SoB
A/N: Hi! It's been quite a long time since I updated hasn't it? And it's such a short chapter too... -sigh-
This chapter is dedicated to GoddessofWrath, AngelofSinner (who both help me out with this) and everyone who is reading this.
The pace is picking up so I hope you enjoy it!
When Hei opened his eyes for the second time that day (the second time he did it consciously), November was still – or was it again? – in the room and the assassin had to wonder why the MI6 agent was with him and not with April.
The blonde's presence would make it a lot more difficult to contact Huang, Mao or Yin than it already was, so he would have to think of something that got the other away from him.
Hei felt almost guilty for that thought when November smiled at him and he had difficulty meeting the older man's eyes, when he remembered just how he had fallen asleep, but he managed to ignore his embarrassment and returned Jack's gaze.
The agent had waited for that, it seemed, as his smile widened a little and he finally reacted to Hei being awake.
"Do you want something to drink? We don't want a repeat of the last time, do we?"
The assassin glared, but nodded slightly – his throat felt dry and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
He was startled, when November carefully slid an arm beneath his shoulders and gently helped him to sit up against the headboard. He wished he could ask the other one why he hadn't used the remote for the bed to make him sit up, but he didn't want to risk a coughing fit like last time.
The MI6 agent then carefully placed a glass of water against his lips and Hei was glad that it wasn't cold – he had had enough experience with injuries and dehydration to know that cold water would only aggravate his dry throat.
Slowly sipping the liquid and taking care not to get it down the wrong pipe, after a while he gently touched November's wrist to let him know that he had enough and the older one removed the glass.
"Are you now up to talking?"
The assassin suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.
"I can if I want to."
"Do you want to?"
Hei was startled by the seriousness in the other's eyes and the low tone of his voice and he knew that he had to look as startled as he felt for November to look at him half-amused, half-worried.
"Getting blown up isn't exactly the most relaxing experience there is. Do you want to talk about it?"
The dark haired man couldn't help but stare at the blonde, disbelief clearly visible on his face – he couldn't believe that the best agent of the MI6, a cold Contractor, had just asked him a question that was usually asked by a psychiatrist.
What he did next probably wasn't a very gracious and very out of character for him, but he couldn't help but burst into disbelieving laughter.
He probably did it because his guard was lowered because of the pain meds in his body (which would also explain why he had let November get that close to him before), but nonetheless, the sharp pain he felt in response to that was almost worth it, considering he hadn't laughed like that for several years.
Because of his wounds and the increasing pain, he curled up on his side, one arm wrapped around his chest as he tried to stifle his mirth.
After he finally managed to calm down he sheepishly looked at November who looked more annoyed than amused or worried now.
"That wasn't funny you know. I was – am – serious. Do you want to talk about it?"
Hei uncurled and for several seconds he just lay there and looked at the older one, before he gave one incredibly rare genuine smile and shook his head.
"I'm sorry for laughing, but I really don't want to talk about this. I don't remember anything that happened other that a loud noise and a lot of pain. The next thing I knew was that I woke up here and you asked me a question."
For a moment November had an almost guilty expression on his face before it vanished and the assassin frowned slightly as he thought about what could have triggered that emotion.
"What happened while I was unconscious?"
The blonde almost flinched, which surprised Hei, but he didn't take back the question. If it was something that concerned him, he had a right to know about it and there was no way this didn't have anything to do with him.
Soon the MI6 agent caved under his harsh gaze and started to explain what had happened.
Hei had the feeling that he wouldn't like where this story would end up.
As usual he would be right, but then one had to wonder – when did he ever?
November winced as he wondered how to answer that question – if he even should answer it.
The second thought was discarded immediately – Shengshun definitely had a right to know about what had happened. He had to know that he had talked – screamed – while delirious from pain and while the blonde dreaded his reaction, he knew that he couldn't keep this a secret.
One of the nurses had, most probably, informed a doctor and at least when Shengshun talked to the doctor, he would know about it – and November thought that it would be better if the younger man was told by someone he knew rather than a stranger.
Taking a deep breath the MI6 agent slowly started to talk – it startled him a little that he was more afraid of this, than a difficult assignment given to him by his organisation.
"This isn't the second time you are conscious – it's actually the third."
Again November winced when he noticed the alarm on the younger man's face and he didn't fell any better when the dark haired one demanded to know what he was talking about.
"The first time you woke up was some time after you were treated here – it was before you got these pain-killers. You were trashing around and screaming something that sounded like names."
The blonde abruptly broke off when Shengshun blanched as if he had seen a ghost and his voice cracked when he asked whose names he had been calling.
"I don't know about them, you didn't mention them when you told me about Mei Ling and Yîng and all that, but I think the names were… Amber, Carmine and… Pai?"
November wasn't sure about the last two names – he had remembered Amber, since it had been the one who had seemed to cause the younger man the most pain, but the others were more difficult to interpret and thus he wasn't sure if he had remembered them right.
It seemed he had, though, considering that the younger man had turned even paler than he already was, which was quite a feat, but the MI6 agent was worried that he was going to faint if he didn't catch his bearings.
"Did I… say… anything else?"
Shengshun sounded almost scared and the expression in his dark eyes was almost pleading, as if begging the blonde to say 'no', which, coupled with his chalk-white skin made for quite a picture.
November shook his head and told the younger one that he hadn't said anything else – he didn't add that Shengshun hadn't needed to, to get his point across – were he to say that, it was probable that the younger man would faint in shock. Even now he looked pasty and there was an expression of self-reproaching anger and apprehension on his face.
Without giving himself time to think about it and without giving the dark haired male a chance to react, he wrapped his arms around the younger one for the second time that day (the third time if one counted the time where he had held the other down to prevent him from hurting himself).
Shengshun tensed and his hands pressed against November's chest, trying to get the older one to release him, but the blonde didn't budge – he held the dark haired man tightly enough to prevent him from freeing himself, but not tight enough to hurt him.
After some time though the younger male stopped struggling and leaned against him, apparently too tired to do anything else.
November smiled slightly at that thought and gently brushed his lips against the other one's forehead, which made Shengshun sigh in annoyance.
"How come you always end up putting me in compromising positions? First at the police-station where you held my hand, always making suggestive comments – half of the police-force probably thinks we are dating or something."
The Chinese man mumbled, but made no other move to free himself – instead he slowly, hesitantly, slid his arms around the older man, unsure about what he should do with them, so he simply decided to return the hug he was given.
November had no way of knowing it, but Shengshun couldn't remember the last time he had been held like this – gently and without a reason other than comfort.
The embrace some time ago didn't really count in Hei's head, as he wrote that off as November trying to prevent him from coughing his lungs out.
It had been necessary to help him even out his breathing and nothing else – or so he told himself – while November now hugged him simply because apparently the older man wanted to offer comfort. The blonde could have ignored the assassin's obvious discomfort, but he had chosen to try and help ease it.
Usually he was the one holding others, protecting others and it felt good to simply let down his guard while feeling the warmth of another body, of one that was trying to protect him.
He wondered if Pai had usually felt like this while he had held her.
Amber knew she shouldn't use her power for anything – the price for it was by far too great to pay – but she wanted out of the room now. The way the two other Contractors acted and talked made her feel like a voyeur and she had never felt more removed from the two men than she did now.
Both of them had been her friends – her comrades – at some point of time and just after she had met Hei, she had wondered how he would have gotten on with her pupil/partner November.
I guess that question is answered now.
A bitter smile was on her face as she thought about what she was witnessing. She had needed a lot of time to earn Hei's trust and there were some things he had never allowed her to do – like comforting him with simple gestures.
How long had the two men know each other? November had come to Japan only a couple of months earlier, so how was it possible that he had earned the trust of someone as jaded and distrustful as Hei in such a short time?
Desperately shaking that thought out of her mind, the Contractor used her power and froze time.
Every noise around her stopped and she slowly crawled out from underneath the bed, climbed to her feet and brushed dust off her clothes.
She only resisted the urge to look at her former comrades for a short time, until she raised her head and stared.
November was sitting on the bed, both of his arms wrapped around the younger man's form, his cheek resting on the dark head. Hei was leaning forward, against the blonde, his head resting against the older one's shoulder, his arms returning the comforting gesture and after Amber stepped a little closer, she noticed that his eyes were closed, a relaxed look visible on his face.
She had never seen him like that.
Even when they hadn't been on a mission, they had still been in an area that could have been attacked at any time and none of them had ever been truly relaxed.
Seeing Hei like this now was almost painful, though it could be that the relationship between the two men could work to their advantage – the assassin would be more likely to go along with her plan were he about to lose a beloved person that was a Contractor.
But it also meant that she would have to keep an eye on the Brit to make sure that nothing happened to him, after all he needed to be alive to be of use.
Amber slowly reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of Hei's face, careful not to change too much. She ached to press her lips against his forehead, but she didn't dare to. It was obvious that he wasn't hers now – she wasn't the person he trusted the most after the five years she hadn't seen him.
November had taken her place, as bitter as it was for her and she had no right to do something like that when her former friends were in such an intimate position.
Taking one last look at the two, she quickly made her way out of the room. She had people to contact, files and a diary to burn and explosions to plan.
November didn't want to let go.
Feeling the younger man lean against him felt strangely right and he enjoyed feeling the warmth of the dark haired one.
Despite that, he slowly loosened his arms and Shengshun too let go of him, leaning back against the headboard – it was a very awkward moment and neither of them really knew what to say to dispel the tension between them.
"I'm sorry – I shouldn't have acted that impulsively. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."
Before the Brit had even finished talking, the Chinese man was already shaking his head.
"You don't have to apologize. It's alright."
November relaxed when he heard those words, but as he wanted to reply, the door to the room was violently thrown open and a pale Decade stormed through the doorway.
"Jack, there is an emergency! I need you to look at something! And take the files with you."
The last sentence was added almost as an afterthought, but the way the older MI6 agent's eyes slid towards Shengshun made it almost seem as if he had said it deliberately.
November wondered why his superior would do something like that and, unable to find a decent explanation, he put it off as belonging to the 'strange-actions-of-someone-that-probably-won't-be-explained-and-must-therefore-be-ignored'-category of life and left it at that.
That didn't change the fact that he now had to explain to Decade why a bunch of high-security files had been stolen from a room nobody had had entry to – files that could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.
The Contractor could tell that this was going to be a conversation he definitely wouldn't enjoy.
He also wondered what on earth was important enough to make the usually composed senior agent look like he was having a heart attack.
Shengshun had watched all of this silently and November now took a look at him before turning back to his superior and answering.
"I'll be out in a second, go on ahead without me. I still have something to do."
Decade looked like he wanted to protest, but didn't. Instead he simply nodded and left the room, closing the door he had almost broken behind him.
The remaining MI6 agent turned back to the younger man in the room and swallowed thickly, not really believing what he was going to do next.
"What do you have to do? And what files was he talking about?"
Genuine confusion was visible on Shengshun's face and without thinking November answered while his eyes never left the dark haired man's face.
"I was given files about someone who betrayed my organisation and read them in this room. They were stolen while I was outside, talking to a nurse. You probably didn't notice anything because you were still out cold by that time. As for what I still have to do…"
The Brit paused and slowly moved closer to the younger man, one had cupping one of Shengshun's cheeks, a thumb slowly stroking one high cheekbone.
"I wanted to do this."
November raised his second hand to the dark haired male's face and leant in, gently pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss.
The younger one's lips were warm but chapped and November regretted that he didn't have the time to really savour it, but he had to go to Decade and kissing Shengshun any long could garner him a rather violent reaction, so he released the younger one and climbed to his feet, barely taking the time to wave at the still shocked man lying in the bed, staring at him with wide eyes before he left the room.
November's heart was pounding in his chest and after he closed the door behind him, he couldn't help but lean against it, wishing he could have initiated a more intimate kiss and also wishing that Shengshun would participate in it.
Then he started to walk towards Decade, who was waiting at the end of the hall, desperately trying to think of an excuse that could explain what had happened to the files he was supposed to take care of.
The Brit's ears were already ringing from all the shouting the older man was going to do and the tirade hadn't even started yet.
After November had left, Hei still continued to sit still like a statue, staring at the closed door as if it was a monster that was going to eat him any given moment.
The assassin had expected many things when he had questioned the older man, but never would he have thought of something like… like what had happened.
Slowly the dark haired man managed to regain his composure, but involuntarily a hand rose to cover his mouth and Hei lay down again, ignoring the pain the movement brought with it.
He didn't know what to think.
He and November had gotten along quite well and the assassin had to admit that something drew him to the older man, but the kiss just now had been completely unexpected.
When the MI6 agent had raised his hand, he had thought that maybe he wanted to shake hands (he was from Britain after all). When he had cupped his cheek, Hei had thought that maybe that was supposed to be a goodbye (though a rather strange one), but then the second hand had touched his face and November had-
Abruptly Hei cut off his thought, heat rising in his face and he groaned slightly, wishing he were still unconscious and drugged.
Wishing for something like this wouldn't make the problem go away though, so the Contractor would have to think about what to do and how to react to something like this.
Closing his eyes and thinking back to the situation, the assassin supposed that he had… enjoyed it. A little.
Sighing and wincing when the small movement brought pain (while he briefly wondered why the effect of the painkillers he had been given would already decrease) he mused that it hadn't been unpleasant.
November's lips had been softer than his own (well, he also hadn't been hit by a bomb) and it had been obvious that he had know what he was doing, his mouth easily covering the younger man's in just the right angle and pressure to make sure it was obvious what he had been doing, but not enough to turn it into something more heated.
Hei's face burned at that thought.
He really didn't know why he was that embarrassed. It wasn't the first time he had kissed someone, or had been kissed by someone so there was really no reason to feel like his head would explode from all the blood streaming into it, but he really couldn't help it.
Angrily the assassin clenched a fist – he hadn't felt like this when he had kissed the doll that had been a double for Shinoda Chiaki, so it angered him that he now felt this weak at the mere thought of a kiss.
Maybe, a voice told him, he felt like this because it had been November 11 who had kissed him – someone he had a connection with and whom he liked. Sometimes.
Hei wanted to deny that thought, but somehow he couldn't.
He had never been particularly good at lying to himself, even though he could be indecisive sometimes and he really couldn't deny that his first kiss in years had felt good, even though – or maybe because of – it had been with an arrogant, blonde, British snob, who by the way was also a Contractor.
And too curious for his own good and kind to his friends and not nearly as cold and reserved as he seemed to be at first glance and horrible at making jokes and strange in a good way and he had these really blue eyes and he loved to tease his team-mates and-
Hei really had to wonder when he had managed to find out that much about the older man when he had spent a lot of his time trying to avoid the other one.
He had enjoyed the kiss, he could admit that, but what did that mean for him now?
He didn't know if the reason behind November's actions was really a romantic one or if he had simply done it to continue to comfort him as a friend.
Hei decided that he would ask when the older man was back – there was no use in prolonging the inevitable after all.
Tiredly November exited the hospital, July close behind him.
Decade had been livid when he had heard that the younger agent had lost the files ("I didn't lose them, they were stolen!") due to his irresponsibility ("I wasn't irresponsible, I was outside talking to a nurse! How is talking to a nurse about the condition of one of your friends irresponsible?!") and he had ignored November's every attempt of trying to calm him down while he had ranted, before growing even more livid when he had realised that they had been stolen before the Contractor had even gotten the chance to fully read them ("I'm telling you, it wasn't my fault!").
November knew that this was going to have dire consequences, since, apparently he had lost the original files and there hadn't been any copies – which made him wonder why Decade always dragged around February's files.
The older agent had told him to go after the bombers that had started to destroy one building after another after he had been finished with his lecture and November was more than glad to oblige.
Of course, he would have rather spent his time with Shengshun, but he thought that after kissing the younger man it would be a good idea to leave him alone to think for a while and the Brit had to admit that he, too, had to think about several things.
For instance when his orientation had changed and when he had started to want the Chinese man as a lover.
He couldn't think of a concrete time, but he had to admit that he had felt some kind of attraction ever since he had first seen the younger male. It had only been strengthened by Shengshun's explosion (he couldn't help but grimace at his own choice of words) after being teased and by hearing about the younger man's past, but he knew that he had first realised it on that night, where the both of them had helped Mei Ling and Yîng escape.
And it hadn't gone away – no matter how much November cursed it or ignored it or tried to make it leave, it stayed and even grew stronger until the event today had happened, where the Brit had been unable to contain himself.
Sighing deeply he ignored July's gaze and instead continued to walk towards the car-park he had parked his car in (thus car-park), the Doll following him obediently.
Hadn't November known better, he would have said that his day couldn't get any worse, but being who he was and having the experience he had, he didn't say it, not wanting to tempt fate into doing something horrible to him.
Well, this is it for this chapter (already...). If you find any mistakes please tell me and I'll do my best to fix them, as always.
Just as a question - does anyone think I'm being too hard on Amber? I'm doing my best to hold back, but I'm not really sure how well I succeed.
Yours,
TTF
