Disclaimer – If you recognize it, I don't own it.

*Notes – None really! Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing; it really helps keep me motivated!

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"Noah? Noah, look at me." Luke tried to keep his voice steady, tried to keep his voice from wobbling. "Please, Noah." Slowly, dilated blue eyes focused in on Luke, pupil's blown wide in fear.

"Luke…" Noah wimpered, one shaking hand rising to the back of Luke's neck. "Oh god, Luke, it's him… oh god oh god oh god…" Without a word, Noah pulled Luke towards him and buried his head where Luke's neck and shoulder met.

"Shhh, Noah, it's going to be okay. We're going to get through this, I promise." Luke whispered, rhythmically stroking his boyfriend's back and feeling as Noah's free arm pull him off of his chair and into his lap. Noah's legs wrapped around Luke, holding him in place.

Luke continued to rock Noah, not sure if the motion was supposed to be comforting Noah or himself. The thought of the Colonel brought back memories of pain and paralysis, anger and isolation. But most of all, Luke remembered staring down the barrel of that gun in the middle of a forest, sure he was going to die. A shudder worked its way through his body, and he found himself clutching Noah tighter for it.

Eventually, Noah loosened his grip on Luke, lowering his legs and giving Luke the option of crawling out of his lap. Instead, Luke chose to grab Noah's hand and tug him upright, leading him to a chair wide enough for them to both sit on. Noah sat down numbly, instinctively reaching out for Luke.

Pressing his side against Noah and holding his hand tight, Luke cleared his dry throat and asked, "Can you tell me what happened?" Noah stared right through Luke, and Luke gently shook his shoulder to regain his attention, his need for answers barely unchecked. "Noah, baby, I know how hard this is for you, but are you sure? Did he say who it was?"

That caught Noah's attention. "He didn't say, but I know it was him." Luke's expression must've registered some of the doubt he was feeling, because Noah gripped his hand so tightly that a dull ache ran through it. "I recognized his voice Luke, I recognize how he talks, I recognize him. If you trust me at all, trust me on this."

"But, isn't he dead?" Luke asked softly, as if gentling his words would lessen the blow. "After he jumped off that boat…"

"He had training, from the Army." Noah said, his voice gaining conviction with every word. "He must've, he must've swam to shore, or something." Just as
quickly, the assured tone to Noah's voice was gone, and he sounded like a young child as he asked, "Why didn't he let me know he was alive? Why did he let me suffer like that, thinking he was dead?"

"Maybe he thought you didn't care." Luke said, hating how calloused the words sounded. "Noah, we will get to the bottom of this, I promise. But I need you to tell me what he said to you." Looking into Noah's dark eyes, shadowed with shock, Luke wondered how he could've ever been so furious with this perfect, damaged soul just hours ago.

"He… he said that Harrington has twenty-four hours, and he mentioned something about the investigation… and that there was 'consequence for every action'," Noah quoted, laughing bitterly. "He used to tell me that all the time. 'For every action, there's a consequence. You sleep in late one day Noah, and I'll keep you awake for three days in a row. I was only eight." Noah whispered, his mind travelling down some dark, twisted path better left untouched, "and I was so tired. But if my eyes shut, he'd lash me with his belt, and it would hurt, and I knew that it was only a moment until he hit me again. But Luke, it would hurt so much."

Luke found his eyes stinging and a hot, angry fire bubbling in his chest. Not at Noah – never at Noah – but at the sick being who had raised him, who'd done everything in his power to destroy the sweet, gentle man sitting in front of him.

Before Luke could say a word, Noah lifted his head and absently swiped at the lone tear travelling down his cheek. "I'm sorry, Luke." Noah said, his dull tone a sharp contrast to the agony Luke had heard just moments before. "I'm whining, and we need to figure out what my da- the Colonel has to do with Eric."

"We have time for that later." Luke whispered as he stood up, pulling Noah up with him before hugging him tight to his chest. Noah relaxed into Luke for a brief second before pulling back, his forehead resting against Luke's.

"We need to do it now, Luke." Noah murmured. "I need – I need to focus on something before I go crazy. I can't just think about this, about him being alive. I need to know why. Please?" Noah tripped over his words, his face flushing.

"Okay," Luke whispered, "do you want me to call Lucinda? Maybe she can get the private investigators she has on the case to trace the number."

"No, I'll do it." Noah said, frowning as he saw Luke wince at his words. "I'm not pushing you away again, Luke. I promise. I just need to talk to Lucinda about this on my own. Okay?"

"Okay." Luke repeated, finding no other words would work. "I'll be inside if you need me." Luke raised their intertwined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of Noah's hand before letting go and walking into the house. Leaving Noah alone on the porch was one of the hardest things Luke could remember doing, ever, but he knew that was what Noah wanted.

The moment he stepped into the house, Luke's shoulders slumped forward and he blew out a shuddering breath. "How is this possible?" He asked himself. "Maybe Noah's wrong…" Even as he said the words, he knew it wasn't true. If Noah said he talked to the Colonel, then he had talked to the Colonel.

Luke found himself sitting on the couch, not quite sure when he had walked across the room. Looking forward onto the coffee table, he saw the house phone lying on it innocuously. He reached over to grab it, to call his dad, but stopped mid-grab. I can't do this to dad, not now. I can deal… dad doesn't need to worry about this too.

Standing back up, Luke headed outside just in time to see Noah hanging up the phone. Eric's phone. "You called her on his phone?" Luke asked, confused.

"Yeah," Noah replied, "Eric has my phone, and I didn't want to bother you to get yours."

"Noah, you're never bothering me." Luke said, running a hand down Noah's arm. He wanted to say more, but realized that it wasn't the right time to press the issue. "What do you want to do now?"

"I know we should go talk to Eric… I know that, but can we just lie down?" Noah asked, ducking his head in embarrassment over his request. "I just want to hold you for a little while."

Luke chose to kiss Noah as a reply, grabbing his hand and leading him into the house, up to his old bedroom. "Always, Noah, always." Luke whispered.

**

**

Luke ran his thumb across the heavy shadow's beneath Noah's eyes, watching his boyfriend as he slept fitfully. He'd fallen asleep within twenty minutes of lying on the bed, and Luke didn't have the heart to wake him.

Extracting himself from Noah's limbs, Luke stood by his window and gazed out, remembering how he'd done the same the day after Ethan's accident. No, not accident, murder, he reminded himself, gazing out at the dark clouds rolling ominously across the sky. The sunny weather had taken a turn for the worse; it had been threatening to rain for days.

Luke's thoughts grew as dark as the sky outside as he allowed himself to process what the Colonel being back meant. He was involved with Ethan's death, Luke realized, the words causing his hands to reflexively curl in and out, he's the reason Ethan's gone.

A haze descended over Luke, until all he could see was red as his thoughts flew around his mind. "Eric's involved too," he whispered to himself, "and he promised me he'd help me with this. He promised!" Luke's voice cracked, and he found himself running out of the bedroom and out of the house as if possessed. "I'll make him pay."

He grabbed the Constable's phone off of the kitchen counter where Noah had set it before leaving, unaware that Noah's eyes had fluttered open, casting around the room for the blonde.

**

**

Luke pulled into the parking lot of the police station, killing the engine on his car and fumbling with his seatbelt. He had driven the car that Lucinda had given him for his birthday last year, since he hadn't wanted to go back to his room and risk waking Noah up to grab his truck keys.

Pulling the keys out of the car, he felt the metal pressing against his palm. Before he knew what he was doing, he had the sharp ends of the key wrapped in his hand, and he was squeezing, letting the prongs cut through his skin. No, I shouldn't be doing this, he thought weakly, but that did nothing to stop him from increasing the pressure.

As if someone dumped a bucket of water on him, he jerked and dropped the keys, letting them fall onto his lap. Horrified, Luke shoved the keys into his pocket and scrambled out of the car, slamming the door shut and leaning against his car. He stared at the red marks quickly showing on his hand, hating himself for what he'd done.I can't even control myself.

Luke felt his anger building, mixing in with this self loathing and hatred until it was a burning mass, seeping out of his every pore. Pushing himself off his car, Luke walked towards the entrance door to the station, his calm pace at opposites with his emotions.

"Luke!" He thought he heard someone yell. "Luke, stop!" Reluctantly turning around, Luke found his jaw dropping when he saw Noah running towards him, looking terrified and bedraggled.

"Noah, what are you doing here?" Luke asked in shock.

"I woke up when you left the room – I couldn't sleep without you there." Noah admitted before continuing. "I went downstairs just in time to see you pull out, and when I saw that Eric's phone was gone I knew where you went. I think I broke about a dozen speeding laws." A small chuckle rose from Noah's throat, more out of effort to seem calm than actual amusement.

"Well, you can go home, Noah." Luke said, touching Noah's hand to lessen the harshness of his words. "I just need to talk to Eric."

"We can do it together, Luke." Noah replied, grabbing Luke's hand and squeezing.

"No we can't!" Luke yelled, yanking his hand back and stepping away. "If Eric's involved with your father, then god knows what else he's doing. And if he did this to Ethan, if he's involved, I have to talk to him!" Luke knew his logic made no sense, but he knew he had to do this on his own. He turned and ran before Noah could say another word, running through the doors of the police station. His entrance caused quite a few people to raise their eyebrows, but Luke ignored them, heading over to the blonde woman behind the receptionist desk.

"Is Constable Harrington here?" Luke asked, pulling out a weak attempt at the Snyder charm smile. From the receptionist's strange look, Luke suspected that it looked more like a grimace.

"He's in his office at the moment," she began, but that was all Luke needed to hear. With a muttered thank you, Luke turned and ran down the hallway to where he remembered Eric's office to be. He faintly heard Noah's thudding footsteps behind him, and that only spurred him to run faster. He didn't want Noah to talk him out of his; he wanted to force Eric to talk, force him to tell the truth.

He ran into the office, slamming the door shut behind him and stopping for a brief second, allowing himself to take in the sight in front of him. Eric was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands. A framed photograph was sitting in front of him; it was facing towards Eric, so Luke could only see the back of it.

Eric's head jerked up upon Luke's arrival, his brilliant green eyes locking onto hazel. "Luke, can I help you?" Eric asked, a rough quality to his voice.

"Help me? You want to know how you can help me, you bastard?" Luke screamed, "You can tell me the fucking truth!"

"The truth about what? Eric asked in what would've been a calm voice if not for the ever-so-slight wobble. Luke felt himself snap, and he lunged forwards, only to find that there were strong arms holding him back.

"Let go!" Luke screeched, struggling against his captor. "Get the hell off of me!"

"No." Noah whispered in his ear, pressing Luke tighter against him. "Not until you promise to calm down." Luke would've continued to struggle if not for the hitch in Noah's breath, the one that Luke knew was a prelude to tears.

He slowly allowed his body to relax in Noah's grip, until his boyfriend spun him around. The selfishness of what Luke had done hit him like a freight train; he'd left his boyfriend alone to deal with his father being alive, and made Noah pick up the pieces. Again.

"Noah, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." Luke stuttered out, shame making his knees weak. "I didn't mean to leave you, I just got so angry and I couldn't help it and this son of a bitch keeps lying to me!" The last part of Luke's apology was directed at Eric, who was looking on with a mix of surprise and confusion, a hint of understanding layered under his eyes.

"I've been lying to you?" Eric asked, his voice too calm and his tone too flat.

"Oh, come off of it." Noah snapped in a tone Luke didn't know his former Boy Scout knew how to use with authority figures. "Have you seen your phone lately?"

"What?" Eric asked, a hand automatically reaching into his pockets. "Of course I do, it's right here." He pulled out his phone, flipping it open before doing a double take. "Wait a minute…"

"That's mine." Noah said in that same cold tone, motioning for Luke to pass him Eric's phone. Instead, Luke chucked the phone at Eric, laughing humorlessly as the man fumbled to catch it. "By the way, you have a missed call. You should check it." Luke raised an eyebrow in shock as his boyfriend continued to bait the Constable. It was so out-of-character for his boyfriend, and yet somehow not.

Eric caught their gaze for a brief moment before lowering it to his phone, scanning his messages. His lips parted and his face paled, leaving behind a faint version of the confident man who'd stood in front of them just moments ago.

"A private number called? Big deal." Eric said, forcing a laugh that reminded Luke of fingernails scratching down a chalkboard. "What's the problem?"

"The problem," Luke taunted, stepping in front of Noah, "is that we talked to the person on the other end of the phone. And we know that he's an escaped convict, and that you're following out his commands." Luke stepped into Eric's personal space as he continued. "So, why are you associating with Colonel Mayer?"

"My father." Noah added, stepping beside Luke and brushing his fingers against Luke's hand in reassurance. "Unless you want me to call the cops – real cops," he added, watching as Eric paled further, "I'd suggest you start talking. Now."

Eric's gaze darted from Luke, to Noah, to the photo on his desk, fast enough to make Luke dizzy. He seemed to be weighing his options; after a moment, he collapsed in his chair and set the picture frame on his lap.

"What do you want to know?" Eric asked, those green eyes filled with a grim acceptance that he couldn't hide any longer.

"Start at the beginning." Noah replied sharply. "How do you know my father? What do you have twenty-four hours left to do?"

"What have you been doing with the investigation?" Luke added in, his voice undecipherable. "Does this… does this have to do with Ethan?"

Eric looked up, a pained amusement in his gaze. "How about I just start from the beginning?" He asked, watching as Luke and Noah nodded slowly.
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