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Far From the Heart
Michael had a bad feeling as soon as he had been given the case by General Harding. The phone call had come at 0500 this morning and the file had arrived at his office by the time he had gotten there at 0600. It felt heavy in his hand as he walked back to the car. He hadn’t even changed from his service dress to civilian clothes such was the urgency he felt to get moving, the contents of the file making his stomach churn.
The drive to Allen Hynek’s house seemed to go slowly, every second he wasn’t already there searching, eating at him. Ringing the doorbell, he was greeted by Joel, the child smiling up at him excitedly. His stomach wrenched and he could feel the cold look on his face get harder though he tried not to let it.
Joel was the same age. Just a child.
“Captain Quinn, good morning.” Mimi hurriedly pulled Joel back from the door as she registered the look on Michael’s face. She looked a bit alarmed though she gestured awkwardly into the house, stepping to the side.
“Please come in, I’ll let Allen know you’re here.”
Michael nodded, a short jerk and removed his wheel cap, tucking it under his left arm in a jerky motion as he stepped inside. He spared a small smile for Joel to settle the boy though he could feel that the smile was crooked, sitting awkwardly on his face. It seemd to work though, the boy smiling hesitantly back.
“Thank you Mrs. Hynek.”
She gave him the side eye as she walked around the wall where Michael knew Allen’s office was, still holding Joel’s arm, and disappeared into the room. He stood in the living room uncomfortably, feeling like bees were under his skin, buzzing around inside his head like static. He needed to move, to do something. He could feel his right hand slowly clenching and releasing as it hung by his side, the leather of his gloves creaking but he didn’t look away from where he was staring at the wall back ramrod straight. Footsteps to his right made him glance to the side though he didn’t turn his head. Allen was walking towards him, already having taken in Michael’s posture and was approaching slowly, one hand out as if to touch Michael’s arm. Mimi was behind him, hands clenched together at her chest as she watched.
Letting out a breath, recognizing he was setting the family on edge, Michael turned to Allen feeling the fake smile crawl across his face. “Hey, Doc.” Even his voice was rough, catching in his throat.
Michael could tell Allen didn’t believe it. He could see that the smile stopped at Michael’s eyes.
“Captain. What’s going on?” Allen had stopped a few feet away, just out of arm’s reach, Mimi close behind him.
Michael jerked his head towards the door. “Got a case Doc, time sensitive this one so we should get going.”
Allen was nodding slowly. “Ok, I can grab my things.”
Michael was surprised at the lack of a fight this time. He figured Allen was paying a bit more attention to Michael these days after their last case. He knew Allen had seen how close Michael had gotten to punching him when he touched him in the motel. He didn’t, but it was a near thing and Allen had started making a bit more noise around him since. The case had been a shit show too. Michael hated small towns, people were stupid there. Last case had ended up with Michael in the hospital for a week, and a cast for 6, the second break in his left arm in a year. He didn’t want to repeat that experience any time soon. His side still ached slightly too when he turned, a twinge in the muscle from the mostly healed stab wound.
Allen was back quickly, Mimi following closely behind. She still looked distressed and Allen was trying to reassure her quietly. Michael awkwardly moved towards the door to give them privacy. He had felt almost a growing resentment from Mimi over the last few cases and he was sure it had to do with how often Allen was gone. Not that it was Michael’s fault, he was just the messenger. Allen had signed up for Blue Book, and he’d had a six week break while Michael healed.
He nodded at Joel as he slipped outside quietly, leaving the door ajar behind him. Pausing on the stoop to replace his headdress, he walked back to the car. Allen didn’t take long, coming out the door shortly after Michael had settled back into his seat and closed the door. He regretted wearing his service dress. It was going to be an uncomfortable drive, but he thankfully had a few changes of clothes in his duffel in the trunk.
Putting the car in gear as soon as Allen had close his door, he handed off the file in response to Allen’s, “So what’s going on Captain?” without looking at him.
Allen read silently for a few minutes.
“Aliens abducted a child?” He looked horrified.
Michael nodded jerkily, hands flexing on the steering wheel. “A little girl. They haven’t found her yet.” He could feel Allen considering him.
“You know something.”
Michael shook his head negative, refusing to look at the other man. “I have a suspicion.”
“Well, what is it?”
Michael stared out the windshield at the hood of the car and didn’t answer. His jaw was clenched together hard enough he knew Allen could see the muscle standing out. He didn’t ask again.
The rest of the drive was awkward, Michael could feel that he was upsetting Allen, but he couldn’t help it. The itchy feeling had gotten worse the closer they got to Texas and his words had gotten shorter and rougher. He’d even lit a cigarette behind the wheel just to give his hand something to do other than create a bruise above his right knee where he’d been digging in with his fingertips. Allen could clearly see how this case was affecting him and was walking on eggshells in their interactions.
Pulling up outside the local police station in nowheresville Texas, he got out, slamming the door behind him as he put his wheel cap on his head. Allen right behind him, he walked up the stairs and in the door. All eyes inside turned to them. The overweight Sheriff stood up from behind his desk and approached them, eyes disdainfully scanning Michael’s uniform from top to bottom, lingering on the rank then the mounted ribbons on his chest. A civilian who thought he did more than Military personnel. As if what Medals Michael had were what granted him the authority his uniform did over a local Sheriff. Making sure he was worthy of respect. Michael could feel the old rage stirring inside and quickly tamped it down, extending his hand to the Sheriff, chin high and eyes hard.
“Hello Sheriff.” The man shook his hand quickly and turned to Allen, completely disregarding Michael.
“Doctor Hynek, thank you for coming. We appreciate a man of your means coming all the way out here to help us out.” Michael knew Allen could see his eyes roll slightly over the sheriff’s shoulder as he turned back to considering the room around them.
“Yes, happy to help. Can you please show us what you know so far?”
The Sheriff gestured them to follow him to a small room off the main one. Inside there were pictures hanging like a dark room, and stacks of papers on the desk. A Deputy Sheriff was there as well, back to them as he considered the pictures. The Sheriff opened his arms and gestured to the room.
“This is everything. I’ll leave you boys to it now.”
Allen gaped after the man as he walked back out the door and Michael almost laughed at him. Did he really think a small town Sheriff was going to help? As soon as they decided it was aliens the case had been closed on the law side. Michael dropped his wheel hat on the desk with the loud clap of the brim hitting the top making the deputy jump and turn around.
“Are you helping us?”
The deputy seemed a bit shook, nervous in the face of the imposing Officer. “I can sir.”
Michael nodded and held out his hand. “Captain Michael Quinn, Air Force, and you are…?”
The Deputy’s hand was sweating as he shook it. “Uhh, Rogers sir.” He seemed a bit less intimidated by Allen and relaxed a bit as Michael moved away to consider the pictures himself.
“Can you explain to us what you have done so far?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nothing.
Fucking Nothing, THAT'S what they’d done so far.
Michael was livid and he knew the others could feel it, the air in the room turning heavy. The investigation had been so half assed and pathetic they didn’t even get the father’s name right in a half a dozen papers. The Air Force file had provided more from a general search on the family than the Sheriff had collected in 24 hours. There were wild reports of lights in a field and strange noises and the family had quickly started telling everyone their daughter had been abducted by aliens. The Sheriff had been so pleased to have the ability to pass off the investigation to someone else he had placed the call to the Air Force and had been redirected to Project Blue Book. They had done nothing past that, waiting on the 2 men to arrive from Ohio.
He could practically feel the steam rising off his head and acknowledged the side eye Allen was giving him telling him to calm down. The deputy was afraid of Michael. The colored bars on his uniform he didn’t understand and the unknown federal powers he supposedly brought with him leading the kid, and the deputy was practically a kid even by Michael’s standards, to fear him. Not what Michael was going for really.
Michael pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed, and took a deep breath to calm himself, saying in an even tone. “So there has been no search party, no one has looked for the girl and she’s been missing for 24 hours now?”
He lowered his hand to look at the deputy. The boy looked guilty.
“The Sheriff said it was aliens sir, that we wouldn’t find her without help and he was gunna call you guys down.”
Michael gritted his teeth. “Well, I guess we better fix that shouldn’t we?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Allen watched the Captain leave the room and he didn’t pity the Sheriff for what he knew was coming his way. The botching of this case was incredible, a little girl was out there somewhere and no one was looking. Allen was curious about the lights though. What could have convinced a town so clearly that it was aliens when the only evidence so far was a few accounts of lights and noises. No mention of a ship, or creatures and no one had seen the girl taken. She had just disappeared the night it had happened and everyone went ‘Aliens, what can you do eh?’
Quinn stomped back in a few minutes later, face red and angry, his lip curling. The pilot’s eyes were furious, gone nearly black with emotion as his gaze flicked over Allen and back to his hat on the table.
“The Sheriff is going to organize a search around that field.” The words were carefully enunciated in a clipped tone. “We should go visit the family, I have a few questions for them.”
Allen grabbed his coat and a picture of the little girl from the wall as he followed the Captain back to the car. He had a few questions as well.
On the drive, Allen took a few minutes to consider the pilot. It was the first time Allen had seen Captain Quinn since the hospital. The man had spent a week recovering before being sent home on leave for another 3 weeks and light duties at the base the remaining 2. The visual evidence of his injuries was gone now though Allen was most relieved to see that the eye tracking had stopped, the Captain’s brown eyes focused steadily on the road. He’d come to the conclusion that Captain Quinn didn’t remember the hospital that first night. The doctors had been surprised he’d even woken up at all when Allen had mentioned it, considering the surgery he’d just been through and the drugs he was on at the time not to mention to crazy concussion.
Allen wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. He was embarrassed by his reaction that night and after he’d calmed down and slept he’d been worried about his future interactions with Quinn. Would it ruin Blue Book? Would things be awkward? What did the Captain's words mean? But now that he knew what it felt like to kiss the other man he couldn’t help but think of it often over those 6 weeks apart.
Nights had been hell with the dreams. Mimi was getting upset with him. She knew something was going on and though they had promised each other not to keep secrets anymore he knew this was one he couldn’t tell her. She wouldn’t take it well that Allen had feelings for someone else, even if Allen didn’t know what those feelings were yet. Especially since it was not only another man, but the man she blamed for getting Allen into Blue Book and taking him away from home so often. Sometimes into dangerous situations. Allen was pretty sure what he wanted though and it was getting harder to ignore now that he was in the Captain’s presence again. The man was like a magnet drawing him in.
Allen shifted in his seat. The smell of cigarettes overpowered almost everything, but it had been a while since Quinn had lit one up and Allen could swear he could smell the man now. The intoxicating combination of cologne, the pomade he used in his hair and the faint scent like kerosene that Allen knew to be jet fuel. The pilot was too far away for anything more intimate and Allen supposed that was a good thing. He didn’t think now was an appropriate time to get an erection.
He also wasn’t so sure about Quinn now. If the Captain didn’t remember that night in the hospital, was the way he reacted to the kiss just because of the drugs?
Allen was pulled from his musings as the car turned into a driveway just off the road they’d been on. The house was a small 2 story close to the road but with large open, groomed, fields in behind. Allen could see a couple horses dotted around like ants. An affluent family then.
Stepping from the car he made his way to the door a few steps behind the Captain. Quinn had shifted in front of him again in that familiar way he always did, his body blocking any access to Allen from the front. Allen wasn’t sure what to think about that, though the uniformed figure in front of him provided a fine view.
A small, prim woman in a floral dress answered the door at their knock. Blonde and short, only 5’1” or so, she wore a wide brimmed hat like she had just come from outside. About the same age as the Captain Allen would guess, mid 30s. She smiled at them.
“Welcome, you boys must be the Alien Hunter men the Sheriff told us about. Here to help find Mary.”
Quinn blinked a few times at that moniker, but nodded. “Yes mam, we were sent by the United States Air Force at the Sheriff’s request to look into the situation.”
Allen liked how polite the Captain was. Everyone was a Sir or a Ma’am to the man. He knew it was because of the military rank structure, but it seemed a part of Quinn’s personality as well. Allen had become Doc quite quickly though he felt the tone it was used in had changed. The man had relaxed around Allen enough by now though that more colorful things had started seeping into their conversations. The man sure liked to use the work Fuck, but Allen found it almost as endearing as it could be entertaining.
The lady, Mrs. Heartman, ushered them through the door into a sitting room as she went to collect her husband. Allen sat gingerly on the edge of one uncomfortable high backed chair, the pilot standing behind it just to Allen’s right as he usually did in these situations. Allen was easier to talk to than the Captain was, his bearing and uniform a deterrent to frank conversation and they had unconsciously developed this approach. Allen didn't mind. He liked to talk to people.
Two men walked into the room together, one was clearly the husband, Mr. Heartman, the other had an air that made Allen dislike him immediately. That was hard to do, but something about the way the man sat next to the couple set Allen on edge. Captain Quinn looked down at the man impatient.
“And you are…?”
The man flapped his hand, a smile Allen was pretty sure was as fake as the plant in the corner, on his charming face. “I’m Dan Fogerty, I live next door. I’m a family friend and I was here that night so Brett asked me to come over for this.”
Allen nearly grimaced. Dan’s smile was the most incincere thing that Allen had seen since Quinn’s smile for Mimi this morning. He glanced back at the Captain behind him, uncertain now. Quinn had stepped forward slightly, almost touching Allen’s chair with his abdomen, and his eyes were laser focused on the scruffy blonde man daring to stare back at him. Quinn definitely felt what he did, and he trusted the pilot’s intuition. He was here for the psychology part of their cases. It hadn’t been needed mostly, but there had been a few times, like their second case, where his insight into people helped them out immensely.
Allen focused on the couple, determined to ignore the neighbor. It didn’t work out that way though. By the end of the interview it was more him giving up than actually getting useful answers. The neighbor interrupted so much that Allen didn’t know any more than what he had coming into the situation. He even answered questions for the couple who just nodded along. Allen was frustrated. Without looking at Quinn, he stood and headed for the door. He needed to go outside for a minute to calm down.
He heard the footsteps behind him as the Captain followed him out the door, the familiar sound of the lighter and the smell of smoke calming his nerves, though he didn’t look over.
“The Sheriff is here - finally.” Quinn remarked from the other side of the wrap around porch and Allen finally looked at him.
His eyes were squinted down at the fields below the house, cigarette to his lips as he took a deep drag off it. Allen could see the line of people walking across the fields towards the trees, their cars parked in a side entrance to the field. Allen walked over to stand next to him, close but farther away than usual since the Captain’s wheel hat was tucked securely under his left arm again and he leaned on the railing with his right hip. They contemplated the field for a moment, the smoke from Quinn’s cigarette slowly curling out of his nose. Allen thought he looked like a dragon when he did that.
“I think there’s something else going on here.” Allen turned to look at the pilot. Quinn was looking back at him, one eye squinted and his head tilted to shade the other eye from the afternoon sun.
“What?”
Quinn gestured to the house with his chin and raised his voice into a lighter tone he could whisper with and be understood, stepping closer as he did. A little thrill went up Allen’s spine. “They’re hardcore Jehovah’s Witness, what kind of religious nut believes in aliens? And that neighbor?” He took another drag off the cigarette looking out at the field again, blowing the smoke out in a quick breath to the side instead of at Allen.
“He’s got something on them. The parents. He’s controlling them. That’s why he’s here answering all the questions for them. He’s setting the story.”
“You think so?” Quinn nodded sharply and flicked the butt into the driveway.
“Take my word for it doc, it ain’t aliens we’re chasing. That little girl is probably closer than we think.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael was pretty sure at this point that the case was an abduction but not by aliens. He’d felt it before they even got here. The whole thing felt like the group here thought that if they all made reports of lights the military would agree with aliens and not investigate. The stories and accounts of the lights were so inconsistent with each other though that they made no sense. There was no thread of commonality. And there was no evidence in the fields. No burn marks or even disturbed grass and none of the horses seemed bothered to be out there. Like the people here didn’t even talk first to get a story together.
The parents were super religious with a young daughter and a creepy single neighbor. The father was a discharged military NCO from just at the end of the war. It didn’t say what for, but Michael could guess with flask on the man’s belt and the small flinch his wife made as he put his arm around her on the couch. They needed to find Mary, though Michael had the sickening feeling that the little girl was already dead.
They weren’t going to get anything out of the couple with that neighbor around. Turning away from Allen he walked towards the stairs, putting his headdress on as he reached the top and started down.
“C’mon Doc.”
He could hear Allen’s footsteps behind him now and opened the car door, dropping into the seat with a sigh. The passenger door creaked open and the car rocked slightly as Allen got in, a questioning look aimed at Michael.
“They’re not going to talk with Danny boy in there. Might as well go get checked into the hotel. I don’t want to be flouncing around in a horse field in this.”
He gestured vaguely to himself with a small smile. Allen nodded agreeably and relaxed back into the seat as Michael put the car in reverse and backed out. His arm resting over the back of the seat behind Allen, he felt the shudder that went through Allen as his hand brushed against his back, thumb and pointer finger lightly touching Allen’s coat. Giving a look as he turned back forwards again, Allen seemed ok so he let it go. Probably a chill.
The hotel was nice, actually quite large for the town size, but there was a highway access nearby so he figured they got a lot of travellers staying there. Michael had only booked one room for them again. After the first few times they had separate rooms and always ended up in each other’s anyway to work on the case and kick around ideas, he’d just started booking 1 room with 2 double beds. The two of them worked around each other easily and neither snored so it had never been a problem.
Michael saw the look Allen gave the room when they checked in but didn’t understand it. Not the best room, but quite nice by the standards they usually went by. Small town motels were usually pretty dingy. This was practically 5 star in comparison. Michael threw his suitcase onto the bed on the far side of the room near the window. Allen wasn’t a morning person and Michael woke as soon as the sun rose. He couldn’t help it. If Allen got the window bed, the curtains would be closed all night and they would over sleep. Neither of them liked the noise of an alarm clock.
Michael had never told Allen, but he was sure Allen knew the reason. The loud clanging of the clock would bring him awake in a panic, heart climbing his throat and flying to his feet before he was even awake. It hadn’t happened in the morning, but one of their stays the clock had gone off while they were sitting down to talk about their case and Michael had startled badly and dropped his drink on the floor. Even after the alarm had been silenced, his hands shook from the adrenaline for another half hour. Hard to miss that really, Allen would have to be pretty stupid. Allen had never mentioned it, but he let Michael keep the curtains open slightly at night.
Throwing his wheel cap down onto the desk at the foot of his bed, Michael started to take off his uniform. The closet had hangars in it and Michael hung his tunic carefully on the first one, settling it properly to prevent creases in the fabric. His tie, still tied, but loosened enough to fit over his head followed onto the second hangar. Unbuckling his pants, he kicked off his dress shoes into the bottom of the closet. He’d have to polish them again, scuffs from the footwell of the car showing on the outside of the left one. He heard a faint intake of breath as he unbuttoned and removed his shirt to hang with the tie, his pants hanging loose and open at the waist to release the shirt.
Turning to go back to his suitcase he threw a glance at Allen who wasn’t looking at him at all. Padding to his bedside, Michael opened the case to grab a t-shirt. He didn’t wear an undershirt under the uniform when he wore the tunic, the wool making it far too warm. He wasn’t putting on good clothes to go run around the woods though. He would wear one of his issued grey t-shirts and cargos with his combat boots he had grabbed from the trunk. He didn’t give a shit if he ruined those, they gave him new ones every year.
Pulling the shirt up his arms and dropping it over his head he settled it down around his waist before pulling his belt through the loops and dropping it to the bed. Fingers hooked into the waistband of his pants, he pushed them off his hips to pool on the floor, stepping out of them and leaning down to gather them up to fold them over a chair to preserve the ironed creases on the front and back of the legs. They would need to be ironed again after wearing them but no need to make it harder by added more lines. Allen made a funny noise behind him and Michael turned to face the older man as he pulled the black cargo pants from his bag, stepping into them and pulling them up around his hips. Allen was blushing but still not looking at him. Weird. Michael ignored him.
Waist band still open, Michael sat on the bed to pull on his boots. They were in the civilian world and it would be dark soon so Michael didn’t bother to blouse the pants, letting them hang loose over the mid calf leather uppers. It felt weird, but it didn’t scream military to people as much as blousing did. Shrugging into his shoulder holster, Michael adjusted the strap between his shoulder blades to sit comfortable over a t-shirt and grabbed his revolver from his bag, clipping it into place with one hand.
Standing finally to button his pants and grab his coat he realized Allen hadn’t done anything, was still staring at his suitcase with wide eyes. Lost in his head again. Michael sighed.
“You ok Doc?”
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‘Oh god, oh god, oh god -’
The mantra rolled around Allen’s head as he took in the sleeping arrangements. He’d forgot that they had started getting a single room on cases. This was going to be hard...no pun intended.
Allen nearly choked on his tongue when Quinn removed his shirt, walking past him without even looking. Allen couldn't help but stare. The Captain was very fit, heavy shoulders and biceps, trim waist and a 6 pack with a slight happy trail of dark hair disappearing into the low waist of the navy blue boxer briefs Allen could see where the pants were undone. His upper chest had a scattering of dark hair over it, but he wasn’t overly hairy, a visual feast of unmarked skin. The muscles moving under the skin as he carefully hung his uniform hypnotized Allen and he drew a breath, desperately hoping the pilot didn’t hear as he took him in.
The sight of the red knotted scar on his lower abdomen was enough to break the fixation before Quinn turned around. Allen stared at his suitcase, guilt rushing through him at the sight of the stab wound. He would always feel like that mark was his fault.
Out of the corner of his eye he watched Quinn go back to his suitcase and grab a shirt. The man had a way of standing just slightly leaned back with his hips forward that really emphasized his flat stomach and the muscles in his back in a way that Allen could look at all day. He nearly choked again however when the Captain dropped his pants and Allen could feel his mouth dry out.
He couldn’t stop the blush this time, the flush of arousal hitting him like a brick. He was sure he made a noise this time. He sent out a quick mental apology to Mimi, she didn’t deserve what was happening. Hell, HE didn’t deserve what was happening right now, seeing the Captain bending over in almost all his glory as he changed. Not that those briefs hid a damn thing.
‘ABORT, ABORT!’
Allen dropped his eyes to the suitcase again, still unopened on his bed as the Captain turned around to look at him, black pants sliding up his legs and bringing some semblance of rational thought back to Allen’s mind.
He hadn’t been prepared for the strength of the attraction he would feel on seeing the pilot again. Before that night in the hospital after Quinn nearly died Allen hadn’t thought much of the warm feeling he got around the Captain. After his crazy night revelation, the dreams had woken him at night, some nightmares, some continuations of the end of that night. He’d thought he could control himself when the pilot had shown up at his door earlier in the day, body language so tight he was afraid the man was angry at him. He’d learned quickly that Quinn wasn’t mad at him at all, he didn’t remember anything to be mad about. As far as Quinn was concerned, the decision to get into the fight was his own, regardless of how Allen saw it. The case had been bothering him before he got to Allen’s door. As soon as Allen realized it was about a kid he understood why Quinn was still in uniform.
If this was how the next few days were going to go though, Allen didn’t know if he would survive.
“You ok doc?”
Quinn was talking to him. Swallowing thickly, he shook his head and looked at the pilot standing next to his bed. Quinn was fully dressed, pulling a leather jacket over his grey t-shirt and watching Allen. His shoulders were emphasized by the brown leather straps circling them and Allen was comforted to see the pistol butt against Quinn’s ribs before the jacket covered it. Allen nodded, not trusting his voice just yet.
Quinn bobbed his head. “Ready to go then?”
Allen nodded again. The Captain watched him for another couple seconds before shrugging and heading for the door, Allen trailing behind. Those pants were not helping his state of mind. The pilot had a loose, rolling walk when he was in civilian clothes that he didn’t when in uniform, like he relaxed a bit and didn’t need to stand so straight anymore. The cargo pants sat lower than slacks did, and the thin fabric clung to his hips and thighs as he walked.
Yeah, Allen wasn’t going to make it.
Once in the car back to the family farm Allen was able to calm himself down a bit. The cool air from a cracked window helped him get himself back under control. The little girl, Mary was the priority tonight. Not Allen’s amorous thoughts about the younger man next to him.
The next few hours were pretty miserable.
Allen regretted not changing too, he was sure he had ruined his pants walking around the woods in the dark, but he was lucky Quinn was doing most of the zig zag searching from their position in the line being maintained by Allen. So Allen walked a straight line with his flashlight searching his immediate vicinity while the pilot ranged back and forth around him to cover more ground. Allen was getting tired just watching him. Their age difference was never really a noticeable thing in their previous interactions, Quinn a very reserved type held in further by the trappings of his rank and duties, but it sure showed now. The Captain had been bounding over trees and rocks with ease, leaping from one to the other in the dark with just a flashlight to see while covering twice as much ground as Allen was as he made circles around him. Allen could barely keep up with him, the trees harder for him to navigate.
The pilot wasn’t even breathing hard when he passed Allen again, heading off to the right. Allen was almost annoyed with him but directed the feeling back at himself. What was he doing fixating on someone 15 years his junior. Quinn was a very handsome man, he could have any woman he wanted, ladies of all ages practically threw themselves at his feet. He probably wouldn’t be surprised an older man found him attractive too, but Allen didn’t think he’d be flattered. He definitely wasn’t the creme of the crop there was to pick from. Even if the Captain was secretly hiding homosexual tendencies.
By the time the group decided to call the search for the night Allen was exhausted and bitter and just wanted to sleep. He didn’t really remember getting in the car and the drive itself was a complete blur. He came back to himself to Quinn’s low voice repeating his name next to his head.
“Allen!”
The Captain was in Allen’s space now, frowning at him from a few inches away though his face was hard to make out in the darkness. Allen leaned back slightly to focus on him.
“We’re here.”
Quinn didn’t move back at all, still focused on his face. Allen didn’t move either, unsure what was going on. Quinn stared a few seconds longer then sat back on his own side of the car, reaching for the door handle.
“You must be some tired Doc, you haven’t said anything in like, an hour.” Allen huffed a small laugh as the younger man got out and reached for his own door handle. He was going to be sore tomorrow he could tell, the ache in his muscles already starting from the unusual activity level of the night. The Captain was already walking away towards the front door of the hotel, silhouetted strikingly against the light from inside. Allen was too tired to feel anything. Closing the car door he slowly made his way after the younger man, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to watch Quinn take them 2 at a time to the second floor where there room was, with a sigh. He didn’t have a chance.
Quinn was already in the room when Allen got there, coming out of the washroom by the front door, the sound of the toilet already finished flushing reinforcing his irritation. Quinn flashed a quick grin at him as he slipped past and Allen resisted the urge to push the younger man. The pilot had far more energy than him and it wasn’t fair, he had to pee but really just wanted to get into bed.
As if Quinn understood his intentions, he steered Allen into the washroom.
“Nuh uh Doc, if you go to bed now you’ll be awake in 2 hours to pee and you’ll feel way shittier in the morning.” Allen grumbled, but Quinn was right. He wasn’t getting up again after he laid down. Not even bothering to close the door fully, Allen did his business, the faint sounds of the other man rustling around in the main room keeping him grounded until he washed his hands and left the washroom. The Captain was sitting cross legged on his bed in just boxers and a t-shirt looking at his notepad, forehead scrunched a bit as he focused.
Nope, still alive down there Allen thought as he felt the slight stirring of arousal. he tamped it down quickly and dug out his pyjamas from his suitcase. He heard a small laugh and looked over to see Quinn watching him as he laid them out on the bed. The Captain had always thought his preference for a proper set of pyjamas was funny.
“Don’t judge me.”
Quinn laughed again, louder, and turned away to get into his bed while Allen changed. He felt better immediately and crawled into his own bed, he didn’t remember his head hitting the pillow.
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Two days later, pretty much all the woods a little girl could reach had been scoured and most of the town as well. Michael was angry again. The Sheriff had been not so subtly making jabs at the Officer about their inability to find the girl, trying to make wild assertions that their trouble must mean he was a bad officer, didn’t have experience commanding people and wasn’t the person who should be here. The man put him down in front of Dr. Hynek while simultaneously praising Allen for the ideas that Michael had come up with. Allen didn’t say anything. Michael wanted to wring both their necks.
He had sort of had the idea since he met Allen that the man was used to being overlooked despite his smarts. The first interaction he’d had with Joel had sort of cemented it when Allen’s curt voice had asked Michael to go outside while he said goodbye to his family, cutting through Joel’s very forward questions. Not that Michael minded, the kid didn’t know what he was asking, and Michael didn’t want to answer. He’d done what he had to during the war, what he was good at. Allen had done what he was good at, and Michael knew his inventions had a big impact on aerial warfare, some he had personally benefited from. That radar had saved his life many times after implementation. Joel’s dad was more important than he knew to the war effort, but little boys didn’t think science was cool. They looked to the soldiers and the guns. Michael was sorry that day had gone like that but it was too late to say something now.
One more comment though and he was going to lose his shit. Whirling away from the duo with an infuriated growl he couldn't restrain, he went outside to light a smoke. They were back at the Heartman’s farm, trying again to speak to the family. They had managed to catch them without the neighbor by not calling ahead and showing up during breakfast. Mrs. Heartman had been scandalized, but they’d gotten over it. Allen was asking them questions in the living room again.
Lifting the cigarette to his lips Michael scanned the scenery around the house. Movement across the road from the property caught his eye and Michael stilled, squinting to see better. The creepy neighbor was sitting in the bushes on the other side of the road. He was mostly hidden by the foliage except for a direct line of sight into the living room window. Well that was suspicious as all get out.
The fuck was he doing over there.
The bush the man was in also hid Michael from his sight and he decided to take advantage of it and go talk to the man. Surprise him. Moving slowly, placing his feet carefully on the outer edge of his boot heel and rolling his foot around the outside, Michael was able to make his steps almost silent on the gravel, the heavy rubber boot tread absorbing the sound of the rocks underfoot. Halfway over, having gone in a wide semi circle away from the bush the man was in Michael discarded his cigarette. No need to alert the man with the smell of smoke.
As he came up behind the man, still almost silent, Michael got a better look at what the man was doing. Through the window of the house he could see both of the homeowners but no sign of Allen. The couple were watching out the window with growing looks of alarm as Michael came into view. The man clearly didn’t realize that someone was behind him and the wild gestures the neighbor was making, miming cutting a throat, got more exaggerated. Michael was still a good distance away when he spoke.
“Hey Dan.”
The man startled so badly he actually let out a shout, spinning around to face the Captain with a shocked look. Recognizing Michael behind him he clasped a hand to his chest and tried to play it off.
“Damn man, you gave me a fright. Walk louder why don’cha? You military boys are so quiet”
Michael gave up the rolling walk, allowing his boots to crunch loudly over the debris on the ground and Dan paled as he realized that Michael had meant to be that quiet. Had clearly been deliberately sneaking up on him. Michael tilted his head as he came closer, his blood beginning to sing and muscles tensing.
“What are you doing out here Dan?”
The man’s eyes were shifty, looking around himself for some sort of excuse he could give. There was no reason he should be where he was right now, no good excuse why he would be threatening the parents of a missing child from the woods while they were questioned by representatives of the United States Government. Witnessed by a representative of the Air Force project they had called in specifically to get legitimacy for their story. Michael saw all this fly through Dan’s head in long seconds, his face contorting through many emotions before settling on anger, an open book.
Michael had half expected that. He was either going to keep protesting, or show his hand.
The man jumped at Michael with a shout, a knife appearing in his hand and he swiped it at the pilot’s chest. Jumping backwards in surprise, the edge of the knife caught him leaving a faint bloody line and a tear in his shirt. Michael was angry now. The rage he had felt for the incompetent Sheriff, the useless Deputy, the way Allen sat around while Michael was insulted and put down by the town authorities, and the parents of Mary for allowing this to happen, bubbled up out of him in a vicious guttural roar that scared the man attacking him.
The piece of shit had the little girl. Had Mary. Vaguely Michael heard the sound of the house door slamming as his fist slammed into Dan the creeper's face. The man came back at him after stumbling from the blow and Michael couldn’t be happier. Grabbing the arm that held the swinging knife, Michael broke it. Twisting it up behind the probable pedophile’s back and slamming the man's face down into Michael’s braced left knee. Blood spurted over the ground and Michael’s pant leg from the broken nose Dan now sported. Pulling on the arm still in his grip with the raw strength born of anger, Michael heard the man scream as his arm dislocated at the shoulder, the pulling flipping Dan’s body around and hitting the ground on his back hard enough to knock the air out of him.
Michael barely registered the swing of his own arm coming down, knife in hand, enough to check its motion and embed the knife hilt deep into the loam next to Dan’s frightened eyes with another snarl just as Allen and the Sheriff reached them.
Allen crowded into Michael’s space, driving him away from the bloody wreck on the ground with his body. Open handed touches on his chest and arms kept Michael from reflexively swinging at Allen, the touches not registering as a threat, though he kept his eyes locked on the man on the ground as the Sheriff checked him over.
Dimly Michael could hear that Allen was speaking to him, but he wasn’t registering the words. His blood was up and the adrenaline singing through him made it sound like there was cotton in his ears. It took Allen grabbing his face with both hands to bring him back, forcing Michael to look at him, though it nearly got him punched, Michael’s hands coming up to grip Allen’s shirt at his ribs. Michael could feel that his teeth were still bared, lips pulled back as he jerked his head in Allen’s grip, a growl of sound like a dog’s warning coming from his chest as he tried to keep the man on the ground in view.
Allen held on and pulled him down again, pressing their foreheads together and looking into his eyes as Michael’s breath turned into heavy pants in his face as he began to come down.
“We got him Michael, we got him.”
Michael struggled to relax a bit, body rocking from side to side as he shifted on his feet, face still held in Allen’s grip. Allen followed him, keeping their foreheads touching, trying to ground the pilot.
“They confessed Michael, as soon as they saw Dan attack you. We know where Mary is.”
Michael took a deep breath and held it a moment, able to stop his rocking and settle against Allen with just slight tremors running through his body from the adrenaline. He focused on Allen’s eyes, hoping for good news. The sadness there crushed him, and he felt himself let out a small wail as he registered what it meant.
Allen wrapped his arms around Michael, pulling him into his chest as the sobs burst out. He was too late. His knees went out, weight and grip pulling Allen to the ground with him, his head falling forward against Allen’s chest.
Michael wasn’t sure how long they sat there in the woods, the Sheriff had taken Dan away, more of the local cops had arrived to take the family in for questioning, and still others had headed down the road to Dan’s house to search before Michael felt ok enough to let go of Allen. The sobs had been short lived and most of the time was a full body shaking that Allen had to have felt, but didn’t comment on. The mini breakdown a new reaction for him, but he was glad Allen was there. Allen wouldn’t judge him. Michael breathed heavily into Allen’s chest, the solid surface and the slow thumping grounding him.
On the road a coroner's vehicle rolled slowly past the driveway heading for the neighbors house and suddenly Michael had to leave. He had to get out of here. Stumbling to his feet, his sudden pushing off of Allen nearly knocking the older man over, he blindly made his way through the bush to the road with Allen following quickly behind.
Allen took his arm gently as he froze in the open, pulling him in the direction of their car. “Let’s go Michael. There’s nothing we can do here.”
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The sob that had burst out of Captain Quinn as he looked into Allen’s eyes were a surprise. Quinn clearly understood what Allen meant when he said they knew where she was. They didn’t last long though and the shivering that wracked the body in his arms was almost harder to deal with. Allen could recognize the signs of trauma, and this wasn’t just from Mary, no, this had been triggered by something about the case but was rooted in Quinn’s past. He was happy when Quinn had stumbled away, he wanted to leave here too, get away from the prying eyes of the locals.
Reaching the hotel, Allen guided the pilot to their room with a hand on his arm. The man had retreated inside himself so far Allen was afraid for him, stumbling on the first stair and the last. In the privacy of their room, Allen helped the Captain take off his jacket, throwing the leather over the back of the desk chair and removing his boots. He gave the tear in Michael’s shirt, speckled lightly with blood, a quick glance before determining it was a light scratch. Though the sight had initially sent anxiety crashing through him at the thought of Michael being injured again. The pilot curled into himself on the bed before Allen could remove the holster and pistol and Allen could feel his heart break as he stared at the man. Michael’s brown eyes were open but stared at nothing, the vacancy there alarming.
He was blaming himself for Mary.
Allen knew it wasn’t their fault, Mary had been dead before they’d ever received the phone call. The hope it was actually aliens, and not what it had turned out to be, turning on Quinn and eating at him now. Even if they had figured it out immediately on arrival, Mary had still been dead.
Allen couldn’t leave Michael alone like he was. The Captain’s shivering had started again and Allen was starting to fear the man was going to go into shock, the skin on his arm feeling cool to the touch as Allen brushed it with his fingers. He needed to warm up. Making a quick decision he pushed at the pilot’s shoulder to get him to uncurl. Red rimmed eyes blearily focused on him and Allen basically bullied the man into removing his gun and cargo pants to get under the covers and lie more stretched out. Once he was settled, Allen shucked his own pants, shoes and button down, leaving him in boxers and an undershirt the same as Quinn.
Crawling carefully into the bed with the Captain, Allen watched his face. Michael had no reaction to Allen’s presence, good or bad. Slowly Allen settled himself propped against the pillows and guided the limp body against his left side, trying to arrange them comfortably. Looking down Allen could watch the slow blinking of the brown eyes in the face tucked against his ribs, his arm around the broad shoulders rubbing his back lightly, as the shivering slowed and finally stopped. He rubbed the pilot’s back with a steady hand until he felt the man drift off to sleep.
Allen woke hours later to darkness from the window and the feeling of something picking at his shirt. A warm, heavy weight spread down his left side caused confusion for a moment as it was heavier than he was used to. Allen could tell by the feel that Michael was now partially on top of him, one leg hooked over Allen’s left. His body had turned enough that the partial weight of his torso was on Allen’s as well. Michaels’ head was laying on Allen’s chest over his heart listening to the slow beat and he picked at Allen’s shirt near his face with his left arm, the bicep pressing into Allen’s stomach. The sheets had been pushed down to Michael’s waist and their shirts had rode up a bit, pressing their bare abdomons together skin on skin.
Michael must have registered the skipped beat in Allen’s heart as Allen looked at him, because he paused in his motions for a moment before continuing, refusing to look up at Allen, though he did lift his head.
“Thanks Doc.” Michael’s voice was low and gravely with sleep and the vibration from his chest against Allen’s made his heart skip again.
Allen loved that voice, the man could read a phone book to him and he’d be happy to listen. Allen took a chance and started a slow rub over the skin on Michael’s lower back below his bunched up shirt earning a small sigh from the younger man and his chin dropping back to Allen’s chest, eyes closing.
Allen could feel the roughness through his shirt as his stubble made itself known, the dark 5 o’clock shadow on Michael’s face making him seem softer somehow, younger. Allen hummed in response and Michael relaxed against him. His eyelashes were so long they looked like dark fans against his cheek from Allen's point of view as his head lolled to the left, though he could tell Michael’s eyes were open by the occasional blinking.
Michael drifted back to sleep before Allen did, and Allen laid there for what felt like hours feeling the steady thumping against his side from Michael’s heart. The heat along his side, so much warmer and heavier than Mimi ever was, muscle under his hand where it had hooked on Michel’s flank, filled a hole Allen hadn’t known he had inside. He wished he could stay like this forever
The morning sun brought a return to a more regular day, Allen waking to Michael literally peeling himself off of Allen’s side with a low groan and shucking his shirt as he padded sleepily into the bathroom. Allen heard the water start in the shower and rolled back over to sleep, the bed colder without the other body. Michael was dressed when he woke again and sipping a coffee from the machine in their room. Nothing was said but Michael met his eyes with a small smile and a quiet “Morning Doc,” as Allen stumbled to the bathroom to shower. He’d sweat in his sleep from the furnace of Michael’s body and needed the rush of water to wake him from the dream world he felt he was in.
By the time they were checking out of their room in companionable silence Allen had figured out that things were ok between them. Michael hadn’t become a woman overnight, not touching Allen much more than usual, but he was more physically comfortable with Allen. Bumping against Allen’s shoulder with his as they checked out at the desk and headed for the car.
Allen couldn’t see the town in the rearview fast enough. Small town Texas was now on his shit list as much as West Virginia and Georgia were. He glanced at Michael, sitting quietly behind the wheel, staring at the road. The man hadn’t shaved yet, his lower face darkening now from the growth, and he was wearing his cargo pants, t-shirt and leather jacket again. His hair was combed straight back from his face instead of parted, no product leaving it fluffy and moveable in the wind from the slightly lowered window. It was longer than Allen had thought it was. He looked like a different person, so much so that Allen wouldn’t have recognized him at first glance in another situation. He liked it, the visual giving him a low, happy burn in his belly.
Michael looked calmer today too, more relaxed than Allen had ever seen him, slouching slightly crooked in the car with his right leg extended and left knee drawn up close to press against the bottom of the dash. His left hand loosely gripped the wheel at the top, arm resting on the window.
He caught the glance Michael threw his way. “You are the loudest thinker ever, you know that?”
Allen laughed. “So I’ve been told.”
Michael shook his head with a small smile but didn’t speak again. Allen took it as a good sign. He had hope again. Maybe there was a future where the younger man might consider Allen as an option. He’d have to cross that hurdle when he got to it.
For now he would just have to wait and see.