Ozzy woke up to the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. A sound that would be soothing most of the time, but right now it felt as if he was standing directly below a gushing waterfall. His head was pounding and he felt like he was going to be sick. He flickered his eyes open, which he immediately regretted, and grabbed Thrax's pillow to cover his face.
He heard the bathroom door open and dared to turn his head, opening one eye to peek out from under the pillow. Thrax stepped out with a towel wrapped around his waist and his braids tied up in a messy bun. He turned to face Ozzy and laughed when he saw the state he was in. Ozzy only responded with a groan.
"Good morniiiing, beautiful day, isn't it?", Thrax sang as he sauntered over to sit on the edge of the bed.
Ozzy grumbled and lifted his head to stare at Thrax through squinted eyes. "What the hell was in that shot?", he croaked. He wasn't used to drinking alcohol, and especially not whatever Thrax had ordered at the bar.
"The shot wasn't the problem. You just drank them way too fast! Considering you're not a drinker, I'm surprised you're alive to be honest."
He patted him on the head before going to the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water. He walked back over to sit on the bed and handed the glass to Ozzy, ordering him to sit up and drink it.
Ozzy did as he was told and sat up to lean against Thrax's arm, which made him wince.
"Shit, sorry! I had forgotten about your shoulder! Does it still hurt?"
"Well let's just say that last night definitely didn't help, you're gonna have to lay off the donuts if we're gonna do that again. You're heavier than you look."
Ozzy shot him an apologetic look as he took a few sips from his glass.
Thrax stood up and kissed Ozzy on the forehead, before putting on his clothes and heading for the door.
Ozzy frowned. "Where are you goin'?"
"Just out, baby. I have some... errands to run. You stay here until I get back, I won't be long", he said with a smile.
Ozzy put the glass on the nightstand and went to say something, but Thrax was already out the door before he could ask any follow up questions.
He sighed and heaved himself up from the bed, grumbling under his breath, "why's he bein' so shifty all of a sudden?" He took his crop top off, balled it up and threw it into the corner of the room as he traipsed to the bathroom.
He decided to draw himself a bath and turned both the taps on. As he waited, he drummed his fingers on the edge of the bathtub and thought about how this was the first time he had been alone since saving Thrax.
He realised how isolated and disconnected he truly was from the rest of the world. He didn't know anyone here and neither did he want to. The cells here were creepy, and the germs seemed even more dangerous than the ones he had fought in Frank.
Nevertheless, it would be nice to have another cell to talk to about everything he had gone through in the last few days. Thrax wouldn't understand, he was used to living like this. Ozzy wasn't.
Despite his rebellious nature, he craved stability and order. It kept him sane. Ozzy thought then about how different he and Thrax truly were. In many ways they were complete opposites. He supposed that's what drew him to Thrax in the first place.
He tested the water and eased himself into the bathtub. He leaned his head against the side and closed his eyes, sighing heavily.
His body relaxed, but his mind was still racing. What would happen if Thrax got bored of him? Would he just abandon him in some foreign body? Would he kill him? Sell him?
True to form, Ozzy had once again thrown himself into a precarious situation with no way back. Had he really chosen this life, or had he been blinded by the excitement and thrill of it all? He hadn't really had any time to make a decision.
He started to wonder if he had made the right choice in letting Thrax take him away from everything he knew, when a shiver ran through his body. The bath water had turned cold without him realising.
He stepped out of the tub and dried himself off as he walked out into the bedroom. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror as he passed it and his jaw dropped. Holy shit...
He had bruises covering his neck, arms and chest, ranging from purple to blue to black. He turned around to take a look at the rest of him and gasped; his back and hips were covered in deep scratch marks and dark blue bruises. The light from outside illuminated him from behind and he could see the purple tinge swirling around his nucleus, but it seemed darker than before.
He couldn't believe what he looked like. "Everyone's gonna think I'm a sex slave or somethin'", he mumbled. So much had happened in the last few days, he could barely recognise the man staring back at him in the mirror.
He sighed and slipped his white t-shirt and black jeans on, and went to grab something to eat when he heard some shuffling from outside in the hallway.
He slowly closed the fridge and crept over to the door. As he looked through the peephole he could see dark shapes moving on the other side.
He instinctively reached for where he normally kept his gun on his holster, when suddenly the door crashed open, sending him flying backwards.
He landed on his back and hit his head against the floor. He tried to jump to his feet but felt strong hands from all directions grab him and hold him down.
He frantically looked around at all the faces looming over him; they all seemed to be germs, and he was reminded of the henchmen that Thrax had collected back in Frank.
He started to struggle and cry out for them to get off him, when one of them kicked him in the stomach.
The wind was knocked out of him and he felt like he was going to be sick. He dropped his head to try and protect his middle from any more blows, and one of the germs immediately yanked it upwards by his hair and held it in place.
"Is this the one you were looking for, boss?", the same germ asked in a gruff voice. The rest of the germs parted out of the way to let someone through.
Ozzy's vision was blurry and he couldn't make out any features, but he could tell that whoever was approaching him was tall. Very tall. Probably as tall as Thrax.
"Yep, this is the little whore. Come on boys, he's coming with us." Ozzy's eyes widened, it's a woman, he thought, and he opened his mouth to speak when a fist impacted his cheek. His head flew to the side, his eyes started to water and he tasted his own cytoplasm in his mouth.
Then the pain hit, a sharp throbbing in the side of his face. He yelled and turned around to face whoever had hit him, cytoplasm pooling in his mouth and running down his chin. He went to threaten them, but then came the second punch, and the third, and countless more until he could no longer feel anything.
He woke up and the throbbing pain came back in waves. He slowly tried to open his eyes and spat out some cytoplasm that had collected in his throat. He was dazed and the room was dark, only a sliver of light making its way under the door. His head was pounding and his body was aching. He tried to bring his hands up to his face to rub his jaw, but something held them back.
He gritted his teeth and tried again, fear starting to gnaw at his insides. His mind was clouded and he wasn't thinking straight. He jerked his shoulders, desperately trying to move his arms, every movement causing a sharp pain around his wrists.
He defeatedly stopped thrashing and looked down at himself, his eyes now having adjusted to the darkness. He was tied to a small, metal chair by a rope around his waist. His shirt was ripped down the middle and stained with what looked like his own cytoplasm. He hissed when he saw that two large bruises had formed on his stomach and his ribs. He turned his head to see that he also had cuffs around his wrists, securing him to the chair behind his back.
He hung his head and clenched his teeth as he tried to wiggle out of the restraints. This only caused the sharp metal to dig into his wrists even more, and cytoplasm started to trickle down into palms.
He hissed at the pain and felt panic starting to rise in his throat after realising he couldn't escape. He had always been able to wriggle out of any kind of bond, why couldn't he do it now?
He shook his head and tried to remain calm. He had been in situations like this before on the force - he was prone to getting kidnapped due to the fact he would often brazenly charge head first onto any crime scene without calling for back up - and he'd always managed to get out of them somehow. He just needed to keep his cool. He shut his eyes and focused on his breathing.
After a few moments, the loud throbbing in his head lessened slightly, and he started to be able to hear low noises coming from the other side of the door. As his hearing slowly returned to him, he could hear the echoes of conversation and laughter.
His breathing was steady now, and his thoughts became much less muddled than before. He opened his eyes and swivelled his head round as best he could, trying to get a look at where he was.
The room was bare, with scuffs and scratch marks all over the walls, and a puddle of dry cytoplasm coating the middle of the floor. He wondered if that was his, or if it belonged to another unfortunate cell that had ended up here.
As he continued to scan the room, he thought, wait, where is 'here'? Why am I here? Where is Thrax? What happened before this?
He felt a brief flash of anger and yelled, "hey! Let me the fuck out of here, you pieces of shit!", his voice raspy and choked, not sounding even the least bit as threatening as he had hoped.
Silence fell, save for his voice echoing off the walls, before he heard footsteps approaching the door. Ozzy gulped and cursed his own stupidity, thinking retrospectively that he should have just kept his big mouth shut for once in his life.
The door swung open and Ozzy blinked in the bright light that was now shining in his face. He opened one eye to see a feminine figure standing in the doorway.
"Well, what do we have here? Did you enjoy your nap, sweetie?", she said mockingly. That voice, he had heard that voice before. His memories started coming back to him and he remembered being back in the hotel room, people breaking in, being grabbed, before they…
Suddenly, a slap on the side of his face interrupted his train of thought. He clenched his teeth and dared to stare up at his aggressor.
She had broad shoulders and a crimson complexion, with long, dark, flowing hair that came down to her waist. He squinted his eyes to see that she had a big scar on her forehead that ran into her hair, leaving a white patch. He cocked his head, trying to think what could have caused that.
Suddenly she stooped down, grabbed him by the shoulders and dug her claws in deep, making him yelp.
"Didn't your mommy ever tell you it was rude to stare?", she barked, before grinning and showing her jagged teeth. Ozzy quickly looked away, but she put one of her hands on his head and forced him to look at her again.
Ozzy mustered up the courage to speak. "W-who the hell are you? What do you want with me? I haven't caused any trouble around here! Whatever you think I've done, you've got the wrong guy."
She leaned in and ran her tongue over his neck, before whispering, "such a pretty little thing, it's almost a shame I have to do this to you."
Ozzy shuddered as her lips brushed past his cheek. She grabbed him by the chin and kissed him harshly. He protested, but she dug her claws into his cheeks, forcing him to open his mouth and let her tongue in.
He tried to shake his head, but she held it still and shoved her tongue in further. Ozzy wrenched upwards against his restraints and kicked out one of his legs, hitting her on the shin. She groaned and withdrew her tongue.
Ozzy spat at her and shouted, "why are you doing this to me?!" He violently rolled his shoulders to try and shake her off and jerked his head away from her. She chuckled and started lowering her hands down his chest and past his crotch. He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth.
"This isn't personal, sweetie. I don't have anything against you", she lulled in his ear, before her hands reached his thighs and forced them apart, "but maybe this'll teach you to be more careful about who you open your legs for."
"Stop it!", he yelled, as he tried to close his legs. She scratched his inner thighs with her claws in response and laughed in his face as he called out for help.
"No one is gonna come and save you, sweetie. You've already been here for hours and I bet that that virus hasn't even bothered to try to find you." Ozzy snapped his head up to look at her, his eyes widening.
"He doesn't care about anyone but himself. You're just his little play thing until he finds someone better", she spat, with bitterness lacing her voice.
Ozzy lowered his head and tried to slow his breathing again. "So this is about Thrax?"
She smiled and let go of his thighs to stand up to her full height. Ozzy continued, "look, whatever he did to you, I had nothing to do with it, just let me go. I promise that we'll leave this body and never come back."
She gently put her hands around his chin and made him look up at her. She smiled softly and, for a moment, Ozzy thought he had managed to talk his way out of it.
"Please, can you ju-" he started to say, before he was cut off by her kicking the chair legs out from under him. He fell onto his side and hit his head on the metal floor. He squeezed his eyes shut and went to yell up at her, when she brought her foot down hard onto the side of his head.
The next few minutes were a blur. Ozzy drifted in and out of consciousness while she continued to kick, punch and scratch every inch of him. He barely registered when the germs outside started to yell, or even when the beating stopped.
Suddenly, he realised that there were two voices in the room now, that much he could tell, but he couldn't distinguish who was saying what.
He gagged on the cytoplasm now rising and bubbling in his throat, and instinctively pulled his knees up into the foetal position to protect himself. He lay there for what felt like forever, before he felt someone clumsily fiddling around him.
They were shouting in his ear, but it sounded so distant. Their tone was frantic and panicked, but familiar. The last thing he felt were strong arms wrapping around him and pulling him close.
Ozzy slowly came to as he felt the cold air around his shoulders. He shivered and clawed weakly at whoever was carrying him. He heard a whooshing sound in his ears and lolled his head to the side to be closer to the heat coming from the person whose arms he was in.
"Ozzy, are you awake?", he heard from above him. "Hold on baby, we're almost there!" He felt a pressure around his middle and he reached his hand down. It felt coarse, like rope. He fumbled to try to undo it, but was ordered to stop by the person above him. He felt like he could trust that voice, and relaxed his body, allowing himself to be carried.
When he woke up again, he was lying on something soft. He slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in a hospital bed. Someone grabbed his hand, startling him. He painfully turned his head, and saw the hand that was clutching his own belonged to Thrax. He was smiling softly and struggling to hide the worry on his face.
He started to say something, but Ozzy couldn't hear past the thumping in his head. He brought his other hand up to his face and saw his arm was black with bruises. He let his arm fall and winced as it fell onto his stomach, making him start coughing violently.
He quickly turned his head away from Thrax to lean over the side of the bed before he started retching. Nothing came up, but the strain had pulled at the injuries around his middle. A strangulated groan left his lips and he weakly called out Thrax's name.
Thrax put his hands on his back and slowly lowered him back down on the bed. Ozzy shut his eyes and drifted off again as Thrax gently stroked his cheek.
The next few days were a blur. Ozzy didn't know whether it was day or night, and things seemed to change around him every time he woke up. Plates of food were left on the nightstand and then taken away, furniture was moved around, bandages were changed, and a different person came into the room every day to check on him before hurrying out.
The only constant every time he woke up was Thrax. Ozzy would open his eyes to see him sitting in that chair next to his bed. He'd help him eat, wash him, change his clothes, and then stroke his forehead while softly humming until Ozzy fell asleep again. He sat there with him, day in and day out.
After a few days, Ozzy no longer needed to be sedated, and he could sit up without it hurting too much. He heaved himself up to lean against the headboard and smiled weakly at Thrax. He saw the dark circles under his eyes and wondered if he had slept at all since they had arrived.
Ozzy opened his mouth to speak but his voice was raspy. He cleared his throat and tried again.
"Where are we?" he managed to say.
Thrax took his hand in his own and patted it softly. "We jumped bodies a few days back. It was too risky to stay where we were any longer. We're in the hospital. I paid for a private room and told them not to ask any questions or to bother us too much, and I promised them that we'd jump bodies again as soon as you're better. Don't worry, you're safe here."
Ozzy's eyes widened. "How the hell did you pay for that?" Thrax just waved his hand and smiled at him.
Ozzy frowned over how he always tried to avoid that question and looked down at the foot of the bed. Thrax put his hand under his chin, carefully turning his head towards him again.
"Baby, do you remember what happened?", he asked, concern plastered on his face.
Ozzy's face fell and he slowly nodded. He nuzzled his chin into Thrax's palm and asked, "who was that woman?"
Thrax let go of his chin and sat back into the chair. "That was Scarlet Fever, but she goes by the name Rosa Scarlatina."
Ozzy stared at his hands in his lap. They had mentioned Scarlet Fever back in immunity training. Frank had apparently caught it when he was a kid. They hadn't gone into details, as catching it twice wasn't very likely, but they warned that it could be deadly.
Ozzy turned to face him again and furrowed his brow. "But who is she to you?" It was Thrax's turn to look away.
"Tell me. I deserve to know that at least", Ozzy said forcefully. Thrax shut his eyes and sighed. "She's someone from a long time ago, I guess you could say we dated… or whatever. She was more into it than I was, so one day I just took off. I guess she's not over it yet", he shifted in his chair, clearly feeling awkward.
Ozzy just stared at Thrax, never having seen him like this. Was he embarrassed? Ashamed? Guilty?
Thrax caught his eye and saw his expression. "If she said anything about you and me, baby, it's not true. She's just jealous. She kidnapped you to get back at me, or to get my attention. Don't take notice of anything she said."
Ozzy nodded and looked back down at his lap, closing his eyes. "You know what I hate most about all of this is how vulnerable I was. From the second they broke in, I was helpless. Without the immunity force behind me, without my gun, without my badge, I'm useless." He slumped down a bit and winced at the pain coming from the wounds on his back.
Thrax scrunched up his face and put his hand on Ozzy's shoulder. "I will never leave you again, ever. I promise."
Ozzy's eyes filled with tears. "That's not the point! Don't you get it? I was pathetic back there! I have never felt so weak, and now you're saying that I'm gonna have to spend the rest of my life relying on you to protect me? What if you decide to leave me like you did with her? What the fuck will I do then?!"
Thrax's face fell, but he let Ozzy continue, "I'm a cop, I'm meant to save other people, not the other way around! Do you have any idea how humiliating it feels to have to be rescued?", he said, anger and shame lacing his voice.
Thrax tightened his hand around Ozzy's shoulder, making him wince a little. "Of course I do, you rescued me, you idiot. You saved me, I saved you. Now we're even", he said forcefully, a small smile creeping over his face. "And you'll never be weak, Jones. You're the most infuriatingly stubborn, self-assured and determined motherfucker I've ever met. Do I need to remind you who was the first and only cell to take me down?"
Ozzy grinned from ear to ear and he laughed for the first time in days. Thrax leaned in and kissed him gently, cupping his hands around his cheeks. Ozzy sighed into the kiss and opened his mouth slightly, grabbing at Thrax's collar to pull him closer.
It seemed like years since he had felt the heat from Thrax's body, and he felt the need to be cleansed inside and out from what Scarlet Fever had done to him. Regardless of the pain coursing through him, it was exactly what he needed right now.
He turned himself towards Thrax and slung his legs over the side of the bed, heedless of his body screaming at him to stop.
He desperately pulled at Thrax's jumper until their bodies were pressed against each other. They both moaned against each other's mouths and Ozzy threw his hands around his neck, harshly digging his nails into his skin, feeling vindicated for all the pain that was tearing through him. "I missed you...", he whispered between kisses.
Ozzy lifted his legs around Thrax's hips and started fumbling to take off his hospital gown, but Thrax broke the kiss and tutted. "I know, baby, but you need to heal."
Ozzy groaned, unlocked his legs from around Thrax and turned back to sit against the headboard, his arms crossed and a big frown on his face.
Thrax couldn't help but laugh at Ozzy's childish reaction, and turned around to pick something up from the table behind him. "I know what'll cheer you up", he said, opening a box of donuts. Ozzy snapped his head round at the familiar sound and his eyes widened.
"I went out and got them this morning. They probably won't be the same as the ones you had where you're from, but…", he was interrupted by Ozzy snatching the box from his hands. He wasted no time in deciding which one to try first, and immediately started shovelling them into his mouth.
Between mouthfuls, he said, "hmmm! These are way better than the ones back in Frank!"
"Oh, I also got you some new clothes. Don't worry, nothing sparkly this time. I didn't have time to pack any of our things back there." Ozzy turned to look at Thrax with his cheeks full and a sad expression on his face.
Thrax continued, his eyes apologetic, "when I saw the state of the room and the fact you weren't there, I panicked and just grabbed our backpacks and ran out of the door without thinking." Ozzy's face fell when he said that. His only possessions were gone forever, the only keepsakes of his former life left behind in some rodent.
"Luckily, that photo of your great-great-grandad you brought with you was in your backpack, so at least you still have that", Thrax said, trying to keep his voice light, and Ozzy smiled softly. "Oh and one more thing", he continued, as he pulled the hypothalamus chain out of his pocket, "I found this around Scarlatina's neck. She must have recognised it and taken it from you."
He gently lifted Ozzy's wrist and tied the chain around it like he had done before, welding two ends together with his claw.
Thrax gestured with his head and patted the bed. "May I?" Ozzy nodded and slowly shifted forwards. Thrax slid into the single bed behind Ozzy and pulled him to lean against his broad chest. He wrapped his arms around his middle and rested his chin on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry about all this, Ozzy. From now on there'll be no secrets, we'll go everywhere together. I'll protect you and you'll protect me. Deal?"
Ozzy relaxed against Thrax's chest and turned his head to kiss him on the cheek. "Okay, it's a deal, mister Roja", he said, raising his pinky finger. Thrax laughed and intertwined his claw with Ozzy's finger, stroking his thigh and softly humming into his ear.
Ozzy sighed deeply. "Okay, I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and you're gonna answer them honestly."
He felt Thrax's arms stiffen a bit, before he replied, "fine, but you probably won't like what I have to say."
"Where did you go the other day when you left me alone in the hotel room?", Ozzy asked, his tone serious for once.
"I was running low on funds. I needed to get us some more money before we jumped bodies again."
"And where do you get your 'funds'?"
"Whoa, there's that cop voice of yours!", Thrax said, trying to lighten the mood. Ozzy said nothing, and waited for his answer.
Thrax sighed, before replying, "it depends how much I need or how much time I have. Sometimes I'll mug a few cells on the street, other times I'll kidnap someone influential and demand a ransom for their release. If I can be bothered to round up enough germs, I might rob a bank."
"If you can be bothered…?", Ozzy interrupted. He knew that he shouldn't be shocked. He had known exactly who Thrax was before he had agreed to come with him, but he couldn't help feeling uneasy about how coldly Thrax was talking about this.
Thrax noticed that Ozzy had tensed up and kissed his neck. "See, I told you that you wouldn't like it."
Ozzy shook his head to try and reassure him and to encourage him to keep talking. "What's your body count?", he asked, turning slightly to face the other man.
"You talking about sex or murder here?"
Ozzy laughed. "Murder! We'll circle back round to the other one later."
"Okay, I have killed 47 humans. Technically 48, if you count those few minutes that Frank was declared dead."
Ozzy elbowed him in the ribs, earning a low growl, before he whispered, "you're such a psycho."
Thrax shrugged. "That's just my nature, baby. It's what I was born to do."
"Whatever…", Ozzy replied, before grinning and asking, "what's your other body count?"
Thrax laughed. "I really couldn't tell you, I don't keep count. Why, do you?"
Ozzy blushed a bit, gathering from Thrax's answer that he had a much larger number than he did. He cleared his throat and groaned as he slowly turned to sit on his knees between Thrax's legs to face him.
"But… do you do this often?", he asked, gesturing between the two of them with one hand. Thrax smiled softly and put his hand on Ozzy's cheek.
"No, Ozzy, you're the only one. Of course I've had on and off flings with the same person a few times, but I've never taken them with me from body to body." He looked around the room and gestured with his arm. "I've certainly never done this before, I've never cared about anyone enough to stay with them while they're sick. Everyone I've been with before has just been a way to pass the time, I guess. Satisfied?"
Ozzy looked down, trying to hide the grin forming on his face, and nodded quickly, before turning around again and laying back against Thrax's chest. He started to drift off when Thrax jostled him.
"Hey, you don't get to sleep yet! You haven't told me your body count, Jones!"
Ozzy frowned and shifted a bit, clearly uncomfortable with being the one now in the hot seat. He sighed. "Well, before you, I hadn't really been with anyone… in a while. I guess I was just too busy tryna get back into the Chief's good graces and save my career."
Thrax laughed at the irony. "Well, clearly that was time well spent."
Ozzy smirked at that, before continuing, "also, I was kinda chasin' this one girl back home, so couldn't really focus on anyone else, but nothing ever happened with her. I had a few flings and drunken one-night stands during immunity training, and I sorta dated this fireman on and off for a while, but as soon as I graduated I suppose I was more focused on my career."
Thrax was stunned into silence upon hearing about his poor dating history. Ozzy turned his head to see his expression, and felt the heat rising in his cheeks.
"I-I have been on a lot of first dates, don't get me wrong! I wasn't some sort of loser. People told me I was cute all the time." He ran his hand through his curls and flashed his pearly white smile. "But it never really led anywhere after that", he said, sinking back down against Thrax's chest.
Thrax pinched his cheek. "Well you are annoying as fuck, Jones. Your ego is about as big as mine. That's why I'm the only person who can stand to be around you for more than half an hour."
Ozzy grinned and elbowed him again, before turning round to face him. "Yeah, but you're stuck with me now!"
Thrax smiled back and stroked Ozzy's hair, "and you're stuck with me."