Rating: M
Pairing: NAKRON
Summary: Zak does a lot of round about things to keep Nick and Aaron safe. He takes the front so he's the first thing the ghosts see. He taunts the hardest so the ghosts concentrate on him. Zak doesn't like it when spirits come out to bully his partners, so he takes it upon himself when they're not separated But this time he may of taken it too far and the recent possession just might follow Zak home.


It couldn't be suspicion any more. Zak starts watching Nick carefully, looking for signs that signal a change because he is sure sometimes Nick was Nick. He could feel it then, the natural safe aura around the younger man that makes Zak keep him by his side night after lockdown night. It was when the feeling was replaced and that comforting caress becomes that little nibbling at the base of the neck as dark brown eyes rounded sharply over to him that he was certain his Nick was taken somewhere else.

He has to tell Aaron and when he manages to get the older man alone, he tells him exactly that. It is explosive the way the other man reacts, how couldn't it be when years of pent up worry is finally able to make itself known. It was okay when nothing serious happened, but this thing had hurt Zak and now Nick is under possession, their younger, quieter investigator, and Aaron feels as if he has failed somehow. Zak isn't able to calm the storm in Aaron's heart, but he gets the bearded man to focus. They huddle close back between the shadows created by the hotel's buildings, quietly planning.

Zak doesn't think they could get rid of it. His eyes remain glued to the floor, so different from how he used to be so confident around the other male. Aaron tries showing him support, rubbing muscled arms under his hands as he tries to catch Zak's gaze. He thinks they could get rid of it- but then again, Aaron had always been a bit more religious than Zak. Zak doesn't think a simple prayer and a sprinkle of holy water would cut it. He is almost certain of it.

The younger man lets Aaron plan this one, a small crooked smile appearing on his face at the organization and thoughtful process that Zak sometimes gets too possessive of for Aaron to share. He simply nods and give his own simple input as he creates his own plan. If the demon doesn't leave like it should, Zak wants to be ready to accept it.

That night, Nick takes from Zak again right in front of a sated Aaron and as Zak gasps under their younger lover, he could see the utter horror in Aaron's eyes right over the other's shoulder. Zak shakes his head as Aaron comes near, and curls his legs around quickly pistoning hips. He takes the murmurs meant to humiliate him if only to slow the other down because at least this body was Nick's if not his words. He doesn't answer like he usually does as the younger man tells him he's his.

"You okay in there?"

Zak jumps as Aaron comes around and wraps an arm across his shoulders. He's sitting just outside in the hotel's cafe, drinking up the last of his coffee before sundown. He didn't expect to be bothered, what with Aaron and Nick having their own little rituals before lock down. "Shut up, Aaron."

Aaron laughs. "Just a ray of sunshine," He teases and pulls a seat out before letting the younger man go. He just watches Zak curiously before his eyes quickly dart a little to the left. He only firms his lips and nods before giving Nick his wide, welcoming grin. "You done talking to Roni?"

"Didn't even bother." Zak looks over his shoulder to see Nick's own bright smile and follows him as he takes the open seat in front of them. He playfully kicks at Zak's feet and Zak scoffs lightly into his drink, kicking back. "I... don't feel the duty to any more."

Aaron raises a brow curiously, "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Nick shrugs, "all I could think about is you guys at the moment. Maybe its 'cuz of last time. You know... with what happened to you." He meets Zak's eyes for a second.

"And Annabelle?"

Nick scoffs, "What of her?" and then confusion clouds his face. "That... I didn't mean that."

Aaron looks at Zak then and Zak could read it off the other's face. Why don't we just tell him? Zak shakes his head. He was scared what the demon would do to Nick if Nick knew. Instead, Zak just tells Nick to call Roni, but the younger male just shakes his head and waves over a waiter for some coffee.

"I'm ready for this." Nick says bravely and leans back in his seat. He crosses his arms and Zak gets distracted in the way his muscles creates defined lines into his skin. His lips twitch at the thought of a Nick as buff as himself. He'd probably scare everyone around him. "I'm actually really, really excited, man."

That caused Zak to drag his eyes up with confusion. "Why?" He tilts his head and his right eye squints a little more than his left and like that Nick snorts.

"Because," Nick starts and leans forward a bit. It gets Aaron's attention and Aaron nudges Zak as if to say, 'Pay attention, this might be important'. Zak nudges back with an annoyed look before Nick continues, "What we've been told, dude. If the stories are real... fuck, to feel all the energy swirling in there. Its like nothing else."

"And this... excites you?" Aaron reels back and for a second Zak feels as if everything is normal. He could feel an incredulous laugh bubbling in his gut, just knowing what Aaron had to say next- "If I had known, bro, I'd start fun times during lock downs." Zak bursts into laughter as Aaron wiggles his eyebrows.

"Shut up." Nick chortles and only looks away as his coffee was put in front of him, "You know you like the feeling too."

"It feels like spiders are crawling all over me, G. It ain't nice."

"Yeah, well, Zak understands."

And Zak just rolls his eyes and gives a small smile as Nick reaches across to brush his fingers against his knuckles.

"Right?"

"Definitely."

Its just a couple of hours later when they were picked up in front of their hotel in a white van. Experience makes loading up only a few minutes and they were gone, all three of them huddled in the back as their driver takes them away. Nick makes a joke about how it probably looks like their planning their great adventure in the large building, but really they're just basking within one bubble. Nick jokes again about 'synching', but Zak thinks that in a way, they were. It was kind of nice and Zak feels he could even fool himself into thinking they're all on one wave length.

"Okay, an hour till sun down. You think we could make it?" Aaron asks as the van parks and already he's loading his arms with what bags he could hold. The doors weren't even open yet, but the man's already wanting in. Zak plucks a bag from Aaron's shoulder. There's no way he could come out of the van safely with four of them hanging under his arms.

"We'll make it like we always do." Zak said next, his tone a little dry. He couldn't help it. Aaron takes it with humour though and laughs it off.

"Zak's in the zone... right, Nick?"

"Right." Nick snorts and its just like him, but for the change in his eyes. It feels a little different now, but Zak assumed it was the building they just approached and in concern he eyes Nick every which way he went. The white van leaves them, just parking by the gate and Sally comes up to unlock the door for them, helping when she can. She was nice enough to set up a couple of long hardwood tables for their equipment and when everything was in it's place, they did their intro before locking the doors for the night.

Zak did the map and Aaron stood right beside him. Nick mans the camera for this one and Zak takes some comfort in knowing his gaze isn't directed at him. Every little x-spot was noted and as he points to another smaller space he could only meet Aaron's eyes nervously.

"The elevator, where there has been countless experiences of loud screaming and suddenly locking. It isn't that big of a space, so Nick and I will be in the enclosed space while Aaron checks out the floor above us." His voice shakes just a little, but Aaron tries to distract him, foolishly missing the 'x' and Zak has to fix it for him. Nick catches that dorky, breathless laugh of his on camera as Zak grabs Aaron by the wrist and lays his finger right at the center.

"Dude? There."

"Right there."

And Zak just stares at him not sure if he should laugh at the awkwardness. Aaron exchanged a glance with Nick before back at him and they hear the younger man cut camera before Aaron laughs for him.

"You gonna be okay?" Aaron asks Zak as they come closer together. They watch Nick go to their equipment table, already pocketing the little gadgets he prefers carrying around. Zak thinks he looks confused, as if he's never seen them before, but it could just be the trick of the light, or something.

Zak releases a heavy breath, "I'm fine." He says and they get ready to start their night.


"You're ready?"

Zak jumps. He wasn't expecting the low grumble of Aaron's voice so close and he spins on his heel, directing his camera at the one other man in the room with him. Nick was off on the other side of the circle, doing an unnecessary round, but the young man had been doing things like that all night as if looking for something.

"Yeah." Zak finally answers once he focuses. His free hand reaches down to pat at his pocket, feeling a small bottle of blessed water they carry around for little things like this. "Plan..?"

He could see Aaron's face scrunch up as he recalled what Father had told them. "Didn't he say to splash it at 'im? Try to get it on his skin and it should do something. Remember the words?" He nods when Zak nods and the conversation ends when Nick walks in.

"This room is dead, Zak, lets go." The younger man practically growls and behind him Zak could feel Aaron grab his wrist protectively. Zak rounds his camera over to Nick feels his heart drop at the oddness of Nick looking at them without the aid of his camera or flashlight. "Well?"

"We got just one more place to go, dude, slow down." Zak grumbles and cautiously moves forward and out of the room, bypassing all the cold surrounding Nick. Zak's disconcerted by the smile on Nick's lips.

"Yeah. The elevator."

"Yeah." Zak repeats and he leads their way down the stairs. He can't help but feel disappointed as their trek went on undisturbed, their destination coming closer and closer. They hit the third floor and from there, Aaron walks off with a look back. A quiet, "Careful." travels through the hallway to Zak but Zak doesn't answers. He is kind of caught in the way Nick is continuing down the stairs without guide or light.

Nick seems almost too excited to be going into the elevator. He actually wanted to go in alone, but Zak isn't having any of that. It isn't normal that Nick would want to run off on his own, especially into such a tight, enclosed space like that. The morgue at Eastern State had been enough for the younger man.

"Zak, let's go." Nick commands and during an investigation Zak usually has no problem hissing back. He holds his tongue though and follows after disappearing footsteps.

When he next sees Nick, the younger man is standing in front of the elevator with the doors already pushed open. Nick's shining a light in, but Zak's certain its for show. He'd admit it if he could how scared he was to be sharing a small space with the other man. There was no telling what might happen being so close to something that wants him and what power it has using the body of someone he cares for. Will it be stronger? Zak could feel the pressure of fearful tears behind his eyes. He wouldn't cry. Not for this. But this demon has marked his body, laid claims upon his soul, could physically pin him and drop him faster than he could imagine. All that power rests within Nick and Zak just cannot hurt him. Zak has to save him.

When Nick turns his eyes on him, Zak felt played as warm brown eyes shined excitedly. "Well? Come on, G, this'll be awesome." Zak breathes a nervous laugh, habit as he speaks.

"I know. Can't wait." Nick lets him in first and says something witty as Nick closes the doors for them.

Instantly, the room felt too tight, but this elevator was large. Big enough to hold in body trays four across. Zak takes a corner, backs himself up into it and faces Nick who is carefully running his hands up and down the door. Zak feels that his breathing is loud. He could only hear his own in a room that seemed to echo every sound they made. "Nick. You cool?" He only gets a hum and he tenses. His limbs come closer to his body as he fought the urge to grab the younger man and shake him into yelling at him."Nick-"

"Sh. You hear that?" And Zak listens. He steps forward, eyes darting around in the dark as echos from up the chute penetrate the thin metal walls of the elevator. Its not coming closer. Its not. It can't be.

"Fuck. Fuck, what is that." Zak practically gasps through. He doesn't know where to look. Banging coming from too far up is distorted from where they sat. Nick stops touching the door, instead dragging his hands along the walls.

"I could feel it. Zak... why can I feel it?" Nick wheezes out and Zak focuses the camera on Nick, trying to read his face on the tiny screen and all he could see was confusion and fear. "I could hear them. Behind the walls. Outside the door." Nick tears his hands away and his eyes are large as they look directly at Zak. He could practically feel his eyes on him. "They're telling me to leave. But that's...man, that's not my name."

"Just- Shit. Just don't move." Zak commands and finally takes the few steps toward Nick. He grabs him, turns him around so that they were facing each other and shines a light in his face. He nearly drops his camera as wide, dilated eyes look blankly at him.

It was their last investigation all over again. Zak sets his camera down on the floor, not at all gently, and takes Nick's face in his hands. "Breathe. Nick, breathe with me." He tells the other as Nick's chest expands and falls flat quickly. The confusion is making Nick panic and Zak knows that feeling all to well. "It won't get you, Nick. It can't-"

"What?" Nick interjects, "What can't? Fuck. I feel suffocated, bro, and I can't. Fucking. See.Turn on the lights, would you!" Zak cringes as Nick's voice rises and shines the light in his face again.

"They're on."

"No. No they're not. Don't say that."

Zak had to grab onto Nick's hands in order to stop the young man from scratching at his eyes. He's mumbling about something, "I can't open them- I can't... Zak, there's something on my eyes!" And the words are filled with terror because Zak was sure Nick knew that wasn't the problem. Zak's telling him to calm down, that he just needs to breathe and wait it out, but Nick just can't.

Zak had to wrap his arms tightly around Nick, have him so his hands are practically pinned to his chest because he just couldn't have Nick injure himself. He has his forehead pressed against the other's cheek, hoping that Nick doesn't look for a way out like he had done and try to cave his skull in. The body is trembling. Nick never shows this much fear.

All too soon, Nick's eyes dart up, still very unfocused but no less intense as they stare right into his own. He's shaking his head before he's pushing Zak away, so hard that Zak hits the wall behind him. "Don't touch me." Nick says and his voice shakes with pent up energy. Zak desperately wants to know what's going on inside Nick's head, wants to take it away all together. He reaches forward but Nick snaps at him, bearing teeth like an animal.

"Nick. Nick," Zak calls and licks his lips nervously. He has his hands out, trying to look less threatening, "I know what it is. Let me help you." Zak reaches for the bottle in his pocket and Nick shakes his head and backs up even more. So much so, Zak could hear his feet scratching against the floor as he presses himself tightly up against a wall. "Nick."

"Not... Not right. That's not..." the younger man repeats and cradles his head in his hands. He's mumbling even more to himself, words Zak couldn't understand and finally chuckles, shoulders jumping as forced out air go through his lips. It chills Zak to the core.

"Nick..? Dude, talk to me." Zak takes on a begging edge. When Nick doesn't respond to him, he pulls the small bottle of blessed water from his pocket. His fingers slips as he tries to unscrew it. "Just wait, Nick. I'm here, I'll stop this- just wait-" He nearly drops the bottle when Nick laughs- body wracking laughs that echo inside the elevator.

"It won't help."

This time it is Zak who backs up as Nick talks slow even steps towards him. The air around the other man had changed, and all of Zak senses are telling him to hide. Zak manages to open the bottle, splashing most of its contents into Nick's face and hair but all he does is hiss, his face turning away to wipe the water dripping from his brow. His face is red- red like the water burns.

"Stay away from me." Zak says.

"Not this time, Zak." Nick growls.

And Zak backs up. He backs up until he hits the other side of the small elevator and has no where else to go. He drops the bottle and his hands reach out again, wanting Nick to stay where he is. "Nick? Nick, you're not you. Stop this!" He yells, using just that bit of confidence, but it does nothing. Nick's still coming and Zak does nothing but hold his breath.

"You won't hurt me." Nick tells him and is so damn sure of himself. That cocky smile is on his face, the one he uses when he knows he's getting his way, when he knows he's got Zak pliant and wanting under him. "You won't hurt me. You can't harm this." He repeats before backslapping Zak hard enough to bring a small splash of fresh blood against the wall and hide his face in shadow, "But I have no problems hurting you, touching you." Nick scoffs as he takes his face back, presses so close Zak could feel Nick smile against his bleeding lip. "You can't hurt Nick."