Somewhere In Between
Heat pooled around him as he stood there in shock. With fear rising up his gut, he prayed that this was all just a part of a bad dream. A picture his mind conjured from a nightmare. It isn't real. It couldn't be. His fists were clenched tightly as he convinced himself to shut away the sight and prayed that when he opened his eyes, he would see his lavish and lively home again.
His eyes slid open and he felt himself die away as he watched his unanswered prayer. Sitting in front of him was an eyeful of ash and black flames. His home burnt down to the ground. The smell of roasting flesh filled his lungs, drowning him in the horrific stench. It suffocated him in a single blow, causing tears to roll down his cheeks.
An illusion of the past called out to him from the flames. Desperate to reach out and bring it all back, the Asian moved towards the flames.
A step forward and the rain fell; a storm of hot piercing metals. David pulled him back but it was too late a single raindrop hit him and he was bleeding. Pain shot through his veins, spiraling up his leg but it was nothing like the wrenching feeling of watching his childhood being ripped away from him.
The shrill sound of the past haunting him.
Wes shot up from his sleep, letting out a loud gasp as he struggled to catch his breath. Small pants filled the room as his eyes adjusted to the dark, taking in his surroundings and realizing where he was.
Once again, he had fallen asleep on the couch of his study. David must have come in and placed a blanket over him, just like every other night, because he doesn't remember having one with him before he fell asleep.
The source of the alarming sound that had startled him out of his slumber came from his laptop, alerting him that the search was complete. Wes reached over to the side-table and pulled the laptop onto his lap. The Asian clicked on the flashing notification and the alarm died away automatically. Wes prayed that the search had found some sort of result that he could use as a lead. Anxiously, he waited for the window to load.
Search complete. No matches found.
The words flashed and Wes couldn't help but feel the rush of disappointment rush through him. This had been going on for countless days and nights, weeks and months but he was determined not to lose hope. He was going to catch them. He swears of it.
Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he looked at the time. 'David should be on guard now.' He duly noted before sending his mind into a dive in a sea of detailed files of multiple organizations.
David walked down the tunnels warily, flashing the torchlight at the source of the tiniest sound. From a distance he saw the light shining from Wes' room. It wasn't a surprise; Wes always woke up at the most ungodly hour to start working and searching for answers. Then he'll fall asleep, David will come to tuck him in and the Asian will wake up again, and the cycle will start all over again.
The bodyguard has seen the brunet cry in his sleep too many times and it was an issue that worried him. The issue wasn't that Wes cried in his sleep but the fact that Wes refused to let it out while he was awake. David had tried to confront Wes about it but every time he asked, Wes would look at him incredulously as if he insulted the Asian, so he left it at that.
He sighed as he stopped beside the entrance to Wes' study and watched as the Asian let out a frustrated grunt, probably from an unsuccessful search… again. The Asian had dark rings under his eyes, the result from sleepless nights and hours of strenuous work. He just couldn't let it go and David knew that he won't stop searching until they found out who had caused the fires.
The fires…
The flames…
David leaned back against the wall outside of the study and closed his eyes as images and scenes flashed behind his eyelids.
He stood there in shock as he watched everything go down with flames. He had been warned and prepared for this kind of situation but preparing and hearing about it was different than actually experiencing it. It's always more dreadful, horrifying and… bloody than you imagine.
He broke out of his trance when he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes. He watched in horror as Wes stepped forward. Remembering the protocol, he reached out and grabbed the back of Wes' shirt to pull him back.
It all happened too fast.
Suddenly, blood gushed out the open wound, red dripping down Wes' leg.
The rain of bullets was still on going. He slipped his arms under Wes and lifted him up. With all the strength he had left, he carried him to the nearest entrance of the hideout Mr. Montgomery, Wes' father, told him to go if anything like this happened.
David glanced behind him to see if they were being followed. To his relief, there was no one trailing him…'Yet,' He though with a grim expression.
He felt a soft nudge on his shoulder and looked down to see Wes blinking slowly with a dazed expression.
"Stay awake, Wes!" David instructed in panic, placing Wes down and leaned him against the wall. He quickly took off his shirt and ripped it, tying it tightly around Wes' leg, above of the wound, to prevent any more blood loss.
David examined the wound. The bullet didn't seem to be anywhere near to the bone, more of a glancing blow, the metal lodged in the Asian's calf.
He slipped the remaining material between Wes' lips so he could bite on it. He took out a pocket knife from his back pocket. He then cut a line down Wes' leg.
"Aaaaaaghhh!"
The Asian reached out to grab David's arm, clawing at it desperately as pain shot through him like a million volts striking his wound.
David tried to ignore the painful yelps and piercing screams. He ignored the nails digging into his skin and continued to take the bullet out. The metal piece fell out onto the palm of his hand.
Hearing footsteps and having very little time to spare, David quickly slipped the bullet into his pocket and carried Wes through a small hole in the wall.
He placed the dazed Asian down. He found a pipe and hurriedly smashed the top part of the wall, so it crumbled to cover the entrance. They didn't have time to rest. They needed to get away and fast. Wrapping his arms around the Asian, he lifted the smaller. He lightly tapped the side of Wes' cheek and prayed that he was still alive.
The Asian opened his eyes blearily. "David, we need to…" He paused to wheeze and gulp back some air, "… We need to g-go back and… and save them."
The taller of the two stared at him for a while before ignoring the order Wes and following the orders of his father, walking away.
"David…" Wes called out as sternly as he could in his state. "David!"
"David!" A hushed voice called out.
The bodyguard felt himself being prodded in the leg. He shook the haunting scenes in his head and stared at his injured comrade, who had prodded his leg with a crutch. "You're supposed to be calling me 'K9'." David said with a relaxed grin.
Thad rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I can't sleep. Want to grab some coffee, K9?" He asked, emphasizing on the former's codename purposefully with a look that clearly asked if David was happy now.
"How does coffee help you fix your lack of sleep?" David asked, pushing himself off the wall and walking towards the make-shift kitchen.
"I don't want to sleep." Thad replied simply, following David slowly using his crutches.
David gave him an understanding nod. None of three wanted to sleep because as soon as their eyelids slide shut, they could see the flames, feel the heat, smell the ash of burnt flesh and hear their own agitated screams. So they always waited till they wore themselves out to the limit so their minds wouldn't conjure up the red past. "Are your legs getting better?"
The brunette looked down at his bandaged legs, narrowing his eyes at it like the action would make the aching feeling disappear. "It's getting better." He said plainly, eyes blank as he lost himself in the past like the others.
It was a normal day. A week-end to be precise and he had just gotten back home from a study-group session. He was just about to get himself some tea and call Wes to ask him where he had been for the past two weeks when all of a sudden he heard a hollow boom, like a loud blow from a strong gush of air. He walked out the back door to see what it was.
Then it happened; the dreaded moment; all at once.
The scorching heat surrounding and tearing through him, the burn from the cloud of ash in his lungs, the loud crack of the weight on his legs and the tortured screams ringing through his ears before everything went black.
He waited for the bittersweet punch of the mistakenly predicted afterlife.
"I'm sorry."
Thad noticed the mug of tea placed before him, on the counter, and David staring at him with regret and sincere empathy. "It wasn't your fault." He replied. "If it wasn't for you and Sable, I would have been a goner." He offered a small smile.
As blinding streams of light stung his eyes, the brunette wondered if he had moved on to the next life. Then, he heard a familiar voice talking to him.
"I'm so sorry, Thad. I should have called earlier and warned you… I tried, Thad. I tried. Please wake up, you're the last piece of home I have." The Asian pleaded. Something he has never heard Wes do.
Everything came back flooding in; all the weight, the burn… It hurt. The pain in his legs and lower back was nothing compared to the pain in his chest. "W-Where's my family, Montgomery?" He asked shakily. Even though he knew the answer, he couldn't help but hope that it was just a nightmare, that both of them did not just lose everything that they had, that everything his father had warned him about did not just happened.
Wes jumped a bit when Thad spoke, then he realized what the other was asking for and decided not to answer him. They both knew the answers, as much as they hated it and refused to believe it.
The shorter knew that the Asian wasn't going to answer so he kept quiet as well, both of them drowning in tensed silence. Thad moved to sit up and gasped as a shock of pain raced through his lower back, making him fall back down onto the makeshift bed.
"Careful! Your legs and back are hurt! Lie back down." Wes warned, tugging the pillow under Thad's head.
"Ho-how did it-they…?" He couldn't finish, the lack of air getting to him.
The Asian took a deep breath and started explaining in a clipped tone, how they had gotten him here, how the fire had caused severe injury to his lower-half… and how the opposing organization was going to pay for all the damage that they caused.