All right, here's a Tracy story coupled with the lyrics of Korn's 'Freak on a Leash,' neither of which I own. Warning- while not an 'adult' story, this isn't a real fluffy piece either, taking place after OtL (the ep where Tracy's friend Bruce kills someone and denies wrong doing) this story deals with what might have happened to their relationship after that. I'm dropping this on the regular list, but feel inclined to warn you that this is at least a strong PG-13. Permission to archive granted to Mel and any DP who wants it, others please ask. Enjoy! Wrong (1/1) By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins) Tracy sat at the bar, her drink sat untouched by her elbow, her attention was locked on Bruce. Her old childhood friend had been released, seems the courts had made a mistake in processing his case and by some legal technicality Bruce was free... murderer or not. His career on the force was over, but as she watched him writhe on the Raven's packed dance floor, Tracy couldn't help but think that he didn't seem to mind... In fact, something about the way he moved led her to believe he was relieved to be out of his old life... out of her life. People were starting to notice her staring, out of the corner of her eye Tracy could see the patrons of the club watching her with interest. She knew her anger was radiating from her in waves, and the fact that it probably looked like she was going to kill Bruce was getting her a lot of attention. She didn't care. Her world as she knew it was crashing around her, her parents had never been particularly stable people, her father had rarely slept at home, and his busy political career had eaten up most of his time. Her mother had more often than not been lost in a gin-caused fog, Bruce had been her one stable influence. He'd come into her life right at the beginning of high school, he'd been her father's protégée and she'd followed the two of them around whenever they'd let her. Bruce had no family, the product of countless foster homes, he'd revelled in her father's attention, and Tracy had ridden his coat tails, gaining her father's approval by working her way into his "son's" life. Bruce had been her first crush too, though the older boy had never seemed to notice how much she'd adored him. Eventually she'd outgrown her childish feelings, moved on to boys her own age and her and Bruce's relationship had become friendly. But even though she'd lost her crush, Tracy admitted she'd never really gotten over the feeling of awe he'd inspired in her. That is, until she'd found out he was all too human. The music changed, and the slow rhythmic pump of Goth turned to the hard straining of Korn's 'Freak on a Leash.' One of her favourite bands, her old friend's too. Suddenly he turned, his eyes widened as he recognised her... and realised she was staring at him. Tracy didn't turn away, she kept her gaze locked with his. They hadn't spoken since right after he'd been arrested. She hadn't forgiven him, and he had forgiven her for what he saw as 'turning on him' either. "Something takes a part of me. Something lost and never seen. Every time I start to believe, something's raped and taken from me... from me." As the song started, Bruce broke away from the small area he'd been dancing in and slowly worked his way into the centre of the dance floor, his eyes still locked with hers. His movements were raw, his hips thrusting, his arms jerking. His lips curled into a taunting smirk. He looked like he knew something, like he was laughing at her. Incensed, Tracy stood and walked straight up to him. "Life's gotta always be messing with me. (You want to see the light?) Can't they chill and let me be free? (So do I...) Can't I take away all this pain. (You want to see the light?) I try to every night, all in vain... in vain. " Bruce grabbed her hand and put it on his shoulder, his hand snaked down and wrapped itself around her waist. He moved then, forcing her to either dance or fight with him. She danced. "Sometimes I cannot take this place. Sometimes it's my life I can't taste. Sometimes I cannot feel my face. You'll never see me fall from grace." They glared at each other, old petty wounds of youth rising up with the fresh new pain of their most recent past. They'd each thought they'd known the other so well, but they hadn't. Their pasts were linked so intimately, as their bodies were now. Grinding with the music, the pair failed to notice the crowd watching them. Resentment bubbled through each, the friendly love they'd thought they shared scratched and torn, bleeding at their feet. And at the same time, other things surfaced, things they'd denied themselves for fear of ruining what they had. But they didn't have it anymore... "Something takes a part of me. You and I were meant to be. A cheap **** for me to lay. Something takes a part of me." Leaning in, Tracy ground her mouth into his, kissing him so hard she nearly drew blood. Anger fuelled her lust, his betrayal of her trust making her want to force him to react to her, which he did. In his mind Bruce still hadn't done anything wrong, he'd killed a killer, a drug dealer and rapist, he'd been in the right and Tracy had condemned him! She had always been the sweet kid who'd followed him around town when he'd been in the academy. He'd known she'd had a crush on him, but by the time she'd reached the age that he might have looked at her in the same way, she'd already been firmly established as his sidekick, almost like a sister, he'd trusted her so much. Then last month, she'd condemned him as a killer and washed her hands of him. He wouldn't forgive her, he couldn't, but neither could he cut her out of his life. She was a part of him, they'd meant too much to each other; and even though their innocent friendship obviously hadn't meant anything to her, she hadn't stopped being the most important person in his life. Even as he pulled his mouth from hers, Bruce moved his body closer. His hands on her hips, he moved with her, rocking and grinding with the pulsating base and screaming guitars. Faster and faster they danced. Almost violent as they worked out their aggression. They couldn't trust themselves to speak, they didn't want to talk. "Feeling like a freak on a leash. (You want to see the light?) Feeling like I have no release. (So do I...) How many times have I felt diseased? (You want to see the light?) Nothing in my life is free... is free." Tracy felt dirty, all she knew was she wanted something from Bruce. She wanted him in her life, and yet she wanted to hurt him for not living up to her idea of him. He'd been her hero, he'd been the one person she'd really looked up to, and now she knew him for what he was. The only thing she felt now was a raging hunger. She wanted it to be like it was, she wanted him to beg for forgiveness and she wanted him to hurt. She wanted him. Taking his face between her hands she kissed him again, but this time gently, sliding her tongue across his lips before suckling his lower lip tenderly into her mouth. "Sometimes I cannot take this place. Sometimes it's my life I can't taste. Sometimes I cannot feel my face. You'll never see me fall from grace." Bruce groaned, he felt his body responding even though his mind screamed at him that this shouldn't be happening. He pulled Tracy against him, crushing her to his chest. Here was the girl he'd always seen as the pinnacle of virtue, his idea of perfection, but also the woman he'd come very close to hating in past weeks, kissing him. Conflicting emotions slammed through him, love, hate, lust, repulsion, he felt too much. "Something takes a part of me. You and I were meant to be. A cheap **** for me to lay. Something takes a part of me. " Wrong, so very wrong. Tracy couldn't help but shudder in his arms as he pulled her closer. His lips slid away from her mouth and he buried his face the crook of her neck. She slitted opened her eyes, and seeing that they had an audience, closed them again. She knew what was happening between her and Bruce was sick and twisted, and for that reason, wasn't too surprised to have gained the vampires' notice. Their kind seemed to thrive on such things. Everything about them stuck her as corrupt and slightly rotten. Probably what called them to her now, was the same corrupt thing that called her to them. "Something takes a part of me. You and I were meant to be. A cheap **** for me to lay. Something takes a part of me. " Bruce pulled her towards the back, where a long padded bench lined the wall, and sank with her into it. Other couples were scattered, spaced further along the bench too. 'Other couples.' Bruce closed his eyes and drew a deep breath as Tracy leaned into his arms and kissed his jaw line. Never had he thought it would be like this, on the rare occasion that his mind had drifted to the possibility of him and Tracy being together, never had been like this. Tracy was too pure, she'd always been on a pedestal in his mind, if he'd pictured them together at all it had been with her as his wife and mother of his children, never as someone he'd be groping in the back of a nightclub. He opened his eyes, first looking down at Tracy as she smoothed a hand up the side of his neck then began nibbling on his earlobe. His gaze drifted from her, lifting up to the few people who watched them both covertly and openly. A dark eyed man drew his attention then. Bruce frowned slightly as he noticed the man in the leather jacket, with long unruly black hair scowling at them. For a moment, Bruce could have sworn the biker looked like he wanted to kill him, but when Tracy shifted and looked up, the man disappeared back into the crowd. Tracy hadn't seen him, Bruce looked down at her and kissed her gently, pulling her onto his lap. "I love you Tracy." He whispered. Her eyes widened with shock, then her face crumpled and her lower lip began to tremble. She whimpered and Bruce looked down into her eyes. This was wrong, they both felt it. Waves of shame washed over them. "Oh God Bruce," Tracy whispered, tears filling her eyes. "Shh, shh," Bruce pulled her to his chest again, but this time there was no passion in their embrace. "I know, it's okay, it's okay." They clung to each other, fighting back the tears and trembling. "I don't want to lose you Tracy." He whispered into her hair, "Please, God, don't leave." Tracy hiccuped and straightened, sliding off his lap and settling beside him. She leaned her head against his shoulder, her hand curling in his, "I don't want to lose you either... but I-" She trailed off, biting her lip. Bruce stared down at their joined hands, marvelling at the sense of peace that suddenly rose within him. The tension began to fade then, tension that had been building since he'd taken his first undercover assignment, no... before that, when he'd joined the academy and started trying to live up to Richard Vetter's expectations. And the fear, the fear that if he did something wrong he'd lose everything that had ever mattered to him, that if he wasn't the best he'd lose his place in the Vetter family, in Tracy's life. But, as he looked at their hands, it occurred to him that she wasn't going to let that happen, no matter if either of them fell from grace. He turned in his seat and kissed her again. Only this time it was a quick kiss, the kiss of one best friend to another. "I really do love you you know Button." Tracy sniffed up the last of her tears and offered him a hesitant smile. In many ways her and Bruce were a lot alike, maybe it was the huge influence that her father had had on both their lives, they both feared rocking the boat, ruining the precarious balance by showing themselves to be less than perfect, "We're, we're going to be okay?" She asked fearfully, scared to death that they'd ruined everything by their actions on the dance floor. "Yeah, I think we are." He stood, and with the hand that still held hers, drew her to her feet. "Come on, let me give you a ride home." "In that pile of junk you drive? I think not!" She laughed, "I'll drive." Bruce smiled, "All right, seeing as I know you had an excellent teacher, that'll be fine." Tracy smiled back, her father hadn't had enough patience or time, Bruce had been the one that had taught her to drive. She gave him one more quick hug, then headed for the door. Bruce gave a relieved sigh and followed. All was right with their world again, thank God. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Feedback more than appreciated at anteros@juno.com