Cavendish allowed Vinnie to stay with Milo for a few hours. It gave him time to think. It was only when an incident happened in the kitchen that almost got Vinnie crushed and burned at once did Cavendish think that it was time they went back to headquarters. He knew what had happened in the other dimension to push his other self off the edge, and that was all Mr. Block had wanted. It was better to get Vinnie home before he got hurt and they gave Balthazar reason to turn his wrath to their dimension.
Vinnie stayed close to Cavendish. He looked much more at ease than he had been when they'd first arrived in this dimension. Cavendish just hoped that calm would last should they see Mr. Block.
Vinnie wouldn't stop staring at Cavendish as they made their way back. He knew it wouldn't be long before Vinnie spoke his mind. He was a Dakota, after all. Except when it came to matters that involved the Island of Lost Dakotas, Cavendish knew his partner to be more vocal than perhaps he should.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Vinnie began to talk to him.
"Hey, Cav, are you going to talk to Cav about your relationship?" Vinnie asked. "He seemed really upset when he told us what happened when you left. He doesn't feel like you trust him."
"Of course I trust him." Cavendish said. "Leaving him was a mistake, I just…I felt the need to prove myself. I knew I didn't need to prove myself to him, but our boss, myself, they were the ones that I needed to prove myself to."
"Did it work?" Vinnie asked.
Cavendish sighed. "I believe that all it proved to our boss is that I'm unreliable and incompetent, and it destroyed all of the trust that Dakota might have had in me."
"He wants to trust you." Vinnie assured him, which was just a nice way of telling Cavendish that he was right. His partner didn't trust him. Cavendish needed to fix that. Vinnie frowned slightly. "What about you? Did you prove whatever you were trying to prove to yourself?"
Cavendish felt shame within him, and he didn't know whether it was because of his desire in the first place, or because he had failed.
"No, I did not." Cavendish said. "I wanted to show myself that I could be a capable agent, but also…I wanted to prove to myself that I could work without Dakota. It wasn't that I wanted to, I just felt like I was starting to rely on our partnership too much, and I didn't think it was fair to either of us."
Cavendish took a deep breath. "But I floundered without Dakota there to pull me back and keep me calm. As much as I hate to admit it, I've come to rely on our relationship."
Vinnie frowned at him. "Why's that a bad thing?"
Cavendish thought it was bad because they were now so dependent on each other that when the other wasn't there, they both felt lost. It could be dangerous if they should ever end up alone again. But caring about someone, working better when they were at your side, there was nothing wrong with that. Cavendish's pride, and a fear of letting himself get close to anybody else, was all that was holding him back.
"I suppose it's not." Cavendish said quietly. As long as they found healthier coping mechanisms. As much as he cared for Dakota, he didn't want to find himself stooping to murder for his partner's sake.
Far too soon they were back at headquarters. Mr. Block and Bob Block were both waiting in the lobby for them. Vinnie seemed to half hide behind Cavendish when he saw him, and half tried to pull him back to keep him safe. Mr. Block looked grumpy as usual. He started to approach them, but Bob Block held a hand out to stop him.
"We don't want to make our new friend faint again." Bob Block said in that patronizing tone that Cavendish couldn't stand. He looked at them. "Cavendish, did you get the information that we were looking for?"
"Yes, I think so." Cavendish said. Vinnie had said that Balthazar's motives were the same as Dakota's reasons for the whole Island of Lost Dakota's debacle. If Vinnie was to be believed, and Cavendish believed he was, he had been motivated by his romantic feelings.
Cavendish couldn't promise that he wouldn't gain such feelings for Dakota, as he was starting to realize that was a very real possibility, but now that he knew what had happened to their other selves he could keep Dakota safe from Mr. Block, and he could find other ways to cope with grief, should the worst happen.
He didn't really want to tell Mr. Block what he knew, but the man wasn't going to take no for an answer. Cavendish decided to share what had happened, but not the motives. "The other version of me has simply been trying to save and protect Vinnie from the Condemned Corridor." Cavendish said. As long as Mr. Block didn't try to imprison Dakota in that cruel fashion, they should be fine.
Mr. Block was quiet for a moment, almost looking thoughtful. He raised an eyebrow. "You mean after you buffoons broke every single rule of time travel for your own selfish gain?
Cavendish swallowed thickly. "Yes, that was the time."
Mr. Block sighed, looking annoyed. "I guess it's a good thing the Corridors were down for maintenance that week, and I really couldn't be bothered to go after you when they were back up."
Vinnie made a broken sound and Cavendish felt his legs grow weak. Their dimensions had very nearly overlapped. The only difference between them was maintenance, which the B.O.T.T. didn't do very often in the first place.
It was terrifying how close they had come, and Cavendish was only a little surprised to realize that he wasn't scared for himself and what he might have become, he was only concerned about Dakota and everything that could have happened to him. He wanted his partner to come home. He wanted to hold him close and keep him safe from anything that might harm him.
Fortunately, they didn't seem to have anything else that they wanted from them. Mr. Block had been given his answer. Cavendish and Vinnie were brought back to the paranormal artifacts room. Bob Block did some adjustments to the inter-dimensional portal, but he soon activated it. Cavendish saw that the portal was opened up to right where he and Vinnie had left through.
"Take this one home, and bring back the right Dakota this time." Bob Block said. "Considering what happened between Block here and the other Cavendish, I think it would be best if you meet them there instead of them meeting us."
"That's probably wise." Cavendish said. Vinnie nodded.
"Balthazar would love to kill Block again." Vinnie said. It was not the kind of thing that Cavendish wanted to hear.
"Tell your partner that we'll leave your dimension alone as long as you leave ours alone." Mr. Block said to Vinnie. He looked like he was going to be sick, but he didn't faint, so it was a step in the right direction.
"I'll make sure he gets the message." Cavendish said. He offered an arm to Vinnie. "Are you ready?"
"Absolutely." Vinnie said. They stepped through the portal and back into Vinnie's home dimension. The second the portal closed Vinnie let out a relieved sigh, looking like the weight of the world was lifted from his chest.
"Are you alright?" Cavendish asked.
"I'm not used to being out." Vinnie said. His voice shook. He took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. "It was nice, but it was a lot, and now I just want to curl up in my bed and make the world go away."
"A nap does sound lovely." Cavendish said. "We should probably make sure your partner knows you're okay first."
He jumped when he heard a sudden bark. Cavendish and Vinnie turned to see a dog barreling towards them. Cavendish instinctively took a step back, but Vinnie crouched and opened his arms. The dog jumped onto Vinnie, knocking him to the ground. It then began trying to pin him down.
"Hey, Woof Woof." Vinnie pet the dog. "I'm fine. I'm safe. I'm not going to wander off again, and I'm not going to hurt myself."
Cavendish frowned. "Do you frequently hurt yourself?"
"I mean, I don't try to." Vinnie said. "But sometimes I might pull my hair, or hit my head, or scratch my arms, and I don't even realize that I'm doing it." He smiled at the dog. "That's what this good girl's for. She stops me from hurting myself when I get anxious, and when she knows that it's safe she'll take me to somewhere that I can calm down."
Cavendish only now noticed the service dog vest that Woof Woof was wearing. Well, it seemed like Vinnie and Balthazar actually had taken into account other methods of coping with their stress, or at least Vinnie's anxiety. Cavendish wondered if it would be worth looking into getting a pet for Dakota. He did so adore animals, and it would probably be good for him to have someone else that he could take care of. Somebody besides Cavendish or Milo.
"You know where Balthy is?" Vinnie asked his dog. Woof Woof barked and finally got off of his chest. She bit his jacket and began to pull. Vinnie laughed and stood up, letting his dog pull him out of the room. Cavendish followed them, staying close to Vinnie.
They walked down the halls, but suddenly Woof Woof stopped in the middle of a hall, and she kept Vinnie from going forward. She gave him a small bark and ran off.
"What is that all about?" Cavendish asked.
"Woof Woof doesn't think it's safe for me." Vinnie said. "Balth must be in the storage rooms. He doesn't like me down there, and I don't really like being there either."
Cavendish wanted to ask more, but Vinnie looked reluctant to talk about it, so he left him alone. They stayed there for a long minute when they heard barking again and the sound of running. Woof woof came running back around the corner, closely followed by Balthazar and Dakota.
Cavendish felt overwhelming relief in him. He met his partner partway. He hadn't really planned what he would do when he reunited with his partner, but Dakota took it into his own hands. He embraced Cavendish and buried his face in his chest.
"I'm sorry." Cavendish said quietly. "I swear, I didn't intend to leave you behind again.
"I know." Dakota said. "It's not your fault."
Cavendish pulled back enough to look his partner in the eyes. "If you're only saying that because you believe it's your fault-"
"I lost track of our mission." Vinnie said. "I got distracted, and emotional, and-"
"And you didn't even want to be here in the first place." Cavendish said. "You weren't ready for an assignment, especially not one of this nature, and I was blind to that." He averted his gaze. "I ignored the fact that something was wrong, and that's something I need to apologize for."
"He's not wrong." Balthazar said behind them. Cavendish looked over his shoulder to see his other self holding Vinnie closely, looking like he was trying to shield him from the world. Cavendish still didn't like him.
"Your partner messed up." Balthazar said. "You both know it, so stop trying to fight him on it. Just accept his apology."
Dakota grinned. "Okay then, I accept, as long as you accept my apologies."
Cavendish was taken aback. "What in the world do you have to be sorry for?"
"For not talking to you." Dakota said. Now it was his turn to look at the ground. "I needed to talk, but I kept on coming up with every reason to avoid it. I convinced myself that you wouldn't understand, even though I know you will."
Cavendish didn't think that Dakota needed to apologize for not knowing how to trust him when Cavendish had kept on giving him every reason to have doubt, but Dakota had accepted his apology, even though he hadn't thought it was necessary. The least Cavendish could do was return the favor.
"Then I shall accept your apology." Cavendish said. "And when we get home perhaps we can take a few days off of work and rework our partnership."
Dakota smiled. "I'd like that." He looked towards Vinnie and Balthazar. The older man was whispering into his ear. Vinnie was blushing, and Cavendish could only imagine what his other self was saying. Actually, he could imagine it very well, because he knew Dakota well enough to know what kinds of things could fluster him, and he knew himself well enough to know what kinds of things he might say if he was reunited with somebody that he was romantically involved with. There wasn't too much overlap between the two, but there was still more than he had expected.
"Do you know the nature of their relationship?" Cavendish muttered. Dakota smiled in an almost pained way.
"Yeah, I know." Dakota said. There was a look of longing in his eyes. Cavendish knew what he wanted, and he was surprised that he wasn't actually afraid or overwhelmed about it. If anything, he felt understanding.
Daring to take a chance, Cavendish took Dakota's hand. His partner started and stared at their intertwined hands. Eventually he relaxed and leaned against his shoulder.
"I can't make any promises about being a perfect partner." Cavendish said. "Or that I'll be able to be everybody you want from me, but I've been thinking about it, and I would like to try, if you'll let me."
Dakota looked shocked and uncertain, but there was a bright hope in his eyes. Cavendish hoped that he wasn't responsible for diminishing that light.
"Trying sounds pretty good." Dakota squeezed his hand.
Balthazar cleared his throat. Cavendish and Dakota turned their attention to him. He approached them and held a hand out to Cavendish. He reluctantly accepted it. "Thank you for keeping my partner safe."
"And you, mine." Cavendish said. He still didn't like Balthazar, but he could respect him. Balthazar nodded and turned his attention to Dakota. He gave him a smile that was shockingly soft. It was similar to the way that he'd looked at Vinnie, and Cavendish didn't really like it.
"Remember what I said." Balthazar said to Dakota. He pulled him into a hug, and Cavendish saw him put something into Dakota's pocket. "If you should need me, just say the word."
"I'll remember, and thank you," Dakota said. He looked at Balthazar. "For everything."
They ended their embrace, and Cavendish took his partner's hand again, puffing out his chest as he did so. Balthazar looked at them and just smirked knowingly. It was infuriating. Dakota just smirked and squeezed his hand.
"Don't let him get to you." Dakota said. "You have more in common than you'd think."
"Wonderful." Cavendish said dryly. He let go of Dakota's hand and got to work at getting the watch to take them back home. He wasn't going to leave Dakota behind this time.
"Are you ready to go?" Cavendish asked. Dakota hummed and nodded. He was holding the thing that Balthazar had put into his pocket. It looked similar to the kinds of communications devices that time travelers used, except it was more complicated. Considering what Balthazar had said, it would work across their dimensions.
Dakota smiled and put the device back in his pocket. He turned his full attention to Cavendish. "Yeah, I'm ready." He didn't even look back to the others. "Let's go home."
"Together." Cavendish said. That was the way it should have always been, and the way that it should always be.
Maybe things wouldn't last. Maybe they would still drive each other nuts and hurt each other in ways that they really couldn't fix. But maybe…maybe things could be better. Maybe their partnership could become something beautiful. It was a risk, and Cavendish wasn't usually one for taking chances like this, but Cavendish always had a way of bringing a more daring side out of him.
He'd be with Dakota, and that made all of this risk and uncertainty worth it.
