((So apparently this thing didn't want to leave me alone. I … kind of saw that coming and vaguely threatened a sequel. I knew, you see, I was going to Ukraine and Serbia this year, into the middle of nowhere, and I had a feeling that something Deus-Ex-ish would come from one of those. Now Ukraine will go into another fandom, but the places I saw in Serbia were so forsaken that they were ideal for a half-abandoned thought.

The funny thing is, this idea isn't new. I was torn last time between getting in deep about the crime that Francis was investigating, or this. Now I had no idea where I wanted to end up with it and gave up on it when the other path became clearer.

Title is taken from the Lacuna Coil song A Current Obsession. The chapter heading is from Cold Heritage.

I won't update every day, it seems I always write when the office is empty. But at least I'm not going to leave the country in the extremely near future, so there's improvement there.))


Chapter 1
Saving All My Words

He was submerged completely. His eyes closed, his breath held for a few heartbeats – longer than a normal human being would be comfortable with, nowhere near his limit. For one moment, an image assaulted him, and he was alone and cold and dying. But before he could react, a pair of hands, soft and gentle, pulled him upright and a body, settled between his spread legs, leaned over him, chest to chest, and the spectre vanished.

Adam opened his eyes. About an inch above him, Francis's face hovered, his mouth slightly open, his eyes soft and wide. A drop of water clung to the lashes of his left eye, reflecting the dim light in a million colours. 'Are you okay?'

He smiled and caught one of Francis's hands that was squeezing his shoulder. The hacker's hands were beautiful, long and slender and elegant – which was a good description for the man in general. Adam kissed his knuckles, painting a light blush on the pale cheeks. Still, after over half a year in which he'd touched him a lot more intimately than this, these small gestures would turn his cheeks red. Every single time. 'I'm good,' Adam said softly against his skin. For a long time, he hadn't even realised that he was … well, not afraid of water per se, because showering had never done anything but relax him, but lying in water. Apparently he wasn't as undamaged from his ordeal in the arctic as he had thought, and it had taken him a while to be able to relax in a bath. For some strange reason, swimming wasn't a problem, maybe because he'd expected it to be, waited for fear to take him the day he'd walked into one of Scotland's cold lakes to evade the scorching sun of an unusually hot July. But the combination of semi-darkness and water, no matter how warm, still threatened to freak him out. Francis's solution would have been to leave the light at full strength, but Adam wanted to get rid of his irrational terror, and that would only happen if he faced it. He was getting there, too, and the main reason for that was right above him.

Said reason, however, wasn't satisfied with his answer. 'You remembered. Panchaea. Didn't you?' As always, he made him face the problem.

'I'm all right, Francis. I didn't come up screaming.' Not anymore. They'd had that. Well, Adam hadn't exactly screamed, but he'd barely put his head underwater when he'd re-emerged, sputtering and close to panic. Francis, being the brilliant man he was, had understood immediately, pulled him to his feet and hugged him until he stopped shaking like a leaf. Adam had felt like an idiot, Francis had been reassuring and calm and had proven yet again that the day he'd first met him had been the luckiest in his life, even if he'd never have guessed that then.

Francis relented. That was probably because it was still very early and he wasn't a morning person. He settled against him, his head on Adam's chest. 'You're not alone, Jensen. You're safe.'

'I know.' He closed his eyes again, wrapped his arms around the other man, and sank a little lower into the water. It was cooling already, but still quite warm. 'I know.'

He was on the verge of drifting to a light sleep when Francis swore under his breath. 'Sorry, Adam. Infolink. What is it?' That last was a lot less friendly and directed to whoever had the gall to call on an early Sunday morning. His expression changed from annoyed to shocked. 'No! Don't do that. I'll come downstairs. Tell him to hold the line. It's not like he can't afford it.' He swallowed and looked at Adam. 'David wants to talk to me. He called the house and Fabian answered.'

'And wanted to put him through to your infolink?'

'Yes. Which would mean that David can reach me.'

'You think he wants something?'

'He always wants something, Jensen.' Francis sighed. He stood, water running down his body, hair plastered to his face and a little below his shoulders. Adam admired the sight he presented, watched the man get out of the tub, skin glistening. 'Let's see what it is this time.' Francis's eyes narrowed. 'I'm not going to do a single thing for him. Nothing. Nada.'

'Francis. Talk to him before you send him a virus.'

'Good idea. The virus part.' Regretfully, Adam watched Francis dry himself off and throw on his clothes. 'Come down after me, would you? I want you to take the phone from me and yell at him. That'll give him pause.'

Ϡ

Frank had relaxed by the time Adam came down. While David was trying to sound casual – he had sent a card, and Francis had forgotten to answer, so he said he wanted to know if everything was all right – he didn't buy that this was a social call. 'So, Frank, I was wondering. I mean, you seem to be doing fine, what with your own security system that's the new rage. I may even be interested in buying it.'

'You moved to Rabi'ah,' Frank pointed out. 'Isn't there a blissful lack of all sorts of crime, a haven of virtue and …'

'You know as well as I do that it doesn't work like that, Frank. And the thing is, even among the people in Rabi'ah, I'm a little … well.'

'They know you're a rich bastard who didn't have to sell his grandmother and her dog to be able to live there.' He grinned. 'You're welcome to buy the MANES, of course, but I have to see if you're allowed to use it. I didn't check the rules in Rabi'ah yet.'

'I thought you might need that information. I'll forward it to you. Can you meet me, say, the day after tomorrow?'

'Meet you? I'll just send the stuff over and I'll guide you through the installation. It's very easy and I have a contract with a parcel service, insurance for the transport won't cost you extra.'

'I'd prefer to do this in person, Frank. I'm inviting you to come. All expenses are on me, of course.'

Every single alarm bell in Frank's head was blaring. 'I don't know.'

'Or I come visit. I'll be in and out of your sister's house in no time at all.'

For some reason, that sounded infinitely worse. 'No. I'm coming over. Just … can I bring a plus one? He might like to get a glimpse of the place.'

'Sure, bring whoever you like. Frank … dare I ask … is this plus one a plus one as in a significant other?'

Frank smiled. This question was probably the first genuine David had said to him in this conversation. He'd seen him at his lowest, after jail and after a relationship that had been one drawn out nightmare. His performance had suffered and when David had asked about it, Frank's control had flown out of the window and he'd told him every blasted detail he'd sworn he'd bury in his soul forever. The subject of their talk had never made it out of Frank's office, but somehow he was sure it was one reason why David had been so tolerant of his attitude, his considerable talent aside. 'Precisely.' He laughed. 'You'll be pleasantly surprised, I think.'

'I'll need your …'

Frank pressed his knuckles against his forehead. 'I know. You need my infolink. Connection's on its way. See you in a few days.' He passed Fabian's phone back to its owner and clapped his hands together. 'Congratulations, Jensen. You've won a free trip to Rabi'ah. We're leaving in two days. Oh, the joy.'