Merry Christmas, guys~! This fic was inspired by a conversation with Lilium; many thanks for both the idea as well as helping me wrangle the fic afterwards. A huge thank you to Rainbow as well, for patiently offering suggestions during my (incredibly frequent) bouts of writer's block (and not laughing TOO much at my audible exasperation).

Simple assignments were usually the worst missions to be sent on.

At least with high–priority missions, the VSSE agents already knew that they were in the middle of a serious situation. It was often chaotic and dangerous, but at least it wasn't unexpected.

With seemingly simple assignments, on the other hand, what seemed to be a mundane, run–of–the–mill investigation often turned out to be anything but ordinary.

Giorgio and Evan's latest mission was no exception. It had started with them being sent to investigate a series of disappearances where the missing people were all young women living in approximately the same area. From there, things had gotten increasingly complicated. At present, the agents were fighting their way through a shady research lab, having rescued the kidnapped girls and traced their captors to the corporation in charge of the facility they were now investigating.

Despite the guards scattered about the facility, the lab was ominously devoid of scientists. Either they had already caught wind of the VSSE's involvement and abandoned the lab, or this was merely a decoy, and their real base of operations was elsewhere.

"Why is it that we spend more time playing hide and seek on missions than actually fighting bad guys?" Evan complained.

"Don't get cocky," Giorgio retorted, glancing sharply at him. "Keep your eyes peeled. Something about this place doesn't feel right."

"Alright, fine." Evan rolled his eyes. "But seriously, this lab is emptier than a—"

There was a flash of light at the edge of his vision.

Instantly on guard, Evan whirled around with his pistol drawn.

A seemingly inactive device sitting on a table in the middle of the lab had begun glowing faintly, with a soft humming noise emanating from it.

"Giorgio!" Evan called out to his partner.

Within moments, the older agent was beside him, glancing warily at the device.

"What is this thing?" Evan approached it cautiously.

"Don't get too close," Giorgio warned him. "We don't know what it does; it could be dangerous."

Suddenly, the device flared brighter, and the soft humming turned into an ominously loud vibrating sound.

"Evan!" Giorgio shouted, taking a step towards him.

"I didn't even touch it!" The younger agent protested.

As the light emanating from the device became blindingly bright, a shrill beeping noise started, growing faster and faster as it continued.

"Oh shit!" Evan scrambled backwards in alarm.

"Come on!" Giorgio grabbed him by the arm, urging him to run.

They were too far from the exit; there was no way they could make it out of the room in time.

Frantically glancing around the room, Evan realised there was only one thing he could do.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and shoved Giorgio away as hard as he could, sending the older agent sprawling to the ground near the exit.

Almost immediately, an all–consuming wave of pain enveloped him as he was caught in the blast radius of the explosion.

Moments later, the world went black.

The first thing that Evan noticed as he slowly returned to consciousness was the pain — or rather, the lack of it.

Somehow, even though he was sure he had been caught in the blast when the device exploded, he didn't feel any of the injuries he should have sustained from the explosion.

Cracking his eyes open, Evan squinted at his surroundings through blurry vision, trying to figure out where he was.

Wherever he was, the place appeared to be in bad shape. His surroundings were dark and derelict, illuminated only by the crackling flames eating away at whatever was left of the destroyed building.

This is not good…

"Gi?" He called out, his voice cracking slightly. "Are you there?"

There was no answer.

It was then that Evan realised that something was off about the whole situation.

He could see the flames, but he felt no heat. And though a thick cloud of smoke was cloaking his surroundings, he had no problems breathing whatsoever.

As he reached out with a shaking hand to free himself from the rubble pinning him down, his hand passed right through it.

What the hell?!

Evan jerked backwards in shock, his heart pounding wildly.

Did I die? Am I a ghost? Am I stuck here forever, haunting whatever's left of the lab?!

Suddenly, a faint wheezing sound caught his attention. Eyes widening, Evan turned to look in the direction it had come from.

There was a figure lying motionless a short distance away from him, trapped under a pile of debris.

…! Giorgio?!

Glancing at the rubble pinning him down, Evan frowned slightly as a thought popped into his mind. Concentrating, he pushed himself forward against the rubble and was only slightly surprised when he passed through it entirely, freeing himself from the debris.

He also noticed that he was somehow able to stand on the debris–littered ground without passing through it but decided not to question it. He didn't want to risk falling through the floor if he started thinking about it too hard.

Wading through the piles of rubble, Evan made his way over to the unconscious figure as quickly as he could.

As soon as he was close enough to see the person through the hazy smoke, Evan quickly realised it wasn't Giorgio.

A kid who couldn't be older than 9 or 10 was being pinned down under the rubble. There were ugly bruises marring his skin, and blood was slowly dripping down his face from a nasty gash on his forehead.

What the hell is a kid doing here?

Instinctively, Evan reached for the boy, intending to shake him awake. Of course, his hand ended up passing through the kid's shoulder entirely. The kid shuddered slightly but otherwise didn't stir.

"Hey… Hey kid!" Evan called desperately. "Come on, open your eyes!"

Several long, terrifying moments passed. Just as Evan was beginning to give up hope, the kid slowly came awake with shallow, gasping breaths.

As his eyes slowly blinked open, the boy tried to take in a deeper breath, only to begin coughing and choking on the billowing smoke.

"Don't try to breathe too deeply," Evan ordered. "Just take short, shallow breaths."

At the sound of Evan's voice, the boy began looking around wildly, eyes wide with terror.

"Who are you? Please don't hurt me!"

"It's alright, I'm a friend," Evan tried to assure him.

As the boy sniffled and glanced in his direction, Evan caught sight of his eyes.

His oddly–coloured, reddish–brown eyes, which looked almost orange in the flickering light of the flames around them.

…No way. There is no way…

Pushing the thought aside, Evan softened his voice, keeping it as low and gentle as he could manage.

"Can you hear me?"

Slowly, the boy nodded, still looking fearful. "Wh… Where are you? I can't see you."

Evan wasn't sure whether he was both intangible and invisible, or if the smoke was simply too thick for the kid to see him, but he decided it probably didn't matter too much.

"Don't worry, I'm right here even if you can't see me. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Are you…" The boy coughed weakly, drawing a shaky breath. "Are you an angel?"

Evan hesitated, torn between lying to reassure the kid and being honest with him. In the end, he settled on something in–between.

"I'm… not sure what I am," he admitted. "But I want to help you however I can."

"So you're not… Not with them?"

"Them?" Evan asked, hearing the fear in the boy's voice.

"Those men… They came suddenly, and… My family… They're all…" Tears began brimming in his eyes, and Evan felt a pang of sorrow as he guessed the gist of what had happened.

"I'm not, I promise. I'll try my best to protect you, alright?"

The kid nodded slightly, looking somewhat less guarded than earlier.

"My name's Evan," Evan said quietly. "What's yours?"

The boy hesitated for a long moment. Finally, so softly that Evan almost didn't hear him, he answered, "My… my name's Giorgio."

Evan froze, staring at the kid (at Giorgio) in disbelief.

Maybe it's just a coincidence… It's not like there's only one Giorgio in the whole world.

But there was no mistaking those startlingly familiar reddish–brown eyes.

It wasn't possible. He had to be dreaming, or hallucinating or something.

There was no way he could be here, 19 years in the past and talking to a 10–year–old Giorgio on the night his family had been killed.

As he glanced over at Giorgio in disbelief, Evan registered the myriad of injuries he sported, and the way he was visibly struggling to keep breathing.

…No. It doesn't matter whether this is real or not. I'm not going to just sit back and watch Giorgio suffer like this.

Weighing his options, Evan's heart sank. With no way to physically interact with anything, he couldn't do anything to pull Giorgio free from the wreckage or otherwise help him as he slowly suffered from smoke inhalation while the flames blazed brightly around them.

Giorgio let out a choking sob as his tears began to spill over. "Papà… Mamma… I want my Mamma…!"

As Giorgio began crying, Evan felt his heart breaking, and he desperately wished he could do something to ease Giorgio's torment.

"I'm so sorry about your family," he said softly, wishing he could lean over and give Giorgio a comforting hug. "I know it's scary and it hurts, but you're not alone. I'm here with you."

"I don't… I don't want to be here," Giorgio sobbed. "Please… I want to wake up!"

"You have to stay strong, Giorgio," Evan urged. "Help will come… You just have to hold on until then."

Giorgio just shuddered, desperately gasping for breath as a violent cough wracked his body. As he watched helplessly, unable to intervene, Evan felt a chill run down his spine.

With the multitude of injuries he had, Giorgio already seemed half–dead. His oxygen supply was slowly depleting with each passing minute as the smoke continued to grow thicker, and the heat was growing ever more intense as the flames devoured everything in sight.

But aside from his physical condition, the biggest obstacle to Giorgio's survival was his emotional wounds.

Although Giorgio had never spoken much about his family or their deaths, Evan knew that the massacre had left a deep scar upon his heart that had never truly faded. Right now, in the immediate aftermath of the incident, Giorgio was a terrified child, vulnerable and hurting, with the pain of losing his family still raw and fresh.

Evan knew that Giorgio would be rescued eventually; after all, he was clearly alive as an adult. But weighed down by his pain and grief, staying alive until then seemed to be a tall order for Giorgio. Evan feared that he would lose the will to fight and simply slip into oblivion before morning came.

"Angel?" Giorgio's quiet voice was raspy and tinged with fear.

"I'm still here," Evan quickly replied in a low, soothing voice.

"Will I… Am I going to see my family again?" The faltering question sent a sharp pang of terror shooting through Evan.

He hesitated for a long moment, then knelt beside Giorgio, gently touching his cheek even though he knew the boy couldn't feel it.

"No… Not yet. But your parents love you, and even if they aren't physically with you anymore, they'll always be watching over you. They'd want you to be safe, so please… you have to hang on and stay alive."

"I'm scared, Angel," Giorgio whimpered. "Please… Stay with me… Don't leave me too…"

"Shh. I'm right here. I've got you. I'm not going anywhere, I promise," Evan said gently, doing his best to soothe Giorgio.

As Giorgio sniffled again, his breathing shallow and ragged, Evan said a silent prayer to whatever deity might be listening, desperately hoping that Giorgio would live to see the morning sun.

What followed was the longest night that Evan had ever experienced.

As hours passed and the night wore on, Evan stayed right beside Giorgio, talking to him and doing his best to keep Giorgio awake as the kid struggled to cling to life.

A few times, he fell silent, unsure of what to say. But before long, Giorgio would fearfully call out to his "Angel" again, and Evan would immediately assure Giorgio that he was still there.

By the time the first rays of the morning sun peeked over the horizon, the fire consuming Giorgio's home had finally burned out, leaving nothing but soot–covered ruins with a seemingly endless stream of smoke rising into the sky.

Evan's voice was hoarse and almost inaudible from whispering comforting reassurances and words of encouragement. A few times, it had seemed as though Giorgio was about to pass out or fall asleep, but at Evan's urging, he had been stirred to wakefulness once more.

At present, Giorgio's chest was rising and falling slightly, his eyes barely open and on the verge of drifting shut as he teetered between wakefulness and sleep. Though Giorgio was still hanging on, Evan knew that he was on the brink of succumbing to his fear and exhaustion and injuries, never to wake up again.

A foreign sound reached his ears, momentarily drawing his attention away from Giorgio.

It took him a few moments to realise that a group of uniformed men was approaching the smoking ruins where Giorgio lay trapped, with a man who appeared to be their leader giving orders to the rest.

Are those… Police officers?

With a sudden surge of relief, Evan returned his attention to Giorgio, attempting to rouse him.

"Giorgio," he whispered urgently. "Come on, wake up."

Slowly, Giorgio stirred, whimpering slightly as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Just hold on a bit longer," Evan pleaded. "Look, help's arrived."

Glancing worriedly between Giorgio and the police officers, Evan tried to call out to them as loudly as he could manage.

"Hey! Over here! Help!"

None of them so much as reacted to the sound.

No… They can't hear me…

Evan nearly cried out in frustration. Was this how it was going to end? After a long, painful night of struggling to stay alive, was Giorgio going to die anyway before his would–be rescuers managed to find him?

"Giorgio, please… Say something," Evan begged.

Finally, with agonisingly slow movements, Giorgio's eyes blinked open, squinting hazily in the dim morning light.

He tried to speak, but as he drew a breath, he broke out into a coughing fit instead.

"What was that?" Evan heard one of the police officers exclaim.

A faint stirring of hope filled him.

"Come on, Giorgio… That's it, stay with me," Evan cajoled.

"Angel…" Giorgio let out a choked gasp. "It hurts…"

"Over here! I heard something!"

"I know it does, Giorgio. You've been so brave," Evan told him gently. "I'm proud of you."

As footsteps approached Giorgio's position, Evan grabbed hold of his hand, forgetting in his haste that he was intangible. For a moment, Giorgio shivered slightly, almost as though he was reacting to the phantom touch.

"Listen, Giorgio… You're going to be alright, I promise. I know everything seems dark and painful right now, but I promise that this isn't the end. It will take time, but things are going to get better. And you won't ever be alone, no matter what, even if it doesn't feel that way sometimes."

"What about… you?" Giorgio sounded frightened. "Please… Don't go…!"

"I…" Evan swallowed painfully. "I'll always be with you as well. You might not be able to see or hear me, but I'll be watching over you anyway, just like your parents."

"What the… There's a kid here! He's still alive!"

A swarm of police officers descended upon Giorgio's position, frantically shouting orders as they began pulling him free from the wreckage, with one officer radioing for an ambulance.

"Angel…" Giorgio's hand twitched weakly, as though he was trying to reach out for Evan. Then his eyes slipped shut as he finally lapsed into unconsciousness.

"Giorgio…!" Evan called out in alarm.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness slammed into him, and his vision blurred.

Evan tried to look for Giorgio, to call out to him again and make sure he was alright, but everything was slipping away, and he could barely see anything.

Finally, the darkness swallowed him.

As his consciousness slowly returned, Evan dimly registered something warm and soft covering him. There was a persistent, dull ache lancing through his body, and his head was throbbing painfully. As he struggled to get his bearings, he realised he could feel someone holding his hand.

Slowly turning his head, Evan quickly realised who the hand belonged to: Giorgio.

Not kid Giorgio; his actual, fully–grown partner was sitting by his bedside, fast asleep but still gripping Evan's hand tightly. Even asleep, the prickly agent looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and frown lines marring his forehead.

What… How did I get here?

Shifting slightly, Evan instantly regretted the movement as it sent a sharp stab of pain through his skull. A strangled gasp escaped him, and he reflexively squeezed Giorgio's hand.

Almost immediately, Giorgio startled awake, eyes flying open as he whipped his head around, pulling his hand away.

Upon seeing Evan was awake, his eyes widened. "Evan! You…"

For a moment, Evan caught a glimpse of pure, unadulterated relief in Giorgio's eyes. Then it vanished, replaced by anger.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Giorgio snapped, looking furious. "You could have died, you reckless idiot!"

"Gi, what…" Evan coughed weakly, voice cracking as his throat suddenly felt painfully dry. "Where am I?"

Giorgio's glare softened slightly as he handed Evan a cup of water from somewhere, which Evan gratefully accepted.

"Where do you think?" Giorgio answered flatly. "You're in the infirmary at Headquarters, recovering from that stupid stunt you pulled."

It transpired that the laboratory room had caved in due to the explosion, burying Evan under the debris as a result. Giorgio had narrowly avoided being caught by the blast thanks to Evan tackling him out of the way just before the device exploded.

Giorgio had feared the worst, but apparently, Evan had been extremely lucky: The older agent had unearthed Evan from the wreckage and found him still breathing faintly. Consequently, he managed to get Evan medical help in time to stabilise him and save his life, and Evan had been brought to the VSSE's infirmary for proper treatment afterwards.

"That was three days ago," Giorgio said quietly. "I thought… I mean… The doctors… they were beginning to worry you would never wake up."

As Giorgio concluded his explanation, Evan found himself just staring at his partner, trying to process what he'd just learned.

Had his entire sojourn into the past been nothing more than a bizarre coma dream?

Rationally, he knew that was the most logical explanation. But somehow, it had felt too real to be a mere flight of fancy conjured up by his subconscious mind. The memory of kid Giorgio, terrified and hurting and crying for his parents, was still fresh in Evan's mind. It was entirely illogical, but he couldn't bring himself to dismiss the image as just a figment of his imagination.

"Evan?" Giorgio's worried voice pulled him back to reality. "What's wrong?"

Blinking, Evan found Giorgio staring back at him, looking visibly concerned.

"I…" Evan hesitated.

What exactly am I supposed to say? "I dreamed I went back in time and met you as a kid on the night your family died."

Somehow, he doubted his intensely private partner would react well to that.

"No… It's nothing." Evan dismissed Giorgio's concern with a shake of his head. "I'm just… Still a bit out of it, I guess."

Giorgio looked as though he didn't believe Evan, but before he could say anything else, the infirmary door swung open and another familiar voice rang out.

"Evan! You're awake!"

Looking up, he saw Alan and Wesley making their way across the room. Both agents were grinning at him with relief, and Evan found himself smiling back at them as he greeted them with a laugh.

At least temporarily, all thoughts of kid Giorgio were banished to the back of his mind.

A few days later

6.27 pm

Crisis Agent Division Office

Evan sat at his desk, nursing a cup of coffee as he stared at nothing in particular.

He had been discharged from the infirmary yesterday, returning to work on light duty for the next couple of weeks until he recovered completely from his injuries.

The other agents had visited him at least once while he was still in the infirmary. Giorgio, however, had been there a lot more frequently, keeping Evan company while he was awake (and possibly when he wasn't as well).

Normally, Evan would have been thrilled to see his aloof partner letting his mask slip and showing that he cared. But now, with the memory of his surreal experience weighing heavily upon him, he was finding it difficult to reconcile the vulnerable child he had been trying to help with his cold and emotionally repressed partner.

It seemed unthinkable that they could be the same person… And yet, the idea wasn't quite as far–fetched as it seemed at first glance.

After all, kid Giorgio wasn't entirely a stranger to Evan; Evan had caught a few glimpses of the child that Giorgio used to be at times when the older agent was exceptionally stressed out or upset, and thus unable to maintain the stoic facade he usually wore as a defence mechanism.

The fact that his experience clearly hadn't been real didn't change the similarities Evan could see between them.

Consequently, Evan found that he wasn't quite sure how to act around Giorgio, with his memories of kid Giorgio still lurking at the back of his mind. Although Evan had tried his best to act normally, their usual banter was punctuated by awkward silences, and more often than not, he had caught himself staring at Giorgio for longer than he should have.

Giorgio had looked as though he wanted to ask Evan about his strange behaviour, but he had ultimately said nothing, continuing to keep Evan company even as a palpable tension began to grow steadily between them.

Sighing, Evan returned his attention to the paperwork on his desk, trying to force himself to focus on his work. He'd been pretty much spacing out all day, barely getting any work done as a result.

Quiet footsteps echoed through the room, causing him to glance up in surprise.

I thought everyone else already left for today.

Moments later, Giorgio took a seat at his own desk next to Evan's. Turning to face Evan, he looked at the younger agent firmly.

"What's the matter with you?"

A surge of panic shot through Evan.

"What do you mean?" He asked, trying to keep his voice light.

Giorgio gave him a pointed look. "Don't play dumb. You've been acting strangely ever since you regained consciousness."

"I… That's…" Evan stammered, frantically trying to think of something to say.

"Don't even think about saying 'it's nothing', because it clearly isn't," Giorgio interrupted, looking annoyed.

After a moment's pause, he sighed. "Look… if this is because I yelled at you when you first woke up…"

Evan shook his head. "No, it… It's not that. It's just… Well… You're going to think it's stupid."

"Even if it's stupid, if it's bothering you this much, then it's something that needs to be addressed," Giorgio replied firmly.

Evan glanced at Giorgio hesitantly, gauging his expression.

Beneath the irritation, there was a hint of concern colouring Giorgio's words, and he wasn't quite able to hide the worry in his eyes.

"It's… I… I had a really weird dream while I was unconscious," Evan finally admitted.

Upon hearing this, Giorgio's expression softened.

"A nightmare?" He asked quietly.

"No… It wasn't, actually. It was about you."

"Wh–What?!" Giorgio looked extremely flustered, and Evan quickly realised how that sounded.

"Not like that!" He hurriedly protested, blushing slightly.

Then his memories of kid Giorgio filtered into his mind again and he sobered, looking away.

"Look, Gi… I think you'd prefer not to know. Can we just say I had a bizarre dream, and I need some time to readjust and get back to normal?"

There was a moment of silence. Then, to Evan's surprise, Giorgio leaned over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Tell me anyway," he said softly. "I want to help you."

Although Evan was still wary of how Giorgio might react to hearing his story, the raw concern in the older agent's eyes finally loosened his tongue.

"…Alright. After I blacked out in the explosion, I woke up in a burning building…"

Initially, Giorgio listened with a calm expression, tempered with concern. But by the end of Evan's story, he had gone very still and very quiet.

When Evan finally finished his story, he glanced uncertainly at Giorgio. His partner's stoic mask was fixed firmly in place as he gazed back at Evan, expression devoid of emotion entirely.

It was an expression that Evan had seen a few times: The blank mask that Giorgio wore when he was angry or upset but didn't want to show it.

As they sat in silence, Evan barely managed to stop himself from fidgeting as he waited for Giorgio to say something.

Finally, Giorgio opened his mouth. Then he looked at Evan again, shook his head slightly and closed it without saying anything.

"Gi…" Evan reached for him pleadingly.

In one swift movement, Giorgio wordlessly got up and left the office.

Evan's heart sank.

Great. He probably thinks I was trying to be funny or something and making light of his past.

Disheartened and even more distracted than before, it only took another 15 minutes of aimlessly flipping through his paperwork before Evan gave up and decided to call it a day.

The next day

7.17 am

Evan's Apartment, VSSE Residential Wing

The knock on his apartment door caught Evan by surprise.

Being a morning person, Evan had already been awake for a while. However, he certainly hadn't expected anyone else to be awake yet, let alone paying him a visit.

Opening the door, Evan found himself even more surprised when he saw who was at the door.

"Giorgio?" Evan stared at his partner, eyes wide with disbelief.

It was well–known amongst the Crisis Agents that Giorgio was violently allergic to mornings. Given that it was practically impossible to drag him out of bed before noon if he wasn't on duty, there was no reason for him to be voluntarily standing outside Evan's apartment before anyone else was awake.

And considering the way their last conversation had ended…

"Evan," Giorgio responded with a nod, his expression unreadable. "May I come in?"

Too stunned to say anything, Evan wordlessly stepped aside, allowing Giorgio to enter his apartment.

As Evan shut the door behind him, Giorgio glanced at the younger agent. "My apologies for disturbing you so early in the morning, but I didn't want to risk anyone else overhearing our conversation."

In spite of his apprehension, Evan found his curiosity piqued.

Leading Giorgio over to his kitchen, he seated himself at the kitchen table as Giorgio took a seat beside him.

As he glanced at Giorgio nervously, Evan blurted out, "Look… About yesterday… I'm sorry. I swear, I wasn't trying to—"

Giorgio held up a hand, stopping him.

"Wait. Let me go first."

Taking a deep breath, he began to speak.

"After our conversation yesterday… I found myself thinking about…" Giorgio hesitated, swallowing nervously. "About the night my family died."

Evan's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything.

"It… That night… It was the longest night of my life. I don't remember much of the details… My memories of that night are mostly hazy and unclear. But… I remember that feeling… raw grief and overwhelming hopelessness… Wanting to just slip away and join my family…"

Giorgio's voice shook slightly as he spoke, and he hurriedly brushed away a few stray tears as they rolled down his cheeks.

Evan instinctively reached for Giorgio, grabbing hold of his hand and squeezing it reassuringly. As the older agent tensed slightly in surprise, he froze, realising his mistake as he remembered that Giorgio was probably still mad at him.

"Sorry," Evan muttered.

Before he could pull away, Giorgio tightened his grip on Evan's hand, shaking his head.

"No… It's alright. I'm… I just need a minute."

Taking a few deep breaths, Giorgio managed to get himself under control.

"The thing is… After yesterday… I remembered something else about that night. I was dying back then…" He paused, looking Evan in the eye.

"And I'm sure I would have, if not for a voice in the darkness that kept me company throughout that dark, seemingly endless night."

Evan's thoughts came screeching to a halt as he stared at Giorgio, too shocked to speak.

"I was terrified and alone… But that voice kept talking to me the whole night, trying to comfort me and encouraging me to hold on even when I wanted to just give up and let go. I never saw his face, and I can't remember his name, though I'm sure he mentioned it at some point. I just called him Angel, because I was convinced he was one, even though he denied it."

"Giorgio…" Evan's lip trembled, and tears began welling up in his eyes.

"I'm… I'm sorry I reacted like that yesterday," Giorgio told him softly, looking somewhat ashamed. "I wasn't mad at you, just… really shocked."

"I mean, by the time I left the hospital all those years ago, I was convinced I'd imagined the entire thing. And over the years, my memories of that period faded until it became nothing more than a faint echo of a dream. Yesterday, when you told me what you'd experienced, that long–buried memory of my saviour came rushing back."

Leaning closer to Evan, Giorgio reached out and gently brushed a few stray locks of hair away from his face.

"I know I shouldn't have just run off without saying anything, but… I needed some space to process everything. After all, it's not every day that you learn your partner travelled back in time… and became your saviour on the worst night of your life."

Suddenly, Evan was crying in earnest as he lunged at Giorgio, pulling him into a tight hug. Giorgio wrapped his arms around Evan in return, silent tears streaming down his cheeks as well.

Evan wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, just holding onto each other tightly as though neither of them wanted to let go.

Finally, reluctantly, Evan untangled himself from Giorgio, settling back into his seat as he wiped away his lingering tears.

"You… I just… wow. I mean, this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen outside of movies!" He exclaimed, distantly registering the note of hysteria colouring his words.

"If I had to venture a guess, that device had something to do with it," Giorgio suggested. "Unfortunately, the lab's research notes were destroyed in the explosion, so we may never know for sure."

"I'm…" Evan glanced at Giorgio, feeling a sudden pang of shame. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help you…"

"Evan, no." Giorgio gripped his shoulders firmly. "You saved my life. If you hadn't been there with me that night, I wouldn't be here right now. You have nothing to apologise for. I'm just… so glad I can finally thank you for what you did."

Evan sniffled softly, giving Giorgio a tentative, watery smile.

Giorgio smiled back at him for a moment, gently squeezing his shoulder.

Then he hesitated, looking Evan firmly in the eye. "Look… There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Evan blinked at Giorgio in surprise. He couldn't exactly imagine any news that would upstage the realisation that he'd actually travelled back in time and met his partner as a child.

"I…" Giorgio glanced away nervously, fiddling with his hair. "After what's happened over the last few days… And especially after what I've just learned… I decided that… Well…"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he started again. "I've been trying to bury my feelings for a long time, but in light of everything that's happened recently… I realised that as much as I'm terrified of doing this, I'd regret it even more if I never said anything."

As Giorgio glanced up at Evan almost shyly, Evan's heart skipped a beat.

"Gi…"

"I… I love you Evan," Giorgio blurted out in a rush. "I've liked you for some time now. I… I understand if you don't feel the same way, and I don't expect you to, but I just wanted you to know…"

At that moment, Evan interrupted Giorgio, pulling him close and giving him a long, sweet kiss.

When he finally pulled away, Giorgio looked both startled and flustered. "That… You…"

"You really are an idiot, Gi," Evan chided teasingly. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that."

"Are… Are you saying…" Giorgio was still staring at Evan with wide, disbelieving eyes, as if he couldn't quite understand what had just happened.

Evan sighed, looking fondly exasperated. "I'm saying I love you too, you idiot. If you hadn't been so busy trying to deny your feelings, you might have realised that a long time ago."

"But you… I… Why didn't you ever say anything?" Giorgio stammered.

"Because I knew you'd pretty much freak out, just like right now." Evan gave him a pointed look. "I wanted so badly to tell you, but I knew I had to wait until you were ready to admit your own feelings, both to yourself and to me."

"Evan… I…" Giorgio swallowed, looking as though he was about to start crying from happiness and relief.

Leaning forward, he kissed Evan, hesitantly at first, then more hungrily, as though he was trying to make up for years of lost time all at once.

When they finally pulled apart reluctantly, both of them were crying again, but Giorgio didn't seem to mind, if the wide smile on his face was any indication.

"This is…" Giorgio hastily scrubbed a hand across his face, wiping at his eyes. "We've got a lot to talk about. I mean, the VSSE might reassign us to different partners, and we should probably figure out where we're going to go from here, and…"

Evan took hold of Giorgio's hand, stopping him. "We'll have time to figure it out. For now, I just want to enjoy this moment right here with you."

"I… You're right." Giorgio squeezed Evan's hand, smiling softly at him. "This is perfect."

As a sidenote, this fic doesn't actually use my headcanon regarding the massacre of Giorgio's family (No fire in that one, and Giorgio is terrified and traumatised but largely not in danger of dying). Unfortunately, the details of my headcanon wouldn't work in the context of this fic, so with Lilium's blessing, I borrowed somewhat from her own headcanon instead.