Work Text:
Patroclus remembered everything clearly up till the moment it happened. He had been walking back from class, then suddenly he was lying on the ground. The cold and rough asphalt on his cheek. His back ached and stung and Patroclus was pretty sure someone had stabbed him . He looke up and saw a tall figure above him. The last thing he saw was a face, a familiar one.
Hector.
A memory of him and Achilles months ago forced its way up.
“Achilles”
The door to their dorm had shut and Achilles had thrown himself on the couch with a groan of comfort. Patroclus hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the meeting and all the things that were said. He could still hear Agamemnon’s loud and determined voice as he spoke to the large majority of their dorm buildings inhabitants.
“Yeah?”
Agamemnon had wanted them all to join in his and his brother Menelaus quest to “Get Helen back and show once and for all who was the best” and Patroclus had had an inkling it was more about showing who’s boss than to actually get Helen back from Paris and the rest of the Troyans.
“You can't fight Hector”
Hector. Paris brother and the Troyans strongest and most skilled fighter. Their dad was a police captain who turned his head away from the thing that happened between their school and Troy. But if someone actually beat his son? That was another question.
“Uh huh”
If Hector was Troy’s strongest and most skilled, Achilles was theirs. His mother had him running track since he could run. Patroclus was never really sure what she did but the result ended up with money and respect. Patroclus hadn't met her that many times but she was a scary woman who wanted what she thought was best for Achilles, even though she never really interacted with him.
“Are you even listening to me?”
Patroclus’s own father was as distant as one could be. He wanted him to be an athlete like Achilles had always been, but Patroclus had instead been interested in sitting inside and reading anything and everything. His mother had died when he was young.
(Just like Patroclus would)
“Couse’, you said something about fighting Hector”
Patroclus remembered how Achilles had sat up and looked at him then, with his beautiful blue eyes that looked like an ocean.
“You can't fight him Achilles"
He was going to now, now that he had hurt Patroclus, Achilles was going to destroy Hector. That was something Patroclus was sure of, because Achilles would do anything for the people he loves.
“And why ever not?”
Achilles had always looked cute when he was confused, when he looked at Patroclus with this look like he couldn’t fathom why he couldn't fight Hector.
“You know who his dad is, everyone does-”
What would happen now to Achilles? How long would it take for him to find out what had happened to Patroclus? What would happen after he had delivered his vengeance against Hector?
“I'm the only chance Menelaus got if he wants his girlfriend back”
After all the months Patroclus had nearly forgotten how it all started. With Helen hooking up with Paris. One action that kick-started so many others.
“Which is why I'll do you no good if you're arrested... or worse”
Patroclus wondered in that moment of what would have happened if they’d said no. They could have graduated, lived out the rest of their lives together.
“... I have to do this Patroclus”
Of course he had to, Patroclus never blamed him for it, even when it came to this. He had no place left in his heart but love for Achilles in what would be his last moments on earth.
“I know, glory and pride and all that. I just worry"
He had, every time Achilles went out with the rest, he worried. And how he had been relieved when Achilles had returned to him every night. Now it was Patroclus who was leaving.
“Hey, don't worry. I'll be fine. I won't fight Hector”
And he hadn’t, but some things were inevitable. And this was one of them. It felt like all of this had been leading up to it.
“Really?”
And Patroclus just wished he could see one more time, talk to him, take the blame off his shoulders before it even settled. At least Patroclus had said a goodbye before class. Told Achilles he loved him.
“What has Hector ever done to me?”