Anger
Anger
Anger (Zizacky):
*********************
This is the second 'A' Het Ziah in my ABC 3-Tier Series. Just couldn't get away with one Het Ziah this letter. LOL.
Anger ~ (noun) A strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility
Vengeance Manor...
"The frantic search for a Huntington Beach infant has stretched into its third day. 6-week-old Zaelyn Lyric Baker, the daughter of Avenged Sevenfold guitarist, Zacky Vengeance, real name Zachary Baker, and his fiancee, Ziah Haner, was abducted from her pediatrician's office during a routine check-up visit. Haner said she handed her daughter over to one of the nurses to get the baby's weight. The nurse and little Zaelyn had vanished once Haner, a few steps behind, made it to where the baby's weight should have been taken. The pediatrician, Dr. Erik Michaels, and his staff are fully cooperating with the authorities. The nurse, 33-year-old Lucy Moss, is said to have been portraying herself as being pregnant. Her family says that they'd cut all ties with her years ago, but wouldn't get into specifics as to why. Moss is 5-feet-10-inches tall, 128 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Zaelyn has black hair, green eyes and a heart-shaped birthmark behind her left ear. Her family is offering a $150,000 reward for information leading to her safe return. We expect a police news conference momentarily..."
"I can't listen to this anymore," Zacky Baker croaked weakly as he turned the television off, his eyes puffy, red and extremely sore from all the crying he'd been doing since his little girl had been missing.
"Zacky, c'mon, bro. You need to eat," Johnny Seward said from his seat beside Zacky. "You need to keep your strength up. For Zaelyn and Ziah."
"I c-can't. My daughter is m-missing, and I lashed out at Ziah and blamed her for all of this. I b-blamhed her when she n-needed me the m-most."
"Zack, listen to me. Ziah will forgive you. She loves you. All you have to do is go talk to her and ask," Jimmy Sullivan murmured from his seat on the other side of his distraught friend. His distraught brother.
"I'm not so sure about that," Zacky replied. "I hurt one of the loves of my life worse than anybody else ever could. Besides, Brian will never let me get near her and beg for forgiveness. I mean, I can't blame him at all. She is his little sister and I promised I wouldn't hurt her. I just wish I could go back and stop all of this shit from happening in the first place."
"We know, Zack, we know," Johnny answered reassuringly.
"Zacky, son, you need to eat something," Maria Baker said, walking into the living room with a tray in her hands.
"Mom, I'm not hungry. How can I eat when I'm not sure Zaelyn..." Zacky choked on a sob. "How can I eat when I don't know if my little girl is being taken care of."
"Look at me, Zack," Jimmy growled, grabbing the shorter man's shoulders and forcing him to turn towards him. "Zaelyn is being taken care of and she will come back home to her mommy and daddy. Don't doubt that for a second." He narrowed his ice blue eyes menacingly behind his glasses. "Or else, I'll kick your ass, Baker!"
"I couldn't have said it any better. Thank you, Jimmy," Maria smiled.
"No problem. Now, eat something, Baker, and take a nap after."
"But..." Zacky went to protest but stopped when Jimmy arched an eyebrow. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll try to eat something, but I can't sleep. What if someone calls and I..."
"We'll wake you up. We promise," Johnny replied.
Zacky nodded his head and snorted at what his mom had made him - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut in half and with no crusts, alongside a glass of milk. "Thanks, Mom."
"You're welcome, sweetheart," Maria replied, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the middle of Zacky's forehead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Casa del Syn...
"Ziah finally asleep?" Matt Sanders asked.
"Yeah," Brian Haner, Jr. sighed as he stepped off the last stair. "She literally passed out."
"I expected that much."
Brian walked into his kitchen, yanked the refrigerator door open, leaned in and grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper. He pushed the door closed, rested his back against it, popped the soda open and chugged some of the bubbly, dark brown liquid, sighing and wiping his mouth.
"Has Baker even called to find out if my sister's even alive?" he asked, letting out a deep belch afterwards.
Matt sighed, rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Yeah, Zack's called a few times. I told him exactly how hurt she is."
Brian snorted and rolled his eyes. "Hurther? No, Matt, he fuckin' destroyed her!"
"I...I-I know. I was there. We all were," Matt replied softly.
"Doesn't he understand that Ziah needs him? Fuck, he needs her!"
"Zack's afraid that you'll kill him before he even gets to the front door."
"Yeah, usually I would, but this is the only time I'll let it slide. Zack needs to get his head outta his ass, nut up and be there for his fianceeand the mother of his daughter," Brian sighed, running a hand over his face.
"Want me to call him?" Matt asked, pulling his phone from the front pocket of his jeans.
Brian shook his head. "Nah, I'll do it. I'm gonna take a shower first and then I'll call him."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Brian replied, pressing a kiss to Matt's cheek before he headed back upstairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three days earlier...
"Isn't my niece just the cutest baby in the whole world?" Brian asked proudly as he and his bandmates crouched around Zacky's laptop to see the newest photos of Baby Vengeance, Zaelyn Lyric.
"No arguments here," Zacky agreed with a huge grin.
Zaelyn was definitely 'Daddy's Little Girl' and Zacky wouldn't have had it any other way. True, some men would be disappointed that their firstborn child wasn't a boy, but he wasn't one of them.
"You're just lucky that Zaelyn looks like Ziah and not you," Jimmy cracked.
Zacky flipped a middle finger up at Jimmy. "Go fuck one of your stallion ducks, Sullivan!"
"Nice comeback there, Zee," Matt laughed.
"Yes, Zaelyn looks more like Ziah, but they're my two favorite girls in the whole world, so that's all good with me."
"I thought Ziah was stopping by with Zaelyn today," Brian said, stretching his arms out above his head.
"Yeah, they will be. Zae Zae has a check-up today, so Ziah will be stopping by when the appointment's done."
"Maybe we should get back to recording so we have something to show for today," Johnny suggested.
"So we can blow off the rest of the day and coo over Lil' Miss Zaelyn when she gets here," Jimmy added.
"I don't give a shit what I get done today. Once Ziah and Zaelyn get here, the guitar goes away," Brian stated firmly.
Matt raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend but said nothing. It seemed Brian had babies on the brain ever since Ziah had announced her pregnancy, and that scared him. It's not that he was adverse to having children with the brown-eyed man, it was that he felt neither of them were really ready to be daddies. Getting experience with Zaelyn in the roles of uncles and godfathers would help get them ready, he was sure of that, but it would still take some time.
"Fuck," Zacky hissed when he knocked one of his bandaged wrists with the head of his guitar.
Brian snorted and then chuckled. "You're the idiot that decided it was a good idea to get tattoos on your wrists on a busy studio day."
Zacky grumbled, rolled his eyes and flipped Brian off. Brian was right, but see if Zacky would ever say that. The brown-eyed man was amazing enough at times. He didn't need another reason to be.
Just as Zacky situated his guitar in his lap, his cell phone started to ring, the ringtone squawking out undeniably Ziah's. "Hold on a sec, Ziah's calling me." He rested his guitar back on its stand, pulled his phone from his pocket, hit 'accept call' and put it up to his ear with a smile. "Hey, baby, how's..."
"Zacky! Zacky, she's gone!!! She's gone!!!" Ziah sobbed hysterically into the phone.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah! Ziah, baby, I can't understand what you're saying," Zacky murmured, completely concerned by how hysterical his fiancee was.
"Zaelyn! The nurse took Zaelyn and didn't bring her back! She's g-gone! She's gone!!!"
Zacky went extremely pale; his blood ran cold and he felt like he'd pass out at any moment. "Wh-what?!?! What do you mean the nurse tookZaelyn and didn't bring her back?!?!"
"She took Zaelyn, Zacky! She took our daughter!" Ziah cried.
"I'm on my way!" Zacky pulled the phone from his ear, shoved it into his pockets and hurried for the door.
"Zack? Zack, what's goin' on?" Brian asked, eyes wide and stomach flip-flopping.
"Some...Some nurse kidnapped my daughter!" Zacky yelled, sprinting to his BMW. His hands were shaking so hard, he had to fight with his keys to get his door unlocked.
Matt, Brian, Jimmy and Johnny made it outside just as Zacky sped away. They hurried to their cars and raced after him. A trip that would usually take at least half an hour took only a little over ten minutes. Zacky skidded into the parking lot of the doctor's office, tires squealing loudly, slammed his car into 'park' and ran inside, the others just mere steps behind him.
"Whoah, wait a minute. You can't go in there," a police officer said as Zacky barreled towards the waiting room.
"Like fuckin' hell I can't! My daughter has been kidnapped!" Zacky replied. "Where's my fiancee?"
Upon hearing Zacky's voice, Ziah ran out of the exam room she'd been brought into, up to Zacky, threw herself into his arms and sobbed into his shoulder.
"Z-Zacky...I...I-I'm s-sorry. I'm s-so s-sorry."
Zacky stood there, arms hanging down at his sides. He narrowed his eyes, pushed Ziah away from him and glared at her hard. "You're sorry? You're sorry? Well, in that case, no problems. How fuckin' stupid are you?"
Ziah flinched, the anger of Zacky's venomous words and the look in his eyes hurting her more than if he had slapped her right across the face.
"How could you have let this happen? Jesus fuckin' Christ, Ziah, how could you just hand our baby over to some...some stranger?"
"Zack, c'mon, bro. Don't do this," Brian murmured, laying a hand on the green-eyed man's shoulder/
Zacky shrugged Brian's hand away. "Get your fuckin' hands off me, Brian! I swear to God, if anything happens to Zaelyn, I will never forgive you and you will pay for it!" he growled hatefully at Ziah before turning and walking away.
"Zacky, please...please, don't...don't leave me!" Ziah cried out, collapsing to her knees. She clutched tightly to her brother when Brian raced over to her and pulled her into his arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Zacky gasped as he shot up. He'd fallen asleep on the couch and what he had said to Ziah, yelled at Ziah, when she needed him the most had haunted him once again. He blinked his eyes to get them to focus and rubbed his forehead.
"Good morning, sunshine," Brian mumbled.
"Fuck!" Zacky choked out, slapping a hand over his racing heart. "You scared the fuck outta me, Brian!"
"Yeah, I can see that. Sorry."
"Yeah, whatever. No problem, man," Zacky sighed. He bit at the corner of his bottom lip. "How..." He cleared his throat but he felt extremely nervous and like he was about to throw up. "How's Ziah?"
Brian took a deep breath and then exhaled in a drawn out sigh. "About as good as you."
Zacky winced. He knew Brian wasn't telling him exactly what condition Ziah was in and that scared the fuck out of him. "Look, Brian, I reallyam so sorry. I never..."
Brian held up his hand and shook his head. "No. No, stop. You don't have to apologize to me. Ziah is the only one that needs that."
"But I promised you that I'd never hurt here, and I didn't keep that promise," Zacky mumbled, looking down at his hands as he twiddled his fingers together.
"You panicked, Zack. I don't blame you for that and neither does my sister."
"Maybe I should call her or at least text her," Zacky said, reaching for his cell phone on the coffee table.
"That would be kinda stupid, bro."
Zacky furrowed his brows. "Uhm, why's that?"
"Because it's just easier to go talk to her," Brian replied, jerking his head upwards.
"Sh-She's...Ziah's h-here?"
"Yep. Matt and I brought her over. She was asleep pretty much the whole time and we pulled into the garage so she bypassed the press outside. She just can't handle that right now."
"Yeah, I understand that. I feel the same way. They've been out there the whole time. I can't really complain, though, because we have to keep Zaelyn's name and picture out there and..."
"Just go. Go see Ziah. I can tell you're crawlin' out of your skin to," Brian smirked, laughing a little when Zacky jumped up from the couch and ran from the room, seconds later, his padded footsteps thumping up the stairs.
"I'm really proud of you, babe," Matt said, smiling as he leaned against the doorjamb.
Brian arched an eyebrow. "For what?"
"For not turning Avenged Sevenfold into a quartet."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Zacky walked into the master bedroom just as Ziah walked out of the ensuite bathroom. She stared at him, wide-eyed and visibly trembling.
"Baby, I...shit." Zacky rushed over to Ziah just as the sobs wracked her body once again. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry, baby girl," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
Ziah sniffed and looked up at Zacky, knocking the tears down her cheeks as she blinked. "For what? It's me who owes you the apology. I let someone take our daughter, and I know it's all my fault," she mumbled weakly.
Zacky shook his head, kissed Ziah's forehead and then rested his against hers. "No, no, Ziah, it isn't. I went off on you when you needed me the most. I'm so sorry that it took me this long to come to you. You did nothing wrong."
"But..."
Zacky shook his head and placed a finger to Ziah's lips. "No buts. I love you, and we will bring Zaelyn home. I promise," he whispered, keeping his eyes locked with Ziah's until she rested her head on his chest and snuggled up to him with a sigh.
"I love you," Ziah muttered. She took a deep breath and then scrunched up her nose. "Zack?"
"Mmhhmm?"
"We need showers."
Zacky laughed, squeezing Ziah tighter. "Is that your way of tellin' me I stink?"
Ziah shrugged with a smirk. "Can't change the facts, Zacky. And I did say we."
"So you did. C'mon," Zacky replied, taking Ziah's hand into his and leading her to the bathroom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that night...
Zacky and Ziah laid in bed, snuggled up in each other's arms. Her head rested on his chest, his heart beat soothing her as he ran his fingers up and down over her back. While they'd showered together, neither had even thought to do anything more than the innocent act of washing up.
"Zacky?"
"Mmhhmm?"
"When we bring Zaelyn home, I want to find her a different pediatrician. I mean, Dr. Michaels is a nice guy, but I know that I won't ever be able to set foot into his office without having a panic attack every single time."
"That makes sense, babe. We'll find someone. Together," Zacky replied, kissing the top of Ziah's head and tightening his arms around her.
"Yeah, I was hoping so."
"And I'm gonna hire a former Navy Seal to be her bodyguard."
Ziah giggled a little. "You're a freak."
"Whatever. You still love me."
"I know," Ziah said, kissing Zacky's throat and then cuddling even closer.
"Maybe I'll just ask Brian to be Zaelyn's bodyguard. He loves her as much as we do and he's been doing jiu jitsu for years. Although, thatcould be really dangerous," Zacky smirked.
Ziah snorted and rolled her eyes. "Like Brian would let anyone else be Zaelyn's bodyguard."
"Well, he is really attached to her."
"I know. Poor Mattie looks like he's afraid my brother will sprout an uterus one day."
"That is not an image I need," Zacky laughed.
"You know I'm right."
"I never said that you weren't."
Zacky and Ziah fell into a comfortable silence then and moments later, she'd drifted off to sleep. He listened to her soft, deep breaths as he thought of their tiny daughter. He knew that once they got her back, she'd have changed so much because she changed every single day. The next day would not only mark the fourth day of her being gone but also would be the day she turned 7-weeks-old. He looked at the picture of Ziah and Zaelyn that had sat on his nightstand since the day it had been taken; Zaelyn only a month-old.
"Hold on, baby girl, Mommy and Daddy are comin' for you," he whispered to the picture before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
A few hours later, Zacky and Ziah were startled awake by the incessant ringing of his cell phone. He reached over, pulled it from the nightstand, hit 'accept call' without bothering to look at the caller id and put the phone up to his ear.
"He..." Zacky cleared his throat. "Hello?" he answered sleepily.
"Mr. Baker?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Baker, this is Special Agent Dornan."
Zacky's eyes widened and he sat up quickly, jostling Ziah, who sat up beside him, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
"Oh, hello, Special Agent Dornan."
"I'm calling to inform you that we've located Zaelyn."
Zacky gasped. "Y-You have?!?! Wh...Where is she?"
"A young lady in Phoenix walked into the police station with Zaelyn about three hours ago. We compared birthmarks and it's definitely your daughter. The doctor checked her over and she's completely healthy."
"Oh...Oh my God! That's...that's GREAT! When can my fiancee and I come get her?" Zacky asked, his heart racing quickly.
"Well, I've actually got Zaelyn in my arms as we speak and we're about to board a private plane. We should be arriving at LAX in about an hour and a half. Special Agent Ellis and Special Agent Mollen should be arriving at your house momentarily. They'll take you and your fiancee to and from the airport so you aren't swarmed by the press."
"Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Just doing my job, sir."
Zacky ended the call and darted out of bed, hurrying to get dressed.
"Zacky? Zacky, what's going on?" Ziah asked in confusion.
"They found her! They found Zaelyn, baby! Our baby's coming home!" Zacky hollered excitedly.
Ziah's eyes widened and she gasped, tears starting to fill her eyes. "Where? Where is she?"
"Phoenix, but Special Agent Dornan is flying back with her right now. We need to get dressed and get Zaelyn's stuff together. Special Agent Mollen and Special Agent Ellis will be picking us up and taking us to the airport."
Ziah screeched out and pushed herself up, ran over to Zacky and threw her arms around him, kissing him over and over again. He kissed her deeply and then they got their socks and shoes on and pulled hoodies on over their t-shirts and sleep pants before running downstairs.
"What's goin' on?" a sleepy Brian asked, walking out of the living room.
"They found Zaelyn and they're bringing her home!" Ziah answered.
"Oh my God!" Brian gasped, covering his mouth with his hands as he started to cry.
"Two special agents will be here anytime now to take us to LAX so we can pick her up," Zacky added excitedly.
"Lemme have your keys," Matt said, holding his hand out to Zacky.
"Uhm...okay. Why?" Zacky asked, laying his keys in Matt's hand.
"Zaelyn will be much more comfortable in her own carseat on the ride home. Brian and I will follow behind you and then we can head back here or to our house. Whichever you prefer," Matt replied, slipping his feet into his flip-flops.
Ziah walked up to Matt, hugged him tightly, got up on tiptoe and placed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Mattie. For everything," she whispered.
"It's really no problem, Ziah. I'd do anything for all of you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
About an hour later, in a private room at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)...
Zacky, Ziah, Brian and Matt waited, their nerves frayed. They all just wanted Zaelyn to arrive already so that they could take her home where she belonged. While Brian, Matt and Zacky sat on cushioned office chairs, Ziah perched herself on Zacky's left knee, her attention focused on the closed door.
"She'll be here soon, baby girl," Zacky said, pressing a kiss to the side of Ziah's head.
Ziah sighed and rested her head on Zacky's shoulder. "I know. It just seems like it's taking forever."
"I know, Ziah, I know. I can't wait to see Zaelyn back in your arms."
"I..." Ziah was cut off when the door opened slowly and Special Agent Dornan, whom had been lead on the case from the beginning, stepped inside, a baby carrier in hand.
Ziah instantly stood from Zacky's lap and scampered over to the FBI Special Agent. She knelt down at the baby carrier, unbuckled a wide awake and cooing Zaelyn, scooped her up into her arms and started to press kisses all over her face.
"Oh, baby, I missed you so much," Ziah cooed, happy tears scrolling down her cheeks.
Zaelyn squealed and babbled happily, kicking her little legs quickly. She became even more excited when Zacky knelt down beside Ziah. Ziah pressed another kiss to Zaelyn's forehead and then turned to Zacky. "Here, Zaelyn wants her Daddy," she whispered, the tears coming harder when the baby sighed and cuddled to her daddy's chest.
Ziah pushed herself to her feet and made sure Zacky stood without problems and Brian and Matt came around them before she ran over to Special Agent Dornan and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for finding our little girl and bringing her back home to us."
"You're welcome, but I was just doing my job, Ms. Haner," the stunned agent replied. "The biggest thanks should go to the brave young lady that brought Zaelyn into the police department."
"We'd like to thank her in person and make sure she gets the reward money we promised once Zaelyn came home," Zacky said, happily basking in having his baby back in his arms again.
"The young lady would like to meet with you in person, as well," Special Agent Dornan replied. "She said that she wanted to give your family some time alone, and you can contact her whenever you're ready."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Six months later, Phoenix, Arizona...
Avenged Sevenfold was touring and for the first time since Zaelyn had returned home, they were playing a show in Phoenix. It was the day before the show and the band was hanging out at the hotel. The Bakers, Zacky, Ziah and Zaelyn, sat in a private conference room, waiting to finally meet the girl responsible for reuniting their family. After the whole kidnapping ordeal had been resolved, Zacky and Ziah chose not to wait any longer and had gotten married a week later in an intimate ceremony at home, surrounded only by family and close friends. Zaelyn had been Ziah's honorary maid of honor.
"Do you think we over did it with the balloons and streamers?" Ziah asked, looking around at the boldly decorated room.
Zacky shook his head. "Nah. This is a thank you for everything-happy birthday combination."
"I was checking. I'm just nervous."
Zacky leaned over and kissed Ziah's lips. "Don't worry. There's nothing to be nervous about." She pressed her lips to Zacky's and jumped when there was a knock at the door. Zacky laughed, pressed another kiss to his wife's lips and then sat up with a grin. "Come in!" he called out.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Baker," Special Agent Dornan said with a smile. "Congratulations on your wedding."
"Thanks," Zacky replied with a big smile of his own.
"I have someone here to see you." Special Agent Dornan pushed the door open all the way and motioned to somebody behind him. "Zacky, Ziah, I'd like you to meet Emilia Bextor," he said as a teenaged girl with long black and green hair stepped into the room, eyes widening. "Emilia, this is Zacky and Ziah Baker. You already know Zaelyn."
"Hi," Emilia said softly, gasping in surprise when Ziah hugged her tightly.
"Thank you. Thank you for bringing Zaelyn back home," Ziah whispered.
"Y-You're welcome, Mrs. Baker," the girl responded, hugging Ziah in return.
Ziah pulled away from Emilia and wiped the tears away from her face. "Please, call me Ziah," she said with a smile, tears evident in her eyes.
Once Zacky had hugged Emilia and the teenager got reacquainted with Zaelyn, the rest of the band came in to meet Zaelyn's savior.
"You do realize you've been adopted into our wonderfully crazy ass family, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Jimmy announced with a cackle.
Emilia stared at Jimmy, blinking in confusion.
"Don't worry, Emilia, Jimmy's pretty much harmless," Matt laughed.
"Unless you get between him and his beer," Johnny smirked.
"Beer is my life source," Jimmy replied, hugging a bottle of Heineken to his chest.
*********************
This is the second 'A' Het Ziah in my ABC 3-Tier Series. Just couldn't get away with one Het Ziah this letter. LOL.
Anger ~ (noun) A strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility
Vengeance Manor...
"The frantic search for a Huntington Beach infant has stretched into its third day. 6-week-old Zaelyn Lyric Baker, the daughter of Avenged Sevenfold guitarist, Zacky Vengeance, real name Zachary Baker, and his fiancee, Ziah Haner, was abducted from her pediatrician's office during a routine check-up visit. Haner said she handed her daughter over to one of the nurses to get the baby's weight. The nurse and little Zaelyn had vanished once Haner, a few steps behind, made it to where the baby's weight should have been taken. The pediatrician, Dr. Erik Michaels, and his staff are fully cooperating with the authorities. The nurse, 33-year-old Lucy Moss, is said to have been portraying herself as being pregnant. Her family says that they'd cut all ties with her years ago, but wouldn't get into specifics as to why. Moss is 5-feet-10-inches tall, 128 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Zaelyn has black hair, green eyes and a heart-shaped birthmark behind her left ear. Her family is offering a $150,000 reward for information leading to her safe return. We expect a police news conference momentarily..."
"I can't listen to this anymore," Zacky Baker croaked weakly as he turned the television off, his eyes puffy, red and extremely sore from all the crying he'd been doing since his little girl had been missing.
"Zacky, c'mon, bro. You need to eat," Johnny Seward said from his seat beside Zacky. "You need to keep your strength up. For Zaelyn and Ziah."
"I c-can't. My daughter is m-missing, and I lashed out at Ziah and blamed her for all of this. I b-blamhed her when she n-needed me the m-most."
"Zack, listen to me. Ziah will forgive you. She loves you. All you have to do is go talk to her and ask," Jimmy Sullivan murmured from his seat on the other side of his distraught friend. His distraught brother.
"I'm not so sure about that," Zacky replied. "I hurt one of the loves of my life worse than anybody else ever could. Besides, Brian will never let me get near her and beg for forgiveness. I mean, I can't blame him at all. She is his little sister and I promised I wouldn't hurt her. I just wish I could go back and stop all of this shit from happening in the first place."
"We know, Zack, we know," Johnny answered reassuringly.
"Zacky, son, you need to eat something," Maria Baker said, walking into the living room with a tray in her hands.
"Mom, I'm not hungry. How can I eat when I'm not sure Zaelyn..." Zacky choked on a sob. "How can I eat when I don't know if my little girl is being taken care of."
"Look at me, Zack," Jimmy growled, grabbing the shorter man's shoulders and forcing him to turn towards him. "Zaelyn is being taken care of and she will come back home to her mommy and daddy. Don't doubt that for a second." He narrowed his ice blue eyes menacingly behind his glasses. "Or else, I'll kick your ass, Baker!"
"I couldn't have said it any better. Thank you, Jimmy," Maria smiled.
"No problem. Now, eat something, Baker, and take a nap after."
"But..." Zacky went to protest but stopped when Jimmy arched an eyebrow. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll try to eat something, but I can't sleep. What if someone calls and I..."
"We'll wake you up. We promise," Johnny replied.
Zacky nodded his head and snorted at what his mom had made him - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut in half and with no crusts, alongside a glass of milk. "Thanks, Mom."
"You're welcome, sweetheart," Maria replied, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the middle of Zacky's forehead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Casa del Syn...
"Ziah finally asleep?" Matt Sanders asked.
"Yeah," Brian Haner, Jr. sighed as he stepped off the last stair. "She literally passed out."
"I expected that much."
Brian walked into his kitchen, yanked the refrigerator door open, leaned in and grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper. He pushed the door closed, rested his back against it, popped the soda open and chugged some of the bubbly, dark brown liquid, sighing and wiping his mouth.
"Has Baker even called to find out if my sister's even alive?" he asked, letting out a deep belch afterwards.
Matt sighed, rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Yeah, Zack's called a few times. I told him exactly how hurt she is."
Brian snorted and rolled his eyes. "Hurther? No, Matt, he fuckin' destroyed her!"
"I...I-I know. I was there. We all were," Matt replied softly.
"Doesn't he understand that Ziah needs him? Fuck, he needs her!"
"Zack's afraid that you'll kill him before he even gets to the front door."
"Yeah, usually I would, but this is the only time I'll let it slide. Zack needs to get his head outta his ass, nut up and be there for his fianceeand the mother of his daughter," Brian sighed, running a hand over his face.
"Want me to call him?" Matt asked, pulling his phone from the front pocket of his jeans.
Brian shook his head. "Nah, I'll do it. I'm gonna take a shower first and then I'll call him."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Brian replied, pressing a kiss to Matt's cheek before he headed back upstairs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three days earlier...
"Isn't my niece just the cutest baby in the whole world?" Brian asked proudly as he and his bandmates crouched around Zacky's laptop to see the newest photos of Baby Vengeance, Zaelyn Lyric.
"No arguments here," Zacky agreed with a huge grin.
Zaelyn was definitely 'Daddy's Little Girl' and Zacky wouldn't have had it any other way. True, some men would be disappointed that their firstborn child wasn't a boy, but he wasn't one of them.
"You're just lucky that Zaelyn looks like Ziah and not you," Jimmy cracked.
Zacky flipped a middle finger up at Jimmy. "Go fuck one of your stallion ducks, Sullivan!"
"Nice comeback there, Zee," Matt laughed.
"Yes, Zaelyn looks more like Ziah, but they're my two favorite girls in the whole world, so that's all good with me."
"I thought Ziah was stopping by with Zaelyn today," Brian said, stretching his arms out above his head.
"Yeah, they will be. Zae Zae has a check-up today, so Ziah will be stopping by when the appointment's done."
"Maybe we should get back to recording so we have something to show for today," Johnny suggested.
"So we can blow off the rest of the day and coo over Lil' Miss Zaelyn when she gets here," Jimmy added.
"I don't give a shit what I get done today. Once Ziah and Zaelyn get here, the guitar goes away," Brian stated firmly.
Matt raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend but said nothing. It seemed Brian had babies on the brain ever since Ziah had announced her pregnancy, and that scared him. It's not that he was adverse to having children with the brown-eyed man, it was that he felt neither of them were really ready to be daddies. Getting experience with Zaelyn in the roles of uncles and godfathers would help get them ready, he was sure of that, but it would still take some time.
"Fuck," Zacky hissed when he knocked one of his bandaged wrists with the head of his guitar.
Brian snorted and then chuckled. "You're the idiot that decided it was a good idea to get tattoos on your wrists on a busy studio day."
Zacky grumbled, rolled his eyes and flipped Brian off. Brian was right, but see if Zacky would ever say that. The brown-eyed man was amazing enough at times. He didn't need another reason to be.
Just as Zacky situated his guitar in his lap, his cell phone started to ring, the ringtone squawking out undeniably Ziah's. "Hold on a sec, Ziah's calling me." He rested his guitar back on its stand, pulled his phone from his pocket, hit 'accept call' and put it up to his ear with a smile. "Hey, baby, how's..."
"Zacky! Zacky, she's gone!!! She's gone!!!" Ziah sobbed hysterically into the phone.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah! Ziah, baby, I can't understand what you're saying," Zacky murmured, completely concerned by how hysterical his fiancee was.
"Zaelyn! The nurse took Zaelyn and didn't bring her back! She's g-gone! She's gone!!!"
Zacky went extremely pale; his blood ran cold and he felt like he'd pass out at any moment. "Wh-what?!?! What do you mean the nurse tookZaelyn and didn't bring her back?!?!"
"She took Zaelyn, Zacky! She took our daughter!" Ziah cried.
"I'm on my way!" Zacky pulled the phone from his ear, shoved it into his pockets and hurried for the door.
"Zack? Zack, what's goin' on?" Brian asked, eyes wide and stomach flip-flopping.
"Some...Some nurse kidnapped my daughter!" Zacky yelled, sprinting to his BMW. His hands were shaking so hard, he had to fight with his keys to get his door unlocked.
Matt, Brian, Jimmy and Johnny made it outside just as Zacky sped away. They hurried to their cars and raced after him. A trip that would usually take at least half an hour took only a little over ten minutes. Zacky skidded into the parking lot of the doctor's office, tires squealing loudly, slammed his car into 'park' and ran inside, the others just mere steps behind him.
"Whoah, wait a minute. You can't go in there," a police officer said as Zacky barreled towards the waiting room.
"Like fuckin' hell I can't! My daughter has been kidnapped!" Zacky replied. "Where's my fiancee?"
Upon hearing Zacky's voice, Ziah ran out of the exam room she'd been brought into, up to Zacky, threw herself into his arms and sobbed into his shoulder.
"Z-Zacky...I...I-I'm s-sorry. I'm s-so s-sorry."
Zacky stood there, arms hanging down at his sides. He narrowed his eyes, pushed Ziah away from him and glared at her hard. "You're sorry? You're sorry? Well, in that case, no problems. How fuckin' stupid are you?"
Ziah flinched, the anger of Zacky's venomous words and the look in his eyes hurting her more than if he had slapped her right across the face.
"How could you have let this happen? Jesus fuckin' Christ, Ziah, how could you just hand our baby over to some...some stranger?"
"Zack, c'mon, bro. Don't do this," Brian murmured, laying a hand on the green-eyed man's shoulder/
Zacky shrugged Brian's hand away. "Get your fuckin' hands off me, Brian! I swear to God, if anything happens to Zaelyn, I will never forgive you and you will pay for it!" he growled hatefully at Ziah before turning and walking away.
"Zacky, please...please, don't...don't leave me!" Ziah cried out, collapsing to her knees. She clutched tightly to her brother when Brian raced over to her and pulled her into his arms.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Zacky gasped as he shot up. He'd fallen asleep on the couch and what he had said to Ziah, yelled at Ziah, when she needed him the most had haunted him once again. He blinked his eyes to get them to focus and rubbed his forehead.
"Good morning, sunshine," Brian mumbled.
"Fuck!" Zacky choked out, slapping a hand over his racing heart. "You scared the fuck outta me, Brian!"
"Yeah, I can see that. Sorry."
"Yeah, whatever. No problem, man," Zacky sighed. He bit at the corner of his bottom lip. "How..." He cleared his throat but he felt extremely nervous and like he was about to throw up. "How's Ziah?"
Brian took a deep breath and then exhaled in a drawn out sigh. "About as good as you."
Zacky winced. He knew Brian wasn't telling him exactly what condition Ziah was in and that scared the fuck out of him. "Look, Brian, I reallyam so sorry. I never..."
Brian held up his hand and shook his head. "No. No, stop. You don't have to apologize to me. Ziah is the only one that needs that."
"But I promised you that I'd never hurt here, and I didn't keep that promise," Zacky mumbled, looking down at his hands as he twiddled his fingers together.
"You panicked, Zack. I don't blame you for that and neither does my sister."
"Maybe I should call her or at least text her," Zacky said, reaching for his cell phone on the coffee table.
"That would be kinda stupid, bro."
Zacky furrowed his brows. "Uhm, why's that?"
"Because it's just easier to go talk to her," Brian replied, jerking his head upwards.
"Sh-She's...Ziah's h-here?"
"Yep. Matt and I brought her over. She was asleep pretty much the whole time and we pulled into the garage so she bypassed the press outside. She just can't handle that right now."
"Yeah, I understand that. I feel the same way. They've been out there the whole time. I can't really complain, though, because we have to keep Zaelyn's name and picture out there and..."
"Just go. Go see Ziah. I can tell you're crawlin' out of your skin to," Brian smirked, laughing a little when Zacky jumped up from the couch and ran from the room, seconds later, his padded footsteps thumping up the stairs.
"I'm really proud of you, babe," Matt said, smiling as he leaned against the doorjamb.
Brian arched an eyebrow. "For what?"
"For not turning Avenged Sevenfold into a quartet."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Zacky walked into the master bedroom just as Ziah walked out of the ensuite bathroom. She stared at him, wide-eyed and visibly trembling.
"Baby, I...shit." Zacky rushed over to Ziah just as the sobs wracked her body once again. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry, baby girl," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
Ziah sniffed and looked up at Zacky, knocking the tears down her cheeks as she blinked. "For what? It's me who owes you the apology. I let someone take our daughter, and I know it's all my fault," she mumbled weakly.
Zacky shook his head, kissed Ziah's forehead and then rested his against hers. "No, no, Ziah, it isn't. I went off on you when you needed me the most. I'm so sorry that it took me this long to come to you. You did nothing wrong."
"But..."
Zacky shook his head and placed a finger to Ziah's lips. "No buts. I love you, and we will bring Zaelyn home. I promise," he whispered, keeping his eyes locked with Ziah's until she rested her head on his chest and snuggled up to him with a sigh.
"I love you," Ziah muttered. She took a deep breath and then scrunched up her nose. "Zack?"
"Mmhhmm?"
"We need showers."
Zacky laughed, squeezing Ziah tighter. "Is that your way of tellin' me I stink?"
Ziah shrugged with a smirk. "Can't change the facts, Zacky. And I did say we."
"So you did. C'mon," Zacky replied, taking Ziah's hand into his and leading her to the bathroom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that night...
Zacky and Ziah laid in bed, snuggled up in each other's arms. Her head rested on his chest, his heart beat soothing her as he ran his fingers up and down over her back. While they'd showered together, neither had even thought to do anything more than the innocent act of washing up.
"Zacky?"
"Mmhhmm?"
"When we bring Zaelyn home, I want to find her a different pediatrician. I mean, Dr. Michaels is a nice guy, but I know that I won't ever be able to set foot into his office without having a panic attack every single time."
"That makes sense, babe. We'll find someone. Together," Zacky replied, kissing the top of Ziah's head and tightening his arms around her.
"Yeah, I was hoping so."
"And I'm gonna hire a former Navy Seal to be her bodyguard."
Ziah giggled a little. "You're a freak."
"Whatever. You still love me."
"I know," Ziah said, kissing Zacky's throat and then cuddling even closer.
"Maybe I'll just ask Brian to be Zaelyn's bodyguard. He loves her as much as we do and he's been doing jiu jitsu for years. Although, thatcould be really dangerous," Zacky smirked.
Ziah snorted and rolled her eyes. "Like Brian would let anyone else be Zaelyn's bodyguard."
"Well, he is really attached to her."
"I know. Poor Mattie looks like he's afraid my brother will sprout an uterus one day."
"That is not an image I need," Zacky laughed.
"You know I'm right."
"I never said that you weren't."
Zacky and Ziah fell into a comfortable silence then and moments later, she'd drifted off to sleep. He listened to her soft, deep breaths as he thought of their tiny daughter. He knew that once they got her back, she'd have changed so much because she changed every single day. The next day would not only mark the fourth day of her being gone but also would be the day she turned 7-weeks-old. He looked at the picture of Ziah and Zaelyn that had sat on his nightstand since the day it had been taken; Zaelyn only a month-old.
"Hold on, baby girl, Mommy and Daddy are comin' for you," he whispered to the picture before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
A few hours later, Zacky and Ziah were startled awake by the incessant ringing of his cell phone. He reached over, pulled it from the nightstand, hit 'accept call' without bothering to look at the caller id and put the phone up to his ear.
"He..." Zacky cleared his throat. "Hello?" he answered sleepily.
"Mr. Baker?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Baker, this is Special Agent Dornan."
Zacky's eyes widened and he sat up quickly, jostling Ziah, who sat up beside him, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
"Oh, hello, Special Agent Dornan."
"I'm calling to inform you that we've located Zaelyn."
Zacky gasped. "Y-You have?!?! Wh...Where is she?"
"A young lady in Phoenix walked into the police station with Zaelyn about three hours ago. We compared birthmarks and it's definitely your daughter. The doctor checked her over and she's completely healthy."
"Oh...Oh my God! That's...that's GREAT! When can my fiancee and I come get her?" Zacky asked, his heart racing quickly.
"Well, I've actually got Zaelyn in my arms as we speak and we're about to board a private plane. We should be arriving at LAX in about an hour and a half. Special Agent Ellis and Special Agent Mollen should be arriving at your house momentarily. They'll take you and your fiancee to and from the airport so you aren't swarmed by the press."
"Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Just doing my job, sir."
Zacky ended the call and darted out of bed, hurrying to get dressed.
"Zacky? Zacky, what's going on?" Ziah asked in confusion.
"They found her! They found Zaelyn, baby! Our baby's coming home!" Zacky hollered excitedly.
Ziah's eyes widened and she gasped, tears starting to fill her eyes. "Where? Where is she?"
"Phoenix, but Special Agent Dornan is flying back with her right now. We need to get dressed and get Zaelyn's stuff together. Special Agent Mollen and Special Agent Ellis will be picking us up and taking us to the airport."
Ziah screeched out and pushed herself up, ran over to Zacky and threw her arms around him, kissing him over and over again. He kissed her deeply and then they got their socks and shoes on and pulled hoodies on over their t-shirts and sleep pants before running downstairs.
"What's goin' on?" a sleepy Brian asked, walking out of the living room.
"They found Zaelyn and they're bringing her home!" Ziah answered.
"Oh my God!" Brian gasped, covering his mouth with his hands as he started to cry.
"Two special agents will be here anytime now to take us to LAX so we can pick her up," Zacky added excitedly.
"Lemme have your keys," Matt said, holding his hand out to Zacky.
"Uhm...okay. Why?" Zacky asked, laying his keys in Matt's hand.
"Zaelyn will be much more comfortable in her own carseat on the ride home. Brian and I will follow behind you and then we can head back here or to our house. Whichever you prefer," Matt replied, slipping his feet into his flip-flops.
Ziah walked up to Matt, hugged him tightly, got up on tiptoe and placed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Mattie. For everything," she whispered.
"It's really no problem, Ziah. I'd do anything for all of you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
About an hour later, in a private room at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)...
Zacky, Ziah, Brian and Matt waited, their nerves frayed. They all just wanted Zaelyn to arrive already so that they could take her home where she belonged. While Brian, Matt and Zacky sat on cushioned office chairs, Ziah perched herself on Zacky's left knee, her attention focused on the closed door.
"She'll be here soon, baby girl," Zacky said, pressing a kiss to the side of Ziah's head.
Ziah sighed and rested her head on Zacky's shoulder. "I know. It just seems like it's taking forever."
"I know, Ziah, I know. I can't wait to see Zaelyn back in your arms."
"I..." Ziah was cut off when the door opened slowly and Special Agent Dornan, whom had been lead on the case from the beginning, stepped inside, a baby carrier in hand.
Ziah instantly stood from Zacky's lap and scampered over to the FBI Special Agent. She knelt down at the baby carrier, unbuckled a wide awake and cooing Zaelyn, scooped her up into her arms and started to press kisses all over her face.
"Oh, baby, I missed you so much," Ziah cooed, happy tears scrolling down her cheeks.
Zaelyn squealed and babbled happily, kicking her little legs quickly. She became even more excited when Zacky knelt down beside Ziah. Ziah pressed another kiss to Zaelyn's forehead and then turned to Zacky. "Here, Zaelyn wants her Daddy," she whispered, the tears coming harder when the baby sighed and cuddled to her daddy's chest.
Ziah pushed herself to her feet and made sure Zacky stood without problems and Brian and Matt came around them before she ran over to Special Agent Dornan and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for finding our little girl and bringing her back home to us."
"You're welcome, but I was just doing my job, Ms. Haner," the stunned agent replied. "The biggest thanks should go to the brave young lady that brought Zaelyn into the police department."
"We'd like to thank her in person and make sure she gets the reward money we promised once Zaelyn came home," Zacky said, happily basking in having his baby back in his arms again.
"The young lady would like to meet with you in person, as well," Special Agent Dornan replied. "She said that she wanted to give your family some time alone, and you can contact her whenever you're ready."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Six months later, Phoenix, Arizona...
Avenged Sevenfold was touring and for the first time since Zaelyn had returned home, they were playing a show in Phoenix. It was the day before the show and the band was hanging out at the hotel. The Bakers, Zacky, Ziah and Zaelyn, sat in a private conference room, waiting to finally meet the girl responsible for reuniting their family. After the whole kidnapping ordeal had been resolved, Zacky and Ziah chose not to wait any longer and had gotten married a week later in an intimate ceremony at home, surrounded only by family and close friends. Zaelyn had been Ziah's honorary maid of honor.
"Do you think we over did it with the balloons and streamers?" Ziah asked, looking around at the boldly decorated room.
Zacky shook his head. "Nah. This is a thank you for everything-happy birthday combination."
"I was checking. I'm just nervous."
Zacky leaned over and kissed Ziah's lips. "Don't worry. There's nothing to be nervous about." She pressed her lips to Zacky's and jumped when there was a knock at the door. Zacky laughed, pressed another kiss to his wife's lips and then sat up with a grin. "Come in!" he called out.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Baker," Special Agent Dornan said with a smile. "Congratulations on your wedding."
"Thanks," Zacky replied with a big smile of his own.
"I have someone here to see you." Special Agent Dornan pushed the door open all the way and motioned to somebody behind him. "Zacky, Ziah, I'd like you to meet Emilia Bextor," he said as a teenaged girl with long black and green hair stepped into the room, eyes widening. "Emilia, this is Zacky and Ziah Baker. You already know Zaelyn."
"Hi," Emilia said softly, gasping in surprise when Ziah hugged her tightly.
"Thank you. Thank you for bringing Zaelyn back home," Ziah whispered.
"Y-You're welcome, Mrs. Baker," the girl responded, hugging Ziah in return.
Ziah pulled away from Emilia and wiped the tears away from her face. "Please, call me Ziah," she said with a smile, tears evident in her eyes.
Once Zacky had hugged Emilia and the teenager got reacquainted with Zaelyn, the rest of the band came in to meet Zaelyn's savior.
"You do realize you've been adopted into our wonderfully crazy ass family, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Jimmy announced with a cackle.
Emilia stared at Jimmy, blinking in confusion.
"Don't worry, Emilia, Jimmy's pretty much harmless," Matt laughed.
"Unless you get between him and his beer," Johnny smirked.
"Beer is my life source," Jimmy replied, hugging a bottle of Heineken to his chest.
@Kara Vengeancee
Thanks so much. Appreciate it. <3
6/1/14