Count to Three: Part 5

[l_s_d_me]

Title: Count to Three
Part: Part 5 Nate
Author: l_s_d_me
Pairing: Brad/Nate; Ray and Walt

Nate was still holding the key when he woke up the next morning. It was full daylight outside and he knew immediately that he had slept later than he had in months, maybe years, but he didn't care. This was going to be his day off, he decided.

"I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up," Brad said from beside him.

He closed his eyes as he smiled before rolling over. Brad was half sitting up, a book in one hand and a pen in the other. Nate squinted up at him as the light streaming in through the window was falling directly over the top half of Brad.

"I'm glad to see you were so concerned," Nate said, closing his eyes again.

Brad was warm beside him so he moved one arm over his stomach, his fingers passing through the light hairs below Brad's belly button and coming to rest on his hip.

He felt Brad's shrug. "Well sir," he started, "we're not convinced you even can die, so a little sleep wasn't anything to worry about."

He was joking and Nate could tell, but his body tensed anyway. "We can all die, Brad."

Silence.

The next time he woke up Brad was still there, only he had scooted down and had his forehead pressed to Nate's. Nate opened his eyes to nothing but a sea of tan skin, blonde hair, and the slow rise and fall of Brad's chest.

"We can all die," Nate whispered to himself as he squeezed the key still in his hand that was draped around Brad.

Nate kissed him soft at the corner of the mouth before dragging his lips along Brad's jaw and kissing the spot right below his ear.

"Brad," he whispered into his ear.

There was a low rumble in Brad's chest that reverberated through Nate as he kissed him again in the same spot. When he pulled back Brad's eyes were open and watching him, sharply awake. Nate raised his eyebrow in challenge, waiting for Brad to react. He didn't. So Nate squeezed the arm around him tighter, kissing down the line of his neck and stopping only to bite lightly on his collarbone. He could feel Brad's breath quicken as he ran his tongue along where he had just bitten.

When Brad moved his leg on top of his he knew what was going to come next. Still, the feel of Brad turning them so he was on top of Nate was overwhelming and fucking perfect.

Nate stared up at him, his mouth wet and open as Brad ran his hand up from his hip, skimming up his side then back down his arm before lifting it up over Nate's head. He rolled his body up into Brad's, trying to make as much contact as he could. But Brad stayed where he was except for the hand on Nate's wrist that was sliding up and opening Nate's palm. He let Brad take the key out of his hand and set it on the bedside table. Nate just looked at it resting there, afraid it would disappear if he looked away.

"It's not going anywhere," Brad said, leaning down to place a kiss on Nate's temple. "I'm not going anywhere."

Nate brought is free hand up to grip the back of Brad's neck. They kissed slowly, their lips lingering against each other then pulling away before coming back together again. Nate wanted to stay like this forever.

But forever was put on hold when Ray knocked on the door before yelling, "Can you guys just do it already? Walt's too turned on to concentrate."

They laughed for a full ten minutes.

*

"What we need to do," Nate started, "is begin to collect supplies."

"I'm bringing Tootsie-Rolls," Ray blurted out.

Everybody looked at one another before ignoring him.

"Choose what weapons you want to take. Nothing that will slow you down." Nate held his hand up to stop Ray from speaking. He always wanted to take the rocket launcher. Always. "We'll leave at the end of the week."

"We should make a list over the next couple days," Brad said. "And then me and Nate can run into town and pick it all up."

They all nodded in agreement, Ray and Walt smiling bigger than normal.

***

Brad knew he couldn't drive his bike to pick up the supplies, but fuck, he really wanted to. He wanted one last ride. One last feeling of freedom as he sped down the road. Nate was strong behind him on the seat, reassuring. He wanted.

***

Walt watched them drive away in the jeep.

"Now," he yelled, and in the next instant Ray was dragging a small tree in through the kitchen door.

"Put it in the library," Walt told him.

He was making Christmas for Nate. They were all going to celebrate, but Nate had never had a family holiday like this and Walt wanted him to feel that before the end.

***

Ray was dancing around the kitchen as he cooked. It was fucking Christmas dinner and he wasn't about to burn it, but he just couldn't stand still. He could be still later, a different day, not Christmas. And especially not a Christmas that involved his first real family in God knows how long.

No.

He was going to do this right. Walt had been in the library for hours decorating the tree, hanging up garlands, and making sure there was enough firewood. There were even presents under the tree.

He wasn't going to fuck this up.

***

Nate watched Brad out of the corner of his eye as they pulled up to the corner of the house.

"Stop staring," Brad deadpanned as he killed the ignition.

"Something is up," Nate said, giving him an accusatory glare. "I can tell from your face."

The two of them sat there in the dark giving each other challenging looks. To an outsider it would have looked like a competition over who could raise their eyebrows higher.

"I have ways of making you tell," Nate said, purposely dropping his voice lower as he touched the bit of skin where Brad's shirt had ridden up.

"That's cheating," Brad told him, but didn't move to stop the touch.

Nate leaned forward until his mouth was very nearly on top of Brad's; open slightly just like Brad told him once that he liked. "Tell me," Nate whispered before biting his bottom lip.

Brad grunted low in his chest when their mouths opened to each other. Nate screwed his eyes shut and gave it all to him, rising up in his seat to try and anchor Brad over on top of him. He only stopped when Brad bit his bottom lip and then slowly dragged his teeth over the entire thing as it left his mouth.

"I'm still not telling you," he said before climbing out of the jeep.

Nate sat there staring up at the house and noticing the complete lack of lights on other than the kitchen. Something was up.

"Get your ass out here Fick and help me carry this shit inside," Brad yelled through the back where the hatch was open.

Nate hated surprises.

Yet, there he was following Brad up the front porch steps with a pang of excitement in his stomach. They placed their bags in the closet right inside the front door since nothing was perishable; plus Brad told him that he wouldn't allow him further into the house with "work on your mind."

"Gents!" Brad yelled out, stuffing his hands into his front pockets.

It felt like the first time Nate ever saw fireworks when the lights came on. There were lights spun and wrapped around the banisters, white and green woven together. Along the wall there were a few wreaths that were also lit up somehow. Nate smiled at it all. When he turned to Brad he wasn't there. His eyes searched through the dimly lit entry way and noticed the library seemed to be glowing. As he walked towards it he could hear Ray being shushed by Walt. He moved slowly, putting one foot in front of the other.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he felt when he entered the library.

"Merry Christmas!!" Ray and Walt yelled while Brad stood by them smiling from ear to ear.

So maybe Nate did like surprises.

The three of them were standing in front of a fully decorated Christmas tree lit by several strands of colorful lights. There were candles in the windows and the fireplace was crackling behind him. Nate felt like someone was standing on his chest. He choked out a laugh that he thought sounded more like a sob than anything else.

"What is this?" he asked, his voice hushed.

"We're celebrating," Ray said.

"We made Christmas for you," Walt beamed at him.

"Tis the season, apparently," Brad said.

Nate looked at each one of them and everything he never thought would happen to him in this or any other lifetime. They weren't just a team, or people brought together by fate, or anything else now other than a family. They were his family. His first one in longer than he could remember.

He walked up to Ray, taking his head in his hands and touched their foreheads together.

"Thank you," he whispered. And as he did he let go a little of his pain.

Walt closed his eyes and bowed his head as Nate moved in front of him, doing the same as he did to Ray. He knew Walt could feel him letting go. There were tears on Walt's face when Nate opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Some fights aren't worth fighting," Walt whispered just to him. Nate nodded before moving on to Brad.

He released the last breath he had been holding as their foreheads touched. Brad had changed everything; he had been the first of the three, his presence had kick-started their journey, nothing was the same after Brad.

"Thank you. All of you," Nate said. "I don't know what I've done in life to deserve what's in this room right now, but I'm grateful for all of it."

Nate stepped back from the group and bowed to them. "Merry Christmas."

*

They laughed and joked all through dinner. It ended in Ray unbuttoning the top button of his jeans and declaring that he was never going to eat again, but that they should all pay allegiance to him for being "such a badass motherfucking cook."

"We've got more," Walt announced, gesturing for everyone to get up and follow him.

When they were back in the library Nate noticed that there were several small (and poorly wrapped) presents underneath the tree.

Nate laughed even more as Ray dropped to his knees in front of the tree and began shaking them all.

"You're so messed up, Ray," Walt laughed, sitting down beside him. "You know what half of those are."

"I'm excited, leave me alone," Ray pouted at him.

All of them sat cross-legged on the floor with the firelight in the background. Walt was in charge of handing out the presents because Ray was still trying to shake and smell all of them. Nate looked down at the small pile of gifts in his lap.

"Well open them!" Ray bounced up and down urging everyone on.

The gifts were simple things like razors, shaving cream, worn out books, lube ("Thank you, Ray," Brad said before shoving Ray over to his fits of laughter), a pack of gum, and shoe laces.

"I don't have anything to give you guys," Nate said to them, wishing he had something to give.

"Don't worry about it," Walt told him. "You gave me a family."

"Life," Ray said.

"And purpose," Brad finished, clasping a hand on Nate's shoulder.

*

Nate laid in bed hours later with the low hum of warmth filling his body. They would be leaving tomorrow night for the desert; it was finally time. He didn't know how it was all going to end; only that it was going to one way or the other. It was coming.

The door to his room quietly opened as Brad stepped inside. He looked tired, but happy. Nate just watched him close the door before leaning back against it, his hands behind his back.

"I have something for you," Brad said.

Nate sat up with his back against the headboard. "You do?"

Brad nodded slowly as he brought his hands out from behind his back. "Merry Christmas, Sir."

He held a small box, just a few inches long and just as wide. Brad's hand had a slight tremor in it as he held it out in front of him. Nate picked it up off of Brad's palm careful to hold it as gingerly as Brad had. He waited until Brad was sitting on the edge of the bed before lifting the top. His breath caught in his throat as he looked down at the carving that was resting inside the box. It was a small, flat piece of wood with a tree carved into the top of it. It was beautiful. In place of leaves were a series of cuts in the shapes of circles and lines that somehow still made it look alive and breathing.

"Brad," Nate breathed out as he lifted it out of the box. "Did you make this?"

"Yes."

"It's beautiful," Nate said, running his fingers over it. "Merry Christmas, Brad," he said as he leaned forward to kiss him.

Brad felt just as warm as he did. The fire that made the whole room glow before seemed to be within them now as Brad kissed him back, his hand curving around to hold Nate's neck. Nate bit at Brad's bottom lip; and when Brad moved his tongue to sooth the bite Nate was right there to meet him brushing his right along Brad's.

They never broke contact as Nate set his present on his bedside table and Brad climbed onto the bed. But then Brad pulled back as he kicked the blanket out of the way before going up on his knees, straddling Nate's legs. Nate wanted to tear Brad's shirt off, wanted to taste every inch of his body, but he could tell that right now was what Brad wanted.

Nate smiled as Brad ran his hands from the base of his hips up to his waist. He grabbed him and pulled so that Nate slid out of his sitting position and was back to lying down, only now he was underneath Brad. His Brad. It was silent between them as they sat frozen in that position, both of them staring at one another. Then, as if Brad had read his mind, he lifted the hem of his shirt just a little before pulling it over his head.

There was nothing Nate wanted more now than to run his hands up Brad's stomach, to his chest, so he did it. Up, up, up. Brad leered down at him when his hands went from his chest to his back, dragging down until they reached the waistband of his shorts. Nate didn't even hesitate before pulling them down as far as he could.

His eyes went up and down Brad's body, tan and hard and right in front of him.

"Are you done objectifying me yet?" Brad asked. But he was smiling as he bent over, holding himself up over Nate as he kicked off his shorts.

Nate didn't answer him. He leaned up a fraction of the space in between them to bite at Brad's jaw. Brad let the lower half of his body fall down on top of Nate. He smiled as he hooked his leg over Brad's to hold him down while he ran his tongue along Brad's jaw.

"Jesus, Nate," Brad groaned as he ground down into Nate.

"Something wrong?" Nate whispered into his ear.

Brad turned his head, meeting Nate's mouth that was waiting for his. Nate loved the weight of Brad on top of him and the taste of their mouths together. He loved him.

"I love you," Nate said out loud as it struck him. Brad stilled. He pulled back, running his thumb from the bottom of Nate's lip to his cheek.

"You have to know I feel the same," Brad told him.

They stared at each other for a long time; just looking and touching each other arms and faces. When they kissed again it was different, harder, and more urgent.

Nate opened his legs up wider beneath Brad and thrust up hard as Brad pushed down against him. Both of them were breathing heavy, hot breaths into each other's mouths; not quite kissing, but grazing their tongues against the other at random intervals.

"Fuck," Nate moaned, burying his head in the crook of Brad's neck.

"I want to hear those noises you make in my sleep, Nate," Brad said as he sat back on his legs.

He ran his hands down Nate's thighs before using his thumbs to bend his legs up. Nate just watched him; watched as the blue in Brad's eyes darkened. He waited for whatever Brad wanted. He kissed the inside of Nate's knee; that was what he wanted. It was a spot that was all his own and nobody else's. The inside of his knee, his waist, a kiss at his wrist, Brad wanted them all and Nate was letting him have them.

Nate would give Brad everything he wanted.




**

"We don't know what's going to be out there. They're going to try and stop us. They're going to do anything they can. Things are going to attack, the terrain is going to be unfamiliar, and we're going to face new challenges every hour we're out there. But we're ready for this. I know it and you know. Ka will help us along; we just have to listen to it."

Nate stood in front of them as he spoke. He could see them transformed in front of his eyes from what they all were when they started. Brad was stronger than before; still tan and fit, but he was more refined all around. Walt looked lethal, like a brand new person with his tanned skin and longer hair. He was wearing all black and looked like he could take down anything he needed to. Ray was next to him finally clean, so much stronger than before, healthier. He wore his hair slicked back and now had a tattoo of a giant eagle on the inside of his arm because according to him he wanted "to pretend to be some bad ass bird while fighting."

"Ready?" Nate asked.

"Ready," Brad, Ray, and Walt said all at once.

"Brad you're up first," Nate moved to him, gripped his arm, and took him.

The desert air hit him in the face like a slap. It was a dry heat like he had never experienced before. He looked at Brad beside him and could see the same reaction. They were next to an outcropping of stone, the night sky helping to give them even more cover from anything that might be watching the area.

"Are you good?" Nate asked Brad before heading back for the others.

"Good, Sir," Brad told him, nodding.

Nate went back for Ray and Walt, and soon they were all there, waiting to move for an hour or so in order to acclimatize to their new surroundings.

"Sure is dusty," Ray said.

Walt snorted. "We're in the desert, Ray, what did you expect?"

".....Less....sand.... I don't know, leave me alone, man. We just teleported give me a few minutes," Ray protested.

"Ray, shut up," Brad mumbled from where he was laid out beside them.

Two hours later they were moving through the darkness. Nate figured they were maybe four days of traveling away from the Cradle; that was as close as he could get them without raising alarms from anything out there. But he knew as they drew closer that every danger out there would be heightened.

The first day passed with nothing extraordinary. They walked, hydrated, kept rotating watch on breaks, and repeated it all.

Nate sat watch that night as his men slept. He could feel the air shift, like something far in the distance was building up. Tomorrow, he thought as his eyes scanned the night. Tomorrow.

*

"What the fuck!?" Brad was standing up next to where Nate was seated on the ground.

Nate looked up at Brad and followed to where his eyes were looking.

He had never seen anything like that before in his life.

"Ray, Walt, get up," Nate said harder than he usually spoke to them. "Get up, now."

They jumped up, suddenly awake and staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of them. The four of them stood there in awe of the dust storm rolling their way. Only, it wasn't just a dust storm. It was bright red and flowing towards them like lava. Nate thought it had to be at least a couple miles high and he didn't even want to contemplate how deep it was.

"Run," Nate ordered and they were off; the red cloud burning on their heels.

In the wind they could hear a roar carrying through the air. Nate was running as fast as he could with Brad ahead of him blazing a trail. Suddenly Ray fell, his boot catching on a root sticking out of the ground. It wasn't there a second before; they all knew it because he was directly behind Brad. Nate hardly slowed as he reached down to pull him to his feet.

"Watch out!" Walt called as the ground began to roil beneath them, roots and branches seeming to come out of the ground like waves. They had to jump and weave their way through the maze. As they slowed the cloud got closer, the roar louder. Nate saw Brad dip down a little looking at the lay of the land.

"There's a drop off," Brad yelled to them all. "It drops into water, trust me."

"How do you know that?" Ray yelled back as he tried to watch where he was going and watch the red cloud closing in on them.

"Listen!"

The roar. It was water.

When they got closer to the edge Nate could see the blue beneath them. Water. It was their only hope in getting out of here alive. He didn't know what the red cloud would do to them. It could burn them alive, it could blow their skin off their bodies, it could simply be dust, he just didn't know.

The edge came and they jumped, all of them together out into nothing. The fall only lasted second, but they hit the water hard. Luckily it was a deep pool because they couldn't risk breaking an ankle or leg. Nate popped above water gasping in a breath. He watched as the others emerged around him, all in one piece still. They got to the bank just as the cloud went over them. It was as if they were stuck in a very bright dawn; the sky burning bright and red.

"What is that?" Walt asked in awe.

"I wouldn't even know what to guess," Nate said honestly. "I've never seen or heard of anything like that before."

Nate looked down the bank and was glad to see there was a path out of the canyon they had just leaped into. They took a little time to dry off, go through their packs and make sure their weapons were still functioning before they moved on.

Six hours later they were out of the canyon and could see the damage left behind from the cloud. It was like the earth had been scorched black, specifically their path was charred.

"Let's move," Brad said. "What if something else is following that?"

"I sure as shit don't want to be hanging around here any longer than we have to," Ray agreed.

And so it started all over again, only now they knew their presence was known. Soon, if not already, The Traveler would know and he would send things to stop them. Nasty things.




Nate was shaken awake by Ray.

"What is it?" he asked, able to tell that it wasn't time for his watch quite yet.

"Something just happened," Ray said. He was still kneeling over Nate in the dark. "I felt this pressure in my body, like somethin' tried to blow me up with air. When it quit...well...Nate."

"What?" Nate asked sitting up.

"I don't think we're in the same place anymore," Ray admitted. "Do you smell that? The air is different."

Nate breathed deeply, holding the air inside his lungs, trying to taste and smell it. Ray was right. It was stale all around them.

"Scoot back, Ray," Nate said before crossing his legs and dropping his head.

He relaxed his body and let his mind go as he had done so many times before, only when he tried to probe the area his body screamed in resistance. His eyes flew open as he reached out, grabbing Ray's arm for support before blacking out.

A sharp slap brought him back. The sun was rising, two hours, Nate thought, I've lost two hours.

Brad was next to him, his hand on his shoulder.

"I hope your face doesn't bruise, but nothing else was working," Brad said, not looking sorry at all for slapping him. "Are you back with us?"

Nate pushed himself up, feeling his head spin for a moment. "Shit," he said trying to shake it off. His eyes scanned the area before landing back on Brad. "Where are Ray and Walt?"

"They're taking a look around to see what's out there," Brad said, still not letting go of Nate's shoulder. "What happened to you?" Brad asked. "Ray said you looked like you got electrocuted and then passed out."

"I tried to figure out where we are, what happened to us," Nate tried to explain as simply as he could. "But I was blocked; it was like a wall shot up in my mind."

Brad nodded. "How do you feel now?"

"Light headed," Nate admitted. "But fine."

Finally Brad sat back, relief showing throughout his whole body. He was handing Nate a bottle of water and a bit of food when the others returned.

"Thank fuck!" Ray said as he crossed himself at the sight of Nate sitting up next to Brad. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." And then Ray was dropping down and hugging him. Nate closed his eyes as he put his arm around Ray and leaned his head against his.

Ray let go and moved to sit next to Walt.

"What did you guys find?" Nate asked, but already having an idea of what they might have to say.

"Jack and shit," Ray blurted out at the same time Walt said, "Not a whole lot."

Walt began speaking again first. "There are some stone outcroppings a couple miles out; and all around the ground is more like small stones than actual sand. We're definitely not in the same place as before."

Nate studied Walt as he spoke and knew he could do it now; it was the set of his eyes, the glow of the blue in them. Walt could show them the way.

"I can't figure out where we are - for now at least. I think it's only temporary though," he started. "But we can't move until we know what direction we need to head. It won't do us any good to go two days east when we should have been going west."

"How should we do this then?" Brad asked from beside him.

They looked at each other for a second before Nate turned his eyes on Walt. "Walt's going to do it."

"I am?" Walt looked unsure, turning to Ray for assurance but he just shrugged.

"I think I'm being blocked specifically; nobody knows how you've evolved but me. Trust me," Nate said. "Trust yourself."

The circle fell silent as Walt thought about everything. Nate knew he could do this, but he had to believe in himself first. Five minutes later Walt nodded and held his hands out to Nate.

He said nothing as he took Walt's hands in his and let him feel his power, sharing what he could. It felt like the low hum of a fire when Walt tapped into it. "Remember to breathe," Nate said in his mind knowing that Walt would hear him.

Walt's grip on his hands got tighter and tighter as the seconds ticked by and their world went silent. He could feel Walt reaching out further and further. There was no telling how long they were out there in nothing, but then he felt Walt pulling back

The sun had moved over in the sky when Nate's eyes opened. He and Walt released hands, both of them flexing their fingers.

"Well," Walt began, "I'm pretty sure we're one day in the past and a hundred miles west."

"You're pretty sure, or you're sure?" Nate asked.

"I'm sure."

"Lead the way," Nate said smiling.

Part 6