by Dan Wingreen
To his surprise, all he felt was calm and the hope he'd bought Aidan enough time…along with regret that he hadn't been able to say a proper goodbye.
"Sedition and insanity," Noah said again, standing up straight. He took a few steps away from Lee and raised his hand. "I think it's long past time someone put you down."
I love you, little fire…
The stillness of impending death was broken by the sound of stone scraping against stone as the door opened.
Noah snarled as he spun around. "What part of 'don't interrupt me' was at all uncl—"
Lee followed his gaze, then blinked, not sure if what he was seeing was real.
Aidan stood just inside the open doorway, his bag slung across his chest and the old notebook Lee had given him open in his hand.
What in the bloody hells is he—
But even as he was thinking that, the need to live blazed through him like a forest fire, burning away his calm acceptance of death. The part of him that had kept him alive so many times in the past took over and he shouted, "Knock my chair over! Now!"
Aidan—bloody stupid, stubborn, wonderful Aidan—for once did what he was told.
"Wind!" he shouted as he tore a page from his book.
A hard gust of air hit Lee in the chest. It knocked the breath from him and cracked more than a few ribs, but it was strong enough to send the heavy stone chair toppling over backwards. His wrists hit the ground, dispelling Noah's binding spell a split second before the chair landed and snapped his forearms in half. Lee's triumphant laugh sounded more like a scream of agony, but the intent was there, and he decided that was all that mattered. He called on his family magic, taking a month off his life as he cut the ropes off of him, threw the chair against the wall and healed his arms before scrambling up to face Noah.
The hunter, for his part, recovered fast. He fired off two deathbolts, one at Lee and the other right at Aidan. Both were deflected by shields.
Noah paused, looking back and forth between them. Small room. One exit partially blocked by enemy. Unknown magic in play. Lee could almost read his thoughts. They were, after all, the same ones he'd have in this situation. There was only one course of action that made any sense.
Flee.
Unfortunately, Noah thought just as fast as Lee. Before Lee or Aidan could even think to fire off a spell of their own, Noah let out a growl of frustration and made a sharp gesture with his hand.
The room filled with a thick, black smoke.
Lee started coughing immediately, the smoke easily slipping behind the shield since he hadn't wanted to spend the magic surrounding himself with it, and he could hear Aidan doing the same. He kept his shield up just in case, but Noah didn't sling any spells. Lee heard booted feet slapping against the stone, and then they were gone.
"W-wind!" Aidan yelled again, in between coughs. The air around Lee started moving, and within seconds the smoke was blown out the open doorway into the hall, leaving him and Aidan alone in the room.
They both froze, staring at each other.
A small, relieved smile started to spread across Aidan's lips.
"Lee…"
The soft, relaxed way he said Lee's name was like a hand squeezing his heart. He'd never thought he'd hear that voice again. He never thought he'd see those eyes or the slightly crooked smile or any of the hundred other things he loved about the man.
It made him furious Aidan would put any of them in harm's way just for Lee.
He scowled. "You bloody fucking idiot! What in the fucking hells are you doing here?"
Aidan's smile froze and the hand on Lee's heart gave a sharp, violent yank. Lee had just enough time to start to feel bad before Aidan's smile melted into a scowl of his own. "You sent me away, you asshole! Without you! You said you wouldn't do that!"
He stalked over to Lee and punched him in the shoulder. Hard.
"Ow!" Lee yelped, more in surprise than pain, although it hurt more than it would have normally. He rubbed his arm. "And what I said was I'd never leave you behin—"
Aidan hit him again.
"Ow! Stop it!"
"No!" Aidan yelled as he hit him for a third time. And a fourth. And then a fifth. "You are such a bastard! You can't make me fall in love with you then just telemorph me away like you're actually doing me a favor by making me live without you! Idiot!"
And there went number six.
"I was bloody tortured you know—" Lee broke off, his eyes widening when it sank in what Aidan had said. Did he really…? Or was this some kind of after torture hallucination?
Aidan's eyes widened. "Sorry!" he said, looking horrified. "I'm so sorry, I completely forgot—" He shook his head and muttered what sounded like "Stupid idiot" under his breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
"What did you say?" Lee asked, cutting him off. Warmth spread through his chest even as he warned himself not to hope.
"I said I'm sorry," Aidan said, reaching out with a shaking hand towards the arm he'd just abused, seeming to realize for the first time that Lee was topless and covered in more than his fair share of dried blood.
Lee grabbed the hand before it could touch him.
"Not that," he said, his voice hoarse in a way that had nothing to do with hours of screaming. "Did you just say you're in love with me?"
Aidan froze, and for a horrible moment Lee thought he was going to take it back. Then, Aidan blushed, suddenly shy, and swallowed nervously. Lee had seen that look dozens of times on Aidan's face, and he'd always thought it was beautiful, but those looks were nothing compared to the one on his face when he finally screwed up his courage and looked Lee in the eyes.
"Of course I'm in love with you," he said, a small smile pulling at his lips. He shrugged. "You're my Lee."
Over the years Lee had laughed a lot, most of them fake, or at least exaggerated. He'd laughed more for real these past few weeks with Aidan than he had in years. But this laugh? The giddy laugh that bubbled up from inside him and rang off the cold, stone walls as he grabbed Aidan up off the ground and spun him around?
It was better than all of them put together.
"This was definitely worth the torture."
Before Aidan could say anything, Lee was kissing him, hard and possessive. He'd only been in love three times in his life, but this was Lee's first kiss with someone who loved him back.
He never wanted it to end.
Chapter 8
It was a good thing Lee had been leading the way since they left the interrogation room, because Aidan could barely keep enough of his mind on the world around him to not trip over his own feet. Every few seconds, his eyes found their way back to Lee and he got tied up in his thoughts all over again.
He'd actually done it. He'd saved Lee.
Aidan was so sure he'd been late. Every time he ran into someone, every time he had to hide, every time he'd had to pause or detour or waste time scrawling down spells to cast, his mind summoned up another ten ways Lee was dying horribly at that exact moment. He was so certain Lee was going to be dead that when he'd finally gotten to the door all he wanted to do was run away. It took every ounce of willpower he had to open it, and when he did and saw Lee was alive, Aidan completely froze. He still couldn't even remember casting that spell after Lee had shouted at him. The first thing he remembered after opening the door was a loud snap as Lee's bones broke under the weight of the chair, something that was going to haunt his regular-person nightmares for years.
Aidan also could have done without seeing Lee covered in so much blood.
Lee was all cleaned up now, though, and dressed in the clothes Aidan had brought for him. He'd also taken a bit of Aidan's magic. At Aidan's insistence this time, although he hadn’t taken as much as Aidan wanted him to, even if that was probably for the best. Aidan felt drained and a bit nauseous, but he still had most of his usual supply of magic roiling around in his chest, so he wouldn't be helpless if they got into a fight.
"There ain't any bodies," Lee said, breaking into Aid
an's thoughts. It was the first thing he'd said since they'd slipped out of the room into the empty corridor. After he'd kissed Aidan until he'd almost forgotten how to breathe, Lee had been annoyed that the hunter—Noah, Lee said his name was—had gotten away. Aidan didn't really care as long as they got away too.
"Huh?" Aidan asked.
They stopped when they rounded a corner and got to the next set of rooms. Aidan briefly wondered if there were prisoners in any of them, maybe waiting for their own 'interrogation'. He pushed the thought away forcefully. He needed to focus on getting Lee out, nothing else. He didn't want to know if they were leaving anybody else behind.
You coward.
Aidan couldn't disagree.
"No bodies," Lee said, gesturing around him like Aidan couldn't see the lack of corpses on the beige carpet. "This is White House interrogation central; how did you get through it without fightin’ anybody?"
You're asking that now?
"I…" Aidan glances away, hesitating. I’m never going to hear the end of this… Finally, he let out a frustrated huff. "I set a fire."
Lee raised an eyebrow. "You set a fire?"
Aidan nodded.
Lee's lips twitched. "Where?"
"The second floor."
"Where on the second floor?"
Aidan fixed him with a stare. "The second floor," he said flatly.
Lee blinked, then laughed. "And here you were giving me lip for setting one little room on fire?"
Aidan scowled. "I know. Shut up."
"Not bloody likely," Lee said, shooting Aidan a cheerful grin. Apparently telling Lee that he loved him didn't make him any less of an ass. Not that you'd want it to, his traitorous, stupid, infuriatingly honest mind supplied. "So, why'd you go and set the whole floor on fire then?"
Aidan sighed. He'd kinda hoped to wait until after the escape for this. "I'm not you, okay? I can't just fight my way through a million DMS agents and I couldn't do a fake army by myself, so I needed a distraction." He shrugged. "I just, sorta, underestimated how flammable floors and rooms and everything in them were." Lee let out a delighted laugh. Aidan ignored him. "After that it was easier to avoid people and I just kinda…sneaked through."
Lee raised another eyebrow. "You just sneaked through the whole White House?"
"Yeah. Well, no, not really. I had to fight a little bit, but I think most of the people that work here were gone before I even got here, and all the agents were running to put out the fire so it wasn't that many." He paused, wondering again why they were having this conversation now of all times, then added, "Can we get out of here now, maybe? Or do you want me to draw a map of the exact route I took?"
Lee laughed again. "Well, I was gonna get around to sayin' that I ain't got any idea where we're supposed to go…"
Oh. Right. He'd never actually told Lee the escape plan.
"The basement."
Now it was Lee's turn to look like he wasn't following. "Huh? Why?"
"Because," Aidan said, a small smirk tugging at his lips. Maybe this would impress Lee. "We're going back through your tele-whatever gate."
"Telepor—" Lee froze in the middle of correcting him. "What do you mean go back through it?"
"How do you think I got here?" Aidan asked, folding his arms.
Oh yeah, he's definitely impressed.
"Bloody hells," Lee whispered.
"Awesome, right?"
Lee didn't look like awesome was the word he would have picked, though. "You used my magic? How?"
"I don't know," Aidan said, hating how his smugness was quickly melting into defensiveness. "It was still basically open. I just cast a spell and used it."
"Basically open—" Lee shook his head.
Aidan licked his lips hesitantly. "What's wrong? We have a way out, that's a good thing, right?"
Lee didn't say anything.
"Lee?"
Lee blinked and shook himself. "I…yeah, right. It's good. Just…I've teleported a lot of places in my life. Some that there ain't any other way to get to. Some…that could be dangerous if anybody ever did get to 'em."
"What does that mean?"
"Don't matter," Lee said quickly. "We can worry about it later. Right now, we gotta figure out how to get back to the basement through a burning…ah!"
Lee doubled over, clutching his stomach.
"Lee!" Aidan rushed over to him. "What's—"
"Nothing!" Lee's voice was strained and for the first time since he'd taken Aidan's magic, his skin looked sallow.
"Bullshit." Panicked thoughts raced through his head. Did Lee take too much of Aidan's magic? Was he not healed properly after the torture? Did Aidan do something to him by using Lee's magic?
"You can't lie to me, remember?" he said with a shaky smile. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing."
"Lee!"
Lee grimaced. "It—" His clenched his jaw in pain. "It's my magic."
Oh shit. I really did do something to him.
"I'm sorry," Aidan said. "I didn't know it would hurt you! I never would have—"
"It ain't—" He let out another stifled yell. "It ain't nothin' you did. I used too much of it, that's all."
"That's all?" Aidan asked, his voice shrill. "You said it takes away your life. Is that…are you dying?"
He'd just got Lee back; he couldn't be losing him already.
"I ain't dying," Lee said, sounding annoyed. He slowly stood up straight and to Aidan's relief he didn't seem to be in pain anymore. "Takin' my life away ain't the only cost of using it. If I use too much in too short of time it…damages me."
"D-damages?"
Aidan tried not to think about all the things that could mean. He said he wasn't dying. That's all that matters.
"It…hurts," he said. "Messes me up inside, like."
Aidan swallowed. "Okay," he said, reaching for his bag. "I'll heal you."
Lee shook his head. "Can't. It ain't somethin’ that can be healed by magic."
"What? Why not?"
"Because it's part of my magic," Lee said. "Healing magic just recognizes it as part of how I'm supposed to be and passes it by."
"That's stupid," Aidan snapped.
Lee chuckled. "That's magic."
"So how do you get better?" Aidan hesitated. "You do get better, right?"
Lee rolled his eyes. "Course I do. Just takes some time, is all. And a bit of rest."
"Great, two things we have just so much of right now," Aidan grumbled.
"I'll be fine," Lee said, a bit of exasperation slipping into his voice. He started walking down the hall to prove his point, but only got a few feet before he stumbled. Aidan was at his side in an instant.
"You're not fine," he snapped.
"Bloody creepy how much you sound like my mam when you say that."
"Lee!"
"All right, all right." Lee laughed. "Ain't exactly livin' up to my aura of manly mystique. Good thing I already got you to fall in love with me."
Aidan flushed slightly. "Whatever." Lee laughed again, but it turned into a pained cough halfway through.
"Okay, we need to get you out of here."
Aidan ducked under Lee's right arm and wrapped it around his shoulder. "Lean on me."
"I don't need—"
"Just lean on me!" Aidan said, his voice cracking slightly. Stupid stubborn sorcerer! "I didn't fall in love with your 'manly mystique', I fell in love with you and I want to help. Stop being a pain in the ass."
Lee sighed and Aidan was preparing for an argument when suddenly he felt Lee rest some of his weight on his shoulders.
"Okay," Lee said softly, holding his left hand out like was going to cast a spell. "But I'm gonna be ready to fight if we have to."
Aidan smiled. "I never thought you wouldn't." He ignored Lee's disbelieving grunt.
They walked down the hall that way, Aidan supporting part of Lee's weight and Lee keeping an eye out for any danger. By the time they rounded the nearest corner and got halfway down the long corrid
or in front of them, Lee had even stopped letting out pained groans every few feet.
In another bout of rare good luck, the map in Aidan's head was just as easy to read in reverse. At the end of the corridor was another T intersection, and if they turned right, they'd be one short hall away from the nearest set of stairs.
One floor down, three more until the basement. I really hope the fire hasn't gotten to the stairs. Maybe—
They were almost to the end of the hall when Noah stepped out from around the corner.
He stood in the middle of the corridor, legs spread in a wide stance and his arms held slightly out from his sides with his palms towards them, blocking their path. Aidan stumbled to a halt, still holding on to Lee. He scrambled for a way to cast a spell without throwing Lee to the ground, completely forgetting Lee had said he'd handle it.
Lee, fortunately, hadn't forgotten anything. As soon as he'd seen Noah, he'd fired off three, rapid-fire bolts of dark blue energy. They flew straight at Noah's head almost faster than Aidan could follow.
But not too fast for Noah to react. With a twitch of his fingers on one hand, a small shield popped open in front of his face. Aidan had just enough time to realize the shield was curved inward, instead of flat or spherical like most shields, before the bolts hit—
And zipped around the inward curve of the shield before being deflected back at Lee.
Lee barely got a shield of his own up in time to absorb them.
Shit…
Aidan had never seen anything like that before. Of course, he hadn't really seen much magic that wasn't repair or health related until he'd met Lee, so that wasn't really saying much. A quick glance at the surprised look on Lee's face was a lot more telling. This was new. And new was never good in the middle of a fight. They didn't even have the surprise of Aidan being able to use magic on their side since Noah had seen him cast in the interrogation room…
And none of that mattered, Aidan realized, because they still needed to get to those stairs and Noah was in their way. He wondered if this was how it felt to be Lee? To have what little plan he had go completely to shit and having to scramble to come up with some way to keep from dying horribly. Despite the situation, he almost smiled as he remembered Lee always seemed to be having fun in situations like this. There weren't any windows to jump out of, or wizards to punch in the face though, so that pretty much left only one option, no matter how much Aidan wished there was another way.