He just held him there for a while, breathing in his sent. Soon though, Cain slipped from his chest, as he settled in to curl up against Zero's side. Zero perked his head up, looking to see Jeb though the fading light that was dusk. He saw the boy was still watching them, content within his eyes while there was a mess on his clothes. Zero just smiled at him before waving him over.
Jeb smiled, got up to his feet and walked over to the two. Zero held out an arm for Jeb to cuddle on his other side. Jeb just shook his head, moving to the other side of Cain before lying down. This really puzzled Zero, as he watched Jeb cuddle up to Cain. Cain looked equally confused. Soon Jeb began to whisper into Cain's ear. After a moment, Cain just smiled and nodded to Jeb.
'OK, what is going on here?' Zero thought as he watched the Cain men smile at each other.
"We need to go get ourselves cleaned up." He heard Cain say.
"Yes, we are going to go take another bath, down by the lake." Jeb said as he and Wyatt got to their feet.
"Good because I need to get myself clean up as well." Zero said getting to his feet as well.
"Nah, there is a towel in the backpack as well as a canteen that has some water in it. You can get yourself clean up while me and Wyatt go do so by the lake." Zero knew he wanted to join them, but he could tell that Jeb was pleading for him to stay, as he started to drag Cain off again.
"I'll get myself cleaned up and get some food going I guess." Zero said
"There is some can goods and stuff in the pack, make yourself at home." Jeb said before he and Cain disappeared again.
'I wonder what that boy is up to.' Zero thought as he pulled open the pack, finding what he need to get himself cleaned up. Once that was done Zero pulled out the food, which wasn't much.
'I thought the resistance would have a stock ply of wonderful foods' Zero thought sarcastically.
'Yes, whatever was left after the Sorceress destroyed their farmland and took most of their crops for her army.'
Zero just sighed as he took some of the dried meat, and fruit from the pack, laying it over to the side. He soon found some can vegetables and some light cooking utensils.
Zero sighed slightly, wanting to check up on his boys, but knew they wanted their privacy, so Zero started to pick up some fire wood from around the area to make a fire. The least he could do was have camp ready for them when they returned.
Zero noticed that there were only two blankets within the bunch, but they were nice sized, making Zero think, that Jeb was not planning for them to be sleeping anywhere but together tonight. But hey, so was he.
He made the 'bed' for the three of them, close to the fire to keep warm as he went about warming up what little food Jeb was able to salvage.
After a while, when they did not show up, Zero started to worry slightly. The night had settled around them and he thought that they might have lost their way.
'Or maybe something else could have happen to them.'
Zero was thinking about his likelihood of him finding the lake, in the dark, without getting too lost when he heard some rustling within the woods.
"Jeb? Wyatt?" he called out. Silence. This unnerved Zero a little and made him worry more. He stood up from where he was, and started to edge himself closer to the pack. Maybe Jeb packed a knife or maybe a gun within that he had not found. He was not even two steps when he saw the blur. It was on him in a flash, knocking him off his feet, landing him on his back, as a pain shot up his ass, that took most of the force, up his spine.
Zero hissed out, knowing there was someone on him, pinning his hips down to the floor with their body. It wasn't tell he heard the giggle of Jeb Cain did he even try to focus on the boy, holding him down.
"Jeb! What the fuck are you doing? You scared the shit out of me." Jeb just smiled down at him as Zero noticed an equally happy Cain behind Jeb's shoulders.
"See you need to be on guard more." Jeb said as he went to give Zero a peck on the lips. "You never know, there might be a resistance fighter walking through these woods, set on revenge." Zero just smiled and pointed at Jeb. Jeb rolled his eyes. "Another one!" Zero just smiled wider as he pointed to the smiling Cain behind them. "You know what I mean, you snarky bastard." Jeb said as he got off Zero.
"Hey, my parents were married." Zero said, getting up, rubbing his now sore ass.
"Yes, baby Adrian." Wyatt piped up as he sat around the campfire.
"Hey, I was not the baby!" Zero said as he pointed to the food that was warm by the fire, as he sat beside Cain. Jeb moved across the fire, watching the two of them.
"Lilly never counted, you where the baby boy, so you where the baby in your parents eyes." Cain felt Zero's shoulder push into Cain's with a playful push. "Speaking of which, how is the family?"
Zero's smile faded at this as he took a more serious tone.
"Most of them are alive and well, despite everything, though Father passed away about four years ago."
"About damn time. How?" He could tell that Jeb was shocked at his father's words, but he kept quiet as they spoke.
"He thought he did not have to obey the law since his baby boy had such a high influence on the Sorceress. I'm sure that he was not a happy camper when he found out that baby boy was the one who put the order in for his execution." Jeb could not keep his mouth shut after that.
"Why would you want to kill your own father?" Zero turned to look at Cain,
"You didn't tell him?"
"I told him the how, not the why."
"I really should smack you for that too, that was cruel you know?"
"I know, but we needed the information, and I was not thinking very clearly at that moment."
Zero glanced at Jeb before looking back at Cain, "That seems to be contagious, but I guess I can understand that."
"What the fuck are you two talking about? Does this have to do with the fact that Zero can't stand anyone messing with his fingers?" Jeb said. When he saw Zero stiffen a little he could tell he got it right. "What happened?"
"When I was young, my father got hurt on the job, so my mother had to take over it for him. So father was left to raise me and Lilly, while the older ones helped mom out. He was not the best with his parenting skills." He said trailing off.
"What did he do?" Jeb said. Cain could see that Zero was having trouble talking at that moment.
"Whenever Adrian would act up or pretty much was just being a little kid, his father would get upset. He would take Adrian's hands, put them in an open doorway and.." Cain made a motion of closing the door. Jeb's eyes got wide at that.
"Dear God, that's terrible." Jeb said and then his eyes got impossibly wide, "And that is what you made me use against him." Jeb could feel the bile rise in his throat at that as he saw Zero's emotionless face staring into the fire.
"But Adrian was a protector even back then, at an early age. He knew that Lilly could not take them as well, so whenever his father would question them about something, Adrian always stood up and claimed that was his fault, taking the punishment for his sister whenever he could. He was always trying to do what was right, even if it was not in his best interest." Cain spoke, wrapping his arm over Zero's shoulder.
"How could anyone do that to a child?" Jeb said out loud.
"It was a rage within, at the loss of his livelihood, that he had a hard time controlling. Something he passed on to his son." Zero said softly, still gazing within the fire. "God I'm just like him, aren't I?"
"No you're not." Cain said quickly.
"I never truly understood my father until I became him." Zero said softly.
"Hey!" Cain said which got Zero to look up from the fire, and look at Cain. "You are nothing like your father!"
"How am I different?"
"You felt guilty over what you did. Your father never was remorseful over the things he did. That is the difference between being a human being and a monster."
"But I am a monster." Zero said quietly.
"Adrian Orion Zero! Don't make me punch some sense into you. You have never been a monster. You let your anger get the best of you, yes, but you never let it consume you until there was nothing else left. Your father was a twisted, bitter old man who should have never done that to you." Cain finished. After a moment of silence, a loud growl came from the other side of the fire. Both Cain and Zero looked over at Jeb, who was currently wearing a sheepish, little smile.
"What? I'm hungry!" He said before picking up a piece of dried fruit. Zero just started to chuckle at this, low and deep. Then the chuckle started to grow into a full loud, laugh. Cain just smiled up at Zero.
"I think Jeb's right." Cain said. "We all need to get something in us." he finished as he went to pick a few items to eat out of what Zero had prepared for them. They all started to eat the small meal that was prepared for them. They eat in silence for a moment before Zero piped up.
"So what did you two talk about while taking your bath, or is it all Hush hush?"
"And what makes you think we talked about anything?" Jeb said, teasingly.
"Because you both seemed, I don't know, more relaxed when you came back." Jeb looked over at Cain with a smile, and Cain just smiled back.
"There may have been some conversation that took place, yes." Cain said.
"And may I ask what it was about?" Zero said
"You." Cain answered.
"Oh really? And what did you two talk about concerning me?" Zero said. Jeb spoke this time.
"After watching you two, I realized that I had no right to get in between you two. After that, we talked about our love for you, we talked about sharing and we came to the concussion that we may not be sure about us." Jeb pointed to Cain and himself. "But we are sure about us." he said pointing to all three of them. "Neither one of us want to give you up, but we are willing to share you."
Zero turned to look at Cain, and Cain nodded at him.
"Your both really OK with this?" Zero questioned.
"Yes." Cain said. "After we get things settled with the queen, we both would like to find some quiet place, off somewhere and start a life with you, just the three of us. A farm maybe. Was also thinking of taking up the family trade, if there was a need for it." Zero just smiled at him. Soon they both heard Jeb yawn loudly.
"I guess it is getting late." Zero said, looking at the sleepy Jeb.
"Yes it is, and it's been a very busy day, saving the world and all." Cain said.
"My hero!" Zero said before he moved to wrap his arms around Cain playfully. Jeb just laughed at them.
"And why am I choosing to spend the rest of my life with you two?" Cain said as he rolled his eyes.
"Cause you love us." Zero purred back. Cain chuckled.
"I do at that. Time for bed guys." Cain said. They started to clean up dinner and get ready for bed. They all three snuggled onto the blanket they shared. Zero was in the middle on his side with Cain behind him, arm wrapped around Zero's middle. Jeb was curled up in Zero's chest as Zero wrapped his arms around Jeb, pulling him deeper into his chest. Zero just laid there in the warmth, letting his nose pick up the scents of both the men surrounding him. He listened as Jeb fell asleep within his arms. Soon after that, Cain joined him. Zero just smiled, content, for the first time in the longest time as he let himself drift off to sleep.