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”Connor, you’re too involved.” The sickeningly disappointed voice condemns, ”I’m afraid I’m going to have to move you down to Division II. You aren’t fit to be leading Division I.”
Connors eyes widened in shock, this couldn't possibly be happening. He could do it, he could change. He just needed one more chance, ”Director, give me one more mission. I promise I won’t let you down, I can do it. I just need one more chance.” He pleaded desperately while attempting to keep his composure. He needed to prove himself to his father, he’d already let him down many times before. “Please,” he looked up to the man he respected more than anyone else. The man who raised him. The man who found him. ”Father, one more chance.”
His fathers eyes narrowed at the title but he kept his usual emotionless face, ”I’ve already allowed you more chances than I should have. You are not fit for this position. Division II will be a much better fit.” Connor opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t get anything out. “You’re dismissed, I will speak to you later about future missions.” He waved his hand. Slowly, Connor turned for the door. Looking back as he pushed open the heavy door, his fathers eyes darkly met his, ”Do not disappoint me.” Connor quietly shut the door before making his way down the hallway.
”I need a smoke,” he whispered to himself.
———
It had been a few months since his demotion. His new division consisted of Johnny and Spencer. Twin boys who came from the Sea Kingdom. They had been at the top of their class at the academy. Connor had heard from around that they had been offered positions in Division I but turned it down to come to Division II. Why? He didn’t know. He never asked. But why would they turn the offer down? He would give anything to go back to his old team. It was the position his father was most likely to see him, to be proud of him.
The other member was Cameryn. His sibling was originally in Division I with Connor. Once Connor was demoted, Cameryn sabotaged theirself to get demoted with Connor. They always had Connors back. He always secretly respected them for that. He knew they were doing that for his and their benefit. Despite that, it would sometimes make him feel pathetic. He recognized Cameryn's skill when it came to combat but it sometimes felt like they were taking pity on him. They had always insisted that leading wasn’t really for them. They always said they weren’t fit to be a captain. They always claimed they would do their best to support Connor in his dreams to one day become director. And they’ve always done just so.
Connor enjoys his new team, it’s always a good time with them. Spencer’s kind and always thinking of others, Johnny is loud but is always willing to defend the others, Cameryn is, well, they’re Cameryn. They joke around with the others and they always stick with Connor. It’s just, he feels like he has lost his father’s respect. He needs to earn that back and he can’t do that to the full potential he could in division I. He needs it back, or else he can possibly accomplish his dreams.
He pulls a cigarette out of his front pocket. All this thinking was hurting his head.
———
They’re in the snow kingdom today. The four of them walk around in a group. A majority of their missions are investigating leads of masks. Why the hell is it so important? Connor doesn’t know.
“What are we even looking for?” Cameryn asked while looking the other way. They then jogged ahead towards a pet shop. They looked through the window at the animals with a small blush. They’d always loved animals. The group migrated over to Cameryn.
Connor sighed, “Didn’t you read the report?” He already knew the answer before Cameryn turned around with a sly smirk. “Of course not, I knew that.” He rolled his eyes before looking around. Spencer took the liberty of explaining,
“We’re looking for a masked woman, she’s supposedly got brown hair. Most likely from the sand kingdom.” He rummages through his pockets before pulling out a photo and handing it to Cameryn. “She’s wanted for reselling stolen objects. Some of her buyers were arrested, they’ve claimed that she typically sells in alleyways.” He says as Cameryn studies the photo.
Connor spots a couple in hoods sneaking into an alleyway, “There.” He points as the couple disappears, the others turn and begin walking towards the alley.
“‘Bout damn time.” Johnny whispers with a smirk before his brother hushes him. The alley splits into two, Connor points Cam and Johnny to the other way and signals Spencer to come with him. The group splits down the alley, as the two quietly walk they hear voices. Barely above a whisper,
The masked woman brought out multiple items as she offered up different prices, then one of the two buyers spoke up, louder than the group had originally been speaking. The other buyer puts a comforting hand on the first.
“That’s not what we’re here for,” the couple looked at each other, “we heard, you sell information.”
The masked woman chuckled as she nodded, “I do.” She put away her items, “what information are you hoping to hear?” The first buyer nodded before the other nodded as well.
“Our child, she was taken from us. Recently. We were wondering,” the buyer took in a breath, “if you know where the smugglers are located. The ones that bring in non-nomads.” Connor took in a sharp breath. A breath loud enough to alert the group. The couple whipped their heads around, eyes blown wide. The masked seller quickly snatched her bag of stolen goods before running towards Connor and Spencer. Connor fumbled to grab his gun.
“Wait! Please! Tell us, we need to know!” The buyer begged while reaching out to grab the seller, the woman was quickly shoved away when the seller brutally smacked her,
“Shut up!” She said as she shoved the two Division II members. Spencer quickly caught Connor and started running after the masked woman. Connors thoughts were racing. So much was happening all at once.. It was too much to take in. These two had lost their daughter and they were going to be arrested for trying to buy illegal information, their target was running away, Spencer’s hands on his waist, that child was just like him. Lost. He quickly started after the woman. All that currently mattered was completing the mission. Proving to his father he was capable. Capable of taking his old role back.
The chase continued down the alley before the woman rammed into someone,
“Woah, lady. Careful,” the large man looks down. Connor recognizes that voice, he looks up to see Johnny and Cameryn staring at her cluelessly.
He quickly shouts, “that’s her, that’s the masked criminal!” Johnny swiftly wraps his hands around her, successfully restraining her. The chaos simmers down. Spencer handcuffs the woman as she squirms in Johnny's grasp. Conner is suddenly reminded of the couple in the alley. A wave a heat burns under his skin, covering his whole body despite the chilly air. What to do? What could he do? What should he do? The right thing to do is to tell the others, but.. he can’t. His consciousness tells him not to. His hands feel just an overwhelmingly warm as everywhere else. They begin to feel uncomfortably moist.
He suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder, the weight is grounding. He looks up to see Spencer looking down at him, shy smile and brows furrowed. He slightly bends to Connors level before beginning to speak,
“I’m going to tell them.” Connor interrupts, “About the couple.” And their daughter. The kid who lost her parents. The lost kid who can’t get home. Cameryn and Johnny chat in the background as the woman curses them, offering bribes, demanding she be let go. He opens his mouth to speak up before he feels a cold finger touch his lips.
“We don’t have to.” Spencer quietly smiles, still holding a finger to Connors lips, “not if you don’t want to. We could..” he pauses, “not… lie. Just withhold information. Only if you want to.” Connor considers Spencer’s offer, only for his thoughts to be interrupted.
“Hey cap,” Johnny calls out (loudly. Too loud) “what happened to the people in the hoods?” Spencer looks down at Connor as he thinks before looking up at Spencer. Connors brain is pounding, threatening to crack his skull open.
“Don’t know, they were gone once we found the woman.” He looks back at the other two. And they shrug.
“Too bad.” Connor searches for a light.
———
They confiscate the mask and turn the woman over to the local snow guard. Cameryn declares that they’re hungry. Johnny and them search for a good place to eat, maybe even get some beer. Connor walks slowly behind them, Spencer slows his pace. His long strides shorten. He looks down with a soft smile.
“That was kind of you,” Connor doesn’t look up. He listens to the crunch of the snow, the bright reflection of the sun on the white snow. It’s blinding. It’s too sunny out. The cold nips at his nose. He tends to grow pink in the cold. He hates it. He stares at the footprints made by Johnny and Cameryn. “Letting that couple go.” This is exactly what his father meant. He’s too.. emotional. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigarette, a hand stops him. “You shouldn’t do that, it’s not good for you.” Spencer says seriously. His hand is cold but it somehow soothes Connors frozen, worn hands. His skin cracked and irritated. He considers telling off Spencer but opts for putting the cigarette back in his pocket. Spencer painfully pulls his cold soothing hand away. He finds that he misses it. Suddenly the thought hits him. Another person's hand in his. Permanently. Someone who would stick with him. Protect and defend him. Someone he could do the same for. Someone he could confide in. To care for. To kiss. Spencer comes to mind, his hand on Connors cheek as he-
“Have the two of them decided where to eat?” He looks forward to the other two as they point to a small pub. The group walks into the warm building and finds a table.
Connor rubs his chilled face, the change in temperature causing his face to sting, “I’m going to run to the restroom.” He walks to the men’s room and locks the single stalled restroom. What the hell was that? He rubs his hands as he moves in front of the mirror. He places a cold hand on his cheek. “What the hell was I thinking about?” Spencer creeps into his mind again. His kind smile, his comforting words, his defensive retorts to his brothers teasing, how smart he was. It was suddenly easy to see, Spencer was incredible. He had so many, amazing qualities. Not to mention he was tall and hot. A firm knock on the door woke him from his trance. He opened the door to find an angry looking man.
“The hell took you so long.” He growled before shoving Connor out of the way. He slowly made his way to the table. Pushing the thoughts that plagued him out of his head. But then he locked eyes with Spencer’s wide eyes. He smiled at Connors reappearance.
“Did you have to shit?” Johnny asked after downing a beer, the fourth one apparently (how the hell) Cameryn sniggered, covering their smile. Spencer smacked Johnny's hand, and Johnny gave an offended frown in return. “What? He took forever.” Connor shook his head before sitting across Johnny.
The group awkwardly stared at him for a couple moments.
“Well did you?” Cameryn asked, receiving a smack on the head before bursting out into laughter, Johnny joining in after a moment. Spencer tried to hold in the small huffs of laughter before slapping his hand over his mouth. Connor eventually joined in with short chuckles.
This wasn’t so bad.
———
His newfound crush on Spencer started to become painfully obvious to him. He often found himself hopelessly pining for him. Spencer was tall and smart and helpful. And he was-
God, Connor was hopeless.
Every once in a while he was reminded of how no matter how much he wanted him, he could never have him. Spencer wouldn’t want someone as pathetic as him. Even if he did, it’s not possible to have in team relationships. But that didn’t stop Connor from wanting him regardless.
Except it did. He found himself screwing up multiple times due to his ‘crush’. He would see Spencer in danger and he would just throw himself in, no regard for his safety. It was dangerous. He would have to get rid of these feelings. He looked around, to find Spencer was nowhere near.
Spencer always tried to stop him from smoking. He pulled out the pink crystal cigarette.
———
“Dammit..”
Well, that wasn’t going to work. First he tried to distance himself from Spencer, but then he just asked Connor if he’d done anything wrong and if he did, he was sorry. Connor insisted that nothing was wrong and he was just tired.
Then he tried to stop thinking about Spencer. Thirty minutes later, he saw Spencer walk into the apartment and he’d immediately failed.
This wasn’t damn working. Might as well just accept it. Keep hiding it of course. He puffed out smoke, pulling the stick from his lips.
———
He bent down to touch the warm sand, pulling out a wanted poster. A man who kidnapped a kid from the sea kingdom. He crumpled the paper. Who could kidnap a kid? A crazy person, that’s what.
“Where do we look first?” Johnny asked, looking around. He held a hand above his eyes to block the sun. It was pretty hot.
Cameryn looked back at the group, “Should we split up?”
“That works.” Connor answered. He pointed each member in a different direction. Connor wandered, keeping an eye out for a teal haired man with a teal haired child. Now that he thought about it, the two did look similar. There had been sightings of a suspicious sea nomad guiding a sea child through the town a few hours ago. They had been in the sand kingdom tying up a loose end to their previous mission. The kidnapper and the kid were expected to still be in town. Connor asks around a bit. Local shop owners, nomads, et cetera. He spots a few sea people but crosses them off. It’s too hot, he feels like he’s going to melt. He can feel the wet fabric of his shirt stick to his back. He’s got sand in his shoes, how? He’s wearing boots. How does that work? He wipes the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. He looks around at the shops, he finds a pub. He walks in and up to the counter. He waits for the bartender,
“Do you sell water?” Connor asks, wiping himself dry again.
“We do.” The bartender reaches behind the bar and pulls out a water bottle. Connor reaches into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. The man behind the counter waves his hand, “you don’t need to pay. Water is free. Plenty of people overheat.”
Connor nods, “thanks man.” The bartender gives a short smile. Connor unscrews the bottle and chugs half the bottle before making his way outside, heat smacking him in the face. He walks around until a familiar weight finds its way onto his shoulder. He looks up to see Spencer, he looks serious.
“Found the guy, and the kid,” he says and looks in the direction of the pair. A hooded guy, teal hair peeks out. He’s holding hands with a teal haired kid. Their similarities stick out to Connor now. The kid is a carbon copy of the guy. Not in the way sea people have similar traits. But in the father-son way. Spencer starts to walk towards the two but is held back by Connor. He holds Spencer’s hand as he softly pulls him back.
“They look related. They’re so similar.” He whispers, Spencer studies them.
“I suppose they do.”
Connor remains silent, staring at the two. If his intuition was right, was he going to take a son from his father? Was he going to steal this man’s son?
“We still don’t know for sure. Let’s check it out before making assumptions.” Connor doesn’t say a word, quietly trapped in his mind. Spencer squeezes Connors hand. “Then we can decide what to do. Together.” They start moving forward, hands still intertwined.
They tail the two, Connor realizes Spencer and his hands, he pulls away. They walk up to the man. Spencer stands behind the man while Connor stands in front of him.
“We need to ask you a few questions.”
———
The group moves to a nearby alley. It took some convincing and they had to calm the man but they managed to get him and the boy alone. The man suddenly drops to his knees. He lets go of the boy and the boy hugs onto him.
“Please! Sir, don’t take away my son.” He pleads, “this was the only way I could be with him. I am a nomad but he isn’t! If we could just get away, we could be together.” His son starts crying, “Please just let us go.”
Connors hands shake, he wanted to let this man go. He really did. He wanted this man and his son to remain together. But.. he couldn’t disappoint his Father. Not again. His fathers already had more than enough mercy. Spencer brought his hand to Connors' back and guided him a short distance away.
Connor stared at the sandy ground, “If you want to let them go, I will support you in that.” Spencer rubbed a circle on Connors back, “whatever you decide, I’m with you.” Thoughts danced through his head. He could hear Spencer’s voice. It was the only thing holding him down to earth, what to do, what to do?
There’s a sudden shuffle behind them, then the quick taps of running away. The two of them spun around, the man picked his son up and ran for it, Connor couldn’t focus. His head was spinning, the heat was baking his brain, his vision narrowed on the man. He could hear Spencer calling out for his captain.
“Connor!” He whipped his head up to look up at Spencer. The use of his name shocked him. “Connor, sorry to rush you but you really need to make a decision. Let him run or chase him?” That’s right, Connor was their captain. He was Captain of division II in the Kings Guard. He was going to become the director of the Kings Gaurd.
But would his consciousness let him? Could he really do it? Spencer stared at him with wide eyes. Connor held eye contact with the other. Suddenly a few loud shouts rose from the plaza. Both looked away. They quickly made their way out of the alley. There stood Cameryn. They had stopped the man. The father. The nomad who just wanted to live with his son. Johnny started making his way toward the commotion. Cameryn waved everyone over. They had knocked out the father. The son sat by his father crying, shaking with gut wrenching sobs.
“Johnny, you want to get the guy? I’ll grab the kid.” Cameryn asked.
“Yep, got it.” He grunted as he hauled the man over his shoulder. The kid grabbed onto his fathers leg and tried to pull him away.
“No! You can’t! You can’t take my daddy away!” The kid's face was soaked with fat tears, “I won’t let you!” Cameryn scooped the kid up. The kid fought them, throwing pathetic punches. Every thing started to blur together for Connor. It was hot, he was sweaty, he was tired. This was wrong, or was it? What was right? What defines right and wrong? His head grew heavy and he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his forehead.
———
Connor scrunched his nose at the pain in his head. He brought his hand to his forehead only to have it gently pushed away. He slowly opened his eyes, light blinding.
“Don’t touch it.” Spender sat in front of him, he held a water bottle and some bandages. “I just finished bandaging it.” Connor looked around. He was back on the ship, he was in the infirmary.
“What happened?”
Spencer worked on putting away the supplies. He handed Connor the water bottle, “you passed out.” He closed the cabinet, “most likely to the heat. You should drink.” He pointed to the water bottle. Connor screed it open and took a sip, his dry throat burning at the cool wetness. Everything had quickly come back to him. The man must have been arrested and the kid.. he wouldn’t know what would happen to the kid. He either be forced to become a nomad, have to stay here in the sand, or go back home to the sea. The last was most likely the best but who knew what could happen. Rubbing his hands together, he felt the sting of his blisters brushing against each other.
“I’m sorry, captain.” He looked up to Spencer. He was still turned away. Connor missed the use of his name. “I can tell that didn’t go the way you wanted.” Spencer added, he finally turned to see Connor staring at him.
“I did.” Spencer raised an eyebrow, “I wanted it to go like that. He needed to be captured. That was what we were sent here to do.” Both men knew he was lying. Spencer moved over to his side and sat down. They sat in silence for a couple passing moments. “Or maybe not. I can’t tell.” Spencer took Connors hand in his.
“That’s fine. You don’t have to know everything.” He whispered, gently squeezing Connors hand. “You should do what you think is right. I see that you have a good heart.” Spencer continued on, Connor couldn’t focus on his words. All he could see was Spencer. The pull of his skin when he awkwardly smiles, the way his hand held Connors, the squint of his eyes when he smiles, his mole, the slight pink on his cheeks.
He was snapped out of his mesmerized trance when a soft hand found itself on his cheek. Connor looked over to Spencer only to feel his warm lips on his own. Everything seemed to melt away. Warmth bloomed in his chest, he closed his eyes and brought his hands to the back of Spencer’s neck. The slight push against Connors lips was enthralling. It sucked him in without fail. He groaned when Spencer quickly pulled away.
“Captain! Sorry, I shouldn’t have-”
Connor covers Spencer’s mouth with his hand. Connor feels his face warm and he sees Spencer’s face is warm as well. “Uh, well don’t worry about it.” He removes his hand in front of his own mouth, “I, uh, I didn’t mind.” Spencer’s eyes widen, then squint as he offers a soft smile.
“So, Connor, you wouldn’t mind if we did it again?” Spencer asked, Connors eyes lit up as he practically lunged forward.
This was incredible.