Here begins the final part of this story. The chapters from here on are a little shorter - mostly because that's just how they worked out - but I hope you'll enjoy them.

Part 3: Spiral

Chapter 1: Just wrap me up in chains

The following morning, Otabek wakes suddenly when JJ shakes him roughly by the shoulders.

"Otabek! Otabek wake up!"

He hasn't heard that tone in JJ's voice in months – it puts him on edge right away and he sits up, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he focuses on JJ's face.

"What's wrong?" he asks. After half a moment looking around the room, he adds, "Where's Yuri?"

JJ presses a sheet of paper into Otabek's chest. "Read this."

Otabek takes the paper in hand as JJ launches himself back off the bed to retrieve clothes. The note is short and scribbled, the lines of text uneven:

Моя любовь –

I'm sorry. I don't expect you to understand this but please know it's the only thing I can do. I found out people from Almaty have found us here and I brokered a deal. I'm the one they want. You're both safe and so is Grandpa but only if I hand myself over. Please don't come after me. Just let me go, find somewhere new and be happy together. Remember me if you want to.

I love you. I love you so much.

Your Yuri

Even after reading the note twice, Otabek barely feels the words sinking in. He lifts his gaze to JJ once more.

"When did you find this?"

"Just now," says JJ, stepping into his jeans. "He must have left during the night." He pulls them up and zips them, raising his eyebrows at Otabek. "Well? Are you going to sit there looking gormless all day or are you going to get dressed and come help me?"

Seemingly roused by either the words or JJ's tone, Otabek finally scrambles out from under the duvet and dives for his own jeans, tugging them hurriedly on. "What's the plan? Do you have a plan?"

"Not in the slightest," says JJ with a shake of his head. "But we have to go find him."

Otabek frowns at the note as the searches for a t-shirt to put on – everything he pulls out of the drawer seems to be Yuri's. "He's not going to be happy with us for going after him."

JJ folds his arms. "Are you suggesting we don't?"

"Not for a second." Otabek looks up, fixing JJ with a serious look. "But we're going to have to be careful if men from Almaty are here. We have to find him but you know he'll kill us if we put ourselves in danger."

JJ seems to consider this, leaning against the bedroom doorway while Otabek finally finds a t-shirt and pulls it on. Underneath the fabric, Otabek's heart is racing along with his thoughts, visiting every possibility but not daring to actually consider any of them in any real way. The idea of Yuri leaving them like this hurts unbearably; Otabek feels sick to his stomach and he can see the same fear in JJ's eyes.

Yuri almost certainly meant it when he wrote that note: he doesn't want them following him, whatever the reason, and Otabek knows if – when – they find him, he'll chew them both out. That is if he doesn't run first, which Otabek wouldn't put past him. It's not a question of whether they follow or not – they don't have a choice, not really – but what might happen next.

No matter what, they have no time to lose – of that they can both be certain – but once Otabek has shrugged on his hoodie and grabbed his keys and phone, he stops, looking at JJ again.

"I... don't know where to begin," he admits.

He wonders if JJ might be about to reveal some grand plan but then he shakes his head in defeat. "I don't know either."

They gaze at each other for a long moment – Otabek can feel the cogs turning in his own head and see the same look in JJ's eyes – before the pair of them sink back down onto the bed together.

"I can't even think where he could be," says JJ, staring at his knees. "I know we've been here a while but this place is still lost on me. What about you?"

"I mean... I know parts of it kind of well," reasons Otabek, "but if he's got any kind of bolthole from when he was younger he hasn't told either of us and we won't find it on our own." He frowns, thinking of something. "You tried calling him, right?"

JJ looks at him with a frown. "I assumed he wouldn't answer."

"So you didn't try?" asks Otabek.

JJ flushes a little. "Well, no, I... I panicked when I found the note and came to wake you."

The look of worry on his face is so pronounced that Otabek can't help reaching out and pulling him into a hug, kissing him on the cheek and holding him close. He's trembling all over and he clings to Otabek, as though afraid of losing him too. Otabek curls protectively against him, giving in to the urge to hold and be held, letting JJ's familiar scent give him some comfort in the maelstrom of fear and worry raging through him. Eventually JJ sniffs and shifts in his arms and Otabek lets go, leaving one last steadying kiss on JJ's lips as they part and he retrieves his phone.

"I'll try him," he says as he opens his contacts and finds Yuri. "He might not answer."

JJ nods and Otabek makes the call, putting it on speaker. For some time they sit in silent limbo, waiting for it to connect. Otabek feels as though he's holding his breath for an eternity, running through every possible scenario in his head. He's never been all that religious – he spent too much time as a kid getting into trouble to listen to his äje when she told him he should come to mosque more often – but now he prays to every single deity he can think of that Yuri will just answer and they can persuade him to come home so they can figure things out together. But his silent prayers are in vain: it goes to voicemail, the automated voice telling them to leave a message. He's about to hang up but JJ's hand closes around his wrist and JJ leans in towards the phone.

"Yura," he says after the beep. "We just got your note and we know you're scared but please... come home or at least call us. We'll get through this together – we always have before and we love you so much. Please, just..." He swallows, blinking back tears, and Otabek takes over, putting his free hand on JJ's knee.

"Yura," he says, astounded at the steadiness of his voice. "We love you and we want to help you. Please... don't do this. We'll both keep our phones on and really hope to hear from you." He hovers on the word 'bye' – something in him protests at the finality of it, afraid of it being the last thing he says to him. The possibility clogs his throat and makes his eyes sting. Instead, he squeezes JJ's knee and says "love you" once more before hanging up.

The bedroom goes silent once again and Otabek drops his phone on the bed, resting his chin in his hand while his other stays on JJ's knee. His mind is racing, going through possibilities and scenarios, and for a moment he wants to just sink back into the bed with JJ and try not to think for a while. But then an idea hits him.

He stands, pulling JJ up with him.

"What's up?" JJ asks.

Otabek looks up at him, brows furrowed. "Get your shoes – we're going to speak to Viktor."

Stay - Shakespears Sister