Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, not even the computer I type this on, although I do tend to hog it according to my mother.
Author's Note: Thanks, again, to Mandi for not killing me when I was writing this and didn't know what was going to happen next in it. It's almost over now. *evil grin* I'm not telling whether that's going to end up going a good or bad thing. I will answer questions that have cropped up and aren't so much answered in the story, like the identity of the Others, in the last chapter. So...Is everyone up for an angsty ending or what?
Redemption...
He had hardly begun to wake when the tickling sensation began in the back of his mind. It vaguely registered on the tail end of his fading dream, Jason's hands tangling in his loose hair, undisturbed and safe in a glen on some distant plane of existence.
Peace, it was peaceful here; he had almost forgotten what that meant...
Warm sunlight breezed through the branches of the trees that sheltered them from prying, damning, hurtful eyes. Those things were not here. Only them. Jason, Tommy and that growing presence within him. Not like the shadows, the Others. Softer, warmer, gentle and tender, it eased away the lingering hurts inside him, lifting the darkness out of his soul with careful nudges so it would not cling to him and ripe him away with it.
The glen was vanishing, slipping from his mind as consciousness filtered in but Jason and that presence, that light remained. He did not open his eyes, did not fight the changes within him, trusted Jason, who he knew wielded that light freeing him.
Jason's love, so powerful, so pure, so completing, seemed to question him gently even as it rocked him in a tender, affectionate embrace. He was asking permission to do... whatever this was.
Tommy sighed softly in contentment, giving himself up to his beloved completely. Never had he felt so vulnerable or so safe. He felt Jason's smile dimly, and the gentle brush of his mind connecting as he bound them together to finish the task he had begun.
Tommy gasped, heat and light flowing through him, blinding him to everything else, and burning away all traces of what had been done to him. He felt strength being poured into him, felt himself made whole again, felt Jason reach out and join with him on more levels than he understood.
For a few, short eternities he remained hovering there, in that place without name or description, then slowly, gently, it receded. He felt dazed; swaying as reality settled back into his mind. It took him a few moments to regain his scattered wits but gradually it dawned on him...
He was no longer cold.
The ever present chill that had dogged him since the Night had vanished. His pulse rose as he realized what this meant. Jason had done it! He was no longer damned! Jason had...
Tommy gave a startled, dismayed cry as he opened his eyes, intent on kissing his beloved senseless, and found Jason was slumped over, breathing shallowly, a trickle of blood running down his chin. Exhausted, pained eyes, half open and dazed, met his panicked gaze evenly, helping to calm him only slightly.
Tommy began easing Jason onto his back but thought better of it as his love started hacking, more blood spilling over those pale lips. He tenderly laid Jason more comfortably on his side, frowning as he felt the feverish heat radiating off his sickly looking skin. Too much heat, Jason had pushed too hard...
Reluctantly leaving Jason's side, he retrieved three wet, cool wash cloth and glass of cold water.
He carefully cleaned the bloody mouth before tossing one cloth away. The others were laid on his bare chest and forehead, in hopes of dulling the ravaging heat that tore through the weak body. With extraordinary care Tommy lifted Jason's head enough to tip water past his lips. Jason sputtered for a moment but was able to slowly sip the cold liquid, cooling his raw throat.
"...tommy..." Jason gasped his voice barely a raw whisper.
"Shh," Tommy soothed, stroking the dark hair with great tenderness. "Hush now. You gave too much. You need to rest."
"...no..." Jason protested weakly. "...you'mus...fac...em..."
"What?" Tommy exclaimed. "You don't know what you're saying! No, you rest for now. I'll distract them; lead them away long enough for you to heal. We'll meet up..."
"No!" Jason tried to say more but his words were lost in a bout of violent coughing. His body convulsed, prompting Tommy to gather his ailing love in his arms and hold the trembling, overtaxed body close, making nonsense, shushing noises as Jason fought for control.
"...no..." Jason wheezed, his eyes drooping against his wishes, he could feel himself being pulled into unconsciousness. "...must...face...only...wa'to...en't..."
"I'm not strong enough," Tommy whispered, feeling a bead of salty water roll down his cheek as Jason shuddered in his arms.
Jason stilled and the midnight eyes caught Tommy's, refusing to let them go. "...if you...believed...in...yourself...half...asmu-uch...as I'do...you'd...have...n...no..doubts..."
"Jason..." Tommy murmured, his eyes obscured by tears.
"...hav't...nd't..." Jason slurred. "...s'ony...way..."
Tommy started, realizing he was losing Jason. "Stay with me, love. Please, I can't do this without you. I need you. I need you to come back to."
"...love...you..." Jason managed, his body going limp as the pain carried him away into the welcoming reprieve of unconsciousness. "...be...here..."
"Jason!" Tommy spent several precious moments trying to wake Jason. It was a lost cause. His love had surrendered to what he hoped, prayed, was a deep, healing sleep.
He sat on his haunches, staring at the pale, slack face of his love, his world, and let the tears drip down his face in streams of grief, pain, bewilderment and panic. He was lost. He had received this wonderful, life-saving gift but it could cost him the only love, light, he had to cling to, to see him through the darks days.
Tommy began stroking Jason's hair, his fingertips becoming wet from the water that dripped from the clothe cooling his feverish forehead. It calmed him, touching his love, offering comfort even though it could not be felt. It helped him to be able to lay fingertips upon his love that were no longer damned, which no longer held the scars of his fight against the shadows. Fingers that were fit to touch the soft skin of the blessed creature that had somehow come to love him enough to let his demon skin lay against his when Tommy had still been one of the lost, fallen Others.
Now he could lay in Jason's arms without shame, without feeling a sense of wrongness for soiling his beloved with his cursed touch, and he had no chance to enjoy it as he had before the Others had claimed him. He could only hope he would get that chance.
He knew what he had to do to earn it.
Author's Note: Thanks, again, to Mandi for not killing me when I was writing this and didn't know what was going to happen next in it. It's almost over now. *evil grin* I'm not telling whether that's going to end up going a good or bad thing. I will answer questions that have cropped up and aren't so much answered in the story, like the identity of the Others, in the last chapter. So...Is everyone up for an angsty ending or what?
Redemption...
He had hardly begun to wake when the tickling sensation began in the back of his mind. It vaguely registered on the tail end of his fading dream, Jason's hands tangling in his loose hair, undisturbed and safe in a glen on some distant plane of existence.
Peace, it was peaceful here; he had almost forgotten what that meant...
Warm sunlight breezed through the branches of the trees that sheltered them from prying, damning, hurtful eyes. Those things were not here. Only them. Jason, Tommy and that growing presence within him. Not like the shadows, the Others. Softer, warmer, gentle and tender, it eased away the lingering hurts inside him, lifting the darkness out of his soul with careful nudges so it would not cling to him and ripe him away with it.
The glen was vanishing, slipping from his mind as consciousness filtered in but Jason and that presence, that light remained. He did not open his eyes, did not fight the changes within him, trusted Jason, who he knew wielded that light freeing him.
Jason's love, so powerful, so pure, so completing, seemed to question him gently even as it rocked him in a tender, affectionate embrace. He was asking permission to do... whatever this was.
Tommy sighed softly in contentment, giving himself up to his beloved completely. Never had he felt so vulnerable or so safe. He felt Jason's smile dimly, and the gentle brush of his mind connecting as he bound them together to finish the task he had begun.
Tommy gasped, heat and light flowing through him, blinding him to everything else, and burning away all traces of what had been done to him. He felt strength being poured into him, felt himself made whole again, felt Jason reach out and join with him on more levels than he understood.
For a few, short eternities he remained hovering there, in that place without name or description, then slowly, gently, it receded. He felt dazed; swaying as reality settled back into his mind. It took him a few moments to regain his scattered wits but gradually it dawned on him...
He was no longer cold.
The ever present chill that had dogged him since the Night had vanished. His pulse rose as he realized what this meant. Jason had done it! He was no longer damned! Jason had...
Tommy gave a startled, dismayed cry as he opened his eyes, intent on kissing his beloved senseless, and found Jason was slumped over, breathing shallowly, a trickle of blood running down his chin. Exhausted, pained eyes, half open and dazed, met his panicked gaze evenly, helping to calm him only slightly.
Tommy began easing Jason onto his back but thought better of it as his love started hacking, more blood spilling over those pale lips. He tenderly laid Jason more comfortably on his side, frowning as he felt the feverish heat radiating off his sickly looking skin. Too much heat, Jason had pushed too hard...
Reluctantly leaving Jason's side, he retrieved three wet, cool wash cloth and glass of cold water.
He carefully cleaned the bloody mouth before tossing one cloth away. The others were laid on his bare chest and forehead, in hopes of dulling the ravaging heat that tore through the weak body. With extraordinary care Tommy lifted Jason's head enough to tip water past his lips. Jason sputtered for a moment but was able to slowly sip the cold liquid, cooling his raw throat.
"...tommy..." Jason gasped his voice barely a raw whisper.
"Shh," Tommy soothed, stroking the dark hair with great tenderness. "Hush now. You gave too much. You need to rest."
"...no..." Jason protested weakly. "...you'mus...fac...em..."
"What?" Tommy exclaimed. "You don't know what you're saying! No, you rest for now. I'll distract them; lead them away long enough for you to heal. We'll meet up..."
"No!" Jason tried to say more but his words were lost in a bout of violent coughing. His body convulsed, prompting Tommy to gather his ailing love in his arms and hold the trembling, overtaxed body close, making nonsense, shushing noises as Jason fought for control.
"...no..." Jason wheezed, his eyes drooping against his wishes, he could feel himself being pulled into unconsciousness. "...must...face...only...wa'to...en't..."
"I'm not strong enough," Tommy whispered, feeling a bead of salty water roll down his cheek as Jason shuddered in his arms.
Jason stilled and the midnight eyes caught Tommy's, refusing to let them go. "...if you...believed...in...yourself...half...asmu-uch...as I'do...you'd...have...n...no..doubts..."
"Jason..." Tommy murmured, his eyes obscured by tears.
"...hav't...nd't..." Jason slurred. "...s'ony...way..."
Tommy started, realizing he was losing Jason. "Stay with me, love. Please, I can't do this without you. I need you. I need you to come back to."
"...love...you..." Jason managed, his body going limp as the pain carried him away into the welcoming reprieve of unconsciousness. "...be...here..."
"Jason!" Tommy spent several precious moments trying to wake Jason. It was a lost cause. His love had surrendered to what he hoped, prayed, was a deep, healing sleep.
He sat on his haunches, staring at the pale, slack face of his love, his world, and let the tears drip down his face in streams of grief, pain, bewilderment and panic. He was lost. He had received this wonderful, life-saving gift but it could cost him the only love, light, he had to cling to, to see him through the darks days.
Tommy began stroking Jason's hair, his fingertips becoming wet from the water that dripped from the clothe cooling his feverish forehead. It calmed him, touching his love, offering comfort even though it could not be felt. It helped him to be able to lay fingertips upon his love that were no longer damned, which no longer held the scars of his fight against the shadows. Fingers that were fit to touch the soft skin of the blessed creature that had somehow come to love him enough to let his demon skin lay against his when Tommy had still been one of the lost, fallen Others.
Now he could lay in Jason's arms without shame, without feeling a sense of wrongness for soiling his beloved with his cursed touch, and he had no chance to enjoy it as he had before the Others had claimed him. He could only hope he would get that chance.
He knew what he had to do to earn it.