Dangerous


"What are we hunting?" Sirius asked as he glanced up at tall trees, blue sky peeking through the towering canopy every few steps.

"Fish."

Sirius frowned, his attention shifting back down. "Fish?" he asked, relieved but suspicious too. "You mean, fish—like, normal fish? Or do you mean scary fish that could eat my entire leg in one bite?"

"I mean fish, Sirius," Remus said shortly, and Sirius scowled at his back. Remus had been unpleasant ever since they'd left camp together, and the tall black-haired guy was starting to get tired of it. He watched Remus stop for a second, turn his head to the right, blink once... then again. Then he simply began walking again.

Sirius looked over at the patch of nondescript trees that had caught the guy's attention for whatever reason.

"Keep up."

Sirius started walking again. "What'd you hear...?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Nothing. Try not to talk so much."

Grey eyes narrowed, but Sirius followed more quietly, trying to listen for noises in the woods in his silence. He wasn't sure what sounds in specific would be concerning, but maybe it was one of those things you just knew when it happened.

Remus stopped again. He crouched down quickly and placed an open hand to the ground. "There is something trailing us, stay close."

Sirius glanced over his shoulder, nothing out of the ordinary. He nodded tensely. "Should I be concerned?"

"If you value your life," was Remus's curt response. Then he stood abruptly and continued through the forest. "Your scent draws a lot of attention."

Sirius blinked at that. "Ah," he said, not sure how else to respond. He dipped his chin and gave his bare shoulder an experimental sniff. "Yours doesn't?" he asked with a frown.

"No."

Sirius exhaled heavily through his nostrils but didn't say anything. He was starting to wish he'd just stayed at camp, because the deeper they got in the woods, the more he realized what a stupid idea he'd had. He didn't know how to hunt, and Remus didn't seem like the best teacher. Not to mention all he had was his pocket knife. He glanced at Remus again. "Where's your weapon—"

Remus stopped him cold with a hand in the air. The blond said nothing, just continued on, and Sirius felt torn between a deep anxiety and a growing agitation. He clenched his jaw when he felt the urge to ask him why they were being so quiet. Then he heard a concerning rustling.

Remus froze, and Sirius did the same. The blond turned carefully to face him, and he shook his head over so subtly. Sirius didn't know what that meant so he just grimaced and didn't move. Shit. "I'm going to throw you up to that limb, grab it and don't fall," Remus said, flicking his eyes over to said limb without moving his head.

Sirius looked up at the thick branch at least ten feet out of reach. "Okay," he croaked, the word barely out of his mouth when Remus reached out, grabbed him, and Sirius felt himself flying through the air. He grunted a split-second later as he grabbed onto the branch, which wasn't hard because Remus had thrown him right at it, his chest hitting it squarely. It had been painful though. He struggled to breathe as he shifted to lie completely on top of it, the width of the branch almost half the length of his torso. Then he swore softly as he looked down.

Remus was standing with his hands up in the air, reminding Sirius of someone when they were showing they didn't want to fight. Except... there wasn't a human down there with him, it was an enraged raptor. The dinosaur screamed angrily, but didn't charge the blond leader. Keeping its distance it shifted bird-like eyes up at Sirius and screamed again, the sound more shrill.

And then things got strange.

Remus growled in response, and the dinosaur took a step back, the talons on its lethal clawed feet flexing. It looked up at Sirius again, its head cocking slowly to one side like it was thinking about something, and Sirius didn't know if he was more worried for himself or Remus at that moment. In a sudden flash of movement the dinosaur charged towards the trunk of Sirius's tree, and Remus lunged at the deadly creature.


Sirius exhaled unsteadily, his legs trembling beneath him as they threatened to give out. He didn't remember climbing down. He looked up. The trees around him were spinning, no, maybe that was his head. "Shit. Shit. Shit..."

"Sirius, are you—"

"Holy fucking shit, Remus?" Sirius half-shouted, half-laughed, confused and wiping at the blood spatter covering one side of his face with his bare forearm and only making it so much worse. He would have never guessed blood could shoot that far. "How did you do that?"

Remus sighed, blood covering his chin and neck, but it was nothing compared to the forming puddle of crimson liquid at his and Sirius's feet. The raptor that was a lot like the one that had tried to hunt Sirius before, maybe a few feet smaller, had a chunk of its throat missing. Remus had stopped it just in time. Sirius felt his lungs begin to quiver.

"We should go, this will attract other predators."

Other? Sirius choked on what might have been another laugh. He just stared at Remus in total disbelief. "Is this how you usually hunt when I'm not around?" he asked, motioning wildly at the dead creature. "Is this why you didn't want me to go out today?" His voice was rising in pitch. "Huh, Remus?"

"We need to move on now," Remus said more firmly, and then, "I can carry you if needed."

Sirius let his head fall back and blinked hard, holding his eyes closed for a long moment. It was his head. His head was spinning. He could still see it, a clip of Remus biting a raptor in the throat and dropping him burned into his mind forever he was sure. "Shit, Remus..."

Remus leaned forward without another word, and he tossed him up over his shoulder. Sirius grunted passively in discomfort as he watched the forest begin to move around him quickly, Remus carrying him over his shoulder like he was a child. "Holy shit..." was the only thing he managed to mutter. Did Frank hunt like that too? Is that why he'd been unsure? Did he have any recollection at all of Remus's men carrying weapons in his time around them? Sirius tried to picture the other men doing what Remus had... and he found, it wasn't that hard... "Oh, fuck me."

"Try not to think about it," was Remus's oddly calm reply, and Sirius found himself laughing at it. Maybe he'd actually go crazy in this world. Fuck, his mom had in theirs, and it had been pretty straightforward there, and that was with doctors and medicine and all the money his father could throw at them to just keep trying. This though, hunting like an animal, the growling, and the blood... oh god, there was so much blood in Remus's mouth; Remus, who could touch him so carefully at times and murder his own men at other times—

"Sirius... do you hear me?" Sirius didn't respond, too distracted by his own rambling mind. Remus cursed and sped up.

Some time later, Sirius didn't know how much or care, he was dropped onto soft ground. He swallowed thickly. Sand. He was sitting in sand. He scrunched his fingers, burying his nails in the cold gritty stuff. There was something wet rubbing roughly at his face and neck.

"Sirius, focus on me."

Sirius slowly opened grey eyes, and he closed them back immediately. Remus. Remus was a—

"Sirius, I've given up a lot for you. I need you to be strong right now."

Sirius began to laugh, the sound suspiciously unstable to his own ears. "What exactly have you given up for me?" he asked sharply. The rubbing on his face started up again, and Sirius gathered enough mental clarity to realize the blond was cleaning blood off of him. "Hm?" he pushed stubbornly.

"For one?" Remus husked, and Sirius waited somewhat curious through his mini breakdown. "James."

Sirius felt his jaw clench tightly, grey eyes narrowing, and Remus began to rub at his skin again more roughly like he was planning to scrub the skin raw if he needed to get him clean of the blood splatter.

"I told him what we had is over." Remus leaned in closer then, Sirius could tell because his breath was tickling his jaw. "Even when he threatened to leave with half of my men." He sounded angry. "That's how much I want you, Sirius Black. Can't you feel it?"

Sirius swallowed around a forming knot in his throat. He felt his breaths begin to slow, and he felt his thoughts begin to slow too... which was honestly painful, because it meant dealing with what he'd seen. "Why me?" he managed to ask.

There were fingertips, only fingertips on the side of his face, a breeze snuck around them cold on his damp skin. He clenched his jaw and leaned into the comforting touch, despite the turmoil in his chest.

"You know why," was whispered against his chin. Sirius gave a slight shake of his head. And then he felt more than heard, "Because you're the most beautiful thing I have known."

Sirius breathed a small laugh, unsure how he felt about that. Lips pressed gently against his, and he felt a silent rumbling in his chest. Then teeth bit roughly at his lower lip, and he grunted softly.

"You don't belong here, Sirius. We both know that, but until someone from your world figures out how to get you back, you will be mine," Remus husked, his voice suddenly gentle. "That, or I step back and let my men work it out. Tell me what you want. I won't ask again."

Sirius found himself leaning in towards the blond, fighting to ignore the anger he felt at the perceived threat. It was the truth though, what he said, those were his choices. Fuck. He went with the one he hoped he'd regret the least—"You. I want you, Remus."

Lips met his again more forcefully, and Sirius reached out blindly, grasping the side of Remus's neck as they kissed, really kissed for the first time. His lips felt firm but pliable under his, and he tasted like something Sirius knew. He parted his lips, Sirius doing the same in response, and he pushed his tongue inside the blond's mouth curiously. Tasting. It was almost like chocolate.

Remus hummed, the sound low like a growl, his tongue moving against his and into his mouth, exploring purposefully. Sirius sitting with Remus crouched down in front of him, kissing him. Because Sirius was letting Remus kiss him and after he'd just killed a dinosaur with only his teeth... he felt his breathing begin to speed up again.

"Calm yourself," Remus pulled back slightly to say. Sirius nodded jerkily. He noticed the blond had cleaned his face of all the blood, which helped some.

"You're not human, are you?" he asked finally.

Hazel eyes didn't blink. "No, I am not."

Sirius gave a slight nod. "Okay... good to know," he said, hoarse, holding in a desperate laugh. "And what are you exactly...?"

Remus leaned back to rest his weight on the balls of his feet, still crouched down in front of Sirius. He looked unhappy. "I'm the most dangerous thing in this world."

Sirius nodded again, more subtly. Right. He'd known that... pretty much, at least. It was fine. "...And I'm safe with you?" He grimaced slightly, his gaze drifting as his thoughts did the same.

"Look at me, Sirius." Remus reached out.

Sirius started to fight against the hand on his jaw instinctively, but then he caught himself with a pained breath and let his head be turned for his gaze to meet intense hazel orbs too close up. "Ah, Remus... fancy seeing you here..." he said, his voice too breathy.

Remus almost smiled at that but then his expression grew serious, more serious than Sirius could ever hope to manage himself. He supposed, killing animals with your bare teeth and murdering hoards of your own men added a level of solemnity to your visage though. "I mean you no harm."

He didn't respond to the quietly spoken words.

"Where are you right now, Sirius...?"

Sirius closed burning eyes, and he said nothing. He wasn't sure if Remus meant mentally or literally. The answer was the same for both though. So he tried to change the subject for his own sanity. He focused on the soothing crashing sound of waves against the shore. He could almost fool himself into thinking he was back in his world, on vacation. Enjoying himself. "The ocean, is it safe?"

Remus didn't respond right away. "No. It is not," he said, almost sounding like he'd wanted to lie to him.

Sirius nodded gingerly at that. "Mm." He swallowed, his throat dry and catching somewhat. "That's too bad. I always liked swimming in the sea."

"You are unhappy here."

Sirius clenched his jaw when his eyes burned more, the simple statement somehow drawing the unpleasant emotions out that he wanted to just bury. He tried to force a smile but only managed what felt like a grimace.

"I am sorry, Sirius."

Sirius opened his eyes slowly at the unexpected sympathy, and he looked into quiet hazel eyes. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel some kind of connection with the blond leader. He didn't know why, but it was there. Buzzing in the air between them at all times, warming it, making their touches feel like jolts of electricity. He shifted forward carefully, his gaze drifting down slowly to the leader's lips. Maybe there was one thing in this world he could still enjoy... and maybe that was why Remus was willing to do so much for it; it was all he had too.

Remus offered out a hand. "Come. I will take you in the ocean."

Sirius hesitated. But then he placed his hand in the outstretched one, and it closed around it firmly.