"You watching me sleep again?" It seemed to be a habit of Casey's.
"Mmm," Casey hummed with contentment, "it reminds me of the beginning."
"The beginning?" Casey shifted closer, resting his head on Heath's chest and tracing lazy patterns across Heath's skin with his fingers.
"Remember how you spent nearly every night at the hospital after my accident?"
"Yeah..."
"Well I used to do it then too."
"Really? I still think it's kinda creepy."
"No," Casey reiterated, "it's romantic. Besides what else was I 'sposed to do? I was a cripple with a headful of nightmares." Heath tightened his hold on Casey, hating to think of him that way and wanting to protect him from anything like that ever happening to him again. "So I'd watch you sleep and I began to wonder what it'd be like to wake up next to you."
"And does it live up to your expectations?" Casey tilted his head up to look at Heath.
"It's better." They shared a kiss.
"This is the end ya know, we've got a whole new beginning in front of us. You ready for it?"
"Yes," Casey said, "I can't wait to make a life with you." They kissed again, enjoying a taste of what their future held, lazy mornings together with no fear of discovery. "You know, at first I thought this would go away, I thought when I got better I wouldn't need you like I had, but it didn't. It just gets stronger. Every day I think I can't possibly love you any more but I do. Do you think it can be like this forever?"
"Yes."
"What makes you so sure?" Heath thought about what to say but there didn't seem to be any words for it.
"Ya know I'm no good with words, but if you could feel what's here," Heath took Casey's hand and pressed it flat over his heart, "you'd know it." Sometimes when Heath looked at Casey he thought his heart might burst, he loved him so much.
"Oh Heath, there you go again, making me fall more in love with you." This time the kiss they shared lasted longer and they broke apart unwillingly, only when Heath's phone rang. He grabbed it and answered the call from an unidentified number.
"Heath, it's Brax," came his brothers voice in hushed tones. "Today, twelve o'clock, on the back road." The moment had arrived.
"Right, see ya then."
"Yep." Then the line went dead. Casey looked at him expectantly.
"Twelve o'clock today, we need to get moving." Heath climbed quickly out of bed and began to dress. He had a lot to do. He needed to make sure Ricky and Bianca were ready, and he needed to tell Kyle. He had to confirm the flight and make sure all the paperwork was packed. They had to drop the girls off, and after that they had to make sure they were in place before the transfer van passed. He was dressed before he realised Casey hadn't moved.
"C'mon Case," Heath barked, clapping his hands together, "no time to spare." It snapped Casey out of his contemplations and he looked up at Heath apprehension written all over his face. Heath regretted his harshness immediately.
"I'm sorry Case," Heath said, running a hand through his hair and walking around the bed to sit down next to Casey. Casey pulled him close and held on tight.
"Tell me we can do this."
"We're Braxton's," Heath said confidently, "breaking the law is what we do best."
"Second best."
"Huh?"
"It's what we do second best." Casey pulled back to look at Heath, what wouldn't Heath do for him? "Being there for each other is what we do best." Of course Casey was right. Heath pressed a kiss to Casey's mouth before standing and pulling Casey up with him. Being there for each other was exactly what today was about and they had to get going.
xxx
They'd dropped the girls off and the trap was set. They'd pick Ricky and Bianca up on the way back through Yabbie Creek, Heath had planned it this way to keep Ricky out of harm's way, and it was a comforting thought to know that she wasn't alone right now.
To stop the van all they'd done was drag a decent sized branch across the road, which wasn't an unusual thing to find on a country back road. Of course the screws would be suspicious, but either way they'd have to stop. Heath noticed Casey check the time again.
"They can't be too far away."
"Any minute now I'd say." The anticipation in the air was palpable. Their future depended on the outcome of this attempt. They'd set this up just past a bend so the driver wouldn't have any time to think before he'd have to stop. Hopefully no one else would choose to drive along this road this morning. They heard the van before they saw it. Heath and Casey exchanged a glance, this was it and they were ready. Casey was gonna stay with the ute and Heath was gonna open the van. It'd all be over in a couple of minutes. The van came into sight. All this planning and all this waiting and the moment was upon them. What followed all happened so quick that later on when Heath thought back on it he still had trouble swallowing it. The flaw in his plan had come from the most likely of places, but it was one that he hadn't considered.
The van rolled to a stop and by the time Heath reached it the back doors were already opening, making this whole thing ridiculously easy. He fired a shot into the rear tyre on his way past to make sure the screws didn't try to make a getaway, and as anticipated they waited it out in the cab. Apparently they weren't being paid enough to risk their lives. Four other prisoners climbed out ahead of Brax, taking this opportunity at freedom. The moment dragged as he waited for Brax's face to appear. It was an enormous relief when Heath finally saw him. Brax already had his cuffs off, like all the cons had. All they had to do now was get in the truck Casey would already have running, and drive away.
"Good to see ya," Brax grinned, slapping Heath on the back, after he'd climbed out of the van.
"Same," Heath grinned back. Brax was free. They took off towards the truck, they'd done it. But the instant Heath saw the driver's door hanging open he had a sinking feeling.
"Where's Casey?" Brax questioned.
"He should be here," Heath said, doing his best to keep a lid on his panic, losing it now wasn't gonna help anyone. As they came further around the van they saw him. Casey had his back to them and his hands raised, the car keys dangling from his right hand. The reason for his behaviour was standing on the other side of him. One of the convicts had a gun on him, Casey's gun Heath realised, he must've gotten it from Casey somehow and he wanted the ute to make his getaway. The prisoner spotted them, saw that Heath was armed and knew he was outnumbered. Backed into a corner he would come out swinging. Heath summed the situation up in a heartbeat and acted on instinct. He needed to eliminate the threat. He couldn't lose Casey now.
"CASEY, GET DOWN!" Heath raised his arm and took aim, the convict did the same. Heath pulled the trigger, two shots sounding almost simultaneously as Casey dropped to the ground.