Five Minutes Longer

by Five Minutes Longer [Dreamspinner MM] (retail) (epub)

  “I didn’t do much,” Finn said. He sighed and stepped forward. Talon surrounded him with his arms as Finn hoped he would, and he leaned into Talon’s strong body. He was sure he had something he thought Talon should know, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think what it was. Trying to think brought his headache back. “I’m going in tomorrow,” Finn said.

  Talon chuckled and tightened his arms. “Mmm, well, we’ll see if you can keep upright on your own first.”

  Finn froze, realizing how he was standing. He went to take a step back, but Talon held him still effortlessly. Finn’s dick noticed, and he stifled a groan. He needed to put the brakes on a little. Apart from the fact that they weren’t allowed relationships on the team, Finn wasn’t dumb enough not to realize if he was kicked out, it would probably be the last time he saw Talon.

  He knew Talon was watching him closely all evening. They’d gone into the living room, and Gael had come over once more to check on him. He managed one or two jokes with Gael, but his eyelids had been drooping since Talon came back from the dog park with Charlie. Finn needed to get to bed, but now he was wondering where Talon would put him. Talon had slept with him last night, but he had a feeling he would spend tonight on his own.

  Finn waited until Talon came back from letting Charlie out. “Can I ask something?” Talon just looked at Finn and waited, so he said, “What happened to Gael’s face?”

  Talon dropped to the chair opposite Finn, and Charlie curled up at his feet.

  Finn suddenly felt like he was intruding. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “No,” Talon interrupted. “It’s not a secret, and Gael wouldn’t mind me telling you. It was when he was twelve.”

  “Was it an accident?” Finn asked, laying his head back against the sofa.

  Talon turned the TV off with the remote. “No. Gael’s dad did it,” he said flatly.

  Finn parted his lips in horror. Gael’s dad?

  “He’d transformed about a month previously. Gael lived with his dad, uncle, and younger brother just outside of Charlottesville. His mom had left with some other guy when Gael was around six and his brother was three. His dad was what I suppose would be termed a functioning alcoholic. He had an office job at a large insurance company, and he was up for promotion. I don’t think it was the first time he’d knocked Gael about, but he lost it that day because instead of the promotion, he got fired.

  “Gael had said he was an angry drunk, so he and his brother tended to make themselves scarce as much as they could, and his uncle worked shifts, so they didn’t see him all that often. Gael had gotten thumped that day in the playground because of his scar, and he was standing in the bathroom on a stool, trying to cover his scar with some old makeup that must have been left by his mom. Gael had found it in a bathroom drawer.”

  Talon paused. “Did you know no one has ever been able to make anything to disguise the mark?”

  Finn nodded his head. It was something the papers had a field day with around five years ago.

  “Something about the mark burns through it. Stage makeup, the lot. Loads of companies have tried. It’s also impossible to surgically remove, as it just reforms.” Talon shrugged. “I suppose we should be grateful because the mark is the only thing that’s stopping registration.

  “Anyway,” Talon continued. “Gael’s dad saw what he was trying to do and completely lost it. He was drunk, very drunk, but that isn’t any kind of excuse. They had a handheld gas lighter for the grill. He held Gael down while he pressed it to his face. Said it was likely Gael’s fault he had gotten fired, and if Gael wanted to get rid of the mark, he would help him.”

  Finn’s heart squeezed in his chest. Gael had been one of his supporters from day one. “What happened?”

  “Gael got taken to hospital, obviously, when the neighbors heard the screams, but he told the police he’d done it to himself trying to get rid of the mark.” Talon was quiet for a few seconds. “They believed him straight away.” He gestured to his face. “I mean, who would want one of these?”

  In an invitation Finn lifted the comforter that was covering him. If Talon didn’t come over, he would move himself.

  Talon stared for a few seconds and then, unbelievably, he got up and crossed the room but lowered himself into the chair next to the bed. Not quite close enough to touch and obviously deliberate.

  He settled on asking a question instead. “Didn’t child protective services get involved?”

  “His uncle wasn’t interested in any father role, and Gael had heard all the rumors about enhanced kids getting locked up. He was worried for his brother and knew if they got taken into care, they would get split up. There were no foster homes for enhanced then.”

  Finn knew, and he wanted to cry for them both. One of the most heartbreaking stories he had read was of the government reopening St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in Washington DC. It was a derelict insane asylum, and one of the first group foster homes for enhanced children whose families didn’t want them. It was shut down about ten years ago when the government decided enhanced should only be kept separate if they were a danger to themselves or others. A small young-offenders unit had quickly been built and another converted.

  “Anyway, Gael managed to keep it together even when his father passed out drunk and his cigarette set fire to the apartment with him in it. The insurance wouldn’t pay out because an enhanced lived there, so Gael immediately dropped out of school and took three jobs to get a crappy studio apartment for him and Wyatt. Wyatt’s due to graduate this year with honors from Georgetown. Full scholarship.”

  Finn was silent. He had no idea what to say. He wanted to ask about Sawyer and Eli as well, but he had a feeling it would be better to wait for another day. He stretched out a hand to touch Talon’s arm cautiously. “Are you getting in bed?”

  Talon gazed at Finn and hesitated.

  “Separate,” Finn said quietly. “Us and the job. I remember what you said.”

  Talon smiled and ran a finger along Finn’s cheek. “Just let me go see to Charlie.”

  Finn’s heart thudded. Separate? He was falling for Talon so fast, he was barely touching the sides as he went down, and he was awfully afraid there would be no one at the bottom to catch him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  FINN PUT his toothbrush down after he rinsed his mouth. He could hear Talon still puttering about with the dog and wondered if he was putting off coming to bed. He gazed at himself in the bathroom mirror. The swelling on the left side of his face looked a lot better, and the whole thing had settled to a dull ache. He had an awful black eye from the second time he was hit, and the eye itself was still bloodshot. Finn never thought he was particularly good-looking, but at that moment, he seriously wondered how Talon could bear to look at him.

  He heard a noise behind him and glanced up. Talon was gazing at him and holding two tablets out. Finn sighed and took them, along with the water he was holding.

  “How’s your head?”

  Finn grimaced. “It’s not bad. The dizziness seems to be gone.” He smiled shyly. “I don’t think you’re going to have to carry me into work tomorrow.”

  Talon frowned. “You do know there is absolutely no way any doctor will sign you off as fit, don’t you?”

  Finn dropped his gaze. “So what does that mean? I’m off the team?”

  “Not if I have anything to do with it,” Talon answered.

  Finn smiled, loving that he said that. “You might not have any choice, Talon. Four weeks.”

  Talon drew a frustrated hand over his face, but Finn didn’t hear an answer. It was so mixed up. Everything.

  Finn slid into bed, noting Talon just sat on the edge and made no move to get in. He drew a breath. “Talon? Tell me something honestly.”

  Talon looked resigned and picked a thread from the sheet.

  “What you said just now. About the team.” The silence fell heavy in the room. “Have you genuinely changed your mind about enhanced partnering with regulars, or is it because I
got hurt and you feel guilty?”

  Talon’s head shot up. Finn could see the denial on his lips, hear it in his head, feel it bounce around the room, but at the very second when he thought everything was going to be all right, the words never actually left Talon’s lips, and the bottom Finn had been clinging to for a week finally fell out of his world.

  At least I know he can’t lie to me.

  “Finn…,” Talon started and went to take his hand.

  Finn pulled it away, and Talon looked like Finn had hit him. “No. I understand,” Finn said slowly. “I know how hard this must be for you.”

  Talon froze. “Do you? Do you really?”

  Finn winced at the anger and the sarcasm that bled into those few words. And the hurt. There was so much hurt.

  “Do you know what it’s like for other kids to be afraid of you? For them to run screaming because you looked at them, or took your scarf off because you were too hot, even though your mom tried to get you to keep it on? Not because she was worried you would be embarrassed at showing your face, but because she was.”

  Finn didn’t move. He knew this had been coming for a long time.

  Talon stood. “Do you know what it’s like for the other kids to call you a murderer?” He whirled around, stalked to the window, and stared into the dark night. His shoulders sagged. “The same kids you’d played ball with every day after school? The same kids you got into trouble with for talking in Sunday school?” He turned and pointed to his face. “The same kids who wouldn’t even look at you because you woke up one morning looking like a freak?”

  Finn swallowed, but he didn’t move.

  “Do I frighten you?” Talon leaned his head to one side. “I only have to think and your arms grow heavy. Your lungs have suddenly got to work twice as hard to pull in oxygen. Your legs become frozen. You can feel your heart start to slow and your eyes burn because you don’t even have the strength to blink.”

  Finn’s heart was pounding so fast, he thought Talon would hear it. “You don’t frighten me,” he said quietly.

  Talon shook his head. “Then you’re dumber than I thought you were.”

  “Why?” Finn stood. “Because I don’t read as well as some people? Or because I was stupid enough to think that loyalty meant something to you? We’re supposed to be partners,” he said bitterly.

  “Partners?” Talon said incredulously. “Do you know why you’re here? Because you’re a poster boy for small-town America. Unthreatening. Pathetic.” Talon curled his lips in disdain. “And because Agent Gregory’s brother got a letter from your dad asking him to take pity on his son.”

  Finn sucked in a sharp breath and glanced at his chest. The pain was so immediate, he expected to see a blade sticking out. His dad? Gregory’s brother was the agent he meant? Finn stared at Talon, bereft of anything to say that would ease the pain of what he had heard. He thought he was getting somewhere with him. He thought he was getting a chance because they thought he was worth it, not because of some stupid letter, and not because….

  He closed his eyes. He’d nearly thrown himself at Talon. Talon must have been laughing at him. I’ve never done this before. He could hear the whispered admission. Would Talon have told the others? Were they all laughing at him?

  He heard the door bang closed and opened his eyes to an empty room. He looked around and pulled his T-shirt on slowly. He couldn’t stay, but he had no idea where he even was. Finn choked as a laugh turned into a sob. He had no one to call. He would rather walk than call Drew.

  Gael? Gael was kind to him today. He was loyal to Talon, and if there were a choice, he knew which way Gael would go, but that was all right. That’s how teams should be.

  He remembered one of his dad’s favorite stories from his time in ’Nam. The helicopter was downed. One of the team was injured, but they didn’t leave him. They made a makeshift stretcher and trekked twenty miles through jungle and swamp to make their pickup point, and they all got out alive.

  That time, anyway.

  That’s what Finn had wanted. The FBI meant belonging to him. Being part of a team. He never felt like he belonged to his family, and it wasn’t because he was gay. It was because he didn’t fit in with his brash mom and his even louder brother. His dad did his best, but he had his own demons to fight.

  He picked up his phone from the bedside table and stared at it ruefully. It was completely dead, and his charger was back at his apartment.

  TALON EASED himself up on his sofa a few hours later and stared at the closed bedroom door. He desperately wanted to go in there. He desperately wanted to gather Finn close and kiss him until he laughed and said it was okay. He would grovel if he had to. How could he have said those things to Finn? His mark, this job, his dad…. None of it was Finn’s fault. Finn had done nothing since he got here but be incredibly cheerful and more than willing to accept every team member for exactly what they were. He put his trust in Talon, and Talon let him down time and time again. It was him who was the crappy partner, not Finn. Talon swung his legs off the couch. Somehow he had to make it right.

  Talon took a step toward the bedroom and heard a knock on the door. He frowned when he looked through the peephole and saw Gael standing there. He didn’t know Gael was going to come and check on Finn again. Talon swung the door open, a smile on his face.

  Five seconds later Gael’s fist connected with his jaw, and Talon went down.

  “Aagh, fuck, Talon. Your face is like cement.” Gael hopped and wrung his hand, then calmly stepped over Talon, who was still on the floor, wondering what the hell just happened.

  Talon groaned pathetically and rolled to one side, holding his jaw in case it was broken or something. “What the….” Talon stopped speaking. He would just have to look indignantly at Gael because his jaw hurt like fuck.

  Gael turned as he got to the kitchen and calmly started brewing coffee. He pointed to the bar stool as Talon staggered in. “Sit there and listen.”

  Talon winced because he forgot it would hurt his face to do so and nodded instead, which wasn’t much better.

  Gael sighed. “You’re a fucking idiot.”

  Talon’s eyebrows raised. Gael had called him that a few times, but he wasn’t sure what exactly he’d done to deserve it this time.

  Gael was silent for a minute while the coffee brewed, and Talon didn’t prompt him for more insults. He knew Gael would tell him when he was ready. He glanced toward the closed bedroom door. He hoped Gael hadn’t woken Finn up. He needed his sleep.

  Gael pushed a mug of coffee across the counter to him and tracked his gaze. “You don’t even know where Finn is, do you?”

  Coldness washed over Talon, and he leaped to his feet. He yanked the bedroom door open and stared in disbelief at the empty bed. He stalked into the bathroom to make sure it was empty. “Where is he?” he snapped, ignoring the sudden pain in his jaw when he spoke.

  Gael shook his head in disbelief. “He’s your partner. He got injured, and you’re so deep in your own pity party, you didn’t even notice he left while you were off doing whatever instead of making sure he was okay. Anything could have happened to him. I’m just thankful he swallowed his pride and asked me, because he was ready to walk back to his apartment. Of course, he wouldn’t know that it was over fifteen miles away because no one has even bothered to show him the area he lives in.”

  Talon winced as every word from Gael’s mouth got louder and louder. “I went for a walk,” he said. No justification. Talon picked up his keys. He would go get him.

  “Don’t bother. He doesn’t want to see you. I had to promise I wouldn’t let you go over.”

  Talon stood. “I have to. He can’t be on his own.” Talon firmed his jaw as Gael slow clapped him twice.

  “Give that man a lollipop,” Gael said sarcastically. “He’s not on his own.”

  Talon bristled. “Drew?” he almost growled the name.

  “Fuck no,” Gael said. “When I left, Vance was making him a hot-water bottle.”

 
Talon stared in confusion. “It’s seventy degrees out there.”

  “Who the hell cares?” shouted Gael. “The point is, Vance is doing what you should be doing and making sure he’s okay.”

  Talon sagged. He was right. He’d treated Finn like shit. “He called you?”

  “He didn’t, actually. I called your phone.” Gael looked pointedly to where Talon had casually thrown it on the kitchen counter. “Finn answered because you’d left it in the bedroom when you stormed out. He admitted the phone was in his hand and he was just deciding whether to risk calling or to get a cab. Except he still hasn’t got any fucking money.”

  Talon staggered to the stool and sat with his head in his hands. “I messed up.”

  “You think?” Gael drawled. He sat down. “Tell me.”

  “He tried to say he understood. I was cruel. I called him dumb.”

  “I’m sure he’s heard worse,” Gael said.

  Talon looked up. Finn had, and it wasn’t that. “He asked if I was looking after him because we’re partners or because I felt guilty.”

  Gael blew a breath out. “Ouch. What did you say?”

  Talon didn’t say anything. He looked at Gael, and Gael’s blue eyes softened.

  He stood. “I’m going back. Gregory has called a briefing, and he’s said if Finn is up to it, he’d like him there. That’s why I was calling you in the first place. I was at Vance’s when I got the call.” Gael patted his flat belly, and Talon smiled. He knew Connie, Vance’s mom, would have been feeding them until they could hardly move. The team spent more time at Vance’s getting fed than they did in their own apartments.

  “I know you want to go charging around there tonight, but to be honest, the kid still looks ill. He needs his sleep. I’m not 100 percent convinced he shouldn’t still be in the hospital.”

  Talon curled his fingers, the nails stabbing his palms as if that could take away the how much his heart hurt.