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Angus frowned at the sound of rain.
A lot of rain, pounding against the ground in, he assumed, a torrent of water. Then he noticed, along with the rain, absolutely freezing cold wind. Something electric crackled in the air like stifled magic, a half-completed spell left to fizzle out on its own, filling Angus' nose with the scent of ozone.
Gaining each sense individually didn't usually happen when Angus woke up. As he muddled through the fog in his mind, Angus took a deep breath of the cold air and winced as both his throat and lungs protested. It felt like trying to breathe shards of glass. After another few moments of more shallow, pained inhales, Angus forced his eyes open.
He couldn't see very far, which told him he didn't have his glasses on. The same part of his lung that resisted when he breathed didn't want him to lift his right arm to feel at his face. He used his left hand instead, checking the bridge of his nose, then the collar of his shirt, then his lap, and finding nothing.
Getting his bearings without his sight and while rain poured incessantly was difficult but Angus was nothing if not tenacious. He knew he was approximately vertical, so he took as deep a breath as he could without pain before pushing his good hand against whatever he was seated on. It felt like… his car seat? But it was slick with warm liquid, a sharp contrast to the cold water he could now feel raining down on his other side.
He coughed, seized by pain that made him whimper, lips pressed together to prevent any sound from escaping. If Father had taken a belt to him already, it wouldn't do him any good to be loud and--
Angus' breath caught in his throat. That was the wrong memory… Father couldn't hurt him anymore. "Taako?" he rasped, confused and disoriented.
He resisted the urge to spit out the sudden coppery taste of blood in his mouth, knowing he would retch if he tried, which would in turn pull at his right side. Losing his first baby tooth a year ago made blood fill his mouth and he threw up on his mother's new rug. Of course, she smacked him so hard he couldn't see out of his right eye for a few hours afterward--
Angus squeezed his eyes shut, using the grounding techniques he learned in therapy to keep from getting lost in the memories and possibly hyperventilating. He hadn't thought about that day in months. Definitely not since he met Taako.
Now that Angus' thoughts were marginally back in order, Taako's silence began to make him worry. As far as he could tell, he was in their car, and the only times he was in the car was with his adoptive dad.
"Taako?" he called again, a bit louder this time. He struggled with the latch on his seatbelt, sunlight coming in through the car windows just bright enough to see the red bar on the buckle. The light was mottled and dim though, a wall of indistinct green surrounding the car on the three sides Angus could see without turning his head too far.
His hand slipped on more warm slickness but he ignored it along with the taste in his mouth. The seatbelt took a bit of fumbling to open, uncoordinated with his non-dominant hand, but he managed. He almost fell forward out of his car seat but he braced himself on the passenger seat in front of him.
Angus must have blacked out for a moment, because when his eyes opened again, he was on the floor of the car. His right side was practically on fire now, now including his arm and hand that were, from the feel of it, full of glass. He got to his knees one-handed and then leaned over the center console.
Taako's bright blonde curls were the only thing Angus could make out, but that was enough. He fumbled forward until he could lean close enough to Taako to bring two shaking fingers to his pulse point.
The rush of relief Angus felt at the weak but steady pulse almost made his eyes begin to tear, but now wasn't the time for a breakdown. He slid off of the center console into the passenger seat, using his better angle to fumble in the cup holders that Taako used to store any and everything he brought with him. The familiar rectangle of his phone was there, and when Angus pressed the power button, it shone brightly.
Angus set the phone in his lap to shakily swipe at the phone and dial emergency, and then held it to his ear, praying for a signal… wherever they were.
"262, what is your emergency?" the operator asked him.
"Our car crashed," Angus said. His brain was moving a mile a minute, trying to come up with an informative summary that would get them help, but his mouth wasn't cooperating. He gritted his teeth and tried again, but all he could stammer was "please, m-my daddy isn't waking up."
The operator's voice got more soothing and less businesslike. "Okay, I'm glad you dialed emergency. Do you know where your car crashed?"
"No," Angus replied. He was losing his already tenuous grip on forced calm and knew he was minutes from shock. If he shut down and didn't get them help they were as good as dead. "No, I don't know where we are. I-I think he's hurt. Please--"
His right side sent another frisson of fire up his spine and he dropped the phone, unable to breathe. The sound of the rain overpowered whatever the operator was saying over the line but Angus concentrated more on getting oxygen than searching for Taako's phone again.
The cold from outside started sinking into his skin. Angus felt himself shivering--as if he were outside his body somehow--until he didn't. He tried to take the shallowest breaths possible to keep from pulling his side, and failed. Then he braced himself for inevitable pain and grabbed the gear stick, using the last of his strength to lever himself across the console and into Taako's lap.
Taako's blank expression didn't change in unconsciousness. He almost looked as ethereal as he did when he was asleep. Angus turned away from the blood covering half of Taako's face to instead lie against his sticky shirt, closing his eyes to better hear Taako's heartbeat. Like this, he could almost imagine Taako was just asleep, having closed his eyes during a movie on the couch, holding Angus and stroking his hair.
The next thing Angus felt were hands on him. They weren't Taako's, long-fingered and warm and delicate, instead large and cold and covered in some kind of thick glove. Angus moaned in pain while the hands pulled. The sound of wrenching metal pierced through his pounding head and interrupted the staccato beating of Taako's heart.
"Mm, ssstop," he slurred past a tongue that wasn't responding, curling the fingers of his left hand into Taako's shirt. He wasn't sure how well he was holding on or if his fingers were even cooperating.
The hands didn't let up despite his resistance. He was being lifted up and away from Taako, his vision swimming with fear. "Daddy!" he screamed, past the pain, past the blood in his mouth. Everything flickered black again, then blinding white, but he still desperately tried to focus on Taako. "D-daddy! D--"
It was hard to tell from a distance, but it looked like Taako's eyes were open.
"I'm going with my son!" Angus knew Taako's voice anywhere, even as muddled and rasped as it was, and he did not sound happy. He opened his eyes in time to see Taako push a woman in scrubs away from him, hissing, "Don't fucking touch me."
"Sir, you're concussed, we're taking you for a CT--"
"Y'all can shove your 'CT'--"
"Сиди!" a third voice commanded. Lup, standing beside her brother, her arm around his waist--supporting him? Angus couldn't tell from a distance--spoke in a rare sharp tone. "Замолчи. Я буду говорить."
Angus didn't know very much Elvish, but whatever Lup said made Taako slump heavily in the chair behind him. "Doctor," Lup said, now using her most false, kindly voice, "Can my brother just see his son for a moment? You can take him for his scan and he'll be a good boy." Angus knew Lup's teasing would be met with a punch in different circumstances. Right now, from his horizontal position a few feet away, he just watched Taako sit with his head in his hands.
Angus opened his mouth, wincing when the motion pulled a split in his lip open again. "Daddy?" he murmured.
Taako lifted his head slightly, and then further, eyes wide and red. "A-Angus?" he stammered. One Blink later and he was standing at Angus' side. Close up, Angus could see that his blood was thankfully cleaned off his face and he had a bandage haphazardly taped across his forehead. "Oh, baby, I'm so glad you're okay. I'm so sorry, I-I must have gotten distracted." Taako's hands hovered above Angus' chest, as if he were afraid of touching him. "I promised I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, I'm so, so sorry."
Angus didn't like this version of Taako. He was crying, hair matted with dried blood, bruises up one side of his face from where he hit his head when they crashed. His Taako never stammered or went so long without swearing. Angus couldn't say anything to reassure him, unable to keep more than part of a thought in his head, and he was too numb to reach out and hold Taako's hand.
"They're going to help you, okay? The doctors are going to fix you up and then you can come home, baby, don't… don't cry, Angus, I'm sorry--" Angus blinked and realized that his eyes were overly wet, even if he couldn't feel tears on his face. Taako's expression was devastated. He looked up, away from Angus, begging, "Please, take him, he's--"
Lup appeared at her brother's side again and reached out to lay her hand on Angus'. "Angus, we'll be waiting to pick you up soon. Stay calm, alright?"
"I love you," Taako added, still shaking with tears. He finally touched Angus then, brushing his hair away from his forehead and laying a kiss there. Angus could only watch him sob into his hands, Lup's hand on his shoulder, as he was pushed out of the emergency entrance until the doors closed behind him.
All of this blacking out and waking up again was getting old, Angus grumbled internally as he opened his eyes in yet another room. He felt like he'd been forced through a woodchipper, cuts and scrapes pulling at every bit of skin he could feel, his side especially tight. At least he could breathe now. He lifted his left hand gingerly, feeling at the nasal cannula that rested on his upper lip.
The room around him was painted pale blue, faint light from the sunset outside slanting through the window and onto the opposite wall. The artificial light in the room was off but it was just bright enough that he could see someone sitting beside him, arms crossed over their chest.
"Taako?" he ventured into the silence.
The figure shifted. "Nah, not quite," Lup replied. "Want me to turn on the light?"
"No thank you, ma'am," Angus' upbringing made him say first. He fumbled with the cover laid on top of him, its knit familiar under his hand. Someone must have brought his handmade blanket over from home. "I-is my daddy okay?"
Lup sighed but it sounded fond rather than upset. "Yeah, he's fine. Minor concussion, a bigass cut on his forehead, but otherwise he'll live. It took twice as long to get him into the fucking scanner than it took to pull both of you out of your car. It's totaled."
Angus frowned, trying to remember. It was raining when they crashed… and that was all he knew. "What happened?" he asked, attempting to sit up. Lup helped him adjust the tilt of his bed and made sure the pillows were propping his neck at a good angle, and then, to his surprise, she hugged him.
She and Taako were of identical builds, of course, but Lup smelled like tobacco where Taako smelled mostly of rosemary and thyme. It still served to comfort him immensely. Angus hugged her back to the best of his ability, tears welling in his eyes at the warm touch.
When Lup finally moved away, it was only to sit beside him in the bed, letting go just enough to look at him in the dim light. Angus still didn't have his glasses, and the low light wasn't helping, but the vague outline of Lup's features made him feel extraordinarily safe.
"It was a hit and run," she said softly, her hand brushing against his cheek, mindful of the cannula tubing. He could feel a bandage on his face under her thumb but didn't reach up himself to check. "They think the driver's side door got hit first and knocked Taako out. The car slid a little ways down a hill. Azuth bless you didn't flip."
Angus shivered, shutting his eyes tight against his brain trying to imagine the event. "But he's okay?" he asked, just for confirmation.
"Perfectly fine, peanut. You, on the other hand, have a lot of resting up to do." She continued to stroke his face with one hand, the other moving gently to his right side. "Fractured a couple of ribs, and you've got a lot of scrapes from broken glass. They're putting you on antibiotics for a while, to make sure you don't get a lung infection or anything nasty." Angus opened his eyes again as she cupped his face in both hands. "Angus, you're one incredible little boy."
He paused, and then shook his head a few times, keeping the motion slow and careful. "I didn't do anything, Aunt Lup," he whispered.
Lup's blurry face seemed surprised. "Dude, you got out of your car seat by yourself and called the police, all with fractured ribs. You saved your and Taako's life." She pinched his cheeks very gently. "Incredible."
Angus felt sick. Taako was the best thing that ever happened to him, and just a few hours ago, he'd had the Elf's life in his hands. What if he hadn't called the police in time? What if the other car had hit a little harder? "I'm not," he denied again.
She leaned closer to press a kiss into his hair, seemingly unable to stop touching him. Angus certainly wasn't going to pull away first. "Opposites attract, huh? You and my little brother were made for each other." Lup chuckled to herself. "That idiot lives for compliments, even when he doesn't deserve them."
"I'm sorry, Aunt Lup, I just--"
Lup shushed him, adjusting his blankets and gently smoothing down butterfly bandages on his arms. "I know, peanut, you don't have to apologize. You should know," she said, abruptly switching topics away from Angus' insecurities. He felt more loved and understood by the woman than he had with his own mother. "I'm staying with you two for a little while, just to make sure Taako's big head doesn't crack open unexpectedly."
Lup mimed cracking an egg and Angus smiled despite himself. "Thanks," he said softly. "Do you know when we can go home?"
"Mm, probably another few minutes? You slept for a while, and Merle is out there with Taako signing forms. Magnus'll be around tomorrow morning to help with the watch." Angus could see the blurry pink outline of Lup's tongue against her dark skin when she made a displeased face. "No one's sleeping in your house with the three of those losers in high energy."
Angus laughed and then immediately wrapped his left arm around his stomach to hold his angered ribs. "I guess not," he agreed. He was privately pleased he would have all four of them with him while he healed.
Their conversation was cut short when the door to Angus' hospital room opened, spilling light from the hallway across the dark floor. "Lup, the doctor said--" Taako said, and then paused abruptly. Then he dropped the paper bag and sheaf of papers in his hands into the visitor's chair beside the door.
"You're okay," Taako said, and it was a question and a statement and a prayer all in one sentence. He crossed the room to Angus' bed in four steps, holding Angus' face in much the same way Lup did, studying the tubes and needles in his arm and cannula across his cheeks. "Oh my god, Angus, you're…." His voice faltered and he sat heavily on the bed, almost as if he were moments from passing out.
Angus, of course, panicked. "D-daddy, I'm okay!" he reaffirmed in a rush. He couldn't really sit up enough to reach for Taako but he got his hand as close as he could to Taako's on the blanket.
Taako's dizzy spell, or whatever it was, faded quickly. He looked up at Angus with an unreadable expression. "Daddy?" he repeated.
All the anxiety that flooded Angus a moment before couldn't compare to the way the bottom dropped out of his stomach just then. He'd felt safe calling Taako that name in the privacy of his own head because his birth father never allowed Angus to call him such a "childish" word. He didn't mean for it to slip into the real world, especially not now, when he couldn't defend himself.
"No, sir," Angus breathed, and then his eyes filled with hot tears. They didn't even have a chance to fall before Taako was wiping them away with what felt like a cotton handkerchief, murmuring something in a low voice that Angus couldn't make out.
Finally, Taako wrapped his arm around Angus' waist and tucked his head under his chin. "It's okay, baby, you can call me that if you want to," he said, gently rubbing circles against Angus' shoulder blade. "I didn't mean to startle you, I was just surprised, c'mon, kid."
Angus hesitated before moving his left arm and hugging Taako back. Less than a second later, the stress of the day decided to spill over him in a rush. "I was so scared, daddy," he choked out between sobs, feeling much younger than he had in years. "I didn't know what to do."
"You absolutely did, pumpkin." Taako pressed half a dozen kisses into his hair without loosening his hold. "You did everything perfectly right. You were so brave." Angus could hear Taako's breath speeding up and rattling in his chest. "I fucked up, couldn't even cast in time to help you. Wall of Force is kiddie shit and I fucked it up."
Before Taako could get too far into blaming himself--Angus had only seen him spiral once before, and it was hard to talk him back down--Angus interrupted him. "It wasn't your fault, daddy, there was another car. It was too fast." He shifted a bit, trying to burrow further into Taako's thin shirt, but Taako just chuckled hollowly and leaned away.
"Hold on, Angus, I'm here to take you home. Don't get too comfortable." Taako smiled, an expression that didn't reach his eyes, and rubbed his thumb over a scrape in Angus' eyebrow. "You ready, baby? Or do you want to… to stay here." His voice wavered at the end.
As if Angus could think of anything but going back home. "I don't want to stay," he said firmly. He looked down at himself, biting his lip. "I don't know where my clothes are, though."
Taako laughed again. The sound was a bit more honest, this time. "Lup'll handle it." Angus startled, realizing he had forgotten about his aunt, but when he glanced up again Lup was gone and the door to his hospital room was closed.
The next few minutes were a blur. Lup did bring in a change of clothes and Taako helped him get dressed, almost succumbing to tears again when Angus whimpered at his side getting pulled. Merle, Taako's Cleric friend who always seemed a bit wary of Angus, watched him with sympathetic eyes as he was wheeled out of the hospital. Lup had to push him because Taako was shaking too much, which made Angus cry despite himself. He assumed that sudden tears would be a regular part of their lives for the next few days.
Seeing Lup's car pulled up out front, a burnt orange SUV that looked nothing like his and Taako's little grey four door, just made him cry more. Angus knew that having two car crashes in the same day was statistically improbable, nearing impossible, but that was intellectual knowledge. His emotions were telling him to never get in a car again.
Taako appeared in front of him, crouching so they were face to face and his vision of the car was obscured. "Hey, Angles," he said in a low voice. Angus couldn't quite meet Taako's eyes as he nodded to confirm he was listening. "Want me to put you to Sleep until we get home? It'll feel like less than a second, promise."
"I have to get used to it," Angus reasoned, but his mouth was dry.
"Later, yeah. But not now." Taako waited in silence, Merle and Lup talking in low tones behind them, until Angus shook his head. "You sure? You've been a lifetime's worth of brave today." Angus swallowed and shook his head again. Taako stood up and, despite his obvious exhaustion, fitted his hands under Angus' arms and pulled him up out of the wheelchair.
"Dude," Lup said disapprovingly.
Taako just rolled his eyes at her, settling Angus on his hip and hitching him until he was stable. "Angles weighs two pounds, Lup. I can carry my own kid."
Angus hid his face against Taako's neck, both kind of disappointed that his hair was pulled up in a bun because he couldn't hide behind it as well and relieved Taako was feeling well enough to lift him. He hadn't been carried so much in his life; the nannies his parents hired when he was in infancy must have held him occasionally, but he couldn't remember that far back. Taako, in contrast, carried him more often than not, and even when Angus had feet on the ground Taako was holding his hand.
"I got a seat for him," Lup was saying as they approached the car. The rain had stopped but the sky was still full of dark clouds and the asphalt was shiny with water and motor oil. Angus watched artificial rainbows playing in the parking lot puddles, his left arm wrapped tightly around the back of Taako's neck, while Taako opened the back door.
"It really scared me too," Taako whispered after setting Angus down in his car seat. Angus blinked up at him, unsure of what to say. "I just found you, y'know? I can't imagine…." He buckled the lap belt of Angus' seat but he couldn’t keep his hands stable enough for the chest straps. "If I lost you, I-I'd. I have no fucking idea what… what I'd do. I…."
Angus' chest twinged. He felt the exact same way, but didn't know the words to help Taako feel better. "Let's have hot chocolate when we get home," he suggested instead.
Taako, who was still concentrating futilely on the second buckle to Angus' seat belt, cleared his throat. "Yeah, absolutely, pumpkin. Hey Lup, wanna do me a favor and do, uh, this?" He looked through the car at his sister in the drivers seat. She huffed, ostensibly annoyed, and exited the car again. Taako kissed Angus' cheek and stepped away to get in on the other side.
Lup briskly strapped him in, making sure everything was tight enough with an efficiency that was obviously not passed to Taako down the gene pool. She grinned at him and playfully tapped the tip of his nose before closing the door.
Taako slid in on the other side of the car and immediately took Angus' hand. "We can watch Kitchen Nightmares and drink the whole box of hot chocolate," he said in an airy voice that belied the anxiety on his face. "I have to stay awake anyway."
"I can stay awake too," Angus offered, but Taako was already shaking his head.
"You need rest, kiddo. You can sleep whenever you get tired, if you get tired in the fucking… circus I'm inviting into our goddamned house." Angus cracked a tentative smile and, without hesitation, Taako smiled right back.