Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; all the resemblances are just eerie coincidences. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved, everything is copyrighted. Contains descriptive sexual scenes between males - don't read it if you shouldn't.
Note: This is a 3rd installment in the semi-series. The first story is Specter's Gamble </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/specters-gamble/> and the second one is The Year of the Salamander </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/year-of-the-salamander/>
I would recommend reading those first (at least Specter's Gamble) otherwise, some scenes and characters are not going to make much sense, since you wouldn't be familiar with the background and I didn't describe much of the previous events in this story. Other than that, enjoy! Feel free to e-mail me.
- XXV -
He dialed the same number again and got the exact same result as the last fifty or so times -- no answer.
"Fuck!" he screamed and threw his phone onto the dashboard.
He flew into the parking lot of the hospital and brought the car to a screeching halt in front of the main entrance. He left the keys in the ignition and got out without shutting the door. One of the security guards marched up to him with a very clear `What the hell do you think you doing?' expression on his face. That expression changed immediately when he recognized Julian.
"Park it somewhere," the blond said shortly without slowing down.
"Th... there is someone inside..." the guard stuttered. "Does he need help...?"
"Don't know, don't care," was the answer he received.
The guard wisely decided against saying anything else and paged for a nurse. Julian ignored the elevator -- those things were slower than hell -- and ran upstairs, cursing with every single step that he took. He made it to the right room and all but kicked the door open. He burst inside and froze in his tracks, completely mute. Raven was sitting on the bed, flipping through TV channels while devouring what seemed to be an entire chicken. The slam of the door made him jump and drop the remote control.
"Hey..." he said, blinking rapidly when he saw Julian's expression. "What..."
"Why the fuck didn't you answer the phone?!" the blond almost exploded, and Raven blinked again.
"Oh..." he glanced at the phone next to the bed. "I unplugged it... It was ringing nonstop," he shrugged. "I was trying to eat..."
"Why didn't you pick it up?!" the blond raged. "That's what phones are for!"
"I figured it was someone from the staff again," Raven shrugged, completely unshaken by Julian's outburst. "They kept bugging me every ten minutes until I threatened to do something drastic if they didn't leave me alone... I figured they decided to switch to the phone, so I unplugged it. Why...? You rang?"
Julian stared at him for a long minute, suppressing very strong and quite unpleasant urges.
"Oh, only fifty times or so," he said tightly. "Goddammit, Raven! I thought you were dead! I thought it didn't work!"
"What happened?" the brunet frowned and put the chicken away, wiping his hands on the towel next to him.
"Well," Julian took a slow, deep breath, trying his best to control himself. "For starters, I got whacked on the head with a fucking bat..."
Raven's eyes widened at that.
"Then, after I came about, something exploded in that damn circle..."
Raven looked like he was about to say, `What circle?' but he decided against that.
"Then I find goddamn Specter knocked out cold, and that bitch of your friend cutting herself, laughing like a maniac while screaming your name and the word `Death' in the same sentence..." it was getting harder and harder to keep his voice down, he realized. "Then I am calling you, and you unplugged the fucking phone!"
Raven sighed, picked up the remote control, and turned off the TV. Then he got off the bed, walked towards very pissed off blond without saying anything, and pushed him into the wall while kicking the door closed.
"Sorry," he said in a low voice after draining all breath out of Salamander.
"You taste like chicken," Julian muttered and pulled him towards himself again. "They let you wear your normal clothes?" he asked after several minutes.
"That surprises you because..." Raven frowned slightly. "I said that I'd be damned if I wore that idiotic gown...!"
"Would make *this *easier..." the blond muttered while pulling off brunet's shirt. "Fucking hell, it worked..."
"Yeah..." Raven breathed. "I have brand new blood now... Exchange transfusion..." he shook his head. "How in hell would he even know about it?"
"You forgot what he used to do for a living?" Julian shoved him towards the bed. "Would surprise me if he didn't..."
"Dammit," Raven muttered while hastily undoing blond's belt buckle. "You are not in me anymore..."
"Easy fix," Julian assured him and ripped off his jeans' button. "Believe me, very easy fix..."
"Goddammit, why didn't I go with him? Bloody hell, why didn't I go with him? This wouldn't happen... Desmond, don't you dare fucking die on me! God, if he dies..."
"Rayhe..." Desmond muttered with a slight wince and peeled his eyes open. "Seriously..."
"Des!"
"Ow..."
"Sorry..." Gabriel let him go and pulled away, his hands still on Desmond's shoulders. "You scared all shit out of me, just so you know!"
"Yeah, scared the shit out of myself..." Desmond grumbled and sat up carefully. His chest ached dully.
"What the hell happened?" Gabriel's relief made his voice crack.
"No idea," Desmond yanked out a tube that was attached to one of his arms.
"What are you doing?" Gabriel demanded and tried pushing him back on the bed.
"I am fine," Desmond muttered and got off the bed. "You kidding me?" He looked at the hospital gown he was wearing. "A freaking gown?"
"You are in the hospital, what did you expect?" Gabriel rolled his eyes.
"Give me my clothes back, will you? There is no way in hell I am wearing this! Oh for the love of God... My ass is hanging out...! Shut up, Rayhe! Just give me my damn clothes!"
Gabriel handed him his clothes, still shaking from laughter.
"Bloody hell..." Desmond muttered while pulling on his pants. "How did I even get here? The last thing I remember is that light knocking me down... What?" he narrowed his eyes at Gabriel's expression.
"Julian brought you here," he said, and Desmond let out an exasperated sigh. "Doesn't surprise you?" Gabriel frowned.
"No," Desmond said with annoyance and threw the gown on the bed. "If he didn't, he would owe me for the ride to the Rock Garden, and I am a living proof that bastard doesn't owe anything to anyone... See," he sighed, wishing for a cigarette. "If he left me there and I died, he would still owe me, and that would bug the hell out of him..."
"Huh," Gabriel said thoughtfully. "He is here somewhere..."
"Rayhe," Desmond shot him a warning look. "If you even hint at me thanking him..."
"God, no!" Gabriel grimaced. "Technically, he still owes you..."
"No he doesn't," Desmond sighed. "Goddammit, I have to find him... He has my car keys... Bloody hell...! Screw it," he muttered. "I'll just buy a new car..."
"Yes, he does," Gabriel nodded. "And yes, we'll find him. He owes you for Raven."
"He didn't kill me for Raven," Desmond said pointedly.
"For saving him," Gabriel nodded. "But he still owes you for the exchange transfusion plan!"
"We don't even know if it worked," Desmond shrugged.
"It worked," Gabriel nodded firmly. "He didn't murder anyone in the hospital last night," he explained when Desmond looked at him with a silent question. "Believe me, if it didn't work, we would know about it by now. Seriously, the man let *us *off the hook for that guy; do you think he would just calmly leave if some nurse told him that Raven died?"
"I see your point," Desmond said thoughtfully. "Huh, he does owe me, I guess..." He shrugged. "I am not going to tell him that, however... Not yet," he added in a low voice. "Never know when such a thing might come in handy. If I tell him, the bastard will figure out a way to pay me back and I don't want that."
"I still don't get it..." Gabriel said, watching Desmond pulling on his sweater. "Raven," he said after yet another question. "How in hell would someone normal..."
"Oh, he is not normal, believe me," Desmond said darkly. "They have much more in common than it seems. When I got to the hotel and mentioned Sam, Raven asked whom I was talking about. Salamander told him," he nodded. "Calmly and with pleasure..."
"And...?" Gabriel frowned when Desmond stopped talking.
"Raven just shrugged and said, `Well, at least he survived'... Yeah," he nodded when Gabriel blinked at that. "Methinks they are very much alike."
"Takes one to know one, I suppose..." Gabriel muttered. "He seems completely normal though."
"Anyway, a debt from someone like Salamander is a good thing," Desmond nodded again. "Don't tell him!" he warned, and Gabriel sighed.
"I won't..."
"Come on, let's go find him and get my car keys. I don't want to be here any..."
A soft knocking on the door interrupted him.
"Come in!" Gabriel called loudly.
The door opened just a little, and then there was tentative:
"Desmond...?"
The black-haired man grinned.
"Come in, kid," he said, and the door opened all the way. "How's the fire-guy?"
"Pissed," Sam nodded with a small smile. "Sorry about that, by the way... I had no idea he would go to your place... He just came back from his rounds, and he pried it out of me, got very pissed off, and left. I figured he went for a drive," he sighed.
"No big," Desmond shrugged. "Umm, he didn't come with you, did he?" he frowned, thinking that would be quite unfortunate thing otherwise.
"No," Sam sighed again. "He said..." he coughed. "He said that he is sure you are fine, since hell doesn't want... ummm... someone like you any time soon."
"He said `asshole like him,' didn't he?" Desmond hemmed.
"Somewhat close," Sam nodded.
"Well," Desmond sighed. "Kid, I need to go get my keys from a certain someone, and believe me when I say it, you do not want to come with," he nodded firmly. "How about you drive to our house... You still have the key, right?"
Sam nodded somewhat stiffly, and Desmond turned around, making sure he got everything and didn't leave anything behind.
"He is here," Sam said numbly. "Goddammit, that son of a bitch is here... I should call Blair, I really should... If I call him right now..."
"Kid, don't!" Desmond whirled around, wincing slightly from dull ache in his chest. "Look, I know that you want him to burn in hell, but believe me on this, all right? Do *not *tell Blair that he is here! I am not trying to protect him, God forbid, but..." He frowned at Sam's expression. "What?" he asked when the younger man just stood there, staring at him with huge eyes without blinking. "Kid, what is it...?"
"How did you know that I wanted to call Blair...?" Sam asked numbly, and Desmond frowned deeper.
"Umm," he said. "Because I am not deaf...?" he offered, and Sam finally blinked.
"I never said it out loud," he muttered slowly.
"Right," Desmond rolled his eyes. "Kid, you said it, all right? You probably didn't realize you were saying it but..."
"Des," Gabriel said quietly. "He didn't say a single word."
Desmond slowly turned towards him and narrowed his eyes.
"Very funny," he said after a minute. "You two decided to pull a joke... Hilarious, really," he nodded.
"Des," Gabriel said as quietly as before. "He really didn't say anything."
"Rayhe..." Desmond rolled his eyes.
"Desmond, am I lying to you right now?" Gabriel interrupted him, and he frowned.
"No," he said slowly. "Oh, dammit...! That blast messed up my..."
"I had pancakes for breakfast," Gabriel said, and Sam frowned at that.
Desmond stopped talking and stared at Gabriel without blinking.
"With orange juice," Rayhe nodded.
"Rayhe..." Desmond said slowly.
"Yeah," Gabriel nodded. "I lied. I only had coffee."
"Rayhe..." Desmond said again, weaker this time.
"We are almost out of coffee, by the way," Gabriel thought, and Desmond, without even realizing that Rayhe never opened his mouth, muttered automatically:
"We'll get some on the way home..."
Then the realization hit him and he stopped talking.
"Holy hell..." he said finally and sat down on the bed.
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