Fleeting: Part 20 - What are we?
Author's notes: These guys, man. I love them. I like watching them explore their relationship, too.
Masterlist - Part 19
Content: Vampire whumpee, recovery, rescue, mentions of previously written traumas.
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Muir didn't know if he had ever been more relieved than when he got Joseph out under the sun, Orville walking on his own two feet as the blow to his head wore off. He drank in the sight of his bond mate, relieved to see him alive and breathing, if not particularly whole. He was filthy, covered in dried smears blood. He opened his mouth, stretching his jaw like he was trying to resettle his fangs, though they wouldn't settle until he had finished growing them back out. His flesh was red and raw looking in places, pointing out where he had been injured recently, and he limped pretty heavily on one leg despite the smooth motions he had displayed when he had come to Muir's rescue.
Joseph closed his eyes, relishing the sunlight as emergency responders rushed over, circling the three of them like helpful vultures.
"Where's Granger?" someone asked from the crowd and Muir answered without looking away from Joseph.
"She's still in there. She got separated from us, but she'll be fine. She's a lot tougher than we are. She said she would probably be another 10 minutes while she figured out if there were any other vampire prisoners in there."
"Did you see any?"
Joseph answered this time. "This panther. I'm pretty sure she's a vampire, but I've only seen her in this form."
The panther sat in the shade of the warehouse, looking around a bit uncertainly. When she batted her paw out at the sunlight, she withdrew it quickly and Joseph caught the scent of singed fur.
"Any story on her?"
"No, I don't know anything. She's never taken a more human form.... I'm not sure if she knows she's not a panther."
She looked up fiercely, her yellow eyes bright.
The emergency responders got Joseph some blood to drink and things to clean up with, as well as a t-shirt branded with the Keaton Fire Department logo. Muir watched, tensing whenever someone reached out to Joseph or when Joseph glanced back at the warehouse nervously.
When the EMTs seemed to have their fill of bothering Joseph, he wandered back, coming to stand beside Muir again. Muir finally looked away as Joseph made a move to catch his eye, his hand twitching by his side.
"Thank you for coming. If you guys hadn’t been making a raid on this place, I probably would have been caught again."
"Of course, Seph. You knew I'd come for you."
"Yeah," Joseph said softly. Muir felt Joseph's fingers brush his, and he reached out, latching on without another thought.
"I'm sorry I disconnected the bond," Muir said. The barrier was still up between the two of them, and he knew he ought to take it down, but he wasn't quite ready for Joseph to see his shame and guilt. It was nice to have a bit of a break from it while he tried to work through his emotions.
"I.... I get it. You felt all of it. I guess I should be surprised you hung on for so long."
"I would have stuck it out all the way, but the Chief ordered me to close it or else I wouldn't be allowed to come along. Your pain.... it could have distracted me, but I-"
Joseph's other hand came up to cup Muir's cheek and force him to look up. His hands were cold and clammy, the blood he'd been given by the EMTs not quite circulating yet.
Their eyes met and Joseph smiled. "Hey, it's alright. I get it. I'm sorry I was angry. Could you..... would you take the wall down now?"
Muir nodded, reassured. He let the wall down, and felt Joseph poking through the bond before a surge of emotion powered through. It was wild and careful. Loving and fierce.
"What are we?" Muir murmured.
Joseph licked his cracked lips a little and readjusted his mouth again, buying himself some time to think of an answer. "I..... I don't know."
Muir didn't know how to react to that. He didn't know what they were supposed to be either. What he wanted them to be.
"Maybe..... I don't know. Not...?"
"Not boyfriends?" Joseph asked.
"Maybe? I don't think I've ever..... huh, you know, I had some crushes when I was younger, but I don't think I've ever actually felt romantic toward anyone. I don't know if this is that, though."
"Mmm..... Maybe we're bond mates."
Of course they were bond mates, but the way Joseph said it was different this time. Colored with more meaning. "I think that works for now," Muir said. "At least till we have time to talk later."
Joseph nodded. "After a nap. And some food."
"Agreed."
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Muir didn't realize how much he had started hating the police station until he saw it again. He had spent too much time there the last... how long had it been? He was losing track of the days. It had felt like months that Joseph was missing.
Hopefully, with Joseph back, it wouldn't be so hateful. He glanced at his bond mate as they both sat in the back of Orville's car as they parked. They were still holding hands. After Muir grabbed it, Joseph had refused to let go, making getting into and out of the car a shuffly business.
Muir let Joseph lead the way out of the back and they walked into the building, listening to the radios distantly squawking with reports from the warehouse. The raid was still going on, especially as they had found a few more vampires in the back rooms. Muir wondered if the panther was going to be taken alongside those vampires to the rehab center after they had been triaged. He was having a hard time imagining where they were going to keep a huge cat that maybe didn't understand what it was.
That was not his business. Not right now. It would probably become Joseph's problem later since he actually worked in the center, but even then it wouldn't technically be his problem.
Speaking of problems. "Where is Esial?"
Joseph frowned darkly, his fingers crushing Muir's for a moment in a flash of anger. "I don't know."
"What happened, exactly? As many details as you can remember."
Joseph grimaced, trying to think as they got into the elevator that led from the parking garage level up to the offices, holding the door for Orville and Granger to step in.
"Shouldn't we wait to do questioning until we're in a room where we can get a recording?" Orville asked.
"My body camera is on," Muir said. "And the other detectives are going to be busy at the warehouse for a while. I say we need as much information as possible. You never get everything in the first interview anyway."
Joseph cleared his throat, quieting the officers. "The interviewee is trying to speak," he said, trying to be playful about it, but it was clear he was exhausted as his tone fell flat. "Esial and I went to the store to get the food we needed for lunch and then we drove to the zoo. There was a.... a van? It didn't have any markings on it at all. Just a black van, and there were some guys who were dressed like government agents, but they didn't have any badges. They said that their employer sent them to talk to Esial, I think? I told them to buzz off and make an appointment through the center and then things got out of hand when they wouldn't leave us alone."
Muir nodded, trying to remember what he felt through the bond on that first day. "Did they burn you?"
"Yeah. Lavender ash to the face. I don't remember much about the fight. Just that Esial went feral. I think I passed out? I remember laying on the floor of the van and then getting dragged out."
"Esial wasn't with you?" Orville asked as the elevator stopped and they stepped out into the main offices. Instead of going for an interrogation room, Muir led them to his desk and they all stole chairs from the other desks to sit close together. Muir was very tired of sitting around in interrogation rooms.
"No. He was locked in a cage in the van. I was sold over to.... you know, and then they left. Said something about me being a gift from their employer."
"No names, I assume," Granger said, opting out of a stolen chair and standing over them, arms folded.
Joseph shook his head. "I didn't catch the name of their boss. Just names of other gang leaders that their boss was planning on helping as well, but I don't actually remember any of them.... Maybe..... one of them was Sanchez maybe? That doesn't feel right though. I'm sorry, I-"
"No need to apologize," Granger said, surprising both Joseph and Muir. Her voice was softer than either had heard before. "It's all good. Just a little annoying, but I'm not surprised you wouldn't remember something like that after what you've been through."
Joseph nodded mutely and Muir gently squeezed his hand. "Hopefully we can pick out something. If there weren't any badges that means the government probably wasn't involved-"
"Or didn't want to be seen as being involved," Granger said with a little shrug.
Muir sighed. "Who else would want Esial- No that's a stupid question. Who wouldn't want Esial. He's too old and interesting for his own good."
Joseph snorted. He made a noise of disgust and let go of Muir's hand to reach of the tissues. Muir felt a little disappointed at the loss of contact.
Granger noticed and raised her eyebrow at him but Muir firmly ignored her, finally asking a question he hadn't wanted to touch until Joseph was far away from the warehouse.
"What happened to Ashton? I heard he was found dead."
Joseph stopped vigorously blowing his nose. He took a few moments to wipe it all the way clean before he tossed the tissue. "Its.... uh...... right. The panther killed him."
"Oh... did she get off her chain then?"
Joseph shook his head, staring at his hands.
Muir put his hand gently over Joseph's. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's alright."
"No, it's fine. It's not like I killed him."
"The panther did?" Orville asked curiously.
"Yeah. She'd been, um, I mean, she....... She changed her allegiance, I guess. She helped me out and killed him."
Muir was a little concerned about the lack of detail, but he supposed it could all wait. It wasn't actually that serious. "I wish I could have had the chance to kill him myself."
Joseph shook his head. "Any death he would have gotten from you would have been too good."
Muir smiled a little, and companionable silence fell over them. Muir took a deep breath.
"So, the last time Esial was seen or heard was when you were kidnapped. That-"
"No, wait. I mean, I didn't see him, but Esial is still alive. Ashton would sometimes get on calls with someone and that person would tell Esial to behave and then I would.... Ashton uh...."
"Oh.... OH! So there was direct tech communication?" Muir asked eagerly.
Joseph nodded. "I don't know if the phone is still laying around, or if the other kidnapper used their actual phone, but yeah."
Muir pulled out his phone, quickly typing out a text to that effect to the Chief so she could make sure the officers kept an eye out for anything like that. "And I wrote down what dates and times you were being tortured so we can cross reference them."
"It's not much of a lead," Granger said, lifting and eyebrow and Orville reached out and swatted her thigh.
"Not much of a lead is still a lead," Orville argued. "We'll find him, guys."
Muir relaxed, smiling as Joseph nodded, determined despite his exhaustion.
Part 21
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