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Fallen Angel Ch. 2 – Burmingville

Draco slowed his horse's pace to a light trot several miles outside of the town of Fallen Angel. Since there was no way for any of the townspeople to catch them, there hadn't really been a need to travel as quickly as they had, aside from Draco's wish to be home that much sooner. Few of those deprived people had ever seen a horse, much less owned one. It was evident that the boy clinging to him as if his life depended on it had never ridden one before. And yes, it was a boy.

Draco sighed. Why hadn't his father told him? Keeping Draco in the dark about these things was of no benefit to anyone. Granted, had he known Evans was a …male prostitute…he may not have been as willing to retrieve his father's precious 'package.' Hell, if Evans had been a female prostitute Draco would have probably had second thoughts.

At any rate, it didn't matter all that much now. Draco had already stolen away the, apparently, most popular body for sale from "The Saloon". He had always thought that sleeping with people for money was a disgusting thing to do and he had looked down on those who, he believed, sold themselves for a good fuck. Draco shuddered at the prospect of being used like that over and over again before he felt small arms squeeze him a little bit tighter.

"Hey, Evans? You okay back there?" He felt the head that was buried into his back nod.

"Yeah. I'm fine. This thing just moves a lot. I feel like I'm going to fall off," came the muffled verbal reply.

"Don't worry, you won't fall." The head previously embedded in his back lifted slightly and green eyes looked up at the side of his face.

"How, how much longer until I can get off this black…moving…animal thing." Draco suppressed a smirk.

"It's called a horse remember?"

"Sure. But, how long?" Draco looked around at his surroundings. The sun was starting to come up in the east and the men accompanying him seemed to be nodding off in their saddles. Draco rolled his eyes, knowing they probably didn't do much sleeping last night. He turned his gaze to the north, the direction they were heading, and searched the flat horizon.

"I'd say another hour or two. Then we'll be in Burmingville. No more horse riding once we get there." Evans nodded and returned his head to its former position of in between Draco's shoulder blades. It was then that Draco realized that he had no idea what Evans's first name was. Of course, now was not the time to be asking. Draco sighed again and wondered why he had agreed to this in the first place.

Flashback

"You wished to see me Father," Draco said confidently as he entered his father's study.

"Yes, Draco. I did. There is something I'd like to discuss with you. Have a seat." The older man gestured to a chair opposite his own which Draco immediately took. "As you know, our company has been doing increasingly well over the past few years." Draco nodded. "You also know of the work I do…on the side." Draco jiggled his foot impatiently as he replied,

"Yes Father. I am aware." It was Lucius's turn to nod.

"Well son, I have decided to include you in the inner workings of all aspects of the company." Draco's foot ceased it's movements and he stared at his father for a long moment before realizing the man wanted a response.

"In what way?" Draco asked cautiously. Lucius merely smirked.

"In every way. You have become well versed in the ways of normal corporate activity as it is carried out here and Malfoy Inc. Now it is time for you to get a feel for the other side of business." Draco shifted in his chair.

"Do you mean to say…are you telling me that I'm being sent out?" His father looked him over, as if appraising him, before answering.

"Yes Draco. That is what I'm telling you. You and five others will go to collect a very special…item. It will take no more than four days at most. What do you think?" Draco pondered for a moment, weighing his options. He could decline and lose face in the eyes of his father, or he could accept and involve himself in something potentially dangerous…not to mention illegal. As if he had a choice.

"Tell me more."

End Flashback

For weeks after that initial encounter Lucius had strung Draco along, giving him all the details of haw they were to go about getting to the rural town of Fallen Angel to retrieve a very special 'item.' Draco often wondered how his father even knew of the town's existence. It had been the day before Draco headed out when Lucius had informed him of what the 'item' was.

"Draco, when you get to the Saloon ask for Evans."

"Will they have the package?"

"No. They are the package."

Draco had been floored, to say the least. He was being sent to the middle of nowhere to practically kidnap a complete stranger. Even now, he fought the urge to bang his head with the nearest blunt object, which happened to be the rifle attached to the saddle to his left, the saddle of John Herrington.

John was one of the five men sent with Draco, and the oldest. He was in his mid-fifties and has rapidly graying brown hair and brown eyes. He was trusted by Draco's father and sent mainly to make sure things ran smoothly. To the left of John, and a little behind, was one of the older members of the group at 42, Staci Tible. Staci was a large man with short, sandy blond hair and hazel eyes. He had been doing these kinds of things for Malfoy Inc. since he was 15 years old. His father before him had worked for the Malfoy's, but only as a computer programmer.

On Draco's right was Bill Weasley. He was tall with long, flaming red hair in a ponytail and light blue eyes. He had just turned 27 and was the only one of his large family to work at Malfoy Inc. thus far, even though his mother had run out on them long ago with the youngest child, a girl. A ways behind the group was Larry Clark, a muscular black man at the age of 35. He had no hair and was meant to look intimidating. He did his job well. On Larry's right was the last member of their group, and the youngest save Draco, and now Evans. Jimmy Rio was a newer employee of only 21. He was older than Staci had been when he started, but was still younger than most. He had black hair with a blue undertone and eyes the darkest blue Draco had ever seen. He was from America and came to England looking for a job, and his best friend whom he had lost touch with, three years ago. He found a job, but not his friend.

As the sun rose higher the desert they were traveling through grew hotter and hotter. Draco had long ago removed his jacket, but the added body heat of Evans pressed against his back was making him highly uncomfortable.

"Evans?" Draco was greeted by silence. "Evans? You asleep?" This seemed to be the most logical conclusion based on the fact that no response came. Well, that and the dramatic decline of pressure the small boy's arms had been applying to Draco's waist. "Great. Now what?" Draco asked himself. His back felt like it was about to burst into flames. Then an idea struck him.

Draco looked to the man on his left. "Hey John?" John looked over at the young leader of their group.

"Yes sir?" Draco rolled his eyes at the formal response.

"You want to take him for a while?" Draco jerked his head to indicate the sleeping boy behind him.

"Can't Draco. You're father was very specific. Only you handle the package. No one else." Draco growled in annoyance.

"I know John. But, come on. I'm going to have a fucking heat stroke," Draco complained.

"Sorry, kid. No can do." Draco just glared at the older man. "But I think I know what might help." Draco looked at John skeptically.

"What…?"

"Put him in front of you to let your back cool off. You can even take off your shirt. Black retains heat ya know." Draco thought about this for a moment. It sounded like a good idea, all except for the 'take off your shirt' part. Despite the fitness of his body, Draco was no exhibitionist. But he could always change shirts.

"Okay. Can you at least help me do that?" Draco asked. John smiled.

"Why of course." He brought his tan horse closer to Draco's black one. "Do ya think we should stop to do this?" Draco shook his head. He wanted to get to Burmingville as fast as humanly possible. John silently nodded and reached over with one of large arms and pulled Evans out of Draco's saddle and into his own. "Now hurry up and take off your shirt." Draco shot the graying man a shocked look.

"John! I had no idea you felt that way!" The other man just shook his head.

"Just do it."

"I'm going to change shirts, not just take this one off. So you have to hold on a minute." Draco stripped off his sweat stained shirt and threw it to the ground. There were plenty more where that came from. Draco vaguely heard a 'whatever' from John's general direction as he search for a new top before realizing his horse wasn't carrying any clothes. "Hey, who has an extra shirt?" he asked the group. Bill spoke up first.

"I think I got one. Just a sec." The red head turned to his saddlebag to extract the correct article of clothing. Around that moment was when both John and Staci's horses spotted a snake slithering away on the ground and decided to freak out.

"Whoa!" Both horses reared up in alarm as their riders tried desperately to calm them down. Draco watched, bare chest momentarily forgotten, as John held tight to Evans, who had woken up and was looking rather alarmed at being on top of a bucking horse in the arms of a strange man. When the horses did finally go back to their normal pace, the frightened boy all but tried to jump off the large animal he was riding.

"Calm down, boy!" John pleaded. "There's nothing you to worry about. The horse is fine now!" Far from being comforted, the small boy simply struggled harder in an effort to get away from this still foreign person. Draco took this as his cue to ride up beside the two struggling men.

"Evans. Hey," he spoke softly, reaching out a hand and touching the flailing boys arm. As soon as green eyes looked up all movement stopped.

"M-Malfoy?" Evans asked uncertainly.

"Yeah. Come here." Draco reached out his arms and John deposited the slightly shaking Evans into them. "Are you okay?" He asked uncertainly as his chest was latched onto. It was then that he realized, with slight annoyance, that he still wasn't wearing a shirt. He looked back and saw Bill trotting forward with a t-shirt in hand.

"Yeah. That thing…horse…just scared me. I didn't sign up for sporadic jumping fits. And I had no idea who that man was. I couldn't see his face. I don't like strange people touching me." Draco just patted the still shaking boys back with one hand, thinking it odd that Evans disliked being touched by people when that was what his entire job was about, while grabbing the shirt Bill offered him with the other.

"It's okay. But, can you sit up for a second? I need to put on a shirt." Evans looked up at Draco and then to the shirt in his hand in a very suspicious manner. "It'll only take a second," Draco ensured. Reluctantly, Evans let go enough of Draco for him to slip the t-shirt on over his head. As soon as it was in place Evans resumed his cling-to-Draco-for-dear-life routine.

"What kind of weird shirt is this?" he asked, sitting up slightly, looking at the green material.

"It's a t-shirt," Draco replied. "There are going to be a lot of new things for you to see where we're going." Evans nodded and looked at the shirt again. He pointed to a figure in the middle made of black velvet.

"What's that mean?" Draco looked down and saw a hand giving the finger. He immediately turned around and shot Bill, who only smiled and shrugged, a glare.

"That, well that is a rude hand gesture that certain people use toward other people that they don't really like. Or that piss them off," Draco explained. Evans tilted his head, a puzzled expression on his face.

"What's 'piss them off'?" He asked innocently. Draco blinked. This boy had no idea about anything. But what else did he expect?

"It means…to make someone mad." Evans nodded and tried to turn around from his sidesaddle position, to face where they were headed. With help from Draco he finally got situated and sat in a semi-comfortable silence while conversations continued on around them.

"I never thought I'd see the day-"

"-eat an enchilada,' but she said 'no, I ca-"

"-unar Eclipse is in a few weeks. Mary'll-"

Suddenly Draco remembered something. He still didn't know Evan's first name, and now seemed as good a time as any to ask. "Evans?"

"Hmm?" Came the sleepy reply from the body resting against his.

"What's your name?" The body shifted and a head of black hair was tilted back until Draco could see green eyes staring up at him and a smile playing on slightly chapped lips.

"Harry." Was all he said before returning to his normal position.

Draco nodded to himself. Harry. Harry Evans was a former prostitute, and future responsibility of Draco Malfoy.

"Nice to meet you Harry," Draco replied quietly some time later, after Harry had dozed off. That was the last thing either of them said before they reached Burmingville.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The sound of the piercing train bell penetrated the loud haze of sound from the people walking around town. It was also effective in jolting Harry from his peaceful sleep.

"Wha!" was the startled exclamation that left the boy's mouth as he looked at his surroundings, twisting his neck back and forth so fast that it nearly made Draco sick just watching.

"That was the train. We're in Burmingville," Draco said, hoping the boy in front of him would stop wiggling around in the saddle. However, Harry only seemed more interested in their surroundings and continued to take in as much as possible.

"Oh. What's that?" Harry asked, pointing to the left.

"A dog," Draco replied.

"Ah. So that's a dog."

Burmingville was just as old fashioned as Fallen Angel, but the atmosphere was decidedly better. As was the economy. The sky was clear and blue, which fascinated Harry, and the people were well fed and clothed.

"Draco," Larry called, riding up from the opposite direction with Staci. "The train leaves in an hour. Do you want us to go get the horses on board?"

"Yeah, Larry," Draco replied, gracefully swinging his leg over his horse and landing on the ground. "Be sure Bill and Jimmy don't get…distracted while we're here."

Staci laughed at this, and Larry simply nodded as he came forward, handing Draco two tickets and waiting to take his horse. However, Harry was still clutching to the saddle frantically now that no one was there to support him. Draco fought back the laughter that threatened to spill at the look of complete horror on the other boy's face.

"Evans…you aren't even moving." Harry shot Draco a glare, but the effect was lost due to the panic clearly written across his features.

"Shove it, Malfoy," he growled, tightening his hold on the saddle even more, causing his knuckles to become white. Draco just snickered.

"Come on, Draco. Help the kid down," Staci said from atop his horse, voice lined with amusement. "We're wasting time." The blonde boy shook his head.

"I want to see him do it himself," he turned to Harry. "Okay Evans. Just do what I did. Swing your leg over and put it on the ground." Green eyes widened considerably as they looked at Draco.

"You must be joking! No way. This thing will trample me."

"No he won't," Draco said, patting the horse's snout. "Shingle is a good horse. He only tramples annoying people. Besides, I'm right here. You'll be fine." Harry gave him a skeptical look, not knowing how much comfort he was supposed to derive from the fact that Draco was there. He barely knew the blond boy. But, everything had been okay so far…

"Alright," the small boy said reluctantly. "I'll get off the bloody horse 'all by myself.'" Draco smirked triumphantly.

"Good. It's really not that hard." Harry snorted as he prepared himself for his descent from the horse's back. He quickly stumbled across a problem though, his feet were unable to reach the stirrups and he couldn't bring his leg over the side of the great beast. Sighing in defeat, and annoyed by Draco's silent laughter, Harry did the only thing left he could think to do. He pulled his legs up into the saddle and jumped, landing right on top of the oblivious blond boy.

Draco had the wind knocked out of him as he felt something heavy land on him, sending him to the ground. After several long moments he felt the weight shift slightly and looked down to see Harry sitting cross-legged on his chest, arms crossed and green eyes glaring. Staci and Larry were riding off with Draco's horse in tow, laughing at the scene they had just witnessed.

"I can't breathe properly with you sitting on me," Draco said, trying to fill his constricted lungs with oxygen. Harry's glare intensified for a few seconds before he slid off the boy beneath him and stood up for the first him in hours, stretching as he did so.

"Next time help me, you evil little person," Harry replied coolly re-crossing his arms and looking after the retreating backs of Staci and Larry. Draco pulled himself up and used his right arm to support his weight.

"You did just fine. Except for the whole 'landing on me' thing. And you are the little one here. I am buff and manly," Draco bragged, flexing his left arm to prove his point. Harry put his hands on his hips as he turned towards Draco and grinned.

"Sure, whatever. And you were easier to get off of than the horse, and softer than the ground," the shorter boy said, leaning over the still sitting Draco slightly. Abruptly though, he turned and began walking away. "Come on. I haven't been outside in a while. Well, besides during the trip here. That wasn't too enjoyable though." Draco got up and dusted off his pants before going to catch up with Harry, who was ogling the display window of a bakery.

The next forty-five minutes were spent traipsing around the town with Harry looking at any and everything, while Draco explained the things his black haired companion didn't recognize. When they heard the trains whistle, signaling the call for passengers, they made their way over to the large transportation device, which caused Harry to pause with his mouth hanging open.

"I never thought I'd see a real train," Harry confessed softly as they made their way towards their seats. Draco looked at him oddly.

"I'm surprised you've even heard of trains." They sat down in a compartment with John, who had been exiled from the compartment with the other men due to lack of space.

"I read about them," Harry said, looking around.

"You can read?" Draco asked incredulously. Harry smiled and nodded his head vigorously.

"Yep. Ms. Molly taught me, and her daughter Eva. She had all sorts of books that she had brought with her from her old home," Harry explained happily.

"What kinds of books do y'like kid?" John asked, breaking into the conversation.

As Harry and John talked Draco simply observed the boy he had been charged with retrieving. He was nothing like Draco thought prostitutes would be, but he was generalizing based on the few that he had met. He expected them to be cheap, sluttish whores who weren't as…innocent as Harry seemed.

"Sometimes Mr. Paul would bring back a newspaper from Wellington, the town with the coalmine. Those were always fun to read," Harry was saying.

"Well, when we get you to where you need to be, I'm sure Draco here will set you up with lots of books. Woncha Draco?" John asked. Draco looked languidly out the window.

"Yes, yes. You can read to your heart's content." Harry very nearly radiated excitement. The boy obviously had a thirst for knowledge. This was a good thing. Hopefully he would be able to adapt to the world he was going to be introduced to. Draco doubted that he had ever seen anything outside the 'Saloon' before he had been whisked away. This is what Draco contributed his uncanny wide-eyed innocence to.

He turned and saw Harry was looking out the window at the passing landscape with an expression of pure wonder. If he could be so enraptured by simple cow pastures he was in for a real shock when they got to the city.

Suddenly, Harry's expression went blank and he sat perfectly still. Draco and John looked at each other in alarm before John reached out to the petrified looking boy next to him. "Hey, Evans…?"

Slowly, Harry turned at looked at John with the same expressionless eyes, so different from the eyes that had been brimming with excitement just moments before.

"Are you…feeling…?"

Before John could finish his question Harry's eyes fell shut and he collapsed into John's lap. Draco could only stare in shock at the now motionless boy across from him. John snapped his head up after gaping at the form draped across his lap to look at Draco with concern written across his face before asking his still-silent leader frantically,

"What the fuck's wrong with him!"