[part three] Heartbreak Hotel | Joe/Nick | ADULT

[thisissirius]

Part Two


Nick is shouting something over his shoulder, hands gripping Joe's shoulders with such desperate strength that it hurts, fingers like nails in the muscles of Joe's shoulders. It's confusing, the pain in his shoulders and the pain in his stomach. He doesn't know which pain is which, where it's all coming from, what happened, except that the pain is coming in now. It's growing exponentially, snowballing, until all Joe's being is narrowed down to a bright burning center of agony in his side. It's pain like an air raid siren.

"Nick. Nick. Wh-what happened?" Joe is surprised to hear his voice sound weak and thready, his words falling slurry and thick on his tongue. Nick shakes his head, sheet white, his hands moving over Joe so quick and efficient.

"Did he kill me?"

Nick's hands still for a second in the process of ripping open Joe's shirt. It's so quiet. Joe can't believe how quiet it is. His ears are still ringing with the sound of gunfire. Nick looks up at Joe, and Joe's head falls back against the wall at the pain in Nick's face, the absolute, unrestrained terror. Nick is afraid.

"No," Nick grates out. "No, Joe. You killed him."

Joe nods, satisfied. "Oh. Good. He was a dick." He drifts for a second, suddenly remembering a time when they were kids, and Joe had jumped off the roof of the shed on a dare. Kevin had screamed like a girl as Joe fell, but then he had used one of his socks to wrap up the gash in Joe's leg and had told him dirty jokes until Joe stopped crying. Nick had crouched on the ground against the shed and refused to come near, tears streaming down his face. It had taken Joe doing a painful backflip to convince him that Joe wasn't dying.

"Wake the fuck up, Joe." Nick slaps Joe in the face, and he snaps awake.

"Where's Henrie. Big Man?" Joe slurs. Nick jerks his chin towards the other end of the hallway.

Joe rolls his head around. It takes a lot of effort. Big Rob's already knocked out his guy, and Joe watches Henrie swing his leg in a wide circle, just a flash of motion, and knock the legs out from under the man holding a gun to his face. Joe hears the sound of a boot hitting flesh and the sickening crunch of a nose breaking, and then Henrie slides up on his knees next to Nick, and Big Rob peers over his shoulder. They look strained.

"Gimme your shirt, Dave," Nick commands, and Henrie pulls it over his head and hands it to him in a second.

"Whoa." Joe's head swims and he tries to sit up more.

Nick pushes him back down. "Stop, Joe. Stay still." His lip trembles. Nick folds up Henrie's t-shirt haphazardly and presses it to Joe's right side, and Joe screams, the sound echoing dramatically off the walls of the corridor. At the press of Nick's hand, the pain in Joe's side exploded, supernovaed out until it takes over, until it's all Joe can see or feel or think.

"W-what the f-fuck?" Joe pants, when his brain is functioning enough to form words again. He pushes himself up on his elbows and struggles to peer down at his stomach, scrabbling at Nick's hand until he pulls the shirt away.

Fuck. He's covered in blood, just drenched in it, pools of it collecting under his body and around Nick's knees. There's a hole, a goddamn fucking hole in Joe's side, ragged and throbbing and pulsing more blood.

"Oh, shit! Oh, fuck, Nick!" Joe moans, grabbing Nick's shirt. "He did kill me! He fucking shot me, that bastard!"

"He just nicked your side, Joe. It's okay, we just need to bandage you up." Nick's voice wavers, though, and his sticky shaking fingers comb through Joe's hair again and again.

"Nick, Nick, oh I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Joe babbles, smearing the blood on Nick's cheek with his hand. "I couldn't let him kill you, I couldn't lose you, not you too. I couldn't live if-- I'd die without you, just die. And Baby V and Zac, it's all ruined now. I fucked it all up again."

Nick stares at him with wide eyes.

"Nick," Henrie interrupts, voice calm. Joe blinks at him slowly and he thinks dimly that he should probably be scared that his eyes don't really focus. "I know someone, I can call him. He's a private doctor and he deals with this shit all the time."

"Call him," Nick says immediately, knowing they have to get Joe some real help. The bullet wound looks clean, through and through, but he's bleeding a lot. So much. Hospitals ask too many questions and the police have been onto them for a year now; there just isn't any other option. They need help.

Big Rob moves away, climbing the staircase. Joe suspects he's going to check out the place, make sure there are no more surprises in wait for them upstairs, and find out where Baby V has hid herself. Henrie pulls out his phone and gets to his feet, already dialing. Joe can see his mouth work, forming words and his face creases into a frown. Pretty soon he's demanding, forcing whoever was on the end of the phone to listen. It's the most in control Joe's ever seen him and it's because of Joe, because Joe's dying. Suddenly, he doesn't want to lose this life. He doesn't want to lose Nick and Big Rob and Demi and fuck, even Henrie.

"I don't wanna die, Nick." His voice is shaky, scared. "I don't wanna die. Don't let me die."

In that moment, Nick looks every bit a kid. He's so young, really, and as Joe watches his face just crumples in on itself. It's like hope breaking, like watching the last bit of someone's innocence get shattered, and Joe didn't think Nick had any innocence left in him, but he did, he was as naive as a child, and he's only realizing now that he could lose Joe too. It's the worst thing Joe has ever seen. He chokes, pain radiating through his body as he tries to move and he pulls Nick forward, burying his face in Nick's shoulder.

Nick's arm comes up automatically, turning his face into Joe's hair. "You didn't screw it up, Joe and you aren't going to fucking die. Henrie is calling - you're gonna be okay, Joe. You gotta hold on, you gotta fight this."

Nick is pleading with him, begging, and Joe doesn't know if he can do this. He hurts everywhere and it's getting hard to think, he feels like he might pass out. "I love you," he says, words slurring. "I love you so much."

"No," Nick pulls away and shakes Joe's shoulders, words fierce. "I swear Joe, don't you start that. Henrie, for fuck's sake, what's going on?"

"He's on his way," Henrie calls.

There's the thundering of high heels on the stairs above and a high pitched voice and it shocks Joe out of his stupor. "She's coming down," he whispers.

Nick flinches, but he doesn't look up. "Big Rob will deal with it. Help's coming, Joe, you just gotta keep talking to me."

"Nick. I- I couldn't save him, Nick," Joe's voice cracks. What little color was left in Nick's face drains, and he makes an involuntary gesture to stop Joe. "No, wait. I thought I could, I thought I had it all under control, but I was so wrong, Nick. And Kevin died, Nick. Because of me."

"Joe, no-" Nick starts, horrified.

Joe's throat is sore and closed and he can barely squeeze out the words. "I can't let it happen again. We gotta finish it, Nick." Joe forces his eyes open, forces himself to focus on Nick, on his brother's frightened face in front of him, and he punctuates each word with a shake of Nick's arm. "If we don't follow through with the plan now, Zef'll come after us. He'll kill us both for sure."

"No. No way." Nick's faces closes off and he shakes his head like a child. "I'm not letting you die just so I can pull off some revenge hack on Zac Efron!"

"Nick, please. Listen to me. You know I'm right." Joe pleads. He's so tired. It's all he can do to keep his head straight, to remember what he's talking about, but the cold twist of fear in his belly keeps him present. Nick stares at him, mouth open, like he's seeing Joe clearly for the first time ever. He turns to Henrie.

"David! Call your guy back, tell him to meet us at the warehouse on 28th and Broad. Tell him to call when he's there." Nick glances back at Joe, at the blood soaking through the t-shirt plastered to Joe's side. "And tell him to bring blood. A-positive." Nick pulls off his shirt and adds it to the makeshift dressing. Joe makes a weak attempt at a wolf-whistle, but only manages to puff a little air through his lips. It has the desired effect though, as Nick's lips turn up in a tiny, relieved smile.

"Rob!" Nick calls suddenly, startling Joe so much that he jumps and lets out a pained hiss at the movement. Nick winces with him, presses a tiny kiss to the crown of Joe's head and whispers, "Sorry."

"Yo! Someone get this girl off me!" Big Rob's voice comes booming from somewhere up the steps, sounding harassed. "She's beating the shit out of me!" He rounds the corner, and he's got Baby V slung over his shoulder, and she's kicking and whacking at any part of him she can reach and cursing enough to put Caleb Followill to shame. Henrie jumps up to help, hesitating at Baby V's windmilling 4-inch heels, but managing to catch a hold of her ankles on the second try.

Nick dips his head down to Joe, shaking his chin a little to get Joe to look at him. "See, Joe? It's gonna be fine. We've got Baby V, and we're headed to the warehouse. According to plan, right?"

Joe nods tiredly. "Excellent," he mumbles, and passes out.

When he wakes up, Joe is no longer in the off-blue stairwell of Baby V's safehouse. He's wrapped in a heavy wool blanket and lying on the floor of a huge room, giant windows haphazardly blacked out with tar filtering weak sunlight in off the street. It must be day. He hurts everywhere. He's surrounded by boxes, huge derelict wooden crates, and for a split second he thinks he's died and gone to hell, back to that warehouse where Kevin died, where everything went so wrong the first time.

But he's not dead, and it's not the same warehouse. He can see Baby V handcuffed to a pipe in the corner, looking positively viperous, one shoe missing and an upturned plate in front of her, the scattered components of a sandwich spread around the floor.

Joe tries to lift an arm to touch himself, assess the damage, but feels a sharp sting and a tug in his forearm. He looks over and sees an IV needle stuck in his skin, running dark red liquid into his arm from a bag hung off a nail in one of the crates. Joe uses his other arm to wrestle down the blanket, tamping down his annoyance at how difficult the simple task is to manage, and finds a swath of white bandages encircling his torso.

"Thought you might be waking up," Henrie says as he rounds a pile of boxes. He's got a gun slung over his shoulder and Joe knows it's not the Glock they picked up from Caleb; this is a rifle. They don't have access to rifles. Just how long has he been out?

Henrie turns his attention to Baby V and looks disdainfully down at the remains of the sandwich. "Food is hard to come by, you know, the least you could do is eat it. Children in Africa are starving, you know."

"Fuck off," Baby V snaps. She's spitting venom and whilst Joe can understand the sentiment, Henrie helped to save his life. He's feeling a little more disposed towards being nice to Dave.

"Charming," Henrie sniffs. He kicks at the plate in frustration.

"You know when Zac ge-"

Henrie makes a frustrated noise and rolls his eyes. "Oh, not this again." He crouches down. "Look, sweetheart, your boyfriend? Isn't going to know what's hit him when he finally does come to pick you up." He turns up his nose. "Though why he would even bother..." Baby V makes a distinctly feline growling noise and tries to kick the plate at Henrie.

Joe looks between them, bemused. He tugs on the blankets again and makes a sound in the back of his throat.

Henrie turns to look at him and something in his face changes. He looks contemplative, which for David is a not unwelcome addition to his range of expression, but it's also a little unsettling. "I'm glad you're back, man, despite being a gigantic pain in my ass." He pauses, looking Joe over, eyes lingering on the white bandage around Joe's torso. "You shouldn't move too much. Mitch has stitched you up good as new, but Nick wouldn't like it if you started moving around."

Nick. "Where is Nick?" Joe's voice comes out scratchy and hoarse and he coughs, touching his throat.

Henrie looks uncomfortable. "With Big Rob. Want me to get him?"

Joe thinks about saying no but he remembers the look in Nick's eyes when it'd seemed like he was dying. "Yeah." Henrie disappears and Joe's left alone with Baby V again.

"You died, you know," she calls across the room, eyes glinting with hatred. She shifts on the floor and Joe can see up her skirt. He looks back at her face, feeling sick to his stomach. There's blood in her hair and he wonders where it came from. Is it his? Bleu's?

"What are you talking about?"

She flexes her fingers and he can see the small band of white around her wrist which means Nick snapped the cuffs on her real tight, unforgiving. The sins of the boyfriend are the sins of Baby V, as far as Nick is concerned. "When that doctor was trying to save your life, you died, asshole. Flatlined or whatever. Your crazy-ass brother was practically sobbing into his jacket," she adds the last heavily laced with spite, going for the jugular.

Joe would know, wouldn't he? Surely you can't die and not know about it. It's a stupid thought because of course he wouldn't know about it but it's still so weird, still hard to hear, especially from her. "For how long?"

"I wasn't counting," she snaps. "Obviously not long enough."

"I knew I should have gagged you," Nick says, rounding the corner of the little box alcove, voice low and threatening. It says enough about his anger that Baby V shrinks back against the wall, even as she's glaring daggers. Nick stops a few feet away from Joe, and he can feel the clous of tension and emotion like static electricity around Nick, can feel how he's holding himself back. Nick doesn't sit down next to Joe.

"Nick, Nick. How long?" Joe tries to reach a hand up to him, but his arm feels like lead and he just doesn't have the strength. He can't do it, and it's scary.

Nick doesn't have to ask what Joe's talking about. His face closes off and his eyes carry a weight Joe doesn't know what to do with. "Long enough."

"Nick." Joe's brain feels heavy on top of his spine, and he can't summon up the words he needs. The name falls off Joe's tongue like a dead weight, all he can offer. He can practically hear the impact of it reverberate through the warehouse.

Nick looks over his shoulder at David. "Get out," he says, the words abrupt, but Joe lifts his eyebrows at him and Nick tries again. "Sorry. Uh, just- give us a few minutes, will you, Dave?" Henrie waves dismissively at them and pats his pockets for his cigarettes, seeming pretty relieved to get away from the makeshift hospital room. Nick looks over at Baby V, who gives him the finger and tells him where he can shove it, and he unceremoniously heaves a large crate over until it's blocking them from her view.

"Like I want to look at your freak faces!" She yells from behind the box. "I heard your whole family is inbred!"

Nick ignores her and swiftly kneels in front of Joe, the lines of his face drawn tight, the skin under his eyes thin and blue with exhaustion. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out and he just stares at Joe's arm where the IV of blood is still running in.

"What happened, Nick?" Joe whispers.

Nick scrubs a hand over his eyes. "Just what she said. I don't know. We brought you here in the car, you seemed okay. I had all these shirts wrapped around your stomach to stop the bleeding, I mean, Big Rob's shirt went around you four times, I thought it was stopping. You were mostly awake again." Nick stops, his throat working, the corners of his mouth drawn out and twitching with effort. His nostrils flare, and Joe can see his eyes rimmed with red. His face is a mask.

"Henrie's friend got here real fast, and you were talking and stuff, so he just started to stitch you up. But then-- Joe, you- you just stopped."

Nick is wracked by an immense shiver that runs through his whole body, and he tips forward suddenly like some string that was holding him up is cut, and his face falls into Joe's shoulder. It hurts, but everything hurts, and Joe can feel the warm drop of tears onto his skin. He brings a hand up to rest on the back of Nick's neck, and the soft tickle of Nick's curls against the skin of his fingers is the best feeling in the world.

Nick heaves a huge, hitching breath and continues. "You stopped talking, and you stopped breathing, and Mitch put his stethoscope on your chest and you weren't... You were still bleeding internally, and you'd lost so much blood already. I don't know how he did it, but he- he fucking stuck his fingers in the bullet hole and found where you were bleeding and he stopped it." Nick's breaths are humid little puffs against Joe's chest, slowly warming him.

"How did he, um-- you know, get my heart to start again?"

Nick laughs once, a humourless little sound. "He slammed his fist down on your chest as hard as he could. I almost fucking killed him, but it worked." They're quiet for a minute, Nick's cheek against Joe's chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat maybe.

"Whose blood is that?" Joe asks, thought he thinks he already knows the answer.

"Mine," Nick breathes out. "He didn't have any of your type." Joe thinks of Nick's blood running through his veins, keeping him alive. He wonders, not for the first time, what one of them would be without the other, knows with a iron certainty now that they would both be dead without each other.

"What now?"

Nick sits up, straightens his back and pushes himself up to look at Joe. "It's over. We're done."

"Done with what?" Joe asks, confused.

"Living like this." Nick's jaw is set, determined. "I'm getting us out."

"Nick," Joe breathes, stunned. "I thought this was life for you. I thought this was home."

Nick shakes his head, eyes heavy with sorrow. "It's not. I was wrong."

"Just because I got shot-"

"That's it exactly," Nick interrupts. He doesn't shout and he doesn't emphasize the words, he just puts both hands on Joe's face and draws their foreheads together. Joe closes his eyes and feels Nick's breath ghost across his face.

This should be it, he thinks. The two of them, alone like this, alive. They've been fighting for so long that he's forgotten what it was like to have a normal life, to not have to run. He thinks about what it would mean to leave this behind, the things they would lose; never hanging out with Demi and Selena, never again cheating Crazy Eyes out of her money, losing the thrill of the chase and the take that's become almost like breathing. The good things, though-- not having to look over their shoulders all the time, Nick by his side every day, and not living with the fear of losing him every minute; that's what convinces Joe that Nick's right, that they can do this.

"I almost lost you, Joe, and I would have been alone. I won't lose you. I can't."

Joe's long since stopped thinking of Nick as having fears, at least not ones that he could have articulated as such, but Nick has always hated to be alone, from the time he was a kid. Even when he wanted downtime, he always had to have Joe somewhere close by. Losing Kevin hit both of them in ways neither of them will ever talk about. Nick seemed to think that he could somehow enact some kind of cosmic retribution on the universe for taking Kevin if he could just pull off more heists and escape more tight situations, scrape their lives back from the edge of death every day. He could laugh in death's face. And he made himself cold and hard and dangerous, because maybe then nothing could hurt him again. Joe watched Nick get lost to that idea, that hope.

Maybe it never really occurred to Nick that he could lose Joe too. Until now.

"Okay," Joe says slowly, "Okay. We can be done. Let's get out, Nick." Suddenly he feels lighter than air, a weight he'd become so accustomed to over the years lifting from his chest at the thought of a different life. Joe smiles so wide it hurts, and Nick smiles a little back at him.

"Does that mean you'll let me go?" Baby V sounds hopeful from behind the box and it shakes the two of them from their moment. Nick glares resentfully in her direction, but it's Joe who addresses her.

"Not a chance, Princess. Your boyfriend's goons almost killed me and he lost us our goods. We're finishing this first."

She shrieks, a horrible sound that leaves their ears ringing. "You killed Corbin!"

"We wouldn't have even been there if it wasn't for Zachary," Nick snaps, turning Zef's name into a mockery. He stands, kicking the boxes out of the way and Baby V is defiant, even in her fear.

"He was your friend," she says, maybe pleading to their better nature.

Nick smiles humourlessly and crouches down, catching her chin in his hand. For a moment Joe thinks she's going to spit in his face, but she thinks better of it, thankfully. "He sold us out. He was never our friend," Nick says. He was Kevin's, Joe thinks slowly. He wonders if Kevin would have been angry at Zac, or at him and Nick. Kevin always liked Zac, said he was a good guy underneath. Maybe Nick and Joe weren't the only people who changed after Kevin was killed.

"Yo, Nick! We got company!"

Big Rob's voice booms across the warehouse and Nick drops V's chin instantly. Joe twists his head around but he can't see anything amongst the mass of boxes. "Nick," he snaps, anxiety at his veritable helplessness slithering, constricting around his throat. "Don't leave me here!"

Nick looks torn, eyes dark with what he's about to do, but also desperate to have Joe at his side. "Joe, you gotta stay here-"

"Fuck that," Joe says and reaches over and wraps his fingers around the IV in his arm.

"No, don't!" Nick lunges for him, but Joe rips the IV out with one swift pull, letting out a strangled yell at the sharp tear. Nick grabs handfuls of his hair in frustration. "Come on, Joe. Don't do this to me now. I've gotta focus."

"Help me up." Joe commands, and watches a tiny battle play itself out in Nick's head before he crouches down, sliding an arm under Joe's back and another under his shoulder.

"I'm not the only crazy one here," he mutters and Joe tries to smile, but Nick's lifting him now and it's agonizing. He has to grit his teeth to stop from screaming. Nick gets him on his feet, keeping his torso mostly straight, and half-walks, half-carries Joe quickly to the opposite corner of the warehouse, where Rob is peering out of a crack in a window. Nick sets Joe down behind a tall metal crate, maybe 10x10. Nick hands Joe another handgun, clasping his hand around Joe's on the grip. The gun feels like it weighs a hundred pounds, but Joe ignores it, hefting the gun and checking the safety.

"Everything goes to plan, for once, you won't have to use it."

Joe quirks an eyebrow at Nick. "Since when does anything ever go to plan?" He expects Nick to laugh, but instead he looks a little pained.

"That's-- kind of my fault, isn't it?" Joe opens his mouth to say no, but Nick interrupts him. "I'm gonna-- try to be, uh- better." With that, Nick is gone, and Joe looks over at Big Rob, totally bemused. Rob shrugs.

"He didn't get hit in the head or nothing. I checked," he offers. All of a sudden, the padlocked metal door at the front of the open room shakes and shudders with a heavy clanging noise. 
Joe cranes his neck around to try and see. Rob looks out the window again, pressing his face up against the grimy glass. "Zefron's out there. He's got about seven guys with him. They've got a ram."

"They're gonna bust the door open?"

"You got it." Big Rob turns and shouts across the room at Nick, who is detaching Baby V from the pipe, arms still cuffed behind her back, and lifting her up. "Coming in, Nick. Get ready."

Nick wraps an arm around Baby V's neck, holding her facing out in front of him and holds his gun to her head. For once, V is quiet. "Oh, I'm ready."

"Wu-Tang," Rob mutters. Nick positions himself in the exact middle of the warehouse. Joe can see Henrie leaning up over a crate in another corner, his gun steady in his hand and pointing at the door. Rob aims his weapon carefully, and they wait, listening to the pounding against the door, watching the metal warp more with each hit.

The door finally gives and flies open, slamming with incredible force against the wall behind it, and Efron's lackeys pour in, each one armed to the teeth, and then Zac is behind them, his eyes wild and sweat gluing his bangs to his forehead. His eyes flash when he sees Baby V, and he pushes one of his boys out of the way to run to her.

"Stop!" Nick's voice rings out through the warehouse, and he cocks the gun against V's head, the click of the hammer cutting through the commotion. Efron holds up a hand to his guys and they stop moving, but their guns are still pointed at the four of them.

"Give her to me, Jonas," Zac pants, and Joe is surprised to hear a tinge of desperation in the words. Nick regards Efron coldly for a minute, and then, without breaking his gaze, speaks to the rest of the crew, his voice ringing strong and clear through the room.

"He's a rat fuck, you know." None of the men shift, but a couple of them risk quick glances at Nick out of the corner of their eyes.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Zac's eyes narrow and his hand shifts to the gun on his hip, fingers sliding over the cool metal.

Nick shifts his feet, presses the gun harder to V's head and Joe can see her flinch at the pressure. He's tight-lipped as he watches Nick's almost satisfied smile turn predatory, and even after all this time, the change is still startling, discomfiting. This is everything Nick has been waiting for. He has Zefron in his sights, the ability to take him down with little more than a cock of his gun and six damning words. Joe isn't sure the exchange is worth it; Nick has to be willing to follow this through, to kill V if he has to and while Joe knows Nick's killed before, he doesn't want this to end that way. If Nick kills her, Joe thinks they'll probably all die.

They have to be careful. With the idea, the possibility of a new and happier life in his head, Joe is desperate to get out of this alive. With Nick alive and intact.

He wants to move forward, to confront Zefron himself, because he has the sudden realization that maybe all of this, everything that he and Nick have been doing for the past four years has been some kind of sick payback for Kevin's death. For Nick, it was payback to the universe, to their father's God in whom Nick lost faith the moment Kevin stopped breathing. For Joe, maybe it was payback on himself, a life of fear and blood and violence as punishment for letting Kevin get killed.

But Rob is splitting his gaze between the goons and Joe, and Joe knows he won't get far before Rob's big hand would be on his shoulder, pressing him back down.

"Three people knew about the job we pulled yesterday, Zef. Joe and I, obviously, and you." Nick's knuckles are white around his gun and Joe's hand flexes on his own, almost unconsciously. "How long did you think it would take us to figure out you were the one who sold us out?"

Zac has nothing to say, tries for words to defend himself and fails, watching as his boys shift on their feet. They keep glancing over at Nick speculatively, and they're almost accusing when they turn to Zac, each face questioning and suspicious.

"Loyalty is a big thing amongst most crews, Zef. You'd think you'd learn that, having had your own for the best part of seven years," Nick says, mocking.

Zef knows he's losing control of the situation and Joe can see it on his face. "Why would I sell you out? I gave you all the information on that take, Jonas. I practically delivered that whole operation to you gift wrapped. You should be thanking me!"

"For almost getting us killed?"

His gaze flicking to Joe, Zac smirks, eyes dark. "It seems you're doing a better job of that than I ever could."

It's the one thing Nick doesn't want to hear and Joe can feel the snap before it happens; something inside of him just shutting off and it's the part of him that's always been his Nick, the part that resonates with Nick and lets Joe know that his brother is still alive, still there.

"Fuck," Joe snaps, and he knows this situation is going to slide out of their control if he doesn't do something. Fast. "Stop!" he yells, as loud as he can, and all he can do is hope that everyone heard, that their focus has shifted and the guns are pointed at the place behind the crate where his voice came from, because he's slid down to the floor and he's moving.

Oh God, moving fucking kills. He rolls over onto his hands and knees and pushes up, keeping his belly unbent, trying not to pass out from the screaming pain stripping up his side. Joe stands, his gun dangling at his side, and sways dangerously. Rob's hand shoots out, catching him in the small of his back and steadying him. Nick is looking over at him, his face still set hard, but his eyes pleading with Joe. Joe ignores him.

"Zac. I was in there the other night. The guard knew I was coming. It was a set up. They let me get in, they waited, and then they were all over me out of nowhere. I barely got out." Joe's shaking, but Zef is facing him now, chin up defensively, his eyes darting around at the men surrounding him, their guns wavering as they whisper to each other. "Nick said it, man. You're the only one besides us who knew the plan. You set us up, Zac. So you could get the stash." Zac shakes his head frantically.

"You set us up," Joe repeats quietly.
Suddenly, one of Zefron's men has whipped around, pointing his gun in Zef's face now and shouting, "The fuck, Zef! Is that true? Is that where those rocks came from?" The man's face is contorted with rage, and Zac shies away from his gun, backing up only to bump into another of his men.

"You would sell them out, Zefron?" the goon asks, steely, and Joe sees his grip tighten around his weapon. "You'd sell me out too, huh? In a second, I bet, you little shit!"

"No!" Zac cries, terror starting to dawn on his face. "They're lying, can't you see?"

A big guy in the back of the circle speaks up, his voice deep and controlled. "Zefron. What happened to Jackson last month? He disappeared, and you said he flaked on the crew." The warehouse gets deadly quiet. "Did you rat him out too? Did you get him killed, Zef?"

Efron's mouth opens and closes, his face pale and slack. The only sound to be heard is Baby V's crying. There's a terrible stillness in the air, like the drawing in of a breath before a scream, and then chaos erupts. Zef's men have turned on him. Guys are yelling, cursing, pushing each other to get at Zef. Henrie and Rob have thrown themselves into the melee, and Joe, turning his head frantically, catches sight of Nick, tossing Baby V into a relatively sheltered corner and jumping into the middle of the brawl, flooring one goon with a vicious right hook.

Joe is trying to aim his gun, sight a target, but everyone is moving so fast and Joe's arm is wavering bad. He trips forward, seeing a rangy guy closing in on Zac, flattened against the side of a walk-in metal bunker, but Joe gets sideswiped and ends up on the floor. He fires a wild shot at the guy's leg, but it rebounds off the metal and blasts out a windowpane. He tries to get up, but his body is done, flat out refuses to work. Joe can't do anything but crane his head around helplessly. A couple of the guys are knocked out already, and Rob is beating another to a pulp. The big guy who started the riot has Henrie backed into a corner, but as Joe watches, Henrie kicks the end of his rifle up in a swift move and uses the butt of the rifle to knock the big guy's teeth out.

Nick. Where is Nick?

There. Joe spots him between Zac and another man, moving in a tight circle, sizing each other up. He lost his gun. Joe's stomach drops like lead. He can handle himself. The guy throws a punch that Nick ducks easily, but as he spins around the man lands a solid fist in his gut. Nick doubles over and the air whooshes out of him. Joe kicks out at the floor, trying to flip his unresponsive body over, get himself up. The man bends over Nick to grab him, and Nick whips his head up, cracking the guy on the chin and knocking him back. Nick follows him as he backs up, landing relentless punches on his face. Finally, with a wild yell, Nick puts a boot in the man's belly, and spits blood on the floor as the guy drops flat. He doesn't get back up.

Nick takes a step back, wiping the blood off his chin, and looks over towards Joe. It's then that Joe sees the flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and it's just instinct, just the base animal response in him that makes him scream as he shoves himself up into his feet.

"NICK!"

Everything moves very slowly then, and Joe sees the man step up behind Nick, sees the knife glinting in his hand as it moves towards Nick's back, thinks this can't possibly be happening, after all this, after everything that's happened already. He sees the realization in Nick's face, sees Henrie and Rob trying to get to them, sees Nick's eyes flash like fire. Everything moves slow, and then suddenly so fast, as Nick's hand darts to his waist, the flash of silver so quick that Joe can't distinguish its source, and then Nick has whirled around and caught his assailant, his arm moving in a quick jabbing motion. All of a sudden, Nick is holding the man up as he slumps, and it's only when Nick drops the knife to the ground that Joe realizes what happened. Kevin's knife.

As relief floods him, Joe's body gives out again, and he crumples to the floor. Nick lowers the man to the ground and looks around. Henrie and Rob each have a man captive, and have brought them over to where Nick and Joe are gathered around Zef, stunned and frozen on the floor. Zac looks completely bewildered. Baby V struggles to her feet and stumbles over to him, falling practically on top of him and burying her face in his neck. Emotion is evident on Zac's face as he wraps an arm around her, and Joe sees it, but he doesn't feel sorry for him.

Nick looks down at Zef. "So. You have a choice." Nick sounds exhausted. "Either we hand you over to these gentlemen right here," Henrie and Rob shake their captives as demonstration. "And let them tear you to pieces. Or... You get us back our take, and we'll get you out of here alive. What's it gonna be, Zac?"

Zac looks like he might make one last, vain attempt at refusing their offer and take his chances with his crew, but V touches his face and pleads with him. "Please, Zac. No more." He looks down at her.

Nick's face is pinched and tired and Joe just wants this to be over. He wants to find somewhere to go to sleep and stop the pain in his side from escalating anymore.

"I'll get it," Zac says, finally. He puts a hand on the back of Baby V's head, kisses her temple and looks up at Nick. "I'll get you the take."

There's silence for a moment and then Nick nods. One swift blow from Henrie and Rob and the last of Zac's goons go down, out cold. Nick snatches a gun from the floor and Joe recognizes it as the one he lost early into the fray. Tucking it into the back of his jeans, Nick stands over Zef and Joe can see the emotions on his face range from anger to disgust to pity. The last is a surprise but Joe knows it has something to do with Kevin; he'd been sure Zac was a good guy.

"I'll take them," Rob says, indicating Zef and Baby V. Clinging to Zac, V's tears have stopped but both of them are shell shocked. Neither Nick or Joe have any time for them and as Rob walks towards them, Zef and V climb to their feet, backing up a few steps.

"Now you're afraid?" Henrie quips, and for once Nick smiles at the jibe rather than berates him for it. There's a flicker of surprise on Henrie's face but he covers it well, motioning at the mess. "We better grab our stuff and haul ass. I don't wanna be here when they wake up."

Nick nods and looks at Joe, tension easing from his shoulders as the reality of the situation catches up with them. They did it, they've got Zef, they're getting the take and they're walking away from it all alive. Joe sighs gratefully and presses his forehead to the cold floor of the warehouse, relieved.

"C'mon Joe," Nick says, crouching down next to him. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

"You gotta give Henrie and Rob some of the take," Joe presses, catching Nick's eye as he's led over to the Mustang. He needs something to lean against and take the pressure off of his wound. He's sure he's re-opened stitches or something because it hurts like a bitch. Nick keeps hold of Joe as he keys open the door and lowers him gently to the seat. Joe rests gratefully against the leather and follows Nick lazily as he crouches down next to him, checking Joe's bandages. "Nick."

Ignoring him, Nick's forehead creases into a frown.

"Henrie saved my life, Nick."

"I know that," Nick snaps. "Don't you think I know?"

Joe puts a hand on his shoulder, squeezing weakly. "He owed us once, Nick, but he's more than paid us back. He could have died in there." Nick remained tight-lipped but Joe can see the indecision in his eyes. "If we get a fresh start," Joe says, quietly, "then so does he - they. Neither of them had to stay for this. They could have backed out at Baby V's place. Please, Nick."

Nick says nothing but finishes checking Joe over. "We better get Dave's friend to check you over when we're somewhere safe, but I think it's okay." Joe just nods. Nick straightens and cups the back of Joe's neck. "Joe."

"You mean it about getting out?" Joe lets their heads fall together. The pain in his side is a steady thrum and he just wants to sleep. For days, for months maybe.

"Yeah," Nick says, soft and only for Joe. "Just the two of us. We have money and it won't be hard to disappear. Just the two of us on the road, heading nowhere."

"We're a regular Bonnie and Clyde," Joe says, dryly. Nick snorts, ruffling the hair on Joe's forehead. "C'mon, Nick, think about it. Kevin's old acoustic is in the trunk, and I'm pretty sure you could always sing us some food."

Nick finally cracks a full-on smile, eyes lighter than Joe's seen them in a long time. "Right, Joe. With you on harmony, how could people resist?"

Joe laughs despite the pain and wraps both of his arms around Nick's neck. "Get me out of here, Nick J, and I will agree to anything. Except high notes. I'll save those for you."

His laughter dying down, Nick leans in and tucks his face into the crook of Joe's neck. He presses his lips against the steady pulse in Joe's throat, the warm, throbbing reassurance that Joe is alive and there. Joe quiets.

"You saved my life so many times today," Nick whispers into his skin. Joe takes a breath.

"It's my life too, Nick."

They stay like that for a long while, drained and exhausted and hurt. Joe leans back against the sticky leather seat and Nick lets his head rest on Joe's shoulder. It feels like something big, something incredibly momentous has passed between them, though neither boy could say what exactly it was, and it's easier not to speak, not to look at each other for the moment. Just to sit and breathe. It's been a long, long day.

Nick drives them back to Henrie's house. Joe falls asleep as soon as Nick shifts the car into gear and doesn't wake until Nick is carefully pulling Joe's arm over his shoulders and easing him from the car.

"What's gonna happen?" Joe slurs fuzzily. "When're you gonna get the stuff from Zac?"

Nick toes open Henrie's front door and lead them down the hallway to David's bedroom. "I'm going to go meet Rob now. He and Dave took Baby V somewhere safe, and Zac's gonna take us to the goods now." Nick tips Joe onto the bed, thankfully on top of the bedspread. Joe has some concerns about sanitation and wound infection.

"Wait," Joe protests, moving to sit up. "I should come with you." Nick frowns, and his hand presses gently down on Joe's shoulder, holding him in place with infuriating ease.

"There's no need, Joe. Seriously. You're dead on your feet. Just-- sleep, okay? I'll be back soon."

Part of Joe wants to argue it, wants to insist on going with Nick. He doesn't want to let Nick out of his sight, not now when they're so close to getting out alive. So close to having the kind of life where Joe doesn't have to be afraid every time Nick walks out the door that it will be the last time Joe sees him. But he's so exhausted, so wrecked. He knows he'd only be a burden, especially if anything went wrong. If he and Nick are going to start playing it safe, Joe supposes now is as good a time as any to start.

"Okay." Nick nods and takes off his coat, draping it over Joe. It's warm from his body heat, and it smells like him. Nick moves towards the door and then stops. He pauses for a moment before moving swiftly back to the side of the bed, kneeling down.

Nick is just a dark outline silhouetted in the light from the door. He leans in closer, and Joe can't see his face from the shadows when he says, "It wasn't your fault, Joe. Kevin-- It wasn't your fault."

Joe feels hot tears prick in the corners of his eyes, but he can't say anything, all his words just a tangled, heated sob stuck in his throat. Nick's hand touches his arm tentatively. "It was a bad job. We- we shouldn't have been there, any of us. But it wasn't your fault. It just-- happened."

"I miss him, Nick." Joe says, and it's hard to find the air in his lungs to say it. It feels like ripping off an old scab. Nick is quiet for a minute, his breathing uneven.

"Me too." He reaches over and brushes a piece of hair off Joe's forehead.

"Just. Come back, okay?" Joe can barely keep his eyes open, and Nick's face seems to swim in front of his eyes.

"I will. I promise."

And he does. When Joe wakes up next, Nick is sitting in a plastic folding chair next to the bed. He's asleep, his head tipped to the side at an awkward angle. Even in sleep, Nick is contained; mouth closed, face smooth, not a snore or a hint of drool. Joe watches him for a minute, watches his eyes move behind thin eyelids, and then he reaches out and taps Nick's knee. Nick snaps awake.

"Jesus, Nick," Joe says dryly. "All you ever do is sleep. Get a job, why don't you?"

Nick grins widely. "Back to your old self, I see." He reaches forward to lightly tap his fist against Joe's. "Hey," he continues. "I've got something for you." Joe's heart rate accelerates. Nick looks excited, his eyes tilted up happily, smile lines curving around his mouth in a way Joe hasn't seen since Nick was sixteen. Nick leans forward, reaching into his pocket, and pulls out a single diamond, holding it up for Joe to see.

Joe's breath leaves him all at once, amazed. There's hardly any light in Henrie's bedroom but the diamond still glints, the facets throwing shimmering prisms on the walls of the room. Joe can see Nick's smile a hundred different ways and he lifts a hand, brushing his fingers over the surface. He can't believe it actually worked, that Nick and Zac got back the take with no more trouble. It's strange to think that this little diamond got them into this mess to start with, but now it's also saved them, given them the chance to escape this life.

"It's beautiful."

Nick meets his gaze over the top of their hands and Joe knows that he'll never need anything more than Nick to get along.

"You got me a diamond. Does the ring come next?" He keeps his tone light and adds a grin, the familiar tug of something in his heart.

Something crosses Nick's face, too fast for Joe to put a name on and he curls his fingers around Joe's. "I'm not going anywhere," Nick says, voice barely above a whisper. "I'm not."

"I know."

"Joe- "

"We're going to be okay," Joe says, realising as he does that it's true. This is really it. They have the means to get out and start a new life, away from the danger and the enemies and the pain. It's as much a frightening thought as it is a welcome one. Joe isn't sure they know how to do it, how to live a normal life.

Nick raises a single eyebrow, something Joe has yet to master, and shifts in the chair until he's leaning forward. "I never doubted it," he says.

He lets go of the diamond and Joe is left holding it, closing his fist around it. "Where do we go from here?"

Nick's face goes from soft to unsure and it's the first time Joe's seen him uncertain about the subject. He doesn't answer and Joe never really expected him too. They'll find a way to make it work, just like they did before. It's all the same; an unfamiliar town, an unfamiliar life, but they have each other and that's all they've ever really needed, ever will need. They can figure it out.

Joe shifts in the bed until he's sitting up, wincing and letting a hiss of breath out between his teeth. The pain is a sharp ache that he can't ignore but then Nick's there, hand on his side and one curled around his neck, helping him. Joe turns his head, finds his face inches from Nick's and he can't help it. He closes the distance between them, pressing their foreheads together and kissing Nick lightly, free from expectation. "I love you."

Nick makes a soft noise in the back of his throat and jerks forward, pressing their mouths together again. He never could let Joe have the last word. His thumb smooths the skin on Joe's neck and they kiss a little more, just soft open lips and breath, until Nick puts a hand on Joe's face and says, "I know."

They stay that way, face to face, bodies close and breathing each other's air, and Joe loses track of time. He doesn't want it to end, even when he knows it has to.

"I hate saying goodbye," Joe whispers.
"So don't." Nick tilts his head. "Let's just go. Disappear. It's better like that anyways. A clean break, you know?"

"Maybe," Joe muses. "Where should we go?"

Nick brushes his nose against Joe's cheek, a teasing little touch, and whispers into his mouth; the damp heat of his breath in the space between them and the touch of his lips against Joe's the brightest ringing affirmation, the quietest unspoken word of love.

"I was thinking... Mexico."
the end