stop (now a sad? one >:3)
It was all he could do to keep his wits about him. The sounds of battle ad war raged around him, beating against his skull like a war drum and yet he pushed past the pain, past the pressure and the exhaustion because there was something a hell of a lot more important that needed his attention.
"Come on.... Come ON!" He pushed himself faster, his wings beating harder and harder to catch up to the being that was 100 feet below him and the distance was not lessoning. He couldn't be late, he wouldn't be too late. He had to get there in time or else....
There was no room for 'or else'. He gritted against the muscles screaming in his back, in his wings in his shoulders. Every cell cried for relief, just for a moment but he ignored it.
70 feet.
"Wiccan!" He was so close, and yet Billy had failed to regain consciousness. The energy blast had barely skimmed Teddy's shoulder but it was just enough to slam into the back of Billy's head right as the spell he was casting left his lips. He had already failed once. He wasn't going to do so again.
20 feet.
10 feet.
He caught the very dregs of Billy's cloak and hurled him up and against his body with only one moment more to angle himself out of a direct nosedive. Pain exploded along his head, shoulders, back, the world nothing but blurs of color before it slowed and finally stopped.
All he could hear was his heart, the breath tearing from his chest and for another long, agonizing moment, it was all Teddy could do but just let the pain wash over him. The second he felt his healing ability kick in he was moving, rolling so that Billy was laying down against the ground, shielded by Teddy's body.
"Come on, Bee. You gotta wake up now okay?" His hand slid to the back of Billy's head and was only slightly relieved that there wasn't any blood. But a blast like that, with how hot he personally knew those chambers were, didn't mean much. It could have cauterized on contact, doing nothing to aid the wound behind it.
"Bee...Billy. Please, love wake up. Please..." He shook him as much as he dared, ignoring the sounds of the raging and dying around him. This couldn't be it. This wouldn't be it. This was not how he was going to lose his husband.
"Not today, Death you bastard. Not Today. Come on, Billy..." He shook him once more, barely tapping the skin of Billy's cheek only to see the black eyelashes flutter and finally open. Every ounce of air left Teddy's lungs in a gush, and his head fell down to rest on Billy's shoulder.
Thank the gods... Oh, he didn't care what he had to do to repay them, he would. Thank the Gods.
"Unngh, what... What happened?" Billy's words were slurred, but they seemed to clear the more he came into awareness. Teddy pressed a kiss to Billy's neck, his chin and finally his lips before he pulled back enough to look into his eyes.
"Someone got a lucky shot." He couldn't help the smile, the all out relief that made the pain, the fighting and world around them fall into the background. "But you're okay. Just might have a nasty bump after this." He leaned back, wings still curled around them both as Teddy helped Billy sit upright. Billy's hand moved to the back of his head, hissing when he felt the now obvious line of bald skin.
"And a new hairstyle apparently." He looked up into Teddy's eyes, suddenly realizing how close the king was to breaking. "I'm okay, Tee. But we need to move, there are people who-"
"No." The command came out harsher than he intended but he didn't back down. He saw the familiar stubbornness flash in Billy's eyes, but Teddy didn't let him continue the thought. "No, we're done. Lauri-Ell can handle things from here. You and I need to go."
"But Teddy we can't I mean, look around-"
"Billy, stop." Teddy cupped his husband's cheeks, holding him still so he had nothing else to do but to look at him. "I'm exhausted, you damn near almost fell head first into the crust of this planet and I am not going to allow you to kill yourself when we have people who can help finish this." He rarely pulled rank, hated doing it, especially when it came to Billy. But the image of his lifeless body falling faster than Teddy could catch him would not leave his minds eye, and he doubted it would for a long, long time.
"Please... Our forces are pushing them back. I was about to tell you when someone got a lucky shot past me, okay? Let my Accuser handle this and let's go home." He could see Billy struggling, fighting against what he knew he could do and what he knew he should do. And just when Teddy thought he was going to have to haul his stubborn husband over his shoulder and take him home himself, he saw Billy slump in defeat.
"Okay. Let's go home."