I promised you that I would write this so you weren't fic-ing your own fic.
Waters/Xander
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"foreknowledge is a horrible thing"
It's only after Michael secures the last suspected Death Eater that he turns toward his partner. His partner wobbles on his feet before losing his balance. Michael's quick reflexes allow him to catch the dark haired man. "Xander?" he asks as the other man's eyes close. "Open your eyes," he says, his desperation leaking through his façade. But Xander doesn't.
He pulls Xander closer, trying to find the source of the bleeding. He finds several cuts across Xander's pale chest and arms. He pulls out his wand and tries to heal them to the best of his ability, but the wounds just won't close. "Damn it," he growls. "Where are the reinforcements?" His question doesn't get answered. He knew it wouldn't.
He can feel the warmth draining from Xander's body, and he knows there's not much he can do. The cuts are laced with dark magic that he hasn't encountered before. He doesn't know how to heal it and he can't take Xander to St. Mungo's because he can't leave the prisoners by themselves.
The only thing he can do is watch as the life seeps out of Xander at a steady pace. The conjured bandages are soaked in blood and he can't change them for fear that the bleeding will pick up. He resorts to stroking Xander's brown curls. He's angry. He can't save him, and he knows it.
"Damn it," he curses again. "Why did you jump in front of that curse?" he questions. He keeps his tone carefully in check.
"Because your shield failed and you didn't see him," Xander replies, slightly frightening Michael. As he talks, blood gathers in his mouth. His face twists in pain. Michael's hand moves from stroking his hair, to tracing his cheek lightly.
"Don't speak."
But Michael's order goes unnoticed. "And I couldn't let that happen." They both know what Xander is referring to: I couldn't let you die. Xander coughs up blood, and grimaces. "I love –,"
"Don't you dare," Michael cuts him off, his voice low and rough. "We're not doing that because you're not going to die." He puts as much emphasize on last five words as he can. He refuses to lose Xander. Xander is the other half of him; he completes him, not only in the field but in everyday life.
Through the pain evident on Xander's face – because Michael could never completely teach Xander to disguise his emotions – he sees a trace of a smile and a laugh. He knows that if Xander could laugh without pain, that he would. "I thought I was supposed to be the sentimental one," he teases, several pauses throughout as he speaks through the blood and pain.
Despite himself, Michael laughs. But his laugh fades quickly as Xander coughs up more blood. He feels helpless because there's nothing he can do to ease Xander's pain. He watches as Xander's breaths become shallower and more labored. Before long, his breathing stops altogether.
"Xander!" he cries out in frustration. "Come on, breathe! Damn it, breathe!" He tries spells to force the blood out of Xander's throat and lungs and even Muggle CPR, but it isn't enough to get him to start breathing again.
He presses a kiss against Xander's slightly cold lips. He murmurs, "I love you too, Xander," in his ear before he moves Xander's head out of his lap.
A few minutes later, he hears the sounds of six pops. He gets to his feet. "Where were you?" he shouts, but he knows that it won't bring Xander back. The six Aurors look at him, but he just Apparates away to the safety of their shared flat. He's assaulted with the smell of Xander and the dam breaks.
A/n – thanks to my rockstar wife, Paula, for beta-ing this even though she had no idea what was going on.
