Work Text:
Nicolò came to life in the way he often did, inhaling deeply and gasping for the air that had evaded his lungs for far too long. His eyes were squeezed shut and his hands reached automatically for a weapon, anything with which to defend himself or others. Too quickly, his hands were filled, not with the familiar grip of plastic or hilt, but with a warm, calloused hand.
This prompted him to open his eyes and take in a familiar sight. Brown eyes looked down at him, weary as they were adoring, plush lips moving soundlessly for several moments until that too seemed to come back to him all at once.
“Nicolò, are you alright?”
Coughing, he nodded, waved away Joe’s concern as he tried to move. He didn’t make it far; his legs being pulled taunt and his hands restricted from reaching up to grip Joe’s shoulder. There was a gentle sigh and Joe ran fingers halting through his hair, a quick glance revealed that his lover was in a similar state of restraint.
“They were smarter this time Nicky, went for shackles instead of rope,” his eyes seemed to sparkle. “It’s nice to change things up every once and awhile.”
Nicolò smiled, genuine this time, his skin feeling taunt over his skull. He wasn’t very fond of taking a bullet to the brain, even if the pain wasn’t so bad…everything felt just a little bit slow for the first few minutes, a fact Joe knew very well.
He let himself relax, realizing he’d been tugged awkwardly into his lover’s lap. In fact, the whole thing was rather ingenious, their limbs twisted clumsily but somehow still managing the position. His eyes wandered around the small area, the lighting was dim, a single lantern perched on an old ammunitions box casting shadows over the cave. They were both covered in blood, hair matted and clothes turning stiff with it.
It was obvious they had been there too long already; someone had certainly witnessed their rebirth, but he didn’t have it in him to reprimand the man he loved. He needed no further evidence then the way Joe looked at him, the way he was humming soothingly under his breath to know he had been waiting on him to come back.
“The others?” the words came out in a whisper, voice sore and lips cracking from a lack of water.
“On their way,” Joe replied. “Nile will be on the warpath, I think.”
Nicolò nodded, she had seen much as a marine but still not nearly enough. In many ways she seemed far too innocent for the evils of the world, the evils they were working so hard to eradicate…just as they once had been.
“Nicky, you’re being very quiet.”
Blinking up at the man he loved, Nicolò felt his brows furrow. He was usually quiet, he only spoke when he had something to say or when the adrenalin loosened his tongue and every other muscle in his body, when the fight had filled him…and been extinguished.
“I’m alright Joe,” he murmured softly. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t worry so much, you know I’ll always come back, you can’t ever be rid of me.”
Joe leaned over him, the shackles jangling softly where they scraped against the stone of the cave until their lips met, a careful, tentative kiss settling between them. Nicolo sighed into it, licked at Joe’s lips and tasted the familiar tang of blood and sweat. They were the scent and sensation of a warrior, of a lover, of the reason he breathed and with that thought the last of the aches in his bones and his head slowly ebbed away.
When Joe finally pulled away, he was smiling fully, one eyebrow raised, “is that better?”
He shouldn’t be awed anymore, after all these years, that Joe could read him so very well. They had been side by side almost since the beginning, barring their first determination to separate and pretend they weren’t what they were, in every sense of the word. They knew everything about each other and by all rights they should have grown tired a very long time ago and yet…here they were.
“I love you, Yusuf.”
“I would certainly hope so,” he replied with a teasing lilt. “Otherwise I have wasted time I’d never be able to get back.”
Chuckling softly, Nicolò finally got to work pulling himself up, untangling from the convoluted position Joe had wrangled him in. Joe’s hand was steady on his shoulder, not helping, simply guiding until they could sit against the lumpy wall, side by side, properly.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the cave, clanging off the walls and prompting them to share a knowing look. Nicolò smiled, eyes falling closed as he waited patiently for their most recent rescue, Booker would hold this over their heads for years.
“How long do you think?” he inquired softly.
Joe hummed, “five minutes if it’s Nile, fifteen if its Booker.”
“Andy?”
“Three.”
Nicolo opened a single eye, “do you think they’ll save us any?”
An explosion rocked the cave, far enough away not to cause a collapse. Joe’s eyes seemed to gleam, “I’m counting on it. I have a few scores to settle.”
The expression was a familiar one to him, it meant that who’d ever shot him in the head was not yet dead and while Joe wasn’t foolish enough to go looking, if he happened upon them they would die quite swiftly at his hand.
Nicolò would do exactly the same.
Footsteps moved rapidly toward them and they both offered wide smiles as Andy stepped into view, Nile brining up the rear, leaving Booker to keep them from getting caged into the cave. She raised an eyebrow the moment she saw them, “you boys enjoying your vacation?”
“A bit dry for my tastes, I miss the ocean,” Joe said mournfully.
This time the three of them rolled their eyes as Nile crouched down to undo the rusty old shackles with the lock picking kit Booker had gotten her for her birthday. The moment they fell off, Nicolò stood, shaking loose his aching limbs and grinning as he took the offered gun, handing it past him to Joe.
It was time to get back to work.