Here We Go Again Prologue: Belonging

A few hours later after Smartz got home from work, she walked into her apartment with a waiting Brittney sitting on the couch with a smile that looked as though she had been up to something. She jumped up as soon as Smartz walked into the room. "Oooooooooohhhhhh girl, you must've gotten somebody attention!" She thrusted a bouqet of red roses in her face with a smile of that showcased the beauty of Brittney's plump apricot lips and she added, "These are for you!"
Smartz was caught aback, gasping and placing her hand over her mouth. Having never received flowers before, she didn't know how to react to such gracefulness. She looked at Brittney almost teary eyed and replied, "Are these from you?" Her voice filled with an emotion unknown to her.
Brittney shook her head and yelled, "Girl no! You know I ain't got no money to buy no flowers!" She pointed to the note attached to the flowers and exclaimed, "Read the note! Read the note!"
Smartz looked at Brittney as though she had not believed her and proceeded to read the note attached to the beautiful bouqet of flowers. She read the note aloud, having a feeling that Brittney had already knew who had sent these flowers. "Dear Gabriella," Smartz thought to herself that it must have been someone who had known her in her professional field for no one who called themselves her colleague or her friend had known her as Smartz, "I'm sorry for not listening. Love N.A." Smartz looked at the note again and asked, "Are you sure you didn't send these?"
Brittney perked up, "Yep!!"
"Well if you didn't send these, who did?" Smartz questioned.
"I did." Nic said confidently as he emerged from the back room with a smile.
She smiled and looked away bashfully. "What is this about?" Her voice was still bashful, not facing him so to not give a clue as to how she truly felt, how truly glad she was that the flowers were from him.
He walked up to her slowly and gently grabbed her by the arms. "I'll explain everything over dinner if that's cool with you? I really would like to take you some place nice and just talk."
She turned her head around and as much as she wanted to feign noninterest, she couldn't deny her intrigue of the red headed man that stood in front of her. "Do you want to go out with Smartz or do you wish to converse with Gabriella since you using my real name in your love letters?" She asked him smugly, hoping he would give the wrong answer.
He smiled and replied, "Whatever alter ego you want to come to dinner as, I will accept it, I just have some things to get off my chest about me, what I think about you, and what I think about us. That is if you wanna come with me."
She couldn't lie, she was charmed. She placed her hand in his, her body language telling him to lead. Brittney watched with nothing but glee, swooning, thinking to herself, "Awwww that is so sweet!"
Smartz smiled and as much suave as she could, she responded with, "Okay. Where do you wanna go?"
He placed a finger over her mouth and shushed her, "Let me keep that a surprise. I have a lot of surprises in store for you actually. Just let me have a few hours to simply make you smile." Smartz smiled, and Brittney almost fainted. She was such a girl in that moment, so happy that someone as sweet as Smartz had someone who wanted to be just as sweet if not sweeter to her. Nic looked back at the excited Brittney and asked her, "Hey Brittney, you can chill here if you want. I just have to talk to Smartz over dinner. We'll be back. You gonna be okay?"
She smiled and threw a disregarding hand gesture in the air. "Oh sure, I will be more than okay. There's plenty of food for me in the refrigerator, yall got some videogames in here to keep me occupied, and if not, y'all got cable, so I'll be straight. Y'all two kids go have fun. I'll be straight."
Nic smiled and said with all sincerity, "Thank you, Brittney." He looked back at Smartz and smiled, "So you ready to go, sweetheart?"
She looked at him with shock in her eyes and she replied, "I'm not even dressed!"
He looked at the fitted police officer uniform, and salivated over the curves that filled that uniform. He looked back into her beautiful, brown eyes and added, "I think you make that uniform beautiful by the way, and like I said, I want to talk to the person who you choose to be, whether Smartz or Gabriella, I want you, and I want you now." She liked the mannish way he had talked to her, and he made her feel like goddess in her police officer uniform.
She smiled and her eyes turned toward the door. "Well at least let me let my hair down."
When her hair fell over her shoulders, Nic thought to himself, "She just made that uniform look ten times better." She smiled with seduction written all over her lips and without even taking his eyes off of the beauty that stood in front of him, he yelled back at Brittney, "Alright, Brittney, we'll be back in a little bit."
She nodded and within a minute they were off. When they got to Smartz's car, she walked over to the driver side, but before she could put the key into the keyhole, Nic ran behind her and whispered in her ear while grabbing onto her waist, "No sweetheart, let me take the wheel. I want you to be able to relax completely when you with me right now, okay."
He kissed her gently on her face and she turned around, her eyes hinting at a potential compromising situation. She bit her lips, almost enticing him with her stare alone. She handed him her keys, making sure she moved her hand slowly so his hand could caress her's for a moment longer. They both smiled at the touch of their skin against one another's. She walked slowly to the other side of the car, making sure she walked just slow enough to capture his attention. And catch his attention she did as his eyes followed her shapely body all the way to the passenger side of the all black SUV. He entered the driver side of the car with her climbing in the passenger.
He cut the car on and when the stereo came on, he was surprised to hear the E-v rap music blasting out of the speakers. He looked at her befuddled and she simply chuckled. This was just another chance for her to showcase her intelligence. She tapped her index against the temple on her skull and replied softly, "In order to catch a criminal, you have to sometimes get into the mindset of the criminal you want to catch and believe me, there isn't anything more E-v than listening to Bad Boy."
Nic just nodded and continued to drive through the streets of downtown Nashville bumping Bad Boy's first self titled cd. They got plenty of looks from the white drivers who had no idea who was behind those tinted windows, and nonverbal signs of respect from E-v's. Nic just smiled, knowing the whole time he was driving, he had the beautiful set of brown eyes glued to his face. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. Something about him this day made her feel like the luckiest woman in America. He made her feel like there was no evil in the world. In this moment, she didn't have to worry about the corruption she dealt with on a daily basis at the precinct, the villains she fought on the hours she was supposed to be resting, or anything else for that matter. The only thing she could think about was driving her car through downtown. She was so entranced in Nic's green eyes staring at the road that she didn't even have the slightest clue as to where they were, but she didn't care. As long as she was with Nic, she knew she was alright.
When they arrived at a small Italian restaraunt in downtown Nashville, she recognized the place instantly as a local hangout scene for the BF's, the Black Familia, and her first reaction was to panic. She knew it was bad news to show up to a place like this dressed in a police uniform. She still wanted to make Nic feel comfortable, and in an instant, she remembered she had a little black dress in the backseat that she saved just in case she was caught in a situation like this. She always thought ahead when it came to situations like this. She had at least three pairs of clothes to change into just in case she had happened to run into a person who might remember her in a police uniform. She didn't want to ruin her undercover chances by showing up in a local hangout spot dressed like a cop. Nic looked at her and asked softly, "Are you ready to go in?"
He had such a sweet, innocent look on his face, and she remembered he wanted to share a moment with her just as she came. But she figured he would understand why she couldn't just walk into a place like this dressed as an officer. She started to reach into the backseat, scouring for a pair of black high heels that matched her the black dress that laid across the backseat. She was so glad that she was the type that went with her instincts and decided to lay that dress out on the backseat. While she was gathering her clothing and shoes, Nic examined her body even further. She felt his eyes crawling all over her, leaving their handprints all over her and she couldn't help but love having all of his attention on her. She returned to the passenger seat and he returned his eyes to the qauint restaraunt in front of him, hoping that she didn't notice the way he stared. She placed her black dress and the matching high heels on her lap and she smiled wide in Nic's face. He laughed to himself and asked shaking his head, "You wanna change don't you?"
She smiled apologetically, "Yes...I'm sorry, I know..."
He stopped her mid sentence, "It's cool, I'll just go get our table while I wait on you to change or something."
As he was opening the door, she stopped him. She didn't want him to go into the Black Familia's hangout by himself. She knew the only way to stop him was to break down his gentleman like barrier he had in place. Besides, she had wanted an audience. "You can stay if you want." He turned around to see her unbuttoning her police officer jacket, and before he could ask her if she was sure it was okay, she had her pants below her knees and her neglige became the focal point of his vision. He didn't mean to stare, but how can he turn away from something as lovely as Smartz half naked. She took the rest of her clothes off, until she was just bra and panties. She acted as if she didn't know that Nic was salivating over the sight of her gorgeous body and continued to change into her black dress.
He looked away when she appeared like she was nearly finished to give the appearance that he had been a gentleman the entire time. She saw through that facade and grabbed him by the hand, her fingers massaging the top of his. She played with her voice, placing emphasis on the innocent role and sexual undertone. "Are you ready?"
He turned around and his eyes gave way to how shocked he was. He had never saw an angel before. He had seen the devil plenty of times in his past, overlooking his town, but he had never seen an angel without wings. Her aura was enough to question his own lack of faith.
His voice was soft as he could only respond by saying, "Yes."
They got out of the car and at the front of the vehicle she ran her arm around his. Even though Nic loved the feeling of having Smartz's skin on his, he couldn't help feeling like he was a perp being escorted by the most beautiful lady cop he ever laid eyes on. She looked like she was going to a Sergeant's Ball while he looked like he was about to take a trip to a local skate park. When the two walked to the hostess of the elegant Italian restaraunt, the hostess greeted both of them, but her attention was strictly on Smartz. Nic looked at the dark haired, cream textured woman with wonderment and disgust. He saw first hand the discrimination. He had knew that the hostess had judged him strictly on his appearance, not even giving him a chance. He wished this had not been the way of the world, but it appeared that a hundred years from now, people would still judge one another simply by the clothes they wore, but he just shook his head and disregarded it as an opinion of his.
A waiter had shown them to their outside table with the eyes of the BF following them all the way to the descending sun. The eyes of BF held malicious intentions. They didn't appreciate love like Brittney had. They looked at the hover boarder walk in their restaraunt with elegance on his arm, and they looked as though they were a pack of ravage wolves, ready to take what Nic Angel had thought was his.
The elephant in the room shook his head and gathered his wolves' attention with a simple head gesture that told them to leave the couple alone. Nic had noticed the changing dynamics of the room. Where there once was what seemed like a million eyes peering down on his back, now there were none, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
When they were sat down at the outside table, alluminated by the afternoon sun, and they ordered their drinks, the couple was left alone, their eyes breaking the ice for a much needed conversation. Nic smiled and asked humbly, "So how was your day?"
Her eyes sparkled and as her smile outshone the sun gleaming off of their white clothed table. "Hectic as usual, but I must admit, it got a lot better when I got home."
Nic Angel smiled flirtaciousl, "I hope I had something to do with that." She cut her eyes playfully, telling him that he had a lot to do with her happiness. The waiter returned with their drinks and menus and told them he would be back to check on them. Again, he was talking more to the elegantly dressed Smartz than the grungily dressed Nic Angel. But Nic didn't care. Even though he would have picked an entirely different restaurant than this one if he had known they were going to be like this, a moment with Smartz alone was well worth it. They skimmed through the menus diffently, Smartz breezing through it with ease, being fluent in Italian while Nic struggled to even comprehend what the menu was saying. Smartz thought it was cute how he was flipping the menu upside down in hopes that he would get a better understanding of the menu. She laughed playfully, covering her mouth, hoping that Nic wouldn't see. Nic glanced at her and smiled. He dropped the menu, faking impatience and he said with a smile, "I don't see spaghetti." She laughed, sounding like a child at her happiest. Nic felt a warmth evolve in his heart. He had never experienced this feeling before. It was strange to him. "What looks good to you?"
She smiled again and answered, "Well there is the spaghetti al pomodoro."
He looked at her sideways. "I did see that, but I didn't think much of it because of that extra stuff in it. What is it exactly?"
She shook her head, almost as if she were disappointed, "Spaghetti with tomato sauce."
They both laughed, sharing the joy they felt in each other's laughter. The waiter appeared slowly over Nic's shoulder and addressed Smartz, "So has the young lady made her decision?"
"Yes. Can we get a plate of spaghetti al pomodoro?"
The waiter looked down on Nic, physically and metaphorically. Then he looked back at Smartz with the largest smile he could muster and in a soft, sweet voice, he answered, "Sure, sweetie. I will be back shortly when your food is prepared."
She waved her hand and thanked him. A moment later he was gone, and she noticed the disgusted look on Nic's face. "What's on your mind, Nic?"
He shook his head and delve into the complimentary breadsticks. With a mouth full of bread, he answered, "It's just amazing how everybody in this restaraunt only talks to you. It's like I minus well not even be here."
She smiled, "Well I'm glad you are here. I know people tend to have their own judgements...." She caught herself before she could prove one of Nic's points about how quickly she had judged Gun Man and his friends before knowing them. Even though she knew she had been wrong, she wasn't going to admit. Not right now anyways.
"That's what I kinda wanted to talk about?" She knew this perfect, fairy tale day would have to succumb to something bad. She placed her hand on her chin and leaned on the table to wait to hear what Nic Angel had to say. "First of all, I wanted to say I'm sorry."
This was not how she imagined this talk to go. "What are you sorry for, sweetie?"
He shook his head, "For not considering your feelings before I joined up with Gun Man and his friends. I truly didn't consider how you felt about them before...."
She interrupted him before he could finish. "No, don't be sorry. I'm sorry. I did judge him before I knew him, and I did it again when I called him a monster. My feelings just took a hold of me when I thought he was going to kill Brittney and...I was just wrong for calling him a monster. That was uncalled for and if I could apologize, I would but I don't think he would ever give me that chance."
Nic smiled, feeling accomplished. "I don't think you have to worry about Gun Man forgiving you. I actually I had conversations with him and he seem like a extra cool person, and I think he'd be very understanding if you apologized." Nic laughed, taking some of the edge out of the air. "Now Gun Baby on the other hand, she might take some convincing."
They both laughed and Smartz added, "I know right!? Are they like boyfriend or girlfriend or something!? She's so protective of him, even when he's in the wrong, she seems to look at the situation like he's always right. Weird ain't it?"
"What? For her to feel so strongly for him?"
"No. I think that's natural. I mean they've been fighting together side by side for who knows how long, and they've been friends for who knows how long and I guess it's only natural for them to develop feelings for one another."
Nic took a sip of his drink while sharing a stare with Smartz, "Yeah, it's only natural, huh?"
She moved her hair to the side and kept the conversation going, even after their food arrived. While they were eating their spaghetti, the conversation continued. The food continued to disappear as they kept conversing. He had told her how his powers were developing and it could be seen in her eyes that she was excited for him. She clapped her hands and continued to twirl the spaghetti around her fork, laughing. He told her how he wanted to pursue going pro with his hover boarding skills and she simply stated, "Go for it. You know I'm gonna be watching from the stands, huh?"
He took another swig from his drink and replied, "From the front row?"
She smiled back, "But of course."
Soon their meal was finished and their date had went on for hours. The check arrived and when Smartz went to pay for it, Nic Angel stopped her. "Whoa, whoa, I took you out for dinner, remember? I got this."
"Oh really? Is the great Nic Angel going to dip into his savings? Wow you must be really serious about becoming pro aren't you?"
"I am serious about becoming pro, but I'll dip into my savings if it's for something special."
He called her special. A perfect ending for the perfect date. Nic paid the check with the surprised look of the hostess staring back at him. He waved goodbye to the restaraunt, knowing in his heart he was never going to return.
When they were a few inches away from the car, she grabbed his arm and pulled him close. She made sure his face was real close to his before she said, "I really had a great time out with you Nic. Thank you for being such a perfect date."
He smiled and attempted to pull away. "You don't have to thank me for nothing."
"But I do," And with that she planted a passionate kiss on his lips. The kind of kiss that promised to lead to an even more passion filled night. All of the occupants in the restaraunt stared in envy, but their eyes were not important in this instance. Nic knew he had never felt this way before and now he was sure why. He had never been in love before.



A couple weeks later, Brody stood at the doorstep with all of his suitcases packed with money, marijuana, and plenty of his love's signature clothing line, 3G, and he yelled, "Is y'all ready to go yet!?"
Chevy exited out of the kitchen with twice as much baggage as Brody and his soft voice carried all the way to Brody's ears. "I don't know how you did it, Brody."
Brody laughed and yelled back, "Did what homie!?"
Chevy shook his head and responded, "You know what I'm talking about. How did you orchestrate this one? I mean goin' on tour with Toon? Putting him and Kylie together?" Kylie appeared at the bottom of the stairs with her own baggage, the same amount as Chevy's, and she wrapped her arms around Brody's waist. Chevy finished his statement by adding, "Then convincing them to add Kayka on as the official photographer? I swear sometimes I just don't know how you do it."
Brody put his hand up in the air as if he had no need of giving them an explanation. "First of all playboy, don't question me...." He said in a playful manner, "Secondly, you know I'm Lucc'y Luciano, the king of turning one into two, man brush shoulders wit' me, you mess around and win the lotto twice."
Kylie leaned up and loudly whispered in her man's ear, "I know that's right. I already feel like I've won the lotto, baby."
Brody smiled as Kayla came down the stairs, "Oh my God, dude. Could you get anymore gay than that?" Kayla said jokingly.
Everybody laughed as Q came from downstairs, hearing the conversation insuing, he decided to add his two cents in as well. "But fa'real, Brody, Toon? He's like....the black Elvis, man. How do you even know him?"
Brody laughed. "Well besides having done a couple of songs with dude, I used to go down to New Orleans and stay with him and his family over there in the seventeenth ward. You know he my peoples so my pops used to send me down there eddy other summer ya' know? Just so I would always know where my roots were, ya' understand. When we were younger we used to always talk about going on tour together, getting with different girls every night, rocking the stage, just living life as rockstars, ya' feel me."
"Well you know I'm gonna be the only girl you rockin' on tour now, huh buddy?" Kylie said sarcastically.
Brody smiled at her, saying, "Of course," with his beautiful pearly whites. He continued to finish his story of the times he had spent in New Orleans, Louisiana. But before he could finish his statement, Q had chimed in with a statement of his own. "Don't worry about it though, Brody. Me and Chevy gonna party it up, and we ain't leaving no butt untouched."
They all laughed as Chevy and Q gave each other daps. Feeling like now was a good time to finish his speech, Brody added, "Ya' know, Bailey used to hate on us, me and Toon that is, saying we were crazy. She told him his guitar wasn't going nowhere and that my rapping damn sure wasn't going anywhere." He shook his head and solemnly added, "Damn I wish she could see and be with me now."
The whole mood of the room had changed from excited to respectful as Chevy added, "Yee, me too."
It was as if a dark cloud had set in the room. They all bowed their heads in memory of the sister, the friend, the lover. Each had their own shared memory with Bailey. Q remembered how he used to pick on both her and Chevy. Knowing both had feelings for one another, but were afraid to show it. He remembered her smile the most. Nothing ever appeared to get under her skin even as he was teasing them. That was something her, Chevy, and Brody had in common. They all had leather backs and diamond tough skins, but it was her smile that stood out between the three. Her smile made everyone else smile. She had the smile of supreme happiness.
Kayla and Kirstie both shared a memory that they would never forget. They remembered as children how Bailey had shined alongside her twin brother in combat training with their father. They admired how graceful she was sparring against her brother as they learned how to assemble, reassemble, and fire weaponry fire beyond their years. The distraction both Brody and Bailey provided did not go unnoticed by their father. His face read the face of a man who was extremely proud of his children. His smile was the smile of a king. Them never knowing what or who their father was, they admired his happiness and for a second, felt a hint of jealousy toward the extremely talented prodigies. That was until he turned around to face them with that same smile. That same angelic smile that Bailey gave her brother in battle. The same one she gave when she landed the defeating blow. He laughed and yelled proudly in the large training room, "My students! Oh yes, I am proud of you all! You have made me very happy how quickly you all are advancing. Someday, you four are going to save the world from itself. I just hope I live long enough to see it one day."
Bailey smiled and held her fist clenched tightly to her chest. She shared her father's face and his passion. With a large smile, she cried out, "Nah pops, not only is you gonna see us take over the world, but you gonna be right beside us kicking bad guy butt. We gonna need you if me and the girls gonna fight crime. Right ladies!"
She had spoken to them. Their idol. Their hero had just regarded them as if they were her equals and that's what they loved about her. She was down to earth. Humble in every way even though she was superior in every other. Their rally cry echoed in the training room. "Yeahhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
Brody sat up, rubbing his head playfully. Bailey looked back with a coy expression and added, "Oh yeah. Brody too."
Kirstie giggled, even then, finding the young man to be extremely cute and funny. Their father felt the love echo in the room, and at that moment he had not one, but three daughters, all willing to push themselves harder just to place a smile on his face. But it was Bailey's eyes that had captured young Kayla's attention. The fearlessness behind her pupils. The intensity in her stare. That was what Kayla remembered most about her. Her intensity. Her passion.
Chevy and Brody's expressions held the most pain out of all of them. Even though Kylie, Kirstie, and Q loved Bailey very much, their pain of loss could never match the pain of losing a love. Seeing the bloodied body of his best friend standing on his doorstep, pleading for his forgiveness. They could never know the pain of losing a sister, especially by their own hands, with their own gun. Brody could still feel the blood from his sister's body covering his face. Their will never be a pain that could equate to killing a twin sister, except having that same twin sister beg him to kill her as he watched the Evil Virus overtake her.
Tears tried to flood past the levees of his eyes, but his will would not allow them to fall. He could not show weakness. Not on a day meant for celebration. He shook his head, making sure the tears fell back into their proper resting spot behind his eyes, the same home to his unpleasant memories. His smile rose from his face. His sister's smile. And the rest of the group recognized the smile on his face as the angel they have all lost. She was reborn in his smile, and from that moment, they were happy. "What are we standing here, moping fa'!? Like we don't have a bomb *** tour bus waiting on us outside! Let's get it!"
The rest of them smiled, excited for the adventure that laid ahead of them. Q smiled at the prospective female acqaintances he had planned to conquer. He looked to Chevy and smiled. "Yep, I see a whole lot of potential out there waiting on us, homie! You ready!?"
But Chevy did not smile. Unlike Brody, he couldn't mask his pain behind his smile. The only thought that flowed through his mind was love. Love for Bailey. Love for their unborn child. Q had sensed this pain, and as everybody was heading outside toward the immaculate tour bus, Q placed his hand on Chevy's shoulder and with a comforting voice, he gave Chevy the truest advice he had ever given somebody in his life. "Live man. Live. You know you are not the only one who won't ever forget her. We all miss her, and she belongs to each of us, just as much as her spirit belongs to you, so you don't have to take a bath in self-loathing all the time, homie. God got her now, and with Him, she is always watching."
With a smug voice, Chevy replied, "God? There is no God. If there was a God, then how could He just sit back and let this happen to people? How could He explain the Evil spreading out into the world, infecting millions with its poison? God hmph, I never seen Him."
"Yeah you have." Chevy looked at him sideways, feeling as though Q was mocking him, toying with his views on a in his mind, dying religion. "When you first seen Bailey, you thought you had seen an angel. Remember, I was there." He was there and Chevy remembered it as though it were yesterday. "Just because she's gone doesn't mean she lost her angelic presence. She still here with all of us. She wouldn't want to live through us just to see you giving yourself a heart attack grieving over her dog. Nah homie, she wanna see you live, daddy, not see you die. So whaddaya say, holmes? You gonna live for her? For us man?"
Chevy smiled, feeling better already. His reply was simple. "Yee."
Q returned his smile, "Good, cause on this tour, you belong to me, dog, and we gon' party, dog!" Q wrapped his arm around his best friend's shoulders and they crossed that threshold together with their bags in tow.