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Jesper stared at Wylan in horror as he dangled from the grasp of someone much bigger and much stronger than he was.
The man’s meaty fingers were curled around Wylan’s wrists, holding him like he was some sort of toy. Eyes closed lightly, in a way that would have made him look like he was sleeping were it not for the blood streaming from a cut above his hairline and dripping from the corner of his mouth, Wylan just...swung there. His chin rested against his chest, head down. Some small part of Jesper couldn’t decide if he preferred Wylan to be unconscious or not. If he were out, then he wouldn’t be in pain—but then Jesper didn’t really know how bad it was if Wylan wasn’t awake to let him know.
When Jesper tried to scrabble forwards, tried to drag himself across the ground, he felt the boot on his spine crush down harder. What are these people even taking? He wondered, gritting his teeth. Twisting his head to the side, he scowled up at the man pinning him down. Shadows painted the world around them, deeper than they should have been. Was there someone who was pulling the light away? Was this someone with shadow control, or was this just someone who had light control managing to mess around with something he didn’t even really know was possible? Doesn’t matter! You need to get their attention on you, Jesper! Think! “What do you want?” He forced out, trying to keep their attention on him. If they paid attention to him, then Inej could do something. Nina, Matthias, Kaz, any one of them could do something. He just needed to keep their attention on him for a few seconds, rather than anyone else.
Scoffing, the man on top of him pressed his weight down on his boot, on Jesper’s back, as he leaned closer. Jesper still couldn’t see his face. It wasn’t because of the shadow-fuckery. It was because the man had pushed what little air out of his lungs he had left, and now there were swirls of darkness in his vision and Jesper couldn’t even see the cobblestones in front of him. “Take a guess, Fahey. What could we
possibly
want with your little merchling boyfriend?”
Jesper’s heart dropped in his stomach, and he stared at where the voice had come from. No. No, there’s not—Van Eck is in prison, how could he get someone to come after us? “Who hired you?” He wheezed out, voice hoarse. Somewhere, he could hear struggling. Someone, probably Inej or Matthias, was fighting back. There was a hefty thud-smack , and then a low grunt. Matthias, then.
“I’m pretty sure I’m meant to be the one asking questions.” A hand curled around the back of Jesper’s neck, the other finding his guns and flinging them away from his grip. “Keep an eye on the other ones. I want him to watch this. ” He stepped off Jesper’s back and hoisted him up, fingers finding the soft hollows right behind Jesper’s ears. “Don’t move, or I’ll squeeze my hand. Your carotid goes right behind your ears. I squeeze that, and even your Heartrender friend won’t be able to fix it for you before you’re dead.” He threatened. Shuddering, Jesper glanced at Wylan.
There was a soft groan from Wylan as he was shaken, and Jesper kept staring at him, wishing he would open his eyes. Wishing he would show some sort of sign that he was okay. A groan wasn’t enough, that could be subconscious. A sound of pain. It could be so many things, and Jesper wouldn’t know, and Wylan could be dying, and he couldn’t breathe. Jesper couldn’t breathe. Wylan. Wylan, please. Come on. Wake up. I’m begging you.
“Come on, kid. Open those pretty eyes of yours.” The man holding Wylan squeezed his wrists, and Wylan snapped his eyes open and let out a hoarse scream. There was a wet pop-snap , followed by a second. They broke his wrists. They broke his fucking wrists— Jesper swallowed, hands fisting in the fabric of his trousers as he tried not to move. If he moved, then he couldn’t help Wylan. If these people were willing to break Wylan’s wrists just to wake him up, they would kill Jesper in a second just because. He didn’t trust them not to hold true on that part of their word, even if his heart was pounding and begging him to go to Wylan’s side. “There you are.”
They threw Wylan down on the ground, and he curled up on his side, curling his arms to his chest with a quiet noise. A savage kick was aimed at his back, and he yelped. Closing his eyes, Jesper took a breath and gritted his teeth. When he looked down at Wylan again, Wylan was staring at him and shaking. “Aww, look at those tears. I wonder, little crow, if I can make you sing.”
Letting out a shaky breath, Jesper scowled at the man standing above Wylan and prayed to all of Inej’s Saints that they might do something to help.
+
They weren’t even on a mission.
Matthias and Nina were back from travelling for a little while, and Inej was in port. Kaz was happier than he normally was, even though he didn’t show it. Obviously, Jesper was with Wylan, and the Crows were just spending time with one another for the hell of it. Of course, they weren’t being dumb . They never left home without their weapons on them. They never left without their armor (physical, real armor or the kind that came in weapons and a cane and the like). Then they got jumped.
Jesper had barely managed to do more than grab Wylan and push him behind him before they had gotten separated. Someone tackled him before he could even get his gun out. He had managed to get one gun out, got a shot off. Then, the person who had tackled him grabbed him by the head and slammed him into the ground until he stopped moving. Which left him where he was.
The morning had been...nice. Calm. Jesper had woken up with Wylan beside him, arms wrapped around his middle and face buried in the side of his neck. Somehow, Wylan made drooling in his sleep cute. Though, now that he thought about it, maybe that was just how Wylan was. Maybe that was just Jesper’s bias. Everything that Wylan did was adorable, to Jesper. He could do no harm. Although he could do some amazing things, like blow people up or play songs that only sirens could make up.
When he had woken up, before Wylan, Jesper had just...looked at him. Watched his sleeping boyfriend with a warmth in his chest that matched the sunlight beaming through the windows and catching the highlights of Wylan’s hair. It caught the reddish gold tones to the dark brown, a pretty color that Jesper didn’t really know how to describe but reminded him somehow of whiskey with sunlight dancing through it, catching the liquid on fire and making it prettier than it was. A sort of ruddy golden thing. He didn’t know where else that color came from, just that the sunlight made it in Wylan's hair and Wylan had once commented on how there was gold in people’s hair and iron in their blood, precious metals that he couldn’t help but think just belonged with Wylan. Of course he was precious, with his dark hair and amber eyes and that smile.
Wylan had woken up slowly, tensing up and hugging Jesper as he stirred. Then, his eyes had open, and Jesper wondered how his eyelashes didn’t get tangled when he closed his eyes because of how long they were but he didn’t have time to think about that because Wylan had sort of pushed his face into his neck a little bit more. He was in one of Jesper’s shirts, which was a little too large for him. He hadn’t quite filled out yet, too much work in the tannery ruining how he breathed for a while and too long without enough money to consistently afford food.
Jesper had just reached up, brushed his hair from Wylan’s eyes, and watched him smile in his sleep before he even really woke up. Then, he’d tipped his head back and hummed. It’d been a quiet morning, and Nina had dragged them all out to get them stroopwafels. Also other food, because cookies for breakfast (or any meal) was a terrible idea (and yes they had learned that lesson the hard way, Nina ) but they just had regular waffles at this diner that just seemed to pop up out of nowhere? Jesper didn’t remember it being built, but the person acted like they knew everything and nothing about them at the same time and somehow everyone was okay with it? Anyways, they didn’t seem threatening and the food was really good and not poisoned, so he wasn’t complaining. The person hadn’t even minded when Kaz had threatened them through Inej and her knives. They’d just—blinked? And walked off?
If Jesper could have gone back in time, he would have just kept everyone in the diner. But he couldn’t go back in time, no one could, and now he was staring at Wylan lying on the ground as the man who’d broken his wrists aimed kicks to his back. Curled around himself, Wylan had his arms curled close to his chest, had his head ducked. He was trying to protect himself, as best as he could. But he was just—he couldn’t do much of anything.
Jesper couldn’t do anything, either. Come on, Inej. Please. You need to do something. I can’t do anything. The hand around his neck was a firm, dangerous reminder. If he died, he couldn’t protect Wylan, couldn’t make sure he made it after this. Eyes darting around, he glanced at Inej, Nina, Matthias. Kaz was trying to push himself off the ground, although he didn’t get far before a sword was braced against his neck. Nina was stirring, fingers curling against the cobblestones. Beside her, Matthias was murmuring to her softly, keeping his head turned away from Wylan. Either he was focusing solely on trying to get Nina to wake up, or he didn’t want to see. Jesper couldn’t blame him.
On the ground, Nina shifted again, and her eyes opened. She let out a soft sound, and shifted. Her fingers curled on the ground. Taking a breath, she tilted her head slightly. Matthias managed to reach out. Maybe the people attacking them didn’t think he would try anything, because they didn’t bother stopping him from touching her cheek and saying something to her softly. After a second, she nodded.
Wylan let out a punched-out, pained noise, and there was another audible crack .
And then Nina and Inej moved at the same time.
The man holding Jesper by the back of the neck stiffened and let go, hitting the ground at the same time as a knife slammed into the neck of the man over Wylan.
Grabbing his throat, Wylan’s attacker crumpled, and Inej moved. Jesper grabbed his guns, leapt into the fight and saw Matthias rush to Wylan’s side. He’s okay, he’ll be okay. He’ll be fine. Matthias has him. Which means I have everyone else. He threw punches at the people who got too close, shot those who were far enough away for him to attack, and kept going until they were the only ones still standing. Then, he turned. Looked at Wylan.
Matthias was checking his pulse, leaning over him with a hand pressed to the side of Wylan’s face. One of Wylan’s legs moved as he stirred a little bit, a groan left him.
Hurrying over, Jesper dropped to his knees on Wylan’s other side. Eyes half-closed and glazed over, Wylan blinked and looked to him. He didn’t seem able to focus. Quickly, Matthias ran his hands over Wylan’s head, down the back of his neck, then his spine. Blinking, Jesper watched him for a moment. Tried to figure out what Matthias was doing, touching Wylan that way. Obviously, it wasn’t in a—not a romantic way. Matthias wouldn’t do that, to Wylan or especially to Nina. “Matth—”
“No skull injuries. No neck injuries. No spine injuries. He’s safe to move.” Gently, Matthias ran a hand underneath Wylan’s neck. A soft whimper left Wylan. Something in Jesper’s chest twisted painfully at that. “You are alright, Wylan. I promise.” Matthias looked at him. “I need you to back up. We need to get him back to the Club.”
“Do we even have any healers?” Jesper asked, and Matthias picked up Wylan bridal-style. One of his hands slipped from his stomach and dangled down. Delicately, trying not to hurt Wylan more, Jesper picked up his arm and then settled it back, so that it wouldn’t dangle and slam into anything to hurt him. Then, he backed up, shaking. “Take care of him.”
“I will.”
Then, Matthias sprinted off. Jesper stood there, watching him for a moment. On the ground, Nina let out a groan of her own, snapping him back to reality. He hurried to her side. Inej was gone, to track down and take out whoever had called this if he had to guess. As for Kaz, he was kneeling by Nina, trying to figure out how to help.
“Nina. You with us?” Jesper asked, kneeling by her. Coughing, she nodded. He helped her get up, and she pressed a hand to her side.
“Where—where’s Wylan? Inej?” She glanced around.
“Inej went to find Til. He’s the one these guys work for. New person.” Kaz waved a hand dismissively.
“And Wylan is being taken back to the Club by Matthias.” Jesper explained. “Do you need help walking? Any injuries we should know about?”
“Just scrapes and bruises, I’ll live. I’ll take that offer, though.” Nodding, Jesper offered an arm and Nina tucked herself into his side, letting him take some of the weight. From the sound of it, her ribs were bruised, a few were maybe even broken. Putting her arm over his shoulders would just aggravate that. “Come on, Kaz. No sense waiting for your Wraith here. Lead the way?” Jesper met Kaz’s gaze, and he nodded.
Kaz started walking, and they followed.
+
Wylan stirred a few hours after the healer came.
His arms were splinted, to help keep them steady in case his nerves decided to act up. They were ordered to find some ice and give it to him when he needed it, when he was in pain, or there was swelling in his arm. Look. Kaz had taken the list, okay? Jesper hadn’t gotten to see it because it would “stress him out over seeing what had happened to Wylan”. He wasn’t going to protest, honestly.
Sitting by the bed, Jesper watched Wylan’s face again as he stirred. Tipping his head to the side, Wylan let out a groan, tried to move his arms and then flinched. “Hey, Wy. It’s okay, you’re okay.” He reassured softly. Reaching over, he brushed his hand through Wylan’s hair. “How do you feel?”
“I wanna kiss.” Wylan mumbled. Already, he was grabbing for Jesper, who laughed, leaned in, and kissed his forehead. “Nooo, gimme a better one.”
“You gotta get better first.”
“Screw you.” Turning, Wylan buried his face in Jesper’s pillows. He tried to roll himself over, but couldn’t get there. “Help me roll over. I don’t want to look at you.”
Sighing with a well-natured roll of his eyes, Jesper did as asked. He kissed the crown of Wylan’s head and spoke, “You get some sleep, sweetheart. I’m going to go get you some water.”
As he left the room, feeling a whole lot better about Wylan’s state, Jesper shoved his hands in his pockets and knew this was going to be a long recovery period for every single one of the Crows.
Wylan was a terrible patient.
Something was probably going to blow up.