Running Bear

The air wasn't quite right. It set the hairs on the back of Dan's neck on end-- which wasn't something that usually happened. Usually, the forest was a place where Dan could relax, let go, be alone on the rare occasion when Phil's company grew to be too much.

Then he figured out why-- out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. A person.

"Who's there?!" Dan asked, drawing darkness to his fingertips with a professional ease that was almost terrifying.

"Someone you forgot." Came the reply. Dan's jaw dropped when Connor stepped out of the trees.

"We-- you-- you were dead!" Dan said, voice close to a whimper, "You pulled a motherfuckin' Winter Soldier on us... Jesus."

Dan stepped forward, ready to race into Connor's arms, when Connor drew a knife on him.

"You left me for dead, I might as well have been!" Connor snarled.

"We-- your neck was snapped!" Dan said, voice raised an octave.

"Dan, what's going on-- oh my God." Phil stopped dead in his tracks next to Dan, sticking to him like hot glue. "You're alive."

"Damn right, I'm alive," Connor retorted, "And I'm fuckin' pissed."

"Well, Connor, just take a moment and think this through," Dan said cautiously, trying to play peacemaker, "It's one of you versus fourteen of us. You don't stand a chance."

"Maybe he doesn't," Another voice said, low and raspy, "But he doesn't have a hundred men at his beck and call."

General Brant stepped out, grinning from ear to ear.

Dan suddenly felt very outmatched.

"Fuck." Was the only word that could escape his lips before someone fired off a shot. Without thinking twice, as if it were second nature, Dan surrounded himself and Phil in the blackness that acted as a shield.

"Let's go." Dan started moving the shadow along, Snake-Style.

"We have to get there before everyone else," Phil hissed, "Hurry up."

"Right," Dan said, "How about... we both fire into the crowd, and while they're distracted, you run. As soon as you've been gone for five minutes, I'll take cover."

"Can I trust you?" Phil said, stopping and grabbing Dan's face to look him in the eye, "I don't want you getting hurt."

"I love you too, Phil, now kiss me before we both do something heroic and incredibly stupid," Dan replied. Phil's lips were against Dan's, then, soft and warm and tasting of the sugar in their coffee.

"Goodbye," Phil said softly. Dan nodded, dropping the shield.

"On your knees," Phil commanded. Dan dropped down and Phil sent out a circle of light, knocking several soldiers off their feet. Dan finished them off, down low, as a shadow.

"Run!" Dan yelled. Phil did as he was told, holding up light as a shield.

"Think you can protect your boyfriend for long?" Brant sneered. In response, Dan shot his face with shadow.

"This time, I'll make sure you're dead," Dan promised. He thought he could see a flicker of fear in Brant's eye.

"In any case, my secret little weapon will destroy your group of freaks," Brant said, voice choking on shadow, "It's over."

"It's not over until I say it is," Dan hissed, almost sadistic and almost proud of himself. He could see real fear in Brant's eyes as Dan pressed him to a tree, drawing a sword made of shadow.

"And I think it's our turn to teach you a little something," Dan said quietly, slitting Brant's throat. The man chuckled, though, as he bled out.

"Turn around," He snickered, and Dan did so just before a bullet hit his abdomen.

Dan dropped to the ground.

.o0o.

Whoever said that getting shot didn't hurt because of shock was wrong.

Dan was in so much pain.

Waves of it radiated out from his stomach, where the bullet had pierced his abdomen. He screamed into the ground.

"Dan?" It was Troye, "Dan! Oh, Dan."

"Leave," Dan rasped, "Leave. Take Tyler. Whatever you do, don't stick around. You aren't going to like it--"

"Dan, you're not making any sense," Troye said, face screwed up in concern, "Hang on, let me take care of that pain for you."

And Troye began to work his magic, singing until the red-hot feeling that rattled Dan to his core drained from his body.

"Thank you," Dan said, standing up, "There's something you should know."

"I know Connor's alive," Troye said softly, "Where do you think Tyler is? He tried to talk to him, got a stomach full of knife."

Dan's heart broke.

"I'm so sorry--" That I couldn't be there to warn you, that Phil was the only one to help you--

"Do you happen to know where Phil is?" Troye asked, "He hasn't showed up."

"No," Dan's face drained of color, "That can't be right."

"Oh."

There was a pause.

"We need to find him," Dan said, clutching a hand to his stomach as he set off, the pain rocketing back through his body.

"Sorry, short-term spell-thing." Troye slipped his arm under Dan's shoulder and held him up, "And you need to get back to HQ. Louise'll heal you right up."

"But I need to find Phil," Dan said, trying to slip away from Troye.

"No, you need to heal before you bleed to death," Troye chided.

"Fine," Dan relented, "But you have to tell me what happened."

"Okay," Troye said, "They converged on us, taking us by surprise. Instantly, Louise was doing her thing, taking energy from wherever she could get it and giving it to us. Ben managed to get his hands on a dagger, and oh boy is he dangerous with one of those things. Everybody pretty much did their own thing, and we managed to defeat them. Then, like a godsend, Connor appeared. Tyler raced towards him, and Connor flipped the fuck out, taking a knife and slashing open Tyler's stomach. Then the second wave hit. We were outmatched by a long-shot, and then another miracle happened. A blinding wave of light appeared outside the cabin, killing everybody who wasn't inside."

"Phil," Dan said proudly, "Phil did that."

There was another pause.

"That means he's by the house, right?"

"I would hope so," Troye said, "Louise managed to subdue Connor, and he'd been restrained using some of the cuffs we found."

"He thinks we left him behind on purpose," Dan said, "It's heartbreaking."

"Wow," Troye returned, awestruck, "I hope he knows otherwise."

Unfortunately, he didn't. Both men knew that as they searched for the third, who they found lying unconscious near the front porch.

"Okay," Troye huffed, "I can't carry both of you--"

"I've got 'im." Shane appeared, lifting Phil up in a fireman's carry. They returned inside, and Dan looked around at the carnage.

Tables were overturned, there was blood in places where blood decidedly should not be, there were bodies everywhere. Louise looked so tired, running around and trying to heal everyone.

But Dan knew it would get better-- they'd have to have a happy ending, right?

.o0o.

Some of them got better. They had to bury too many people-- Ian and Anthony and Ingrid and Hannah.

Connor woke up screaming, begging them not to hurt him.

"Why would we do that?" Tyler asked, crouched in front of him. His abdomen was bandaged, and he still couldn't walk very far very often.

"Because I hurt you," Connor whimpered, "Because you don't like me."

"Don't like you?" Tyler replied, voice soft, "Connor, we love you. Don't forget that."

"I killed people!" Connor screeched.

"So have I," Tyler said sadly, "And I regret it, I do. But you're the victim here."

There was silence, and the room was tense.

"Can I let you go without you attacking me?" Tyler asked. Connor glanced down at Tyler's abdomen, fear in his eyes.

"Sorry," Connor said.

"That didn't answer my question," Tyler frowned.

"Yes," Connor answered, "You can let me go."

"Okay," Tyler said, nodding. Dan snapped his fingers and the shackles fell from Connor's wrist.

"Hug?" Tyler asked. Connor flinched away and shook his head. Tyler's mouth formed a surprised 'oh'.

.o0o.

The first person they contacted was Sean. And he thought he was insane, until he decided that he would fly out to see them.

"'course I would! I'm not evil!" Jack said, astonished, "I'm buying the tickets right now."

.o0o.

Mark's heart was about to escape his chest. They'd given Jack the address of the cabin, and he'd said that he'd landed and was on his way.

"Mate, stop pacing." Dan rolled his eyes. He and Phil were just as they'd always been, too close and yet, perfectly natural.

"Shut up," Mark growled, fidgeting with a pen. His head perked up comically at the same moment as the rest of the animals in the cabin (Mark's Disney Princess tendencies were not limited to desert creatures, it seemed).

"He's here," Mark said, and before Dan could blink, he was out the door.

Mark raced down the gravel driveway, far longer than he'd expected, his lungs protesting the whole time. He saw the familiar blue eyes of his old friend, and he raced into Jack's arms.

"Your hair's green now," Mark breathed.

"No shite," Jack replied, gripping Mark back just as hard. They clung to each other desperately.

"You're never leaving again," Mark said, "Ever."

Jack laughed into Mark's shoulder. The sun cast the shadows of the trees over them.

In that moment, nothing existed except the two of them. Nothing except the sound of their heartbeats and the heat of the dying sun.

They could've stayed there forever.