about me, Riz.” Dom walked around in the room and filled it with his presence. “More than I know about myself.”

“I know why you’re here.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry for what happened to Billy. But he is alright.”

Dom turned around. “That’s good to hear.” He breathed out, relieved. “Riz, I need your help.”

“I can’t help you.”, she immediately answered.

Dom’s eyes opened wide in shock. He hadn’t expected such an answer. “Why not? Riz, please, I need to know what happened to me, what happened to my brother.” He let out an annoyed growl. “Why doesn’t anyone want to help me?”

He sat down on a chair, desperate, helpless, lost. Riz watched him thoughtfully, her face showing sorrow and sympathy, finally she stood up and went over to him. She knelt down in front of him, taking his hands and covering them with hers.

“Dominic, I wish I could give you the information you are seeking. But… It could start all over again.”

He faced her curiously. “Please, Riz, it could be my only chance to find Billy. I know my past has something to do with him.” He paused as he saw her sad eyes. “So, it’s true then…”

“You have to understand, they forced me not to tell you. It could have terrible consequences for your health…”

“I don’t bloody care! I even have stopped taking these pills, Riz! The guy who took Billy said they kept me from remembering. And I kind of believe him. It sounded serious. And my dreams, Riz, they are getting clearer each time! I almost can see that man shooting my brother!”

“You think it’s really him?”, Riz asked and at once fell silent.

Dom nodded. “Please, Riz. I don’t care what you can tell me. Just… say anything.”

Riz fought with herself, it was too risky, Dominic could break down again. But, he was her friend. She was his friend. She could not let him down.

“You don’t know his name, do you?” she suddenly asked, her eyes watering when she received a heartbreaking shake of the head. “Ryan. His name is Ryan.”

Dom’s head turned towards her. “Ryan…” he repeated slowly and smiled softly. His heart began to ache slightly; a new feeling grew in him. He knew his name. That was the first step to the truth.

His hand went to his forehead, dizziness filled his head, he could feel the blood in his veins speeding up.

“Dom… your tears…” Riz began but paused when Dom touched his left cheek to wipe away a single tear. He looked at his hand. Blood.

He heard Riz shouting out his name loud from far away. The next thing he could remember was falling to the ground, his hands clenched to fists, his nails digging into the flesh. Then darkness surrounded him.

~***~

“…minic…”

Dominic opened his eyes slowly. Someone was calling him.

“Dominic…”

He came to his feet and found himself standing on a street. A city he didn’t know. Or could not remember. But something was wrong here. Everything was gray, black and white, people weren’t moving, they were standing still, some children were in the middle of a run. Nothing moved. Everyone stood motionless. As if someone had hit the pause button on a remote control.

“You recognize anything?” someone asked.

“Not really.” Dom answered.

“Try to concentrate, Dom. Focus. Remember.” The voice sounded reassuring and trustworthy.

Dom looked around and saw a younger man with beard and short hair walking into a bank, next to him a boy, aged maybe 17. They looked happy, they were laughing.

“I know him.” Dom said in to the silence.

Someone hit the play button and the people started moving again.

Dom saw the two boys disappearing through the door of the city bank. He followed them.

“Thanks, Ryan! That will be so awesome! I can’t wait to buy that car!” the younger one shouted out excitedly.

“That’s alright, but don’t tell Mom and Dad yet, okay? They think we’re at the supermarket right now. And you have to promise me only one thing: You won’t buy that car until your 18th birthday, all right? Dad’s gonna go insane when he finds out I gave you the money in advanced…” answered Ryan.

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”

Wheels in Dom’s head started turning. He knew that scene, he had been here before.

“Hey there’s Eddie wait here I’ll be back in a moment.” Dom said silently. “That’s what he will say next.”

“Hey, there’s Eddie! Wait here, Dom, I’ll be back in a moment.”

It struck him like lighting. That seventeen-year-old boy was him, Dominic. He had a bad feeling. Something would happen any moment. Something terrible that would change his life forever, that would erase his memories.

Seconds later an explosion sounded through the whole hall of the bank. It came from the entrance where the two policemen were blown away by the pressure.

They arrived.

~***~

Dom woke up on the couch, he was covered with a blanket. Riz was on the carpet, three candles surrounded her, in front of her some cards. She seemed to be praying or meditating.

“Riz…?”, Dom tried to say but it came out as a hoarse.

“Dom! You’re awake! God, you scared the hell out of me!” She threw herself against Dom’s chest.

“How long was I…?”, Dom asked, but still his voice was gone.

“Twenty four hours exactly.” She was crying now and was in a state of shock combined with great relief that Dom had finally opened his eyes. “Don’t make me tell you anything else, Dom. I thought you were…” Her voice broke as again tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“But… twenty four hours? That’s impossible, it felt like 2 minutes. At the most.” Dom forgot his tiredness at once when he remembered his dream and sat up. “I saw him, Riz! I mean us! Ryan and me!”

He came to his feet and went over to Riz’s desk, searching the drawers.

“What are you looking for?”

“Anything, papers, photos, anything!” He halted and looked her straight in the eyes. “I know you since I can remember, Riz, and that means something. You know what happened to my brother and your look when I mentioned Billy tells me that he is somehow linked to him. Maybe this dream is my only chance to get to Billy, and you… You are bloody preventing me from finding out what really happened!”

He went on investigating her drawers, when Riz suddenly told him to stop. She went over to a very small painting and put it aside. It revealed a little safe, which she opened and took out a bunch of papers and maps.

“That’s all I have. Don’t ask me for more. That’s all you will get from me.”

By her moves and looks Dom guessed that she gave this to him with a heavy heart.

“Listen, Riz, this is my life, and my responsibility. I won’t blame you for anything that might happen to me, alright?” He embraced her once more, took the maps and papers and was about to leave.

“You remember the first time we met, Dom?”, Riz suddenly asked.

“Yes. In the library. It was such a coincidence that we were looking for the same book.”

“It wasn’t a coincidence. It was your brother’s favorite book. This wasn’t our first meeting. We met before. You just don’t remember.”

With that she disappeared through the backdoor and left Dom with even more questions behind.

~***~

At home Dom’s telephone had been ringing nearly all the time. Fife phone calls in twenty four hours. Every time the same message from the same male person. And Dom couldn’t get enough of it. When he had arrived at home and listened to it for the first time he thought he hadn’t heard properly. The second time sounded even more dreamlike and unreal. The fifteenth time didn’t make it better.

“I know where they keep Billy.”

“I know where they keep Billy.”

“I know where they keep Billy.”

“I know where they keep Billy.”

“I know where they keep Billy.”

…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks to Miriam my story is fully beta-ed! ^^ Thanx to you!