Part 2

It was actually a little past mid-day when the two young men woke, both still dressed in sweats and t-shirts that had been given to them at the police department as their own clothing had been taken away as evidence. They made their way out of the room to see who else was about, Carlos was complaining that he was hungry and that made James smile. At least the Latino was getting back to normal. They headed up the passageway in the direction that James thought he remembered the kitchen being in and soon found themselves in a small communal room with a refridgerator and a cooker and various cupboards. There was bread and boxes of cereals on a counter but they did not feel right just helping themselves so they went back out and went to see if there was anyone around. It felt so strange to just walk around with no one 'keeping an eye on them' or, for James, hanging onto his chain.

But there was no chain now. And no more collars. James subconsciously ran his fingers over the back of his neck, marveling at the feel of soft skin instead of hard leather and metal strips. They had almost made it to the top of the stairs when they heard feminine voices and the click of heels coming up the stairs and both stopped dead as if they were in trouble. But it was only Kelly, dashing up the stairs loaded up with shopping bags and still calling down to one of the hostesses who was on the door greeting the guests. She smiled wide as she saw the two boys watching her with a little fear in their eyes.

"Ahh! Good! You're awake. How are you feeling this ..." She paused and looked at her watch and chuckled. "Afternoon?"

James smiled a sad little smile and glanced across at his companion,shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweats.

"I think we're OK. Carlos is hungry. " He grinned at her and looked across at the other boy again and saw a blush flash over his golden skin.

"Carlos is always hungry!" He informed her.

"He wasn't last night." She reminded them and the smile left James' lips again.

"Last night was different. We were frightened and confused."

Carlos nodded in agreement.

"Do you know how Byron is?" James asked.

"The police have already been here, but I said you needed your sleep after what happened yesterday. I will phone them in a while, now you are awake. They said they will take you to see him. He is out of surgery and recovering. They want to speak to him and he has been asking after you two."

"He's going to be alright? "

"They think so. " She held one of the shopping bags out to James and one to Carlos.

"I hope these fit. While you were sleeping I ran to the stores and bought you some clothes. The cops said they will take you back to the club so you can pick up any stuff that you need. Now. Let's go feed you boys then you can shower and get changed. Yeah?"

Carlos was looking in the bag that she had given him, but raised his head again when she mentioned food, nodding enthusiastically. Kelly slipped past them to lead them back to the kitchen.

After a late breakfast of sausage and eggs the two boys made their way back to the bedroom while Kelly phoned the police to let them know that the two boys were awake. Not knowing what kind of clothes the boys liked she had just bought them blue jeans and a couple of t-shirts each, one black and one white. She'd guessed at sizes and James' shirt was a little snug but it showed off his body amazingly well. When they left the room again the show downstairs was well underway and the sound of the music carried up the stairs as they headed back down the hall, looking for Kelly again.

She was in Gustavo's office at the end of the hall with the manager and a tall, English man with a very camp, lispy voice wearing a sparkly black suit and shiny shoes. He was clearly not very happy about something and when he saw the boys through the open door he stood from his chair and flounced out and headed downstairs while grumbling very loudly about something that the boys didn't quite catch. Gustavo called them into the office and got up from his seat to open the blind so that he could see down into the club below.

The lunchtime trade was for music and dancers in sexy costumes with a little light lunch and drinks. The ladies wore a little more than they did in the evening and the jokes from the MC were not so risque. As the dancers finished their routine the MC took to the stage, it was the man who had just left the office. James had come to stand next to Gustavo and watch what was going on below with interested eyes. For a few moments the large man just stood watching as the boy studied what was going on down on the stage.

"What do ya think of the dancers?" He asked James when the next group of girls were well into their performance.

James was suprised that he asked his opinion but smiled and nodded.

"Good." Was his one word answer.

"What about if we put some boys into the mix?" Kelly was watching him intently and Carlos had moved over to watch too.

"Yeah. That could work." James smiled as he returned to watching the performance intently.

He remembered doing this when he was younger, he used to sit in Gustavo's big, padded, swirly chair and watch while his mom and Kelly and the other dancers performed for the lunch-time audience. By the time they returned for the evening show he would be fast asleep in his bed, dreaming sweet dreams with no idea of the pain and horror that was to come into his perfect life.

Gustavo had taken off his trade mark shades and was fiddling distractedly with them

"Would you like to work here?" He finally asked, then turned and looked at the Latino too.

"Both of you, I mean. If. If you want to, of course."

James' heart leapt and he turned quickly before Gustavo had a chance to react and wrapped his arms tightly around the man in a bone-crushing hug. He never answered with words, but his actions had more eloquence than any spoken reply. The big man hesitated briefly before returning the hug, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall as the realization that they had got 'their' boy back hit him.

Before they had time to think about anything else there was a discreet knock on the open door behind them. A pretty blonde woman had shown the two police officers up to Gustavo's office and the manager broke away from the young man's embrace quickly to greet them. There was a tall red-haired guy with shades who introduced himself as Detective O'Riorden and Detective Jones who had been in charge of the operation at the club the day before. She was a hard woman, good at her job, but she smiled warmly at the two young men in their matching jeans and t-shirts.

"Afternoon, boys. Are you ready to talk some more?" She asked.

"I thought we were going to see Byron?" Carlos looked a little concerned.

"We can talk while we're at the hospital. They don't need an adult, do they?" She asked Kelly as the woman fussed over James' t-shirt that had rumpled up as he hugged Gustavo. She shook her head.

" I think they are both legally adults. " They had established that the day before during the group interviews at the police precinct.

"Yeah. But do you want to come with us? In case we find out anything you need to know?"

Kelly thought about it, but maybe they needed to speak alone. She didn't really know much about what had happened in the club and she wasn't entirely sure that she was ready to know. She had noticed when they had put them to bed the night before that Carlos had winced slightly as he had adjusted his position on the mattress and she was both curious and fearful of what kind of injuries might lay beneath his clothing.

"No. I'll see you boys later." As James stepped up to follow the police officers out she reached up to place a soft kiss on his cheek. She barely knew Carlos, but she felt that he was her responsibility too now so she grabbed him in a brief hug as he passed her. She didn't want him to feel like he was just a nobody and James was everything. He surprised her by returning it warmly with a cheeky grin and a soft 'thank you'.

The long hospital corridor they walked along was painted white with harsh strip lighting above them and an unpleasant 'clinical' smell in the air. Both boys had been quiet in the car that had driven them here and still neither spoke as they followed behind the two officers. James glanced over at Carlos and seeing his nervous expression he reached across and took his hand. It still felt alien to be able to do such a simple thing as hold his friends hand after so many years of being forbidden virtually all physical contact.

Detective Jones stopped at a door and prepared to enter the glanced quickly about and then cursed under her breath when a loud shout rang out.

"Hey!" A middle-aged woman with her hair pulled back in a severe bun and wearing a nurse's uniform was rushing towards them with an angry look on her face.

"What did I tell you two yesterday?" Jones turned to meet the woman and smiled, trying to placate her.

"We need to speak to him."

"And I told you that he is not ready to talk yet. When he tells me he is I will call you." She started to shoo them back.

Carlos was upset and whispered to James as they too began to back up the corridor, back towards where they had come from.

"Aren't we going to see Byron?" He looked back towards the door where their friend presumably was and almost looked ready to try making a run towards the door. James gripped his hand a little tighter.

The nurse only seemed to notice the two young men when Carlos spoke and she paused in her action when she did.

"One minute. " She moved towards them and then gave a soft smile. "You boys wouldn't happen to be James and Carlos would you?" She asked. James nodded and Carlos looked up at him, then the nurse and muttered a quiet 'yep'.

She smiled and beckoned them towards her, turning back towards the room she had been shooing them away from. When the cops began to follow her she stopped again.

"No, no. You two can sit over there and wait. Only these two are going in. "

Jones let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes,crossing her arms over her chest, but she did as she was told and pulled O'Riorden down into a chair next to her.

The nurse led the two of them into the room. It was all white and the dark blue blind was pulled shut over the window with just a single light illuminating the room. Byron lay in the bed, his broken leg was strapped up and suspended slightly, he was heavily bandaged around his hips and he was still connected to a couple of monitors that beeped steadily. He had a drip feeding him pain-killers and he was asleep, though not peacefully. As they stood just inside the door he began to thrash and cry out as another nightmare raced through his mind.

The nurse rushed over to the bed and tried to calm him as he began to call out for someone to help him. Help him save James and Carlos. In his tortured mind he didn't know whether they were safe. He had seen Logan kill Griffin and his lover but his mind didn't seem to have processed it properly, the fear and the pain making everything that had happened in the last day or so become muddled in his head.

"Byron! Byron! Shh! It's alright. Wake up, sweetie." She gave him a gentle shake and he quietened and then his eyes began to flicker open. He stared at the ceiling and then turned to look at the nurse.

"Was I dreaming again?" She stroked his arm and smiled at him.

"Yes, my dear. But it's alright. You have visitors!"

She stepped back and beckoned the two young men forward, not really completely sure what their reaction would be. Carlos dashed forward immediately, edging the nurse out of the way and throwing his arms around the man on the bed, bursting into tears as he did. It seamed to take Byron a moment to realise that he was not dreaming, he stared down at the spiky black hair as Carlos snuggled his head against his chest, his warm tears wetting the hospital gown that he wore.

James was a little overcome and quite upset to see his father-figure like this. He face was pale with not a trace of the make-up that he usually wore and his normally spiked hair was limp and lank. He made his way around to the opposite side of the bed to his friend and gently placed his hand on Byron's chest close to Carlos' cheek. Byron flipped his gaze to the other boy as he felt his touch a choked cry leaving his lips but a smile appearing too.

"James! Carlos! You're safe!" He wrapped an arm around each and clutched them close beginning to sob loudly as his chest heaved and his eyes closed again.