The Glory of Them [Bastille Fanfiction]

Old Friends New Alliances

Nicole POV

I knocked on the door, praying he was home. It'd been years since I'd last seen him. Yet he was the only one who knew my father well enough to even help me hunt my mother down.

"Coming!" I sighed with relief, hearing his voice on the other side of the door. Soon enough I was greeted with a grin. "Nikki! It's so good to see you!" His arms engulfed me in a tight squeeze. " How are you?"

" Its good to see you too Alex. I need a favour...." I whispered and he pulled away slightly.

"Hold on... Let me grab some swim gear." His Australian accent was thicker than I remembered. He jogged inside and came back changed. Thankfully I knew he'd want to talk on the ocean. It was the only place there was no chance of anyone hearing. We walked down to the beach, surf boards in tow. I took off my clothes and sat them on the bench before we continued into the water. "I take it isn't good?"

"It's about my father...." I mumbled before we started paddling. "Alfred came to my home..."

" What?!" His normally calm expression changed in an instant. " What did he want?"

"Remember my father's ring? He came looking for it... Said if I can't find it he's gonna kill Dan and my daughter. I've got a week yet I wasted two days already hunting you down..."

"That ring is yours by all means Nicole... Lucky for you I have part of it..."

" What...?"

"When your father died, during his funeral it was on him... I took because I knew your mother would come to claim it... The gem is in my safe and the gold band is in a safety deposit box in London. Your father transferred it to you... I placed it there for safe keeping..."

" Why does it feel like there is something else you're not telling me?"

"When you were young... I mean 3 or 4 your father had been equal to Alfred.... When the leader died.... Alfred and your father had to decide who would lead next... More people supported your father than Alfred.... Yet your father didn't want you to be stuck in that life... I didn't want that for you either... So he gave Alfred the position. The bank accounts for the group are split into shares... Your father owns 40 percent... Alfred it seems does want you to have a dime...."

"I don't want any of it...-"

"That isn't the point... The point is he is lying to you... That ring... That diamond... Your father discovered it in Durban... He named it the Clark stone... There are 10 of them in the world. I have yours and four others... The other five went to people he trusted...."

" Why not just give Alfred one?"

" Because by giving him that you are giving up who you are..." I nodded slowly and glanced out at the ocean.

" What do you have planned then?"

"I call the rest of the group.... The ones who supported your father and you take Alfred's position.... Then you give it away..."

"Will you take it?"

"Only if you choose..."

" And Alfred?"

"Trust me.... He'll willingly step down once he sees how out numbered he is Nicole...." We floated in silence for a few moments before he cleared his throat. "You have that look on your face..."

" What look?"

"That stone cold expression... To hide how you're feeling... How scared you are.... Stop it." I glanced to him, his expression stern. "That is what Alfred wants... He wants to bring out that dark side of you... To change you into a monster.... Your father wanted to prevent this..."

"Alex I still remember all those people I helped....destroy... Here I constantly say I looked up to my father but he didn't prevent me from seeing those dead bodies? From tossing their pieces in the ocean like bate...?" I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

"He didn't want to hide stuff from you... He wanted you to know how evil this world is and how beautiful it was.... Had Steve lived you would have been adopted by him... Your father wanted to give you space away from that side of the world yet..."

"Yet Steve couldn't even accept how awful this world was and killed himself slowly..."

"You Clarks tend to do that Nicole... I'm glad you're a Smith now... I know it's just a name but the Clark name holds power... It holds power in the black market and the dark side of society... But you'll always be a Clark... You'll always have a part of you who wants to do bad... Who feels good being bad. I thought you and I being a thing once your father died would have saved you but.... We weren't right for each other.... I see you as a daughter now..." I chuckled slightly and took his hand that he offered, giving it a squeeze.

" Yeah... Only took me almost 15 years to get my life together." He nodded with a slight smile. "Let's go back. I'll get the diamond. Well fly off to London with plenty of time." I nodded before we started paddling back. " Nicole?"

" Yeah?"

" It's gonna be okay...trust me on this alright?"

"I trust you..." I mumbled before we made it back to shore. We jogged back to his place where I dried off and changed. He did the same and disappeared for a few minutes as I glanced at my timer.

"Here they are!" He rushed into the room and squatted down, holding a silk bad which he emptied into his hand. Five black tinted diamonds laid in his hand as he glanced at me. "Clark diamonds...."

"Black as night."

"Black as Clark's heart your father said..."

"Good thing I'm not a Clark." I mumbled, taking one between my fingers. Through the darkness of the gem I could see the reflection of my face. If only everything went as planned.