Sacrifices [Oneshot?]

Darkness befell upon the house. IQ had yet to fall asleep. Brody had fallen asleep rather quickly, but it evaded him like the plague. He casually turned over into Brody. Getting comfortable was hard but as he slid his arm over Brody’s naked chest, he finally felt comfortable enough by spooning him. His nose nestled into the back of Brody’s neckline and his breaths evened out.

“Hmm, you're warm. ” He whispered out, letting his lips tenderly touch his back. A half smile crept upon his lips then began to fade as the seconds trickled by. The silence that radiated through the house was marred only by the pawprints of a cat long forgotten by the unconsciousness that took over.

Roman’s eyes closed.

The clock ticked away and then stopped. The house screamed in silence until something crashed downstairs. Immediately, Roman’s eyes shot open and Brody shifted in front of him. As he lay still, listening, he wondered if it was just the cat. With heavy eyes and the silence that followed, he closed his eyes again thinking the mess that the cat had made will just have to be cleaned up in the morning but another crash, lighter than before, sounded. Jolting out of the bed, Roman raced to throw open the door and peered into the first floor landing. Behind him, he could hear Brody padding across the bedroom.

“It’s okay. I got it.” He noticed a plant on the ground and the dirt had been scattered. “That cat of yours… go back to bed.” It was hardly an argument but as sleep had already evaded him, he slinked to the steps and took the first two steps with caution as he rubbed his eyes.

“Damn cat… I swear. You’ve never done this be-” Roman jolted when a pair of hands clasped around him. “Brody. I told you t-”

The grip was very unfamiliar and definitely not the arms of his lover as he turned to see the visor peering at him. His reflection stared back at him as his heart dropped. A robotic voice came over in a tiny fashion as the earpiece hummed with words he couldn’t understand. The grip around his arms was forever tight and the stairs became his leverage as he dropped his weight all the while screaming out.

“ASPEN.” IQ shouted with fear enveloping his voice. The person holding him only moments ago, tumbled down the stairs by twos. The pitch in his voice was taken aback as the last step was his failure and he found himself falling forward with a jerk. His voice lurched out with pain before he could feel it. Inches came between his face and the floor when those unfamiliar arms wrapped around him. The man had caught himself from tumbling down any further and in turn, caught IQ.

“STOP. Roman, you’re under arrest!” The voice shouted and IQ’s blood ran cold.

“What? Why? Wh-” IQ watched as three more men in white filed into the room, two of them aiming weapons at the stairs going back to his bedroom. The figure of Brody stood silhouetted as the red dots trained onto his chest and neck. IQ fought against his captor.

“He didn’t do anything. Don’t hurt him.” IQ pleaded with the uniforms and looked up to Brody. Something was wrong and he couldn’t place it. Fear dripped in his facial expressions. His mouth was moving but no words were coming out. “I said don’t hurt him… BRODY.”

He watched with slow motion playing with his vision. Brody crumpled to his knees. The two peacekeepers that had their weapons trained on him started to scale the stairs. The free keeper that stood beside IQ spoke in broken terms to someone behind an earpiece and try as he might, he couldn’t escape the grip.

“BRODY. FIGHT. BRODY…” The word came out in pain as he watched the two uniforms grip his boyfriend under the arms. They began to drag him backward before disappearing into the bedroom. “no… don’t… hurt… him…”

A noise popped in his ears before he felt his heart explode from within and strength returned to him thrice over as if he were still in the woods. The wanderer in him and the ability to escape the threats took over. He forced his arms to pull forward. A groan of pain mixed with adrenaline forced him to react. His muscles strained, pulling further than they should. The need to check on Brody came with such a tremendous amount that pain was no longer a factor. His leg twirled around the man’s ankle, jerking it forward with force, jarring the man and a howl of pain erupted from him. He fell. No longer being able to keep a tight grip on IQ, the keeper that had been free standing beside him sprang into action reaching for IQ.

"Get back here, wanderer. You're under arrest,” The malice in his voice lingered on. His grubby fingers latching onto IQ’s arm only momentarily before Roman was able to wretch his arm away. A long bellowing voice arose a moment later when he scaled the stairs to aide his lover’s side. “and your friend, well the punishment is far worse for knowingly harboring a fugitive."

“No! I won’t believe it.” IQ yelled and before he could reach the last step, the glimpse inside the room was appalling. His heart screeched to a halt and his breath hitched. He felt his entire world come crumbling down and just as the two peacekeepers that stood beside Brody’s figure noticed him, the one on the right began to step closer.

It was a race against the stairs to evade the shots. Behind him and all around, bullets rang out and as he dodged and shifted his stance back and forth, he barreled passed the keeper in his way. The door to their house was next. The cat shot out from somewhere to go into hiding and the sound of another plant shattering against the ground brought him to his senses.

He knew where he needed to go. He knew where to go for help. Before he could clear the door frame, another round of shots rang out. Try as he might, the stinging sensation pelted his body and he felt himself stumbling out the door, groaning with distaste. A hand instantly reaching for his shoulder, just inches above his heart as a crimson pool began to flow. His arm began to burn against the night air and the darkness gave him exactly what he needed.

Cover.

“Brody. Oh my god, Brody… you can’t be dead. You can’t let them win.” IQ’s voice trembled. The words croaked against the dryness in his throat. His ability to revert back to his wanderer days evading the keepers kept his feet nimble against the ground, a skill he thought he’d lost since moving into the district months ago.

A guttural voice sounded out in the distance like a disembodied voice. It was calling for backup. It was alerting them to the escape of a convict in the town. High alert was being thrown around and for the moment, IQ felt the wounds against his skin just as much as the emotional pain of his boyfriends absence. “Fuck… fuck… “

It was a long walk to where he needed to go, but before he died, he knew that one person needed to know the truth. While in the distance barking could be heard, IQ pushed forward, remembering the path he’d taken a few times to this destination. The further he got, the more he felt his body shutting down.

A person can only take so much pain.

By the time he had reached the house, he trudged up to the backdoor. It was probably about four in the morning, but he didn’t care. Brody’s father needed to know.

“Nolan… I’m sorry about… I’m sorry I caused him to hurt.” IQ’s voice was tight.

Darkness protruded through the house. All the windows were closed, shade over the glass to prevent anyone from looking inside and he tried to remember where his father’s room was. What side of the house it was. With a light rap, he knocked on the window several times.

He waited.

IQ grimaced and pressed a hand to the wound on his shoulder. His body was hurting him so badly that he could barely stand any longer. So, he knocked again, louder this time before he moved onto the doorstep.

“Come on… Nolan, your son needs you.” He whispered out, leaning his back against the wall. The door was just a foot away and he trained his eyes on it until the sound of the door unlatching came to meet with his senses. He jerked slightly.

“Who’s out there?” Came the question and as his head poked out, IQ instantly began to regret the decision to get his father involved. IQ watched his father scour the yard, looking everywhere but just a foot away. Only when his eyes met with IQ the shame of the situation was too much to bear.

“Brody’s.. in trouble. Brody’s hurt - Nolan, I tried to…” IQ’s eyes clenched shut. His muscles screamed in agony as Nolan’s hand came to his uninjured shoulder. Shaking him gently, it was the fear that made him prob Roman for answers.

“What happened to my son? Roman, tell me what happened?” It wasn’t accusatory as much as IQ would have thought, but his eyes were filled with concern once IQ could look at him and peered upon his father’s face. The years were so evident on him. He was no longer as young as IQ had first seen but aged with so much worry that IQ felt reluctant to say anything at all now. With a hard swallow, he watched Nolan dash inside and call out for his wife.

“Nolan. Don’t. Don’t get her invol... “ A heavy breath interrupted his voice as he fought through the jolting pain. “If you get her involved, she’ll be next. I came here to warn you. I have to get out of this district.”

IQ told him and with another deep breath, shifted his weight to stand. A pair of hands pushed him back down, bending to his level. “Don’t move, Roman. You’re bleeding.”

“I’ll be dead… if I stay. Help me up.” He pushed Nolan’s need to his son. “You have to save him. I dont… I don’t think they will try. The keepers came to the house. They shot him, I think… and then dragged him to the bedroom. I couldn’t see anything. I heard things - but they wanted me. You know I’m a wanderer, Nolan. Someone, must have said something. They found me?”

Clenching his teeth, a blinding pain bit through his body as he pressed hard on the shoulder wound. “Hurts like a bitch. I’ve never been shot before. Don’t recommend.” He tried to joke, cracking a pained smile but once again shifted to stand. With a helping hand, Nolan did as he was asked.

Swimming vision, he leaned heavily on the wall. He forced himself to steady his gait and to assess his wounds. “How bad is it Nolan?” He questioned looking to each wound, but also, with the aid of the light from the kitchen, he could see the other spots the bullets had whizzed by him. A few burned, but nothing like his arm or the one still unable to stop.

He hissed. HIs eyes found Nolan and with a heavy heart, he knew his worry was on his son. He could see the lines in his face. It was written on his brows. Even in his own heart, he was fearful for the outcome that could happen to Brody if it hadn’t already. There seemed to be nothing he could do. Not at the time anyway.

“I thought he was already gone. Nolan, he wasn’t moving. They,” IQ paused closing his eyes and feeling his body sway. He grimaced. The pain was starting to stir up unwanted side effects. “Trained their guns on me. I couldn’t reach him. I couldn’t get to him. I had to get out and get help.”

IQ pleaded with Nolan through hurting eyes. “God dangit…” His chest heaved out when he breathed out a request. “Please - go save your son. I don’t know if I can get there quick enough.”

A female’s face came into view and Nolan’s arms went around her body. He hugged her with an intensity that he remembered hugging Brody with in times of stress and fear. If only he were here with him. IQ watched Nolan’s lips go to her ear. He began to whisper something to her. As stoic as her face already was, it hardened with years of military life when she pulled away from Nolan. She stiffened to the news. Then her eyes peered to IQ with a sudden amount of hatred.

“Get out.” She bellowed and disappeared into the house coming back with keys and a kit. IQ knew better than to stick around, but her demeanor had changed so suddenly from the days where he came over as a friend with her son as his boyfriend. Now, it seemed, he was returning to her house as an enemy and with her son left behind.

“I tried to save him.” IQ’s voice wobbled as he took a step back.

“GET AWAY.” IQ shook his head.

“I want to help… I nee-” Nolan’s arms wrapped around her shoulders stopping her just inches away from IQ. The wind from her advancement hitting him in the face. It was that mother’s fear that warned him from ever stepping on their doorstep ever again. He looked at her confused, hurt even.

“I… I?”

“If he’s dead… Roman.” She jerked out of Nolan’s arms and disappeared with Nolan close behind. A wave of guilt washed over his face. He watched the parents of his lover disown him just like that as if he didn’t mean anything to their son. As if he was no longer anything but the criminal he was forced to be known as.

“I am not… a fugitive.” He begged with baited breath, yelling at them. His chest throbbed and his heart began to slow down. Even though their presence was gone, IQ felt compelled to follow. He wasn’t about to let them face this alone. He was going to make sure they were safe.

The baying of dogs came all too sudden and as he ducked into the next alleyway, he partially collapsed to his knees. His hands keeping him upright. His lungs began to scream. “Brody. I’m coming, baby. I’m not going to leave you again.”

Fear escalated in his body, pushing him further and keeping the keepers and the dogs at bay until he came back into view of his own home. The home where Brody and him shared the living space. Where Brody’s piano sat off center, with not a plant in sight. The reading nook that he claimed for his own. The garden at the top that they both cultivated and grew. It was his home and the keepers had ripped away what was his in a matter of moments.

As he came into view of the house, he could see them; Nolan and his wife. She was emotionless. He was almost in tears, if he wasn’t already. His arm around her shoulders and in the doorway, a figure came into view. Two soldiers flanked him, but he looked motionless.

“They wouldn’t move a dead body like that… they wouldn’t move him unless he was alive.” Realization came to hit him square in the face. He left him when he needed him the most. The peacekeepers had hurt him and it only looked like he had been killed. “He was on the ground. He wasn’t moving… Brody, I’m so sorry -”

Quietly, he moved toward the scene. His steps were heavy. His vision sauntered over to Nolan and to his wife, but they never acknowledged him, only the sight of their half dead son being whisked away by two flanking keepers.

“Brody!” IQ screamed out with what he had left in him. “I’m sorry, I left.”

He felt his legs succumb to the night's events.

Slowly he watched as Brody lifted his head.

HIs mouth moved and slowly he saw the words forming, but the words suddenly darkened.

Pain erupted through his chest.
Another bout of pain ripped through his lung.

IQ watched the world around him turn to darkness and he forward he fell…

Fell…

Fell…

The bedroom held nothing but a quiet scene until screams of panic ripped out from IQ’s throat. Only when his body rolled and met with the floor with a thud did it happen in one moment of sheer terror. His mind ripped away with the dream that plagued his mind. Something kept his lungs from drawing in air resulting in panicked gasps. He reached for his chest and bent over with his forehead on the ground, pressing hard to wake himself. In awe, he realized everything he just experienced was just a nightmare. None of it was real, but his chest still seized with pain as if the bullet that penetrated his cavity was still there.