Chapter Text
Theo can’t pinpoint when it happened exactly, but at some point in time he’d become intrinsically attuned to everything Liam Dunbar.
No, he wasn’t ogling the young beta with heart-eyes like some lovesick moron. It was more about noticing the little things: chemo-signal fluctuations, heart rate spikes and – if he was close enough – pupil dilations. He saw how torn up Liam was over the death of Brett and Lori, which in turn made him restless and annoyed. He sensed Liam’s suppressed panic after being attacked by a Hellhound, and that made him involuntarily feel the urge to shred said Hellhound to pieces.
He also noticed stupid things like the amount of gel Liam had used in his hair that day, how many goals he scored during Lacrosse practice, or how he slowly became more comfortable bringing up Hayden’s name in conversation. These useless bits and pieces stored themselves into his brain without his conscious decision to do so, yet gave him something inconsequential to focus on during sleepless nights. Inconsequential. Shit, he still sounded like a goddamn Dread Doctor sometimes.
So as Theo lay on the cold, hard ground, tuning in and out to the frenzy that was occurring around him, barely registering his life ebbing out of him in gushes of warm crimson, the one and only thing all five senses were consistently focused on was, unsurprisingly, Liam.
Liam, his blue eyes rounded with alarm and framed with long, wet lashes.
Liam, shouting something indecipherable to him, sounding like he was miles away. What was it he was trying to say?
“—eo!”
He blinked slowly, trying to focus because Liam seemed upset and Theo didn’t want to see him upset.
“Stay…w-…me…-eo!”
It kind of sounded like…
Like Liam was screaming his name.
“Theo! Please, Theo!”
He wanted to respond, he wished he could, but Theo’s world abruptly cut to black.
[Earlier that night]
His blood pulsed erratically in his ears, fangs almost threatening to protrude as the elevator rose at an excruciatingly slow pace. He was at the hospital trying to find Liam by tracking his scent and heartbeats - very, very frantic heartbeats. Finally, the doors slid open on the right level and he was met with a sight that made his heart stop. There Liam was, backing towards him, trapped in a narrow corridor with four heavily armed hunters. training their weapons directly at him. Something inside Theo twisted and he lunged forward without thinking. Wrapping an arm around Liam’s tense form, he pulled the boy back into the elevator, slamming them both to the side and away from line of fire. The metal doors shut just in time to block the heavy barrage of bullets.
Liam was staring at him like he’d grown a second face. “What are you doing here!?”
“Was just asking myself the same thing.” He mumbled, absently removing his now-crooked beanie. He was too busy trying to calm his own tell-tale heartbeat, staring at the young beta and appreciating that Liam was unharmed and standing right before him.
How was it possible he had only just realised it now? Seeing Liam in danger brought him indescribable terror, the sort that blinded him and clogged everything rational or strategic about his judgement. Theo usually prided himself for his ease in controlling his heart rate, the wavering of his emotions and his ability to remain calm and calculating in any situation. But shit, if he hadn’t almost flipped out just then… it'd felt like he was back in the tunnels with Mason or something, ambushed by the Anuk-ite rearing its ugly head and clouding him over with nothing but sheer terror.
“Still out there?” He breathed, forcing it to sound even.
Liam nodded grimly as he listened through the doors, evaluating the outside situation. Theo couldn't pull his eyes away.
Seeing Liam like this - eyes alert, hair tousled, but most importantly safe - allowed him to breathe easier. While the thought of losing him... that was enough to drive him insane with fear. When had this happened? How was it that the Theo Raeken now would give anything than to witness something bad happen to Liam?
Somewhere along the way Liam had become his anchor…and his own personal Anuk-ite.
Wow. Of course he would have the biggest epiphany of his sorry life while trapped in a metal box of death, backed by the symphony of rapid gunfire.
But he knew now for certain, he would die for Liam. He really would. Unconditionally. Well, wasn't he fucke–
“Look, I’m not dying for you.” His mouth blurted before his brain could catch up. Great. Perfect. Real smooth there, classic Theo.
“I’m not dying for you either,” came Liam’s fluid retaliation. Although his rational mind knew that Liam hadn’t projected those words with any malice (and he definitely deserved them), they still undeniably hurt to hear.
"But…" Liam continued, "I will fight with you." Blue eyes bore into him with honesty. Today they had a somewhat greenish tinge to them, perhaps refracted from his sage-coloured shirt or the cool interior of the elevator. It was a pretty colour and Theo couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. He quickly broke eye contact before he could get sucked any further into a territory he wasn't sure he'd ever be ready to delve in.
“Okay,” he quirked a small smile, “let’s fight.”