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“I led the horde to the Ranch.” As soon as the words leave Troy’s mouth Nick starts to creep closer to his mother, still trying to catch his breath.
Madison and Troy argue, and it makes Nick twitch. He notices Madison’s grip tighten on the hammer she's holding and gets a sinking feeling.
Nick does it without thinking, his feet moving without his permission the second he sees his mother raise her arm, and the next thing he knows he’s sent tumbling down into the dirt by the sheer force of the hammer hitting his skull.
“Nicky!” Troy shrieks.
Nick lands on his back, vision blurry, the back of his head hurting like hell, the hard dirt under him offering no relief.
Loose dirt and rocks fall onto him, and a few seconds later Troy comes into view, eyes wide with panic, his knees digging into Nick's side. He reaches up and grabs the front of Troy’s shirt tightly, hoping the world would stop spinning around him if he anchored himself to the other man. “Run,” Nick says weakly.
Troy frowns. “What?”
“She’ll kill you…run…” Nick's eyes close without his permission, the back of his head throbbing.
“I’m not leaving you,” Troy tells him stubbornly, grabbing the hand tangled in his shirt, and pulling Nick into his lap.
More dirt hits Nick's legs and he hears Troy viciously spit, “Stay the hell away from him!”
“Nick, can you hear me?” Madison asks, but he doesn’t hear her try to approach.
“Yeah I…my head hurts…” He answers.
“Nick, sweetie, you might have a concussion and it’s very important that you stay awake until we know how bad it is,” Madison says. She sounds like she's trying very hard to remain calm for his sake.
Nick forces his eyes open, looking from Troy’s hard face to Madison’s worried one, and trips over the words he needs to get out. “Daniel's coming….Troy needs to…to leave…now.”
Madison gets this look in her eyes that he can't quite decipher, and this hard set to her jaw, but she nods reluctantly. If it weren't for his current state he doubts she would have let Troy off this Dam alive.
Nick feels himself starting to slip into unconsciousness as Troy and his mother talk out what they’re going to do next, but he jolts back to reality when Troy picks him up bridal style, his arms wrapping around Troy’s neck out of pure instinct. He looks up into Troy’s angry blue eyes and asks. “What’s happening?”
“We’re getting the hell out of here,” Troy answers. "Hold on tight."
It takes a little help from Madison to get them both up the dirt, and out of the large room, but they manage it.
Madison leaves them with a pointed you better be there aimed at Troy.
Nick nuzzles into Troy’s neck to hide from the harsh light of the sun. Dirt, blood, and sweat make up Troy’s scent and Nick finds it oddly comforting – grounding.
The jostling Nick endures while Troy speed walks is enough to keep him awake, but once he's seated comfortably in the truck it suddenly feels like the hardest challenge he's ever had to endure.
“Nicky!” Troy exclaims suddenly.
Nick's eyes snap open and he looks over to Troy, squinting his eyes to focus on the side of his face.
“Stay the hell awake,” Troy orders, gaze focused on the road. “I’m not losing you today, you hear me?”
Nick nods slowly when Troy glances at him. He focuses on the pain on the back of his head, on the fact that his mother nearly killed him by accident and was going to kill Troy on purpose, but his mind goes blank a few times, trying to make it easier to fall sleep. The nausea prickling his skin is the only thing that keeps his eyes half-open, as is the vomiting out the window that follows swiftly after.
Nick wipes at his mouth, and uses the bandana Troy hands him to press against where he's bleeding on the back of his head and then –
“Nicky.”
Nick startles when he sees Troy standing to his right where the passenger’s side door should be. He doesn’t remember them stopping or Troy getting out or the sun going down, but none of that seemed too important at the moment.
Troy offers him his hand, and he takes it, feeling Troy’s other hand rest on his lower back as he guides him into an old building. It’s dark inside and out, and he’s vaguely aware of lights getting flipped on as they go.
“Where are we?” Nick asks as Troy helps into a wooden rocking chair.
"At the outpost.” Troy answers, leaning over so they’re eye-level.
It doesn’t immediately clear up where they are to Nick's confused brain, but he just nods.
Troy leaves him briefly to collect supplies to tend to his wound, and by the time he returns, Nick remembers the outpost was near the ranch. Troy gets his wound clean and bandaged up, Nick waking up under his gentle attention.
Troy grabs his face suddenly and studies his reactions as he asks him questions he should definitely know the answer to. He appears mostly satisfied by Nick’s answers, and pulls himself to his full height with a sigh when he's done.
“You’re a dumbass, you know that? Just what the hell were you thinking jumping in front of her like that?”
“I wasn’t,” Nick admits, looking up at him.
“No shit.” Troy huffs. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed.”
“Just wanted to protect you. ”
Shock colors Troy’s face, then anger. “You could’ve called out to me or tackled Madison, you didn’t have to put yourself in the line of fire!”
Nick feels a little better than he did earlier, still nauseous, but his thoughts are clear enough now to pursue conversation. He huffs. “I saved you, again, and you want to yell at me for doing it wrong?”
“You're damn right I do! If that hammer had hit you just a little more to the left you'd be dead right now!” Troy exclaims.
“But it didn’t and we’re both alive and well!”
"That’s not the point!” His voice cracks just a little and Nick sees it then. Sees the sheer panic under the mask of anger. It makes Nick pause as he remembers the shriek that had escaped Troy when he'd tumbled into the dirt – how utterly terrified he'd sounded in that moment for Nick's sake.
Nick shifts his gaze down, and takes Troy’s unbandaged hand gently in between his own. Quietly, he says, “I know, but…I just knew I couldn’t lose you and I reacted.”
Troy doesn’t respond right away, fidgeting in Nick’s hands, but not pulling away. After a pregnant pause he speaks, “Nicky…I’m grateful for what you’ve done to protect me, but I’m the one who should pay the price for it. Me. Not you. Never you.”
Warmth fills Nick at the way Troy says it – like his life is precious to him. He smiles, and brings Troy’s hand up to his lips, moving his own hand away to place a soft kiss to the back of it, eyes flicking up to meet the older man's.
Troy jerks away, eyes wide. "What the hell are you doing?"
“Sorry,” Nick apologizes sheepishly, “Sorry, I thought…well maybe this concussion is affecting me more than I thought.”
Troy blinks down at him a beat, then offers him his hand again. “I…It’s okay,” he mumbles.
Nick offers him a small smile. His heart beats just a little faster as he takes Troy’s hand and rubs his cheek against it. "Thank you for taking care of me."
Troy looks away shyly, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. “S'not a big deal."
"It is to me." Nick tells him earnestly.
"Just don't make this a habit," Troy grumbles. "And, next time, use your fucking head before you do something stupid."
“Technically, I used it this time,” Nick points out with a teasing grin.
Troy huffs, but still doesn’t seem capable of looking at him. “Seems you’re feeling better...You can sleep now if you want.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve had a few concussions,” Troy answers. “As long as you can hold a normal conversation you’re good.”
Nick doesn’t ask about the concussions, knowing the answer will either just piss him off or make him roll his eyes and he doesn’t have the energy for it either way. “Sleep with me,” he blurts, then when Troy’s attention snaps to him in surprise, “Just sleep! You’ve been awake for days. You need it as much as I do.”
Troy hesitates and Nick gets it. Troy hadn’t come from the most accepting of places, and he doubts sharing a bed with another man, or letting them kiss his hand came naturally to him. “Okay,” Troy says.
Nick lets Troy lead him through the outpost to a backroom with a large bed. He sits on the edge to take off his shoes, but Troy steps in and does it for him. Troy also helps him under the covers – silently slipping into the role of caretaker.
Troy’s just about to sit down and take off his own boots when Nick's nausea suddenly flares up and he vomits onto the floor. He feels a hand rub his back soothingly as he continues to throw up. “Let it all out,” Troy tells him quietly.
Nick feels disgusting when he’s done, but so much better. Still, he isn’t sure this will be the last time it happens. He wipes at his mouth and Troy quietly slips out of the room. He settles against the headboard, and gets control of his breathing by the time Troy returns with a towel and a half-empty bottle of water.
Troy hands him the water and tosses the towel over the puke. “Gonna leave that there in case you blow chunks again.”
Nick nods and takes a sip of the hot water. It’s not at all refreshing, but he’ll take what he can get.
Troy opens a window to let out the smell of vomit, then kicks off his boots and gets in bed. He stares up at the ceiling, not attempting to rest or get comfortable.
Nick finishes off the water, tossing the empty bottle to the floor and sinking into the bed. There’s enough space for them to lay comfortably without touching, but Nick's feeling brave. He doesn’t cuddle up to Troy or even touch him at all, instead he puts his hand inches from Troy’s and waits.
A few minutes pass in silence, then Nick feels the brush of Troy’s pinky against his and he smiles, but doesn’t open his eyes. He hooks their pinkies together when Troy repeats the action, and playfully tugs on his finger.
Troy tugs back, and they have themselves an odd game of tug of war that Nick ends by lifting Troy's hand up and interlocking their fingers. He cracks one eye open to steal a glance at Troy who stares at their hands in fascination.
“Cheater,” Troy mumbles, setting their hands back on the mattress between them.
Nick’s smile grows bigger. It takes him awhile to fall asleep, but when he does, it’s to the gentle lull of Troy’s thumb stroking the back of his hand.