Disclamer: We don't own anything :) Just our idea

AN: This is still co-written with TheWeddingFairy and she is still our beta.
We hope that you'll like it

"Fuck!" Alex muttered as the pain rushed through him.

Yassen looked back at the man that had shot Alex and was just about to aim at him when he jumped out the window. He was just about to run after him when he heard Alex drop to the floor. Yassen put his gun away and turned around. Alex clutched his shoulder, but blood leaked between his fingers. The boy was pale and in agony.

Yassen dropped to his knees beside Alex.

"Let me see." He gently pushed away Alex's hand and saw the wound. "It's a through and through, that's good."

"Doesn't feel like that," Alex mumbled between his teeth.

Sweat was breaking out on his skin, and Yassen knew he had to put some form of pressure on the wound. He hurried over to the cupboard, pulling out a random shirt and tied it tightly around his upper arm.

"Ow! Fuck - that hurt!" Alex yelled, pulling away from Yassen's touch.

"I'm sorry," he said gently. "But I needed to stem the blood flow."

"That was my favourite shirt." Alex said; a faint smile on his pale face.

"And now it will save your life," Yassen said with a smirk. "We have to move now. This place has been compromised."

Alex just nodded. Yassen grabbed Alex's other arm and helped the boy up. Alex stumbled but Yassen was there to hold him steady as they walked to his car.

"Where're we going?" Alex wondered.

"To a safe house a few miles from here. There I can tend to you properly."

He led Alex to his car, parked nearby, ordering the boy to lie back and relax.

He himself did not relax; driving furiously until they seemed to be in the middle of no-where.

"Where are we?" Alex croaked.

"Some place safe. Come on, we need to walk from here."

Alex groaned and tried to get out of the car, almost falling over. Yassen noted with dismay that the boy looked extremely pale, and held out his hands to Alex, pulling him gently. He stumbled, slumping forward against Yassen. The older man stooped and picked Alex up, ignoring his weak protests.

"I'm not a child," Alex mumbled and did his best to get out of Yassen's grip. "I can walk by myself."

"Alex..." Yassen warned.

"Put me down."

When Yassen didn't do what he wanted him to, Alex mustered all of his strength and punched him in the shoulder. Yassen bit back a curse as he realised that Alex had passed out in his arms - his last action had drained him of all of the strength he had left.

Yassen sighed and carefully carried the young boy in his arms into the cottage, gently setting him on the bed. He went to the bathroom and fetched a First Aid kit, tending to Alex's wound as best he could whilst the boy was unconscious. He sat on the bed beside the boy, sighing.

He had cleaned the wound as efficiently as he could, but he wasn't sure if that would be enough. He knew that they couldn't stay here for too long. Since the shooter at the hotel had escaped he could have seen the car. And in that case he could have followed them. They had to leave the country.

But at that moment Yassen couldn't think how they would manage to do that. Alex was still unconscious and he didn't know how long it would take for the boy to wake up again. He sighed. This was not what he'd wanted for the boy. He smoothed back the Alex's hair from his forehead. And Yassen couldn't help but smile. This had to be the closest he'd been to anyone for so long. It was almost like he'd forgotten about how nice it was to feel another person beneath his fingers, when he had only caring and gentle motives. Yassen allowed himself to indulge in another few moments of the tender feeling, before trying to rouse Alex.

"Alex? Wake up..."

The boy smiled as he felt Yassen's careful touch, ignoring how much pain he was in. He groaned as Yassen jostled his injured arm, but moved closer to the man, allowing him to think that he was still sleeping.

Yassen continued to carefully stroke Alex's unharmed shoulder and whisper his name. A part of him wanted to let the older man know that he was awake and okay. But the other part of him wanted to let Yassen continue - he liked to hear the older man being so kind and affectionate. So he lay still, pretending to sleep until he could make up his mind if he should move or not.

Yassen pressed a brief kiss to Alex's lips, and Alex didn't move, deciding to keep his pretence up. He stifled a pained groan as Yassen's hand grazed his bullet wound. The man moved his mouth tantalisingly close to Alex's, and whispered, his lips grazing the boy's.

"I know you're awake, little Alex."

Alex groaned, cursing himself mentally for being so stupid as to think that Yassen wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Alex opened his eyes and looked into Yassen's. Without saying a word he pressed his lips against Yassen's once more and kissed him enthusiastically. But Yassen pulled back and left him wanting more.

The man's hands moved over to unbutton Alex's shirt. Alex pulled back, suddenly scared. Things were moving too fast, they couldn't –

"Relax, little Alex." Yassen said gently as he saw the boy's panic. "It's okay, I'm just going to dress your bullet wound. I thought I would wait until you were awake before taking your clothes off." he teased.

Alex nodded his consent, letting the older man strip him of his top. He leaned back as Yassen's hand began to gently move around the wound. The gentle touches made Alex shudder, but he did his best to repress them. He didn't want to admit it, least of all to himself, but he wanted more. He liked to feel Yassen's hands on his body, but those feathery touches were driving him insane. But he knew that this wasn't the time to think like that. They were being chased, someone was after him and he wanted to know who. He wanted to ask Yassen about the matter. But he had a feeling that even if the man did know who it was, he wouldn't tell Alex.

Alex sank back into the pillows, still feeling faint.

"Are you okay?" Yassen asked, and he almost smiled at the concern in the man's voice.

"I'm fine. Just really sore and tired, I guess."

Yassen gazed at him, appraising him. He didn't want to move Alex when he was so weak, but he didn't have any choice - for all he knew, those men could easily know about the cottage they were in at the moment. Yassen kept cleaning the wound in silence; which didn't help to ease Alex's mind. It made him all the more aware of the fact that he was laying half-naked on the bed and Yassen's warm hands were touching him. He could tell that Yassen was very focused on the injury, and he wondered what was going on in the man's mind.

Suddenly Yassen grabbed hold of his hips and pulled him to sit on his lap - with his back to Yassen's chest. He couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable in the position, so when Yassen's hand made contact with his skin he almost jumped and tried to move out of reach.

Yassen sighed. "Alex, I need to treat your wound. If I have immediate access to it, there is less chance I will nudge your arm and cause you unnecessary pain."

Alex didn't really trust himself to speak, so he just shook his head. He would rather be in pain than let Yassen know exactly how he felt. Yassen lifted Alex's chin and forced him to look at him.

"What is the matter with you?"

Alex swallowed hard and didn't know how to respond. Suddenly he was ashamed of his feelings. He moved away from Yassen, averting his eyes.

"Where's the bathroom?" He needed to escape Yassen's calculating gaze; the confusion and the pain were making him delirious and unsure of what he really wanted.

Yassen looked after him and was even more confused. He didn't understand Alex's behaviour. His frown deepened as he noticed Alex's shoulders were shaking. He allowed Alex five minutes, and then followed him, knocking tentatively on the door.

"Alex?"

At first Alex didn't respond. He looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and wondered what he should do next. He couldn't continue this dance, but since Yassen seemed to be unaffected by his presence, he thought that he was the only one that actually felt something. He ignored the throbbing in his arm and sat on the floor, pressing his bare flesh to the wall.

Yassen contemplated breaking down the door; after all, Alex could have fainted. But he knew that was not the problem. He sat on the bed, heaving a sigh. He thought he understood how Alex was feeling, because he had the same feelings himself. He wanted nothing more than to touch Alex in every way possible; he wanted to do so much to the boy. But he had to restrain himself because he knew that no matter what Alex said, he was still just a boy; a boy that had grown up way too fast. But still, he was unsure. What if he was just making assumptions? What if Alex had just kissed him because he was scared of the assassin? The thoughts made him uneasy. He knew that his feelings were true; they had been since the first time he had laid eyes on Alex. But it wasn't until now that he had actually dared to do anything about it. He knew it was wrong in many ways, but right now he didn't care. All he cared about was if Alex felt the same way or not. He didn't want Alex to do anything that he might regret later.

He sighed again and started packing some clothes. They needed to leave soon, regardless of his feelings. He knocked on the door lightly again.

"Alex, are you okay?"

Inside the bathroom Alex looked up at the door. He knew that he'd been crying, but he wasn't embarrassed. He couldn't believe that he had been reduced to tears over something so ridiculous, but he didn't care. So he got up from the floor and looked at himself in the mirror again. He looked like shit.

"Yes," he told Yassen and he could hear his voice tremble a bit. He just hoped that Yassen didn't hear it.

Yassen raised an eyebrow - he could hear the pain in Alex's voice, but was unsure of what the cause was.

"Are you coming out? We need to leave soon."

When Alex was silent, he sighed once more.

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

Alex let out a desperate laugh. 'I'll be in the kitchen if you need me.' Of course he needed Yassen, in more ways than one. That's why he had locked himself in the bathroom to begin with. He inspected his arm, hissing as his fingers slipped and jab it harshly.

"Shit!"

He heard yet another knock and almost smiled. Yassen hadn't left.

"Alex? What is wrong?"

"Nothing" he said and hoped that he sounded convincing. "I just accidentally jarred my arm."

Then he could almost hear how Yassen wanted to say something, but it stayed quiet.

"Okay" Yassen said wearily. "Like I said - if you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen."

Alex heard the shuffle of feet moving away from the door and sighed in relief. He knew that before he would be able to face Yassen again, he had to blow off some steam. He just didn't like the fact that he'd locked himself in a small bathroom, in a fairly unpleasant cottage in the middle of no-where. He sat still, enjoying the numbing sensation that the cold was having on his sore arm. Alex groaned - how was he supposed to journey to some unknown place with Yassen? He wasn't even sure what the other man felt for him. He knew Yassen had kissed him, but could he be messing with him? He knew that some men were like that. Just for the fun of it they toyed with other people's emotions. A part of him thought that Yassen may be doing just that. But a small part of him said that Yassen wasn't one to show emotions, so if he did something, then he meant it.

Alex raised himself from the ground and cleaned his face with some warm water, relishing the feeling. He unlocked the door, wincing as his arm shrieked in protest. He entered the kitchen, smiling falsely as Yassen looked up.

"You okay?" Yassen asked as he saw that Alex's face wet, and the fact that he could see pain in Alex's eyes.

"Yeah," Alex answered and nodded, quickly looking away. He couldn't shake the feeling that Yassen could see right through him.

Yassen studied him for a moment further, and then gently led Alex to a chair.

"Sit, I need to bandage your arm."

He crouched in front of Alex, careful to maintain some distance from the boy. The distance was something that Alex was glad about, but it still hurt him; mostly because he thought that he might be right in the assumption that Yassen was only toying with him. He groaned when Yassen once more brushed over his injury, but he didn't pull away. Yassen looked up in concern.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

Alex shook his head. "Go on."

He released a shaky breath as Yassen's warm hands brushed lightly across his naked skin. No matter how much he mistrusted Yassen at the moment, he couldn't help but react to his touch.

Yassen sensed the reaction, though he misunderstood it and took it as a sign of fear. He swallowed hard, but he understood. The only problem was that he couldn't help but react to the feel of Alex's naked skin beneath his fingers. He craved more, but didn't want to just take it. He tidied up the bandage and withdrew, feeling slightly saddened.

"There's a change of clothes in the bedroom. I'll collect some essentials," he said quietly.

Alex managed to repress the moan of loss when Yassen pulled away, but he did feel cold. Only seconds had passed and he already missed the man's touch. And the way he had said those words created a tight knot in Alex's stomach. He could have sworn there were emotions in them, but he couldn't identify them.

"Okay," Alex said, equally quiet.

Yassen watched him leave with a frown. He was extremely confused - Alex was giving off mixed signals. He decided that perhaps the best way to find out how Alex was feeling was to just ask him when he returned.

Alex walked back to the bedroom and he could feel Yassen's eyes on his back. But when he turned around, Yassen had left the room. Alex sighed. He didn't know what to think or how to feel, because he didn't understand what Yassen wanted from him. Yassen was the one who kissed him; then he ran away; then he kissed him again; and now he pulled away every time they got close to touching. He rifled through the cupboard, picking out a blue shirt. He could see just by looking at it that was going to be overly big. But he didn't care because it was Yassen's. He picked it up and he could smell the scent of Yassen still lingering in the fabric. He put it on and cursed when he moved his arm too much. He wondered where they were going, and he couldn't help but wonder if it is such a good idea to go with the Russian.

Yassen walked past the room and smiled as he saw Alex in his clothes. He looked so cute... was he sniffing his jumper? He smirked and entered the room. He entered without a sound and just watched Alex from behind as he got dressed. He smiled as he realised that Alex was too consumed with his own thoughts to notice that Yassen was back. Alex sighed wistfully and glanced at the mirror, freezing as he realised that Yassen was watching him.

"Um… how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Yassen said with a smile. "You like my shirt?"

Alex could hear the amused tone in his voice and blushed.

"Sure...it's a nice colour, I guess."

Yassen's smile faltered slightly as he noticed Alex's embarrassment. He weighed up his options and realised that because he had to take Alex with him out of the country, he had to understand Alex's reactions. So he let out a small sigh and stepped closer.

"What's wrong with you, Alex?" he said with a concerned voice.

"What do you mean?" Alex said nervously, once again avoiding Yassen's piercing gaze.

"I mean, ever since we kissed you've been acting strange. What is troubling you?"

"I've been acting strange?" Alex said and it came out a bit harsher than intended. "What about you? Every time you get close enough to touch me you keep your distance and pull away."

Alex knew that he probably sounded like an over-emotional girl, but at the moment he didn't care.

"I..." Yassen suddenly felt guilty. He knew he was being cold and distant, but he needed to be to survive. "I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt that way."

"Well...I do," Alex mumbled and looked away.

He didn't want to meet Yassen's eyes - it was enough to hear the guilt in his voice. Alex didn't need to see it too. Yassen stood in silence unsure of what to say.

"Alex... I - I care about you, but I didn't want to pressure you. I don't know what you want."

"I want you," Alex said but turned his back against Yassen because he had a feeling he was going to break down if he faced the man.

"Alex..." Yassen started, placing a hand on his arm.

"Don't. I don't want to hear about how I am only a child and I have no idea what I want, or that you can't because it's too dangerous... Save it." he said bitterly, shrugging away Yassen's touch.

Yassen sighed. Alex wasn't making it easy for him.

"I wasn't going to say that," he said and tried to put his hand on Alex shoulder again.

"It's not what it sounded like. I don't care if I'm too young, or if you're dangerous. I want you, and I thought you wanted me too. Obviously I was wrong." Alex said sadly.

Yassen growled in frustration, pulling Alex closer to him.

"I do want you," Yassen said and kissed Alex.

He tried to show all of his emotions in that one action; trying to make Alex understand that he's not the only one frustrated with the situation. Alex kissed back ferociously, clinging to Yassen desperately. He gasped as the older man bit his lip and opened his mouth in surprise, groaning when a warm tongue battled with his own. Yassen pulled him closer, wanting to feel as much of Alex as possible. He was almost surprised by Alex's own reaction, but it felt like heaven to him. It had been so long since he had held another person so close, so long since he'd tasted another man and God, did he love it.

Alex tangled his hands in Yassen's short hair, moaning as Yassen pressed him against the wall, still mindful of his injured arm. He pulled back, breathless, and grinned at Yassen.

"Much better - I'm not confused anymore."

Yassen merely smirked and kissed down his neck, biting and sucking on a particularly sensitive spot on his collar bone. Alex moaned in pleasure at the assault. He couldn't believe that it was actually Yassen that was doing this to him. And he wanted more. With his hands in Yassen's hair he tried to push him further down. He could feel Yassen's smirk but he didn't care, he wanted more.

Yassen tutted. "Have patience, Alex. You do remember that you are injured and we are being followed, yes?"

Alex growled and bucked his hips.

"I don't particularly care, Yassen."

"Distractions can be dangerous," Yassen said but he didn't stop.

Instead he let his lips move lower, painfully slow. The though of him being an evil bastard crossed Alex's mind as he tried his hardest not to lose control.

"Then let's live dangerously" Alex groaned, dragging Yassen impossibly closer and crushing their lips together in a frantic kiss.

Yassen smiled patiently, responding to Alex's pleas, but pulled back after a moment.

"We can't risk staying here any longer, Alex. Those men are likely to know about this house, we need to move."

"I hate you," Alex growled.

He didn't know how it happened, but somehow he got the strength to turn them both around. Seconds later he was the one that had Yassen pinned to the wall, and he was determined to show no mercy.

"Really?" Yassen smirked and fell to his knees, looking up at Alex.

He put his hands on Alex's hips and played with the button on his jeans, grinning when Alex groaned. The sound of the front door bursting open had Yassen on his feet instantly; grabbing the bag he'd left on the floor.

"They're here. Quick - out the window!"

Alex eyed said object sceptically, seriously doubting they would fit. But he didn't have time to argue. The unmistakeable sound of a gun getting ready for fire echoed through his mind seconds before the first shot came. He threw himself towards the window. The glass shattered around him as he fell to the grass. He looked up just in time to see Yassen come out after him.

"Are you okay?" Yassen asked, concerned, as he helped Alex to his feet quickly.

They didn't have long - the men would soon realise the house was empty, and would follow them. He had to get them to the car he had parked nearby; then they would be able to escape and he could get Alex to a safe place. Alex made a quick check in his mind before he nodded.

"Yeah," he said and got up. The pain in his arm was still there, but the adrenaline in his body chased away the pain.

"Where to?" He looked around but couldn't see anywhere to hide.

"There's a garage on the other side of that river - I've got a car waiting there." Yassen grabbed Alex's hand, pulling him towards the forest.

They broke into a run as they heard enraged shouts emitting from the house, knowing that they only had a few minutes at most. They ran through the grass. Alex took a quick glance at Yassen and could see the concentration in every feature. He knew what the other man was thinking, because he was thinking the same thing: this was the worst place ever to be chased at. They had no-where to hide. If the men in the cottage looked out the window they would see an easy target. Alex hoped that they would reach the river in time. Yassen grasped his hand tighter, pulling him along even faster. His arm ached, his head throbbed and his breath was escaping him in short gasps. But he knew he couldn't afford to stumble; if he faltered or stumbled, he would die.

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