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"Damn it, I just had it! Where did it go?!" Will exclaimed as he and Jem lost the demon they had been chasing.
Jem smiled grimly. "I don't think so, since it did escape."
"Now is not the time for this, James." Will sighed.
"I am merely pointing out the truth," Jem said innocently.
Snow poured down on their heads. "We must away for shelter," he continued.
Will scoffed: "I say we need to follow the demon."
"That would be foolhardy, Will, it is fairly clear we have lost it," Jem pointed out.
"What is your suggestion, then?" Will questioned grumpily.
He pointed at a cottage nearby. "To take shelter there as the snowstorm worsens."
"Not much, I suppose. . . But it's cozy," Will sighed as they made their way through the door with a simple Opening rune.
"Let's hope the owner doesn't come out here to find us squatting," Jem said critically.
"Not a chance of that, Carstairs. It's throwing heavy snow. Besides, we're not squatting."
"No? What would you call this then?"
"Taking refuge."
Jem couldn't help his smile.
"Hopefully Tessa and the others won't worry," Will muttered, and it died.
Hearing the tenderness with which his parabatai said their girlfriend's name always somewhat unsettled him.
It wasn't that he begrudged them their relationship—indeed, he was well aware they could have tossed him out instead of coming up with a compromise—but the signs of it still didn't exactly thrill him.
Will stiffened, clearly picking up on this. Jem said, mildly: "Let's send the Institute a fire message."
He brightened. "Good idea." He was silent as he scrawled a message onto a paper with a pen he had managed to stuff into the pockets of his gear and held it out for Jem's perusal.
Charlotte, it read, addressing the Head of Institute.
Jem and I are both fine, but stuck in the middle of a snowstorm and probably won't be able to make the trip for some time. We also need to track the demon.
"Not requesting backup?" he questioned.
Will scoffed. "We don't need backup. The two of us have always been enough."
This gave Jem a pang. Yes, they always had been, until they had met Tessa. Then they had been divided.
They'd united again, but only perfunctorily. It was a surface level mending that felt fragile enough to fall apart at any time.
Especially since: "When was the last time we talked?" he said out loud.
Will looked at him with his deep blue Welsh eyes, regarded him seriously. "We're talking right now." He'd apparently decided to go with the jesting route.
"I mean, really talked," Jem countered. "The way we used to all the time."
"That was before," Will replied.
"Tessa wouldn't like this."
"Don't quote Tessa at me," he snapped. Jem just waited, knowing his parabatai well enough. Soon enough, he subsided. "She always worried she would come between us."
"Sometimes it feels like she has," Jem confessed.
"Never," Will said vehemently. "It's you and me. That will never change. Romance with the same person or not."
Jem smiled, warmth spreading through him despite the cold pervading their surroundings.
As happy as Tessa and their relationship made him, he had felt Will's absence like a missing limb.
Or well, he had technically been present, but they had been so distant it hadn't felt that way.
He tilted his head towards the message. "Send it."
Will lit it on fire after inscribing a rune on it—one of Henry's newer innovations.
It was at that exact moment that the chimney rumbled.
Jem lifted his cane, sliding his sword out of it while Will pulled out a seraph blade with a curse.
It was just a birds' nest.
For one moment, they stared at it, then laughed with relief.
"We're too paranoid," Jem said.
"Not paranoia when they're really out to get to you," Will pointed out. "And I wouldn't put it past the demons to—"
This was interrupted by the Malphas demon they had been tracking following the birds down the chimney, which suited it since it was part bird.
"You jinxed us!" Jem yelled, darting ahead.
"You relaxed too quickly!"
Whatever was going on between them, they fought as in sync as always—the reason they were always sent out on patrol together.
Another demon of the same species followed its compatriot.
"Block the chimney!" Jem ordered.
Will grunted his agreement, carving a fire rune into the chimney, which lit up with a blaze, hopefully distracting any more demons wanting to come in from that route.
He exchanged a look with his parabatai and immediately knew he didn't want to divide and conquer. Jem inclined his head with agreement, and questioned which one to go after first with a quirk of his eyebrow.
"That one!" Will slashed at the feet of the demon closer to him.
Jem sighed in fond annoyance. That was Will—always worried about him.
Despite Jem being more or less healed from the yin fen poisoning, Will still fretted.
Of course, he would deny it if it was actually said out loud.
Nevertheless, he nodded his agreement and they tackled that one, ignoring the other for now.
Tag-teaming always worked better for them, since they were always better as a team.
They were parabatai, after all. The other half of each other's souls.
They managed to vanquish that one with ease, but right as they headed for the next one, which had snarled in outrage and was coming after them anyway, Will was startled by another Malphas falling into the roaring fire and screaming as it was vapourized.
So was Jem, but he was not the one standing in front.
Will was, and he was slashed across the thigh by the thing's claws.
Jem desperately hoped it wasn't the femoral artery and screamed for his parabatai. "No time!" Will yelled back. "Get it!"
Will was half-kneeling, dragging his wounded leg along. One look at him and Jem knew the plan.
He went for the wings while Will went for the legs—a perfect combination, as always.
They both breathed hard as the demon vanished, leaving no trace of its exstence.
Will looked around. "We should probably get out of here before someone asks us to pay for the damages."
Jem huffed a laugh as he leaned on his cane, feeling weak.
"James, are you okay?"
"I should be asking you that," he reminded as Will crawled over to him. He sank to his knees, completely lacking energy now, and met his parabatai face-to-face.
Will laid a hand on Jem's cheek. "Take my energy. It's yours."
"Don't be ridiculous, you need it."
"What's mine is yours, and you need it more than I do."
Jem exhaled a sigh and let the parabatai bond energize and strengthen him. At the same time, he pushed healing towards Will, pulling out his stele. "Do you think it's stable enough for an iratze?"
Will replied: "Better get to the Institute first."
"Want Tessa to see the marks of your bravery?"
He shoved at his shoulder, and Jem couldn't hold back his grin.
"I'll send another fire message asking for a portal, now that we've finished our mission." Jem tried weakly to get up.
"We don't know, there might be a whole nest nearby," Will reminded.
"You are too paranoid."
"Too tired to be so right now. Sit here with me for a bit, Carstairs."
Jem ought to protest, he knew. They had work to do, Will was hurt, he was exhausted.
But instead he sat and breathed with his parabatai.
Finally, for the first in a long time, it felt like they were one again.