First of all, I'll kneel before you all and ask for your forgiveness. I am feeling awful for making you all wait this long, even after all the positive feedback that I got from you. I hope that this chapter compensate a bit.

I have no way of giving a reasonable explanation for being this much late, but I struggled a lot with the end of this chapter. Not my best scenes, I think. I was never really good at cliff-hangers.

I'll let you read and decide if you can forgive me. Please, enjoy.

XXXX

Chapter Twelve – The genius burns

Degel walked in front of them one more time, searching for anything that might disrupt the perfection he was aiming for. Usually Camus was all OK with perfectionism, but the boss had been doing that for the past hour. So he couldn't really blame his co-workers for thinking that the restaurant owner was exaggerating a bit. Then, of course, he could perfectly understand Degel – with Milo walking around shirtless outside, Camus was painfully aware that if he did not control himself he would be all too focused on the works being held at the garden instead of paying attention to his boss.

Most likely Degel was going through similar thing with Kardia, who was pretty much in the same state as Milo. Not to mention how all of the housekeepers were drooling over the two brothers. Camus had been trying to keep himself in check, to not glare-freeze them in the spot – it wouldn't look very nice to Mlle Sasha – but felt better when he noticed his boss had been doing the same.

Even though he and Milo were not officially back together – yet – his jealousy was somewhat worse than before. It was already amusing in itself that Camus was capable of that, to begin with. All his life he had never been one to claim possession over things or contrary to share, but if there was one thing in the world that he wished to call his, and his alone, was Milo. With each day that passed, he became more and more ready to embrace a life that was just full of the Greek.

And while he was not sure to what extent he was affecting the other's life, it warmed Camus' heart to see that he was being able to make some positive differences. The whole college deal had been a shock to Milo's family and he was sure that Milo's father had been eyeing him strange since, but already he could tell the tiny changes that seemed to be lifting the whole family's hope.

Kardia, surprisingly, was the first to agree to the idea and held a key factor into convincing their parents. Despite the initial refusal, though, now they all were giving Milo some kind of encouragement – from cutting him some slack during work to ask how hard he was studying. Never mind that it had been just a week. They all believed in hard work, no matter what. And that was good.

More than good, actually, because now Camus got to assist Milo during the nights and had already slept over his house three times. During three nights of the past week, Camus drove his friend home, ate supper with the family, helped Milo with organizing and giving pointers on what to do and what to study, and went to sleep just a few meters apart from him.

Oh, sweet torture, to know that Milo was just there on the other bed and not be able to touch him. Obviously, Kardia was there too and Camus would not dare anything even if Milo was his again. Never in the past month he wished stronger that he lived alone, then he could take Milo to sleep over without protective brothers around to keep them in line.

Because, truth was that they needed to be kept in line if they were going to insist on that friendship thing. Milo had never ceased to act as if they were not dating, to begin with – he had tried, of course, but Milo was possessive by nature and Camus had caught more than once him glaring at one person or the other. Most likely Milo had seen him do the same, even if he was better at hiding things. Either way, they were both reaching their limits. What was the point, anyway? They had both already apologized for that terrible night and moved on. Their patience was growing thin, and with each day that passed their bodies were getting bolder. A hand would linger longer than necessary at the small of one's back, a shoulder would be dusted even if there was no dust, and knees would "accidently" bump when sitting too close. One of these days lips would touch and Camus would not complain.

So, slice the carrots. There is no apple god outside. Easier said than done, but Camus tried anyway. At least when Degel was not looking he tried his best to pretend that the food was the only interesting thing around. Yet even Degel's attention was starting to get thin, his hidden eyes would sometimes drift for a few moments outside. Kardia was probably doing his best to provoke his boss, if Camus knew the Greek.

Obviously, he could not say for sure that there was something happening between the two men, he had never seen anything, there were only clues left in the air for those who paid attention. And in his opinion they were getting sloppier, even Milo now sometimes noticed how Kardia's fingers brushed Degel's when receiving the payment. Probably the waitresses had also noticed how they haven't been allowed to serve them water in the last few weeks – now Milo would invade the kitchen and fetch himself a glass, Kardia would drink from the serving bottle Degel kept in his office – or so the Greek said one day when Camus offered some.

"And that's about it." Degel said at last "We will keep everything sliced and chopped, you all know the deal. Fifteen minutes break before the marathon begins."

That was a new one. Camus never thought that fifteen minutes break was a concept that his boss understood. Looking through the back window, though, he saw that an extremely bold housekeeper following Kardia around was a concept that clearly didn't please Degel. Not that he was any happier about the way a stable boy was offering to help Milo lift a few bars. Milo might want some water, right? And surely there is a horse somewhere in need of a stable boy. He had no need to make his thoughts in reality, however. His Greek turned towards him and smiled when their eyes met.

"Break?" Milo mouthed silently. Camus needed only nod for the Greek to leave the metal bars to the stable boy and come to him. He couldn't avoid a smug smile to the stable boy, who scowled and glared at his direction.

When the Greek entered in the kitchen he whistled. "Your boss could open a franchise of his place here, this place is huge!"

Camus chuckled as he poured some juice for Milo. "How is work going?"

"Nah, piece of cake. Lifting pretty tents is nothing compared to our daily work." Milo grinned at him.

"Especially with all the help the stable boys are giving, right?" he couldn't resist the comment as he returned to his slicing duty, giving his back to the Greek to avoid his glance.

He heard laughter behind him and fought down a blush. What could he say, though? It was rather silly from him to be jealous of the boy.

"Saw that, did you?" Milo said and leaned on the counter, letting Camus watch him from the corner of his eyes. There was a playful smirk on those perfect lips and he couldn't avoid a smirk of his own. "Think I got myself a fan."

"Really?" he rolled his eyes, regretting his big mouth.

"Really." Milo said right before he leaned on Camus direction, his mouth suddenly very near to the French's neck "He is not really my type, though. Already got my eyes on a French chef."

"At what time do you leave?" he asked to change the subject but also interested in knowing if he would get another chance to see Milo that night, especially that night. A golden opportunity had arisen.

Milo chuckled at his discomfort but went along, anyway. "Kardia knows these details, but I was under the impression that we would be here to bring everything down after the party was over… why?"

"I can leave only after the party is over as well. I can give you a ride. Or we could stop by the apartment tonight. Shaka will be at Mu's. We'd have some peace. You'd even have the morning for your studies if you… if you stay."

There was much that he left unsaid, and Camus knew Milo was aware of that. He rose to look in the Greek's eyes and they were stuck in some kind of silent conversation. There were doubts and hopes in the exchange, so he made his best to give what assurance he could to the other. He was growing tired of that farce. He was Milo's already; there was no reason to keep postponing the fact.

"I'd like that." Milo whispered, his eyes glowing different from moments before. Camus liked to know that he was the cause of it.

"And your brother says he would like you to work."

They both jumped at the interruption. It was too easy to get ensnared in their private bubble and Degel was as silent as a cat. Luckily Milo recovered quickly.

"Well I better get to it, then. Thank you for the warning, M. Degel." The Greek smiled at him, a light blush in his cheeks "See you later, Camus."

XXX

Whistling happily to himself, Milo got back to work. Few minutes talk with a hot chef and the bonus of the absence of the stable boy, all he needed to fuel his energy! So, he went over to the one of the few tents left and continued to work on it. The whole thing was really easy, with all the quality material and all – nothing like the old hardened wood and metal of the apple stand – the trick was to not get dirty all over the stuff. On the butler's own words it had all to be 'impeccably white', which was kinda difficult when you're working on the grass.

Still, everything was right in the world – in his world at least. And a look on his brother's face told him that his world was not going bad either. Kardia approached him, spitting a few sarcastic comments.

"I think hitting on one of the chefs was not on your job description, or was it?"

"Oh, and making out in dark corners with the main chef was?" Milo smirked at him and laughed at his brother's surprised face.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"You cannot expect me to believe that M. Degel wrinkled his clothes while helping you with the tents." He answered with a triumph grin. Kardia only cursed a bit, probably trying to hide the fact that he was blushing, so Milo laughed again.

"I never knew setting up tents could be so fun." Said a cool, young voice behind them.

Milo turned to find Camus's blond version standing with a group of five other kids, one of them, he noticed, was one of the house owner's daughters – with all that purple hair it had to be. Hyoga was fancily dressed up, successfully making Shun look at him with a permanent blush. Milo could hardly blame him – Camus could do that to him even when he didn't try to dress up nice.

"Hello, Hyoga, Shun." He smiled at them "You should try someday. With all these puny muscles of yours it would do you some good."

Hyoga snorted while Shun chuckled, the rest of the group seemed a bit amused – either because of the remark or because someone of their group actually knew one of the workers at the point of exchanging banter, Milo could not say, in the overall they seemed an OK group of friends.

"It wasn't me who failed to open Camus' jar of pickles the other day, was it?" the blond asked and Milo laughed, remembering the beginning of the week, when Camus had invited his brother and Shun to have lunch with him, Milo, Shaka and Mu.

"That doesn't count, my hand was wet."

"Of course it was, with you drooling all over my brother it couldn't be any different, hm?" Hyoga smirked at him, making Milo laugh again. The banter between him and the blond was never serious, and he rather enjoyed the brat's company.

"Oh, so that is the rich kid's younger brother." Kardia said, a bit of curiosity in his eyes.

He and Hyoga stared at each other for a while. For a moment Milo was mildly apprehensive for the impression that Kardia could make on kids, but then again, Hyoga could be even harsher than Camus when he wanted to – Shun was the thing that held him back mostly.

"So you're Kardia." Hyoga said at last "I thought you'd be taller, to hear Milo talking."

Kardia snorted and smirked at the boy "Rich kid's got some balls."

From the corner of his eyes, Milo saw the small group of friends startle a bit. Kardia did cause an impression on kids. Hyoga, however, smirked in return and turned to Milo instead.

"Do you know where I can find my brother? Saori's father said that good food only during the party, but since I got inside people I thought that we could get something before that."

"Tough luck, then. There's nothing ready yet, only sliced stuff everywhere." He answered, then looked curious at the bunch of dressed up kids "Why are you all so early here, anyway?"

"We're staying here tonight." The blond answered, his arm casually surrounding Shun's waist "I guess we'll have to do with sodas, then. But I think I'll stop by and say hello, anyway. Mom sent a few stuff for him."

"Well, he is over the second kitchen, if I'm not mistaken. Just follow this path here and you will see him through that window over there."

"OK, thank you, Milo. See you later." Hyoga said, already turning to leave "Nice to meet you, Kardia."

Behind him Milo heard a grunt in acknowledge while Shun and him said his goodbyes as well. For a moment he watched the retreating group, now apparently swarming Hyoga with questions. The thing that caught his eyes, though, was the way that the blond and the green haired boy walked arms in arms. It was so peaceful, so… sure.

Hyoga was alike his older brother in many aspects, a little more hot tempered in some aspects, maybe, but that might be because of his young age. In general he was mini-Camus walking around with a blond wig; from the cold, distant posture to the freezing precision of his actions. According to Camus, Hyoga had been a very lonely kid, even when surrounded by boys of his age, only Shun had been able to crack his way inside the iceberg. And Shun was warmness in person, ever with a gentle smile and comprehensive eyes. The two really completed each other gracefully.

In his most silly moments, he wondered if Camus needed someone more like Shun, with a steady heat instead of the crazy, wild fire that Milo was. What if he was too much for the French? The brightest the flame, the shortest its life, isn't that what they said? Of course, they had been in some sort of bliss recently – but hadn't they also been before Camus' birthday?

"You're looking like you're thinking something stupid." Kardia's voice cut through his thoughts.

"What? I—"

"I know you. Just look that way, will you? He is frowning."

A bit disoriented, Milo looked where his brother pointed and found the window from where he could see Camus. In fact the French was frowning, as if worried with him. That instantly eased his worried, so he smiled to show that he was Ok. After a moment he got a small smile back, and nodded before he returned to work. About time I stop being silly. It wasn't like he would ever be able to release his grip on Camus, anyway.

Later in the night, the party was brimming with fancy people and the sound of violins reached everywhere. Milo, Kardia, Deathmask, Aioria and a few others they had brought to help were in the farthest side of the yard, watching the party from afar. That didn't mean the food didn't reach them.

Either because two of them were in two of the chef's good side or because Marin wanted to cause an impression on Aioria – judging from the way she offered stuff to him first – they were served pretty much the same that was being offered to Mr. Kido guests.

"What are the chances of me having the truck to myself tonight?" Kardia asked.

"Looks like it, Aphrodite is going to pick me up after his shift is done." Deathmask said distractedly, eyes on the little rolls that Marin had brought them.

"And you got yourself a ride home, I'm betting." He turned to Milo.

"Yep. Actually… I'm not sure if I'll go home tonight." He said pretending to be interested on the leaves on the ground. Milo had been trying to find a good way to break Kardia the news, but truth was that there was no good way to tell his brother that he would spend the night at Camus' apartment. Of course, he didn't have to say that Shaka would not be there.

"And since when you and rich boy sleep alone under the same roof?!" It was obvious that Kardia would guess, he knew him too well. "Do Mamma and Papa know?!"

"And since when do I need permission? You have been sneaking away forever now and they never said anything. I'm sure they won't mind."

Kardia opened and closed his mouth several times, looking for an answer.

"That's right, no one ever talks about it but everybody hears the door closing and the truck's engine." Milo went on, deciding to be fully honest "No one cares because we all trust in you, trust that you are not going to do anything stupid. I just wish you'd have the same trust in me. Yes, I'm in love with Camus, and yes, I want very much to get into his pants, but that doesn't mean we are going to rush into meaningless sex. We haven't even kissed for ages!"

"Milo…"

"Camus and I are friends, at the moment. If we are going to become something more this night, I don't know. We just want to be alone for a while…" Milo sighed, leaning against a wall "You don't need to get this worked up, brother. We care for each other… we… he is good for me, Kardia. I really, really, care for him... And he cares for me too."

For a moment neither of them spoke, Milo just stood there looking at the ground. His face was most likely completely red with embarrassment and his guess was that Kardia was embarrassed too.

"I know he does." Kardia said quietly after a moment. "Just… just be careful."

"I will." Milo smiled at him and found his brother blushing as well. He held back his chuckle for the sake of Kardia.

All of a sudden, however, they heard shouting in the house.

"What was that?" asked Aioria, looking towards the house.

"It seemed to come from upstairs." Marin said pointing up.

Then there was shouting in the party as well, but they had no time to understand what was happening. In the matter of seconds three Men in Black appeared out of nowhere. Two of them Milo recognized as being the bodyguards he saw at the restaurant that day.

"Has anyone run this way?" the redhead asked.

"No, what's happening?!" Kardia asked.

"Someone has broken inside the mansion." The blond answered, gazing at their group somewhat suspiciously.

"We heard someone screaming inside the house." Aioria said "Do you need any help?"

"No, its better if you stay here." The redhead answered while indicating the doorway to the third of their party, who immediately went in the house "Did any of you notice someone strange walking around the property earlier?"

They shook their heads, a bit lost and confused with the whole situation. The blond was about to say something when they heard more shouting and a brown haired boy came rushing their way.

"Dohko, Shion! They have taken Saori! Seiya and his friends went after her inside the house and—"

"You let a bunch of teenagers after them?! What the hell was in your mind, Tenma?!" the blond yelled while the redhead started shouting orders through a radio "Why didn't you follow them?"

"Sasha was in my mind! I was trying… to get her… and Mr. Kido… secure." Said Tenma answered taking deep breaths "One of the chefs said his brother was in the group… and tried to follow them… but there was some fighting going in the kitchen from what I heard."

"Camus!" Milo jumped and ran, not caring to hear anything else. Fighting in the kitchen! Camuscamuscamuscamuscamuscam us, his mind went on and on as he ran. Somewhere in the distance he heard Kardia chasing after him and the bodyguards shouting orders and running as well.

The kitchen was too damn far! Even though he was running the fastest he had even ran, he never seemed to reach it. Bloody rich people's gigantic house!

Everything came to a stop, though, when he was thrown back by the heat wave. An explosion. The kitchen was on fire.

Camuscamuscamuscamuscamuscam us.

"CAMUS!"

From then on, everything happened on a blur. He was on his feet and rushing towards the door, the one where the fire hadn't reached yet. From the voices around him he guessed Deathmask and Aioria were going with him – Kardia was nowhere to be seen but he wouldn't worry about that now.

Inside it was all smoke and noise. Two people that he recognized as the other waitress and Isaak were kneeled in a corner. When the boy saw them he started coughing while trying to speak.

"Milo! … he is there! People… people with guns!" he pointed a door a bit far from the fire "They came… Camus followed the kids… I heard gunshot…"

"Aioria, take them outside!"

With Deathmask close on his heels he jumped around the fire until he reached the door. It was barred. Furiously, he kicked and banged, but it would not open.

"On three." He heard his Italian friend by his side and moved in position with him "One, two, three."

It only worked on the fourth time. On the other side the smoke had already entered but hadn't taken over yet and visibility was better.

A man totally in black with masked face lay ridden against the wall – a kitchen knife was stuck in his leg and Milo instantly saw that it was one of Camus'.

"Camus! Camus!"

"Milo, upstairs!" Deathmask pointed to the other side of the hall where there was a stairway. On the first steps there was an apron.

They heard more gunshots.

"Dite is gonna kill us for running towards gunshots." Deathmask said and cursed in italian.

A wave of guilt hit him for doing that. If Aprhodite was going to be mad Milo didn't even want to think about his mother – or Kardia, whatever had happened to him. But it was Camus!

When they reached upstairs they found a maze of corridors and doors and shouts and gunshots. Suddenly from the door closest to them came Kardia struggling against another masked man.

"Just don't stand there, moron!" Kardia yelled in the middle of the fight "I saw them turn the first left—"

His phrase was punctuated by a punch in the stomach which elicited the direct response of Deathmask jumping in the fight to help Kardia. "Go, Milo!"

Milo was divided for a moment, but they seemed to be able to handle themselves so he went on. His heartbeat was increasing with each pace he took and didn't see Camus. Please, let him be alive. A silent prayer to whatever gods were listening.

He heard fighting sounds behind a half opened door and tried his chances. A masked man came cursing from it but didn't stop to pay attention to Milo, simply ran towards the end of the hall. Dreading what he was going to find inside, he went in with his heart in his hand.

What he saw was something that he most likely would never forget, it was something that Milo would forever carry in his nightmares. Camus was on the floor, the right shoulder of his uniform burnt, a pool of blood around him.

XXXX

Well, we are coming to an end, at last.

Once again I ask forgiveness for the delay. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter.

For those who are reading the Beauty and the Brute, don't need to worry, I am writing for that one as well. I am just waiting so it will match perfectly with what happens in this story.

Thank you for reading.

seafox