Chapter Text
Ever since Gideon sent over those files regarding the cloning program at the orphanage, Zeno had begun to have terrible dreams. He wasn't foolish enough to think himself unbothered by such vivid displays of twisted behavior. Most of them were quickly forgotten as soon as he woke up. His sleeping shirt was sticky as a cold sweat covered his skin. The blankets were in disarray where he had kicked the comforter off the end of the bed as if he were fighting and struggling for freedom from those horrible visions. His heart was raging inside of his chest as the sour taste of fear nestled at the back of his throat.
He couldn't go back to sleep after that no matter how tired he was. The memory was gone but the dread lingered inside his chest for hours after. Zeno's hands shook as he fumbled for a cigarette and clumsily juggled the lighter where it rested on his nightstand. He took both to the bathroom before shutting the door and turning on the air purifier built into the space. A small white wall lamp lit the air with its comfortable illumination that was much easier on his weary eyes as he ignited the lighter until the orange glow smoldered back at him in the reflection of the mirror. The whir of the air purifier was a hush in the sleepy darkness overhead as he dragged out a breath.
The shaking didn't stop. He began his usual method of calming down by counting backwards from ten with every pull of the cigarette. He let the burn of the nicotine fill his lungs for several seconds before reclining his head back to exhale it all out past his lips towards the filtration vent. His head grew dizzy with the light headedness caused by the smoke but he relished in the feeling as it eased back the haunting sense of dread with something he had a little more control in. He continued that process until the unsettling feeling faded and he reached the end of his cigarette.
He watched the ember grow dull and pathetic in the reflection of the mirror until he put the butt out in the sink then dropped it into the trash beside the counter. Zeno let the purifier run for a few more minutes as he washed the smell of the cigarette off of his hands then brushed his teeth. The predictability of routine was soothing to his nerves. These were the things he had control over. These were the parts of his life that he had a choice in. He was stronger than his fears. It will not conquer him.
For several days this had become the norm. He was frustrated and partially blamed the fact the entire facility has been on lockdown due to the weather over the last few days. The storms had raged for three days causing extensive damage across the dilapidated city. Some areas faced unexpected flash flooding from the runoff trickling into the crater turning it into a miniature lake. Mudslides were quite common this time of year as supporting walls of previously used caverns gave way under the erosion.
Zeno didn't enjoy being cooped up like this for so long. He wanted out. Clearly it was getting to him having that choice denied to him. He couldn't even have a cigarette outside while watching the steady rainfall. The NO-AH protocol had sealed all the doors due to the risks until the emergency weather alert ended.
Frustrated but unable to change that fact, Zeno turned his attention on something a little more productive. He flipped off the air purifying and turned on the lights on the bathroom vanity to begin his day properly with a shower. Because what better way to alleviate stress than racing a built-in hot water timer?
He swore he was going to find the designer one of these days and give them a very stern piece of his mind.
The afternoon of the fourth day the facility’s A.I. system NO-AH declared the lockdown to finally be over. The security teams for the facility were monitoring the immediate vicinity of the facility entryways only. Until the weather had settled and they could get some drones out to inspect the damages to compile a safety report for all teams, they weren't leaving the building anytime soon.
Luckily for Zeno, he wasn't a part of that restriction. Using his enhanced speed, he darted through the halls bypassing every single person who might dare to stop him to consult with more paperwork in their dull little reclusive lives, until he made it to the first top level exit. He eagerly took the elevator to reach the helipad and breathed a sigh of relief to find it completely absent of any life. With Redemption on his hip, a dark rain jacket over his shoulders and a fire in his gut, Zeno relished in that first breath of fresh air.
He noted the ground was still quite soggy with large puddles laying on the topsoil around the helipad. The sky was riddled with scattered clouds intermittently broken up by spots of warm sun. The humidity was already creeping in with the aftermath of the storm. The ravines were swollen with the filthy water as it created a dense slurry in the smaller pits from wash out on the streets. As Zeno made his way through the debris field of collapsing buildings reaching their limits, and shattered glasswork with twisted rusted steel piercing the earth for those that lost their war of attrition against the fierce weather conditions, he noted that some displaced bioweapons had been caught up in the mess.
Many of the infected leftover from the initial outbreak of the city had been pinned under debris and ripped their emaciated limbs apart in a desperate attempt to escape their impromptu prisons. They crawled and squirmed into the muddy ground as rusty blood bubbled up from their gaping wounds. Zeno didn't bother to waste his time or ammo on them. The security team would assess it later and report the number of infected casualties. Zeno already expected the expense report for repairs and replacements was going to be rather costly.
It couldn't be helped. The weather was something they couldn't control in the end. They had loss buffers for this exact reason. He continued through the city making his way along the streets and sloped overpasses that had caved in to create unnatural ramps for him to scale with only a little bit of trouble. The piles of broken and rusted machinery from old vehicles gave him enough of a boost up. The only problem was how slick the metal was from the rain and dust mixing together. Once he was up high, he had a much better bird's eye view of the landscape. Aside from a few smaller buildings who were already in extreme disrepair, Zeno didn't see any serious changes to be concerned with.
‘I wonder if Chris’ team survived the storm.’ It occurred to Zeno that there was a very good chance that the room on the cliff side was no longer there. It would be a miracle if it managed to weather the runoff and soil erosion. He hoped they were smart enough to pack up and move before the storm reached the city.
‘They’re very good at their jobs. Of course they did.’ He shouldn't worry. It would do him no good in the end. It wasn't like he could do anything to change that fact. They were the opposition to his efforts here. Enemies of the Connections that needed to be avoided at all costs. He fraternized with them enough as is. If they were smart, they would pack up and leave this place permanently. Zeno didn't know what exactly they were after here but it wasn't worth the consequences it would inevitably cost them. No matter how good the Wolves were at their jobs, there was an entire battalion of elite soldiers under the Connection’s command guarding the ARK, and more bioweapons than they could even imagine. It would be suicide for them to go up against those odds no matter how enhanced they may be. Chasing Zeno through the city in a relentless pursuit was one thing, but an entire army against a six man unit was inconceivable.
Zeno grimaced to himself as the thought made his stomach clench into uneasy knots. He withdrew a cigarette from the inside breast pocket of his dark rain jacket and lit up. The leather of his gloves groaned as he gripped the lighter tightly while trying to guide the flame to catch. That first inhale was always the best as the nicotine hit his system with a dizzying haze and the idle burn of the smoke held firmly in his lungs. He let it sink in as he let that burn shake off his senseless worries and let it all go in one long slow exhale. It soothed his mind as he stood up high on the overpass and enjoyed the tickle of the wind against his neck where the collar didn't quite block it out. The little spurts of sun felt nice as the breeze tousled his hair until loose strands fell across his brow and temple.
Drawing another breath, he balanced the cigarette between his lips as he carded his free hand through his hair to draw it back. The view of the mountains was nice up here as he gazed out over the city towards the edge of the crater. Where the withered and scorched corpses remained, he could just make out the early greener where the forest was stubbornly pushing back. He imagined what it may look like in twenty or even thirty more years. If the walls go down and they're able to restabilize the soil and transplant new life, would the region be able to recover from this? Could this terrible tragedy be reclaimed by nature once more?
Zeno had seen the paintings of what the mountains once looked like before the incident. Spencer had entire landscapes made in elaborate portraits of the Arklay peaks. The bright reds and burning golds as the leaves of autumn wreathed the peaks like a luxurious coat sparsely interrupted by the deep green pines. He had found some older photographs kept in albums of the sunbathed slopes in the height of Summer. Glistening lakes with the morning fog like a delicate scarf around the edges distorting the sunlight of dawn into a golden beacon. This land was beautiful. That is until like all good things in this world, a group of egotistical old men with a self serving mission got their hands on it. They fought over it like feral beasts and tore down every beautiful thing that made it worth having in the first place and laid the blame elsewhere.
As Zeno was finishing his cigarette, he caught a distinct sound carried on the wind. Perplexed by the source, his gaze swiveled in the direction the breeze was coming from and saw the tiny flash of movement between two buildings. A rope line had tangled in the debris of a slanted building a few blocks away. A single figure dangled from it as the ropes swayed back and forth. On the floor above, a pack of Garmr were snarling at the individual who made a hasty deployment to escape them. Their luck was poor when Zeno noted a few more of the pack had remained outside the building where they circled and climbed the stonework in an attempt to get enough purchase on the sloped bricks to leap back at the unfortunate soul. As the afternoon sun hit their silhouette, casting golden rays over the shadowed shelter of the structure where it refracted off the nearby building's shinier facade it was propped against, he could see the distinctive headgear with its dusky brown coloring and the slate grey jacket.
“That is one of Chris’ men.” Zeno flicked his cigarette aside where it landed in a standing puddle and hastily made his way in the direction of the building. He pushed his body to exert his physical speed to get there as quickly as possible. He leapt over obstacles, and climbed over walls that would have normally stopped a lesser man in his tracks. The soldier didn't cry out in fear after the initial sound of alarm that drew Zeno's attention, but he appeared to be unarmed. As Zeno got closer, he spotted the soldier's rifle crushed to pieces between the jaws of one of the Garmr where it had fallen free from his person. ‘That makes a little more sense now.’
“Good doggies.” He heard the strained voice of the man as he dangled above like a deeply enticing chew toy. “I'm not a very tasty snack I'll have you know.”
Zeno breathed deeply of the air in his approach. The smell of the Garmr was potent with the entire pack gathered in such close proximity. Their stench was sour and musky like a skunk’s. It burned his nostrils causing Zeno to shake off the repulsive stench. This whole area reeked of it with the accompanying ammonia smell of their extensive markings. The soldier must have accidentally stumbled into the heart of their territory. The recent storm may have even dampened the warning signs to keep away.
“Whoa! Shit!” The soldier gasped. Zeno recognized that voice as belonging to K. It was a little strained and breathy as he clung to the rope keeping him above the snapping maws of the three bioweapons below him. Zeno's golden eyes studied the direction that K was anxiously staring up at. One of the Garmr had turned towards chewing on the elevator cable he had anchored himself to. “No, no, no! Bad dog!”
It had been an impulsive decision on Zeno's part to rush to the soldier’s aid like this. It wasn't his concern. It didn't matter what happened to an outsider. The Garmr were simply doing what they were programmed to do. He could still walk away. He could let the soldier die and maybe that would finally teach Chris the lesson he should have heeded weeks ago. The loss isn't worth the goal in the end. If he valued his squad as much as Zeno suspected he did, then he would learn the hard way to protect those that remained. This was the nature of the war they had both been drawn into. The way the world worked. The way this was always meant to play out. As if by design -as if scripted by Gods- this was inevitable.
‘By design.’
‘By Gods.’
Zeno almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. He was tired of that same old rhetoric. It had been pounded into his head for so many years and he was desperate for a change.
‘What about choice?’ He had the power. He had the means. He had the opportunity. What good is having all of that if he wasn't going to seize the chance at his fingertips. To make a choice for himself. To change the course and everyone else could be damned.
K gasped above him as his leather gloves gripped the rope in a futile desperation. Blood soaked through the sleeve of his right arm staining the grey material an off burgundy color. “Lobo! Lobo please be close by!”
The cable snapped under the Garmr’s jaws. K dropped. Zeno moved faster than he's ever moved before as he lunged towards a nearby wall to get the leverage off the cinder supports to leap over the pursuing Garmr. He wasn't sure if he was even going to make it in time but it was too late to second guess that now. One arm snatched the front of K’s vest as he put his body between the soldier and the bioweapon. The sting of teeth punctured his left shoulder as the mighty maw chomped down on Zeno from the side. The weight of the beast nearly knocked him over as Zeno reinforced his stance. He dropped the soldier to land unceremoniously on his ass at Zeno's feet as his right hand drew Redemption and planted a bullet in the heads of the other two Garmr that lunged for K first. Their heads were an explosion of gore as the deafening bang of his gun punched through their reinforced skulls like they were made of wet paper shells. Fur and flesh splattered the surrounding debris laden ground as Zeno turned his gun on the creature whose jaw was still locked around his shoulder. It snarled at him as they stood in a stalemate. Zeno's golden eyes locked with the beast’s half feral gaze as he coldly demanded.
“Let me go, now.”
The Garmr whined, reluctant to obey. Zeno slipped the end of his barrel through the parted gap between the bioweapon's teeth as its lips drew back in a stubborn snarl. Aiming at its throat, the beast started to gag and choke before Zeno pulled the trigger. Its grip released. The burning pain of its teeth being wrenched out of his shoulder by the force of its slumping body weight did not feel good in the slightest. It was nothing more than a pathetic mound of bloody fur in the muddy earth now. Devoid of life. Devoid of choice.
“I warned you.” Zeno regarded the beast with a coldness in his words before turning his attention on the other two watching them from above. The Garmr had gone still and quiet. His eyes locked with the beasts and they quickly turned to flee with their tails tucked between their legs. Hopefully they would no longer be a bother. Garmr were one of the few bioweapons that his pheromones deterred quite well. He imagined this case wasn't as cut and dry after the beasts had been quite riled up by their new toy and the smell of fresh blood in the air. It became a competition over a food source instead of heeding their usual instincts.
“Zeno?” K’s voice was tight in his throat. He sounded pretty shaken up as he shifted to kneel on the ground at Zeno's feet. Their eyes met. Zeno thumbed the hammer on Redemption thoughtfully before returning it to his holster. He could already feel the flesh torn apart by the Garmr’s teeth stitching itself back together. An uncomfortable burning sensation spread across his upper back through the damaged muscles that he pointedly ignored.
‘This is my choice.’ He reminded himself sternly. ‘I’ll gladly bear the consequences.’
“Are you alright?” He inquired to the soldier instead. His attention fixed on where K was babying his wounded arm against his ribs like it deeply pained him. K followed Zeno's look down at where his fingers were loosely bunched against his knee.
“It's not as bad as it looks. I'll be good as new in a few hours.” Zeno breathed deeply of the air as K let out a shaky breath. He must have been in excruciating pain. His focus was wilting as his head dipped briefly. He noticed that K’s pheromones were absent from the air as well.
‘Suppressors.’ It made him wonder if by suppressing their bio-chemical scents, if it also bore the unpleasant side effect of nullifying or simply dampening their own unique abilities. Or if this was just the norm for Chris’ team whenever they were injured in combat.
“What happened? Where is the rest of your unit?”
K took another deep breath. His shoulders trembled on the exhale followed by another. Blood dripped down into the glove on his hand. The moisture built up into fat drops of crimson that stained the muddy denim of his pant leg. “Alpha gave orders to scout the area.” K breathed again as his words started to grow quieter. His head didn't lift to meet Zeno's again. “Lobo ‘n I. We-”
He swallowed thickly. Then shook his head. K tried again. “We got separated. Lost comms. Lost track. The pack of- of- of those fuckers came….”
“That's enough.” He wasn't going to make the man struggle through it any longer. K was clearly in a bad way. They couldn't really stay in the open like this. Not with the rest of the pack so close. They were liable to give the rest of the Hound Wolf Squad problems if they entered the remaining pack’s territory. K’s gun was unsalvageable. It was a bunch of metal shards now. The soldier mindlessly plucked the bullets out of the mud with his good hand before stuffing them into his pocket where the magazine clip had been busted open. Once he had collected the ammo from his rifle, Zeno reached down to collect the soldier up into his own arms to carry him out of Garmr territory. K only made a minor sound of pained surprise but adjusted sluggishly in Zeno's strong embrace. He felt a lot lighter than Zeno anticipated as he held the man in a lover-like embrace.
“Where is your base camp located?”
K was quiet. Zeno gave him a little jostle to get his attention. “Base camp. What direction?”
“North East of the main gate.”
Then that was south east of their current position. If Zeno started in that vague direction, he was sure to cross paths with the rest of the unit in time. Holding K carefully in his arms, he began the trek through the chaotic urban jungle ahead of him.
K had managed to stay conscious with the persistence of Zeno keeping him awake and alert enough to keep his head up and occasionally talking. It was a slurred mess past clumsy lips that was hard to make sense of, but Zeno was relieved to hear it nonetheless. He wasn't as adept in medical knowledge as most of the people in the ARK facility with only the basics under his belt for minor issues such as head injuries, sprains, large bleeds and sickness. He knew that keeping K aware and talking was important but lacked the more nuisance reasoning behind it.
“You’re….a good...bird…ya know that?” K had mumbled into Zeno's ear as his head dipped. “A pretty bird- a birdy birdy.”
‘Why am I a bird?’ It was beyond his comprehension whatever the drunken logic was in K’s head at the moment. He chalked it up to a side effect of the blood loss. The man even started to whistle. It was a weak attempt that failed rather miserably to hold much air as his lips pursed in hopeless attempts to salvage sounds. Zeno was relieved to see the familiar outline of another of K’s squad members.
“There is your comrade.” Zeno urged with enthusiasm as he darted across the broken pavement over rusted and buckled fencing that once outlined an enclosed parking lot. He cut the corner to reach the next street as the soldier turned at the sound of hastily approaching steps. The red cross patch on the front breast of the man's vest distinguished Lobo from the rest of his unit as he rushed towards them.
“Zeno? Shit! K?! What happened to you two?” They quickly closed the distance as Zeno stopped before the man. Lobo was already removing his rifle strap from his shoulder as he gestured for the younger man to place K on the ground to be checked over. Zeno happily obliged.
“A pack of Garmr surrounded him.” Zeno was careful as he laid K down on the asphalt. Lobo was already working on removing the younger soldier's jacket to have a look at the bleeding. Zeno stood up to leave, allowing the two to take care of themselves from here. There were no other threats in the area that Zeno could smell. Nothing had carved out a territory here so it should be safe enough, and he suspected the rest of the squad wouldn't be too far off. He needed to get moving before they showed up. Lobo was too preoccupied with K’s condition to pay Zeno’s absence any mind which was exactly how he preferred it. He made his way back down the street he had come and crossed the intersection headed towards a highway overpass that would provide him a straight shot shortcut back to where he started with a cigarette in hand. He walked briskly towards the next street as he cut the corner short headed for the highway he could see standing prominently above the next set of buildings.
He was not expecting to run right smack into a large solid black shape that he bounced back off of like it was made of solid bricks. His sunglasses bounced to the end of his nose with the impact as he swayed then steadied his stance. With how hard the impact was, he half expected to find a T-501 standing in front of him but last he checked none had been deployed in the city.
“Zeno?” The gruff voice questioned. The younger man wasn't expecting to run -quite literally might he add- into the Captain of the Hound Wolf Squad. Adjusting his glasses back in place, Zeno scowled at the older man as one hand steadied his right shoulder with a firm grip. The soldier cursed. “Christ, look at your shoulder.”
“I'm fine.” Zeno insisted as he dipped his shoulder away from Chris’ touch to duck around the soldier’s fussing. “Your man is more deserving of your immediate attention.”
Zeno darted to the side to evade Chris' touch as he continued towards the overpass. He wasn't expecting to be grabbed by another of the soldier's men as they looped an arm around Zeno's midsection and quickly hoisted him off his feet just like last time. He was getting really tired of being manhandled by wolves today. The sturdy grip transferred to the familiar bulging biceps of the Captain as he was passed into Chris’ embrace, firmly slumped over the shoulder of the larger man like a fussing child. He was tempted to lash out as he ground his teeth in frustration.
“Tundra, Umber Eyes, go help Lobo with Canine.” Chris gave his orders.
“Yes Captain.” The man he presumed to be Umber Eyes answered obediently as Tundra assured.
“On it Captain.”
“Night Howl, you're with me. We're taking our little bird back home.” The direction they began to head was towards the overpass. When they reached the ramp, instead of heading towards it, they turned the opposite direction away from it as they followed the streets several blocks over then took a right. Several more blocks in that direction took them to an old school building with a decrepit playground nearby. They cut through the gaping rusted fence in the rear lot over the desolate playground with its abandoned and rotting equipment left in disarray, before entering the rear bay doors that appeared to take them directly to the school's kitchen area. They walked into the cafeteria space which doubled as a gymnasium, and currently hosted the base camp for the squad. There were sleeping cots folded out, several tables covered in an assortment of equipment that had been hastily abandoned in the middle of projects, and a laptop whose screen was still in rest mode.
“I detest your stubbornness.” Zeno grumbled as Chris made no move to put him down just yet. The soldier hummed.
“You'll get used to it in due time.” That was not something Zeno was at all eager to do. He glared down at the soldier's back as he reached down to pinch the unguarded meat of his hip.
Chris jerked with a hissed out. “Ow!” Zeno did it again in the same exact spot. Another hiss followed. Then another pinch, and this one earned Zeno a deep rolling growl from the soldier. “Quit it!”
“Then put me down.”
Another growl rolled through the air. A shiver skated along Zeno's spine making him quiver at the power behind that warning. Yet he continued to poke -or pinch, in this case- the proverbial bear.
“Fuck!” Chris cursed before dropping Zeno unceremoniously on the nearest open cot. The younger man noticed as his body hit the canvas beside the neatly folded sleeping bag and camp pillow, that the whole thing was saturated in Chris’ unique pheromone signature. It filled his every breath, redirecting the younger man's attention away from Chris’ muffled griping as he rubbed at the abused meat of his hip. Zeno breathed deeply through his nose as that scent filled his head with the dizzying reminder of their first night together. His face flushed with the shameful memory as that enticing aroma eased some of the tension out of his tightly wound limbs. His head swam momentarily before Zeno shook the temptation away. His prickly mood had been smoothed down a little, if only enough to be tolerable, as Chris regarded him with a critical eye. His honeyed gaze raked over Zeno's figure as the intensity in that look softened to something more apologetic.
“You rescued K.” It wasn't a question. Zeno didn't feel compelled to explain himself either. He dropped his gaze to the floor where the dingy wooden boards had been eaten up by years of neglect and dust. They lacked any sort of luster they may have once harbored. “Thank you.”
“I was only repaying a favor after your man helped me.” It was a flimsy attempt at justification. He could reasonably argue that he only ended up in that miserable position because of Chris’ men, and that Lobo was merely making up for his comrade’s mistakes. Yet he didn't. He fell quiet.
It was then that he realized Night Howl was no longer in the room with them. It was just him and Chris alone together. It's been a while since this last happened and Zeno was nervous. The energy in the room had shifted and he didn't understand the implications of why. Chris’ expression relaxed. His honeyed eyes were tender and then the soldier was kneeling down in front of him. His powerful fingers were delicate as they gingerly began to remove the bloodstained fabric of Zeno's rain coat.
“Let me take a look, please?” Zeno didn't refuse. His gaze flitted up to meet Chris’ calm amber before darting back down to the floor once more. The soldier took that as consent and continued to take the jacket off. He was cautious as he coaxed Zeno to move his arms with the motion. The stained fabric came to rest folded on the floor at the soldier's side as he began loosening the tie, then unbuttoning the front of the silk shirt with deft fingers. He eased the damaged white fabric over Zeno's shoulders as the pale expanse of exposed skin met the soldier's concerned eyes. They studied every inch of the younger man's torso as warm bare fingers palpated the surrounding areas searching for tenderness. He was extra cautious near Zeno's neck and the left side of his face where the dark rash marks resided.
“Are they spreading?” Chris asked as his thumb lightly massaged the warm skin at the nape of Zeno's neck. The rashy black coloring had spread a little further down his neck where the RCS was growing more persistent with time. He pushed his body too much today. A consequence of altruism leaves no good deed unpunished.
“I told you I'm fine.” Zeno reasserted. His wounds had already healed. He nudged the fabric of his dress shirt back up over his shoulders just as the rear door to the kitchen was thrown open by Night Howl to lead the rest of the team inside. Lobo rushed in ahead as he directed Tundra and Umber Eyes to lay K down on one of the cots.
“What's the status?” Chris shifted gears to focus on his team and K’s welfare as he rose from his spot beside Zeno to inspect his men over. Zeno seized the opportunity to fix his clothing back into proper place as Lobo gave a quick rundown.
“A sizable laceration on his right arm. I cleaned the site and stitched it up. At the worst, he's woozy from blood loss. Nothing an I.V. and a few hours of rest can't fix. He'll be healed up by supper.”
Chris growled approvingly. “That's good. Good job everyone.” Zeno felt a tight little spasm stir in the center of his back at that sound. A tingly rush of something akin to a good deep stretch itched at his spine but didn't expand beyond that. He flexed his shoulders and bent over to collect his jacket to shake the strange feeling out. When he sat back up on the cot to pull his coat back on, he felt the warm brush of fingers combing back the messy strands of his hair from his brow. Zeno startled for a moment, jerking his head back to find Chris standing at his side once more. His already intimidating stature looked monstrous in this position as the soldier settled a steadying hand across his upper back. The warm calloused touch of his thumb massaged the back of the younger man's neck as he asked.
“Stay for dinner?”
Zeno frowned at the invitation. A skeptical raise of his brow met the soldier's tender eyes. “Why?”
“Because I want you to.”
His stomach did a nervous little flip. It was a simple request. A stupid little thing, and yet Zeno found himself caught between the logical route that leaving would be best for keeping a professional distance, and that longing he felt before in the aftermath of the book. The sense of companionship and comfort that came with a small merry band of misfits sharing a meal around a campfire. He wanted that feeling again, to be able to experience it and judge for himself if it was truly the same or if he were simply fooling himself with carefully constructed lies.
“Wouldn't your squad prefer I leave?”
Chris frowned as the hand at Zeno's neck reached around to caress the side of his face instead. His fingers dipped down to hook firmly under the younger man's chin to direct their gazes until they met. Zeno’s expression was stoic, indifferent even, while Chris’ appeared frustrated as he searched the younger man's expression. “Why would you think that?”
Zeno didn't answer. Chris didn't push. Instead the Captain urged in a more positive direction. “They want you here just like I do. How else is Canine gonna get the chance to thank you for saving his ass today?”
It was a thin excuse -though still a reasonable enough one in the end- to persuade Zeno into agreeing.
“I suppose I could stay. Until your man is on his feet enough to show his gratitude. Then I'm leaving.” Zeno firmly outlined his stance on the situation. Setting boundaries ahead of time so that Chris would be forced to respect and obey them. “Understood?”
“Yes. Understood.” Chris’ toothy smile that he shared at Zeno didn't inspire much confidence with that agreement but he brushed it off.
“Good.” Zeno refused to acknowledge that the shaky tension in the air had met a sudden rush of relief, though that fluttery feeling that flitted about his stomach failed to cease. As Chris brushed his fingers through the younger man's hair a few more times, he withdrew his touch to focus on another concern brought up by Umber Eyes that involved the loss of Canine's firearm. While those two were busy, Zeno took the small opportunity for privacy to silently berate himself for his own insanity on this matter. Making a den with wolves was going to one day get him eaten and he had nobody else to blame but himself when it does.