Chapter Text
It was the last time Lestat listened to Louis. If they had flown like Lestat wanted, then this would not be happening. Now because they had driven, they were stuck in some hick town in the middle of nowhere with no one to fix the car at this time of night. They could see a gas station up ahead maybe there would be a garage open at this time but Lestat seriously doubt it.
“Cher, could you at least get down and help me push the damn thing to the side of the road?” Lestat asked haughtily. He could see Louis rolling his eyes and muttering drama queen from the rearview. But he got out and helped Lestat to push the car, it was so much faster with both pushing that they arrived without breaking a sweat to the gas station. Of course, there was no one at the register and the door was locked, it was only the lights that were still on.
“I swear Lestat if you say that this would not have happened if we had flown to Chicago, I swear I will leave you right now.” Louis said leaning against the car.
Lestat let out a sigh, he knew it was no use to continue that argument. He went to the pay phone to see if there was a phonebook. Maybe there was a 24-hour towing service.
They both looked up as the smell of blood assaulted their senses. They could hear the footsteps of whoever was bleeding coming closer. The guy rounded the corner clutching his stomach, then the smell of blood became prominent, the guy…no the kid could not have been more than 17, he hadn’t even noticed them looking at him.
“Lestat…” that was all Louis whispered before heading over to the boy.
“Hey are you alright, kid?” Louis called out to him.
He looked up once and Louis was beside him in an instant. Even the sight of his face shocked Lestat, he had a busted lip and by the looks of it his ribs were cracked, they could both hear that wispy wet sound whenever he took a breath. To top it off his left eye was slowly shutting down from the swelling. Lestat looked at Louis who was looking at the kid with such wonder. Lestat could not help the little flutter his dead heart gave at the sight of Louis looking at this child like he was the strongest creature out there.
Louis brought his hand up slowly only to have the kid flinch back when Louis tried to touch him.
“Hey Cherie, it’s okay I’m not going to hurt you okay, I just want to take a look at your cuts okay?” Louis whispered soothingly.
For a second Lestat thought the kid would try to walk away but he just collapsed onto the street, with his eyes rolling back. If it weren’t because both of them could still hear the kids beating heart, they would have been scared that he might’ve died.
Lestat arranged the kid around so that he would not be slumped against the wall, He laid him down and took off his jacket to make a makeshift pillow for him.
Louis was looking at him with a pleading face. “Lestat, laisse-moi lui donner un peu de mon sang, sil vous plait.” (Lestat, let me give him some of my blood, please.)
Lestat shook his head, “Non, Louis.”
“Lestat, je ne parle pas de le transformer lui, juste assez pour le guérir lui.” (I'm not talking about transforming him, just enough to heal him.)
“Louis, we don’t know this kid, I mean what are we going to tell him? That he magically healed himself?” Lestat said but wondered if Louis might have a point.
He observed the kid, his breath was coming out shallowly. He conceded that Louis might have a point.
“Fine but we are not turning him, we are only going to take care of him until he regains consciousness and then we are leaving this shitty town? D’accord?”(Okay?)
Louis sent him a blinding smile. “Merci, mon ange.” (Thank you, my angel.)
Lestat knew he would end up regretting this. He pulled the keys from the car and locked it, resigning himself to leaving his baby at some shady gas station.
Louis picked up the kid carefully, the kid only let out a small whimper as Louis settled him against him. Now they had to walk and find a hotel if this stupid town even had a hotel.
Lestat figured it be better if he went ahead and searched the area to find the hotel and then come and get Louis and the kid.
“Cherie, I will go look for a hotel that way we know where we are going and we won’t jostle the kid too much, also less questions and all that.”
Louis gave him a small smile and nodded.
Lestat did not have to go too far two streets over there was a motel six. It was not at all what he was used to, but at the moment it would have to do. He walked in to make a reservation and get that out of the way. He did keep in mind that it would have to be a room with two beds instead of one. The girl at the lobby looked up and stared, it was a common occurrence with both him and Louis and he cursed inwardly. If there were any reports of missing kids, this girl would no doubt turn them in. They should probably keep a low profile while they were staying here, too bad that walking in with a teenager in their arms would be considered a red flag. So much for his idea of keeping a low profile in this small town. They could always take care of the girl in the worst-case scenario, not that Louis would agree at all with that.
He shrugged and gave the receptionist his most charming smile. He asked for a room and got one on the third floor. He wanted to avoid questions, but it seemed like they would have to erase this poor girl’s memory and take the security tapes if the kid died in their care. Lestat let out a sigh, he really hoped the kid would not die on them.
He took his key and headed back to Louis and the kid.
Lestat heard him before he even reached them. Louis was singing to the kid, the same lullaby he had sang to their daughter once upon a time. Lestat could not help the melancholy that gripped him. Whoever this kid was, he swore that he would help him. It was rare for Louis to take an interest in mortals. There was a reason why the coven called Louis Merciful Death, he was the most ruthless killer of them all. He did not discriminate; everyone was fair game to him. For this child to bring out Louis protective side, he must be something special.
Lestat knew that he was screwed there would be nothing that he would deny Louis regarding this kid. He knew Louis would not rest until they found out who had hurt him and made them pay. If he didn’t know any better, he would say Louis was already too invested in the kid. There was nothing Lestat could do about it. He honestly did not know if that was a good or a bad thing.
When he got back, he could see that Louis had already closed most of the kid’s worst cuts with his blood. There was no way he could be angry with him, he was handling the kid with such a care, like he had done with Claudia once upon a time.
He reached them and as soon as Louis heard him, he stopped singing. He only looked at Lestat like a deer caught in the headlights. Lestat smiled sadly and said nothing, instead he helped Louis up and offered to take the kid himself. Louis let go of the kid reluctantly. Lestat was careful not move the kid too much as he placed his face on the crook of his neck and carried him bridal style to the motel.
Louis was not as good at manipulating mortals’ memories, but he was great at distracting mortals by simply walking into a room. Louis went into the hotel first and started asking the young girl at the reception if there were any good diners around. While Lestat used his speed to head to the elevators and take the kid to their room.
Louis thanked the girl and excused himself when he heard the elevator ding. Lestat was holding the doors open so he could get in and they could head to their room.
The room smelled faintly of tobacco and the cleaning chemicals the hotel used.
Louis had been too quiet on the way up and as Lestat placed the kid on the bed Louis had already gone to the bathroom to get some towels and warm water to clean up most of the blood marring the kid’s body.
Lestat was finally able to look at the kid. Lestat had to remove his jacket, shirt, and pants to be able to assess the damage this kid had taken. He let out a gasp as he saw the rest of the kids’ body. His abdomen had bruises in the shape of boots. The ugliest of them was the one on his solar plexus, it was a deep purple that was almost pink with the edges slowly ebbing into green.
Louis dropped the ice bucket he had filled with water, if it had not been for Lestat’s quick reflexes the water would have spilled all over the carpet.
“Mon Dieu!! Who would do such a thing to a child, Lestat?” Louis’ rage at whomever had done this was palpable.
Lestat though about the days when he still lived in Auvergne, how his father would mock him instead of listening to his son’s wishes. Lestat sat down by the kids’ side placed the ice bucket filled with water on the bureau and began washing away the blood with the towel Louis had brought.
He gave a shrug before answering, “Sometimes it’s the people you least expect, Louis. Maybe he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, we won’t know until he regains consciousness tomorrow evening and all we can do is hope he trusts us enough to let us help him.”
Louis surprised him by placing a kiss on his cheek and murmuring an apology. Not that he knew where Lestat’s thought had gone to when he asked about who could have done this to the kid. Even after all these centuries it still hurt to think of that specific time in France.
Louis had gone very still beside him, his stare fixed at the boy lying on the bed. Finally, Lestat was done cleaning up all the blood from the kids face and some from his chest.
Lestat’s chest suddenly felt too tight, the boy lying on the bed reminded him of himself when he was just shy of 18. The boy was tanned and toned, it looked like he would work out almost every day, a halo of blonde hair adorned his face.
Lestat had to blink a few times to reign in back the tears. Louis was suddenly pulling him up and giving his hand a squeeze. He only moved him slightly to arrange the boy underneath the covers, they both knew in the state the boy’s body was in he would probably wake up tomorrow night at the same time as them if not later.
Louis made sure that the blinds were closed completely, he pulled the comforter from the bed and made a makeshift curtain ensuring that there would be no light coming in from the window in the morning. He put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign out in their door and grabbed his hand. Lestat looked at him with wonder. It was so strange for Louis to show any kind of affection towards him even after all this time. Louis only smiled and pulled him towards the bed, pulling the flimsy sheet back so that they could get beneath it. Louis did not say anything just made sure that Lestat was hugging him as he laid down on top of his chest.
Lestat would take this, it had been way too long since there was any type of intimacy between them. It was both of their faults, Lestat was too stubborn to apologize and Louis was just too afraid that Lestat would mock him if he really told him what he was feeling. This trip was supposed to help them work through some of their issues, in all honesty Lestat doubted it would work, but the coven was tired of always hearing them bitch separately and so Marius had told them to get their shit together or just leave each other for good. Since neither one of them wanted to give up on the other they decided they would try and get their shit together as the kids said now a days. They could feel the pull of the dead sleep pulling them into unconsciousness as the sun rose higher in the sky. Tomorrow they would deal with whatever was thrown at them, for today he was content to just lay with his beloved in his arms.