Evenfall (78 page)

Sin wasn't happy with this information but he wasn't any angrier either. In truth he found it to be unsurprising that people on the compound felt that way. It was exactly how they'd felt about him when he'd arrived at the age of fourteen and had immediately risen in the ranks.

"Jealousy is a terrible thing," he said, sounding bored. "But I could care less about who dislikes Boyd. It would be perfectly fine with me if no one liked him at all as long as they kept their fucking hands off him."

Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. "Careful. It's precisely that sort of talk that will only exacerbate it further."

Sin stared at him blankly for a moment before frowning. "What? Why would that exacerbate anything? What exactly are these stupid rumors anyway?"

Another raised eyebrow and Jeffrey looked at Sin as if he were an idiot. "One would think you didn't spend your life on the compound. Amazing."

He straightened in the chair. "For months there have been rumors that you and he are sexually involved. Apparently there was something to do with your apartment, I don't really know what it was and I don't particularly care to know the sordid details." His expression twisted in distaste.

"So it was already believed Boyd or you were homosexuals, but the moment it became known that Boyd had slept with a man for information, it was confirmed. Being a homosexual is not exactly something a person advertises around here." He shrugged and looked bored.

Sin stared at Jeffrey doubtfully, mouth twisted into an annoyed frown. "You realize," he said slowly, "that all of that is bullshit. Or are you an idiot too?"

Jeffrey grimaced and waved a hand impatiently. "What should I care? The point is, everyone believes that there's obviously something wrong in his head to have put out for the Agency without even having been asked, and it's made worse by everyone thinking he's involved with you. It gives him zero credibility. So when the most recent rumors surfaced, people believed it. After all, it's clear from the mission to France that he'll do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, just like his mother. So, their thoughts go, who knows what kind of sick person he truly is?"

"And what exactly are the 'most recent rumors'?"

Jeffrey hesitated a moment, as if wondering whether he should continue. "Well," he said, watching Sin carefully. "Mind you, I don't necessarily believe this; I'm just relaying the rumor. Apparently he baited Harry until the idiot man attacked him, and had set it up so that you would arrive just in time to take Harry out. It was all related to some issue that had happened before and he used you for his dirty work."

Sin glared at Jeffrey and didn't know if he wanted to laugh or hit someone. On one side it was so ridiculous that anyone who believed such a thing was obviously mentally deficient in some way. On the other hand the idea that there were people actively harassing his partner over such utter foolishness made him even more pissed off.

"That is by far the stupidest thing I've ever heard," he said and made a face. "I snapped Harry's neck because he was assaulting my partner. Protecting Boyd is my job and that is why I am no longer being incarcerated. If anyone else decides to pull the same shit, I won't hesitate to do it again, consequences be damned."

Sin stood up, irritation practically radiating off of him in black waves. "Next time I suggest you keep what's said in a briefing inside the conference room. I'm surprisingly pleased that I won't be forced to hurt you but that doesn't mean it will stop me if this kind of thing happens again."

He turned abruptly and headed for the door but not before pausing and glancing back at Jeffrey. "Thanks for the information, by the way."

Jeffrey's eyes narrowed as he studied Sin, as if trying to determine whether he was being sarcastic. In the end he just shrugged. "You're welcome this time. But next time I expect a warning phone call and far less proximity. It makes me not want to help you out in any way."

Sin snorted. "Yeah, yeah," he said over his shoulder and went out the door.

He stood outside the apartment for a moment with his hands shoved in his pockets, staring at nothing in particular. He'd almost forgotten how ridiculous people could be when faced by someone younger and more powerful than they are.

He'd felt that particular kind of anger directed at him when he'd first joined the Agency. People had hated him long before he'd earned the reputation of being a bloodthirsty monster. They'd hated him just because he'd earned the prestigious level 10 rank at the age of fifteen when there were people in the Agency who'd been striving to achieve that for years.

He was damned lucky that no one had ever found out about his embarrassing display at the hotel in France. It probably would have made the situation unbearable.

Sin scowled and strode down the stairs, casually dropping the keycard on the floor before he exited the building. He didn't like to think about anything that had happened in France because he didn't really know what to think about it anymore.

On one hand it made his temper flare dangerously as he remembered Thierry's condescending comments and Boyd's flirtation, but now he wondered if he'd ever had any right to be angry over it at all. Now that he reflected back on the entire incident he was pretty sure that the dejection and bitterness that he'd felt had more to do with the fact that it'd seemed like Boyd had trusted a man he'd just met more than Sin, rather than the fact that he'd actually slept with that man at all.

On the other hand, thinking about France also made him remember other things... Things that were better left forgotten in the hateful haze he'd been in that night. Things like the feel of Boyd's body pressed against his and the taste of Boyd's mouth on his tongue. The sound of his panting breath and sudden moans.

Sin had thought he was able to completely forget about it but ever since that day earlier in the week when Boyd had allowed him to touch him... he couldn't get it out of his mind.

Sin scowled and walked back towards his building. Once again, people avoided walking near him but he didn't blame them; he probably looked like he was ready to snap. It was barely ten minutes later when he approached his building and saw Boyd standing outside of his building talking to the guards. None of them seemed to notice Sin approaching; he was still too far away and walking too silently.

"What's that, presents for your boyfriend?" one of the guards was saying. He reached over and pulled on the edge of a paper bag Boyd held in one hand.

Boyd didn't let it go; he only narrowed his eyes slightly although his face was mostly blank. "Don't you ever grow bored with this?" His voice was tinged with weary irritation as he dragged the bag closer, away from the guard. "Come up with something more creative at least."

The guard yanked on the bag so abruptly that it almost ripped. "I'm just doing my job, princess."

"Stop it," Boyd snapped, sounding outright annoyed now. "You don't need to inspect this; what the hell would I even bring in that would be a danger? These are just books-- you can tell from the feel and weight, unless you've never been literate enough to pick one up."

The second guard present was one Sin recognized, Officer Allen, who sometimes warned him of the cold and tried to tell him to bundle up. Although he didn't go out of his way to interrupt the other guard, it was obvious from the way he rolled his eyes that he was exasperated and annoyed by the scene.

"Oh ho." The guard seemed to thoroughly be enjoying himself now as he smirked. "You're getting pretty hot and bothered, aren't you, blondie? Must be getting yourself ready for some railing now that you took the cameras down."

"You don't even know what you're talking about," Boyd said coolly. "I took them down because it was a blatant violation of his privacy."

The guard snorted. "Yeah right. You know, I've met a lot of valentines with this job but none of them as sick as you, willingly taking it from that freak and even going out of your way to get the status." His eyebrows rose. "What are we going to find out next about you? You like a good gang bang once in awhile? If so, I'm sure you can find some people who'd be willing to finish what Harry started."

Boyd's eyes narrowed into a glare and his fingers tightened into fists against the paper bag.

 
Sin didn't know if it was the fact that he'd just heard about all of this crap in detail from Jeffrey or if it was seeing someone harass Boyd at all. Whatever the case, something in Sin snapped. He crossed the remaining distance so fast that no one had properly become aware of his presence before he suddenly appeared in front of Boyd.

Grabbing the guard by the neck, he lifted him up and slammed him violently against the side of the building with the same strength he'd used on Jeffrey. Only, this time the danger radiating off of him implied that he would do a lot more than simply scare the man.

"Is there a problem?" he asked flatly.

The guard looked thoroughly startled and a little frightened. "The
fuck--?
" he hissed.

Allen moved over immediately to intervene. "Put him down," he said sternly but not unkindly. "You could get in a lot of trouble for this."

Sin ignored Allen and stared up at the man who dangled from his iron grip. "Because I could have sworn that it looked like there was a problem."

"Vega, put him down. Please man, don't make me have to do something I really don't want to do," Officer Allen pleaded.

"Then I suggest you keep this idiot in line." Sin squeezed harder, resisting the urge to crush the man's windpipe, before letting him drop to the cold ground. "Next time keep your fucking mouth shut and your hands to yourself," he said coldly, eyes narrowed into slits.

After a long, tense moment that seemed to last for an eternity, Sin finally just walked over the guard and entered the building. He heard the guard hiss vehemently behind him, "I'll see that fucking animal back in his cage."

Sin automatically took the stairs, assuming Boyd would follow him, and stormed up to his apartment silently. He swiped his keycard in the door with more force than was necessary. His hands were balled into white knuckled fists and fury was a cloak of tension surrounding him. Once he was in his apartment, he took a long, deep breath and raked both hands through his hair, closing his eyes briefly.

"What's wrong?" Boyd asked the moment he shut the door behind them. "Did someone say something to you?"

"No."

Boyd gave him a sidelong look and headed past him toward the table. "Okay..."

"I'm just tired of people fucking with you," Sin snapped, agitated.

Pausing as he set the books down, Boyd gave Sin a look that was difficult to interpret. "Oh. The guards." He shrugged and turned toward the window, but there was tension in his back that Sin didn't miss. "Thank you for the help but it's nothing to worry about. It's not very important and what happened downstairs was a fluke."

Sin turned his dark glare onto Boyd, eyes narrowing. "What the hell do you mean it isn't important? And how the hell is it a fluke?" He shook his head, mouth turning down. "Why don't you defend yourself?"

Boyd shook his head. "Why should I?"

"Becau--" Sin broke off abruptly and stared at his partner incredulously before taking a slow, calming breath. "Because you could wipe the floor with that idiot and he has no right to treat you that way. He's a fucking useless, lazy guard and you're a level 9 operative. You contribute a lot more to this idiotic Agency than he does and you were not trained to be a fucking doormat to those morons."

"Well the last time I tried it didn't work out so well for me," Boyd replied darkly, crossing his arms. "So what's the point? They'll grow bored with it eventually. The more I struggle against it the more entertaining they find it to be." His shoulders were tense and for all that his jaw was set stubbornly, there was a troubled look in his eyes before he looked away. "And anyway, there's some truth to it."

"Which parts are true? I know I've been gone but please feel free to fill me in."

Boyd sighed and turned toward the window, peering out at the compound laid out before them. "I don't know. I did get the job primarily due to my mother, even though I never asked her to do anything for me. They may be right that I don't deserve my rank."

"You got the job," Sin began in a flat, irritated tone, "because you were good enough. Your mother submitted your name but Carhart had no intentions of taking you seriously until I told him to give you a chance. And then you proved yourself. End of story."
Boyd studied Sin quietly for a moment. His eyebrows drew together as he looked away with a silent nod.

Sin turned around, walking to the table with his books. "What did you get me?"

"A variety of books, some of which are given in jest," Boyd replied, his tone becoming more normal and losing the pensive quality. "You'll have to guess which ones are serious."

Sin stared at Boyd suspiciously for a moment before picking up a purple book with what looked like a large image of a peanut butter sandwich on it. "The Ultimate Peanut Butter Book." He stared at it, turned it all around in his hands and then looked up at Boyd with raised eyebrows and a smirk. "Excellent."

Boyd seemed amused by his reaction and the rest of the tension that had lingered in him disappeared. "So you can be more creative."

"What's not creative about eating with my fingers?" Sin asked and opened the book, flipping through the pages. "Besides, I think you should make this stuff for me."