Chapter 31

When Wo Fat returned with the phone, Steve couldn't take it anymore; he could feel his man dying via their link and it was driving him crazy.

"Danny, tell me you've got something?" he asked as soon as his friend picked up.

"Five minutes, can you call me back in five minutes?"

"OK."

Anguish no longer let go of the Hawaiian, who couldn't even hope for help to arrive; the fear of losing Charlie and his inability to act paralyzed him. However, he regained hope when the door flew open and bullets started flying. Steve felt a pain in his ribs, but he didn't care - he'd just seen a knife fly across the screen and stab into the top of the dragon caretaker's torso.

"Charlie!" yelled Steve, struggling in his chair to free himself.

"Hey, take it easy Steve, take it easy," Danny tried, coming up to him.

The soldier was relieved to see his friend and Chin in his prison and calmed down long enough to be freed, but he ran out of the room as soon as he could. He came to a corridor at the end of which he spotted a kneeling man being watched by a standing man. He ran down the corridor, stopping only to discover Joe being held in check by Harry Potter. He took no time to question them and entered the room where Charlie was now lying on the floor, his parents at his side. Farther away lay the inert bodies of Doris and Ian.

Steve rushed to his man's side, to Molly's right, and caressed his face. His skin was too white, his lips blue and his chest barely moved. The knife was stabbed through his sternum, but the wound wasn't bleeding, a fact that made Steve panic even more.

"An antidote, Wo Fat said he had an antidote," he reported as soon as he touched his man.

He heard Chin swear and head back to the other room as Danny began rummaging through the corpses.

"Oh Steve, darling!" exclaimed Molly as she seemed to realize just then that he was there.

She trapped him in her bear hug, but quickly released him.

"But you're hurt, what have they done to you darling?"

"It doesn't matter Molly, we've got to give Charlie the antidote, from what Wo Fat told me he's got about thirty minutes before it's too late."

"Ginny's gone to get Jackub from the reserve on Donovan's advice, he's going to treat him, I trust Charlie's friends."

"Yes, if anyone can save him, it's Jackub. Where's Donovan?"

"With your sister and niece, darling, they're fine."

Steve hugged Molly again, before squeezing Arthur's shoulder and standing up to go into the hallway. He nodded toward Joe in a silent question to Harry.

"The woman threw the knife when we got there, Molly lost control, she killed her with a spell. The Asian fought back the spell and Ginny knocked him down. This one didn't move."

"Joe, what are you doing here?"

"Your mother was a very convincing woman, she persuaded me to come."

"And at no point did you think you'd step in while she tortured an innocent man."

"If he'd been innocent, you wouldn't have given up everything for him, he bewitched you."

Steve couldn't hold back his blow, nor the ones that followed, it took Harry to stop him as the man he'd once considered a second father lay bleeding on the floor.

"He'll pay, I promise," the wizard told him, his face closed. "Go with Charlie, let us sort this out."

Steve didn't like not knowing what was going on around him, but Jackub and Ginny apparated into the corridor just then. The medicomage, briefcase in hand, wasted no time in rushing behind Steve into the room. He cast a few spells on the cold body as the soldier knelt behind his soulmate's head, praying that this would be the end of the nightmare. Jackub poured the contents of several vials into Charlie's mouth before removing the knife from his chest. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then the flesh lost its stiffness and the wound began to bleed. Jackub waved his wand over the wound, which closed slowly. Steve could see that it was in danger of reopening at the slightest sudden movement, and the doctor seemed to agree with him as he applied a light blue paste to the weakened skin.

Charlie continued to regain his color, but his breathing was still almost non-existent. Molly and Arthur clung to Charlie's hands, Steve gently stroked his cheek and whispered encouragement. Suddenly, the wounded man's chest heaved to its fullest and fell back as a wail escaped his mouth.

"Let's take him home," Jackub ordered urgently.

Steve stood up at the same time as his in-laws, but his head began to spin. A strong arm wrapped around his waist, and Steve recognized Danny's voice in his ear.

"You've got two gunshot wounds, how long were you planning to keep bleeding to death?"

He couldn't answer, but leaned a little more against his friend. In the distance, he heard Harry telling them to leave, that the Romanian police were on their way. Another man, a little taller than Danny, grabbed him by his other side as his friend promised to come and visit him as soon as everything was sorted out. The sensation of apparating took its toll on Steve, who lost consciousness.

When he came to his senses, he was in his boxer shorts, in bed, under a heated blanket. Bandages surrounded his torso and shoulder as he felt a gelatinous texture between the bandages and his skin.

"How are you feeling big boy?"

Steve had opened his eyes, but he was still a little lost. He turned his gaze to his right and discovered Arthur.

"Jackub said you had to sleep at least twelve hours.¨

¨And it had been?¨

¨Not even one."

The man's pained expression alarmed Steve, who suddenly realized that his nightmares had taken place in reality.

"Charlie?¨

¨He'll be alright, but he may be asleep for a few days." Arthur replied, pointing to the other side of the bed.

Steve followed his gaze and discovered his man who hadn't yet recovered all his color, but whose features reflected pain. The Muggle's heart clenched.

"Is there anything I can do to help him?¨

¨If you can share your body heat with him without touching his shoulders, I think it'll help. I'll go downstairs and let them know you've woken up."

Steve watched him go before moving to his man's side. He stood on his uninjured arm so as not to touch the wizard's broken bones and caressed his face, his torso, with his other arm, before kissing his forehead, cheek and mouth. He then stepped back and positioned himself at an angle in the bed so that he could entwine their legs without touching his arms. He went back to sleep, overcome by the fatigue of the last few hours, even weeks, and the relief of knowing that Charlie was going to be alright.

On his second awakening, he found Jackub inspecting Charlie's wound, who was still asleep, the pain still marked on his face.

"Give me some good news," Steve whispered.

¨I've got two if you want.¨

¨I'm all ears.¨

¨Charlie's responding well to the potions, his shoulders are back together and the wound is healed.¨

¨What about the poisoning?¨

¨I'm not going to lie to you, it might take a while, both for him to wake up and afterwards.¨

¨But he'll make a full recovery, right?¨

¨It'll take a little time, but yes. If you'd like to sit down, I'll take a look at your wounds."

Steve relented and was delighted to hear that he would be healed in a few days. Curious, he asked Jackub why Charlie's knife wound could be healed in a few hours, whereas gunshot wounds took several days. The answer seemed logical to him: a bullet did more damage and burned some of the flesh, whereas a knife only cut.

Steve's stomach then began to rumble, and Jackub helped him dress before heading together to the kitchen where Molly was with Arthur, Danny and Chin.

"Oh Steve, how are you?" asked the mother of the family, taking him in her arms.

¨I'm fine, Molly. Molly, Arthur, I'm so sorry I couldn't protect Charlie...¨

¨Don't apologize, darling, we know you're not responsible for the actions of these people," Molly reprimanded him.

¨They're dead, Steve," intervened Danny. ¨Wo Fat and your mother are dead, you're out of danger now."

A huge weight lifted from Steve's shoulders as Molly began to apologize.

"Stop, stop, Molly, I would have killed her too if I could, she only dreamed of killing Charlie, as long as she was alive, she was a threat to him."

The woman took him in her arms again before guiding him to the table and bringing him a plate.

"Seriously Steve, your mother-in-law's cooking is a delight, how do you keep from getting stuffed?" chided Danny, which lightened the mood.

They went on to tell how Joe had been blamed for the murders of the four corpses the Muggle police had found, Harry and Ginny had made sure it couldn't be questioned and the young man had even altered the soldier's memories so that he too remembered doing it. He was going to spend the rest of his life in prison. Steve then learned that Chin had been allowed to know the wizards' secret and that his two friends would be staying with his in-laws for a good week. Steve was delighted, but he needed his sister and his man to be happy. After he'd eaten, Jackub sent him back to bed, and he didn't hold back. This time, he allowed himself to cling to his man's still-cold body and drifted back to sleep, lulled by his breathing.