Evenfall (46 page)

He set Boyd down as they went into the surveillance camera's range and supported Boyd as if helping a drunk friend. Boyd played along well enough but Sin suspected that the stumbling and slightly disoriented quality wasn't entirely staged.

Sin swiped the keycard quickly and ushered Boyd into the room. As soon as they were inside, the younger man's face screwed up and he doubled over to the nearby trashcan.

"God dammit," Sin hissed as Boyd got sick.

Boyd shook his head wearily, pushing himself upright when he was done but wincing in obvious pain. His eyes were still half-shut and his face was pale as Sin crouched down next to him. Long fingers flew over Boyd's jacket, undoing the buttons deftly. He pushed it aside and saw that the black long sleeved shirt that Boyd wore beneath was cut open in an arc at the top where blood was flowing freely.

Not hesitating or waiting to ask Boyd's opinion on the matter, Sin picked him up again and crossed the room quickly. The wound was bleeding profusely and getting the motel room bloody would only draw attention to who had been occupying it once they were gone, especially with the news of murders nearby. The last thing they needed on top of a trip to medical was having to explain the PR nightmare to Vivienne if Seattle cops started investigating.

"Do you know what I'm doing?" he asked harshly as they entered the bathroom.

Boyd nodded although it seemed to take a lot of effort to move his head. His breath hissed out in pain and he muttered something slightly incoherent. The only word Sin made out was "mess."

Glad that they wouldn't have to argue about this at least, Sin ripped the shower curtain aside and gingerly pushed Boyd down on the tiled floor inside. Both of them were covered in blood by this point, so Sin switched on the water and flicked the shower on-- allowing the water to spray close to where he'd situated them. It hit Boyd's face and hair indirectly.
Boyd started with a gasp, eyes opening wide.

The water started washing the blood off Boyd, along with the filth that had collected in his hair from the alley. It wasn't the most convenient option but it was the one that allowed for as little movement of Boyd's head as possible after he'd been jolted around in their egress.

"I need to wash out these wounds without making this whole room look like a crime scene," Sin said in explanation, crouching on the shower floor next to Boyd. The water was hitting his side and soaking through his shirt but it didn't matter. He'd have to change anyway unless they made the trip across the country in bloody clothing.

Boyd's eyes were more alert on Sin and he nodded. His eyebrows dragged down and his gaze slid away, squinting as he tilted his head toward the spray of water. He was slouched and looked down at the water that had started to splash back off onto his pants and trickle down his shirt.

"What about..." He gestured to the shoes still on their feet.

Without waiting for a response he leaned forward, fingers slightly clumsy and shaky as he started to untie the shoelaces of his boots. He looked determined but the position wasn't doing anything to help stop the flow of blood.

"Forget that," Sin snapped, pushing his partner back against the shower wall, reminding himself to do so gently. "Just be still."

He stood up and backed out of the shower, kicking off his own boots only because they would track the blood that had soaked into the soles onto the cream colored carpet in the main room. The med kit wasn't even out like it should have been in case of an emergency, but they hadn't anticipated injuries for such a small scale mission.

Swearing and ignoring the steadily building tension in his body, Sin narrowed his eyes and forced himself to focus solely on the matter at hand. His own issues could wait.

Unzipping the duffel bag with more force than was necessary, Sin dug out the med kit and belatedly took out his gun. It was soaked from the water. In his haste, he'd forgotten to remove it before jumping in the damn shower. Stupid. When had he become so completely unprofessional over a couple of fucking flesh wounds?

Grinding his teeth in agitation, Sin turned away from his weapon. It would have been smarter to take it apart and let it dry out but somehow that seemed less important at the moment. If anyone came bursting in for whatever reason, the mood he was in would guarantee a neck ripped out anyway. Guns weren't something he necessarily relied on.

He stripped his shirt off upon reentering the bathroom, crouching in front of Boyd. The other man was awake it seemed, and had managed to kick off his boots as they were haphazardly lying out of the shower. One pale hand was pressed against his head wound as he looked out at Sin blearily.

Pushing Boyd's hand away, Sin began looking closer at the head wound. It was bleeding a lot but the wound didn't look very deep. He checked for signs of swelling or any sunken areas but found none. Ignoring the relief that met with this discovery, Sin tilted Boyd's chin up and looked into his face.

Their gazes locked and Boyd's golden brown eyes looked focused.

"Are you good?"

Sin felt the movement of Boyd's nod. "The water helps."

Long fingers splayed across Boyd's face, pushing wet hair to the side. For a moment Sin let his hand stay there, pressed against Boyd's cheek, but then he shook his head and let it fall away. A low sigh escaped him and Sin narrowed his eyes, reaching back to extract antibiotic ointment from the kit.

"How the hell did those two idiots jump you?"

Boyd shook his head and grimaced faintly. For a moment it almost seemed he wasn't going to answer but then he spoke. "I took care of one and two came back at me at once. One cut me and then I got him. The other was too close and disarmed me." He frowned, his eyebrows dragging together. "Then I fell."

A scoff escaped Sin's lips and he leaned forward, carefully applying the ointment to the wound.

"That's the last time we split up. Got it? I run, you fucking run."

"Okay," Boyd said, slightly subdued.

He had his head tilted forward so Sin could see the wound. Despite how careful Sin was being, as he tended to the main part of the cut Boyd winced suddenly and automatically jerked back a little before he stopped himself. One hand reached up and curled around Sin's wrist. He didn't apply any pressure or try to push Sin away; his fingers simply pressed against Sin's skin. Sin stilled and looked down, meeting Boyd's eyes again.

Boyd's fingers twitched minutely against Sin's wrist but he didn't say anything. His golden brown eyes were caught on Sin; quiet and seeming somehow more intense with his blond hair plastered in strings against his cheek and the sheen of water on his skin. Droplets of water ran down the planes of his face, sliding toward his lips and chin.

In that moment an image flitted across Sin's mind; the memory of him pressing Boyd against the wall as the younger man panted furiously, their lips only centimeters apart.

Sin's mouth opened slightly, eyebrows drawing together as his gaze flicked down to Boyd's mouth again. But then the feel of water sluicing down his arm snapped him out of the daze, and he abruptly looked away. He reached over and shut off the water. A few drops fell from the shower head while water tinged pink with blood flowed toward the drain.

He backed off and grabbed a thick wad of gauze. "Hold this against the wound."

Boyd's fingers brushed against Sin's as he took the gauze with a nod.

Sin shook his head, eyes dropping to the blood still seeping from Boyd's chest. He reached over, intending to rip the already destroyed shirt down the middle but before he could do it, Boyd's hand suddenly snapped up with a harsh grip on Sin's wrist. He shoved himself back against the wall, as if trying to get away or to put space between them. At the same time his knees snapped up, putting more of a barrier between the two of them.

"No--" Boyd said urgently, his voice seeming to wrench out of him. "Don't."

Sin looked up in surprise. Normally Boyd's expressions were subtle or subdued but Sin saw naked fear, nearly terror, in Boyd's wide eyes and ashen skin. There was a skittish quality to him, as if he was one heartbeat away from tearing away from Sin and running out of the room.

Baffled by the reaction, Sin could only stare. He had no idea what could have caused such an extreme reaction and for a moment, he felt a flash of impatience. He had no idea how deep the laceration was or how much blood Boyd had lost. They didn't have time for this shit, not when they were expected at the airport within the next several hours.

But the fear in Boyd's face stopped him.

"What if I just rip the part where the wound is?"

Even this suggestion seemed to scare Boyd on some level. He remained coiled for a moment, his hand tightening on Sin's wrist and eyes intense on Sin's face. After a moment, he seemed to force himself to attempt to relax. He dropped his hand to the shower floor, his fingers curled in a fist braced against the tiles. He tilted his head down slightly so he wasn't looking Sin in the eye. There was tension in his shoulders still, but he nodded silently.

Sin nodded, still watching Boyd contemplatively before he stood. "Let's go in the other room, you need to get your head elevated."

Boyd pushed himself up, using the wall for balance. He stepped out of the shower and made his way to the outer room. Sin grabbed the medical kit, keeping close behind in case Boyd lost his balance again.

The next few moments were spent propping Boyd's head up with pillows as he stretched out on one of the full sized beds. Sin sat next to him, using his knife to cut Boyd's already destroyed shirt at an angle that only exposed the very top of his torso and his left shoulder. The gash was deeper than Sin had thought and he shook his head again, mouth pursing in displeasure.

"I'm going to stitch this up."

Boyd nodded, tilting his head back against the pillows with eyes that were squeezed shut. His fingers curled into the covers and his chest rose and fell a little more quickly than normal.

Time stretched silently for awhile. Sin methodically sewed the wound with the precision of a surgeon. He'd done it often enough to himself to complete the task easily on someone else. But even as his hands moved confidently, closing the gash once he'd cleaned it thoroughly-- his mind was churning.

Everything was going wrong. The entire partnership had evolved in a way that he would have never possibly imagined. From the start, nothing had gone as he'd expected. He'd never expected to be intrigued by Boyd, or to find anything in common with him. He'd never expected to feel reluctance about allowing the teen to die. He'd definitely never expected to eventually start enjoying Boyd's company, and especially had not expected this god awful attraction.

As soon as he'd noticed Boyd's features that day in the thrift shop, the entire thing had taken off at a speed he hadn't been prepared for. He hadn't been able to stop noticing things about Boyd from that point on, which had manifested into a confusing desire to do... something, that night in his apartment.

After finding out that Boyd was gay and had been sexually involved with men, the situation had gotten worse. Trying to picture somber, expressionless Boyd without any of his inhibitions had somehow morphed into picturing him losing those inhibitions with Sin. It hadn't even been something he'd consciously done; the thoughts, the wondering-- they'd randomly accosted him and then refused to go away.

Scowling deeply, his green eyes flicked over to Boyd's face.

"Don't fall asleep yet."

One eye peeked open, peering at Sin through pale eyelashes. "You have a needle in me," Boyd said tightly. "I'm not going to sleep."

Sin smirked. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

Boyd scrunched his face up and closed his eyes again, dropping his head back against the pillows. "It doesn't feel good."

That couldn't be argued with so Sin fell silent again as he worked. The nagging feeling that had been plaguing him since he'd gone back to the alley to find Boyd on the ground came back.

"Sorry."

Boyd's eyes opened and he looked at Sin in surprise. His eyes flicked across Sin's face before he said, "It's alright. There's no painless way to stitch a wound like this..."

"That's not what I was talking about."

There was a brief pause. "Then what?"

Sin made a face, glancing over at Boyd again. "What do you think? If I'd been on top of things, this wouldn't have happened."

Boyd was quiet a moment, watching Sin with those eyes that had so often seemed silently trained on him. "It's not your fault. If you hadn't gotten Eugene, we both would've been in trouble. The rest of this..." He gestured to his wounds. "It just happens sometimes."

Unconvinced, Sin just shrugged. He finished stitching the wound, cleaned it up again and applied a bandage. Despite the fact that his wounds were now attended to, Boyd still looked like a mess due to his clothing. They had several hours before they had to meet the Agency crew who would be transporting them back to Lexington, so Sin reached for the pack with the intention of giving Boyd a fresh pair of clothing. However it occurred to him that Boyd likely wouldn't change in front of him for... whatever reason.

"If your head is feeling better, you should change," he said in his usual toneless voice, standing up finally. "We have seven hours before the transport team will expect us, but I wouldn't advise sleeping right away since we don't know if you have a concussion."