Interludes (In the Company of Shadows Book Three)

 

Interlude 3.24 - Making it Count

Sin tilted his head back against the driver's seat and tried not to allow his eyes to slide closed. His long fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly as he guided the rented truck down the winding mountain road. He tried to focus on the sharp turns and not the feel of Boyd's mouth wrapped around his cock.

"Fuck," he uttered hoarsely as Boyd's mouth briefly withdrew.

The blond agent smirked to himself and shifted into a position that would allow more access to Sin's lap. He wound up hunkered down in the passenger seat and twisted sideways.

"Eyes on the road, Vega," Boyd drawled and took Sin in his mouth again.

Sin bit down on his lower lip, his fingers clenching the wheel tighter. The feel of those full lips and wet mouth gliding over his erection would never get old. He dropped one hand from the wheel and gripped the back of Boyd's head, flexing his fingers as Boyd took him down to the base.

"Ah..." Sin uttered in a high, strained voice, releasing a shuddering gasp and a swear in Mandarin.

Boyd made a sound deep in his throat that vibrated around Sin's dick. Sin's mouth dropped open and he released a breathless series of desperate moans that filled the car and mingled with the music that was playing.

The road was relatively empty and surrounded by trees, which was fortunate. The town in northern Vermont was small and he and Boyd stood out enough without vehicular sex adding to it. Sin had chosen the town because of its distance from any major cities and its relative isolation. It was only an hour away from Canada and surrounded by state parks and mountains.

Sometimes it was easy to forget the fact that the war hadn't damaged every part of the country. Sin hadn't seen such pristine and untouched beauty in nature since he'd been a child.

But right now he couldn't focus on the scenic road, the trees, the moose crossing signs or the green mountains that soared above the forests and went well into the sky. The only nature he could focus on was the sheer animal instinct to thrust violently into Boyd's talented mouth.

Boyd was giving it to him wet and sloppy, just the way Sin liked it. He liked the feel of Boyd slavering on his dick, of saliva and precum glistening on Boyd's lips. There was something incredibly hot about Boyd playing the part of the dick hungry whore but when he glanced up at Sin with a smoldering look, Sin reminded himself that Boyd wasn't really playing. Over the past few years he'd become a connoisseur of oral sex; it turned him on almost as much as getting fucked.

"Yes," Sin moaned, his eyes rolling back in his head as he began fucking Boyd's mouth faster. "God, yes."

He bucked his hips frantically, feeling Boyd's saliva running down his shaft and into his pubic hair. He could feel Boyd's lips tightening around his thick cock and Boyd's jaw working as he took the length of it deep into his throat.

The pressure in Sin's stomach began to build overwhelmingly and lights sparked behind his eyes as he briefly squeezed them shut.

Sin was practically hunched over the steering wheel, his breath coming out in frantic sobs as he did his best to come in the two minutes they had left before he turned into the town.

The muscles in Sin's body tensed like springs on the verge of snapping. He turned onto the edge of Main Street and came explosively in Boyd's mouth with a strangled shout. Boyd swallowed easily, his throat still working around Sin's cock as he took in every drop.

Sin's lower lip was torn and bleeding from the pressure of his teeth biting down on it. He slumped back into the seat and tried to ignore that his vision seemed off somehow, as though an explosion had gone off behind his eyes.

Boyd zipped up Sin's pants and slid up nonchalantly just as Sin guided the car alongside the sidewalk and stopped. He wiped his mouth with his hand and glanced out the window calmly, as if he hadn't just finished giving a world class blow job. He observed Main Street, literally the town's main street, and the group of five stores that were on it.

Sin didn't move. He stared at Boyd from beneath nearly closed eyelids and fought the urge to drag Boyd across the center console and kiss him savagely.

Sin didn't know if Boyd felt his gaze on him or if he saw the reflection in the window, but after a moment he looked over. A self-satisfied smirk stretched his lips. "Now who's the troublemaker?"

"You're the one deep throating me while I'm driving," Sin replied flatly, eyes burning like green fire as he stared at his lover.

Boyd shrugged but still seemed quite pleased with himself. "It was too tempting." His fingers curled around the door handle and he was out of the truck before Sin had the chance to respond. "Let's go," he said as he shut the door.

Sin took the keys out of the ignition and got out of the truck, subtly fixing his pants before they entered the store. It looked more like a convenience store than a grocery store but there did seem to be a variety of things crammed inside.

The cashier at the front of the store looked at them curiously as they went inside and Sin ignored his gaze. He followed Boyd into the dairy section and reached out to idly wrap his fingers around Boyd's shoulder, squeezing slightly and moving closer to him.

Boyd paused and looked over his shoulder questioningly.

Sin's eyes flicked over him before he moved in until his body was nearly pressing Boyd's against the refrigerator doors. "Don't you want to get off?" he asked in Boyd's ear, his voice nearly a whisper.

A shiver ran through Boyd that was unrelated to the temperature of the refrigerator doors. His fingers twitched at his sides but there was disbelief in his voice when he said quietly, "Here?"

"No," Sin replied, rubbing his mouth against Boyd's earlobe before shifting to press a kiss to the side of his neck. "But--"

Footsteps could be heard coming closer to the aisle and Sin backed off reluctantly, casting a dark glare at two teenage girls carrying fishing equipment and chattering loudly.

One of them, a blond girl named Cassie judging by her friend's rambling, fell silent and looked rather startled in Sin's direction. She paused, subconsciously moving away from him. The other girl, a brunette, looked between Boyd and Sin curiously. When she saw Sin's look, she also fell silent and the two of them shuffled past the agents with sidelong glances.

When they were down the aisle, they started whispering to each other. Sin could hear them wondering about who the two strangers were and how they were pretty hot if it weren't for the death glare. The girls turned the corner and headed toward the cashier.

Boyd watched the girls disappear before turning back to Sin with a faint, bemused smirk. He moved in closer to Sin and said under his breath, "Guess we'll have to finish that later."

"I was going to suggest we just go back to the cabin, anyway."

Boyd studied Sin and it was clear he was tempted to agree but then he looked away with a slight frown. "After we get supplies." He looked distractedly at the refrigerator section, which displayed a variety of milk, cheese, and an assortment of beverages. "What do you want for the next few days? Aside from candy."

"I don't know," Sin replied with a scowl, crossing his arms over his chest. "It doesn't really matter to me."

"Why are you the one so put out?" Boyd asked with a quirked eyebrow. "At least you got off."

Sin arched a brow. "So? Maybe I like to reciprocate."

"Hmm." A small smile played on Boyd's lips before he turned and headed down the main aisle.

They picked up a basket and loaded it with the freshest-looking produce Sin had ever seen outside of the Agency, including a couple of nicely cut steaks that he planned to cook using the grill. The basket was full to overflowing by the time they reached the register and Sin grabbed a few more snacks along the way.

The girls were still hanging out at the counter when they got there even though they'd obviously already finished their purchases. Cassie was holding a clear bag of what appeared to be deli sandwiches.

"She must be freaking the eff out," she was saying to the guy behind the counter. Her face was pressed in what appeared to be genuine sympathy. "Angela and me tried to call over there but the line was just busy..."

The boy didn't seem surprised by that. "Yeah, well I doubt she has much hope about Kitty coming back."

"This could be something else, though," the brunette, presumably Angela interjected sharply. "She was like pretty upset these days, maybe she just ran away."

The cashier just shrugged apathetically and looked at Sin and Boyd. He smiled briefly, showing off glinting braces with red rubber bands. "Sorry about that, these girls won't piss off and let me do my work."

Boyd glanced at the two girls before turning his attention to the cashier. He shrugged and set the basket on the counter. "It's no trouble."

"We're not just standing around yapping with him," Cassie said with an eyeroll, discreetly looking at Sin and Boyd. "He wishes."

"Yeah. We're talking about this," Angela added, indicating a newspaper that sat on the side of the counter.

The headline read, Local Resident Disappears into the Woods. There was a picture of a smiling teenage girl on the cover with the caption 'Kitty Green.'

Sin's eyes flicked over the article quickly, ingesting the information. Apparently dogs had tracked her scent into the nearby woods before it abruptly disappeared, despite the fact that there were no roads nearby or tracks from vehicles.

Boyd leaned over, his arm brushing against Sin's as he skimmed the article. He raised his eyebrows slightly, looking over at Angela and Cassie. "The fifth time this has happened?"

Cassie nodded at him and adjusted the grip on her fishing rod. She glanced over at Sin as if to make sure he was also paying attention before speaking. "For the past fifty years, every few years around this time someone disappears without a trace."

"It's completely fucking weird," Angela added with narrowed eyes.

Boyd looked between the two with a slightly skeptical tilt of his eyebrow. "The same way as that girl did? With the trail going cold?"

"Yeah," the boy replied with yet another uncaring shrug. "Always the same spot or whatever. People think it's some weird serial killer dude or some kind of I dunno, ghost."

Sin stared at him. "A ghost."

"I'm just repeating what I heard, dude," the kid replied, ringing up their groceries.

"Fifty years is a long time to have a trend like that," Boyd observed and Cassie nodded.

"Yeah but we have records going back," Cassie explained, perhaps reading in Boyd's expression that he wondered about the validity of the claim. "Old newspapers and the like."

"What about the recent investigations?" Boyd asked with a faint frown, seeming distracted by the details of the case. He either didn't hear the mention of a ghost or wasn't moved by it. "Are the same people investigating each time? Are the same dogs used?"

Angela shook her head. "They always call for help from bigger cities with actual crime labs. We're too small to have anything like that. Different people come with different dogs."

Boyd's eyes narrowed in thought and when Sin glanced over, he could see that Boyd was starting to become intrigued by this. "Is there a connection between the victims?"

The three locals looked at each other and ultimately Cassie was the one who shrugged. "Not really. Everyone's been different ages. Kitty's the third girl to disappear," she added with a disturbed frown.

"What about their families?" Boyd pressed.

"They're devastated," Cassie said with a shake of her head. "But not everyone had one. Old Man Jensen was all alone."

"The only thing in common between all of them is they went out alone, usually on a short errand, and never came back," Angela added.

"It's not possible they planned to run away?" Boyd asked. He looked over at Angela. "You said Kitty's been upset."

"They always seem like they planned to come back," the cashier said as he continued to ring up the items from Boyd and Sin's basket. "Wallets or keys left inside, tvs on, sometimes food cooking..." He looked at Boyd and Sin with a shrug. "That's why it's so weird."

"Miss Wilkinson two years ago even left her baby crying and her door unlocked," Angela put in, her eyes narrowed as she leaned against the counter. "It doesn't make sense. She and her husband tried for years to have a kid. She was so excited when she got pregnant. There's no way she would've left her baby alone except for maybe a few minutes for something really important."

Sin looked between them and said nothing. The disappearances sounded strange enough and he thought it was likely that there was indeed a serial killer lurking around the town.

"They disappear in the same spot too," the cashier said. He was putting their items in plastic bags that crinkled quietly each time he moved them.

"Where is it exactly?" Boyd asked. Although he was looking at the cashier, it was Cassie who replied.

"You know where the restaurant is?"

"Bob and Carol's?" Boyd asked and when Cassie nodded, he nodded in return. "I saw it when we parked."

"Well, if you go straight east from there into the woods about three miles and then go north about 200 feet, you'll find it. It's a small clearing in the middle of nowhere, you can't miss it." Cassie looked between Boyd and Sin seriously. "I wouldn't go in there at night, though. It's creepy."

"I don't even like going there during the day," Angela said, crossing her arms and pulling them closer to her. "I always feel like something's gonna happen."

"Well, no one's been taken out of the woods yet so you're probably safer there than anywhere," the cashier said offhandedly. He dropped the last candy bar in the bag and rang up the total.

Boyd handed the cashier a wad of money without bothering to ask exactly how much. Instead, he was looking at the two girls. "There's no one in town who seems strange?"

Cassie let out a laugh at that. "There's plenty of those folk but no, nothing obvious. Everyone's been interviewed up, down and sideways since the first disappearance, even back in the day when it first started happening, and nothing new comes of it. If it's a serial killer, it's someone who disappears with the wind and leaves less of a trace. And even then, why would he care about this place?"

Boyd studied her for a moment and then said, "If there's a belief it's a ghost, there has to be a story that goes along with it."

"Oh, there is," Angela agreed.

Sin made a face and picked up the bags, not really wanting to hear it. Boyd seemed interested though, so he refrained from leaving.

"The story goes, fifty years ago, this girl named Annie wandered into the woods and got lost. The other kids made fun of her and she lived alone 'cause her dad had died the year before and she'd been abandoned by her crazy grandma. No one cared about her. She was missing for like ten days before her dog finally tracked her down. They found her dead, her body all mangled and bloody, but no one ever knew what killed her. She'd been killed in the spot people go missing now." Angela's voice was heavy when she relayed that tidbit.

"Ever since then, in no real pattern of years we can figure but always on the day of her death, someone goes missing. They get tracked to that spot where they vanish like they never existed. And they're never seen again."

"People say her ghost's vengeful 'cause no one in town cared about her," Cassie added ominously, raising her eyebrows. "They say only dogs can track the people to that place but after that, Annie takes them away and that's why the trail goes cold."

Boyd watched them with a mildly thoughtful look before he glanced over at Sin. Seeing his lover holding the bags and apparently ready to leave, Boyd turned back to the locals. "Interesting. I guess we'd better be careful then."

Sin detected the mild way Boyd said that and that he probably wasn't taking this fully seriously but Cassie and Angela nodded intently. "Just don't go anywhere alone and you should be okay."

Boyd nodded and turned, glancing at Sin before he headed toward the door.

"Have a nice day," the cashier said in the same bored tone.

Sin strode outside and over to the back of the truck. He began loading the groceries in and gave Boyd a dull look. "Was there a reason for you to extend that pointless conversation?"

"To increase your sexual frustration so it's even hotter when we get back to the cabin?" Boyd offered innocently.

Sin shook his head, going around the side of the truck. They'd rented it specifically for the road trip and he'd decided that he was going to be the one driving for a change.

Boyd hopped into the passenger seat and waited until they were both inside with the doors closed before he continued more seriously. "Actually, I was just intrigued when they first mentioned it. You have to admit, it's strange. Even if there is a serial killer, why terrorize this small town in the middle of nowhere unless it's personal?"

"Most serial killers are insane and don't have logical reasons behind their behavior," Sin replied as he started up the truck and pulled away from the sidewalk. He guided the vehicle up the hill that led away from Main Street and towards the woods. "It's probably a lunatic who is using that spot for the sole purpose of gaining attention and notoriety."

"Yeah but no one's even going to know about it here except the locals," Boyd said, leaning his arm against the door as he absently watched the trees swish by. "And no one even seems that terrified. Not to mention, even serial killers often have some sort of victim pool. This is completely random."

"I'd be surprised if the story wasn't widespread in these parts, especially since the child mentioned outside help being brought in."

"True," Boyd said with a tilt of his head. Even so, he still seemed thoughtful as he continued to stare out the window.

The drive to the cabin was a brief one but beautifully scenic. They went through a covered wooden bridge that sat above a stream with the clearest water that Sin had ever seen. Right before entering the property where the cabins were located, they drove by a field with the mountains looming in the background. It was picturesque and looked untouched by anything man-made.

The property itself was large and in the midst of the woods although some of the trees had been cleared away from the site to make space for a recreational center near the office, a playground and a pond. The entire place had a very welcoming feel about it and Sin imagined that if the economy would pick up, business at the lodge would likely be quite hectic.

He drove away from the main area and further into the woods where their cabin was situated. The set up of the cabins was one of the main reasons he'd chosen this particular lodge. They were far enough apart to ensure a lot of privacy even if Boyd screamed at the top of his lungs while getting his ass pounded.

The truck stopped just beside the cabin and he got out. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah," Boyd said, getting out of the truck and shutting the door behind him. He moved toward the bed of the truck and pulled down the hatch. He raised his eyebrows and looked over at Sin. "Are you offering to make me food?"

Sin snorted and took the keys to the cabin out of his pocket. The cabin was more modernized than he'd originally envisioned it as but he found that he liked it that way. It had energy-saver electric appliances, a wood-burning fireplace and a television with cable. The fact that there was a jacuzzi included had helped.

"I'm too hungry to wait for you to figure out how to light a grill."

"Fuck you," Boyd said with a laugh, gathering up several of the bags.

"After we eat," Sin replied with a smirk.

Boyd returned the smirk with one of his own.

Once inside, Sin began to season the steaks while Boyd put away the rest of the food.

Boyd kept looking at Sin sidelong as he opened cupboards and balled up the empty bags. "Was this part of Emilio training?" he asked curiously, pushing the bags into one open one. "Otherwise, I don't see how a man who eats refrigerated candy bars for breakfast knows how to properly grill a steak."

"It's not exactly rocket science," Sin replied with a scoff. "But I do know how to prepare certain foods due to my time with my father. He cooks very well and typically prepares everything himself."

Boyd made a 'hmm' sound and considered that as he put away the last can. He shut the cupboard and shoved the bag filled with bags into an empty cabinet.

He walked over to Sin and moved in behind him, lightly pressing their bodies together and wrapping his arms loosely around Sin's lower stomach. He rested his cheek against Sin's back and looked at what he could see of the ingredients spread out before them.

"I guess I should be grateful, then," Boyd said idly, his cheek briefly rubbing against the fabric of Sin's shirt when he shifted his head. "I like it when you're domestic."

Sin didn't stop the small smirk from sliding across his mouth. "Don't get used to it. I like having chips for dinner. What do you want with this anyway?"

Boyd moved his shoulders in a small shrug without bothering to move away from Sin. "Whatever's easy. We got some potatoes earlier, didn't we?"

"Yeah." Sin slid away from Boyd's hold and wiped his hands on a towel. He grabbed the bag of charcoal they'd gotten from the office and he skimmed the directions. It was apparently a self-lighting bag and lighter fluid wasn't needed. He arched an eyebrow doubtfully, wondering if it would burn hot enough.

Boyd leaned against the counter and watched Sin thoughtfully. "You weren't interested at all in what they said earlier?"

"Not particularly."

"Why not?"

"Why should I be?" Sin picked up the bag of charcoal and walked to the door of the cabin, heading outside and to the small grill that sat below the steps.

"I don't know," Boyd answered, trailing behind Sin and stopping at the steps. "It's not something we hear about every day."

Sin snorted and dropped the bag at his feet as he examined the grill. It was covered in debris and the remains of someone else's burned charcoal. He picked up the brush at the side and began cleaning it off as he said, "Yes, hearing about death and disappearances is very out of the norm for me."

Boyd rolled his eyes and sat down on the top step. He rested his arms on his knees and made no attempt to help Sin clean the grill. "Yes but usually we're the ones doing the disappearing. This time it's a mystery."

"Maybe you should call Ivan and the two of you could go investigate." Sin swiped the brush across the grill again and tossed it aside before grabbing the charcoal.

Boyd scoffed quietly and leaned back on his hands, turning his attention to the woods with a narrow-eyed gaze. "I think I'm going to check out that spot tomorrow. You're welcome to come if you want."

"Not afraid the ghost is going to pop out at you?" Sin shoved the bag of charcoal onto the grill and lit the paper. He was doubtful about how hot it would burn but figured it was better than nothing.

A faint smirk crossed Boyd's features. "I like ghost stories but I'm not worried. The ghost's met her quota for the year."

"Maybe." Sin watched the rest of the bag burn and poked at the coals for a bit. "Hopefully she will make an exception for you so that you learn your lesson about butting into business that has nothing to do with you."

Boyd fell silent as he considered Sin for a moment. His expression was pensive despite the fact that Sin wasn't being entirely serious. A flash of hesitation moved through his eyes that was gone almost before Sin noticed it. Whatever may have been going through his head, Boyd dismissed it.

"Well," Boyd said belatedly with a shrug, "it won't hurt anything if I look around. Plenty of other people have. I'm just curious what that spot looks like."

Sin shrugged, knowing it was a lost cause even attempting to talk Boyd out of it and he wasn't extremely passionate about the subject to begin with. If the authorities had failed to find clues, he highly doubted they would. Thus, they would not somehow be drawn into the case as would be their rotten luck if they did.

Instead of going on with the topic and speaking his thoughts, Sin turned and headed back to the house to get the steaks. It occurred to him that he should have prepared the potatoes first but the meat had looked too tempting. The pre-made potato salad they'd bought from the market would suffice for a side dish.

"This place would be a good area for you to train," he said as he went back inside.

"Yeah," Boyd's voice came from outside through the open door. "I was thinking about that earlier. I wanted to do some hiking and bring my sketchbook, too."

"That is not conducive to training."

"I meant them as separate events," Boyd said in amusement. "I'm not going to train all week."

Sin didn't reply until the steaks were carefully placed on the grill and it was covered. "Well, let me know when you want to. It will be interesting to see how well you do."

"Maybe I'll even beat you," Boyd said thoughtfully. "For a second."

There was silence for a moment before Sin simply gave his partner a discreet half-smile. "We'll see."

 

 

Boyd was silent as he slipped through the woods. The trees towered around him, moving faintly in the wind, the leaves a quiet rustle in the background. He was straining his ears for any slight noise out of the ordinary and he continually scrutinized the area around him. He searched for the smallest details to tell him which direction Sin may have gone and how close he was.

Sin was adept at moving through the woods practically unseen, so his trail was difficult to follow. Boyd had to pay especially close attention to tiny snapped twigs and the faint dragging of the leaves across the ground. He could see his lover's footprints appearing and disappearing like a ghost that flitted down to Earth and revealed itself occasionally, just often enough to remind the living of its existence.

Nearly an hour had passed since Sin had disappeared into the woods ahead of Boyd and a trickle of adrenaline kept Boyd's senses on high alert. Every short cry of an animal, every rustle of the leaves, every shift of a tree branch, and Boyd's gaze snapped over to identify whether the roles had reversed and his lover was stalking him.

It was the first time they'd decided to do training in a roleplaying capacity and Boyd found it to be intriguing. Sin was the target Boyd was meant to track down and incapacitate. They pretended this was a mission and even when Sin had gone into the woods, they'd already been in character. It was more fun than the typical sparring they engaged in and Boyd had the brief thought that Doug should have tried something like this during level 10 training.

There were times Boyd lost the trail completely and times he wondered whether he was even following the correct one. It was possible he'd lost Sin long ago and now he was following the tracks of an astute hunter.

Finally, moving slowly and silently, he spied his lover's form ahead of him, nearly hidden by the trees. Sin was moving calmly through the woods, his head tilting this way and that as he presumably searched for Boyd while at the same time ensuring that he left the least telling tracks as possible.

Boyd slid to a crouch and was especially careful not to make a noise as he shifted in a wide arc around Sin to move behind him. He crouched in the cover of the foliage and trees, pausing occasionally behind a tree trunk for a patient length of time to ensure his presence wouldn't come upon Sin too quickly. He moved closer bit by bit, his gaze zeroed in on his lover and occasionally darting around to consider how best to apprehend him.

The woods were thick and there wasn't much to work with. Although he could have fashioned a weapon, it would have made too much noise and it would have seemed like cheating. Boyd wasn't about to throw a rock at the back of Sin's head; he wanted to bring him down in hand-to-hand combat or it wouldn't truly be training.

He determined that his best chance for success was taking Sin by surprise from behind and adapting as quickly as possible to any of Sin's reactions afterward. With that in mind, Boyd moved forward more quickly, although silence was still his top priority. He wasn't going to have spent an hour tracking his partner down to ruin it by stepping on a twig at the last second.

When he was finally within reach of Sin, hidden behind trees and foliage to the side of where Sin was still moving, Boyd braced himself. Even hidden as he was, if Sin looked behind him at the right angle he'd see Boyd crouched there. Not wanting to take the risk, he positioned himself as best as possible and abruptly threw himself at Sin's back.

Sin turned around and immediately strafed out of the way, blocking Boyd's attack. There was nothing in his face to tell whether or not Boyd had truly surprised him or if he'd allowed him to get that close for the sake of the game. His expression was completely emotionless and intent. It was disturbing to look at Sin and see the way enemies saw him, without a flicker of compassion or familiarity in his pale green eyes.

The fight began in a flurry of movement with Sin delivering a series of decisive attacks that Boyd barely managed to dodge. It always caught him off guard to spar with Sin because of his extraordinary speed. Boyd was confident enough in his ability to say that he was now on par with Kassian and Jon, but with Sin it took him awhile to adjust to the sudden onslaught of sheer power that his partner possessed. It was something completely out of Kassian's and even Emilio's boundaries and one that Boyd always found himself unprepared for.

Even so, just the fact that he managed to dodge blows and land a few of his own caused Boyd's confidence to build and his performance to improve in the first full minute of combat. It didn't, however, prevent him from being slammed to the hard forest floor as if he were a mere ragdoll.

Boyd hit the ground and had already rolled away before Sin could hold him down. Sin kicked him in the stomach as Boyd started to stand. Although Sin was holding back his strength, it was only enough to make it non-lethal. The impact into Boyd's torso was enough to reverberate through him and throw him back.

Boyd recovered quickly. He ran at Sin and grabbed one shoulder at the same time as he jumped up, wrapping his legs around Sin's other arm. Boyd twisted his body, trying to throw Sin to the ground, but Sin was strong enough that even with that weight and momentum, he was able to catch himself. He grabbed Boyd by the back and flipped him to the ground yet again.

The air was nearly knocked out of Boyd, causing a pained whoosh of air to leave him, and he started to roll to the side. Sin barely let Boyd come to a stand before he was on him with another wave of furious attacks.

The fight continued, Boyd's attacks and blocks slower than Sin's but just fast enough to keep him free and moving around, until Sin suddenly wrenched Boyd around and snapped him back. Sin captured Boyd in a headlock, their bodies pressed together and Boyd gasping for air. Boyd could feel his heart thundering in his chest hard enough to be a physical ache, and Sin's arm against his windpipe was slowly siphoning his breath and ability to think.

After a moment of struggling, Boyd was able to get Sin off balance enough to gather his strength and flip Sin over, slamming him onto his back. When Sin hit the ground, Boyd felt a moment of triumph that he'd been able to take control away from his near-superhuman partner.

That feeling didn't last even a second. Sin hit the ground and immediately rolled to a stand. Sin had been holding back before but now his eyes narrowed, ablaze with green fire and almost frightening in their intensity. Boyd didn't even have the chance to straighten fully before Sin was on him.

Despite his increased awareness, Boyd still didn't know what happened.

One second he was standing and the next Sin had him pinned to the ground face down. Sin's speed was incredible to the point of incredulity; if Boyd hadn't been by Sin's side for years, he would never have believed some of the things he did would be possible. As it was, there had been no transition for him and it took a second for his mind to process what had just happened.

He grunted in surprise, his mouth open as he panted against the dirt and leaves and his blood sang with adrenaline through his veins. His eyes were wide with pain as Sin's fingers practically crushed his lower arms and wrenched them up behind his back at an awkward angle.

Boyd struggled, trying desperately to buck Sin off him, to twist to the side or find a weakness in the hold but there was none. He was incapable of moving and they both knew it. Sin was too powerful for Boyd to be able to realistically counteract his hold. He collapsed with his forehead pressed against the ground, breathing heavily and squeezing his eyes shut.

The forest seemed especially silent and still around them with the absence of their fight. Without the sound of flesh striking flesh, there was only the faint chirping of the birds and the soothing rustle of the leaves to accompany them.

Despite that, adrenaline continued to thunder through Boyd's veins and he felt hyperaware of everything, including the weight of Sin's body pressing him down.

Sin reached down easily and removed the flexicuffs that Boyd had been carrying in his pocket; an added prop to the game of agent and detainee.

"What do you plan to do now, agent?" Sin demanded, cold and without an ounce of compassion. "I could kill you if I wanted to."

"If you planned to you would have already," Boyd returned evenly. Despite that, his shoulders tensed in anticipation.

The second Sin's grip shifted in order to use the flexicuffs, Boyd abruptly jerked his arms and tried to twist away. Sin accounted easily, as if Boyd had little more influence or strength than a child. The leaves scraped against Boyd's cheek as he struggled to break Sin's hold but the other man simply tightened his grip with one hand and expertly put the flexicuffs on with the other.

Boyd's wrists ground against each other painfully and Sin held Boyd against the dirt, pressing their bodies together.

"You're right," Sin replied flatly. His grip tightened powerfully on Boyd as he wrenched them closer together until their bodies were flush against one another. It forced Boyd into an awkward position, partially held off the ground. "But it would make more sense to interrogate you first."

"Ha," Boyd scoffed. "Try what you like. I won't talk."

Sin snaked one arm around Boyd's side, gripping his chin and pushing his face to the side. He spoke harshly in his ear. "Really? I heard that you sing like a bitch if your head is underwater for long enough."

Boyd's eyes narrowed. "You heard wrong."

"Did I." It was spoken as a statement more than a question and Sin's fingers dug into Boyd's face violently.

Boyd didn't reply. Before he could register what was happening, he found himself being spun around and slammed against the hard ground once again, this time on his back. His shoulders wrenched achingly in the movement, causing him to draw in a startled, tense breath.

"Do you think I'm playing with you, agent?" Sin demanded. His deep voice was low and intense, laced with an unspoken threat.

Boyd's fingers curled uselessly beneath him, scratching against the dirt. "No," he returned evenly.

Sin's expression remained hard, as if carved out of stone, as his strong hands dug into Boyd's body. "Then tell me-- do you want to do it here or do I need to drag you to the river?"

Boyd's expression was stony but he had a flicker of doubt as to whether Sin would actually go through with bringing him to the river. He didn't think he would and yet... "You know I can't answer your questions regardless."

Sin jerked Boyd's shoulders and growled low in his throat, "You won't right now but that will change. If your stamina for torture is anything like your stamina in a fight, I have nothing to fear."

Boyd's eyes narrowed at Sin's coldly sarcastic comment. Even though Sin probably didn't fully mean it, it still served to irritate Boyd since he'd made it longer against his partner than he'd expected. It wasn't his fault that Sin was a super agent, capable of the impossible.

"I didn't run out of stamina." He jerked at his arms and gave Sin a challenging look. "Let me go and I'll show you how much longer I can fight."

Sin's full lips twisted into a smirk and his long lashes lowered over his eyes as they narrowed. It was difficult to tell what he thought about the comment, whether he was truly amused by it or if he was still playing his role. Either way, he leaned closer until their faces were nearly touching and said in a low, even voice, "Do you think you could defeat me? I'm surprised you've made it this long against less formidable opponents."

Boyd glared coldly. "You don't know what I'm capable of. You may be unusually fast and strong but I've killed plenty of people in the past." He flicked his gaze along Sin dismissively. "Everyone has a weakness. I'd just have to find yours."

There was a brief moment of silence as Sin observed him before he arched one dark eyebrow and released Boyd's shoulders. Sin stood up without delay and stared at Boyd, silent and challenging.

Boyd didn't waste a second; he rolled onto his side and quickly but somewhat awkwardly scrambled to his feet. It was made more difficult with his arms secured behind his back but he didn't let it stop him. Once up, he immediately started sprinting away from Sin, knowing better than to try to confront the man when he didn't even have his arms free.

Still, the effort turned out to be in vain.

He was snatched seemingly out of the air and slammed back down to the ground before he could even comprehend what had occurred. A shock of pain moved through him. Lights danced in his eyes for a brief moment before his vision cleared and he saw Sin standing over him staring down. Sin was completely calm, his face set in the same flinty mask despite the fire of adrenaline in his eyes. He didn't say anything to gloat about his overpowering abilities; he just stared down at Boyd, in complete control of the situation.

Boyd laid still, his knees partially bent, his shoulders aching, and his blond hair fanned out around him collecting leaves and dirt. He watched Sin alertly, taking in his stance and his reach and in the process getting a clear view of his powerful body.

Even as he calculated how to try to get out of this, in the back of his mind he couldn't help noting how attracted he was to this side of Sin. The strength compacted in that body; the speed... Boyd wasn't used to being the recipient of an extended situation where Sin was completely in control and Boyd felt an especial thrill because of it. Usually Boyd could find a way to gain control of the situation but this time Sin wasn't letting him.

That didn't help him with trying to escape, though. And he wasn't ready to give up just yet.

He quickly ran through his options but there wasn't much he could feasibly do. Sin was too powerful and quick at the best of times, even when Boyd didn't have the handicap of his arms secured. He wouldn't be able to get out of the flexicuffs without the use of something sharp and it would take too long regardless.

If he tried to roll away again, he would just get caught once more. Physically, he was outmatched. That didn't mean he couldn't try something else, though. Maybe if he was lucky he could catch Sin off-guard enough to somehow escape.

Boyd relaxed against the ground for the most part, although he kept his legs and shoulders casually positioned in a way that would facilitate a quick attempt at a getaway. He raised his eyebrows and watched Sin steadily. "What do you want?"

"You to admit that you are powerless in this situation." Sin looked down at him from beneath a fall of black hair that had come loose from the knot he'd taken to tying it in. "You have no partner. No team. You are alone and weak."

Boyd's eyes narrowed. "I'm not weak."

In the middle of his sentence, he abruptly jumped up and snapped his leg out in a low spin, putting all his strength and momentum into aiming at the weakest part of Sin's knees. Sin was powerful but he was still human with joints that were susceptible to certain hits.

Sin's legs were knocked out from under him and Boyd was on him immediately, snapping his legs around Sin's throat and pulling him down into a hard fall with his extra weight. Boyd twisted in the process, his thigh pressing into Sin's windpipe as he choked him.

A normal man would have faltered when his breath was cut off but Sin grabbed Boyd's lower legs, which were wrapped around each other to increase the stability of the move. With a powerful burst of strength, Sin wrenched Boyd's legs apart and in the same move threw him across the clearing. Boyd was unable to stop himself before he rolled and slammed into a tree with a pained gasp. He fell face first to the ground and started to struggle to push himself up when Sin yanked him up. He spun Boyd around and slammed his back against the tree.

Sin's eyes were brilliantly green, alight with adrenaline and a dangerous undertone. His expression was intense and stony, without a flicker of emotion as Boyd twisted and struggled. Sin shoved against Boyd briefly, the entire tree shaking ominously in the movement. His muscles were stark as he held Boyd up by one hand without a problem.

"Do you give up?"

"No," Boyd snapped as he tried to kick Sin, who caught his foot without breaking eye contact.

Sin held Boyd's leg painfully to the side while he simply pressed his body against Boyd's free leg. Boyd was caught without the ability to move.

"Do you give up?" Sin repeated, his voice dropping.

Boyd stared down into Sin's gaze with half-shut eyes. His heartbeat thundered in his chest and he knew Sin had him. The attraction he'd felt before flared as Sin continued to dominate the situation. But there was still a stubborn part of him that held out, that didn't want to give the satisfaction of admitting his defeat.

"N--"

He didn't even get the word out before he was flipped through the air. He hit the ground and cried out in pain. There was barely a fraction of a second before Sin dropped on top of him, his body holding Boyd down while his fingers dug into his shoulders and shoved him against the dirt. Boyd tried to twist or move his legs but he was completely helpless; Sin held him down in a way that took away every chance of escape, every chance of movement.

Boyd was trapped.

He dropped his mouth open and panted, his eyes nearly falling shut, his gaze intensifying as he watched Sin through his eyelashes. Sin's body was hard and heavy on top of him, with sweat shining on those powerful, exposed arms. Boyd could feel Sin's body thrumming with power while that cold expression drilled into him.

Adrenaline sang through him and he felt hypersensitive to Sin's touch. The feeling of their bodies against each other-- the violence of the fight and the way Sin had completely dominated him-- it all served to arouse Boyd.

He was used to being able to take control of most situations, by manipulating his way out of it or by being let up after he was caught in sparring. This situation was new to him; Sin moving Boyd where he wanted while Boyd's arms were secured behind him. Any time they'd come even close to something like this before, Boyd hadn't actually been held down for any period of time. He'd always had the options of using his arms, his legs. He'd never had his lover's sweaty body pressing into him while his arms were tied behind his back and he wasn't allowed to get away.

Being that vulnerable and helpless in front of someone like Sin would probably terrify most people. There was a time when it would have terrified Boyd. But after everything they'd been through in the past several years, Boyd trusted Sin completely and all he could feel was desire.

The attraction he'd been feeling became outright arousal that burned through him, intoxicating, and made him yearn to have their naked bodies rock against each other. He wanted to kiss Sin savagely and the fact that he couldn't, the fact that this was all in Sin's hands now, only made it hotter.

The intensity of his arousal caught him off guard and for a moment, he didn't know how to react.

Judging by the way Sin's eyes narrowed knowingly, he had immediately recognized the expression on Boyd's face. That flushed, heavy-lidded look of desire that left Boyd's lips parted as he breathed harshly from exertion and excitement at once.

Sin's lip curled and for the first time, a hint of his true self shone through the single-minded hostile role he'd been playing. His dark eyebrows rose, a filthy smirk twisting his full lips as his eyes roved Boyd slowly and deliberately. But when he spoke, it was still in character.

"I could do what I wanted to you right now, agent. And I suspect you'd like it."

Boyd tried to force the arousal out of his expression. He couldn't bring himself to let Sin win this part of the sparring, even if he'd already won physically. "Don't flatter yourself, rebel."

"Really." The word rolled off Sin's tongue and he moved quickly, almost in a blur. Boyd was spun around with his back pinned to Sin's chest before he'd even realized what was going on.

Sin clamped one arm across Boyd's chest and slid the other down to his crotch, squeezing in a way that would have been excruciating if he did it a notch harder. "So then why are you hard?"

Boyd grunted and drew a hissed breath between grit teeth. His eyes narrowed and he couldn't stop himself from pressing his head back. He was mildly irritated with himself for reacting to any of this in the first place. He wanted to continue with training; he wanted to prove he could remain professional around Sin. At the same time, he couldn't deny the way Sin's hard body was making his heart pound. He refused to break character and he jerked against Sin's hold.

"What's it matter to you?" he demanded. "That how they teach you lowlifes to interrogate?"

"And is this the way they teach you professionals to get out of interrogation?" Sin's low velvety voice asked quietly in his ear.

Boyd's eyes narrowed as he tried to ignore the way that tone got to him. He stared straight ahead with a doggedly neutral expression. "Are you planning to bore me to death before the interrogation?" he asked coolly. "Or were you going to get to it sometime this century?"

Sin's hands slid up and deftly undid Boyd's belt within the space of a second. His hand was sliding inside the depths of his pants before Boyd even had a chance to react.

Boyd started and automatically pressed back. His attention zeroed in on Sin's hand, on how much he wanted Sin to get him off. The rough slide of calloused fingers against his sensitive skin was torturous.

Still, he didn't let his expression change other than his eyes falling partially shut. "What are you doing?" he demanded lowly.

"I'm getting to it," Sin replied against his ear and squeezed before sliding his hand out and using it to yank Boyd's pants down entirely.

Boyd jerked as his bare skin hit the open air. He struggled against Sin's hold but that only caused Sin to hold him tighter. "I didn't mean--"

Sin's hand snaked down, wrapping around Boyd's erection and squeezing. Boyd's breath caught as Sin asked emotionlessly, "Didn't you?"

"No--"

"Liar." Sin's tone was hard and intoxicating because of it. He squeezed his fingers to the fine line between pain and pleasure and Boyd couldn't stop an aroused groan that wrenched out of him. He threw his head back against Sin's shoulder, his mouth dropping open as he drew in quick breaths. His head was spinning from being the extended recipient of this side of Sin.

Sin scoffed deep in his throat, a sound lost between cruel and pleased. "Pathetic."

Arousal and pride warred within Boyd at the comment and he grit his teeth, trying to jerk away. He struggled, his knees scraping against the hard ground, his hands crushed between their bodies. Unsurprisingly, he didn't get anywhere. He could hear Sin unfastening and yanking down his own pants with one hand. It was a measure of his strength that he had no trouble holding Boyd still with one arm.

When Sin yanked them together, Boyd could feel his lover's erection pressing against his bare ass. It turned him on more and he longed to reach down and touch himself so that he could alleviate some of the yearning. He jerked at his arms but the plastic tie only dug into his skin.

Boyd grit his teeth in frustration and shifted awkwardly. The feel of Sin's hands on him was driving him wild but he was unwilling to be the first one to break character. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head faintly, trying to drag himself out of the fog of lust that was overtaking him.

"So desperate to be used, aren't you?" Sin observed in the same detached tone even as he slid his arm around Boyd's neck.

Anger and something close to humiliation burned in Boyd's chest but before he could react or deny the claim, Sin's fingers were sliding into his mouth.

He made a helpless noise and, without thinking, closed his lips around the digits. He couldn't resist it, not when Sin was stimulating his mouth like a blowjob. Not when he could feel Sin's cock growing harder from the action. Not when the familiar feel of Sin's hard body pressed against his was a constant distraction. It was only after Sin began fingerfucking his mouth more thoroughly that Boyd realized what he was doing and how eagerly and easily he was giving in.

He breathed harshly through his nose as he tried to pull away. Muffled grunts and frustrated sounds escaped him but no matter how far he pushed his head back or tried to turn it, Sin's hand followed. He tried biting Sin's fingers but Sin didn't seem to care; his arm only tightened around Boyd's chest and the fingerfucking became harsher. Boyd nearly gagged, desperate to not give in at the same time he couldn't deny how arousing this was to him.

Sin wouldn't let him pull away until he was finished proving that Boyd would do whatever Sin wanted and Boyd could do very little about it. Knowing that inexplicably made Boyd's cock harden further, straining for attention between his legs.

Sin finally removed his fingers, allowing Boyd to breathe but before he could take more than a gasp he was being abruptly shoved forward. Boyd couldn't hold himself up. His body weight tipped and with his arms useless behind him, he fell flat on his face in the dirt.

He turned his face to the side and felt his body jerking as Sin yanked his pants and underwear the rest of the way off, ripping them savagely over his boots. Sin's movements were rough and unceremonious as he discarded the clothing and grabbed a fistful of blond hair to yank Boyd's head partially up.

A pained shout dragged out of Boyd, echoing around them. His body strained awkwardly, his lower body exposed to the cool air. He was helpless and vulnerable in Sin's hands, forced into whatever position Sin wanted, and his neck and back arched achingly. He groaned and breathed harshly through his open mouth, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. Damp blond hair shifted around his face, some of it catching against his cheeks.

"Hurting me won't work," he hissed. "I won't talk no matter what you do."

"We'll see about that," Sin's voice growled hotly in his ear, his breath coming in ragged pants despite his steady voice.

Boyd couldn't deny the delicious thrill that went through him. Why the hell was he so turned on by this? Why was Sin being completely in charge, remaining aggressive without giving him a chance to react, and even hurting him in the process, all so incredibly hot to him?

He couldn't deny the reality of his body's reactions but even so, he wasn't ready to give up yet.

Boyd waited until Sin shifted again before he abruptly flipped onto his back and kicked up. Before his foot could connect, Sin effortlessly caught his ankle and twisted it. His grip was like a vice on Boyd, sharp and relentless, and Boyd writhed against the ground with a pained groan. Before he could attempt another strike with his other leg, Sin grabbed that ankle with his free hand and spread Boyd's legs open wide as he knelt between them.

Sin's striking features were masked with cruel amusement that Boyd had never seen directed at him before. He wondered if this was how people felt when they were the recipient of Sin's wrath, when they were foolish enough to try to fight him and think they actually stood a chance. It was clear that there was no chance. Sin was too strong; too fast; too dangerous.

Even as Boyd lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes defiantly, he couldn't help running his eyes over Sin. There was something exotic and wild about him and seeing him in this way only emphasized it. He was like a deadly creature, something foreign and frightening but something that a person still could not look away from no matter how hard one tried.

Boyd did try though. Because if he kept looking at Sin, he suspected that by the end of it all the older man would definitely win their game. When it came down to it, Boyd wanted Sin too badly to be able to resist him.

Hands shifting to Boyd's hips, Sin lifted him up and abruptly shoved his thick cock deep into Boyd's ass. Boyd gasped harshly for air. At some point Sin must have slathered his erection with saliva because the penetration wasn't as mind-numbingly agonizing as it could have been. Even so, it still sent a shock of searing pain through Boyd's body as Sin started fucking him hard.

Boyd's eyes widened as that hard cock started slamming into him. His fingers curled uselessly beneath him and he twisted, his shoulders aching from the pressure of being shoved against the ground. He grunted between gritted teeth and ignored the way the uneven earth ground harshly into his back as Sin pounded into him relentlessly.

He squeezed his eyes shut and his breath came in harsh sounds through his nose. The pain soon mixed into that familiar mix of white hot pleasure and it was difficult for him not to slam up against Sin to try to get it harder.

He was trying so hard not to make noise, not to respond, but then Sin shifted his grip and shoved Boyd's legs up and back until his hips were lifted off the ground. He was left wide open and completely vulnerable as Sin slammed into him deeper and more violently than before.

An aroused shout wrenched out of Boyd despite himself and his eyes snapped open. Sin's pale green eyes held a knowing glint of fire that sent a shock of desire straight to Boyd's stomach.

"Fuck," Boyd hissed helplessly, twisting against the ground. He wanted to get away almost as much as he wanted to push closer, to rock against Sin and get completely lost in the sex. He felt the desire building in him, something that he knew was going to grow more and more carnal; that would take away even his stringent hold on his control.

Their bodies slammed against each other, sweat starting to form on each of them, causing their shirts to cling to their skin. Boyd's toes curled inside his boots each time Sin speared him especially deeply and he couldn't stop himself from the aborted grunts and moans of being taken so hard by his lover.

The fact that his dick remained untouched was starting to drive him crazy. He struggled against the plastic ties, causing them only to dig deeper into his skin but unable to stop himself anyway. His mouth was open as he panted harshly, as mindless moans started taking over any other sound that left him.

"Jesus--" Boyd groaned, shaking his head back and forth. His voice was a desperate twist between stubbornness and arousal. "Oh-- fuck--"

"Have you stooped to begging, now?" Sin asked, his voice deep and rumbling between harsh breaths.

Boyd shook his head frantically and squeezed his eyes shut, eyebrows drawing down. "Like hell," he ground out, the words gravelly and low.

Sin said something, probably talking in character still, but Boyd was starting to get too far gone to be able to understand the words. All he could feel was desire growing overwhelmingly in him, wiping out all thought as his stomach started to knot.

Sin released his grip on Boyd's ankles and pushed his legs so that one was sprawled to the side while the other remained raised. Sin wrapped his fingers around Boyd's leg and pushed back as he snapped his hips faster in sharp staccato motions. His cock wrenched out quickly before slamming back in harder and deeper, hitting every nerve ending that made Boyd nearly scream before he could stop himself. Explosions of pleasure shot through his body and caused his eyes to snap open once again.

The trees were a blur before him, dark brown shapes that he couldn't focus on any more than he could understand if Sin was saying anything to him. He felt something; eyes watching them as they fucked frantically in the middle of the woods. But even then he couldn't bring himself to care. Sin's dick was a pulsing hot length pounding into him, branding Boyd as his. The thought was maddening and it whited out anything else in his mind.

Harsh, helpless gasps of air and moans left Boyd. He was so aroused it hurt and he wanted to touch himself so badly that it was all he could think about. He didn't even hear himself begging for Sin to touch him or let him touch himself.

Sin didn't respond and he didn't even seem to hear it. Desperate groans were leaving his mouth as he likely neared orgasm. His head was tilted slightly backwards and his lips parted as he growled low swears that Boyd was too far gone to properly understand.

He never would have thought that Sin could make him lose his mind with desire like this. He never would have thought that having his hands tied behind his back and Sin being relentless would make him burn so violently with lust that he was blind and deaf to everything except his lover's body slamming against his.

Somewhere along the way, the line between the characters they played and the people they were blurred, and Sin had won the game. The stubborn streak in Boyd was replaced by breathless gasps and a body that writhed against Sin's hold. Boyd had stopped caring about not letting Sin win and instead he had given up complete control. Somewhere along the way, his resistance was replaced by helpless compliance.

Sin started jerking against Boyd more quickly, his hot dick searing into Boyd as Sin's moans grew breathier and more urgent. When Sin finally came, Boyd's name slid off his lips in a low throaty groan that made Boyd shudder.

Even after, he remained hard inside Boyd. He continued to rock against Boyd as he finally took pity and wrapped his long fingers around Boyd's painfully hard cock.

Boyd threw his head back, writhing and groaning. The rough slide of Sin's calloused fingers across his sensitive, straining erection became the center of his universe.

"Oh fuck," he moaned desperately, his entire body trembling and expression twisting. His eyebrows drew up and his lips parted. His face was flushed as he mindlessly rocked his body against Sin's. "Oh please, don't stop, don't stop, I'm gonna-- Oh-- oh God don't stop--"

Sin's hand moved faster on Boyd's cock and that was all it took. Boyd's vision turned white for a moment, his voice cracking as he screamed.

He came harder and longer than usual, the intensity of it leaving his body trembling. He was completely overwhelmed by the orgasm, by the power of the pleasure that ripped through him and made his body snap and arch without him being aware of it. His blood pounded in his veins along with the pleasure, along with Sin's cock still moving in and out of him, and for a moment Boyd was so lost in ecstasy he wouldn't have even been able to say his own name if asked.

When it was over he was hanging in Sin's grip, panting harshly and still moaning helplessly.

When Sin finally let go of Boyd, he collapsed against the leaves without bothering to stop himself. His entire body was tingling from the aftermath of the orgasm and his mind was in another world. His mouth was open as he tried to catch his breath, as he slowly started to come down from that incredible high.

As Boyd lay there, he distantly felt his body tilt and then jerk slightly. After a moment, he realized Sin had cut the zip ties. Boyd's joints ached sharply as he started to work at straightening his arms, bringing them back to his sides. He lay on his back and clenched and released his fingers as he tried to bring feeling back to them. His entire arms, from his shoulders to his fingertips, felt uncomfortable with the needle-pricking of his arms regaining feeling and the blood starting to circulate properly again. He absently rubbed his wrist and looked over to see Sin lying on the ground next to him.

Boyd felt a surge of affection, disbelief and desire at the acknowledgment of what had just happened; at how he had never wanted his lover so badly as he did just a few minutes ago. He almost couldn't comprehend that it had been so intense.

It partially made him want to suggest they do this again sometime, and partially made him wonder how it was that essentially roleplaying being raped could have made him want his lover so badly. He would have wondered if there was something wrong with him if he hadn't already concluded long ago that there was and that it didn't matter because his and Sin's turn ons meshed so well. Not to mention, he knew he wouldn't have reacted the same if it had actually been happening with a real rebel. He'd been so aroused because he knew it was Sin, because it was a game he was playing with his lover to see who would come out on top.

They usually didn't get into competitions or games. Sin typically wasn't interested and Boyd knew Sin would ultimately win anything they tried simply because he was abnormally fast, strong, powerful, and good at everything he did. Boyd didn't remember ever having been fucked so thoroughly as he just had been, though, and the high still buzzed through him with intoxication.

He rolled over and kissed Sin passionately, his fingers catching in Sin's hair and clutching when the heat and taste of his lover mingled with the reverberations of the orgasm still shuddering through him. He was overwhelmed by the moment and as Sin responded Boyd nearly didn't want this to end. But his limbs still felt shaky and his arms still buzzed annoyingly and it wasn't long before, gasping for breath, he broke the kiss and bonelessly flopped onto his back again.

Boyd turned his head to stare at the canopy shifting far above them. Now that he wasn't driven mad with lust, he could hear other sounds again aside from his hammering heartbeat. The background noise of the forest, with birds chirping and leaves rustling in the distance, started to trickle into his awareness.

He closed his eyes, letting the waves of pleasure move through him, and languidly listened to Sin's breath near him.

After a moment Sin shifted, pressing his upper back against the ground as he pulled his pants up. "You realize that someone has been watching us this entire time," he commented with calm indifference.

"I know," Boyd said lazily, opening his eyes and dropping his head to the side to look at Sin. "I was too into it to care."

"It wouldn't matter. We're capable of fighting naked if need be." Sin stood up and rolled his shoulders, staring down at Boyd contemplatively.

A roguish grin grew across Boyd's face and he ran his gaze down what he could see of Sin's body. The mental image of grappling naked with Sin, sweat coursing over their bodies, was intriguing to say the least. "Something to keep in mind for next time."

Sin's mouth twitched and he arched a dark brow. "I'm beginning to think my father was correct about you."

Boyd raised his eyebrows and finally pushed himself up so he was sitting. He looked around until he located his underwear and pants strewn carelessly across the clearing. It took a massive effort to stand and even once he was upright, his knees still felt unsteady. He ignored the sated buzz that moved through him and swiped his clothes off the ground. He had to shake them out to remove as much of the leaves and sticks as possible. When he turned around, he saw Sin flick his gaze along him briefly, taking in his half-naked body before it would be covered.

"Do I even want to know what he said?"

Sin shrugged briefly, turning his face away to peer through the trees that surrounded them. There were no sounds other than the water flowing along the river not too far away and the small woodland animals rustling in the trees. "He said that you, and others who are attracted to me on the compound, get off on the fact that I could murder you quite effortlessly if I wanted to."

Boyd considered that for a moment as he pulled his underwear and pants back over his boots. He didn't want to have to take his shoes off just to get dressed again. "I guess it's true enough. The power in your body is incredibly hot to me-- that's why I thought you'd be more my style in the first place. But I also like it when you're gentle because I know what you're capable of." He shrugged as he adjusted his clothing. "I'm attracted to you for a lot of reasons, though."

Sin nodded, still looking thoughtful. "Is that why you got turned on just now, though?"

"Yes. The way you dominated me and didn't give me a choice made me crazy for you," Boyd said bluntly, his gaze going distant. He wondered whether they would ever fuck like that again. He shook his head to himself and glanced at Sin curiously. "Does that surprise you?"

Another shrug and Sin reached up to adjust the loose knot his black hair was tied into at the nape of his neck. Despite the fact that he'd allowed his hair to grow out so long, having it near his face seemed to irritate him. "Not really. I'm just curious about it all, I suppose. I wonder if you would be as sexually attracted to me if I weren't a supposed super assassin."

"I'm sure I would," Boyd replied easily. He ran his fingers through his hair to remove some of the leaves and sticks that had caught in it during the roleplaying. "That's not the only reason I want you. When we first started having sex, I wasn't as into the aggression as I am now. I liked it rough but even that increased with time after being with you. But all along I've been attracted to your personality and looks. Your strength is just an added bonus for me."

Appearing satisfied, Sin nodded and went back to staring into the forest. "Should we seek out the eyewitness to our roleplaying?"

Boyd nodded and shook his hair out before brushing dirt and crushed leaves off his clothing. "I've been wondering who it is. It could even be the killer." He looked over at Sin and quirked an eyebrow. "Or the ghost."

A low scoff emanated from Sin. "And it begins."

Boyd grinned and started to head in the direction of the spot Cassie and Angela had talked about. "You know you like it."

"Your stubbornness?" Sin asked with a great deal of skepticism in his voice but after a moment his full lips twitched upwards. "Maybe."

Boyd gave Sin a pleased smirk. They headed through the woods, the trees shifting around them with the occasional colorful leaf raining down. They stayed alert the entire way, keeping watch for anyone. Twice, Sin tilted his head in a direction as if he'd heard something but Boyd never did and ultimately it was dismissed both times.

As they walked, the woods became denser. The shadows grew across the ground and despite the fact that Autumn was underway and the leaves had started to turn colors and fall off the trees, the canopy here seemed thicker. The natural sounds Boyd could hear in the background started to fall away and become more muffled somehow. It could have been his imagination but it seemed like there were fewer birds singing and the trees started to creak rather than rustle.

There was an ominous quality that Boyd couldn't quite place and he glanced at Sin to see if his partner noticed it. Sin was looking around with the same hawk-like gaze as he had before, making Boyd believe he was unaffected by what Boyd perceived to be a subtle shift in the environment.

He didn't know if he was just imagining the change. He'd had an affinity for ghost stories ever since he was a child and his dad used to tell stories in the attic, a blanket thrown over them in a makeshift fort while Lou and Boyd sat wide-eyed staring at him. Cedrick used to use a flashlight and flicker it on and off, aimed up from beneath his chin to cast his features in shadows.

Ghost stories reminded Boyd of that time and of the murder mysteries his father had started to write before he died. They made him feel nostalgic and he couldn't deny that he had a certain amount of interest in them. Especially since he didn't actually disbelieve in ghosts, although he didn't particularly believe in them either.

As they went deeper into the woods, Boyd decided it was probably a good thing they hadn't decided to walk there in the middle of the night.

He kept an eye out ahead of them, keeping in mind the directions they'd been given and following Sin every time he shifted in a different direction. Boyd's ability to navigate forests had increased over time, although he still had a harder time than in buildings or the middle of a city. When they reached the area Boyd thought the spot was supposed to be, at first he didn't see anything that stood out. The forest looked the same in every direction.

But as they pushed their way through some foliage, they saw a skinny, winding path that led into a deeper, darker area. They followed it to a small clearing that opened up around them, only a few feet across and crowded in by tall trees that would appear gloomy in the dark.

As they stepped into the clearing, Boyd felt a shiver move through him even though he couldn't say why exactly. It wasn't any colder here than elsewhere; it was something else about the place. Something that almost seemed... off.

"This is it," he said, looking over at Sin seriously.

Sin didn't respond at first. His pale green eyes were moving about the area and frequently flitting to the trees that surrounded them as if his already sharp senses were hyper-aware.

"Yes," he agreed belatedly.

Boyd turned in a circle, peering into the woods and seeing nothing that seemed amiss. "Do you see anything?"

"No." Sin frowned slightly and glared around the clearing. "But I feel like I should be able to."

"It's the ghost's veil," Boyd said ominously as he approached the northern edge of the clearing. "Annie has recognized your power and she's taken extra precautions to keep you in the dark."

Sin ignored the comment completely but not without rolling his eyes. He walked the length of the clearing and swept it with his eyes. "What would you intend to do if we actually found something that the police did not?"

"I don't know," Boyd said somewhat absently as he peered into the woods.

He thought he saw a flash of something slightly darker than the background move but when he tried to follow it with his gaze, it disappeared. He scrutinized the area he'd seen it and couldn't see anything that led him to believe someone was there. The shiver he'd felt earlier moved through him again and he abruptly walked back toward Sin. He didn't want to say aloud that he was finding the place to actually be a little creepy.

"I guess tell them about it," he said belatedly with a shrug, keeping his tone completely casual. "Or try to leave them a clue so a local can find it." He looked over at Sin. "Why?"

Sin crouched next to a rotted log and ran his fingers along it idly. "There are two reasons why I think we should not get involved," he admitted. "One is because of what I would likely be inclined to do if we actually found something."

"Which is?" Boyd asked, pausing and looking at his lover in mild intrigue.

"Probably do to them what I did to Jared," Sin replied calmly. He glanced over at Boyd with a slight frown. "I find it odd."

Boyd drew his eyebrows down and looked at Sin. He wasn't particularly surprised to hear Sin say that; it wasn't unusual for Sin to kill someone to protect or avenge innocents. "What's odd?"

Sin continued to run his fingers along the log, his eyes moving from Boyd's gaze to once again begin searching the woods. "That I even give a shit. This isn't something that I'm involved with or that I'm responsible for. I wish that I didn't have this bizarre inclination to avenge or help civilians. Annabelle believed it was guilt from the incidents in my past. I wish it would go away."

Boyd paused and studied Sin; that long, silky black hair that was starting to fall out of the knot again, the pale green eyes that could be so enigmatic, those sculpted features with those full lips... Even somewhat perturbed, Sin was gorgeous. Boyd could see how the inclination could frustrate Sin but for Boyd, it was just another part of his partner that made him who he was.

He shook his head to himself. "I don't think it's just guilt," he said, his gaze caught by Sin's eyes. "But the fact that you do care is one of the reasons why I love you."

A faint smile formed on Sin's mouth and he gave Boyd one of those rare looks that made warmth flood Boyd's body. It wasn't very often when Boyd could say that Sin looked truly and genuinely happy.

"Now that we're here," Sin said after dragging his gaze away and clearing his throat as if the moment had made him uncomfortable. "What would you like to do, Detective Beaulieu?"

"Investigate of course," Boyd said importantly. He looked down at the ground to see if there were any obvious indications of foul play, movement, or of what had happened. "I'm wondering about the footprints. How can someone just disappear without any indication as to how? There have to be tire tracks, footprints, drag marks-- something to show what happened."

Sin said nothing and didn't appear genuinely interested in the puzzle. He watched Boyd look around the scene quietly before asking, "If I hadn't agreed to come here, would you have come on your own?"

"Probably," Boyd said, pausing as he crouched near the edge of the clearing. He pulled some hair behind his ear and looked over his shoulder curiously. "Why?"

"Because I'm not entirely comfortable with that," Sin replied evenly, a frown marring his striking face as he shifted his gaze away. He crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging slightly. "What if you were to disappear without a trace?"

An amused smile curved Boyd's lips. "You believe in the ghost now?"

"No," Sin scoffed. "But obviously something strange is going on here. Something that cannot be readily explained, even by an assassin such as myself who excels in making people disappear without a trace."

"True," Boyd agreed.

He scrutinized the disturbed dirt. It was clear from the number of footprints that more than one person had been in this area in the last few days, but he'd determined that most of them were probably a few gawkers and the local law enforcement. Most of the tracks wove around aimlessly, as if the people had been searching for someone, and the prints he saw the most were accompanied by paw prints from a dog.

"But I would've been able to handle it even if I ran into the local serial killer," he added.

"Maybe. But without any information on who they are, how can you be so sure? If this person is skilled enough to have been causing people to disappear without a trace for years, who is to say what they're capable of or what kind of training they have?"

Boyd stood and turned back toward the direction of the town, although he paused before he continued his search. "I don't know," he said more seriously, watching his partner. It was true that he didn't really know what they were dealing with, especially since the atmosphere here was mildly disturbing on a level he couldn't explain. His eyebrows drew down. "Was that your second reason?"

"No." Sin's eyes roamed the trees around them once again. The thick forest that surrounded them somehow made his eyes look greener. "I just don't want you to become arrogant because of your improved abilities. And I mean that for all scenarios-- not just the one I gave."

Boyd raised an eyebrow, not sure whether or not he was insulted. He crossed his arms and straightened his back. "You don't trust me to know my own limits?"

"I don't really know if me trusting you has anything to do with it. I asked because I wouldn't want you to come here on your own because the situation in this town and these woods is strange and unexplainable at the moment and I would be concerned." Sin arched a brow and looked at his partner again. "But your answer implied that you are completely confident coming here on your own without knowing who your opponent might be. Either you're brushing it off as it being a crazy hick or you're assuming you can take anyone down. The impression given is that you're pretty sure of yourself now."

There was a moment of silence as Boyd watched Sin before he dropped his gaze to the footprints. He'd been trying not to contaminate the scene too much while walking around and it took him a moment to see where the footprints began that he attributed to the missing woman's.

Hers were smaller, lighter, and the only set of footprints in the clearing that walked in steadily, without weaving around. Judging by the stride and impressions of her shoes, she'd been walking a little slowly but otherwise with a purpose. Hers were the only footprints that suddenly and inexplicably disappeared just off-center of the clearing.

He stopped near where the woman's footprints disappeared as he considered what Sin said. "I am pretty confident now," he admitted, his eyes narrowing in thought.

Boyd frowned to himself and met Sin's eyes again. "But I'm not stupid. If I'd felt anything amiss, I would've left or not approached on my own in the first place. But this ghost or serial killer or whatever it is seems to only hit once every few years. If one person is already missing, why would the killer break their fifty-year pattern for me? It seems more likely the killer is someone who takes their time with the victim and is probably enmeshed in their routine right now. And unless the person we're dealing with is a clone of you, I'm fairly certain I would be able to get away even if they did come after me."

Sin nodded, and after a pause his eyebrows drew down slightly. "I'm sure you would. My concern for you isn't because I doubt your abilities. Our little training exercise more than proved that you're on par with Jon and perhaps even Trovosky now. It's because I care about you and I don't think I can deal with any more traumatic occurrences now that we're finally together."

Boyd smiled, undeniably pleased by the sentiment of Sin's words. "I'll keep that in mind and be especially careful, then."

He paused, experiencing what was becoming a familiar feeling of eyes watching them. He looked over his shoulder into the trees but the shadows engulfed anything that may have been visible. A mildly troubled look grew on his face, his eyebrows drawing down as he looked over at Sin again. "That reminds me, though. Have you felt like you're being watched back home at all?"

"At times," Sin replied without hesitation, looking at his lover more seriously. "But it's usually when we're together so I typically attribute it to agents keeping tabs or nosy neighbors. Why?"

"I don't know," Boyd said pensively, turning fully toward Sin and forgetting for the moment about the mystery laid out in dusty footprints at their feet. "For months, on and off I feel like I'm being watched, usually when I'm alone. There tends to be a rational explanation, like Mrs. Hensley peering through her blinds or someone I know stopping by, so I can't tell if I'm being paranoid. But the fact it hasn't stopped has started to bother me and I wondered if I was the only one."

"At the moment," Sin began, straightening and casting his hawk-like glare around the clearing sharply. "I think we both know you're not."

They met eyes briefly, unspoken words passing between them. Without hesitation, they both moved silently into the woods surrounding the clearing. Boyd could feel the presence of someone amongst the groaning trees; someone who had been watching them for awhile now. As he moved through the forest, Sin's familiar form at his side and occasionally disappearing for portions of a second behind tree trunks, he felt adrenaline grow within him.

He wondered if he'd been wrong; if the serial killer had returned to the scene of the crime and if the pattern would have escalated had they not been there to stop it. He wondered if the mystery would end here.

He strained his ears and could hear quiet sounds-- muffled breath, the shifting of weight, the crinkling of leaves. His attention zeroed in on those noises while he and Sin spread apart further, keeping each other in view while still starting to circle around their target.

The shadows darkened despite the relatively bright sky shining above the canopy. It was inexplicable save the fact that these woods were unusually thick in this area. Boyd could feel his heartbeat increasing while his thoughts grew quicker-- if this was the serial killer, had he been the one watching them have sex? Why would he do that? Why had he followed them here? If it wasn't the same person, who had been watching them earlier?

Whispers grew in front of them, mingling with the susurration of insects and the leaves rustling in the trees. Boyd wouldn't have listened to the words even if he'd been able to understand them, although he did note that they seemed to have two targets. Before their targets could do anything, the two agents moved in quickly and slammed them to the ground to incapacitate them.

Two very female, terrified screams pierced through the woods. Boyd looked more closely at the body struggling beneath him and he was surprised to see Cassie staring up at him with wide eyes and a mouth that wasn't stopping a rambling of pleas and explanations. Boyd glanced over and saw Sin had Angela pinned to the ground.

"Cassie?" Boyd said incredulously.

"We didn't see anything!" Cassie was protesting desperately. "We won't tell anyone!"

"Tell anyone what?" Boyd demanded, wondering if she'd overheard something she shouldn't have; something related to the Agency.

But Cassie's entire face reddened and she darted a nervous glance toward Sin and Angela.

Sin stared at Angela's blanched face, rolled his eyes and released her. His face was unreadable and it was difficult to determine if he was relieved that they weren't happening upon any real trouble or disappointed by the same fact.

"Um..." Angela trailed off nervously.

If it hadn't been clear before that Cassie and Angela had been the ones watching them have sex earlier, it was obvious now. Boyd released Cassie, watching as the two locals scrambled to their feet. He shook his head and stepped back, running a hand through his hair. The adrenaline that had built was still thrumming through him despite the fact there was nothing to spend it on.

Cassie straightened her clothes and looked between Boyd and Sin with wide eyes. Angela stood near her, close enough that they were nearly touching, and the uncertain way they held themselves with their shoulders hunched made it clear enough that they didn't know what to do. Cassie opened her mouth but Boyd held up a hand to forgo another round of rambling.

"Just-- go," he said in exasperation.

Relief won over the embarrassment and guilt staining their expressions. Without waiting for Boyd or Sin to change their minds, Cassie and Angela nearly tripped over themselves as they scurried away. Boyd stared after their forms until they disappeared between the trees, and only then did he look over at his lover.

The build up of adrenaline crashed around Boyd, and the creepiness of the woods surrounding them seemed at once embarrassing and unchanged. The hypersensitivity he'd been feeling to the dark, groaning trees didn't dull, yet he was glad he hadn't said anything to Sin because in the fact of two terrified voyeuristic teenagers scrambling away, the whole thing seemed silly. Here they were, agents for a secret organization, people who routinely fought for their lives-- and they'd been distracted by two girls curious about gay sex.

"Well then," Sin said flatly.

"I don't know whether to be amused or disappointed," Boyd admitted with a grimace. He ran a hand through his blond hair and looked to the trees. The shadows still engulfed the world around them and yet now, with the absence of eyes watching their every move, it didn't seem as mysterious. "I was actually starting to get excited about the idea of catching the killer."

"Despite myself, I was too." Sin smirked and shook his head, giving Boyd a sidelong glance. "But there's more interesting things we could be doing, anyway. Let's get out of here."

Boyd flashed an intrigued smile and followed his lover through the woods and away from the clearing that had inexplicably witnessed the end of so many lives.

 

 

The morning dawned bright, cool and breezy. When Sin's eyes slid open the light streaming in through the white curtains was somewhat startling. He looked at the rays of sunlight blankly, his eyes following the dust motes that danced in them.

He felt abnormally well-rested and for the first time in a long time, his body was completely absent of tension. If it weren't for the fact that Boyd was notably missing, Sin would have likely entertained the idea of trying to go back to sleep. The king-sized bed in the cabin's bedroom was nearly as comfortable as the one in his apartment but with the added bonus of complete privacy.

Sin rolled out of bed and stood up, cracking his back in a stretch before running a hand through his inky black hair. He grabbed his pants as an afterthought before going out into the living room. He slid into his pants as he glanced around.

The living room and kitchen were connected with the front door sitting right at the junction of where they connected. The door was wide open although the screen door was shut. Sin walked outside curiously, the wooden porch floor cool against his bare feet.

Boyd was sitting on the swinging bench on the porch, a sketch pad in his lap and his eyes focused on the woods that surrounded them. The sunlight was even more striking out here; golden light sifted through the leaves and created a spectacle of untouched nature that Sin hadn't seen in years. The light caught Boyd's pale features, his cheeks faintly tinged pink from the cool morning air, his blond hair still mussed from sleep.

"What are you doing?"

Boyd looked over with a serene smile, although he didn't move his hand from the sketchpad. His eyes seemed more golden than usual in the light. "Morning," he greeted and tilted his head toward the woods. "I woke up early and was inspired."

"It is pretty inspiring," Sin agreed, sitting down beside Boyd and stretching his legs out in front of him. He folded his arms over his bare chest, gaze skimming over the scenery. In the cool morning air he could faintly feel Boyd's body heat against his side. "I like it here."

"I do too." Boyd started drawing again, his gaze flicking between his sketchpad and the trees. "I wish we could stay like this."

"Like what?"

"More... normal, I guess," Boyd said with a shrug, pausing and looking over at Sin. "I wish we didn't have to return to the Agency and we could go on vacations whenever we wanted. It would be nice to live in a place like this for awhile."

"Oh." Sin tilted his head back against the back of the bench and stared up at the sky. "I wish there was a way to leave."

"Yeah," Boyd agreed quietly, looking down at the half-finished drawing. After a moment, he set the pencil down and selected another one, looking up at the trees. "Maybe some day we'll figure something out."

Sin looked over at Boyd with surprise. "Like what?"

"I'm not sure," Boyd admitted with a faint shift of his shoulders.

His fingers moved confidently as the blank white paper was slowly replaced by a rendition of the scene before them. Even the tiny leaves in the drawing seemed realistic despite the fact that Boyd seemed to be absently sketching them in. It didn't appear to take much effort for him to replicate what he saw, which was unsurprising to Sin after having watched Boyd draw in the past.

Despite the fact that Boyd often downplayed his ability, there was definite talent in his art.

"But Emilio figured it out for almost twenty years," Boyd continued thoughtfully. With two elegant strokes, he created a bird soaring over the canopy in the distance. "Granted, that same trick wouldn't work twice and any other I can think of would fail, not to mention even if it didn't we'd be chased our whole lives." Honey brown eyes flicked over to Sin. "But we don't know everything that will come with the new administration. It's possible we'll discover a loophole with her that we didn't find before."

Sin didn't respond at first and he dragged his eyes away from Boyd. The comment stirred something in him that was hopeful yet the cynical part of his mind almost immediately stamped it down. Emilio's plan had only worked because Sin had been present. He'd counted on Sin being there to kill the remaining assassins. As far as disappearing and making it obvious that they'd gone rogue... it was always a possibility but living on the run and being continuously hunted appealed to him as much as assassinations did.

"Maybe."

Boyd finished with the trees and started working on drawing the sky. He set the pencil down and selected a different one. He seemed to be choosing them based on how dark and thick the lines were. "I don't know how realistic it is," he added, probably having similar thoughts as Sin. "But I'm not about to give up on the idea of getting away someday, no matter how it happens."

Sin narrowed his eyes contemplatively. "What if you got bored with me in that sort of situation? In a... normal situation."

Boyd stopped and looked over incredulously. His fingers had stilled against the pencil and judging by the look in his eyes, he was taken aback by what he believed to be an absurd question. "Why in the world would I?"

"I don't know," Sin replied with a shrug, a sheepish half-smile finding its way onto his face. "Maybe I'm not so interesting when we aren't surrounded by intrigue and danger."

Boyd stared at Sin for a moment and then shook his head to himself with a clearly exasperated look. "You're ridiculous," he said not unkindly, returning his attention to sketching the clouds. "I'm going to love you regardless of your setting so you'd best get used to the idea."

Sin chuckled quietly and looked at Boyd sidelong. "So, is this your plan for the day?"

"I hadn't thought much past finishing this. Why?" He glanced over sidelong, pushing some hair away from his face with the back of his hand. "Did you have any ideas?"

"Not really." Sin stretched his arms over the back of the bench and leaned his head to the side, watching Boyd contemplatively and running his fingers over the smooth oak of the bench. Part of him wanted to use the complete isolation and privacy as a chance to fuck all day and night but the other part of him wanted to explore the area around them more thoroughly.

A thought occurred to him. "There's a bike rental place in town. Would you be interested in getting some mountain bikes and exploring the forest some more? It might be interesting."

Boyd's pencil stilled against the page as he raised his eyebrows in an intrigued look. A small smile tilted the edges of his lips. "I'd be very interested. Do you want to go now?"

"Whenever. We have time."

"Let's go after breakfast, then." Boyd started shading in the trees.

Sin watched him drawing for a moment before nodding and getting up. They'd established early on in their stay that Sin would be doing the majority of the cooking. Things were a lot easier without Boyd stumbling around the kitchen trying to figure out the difference between a sauce pan and a frying pan.

It didn't take long to fry up some bacon and scramble half a carton of eggs. By the time Boyd came in, likely drawn by the smell of cooking food, Sin was toasting bread. Boyd wandered over, his hands running along Sin casually and his lips a gentle caress against the side of Sin's neck.

He ignored Boyd's comments about how he'd make a good housewife and tried to ignore the idea that popped up in the back of his mind at the joking exchanges that followed. The thought had been recurring ever since they'd gotten to the cabin: that it would be nice if they actually lived together back in the city as well.

Sin sat at the tiny wooden table across from Boyd and eyed his partner discreetly. He didn't think he'd mind waking up next to Boyd every morning or even doing most of the cooking. It would be... fun.

His mouth twitched slightly and he made a bacon and egg sandwich with the toast.

Boyd washed the dishes while Sin got ready for the day. The shower was powerful and the water was deliciously hot. Boyd joined him and they stayed in it for forty-five minutes, fucking mindlessly against the tiled wall.

It was almost noon before they got to the bike rental place. Sin parked the truck on the street and as he got out of the vehicle, he realized that he was in an obscenely good mood. He'd been happier than normal lately anyway as a result of their reconciliation but ever since they'd come to Vermont it'd been more prominent than ever. He had to really wonder how he ever thought he'd be able to be with anyone other than Boyd.

The thoughts gave him the uncharacteristic desire to want to touch Boyd affectionately; to hug him or squeeze his hand. But considering the old man behind the counter was already looking at them like they were from another planet, it wasn't the best idea.

"What are you boys looking for?" the man, Chandler according to his name tag, asked. He looked like someone's kindly old grandfather but he had a voice like a grizzly bear.

The building wasn't particularly large and the majority of the floor space was taken up by bicycles of varying shapes, colors and sizes. Helmets were on display on one section of the wall, grouped by size, and the rental prices were clearly posted on a sign behind the counter.

"We want to rent two bikes for the day," Boyd said belatedly after having looked around the space. He turned his attention to Chandler. "We plan to bike through the woods so we'd need something sturdy."

Chandler made a 'hmm' sound and walked around the counter, still eyeballing the both of them before turning his attention to the rows of bikes displayed before them. "Not much experience mountain biking?"

Sin didn't bother to answer and ran his fingers along the leather handlebars of a red and black bike. They'd already come to the unspoken agreement that Boyd dealt with small talk and civilians. Sin looked at it as a trade-off for the cooking.

"No," Boyd said in agreement. "But we're both in shape."

"Looks like you both could afford some meat on your bones if you ask me," Chandler replied with a low chuckle. He moved over to where Sin was standing and nodded at the bike. "That one there is good for speed but it won't cut it through these here woods."

Sin shrugged, unsurprised. It didn't look like it would have worked.

"What you boys would be wanting is a dual suspension all mountain bike. It's real rocky around here; you need something that can get you through it."

Boyd trailed over by Chandler and started to examine the bicycles in the area. He seemed especially intrigued by a sturdy-looking black one with silver handlebars that twisted up a few inches on the sides. His fingers stilled against the bicycle frame as he glanced up at Chandler. "Any of these over here would work, then?"

"Yep." Chandler looked at Sin and seemed to sense that he wasn't interested in being followed the entire time because Chandler took a step away. "Let me know if you boys need anything else or have any questions."

Boyd nodded and flashed a small, polite smile. "We will. Thank you." He waited until Chandler returned to the counter before he turned to Sin curiously. "See anything you like?"

Sin shrugged and slid his hands into his jean pockets, walking over to the rack Boyd stood beside. "I don't know. I don't know much about bikes. This seems like something Trovosky would be educated on."

The comment caused Boyd to look at him in mild surprise, his eyebrows raising slightly and head tilting the way it did when he was curious or perplexed. "Since when do you know anything about Kassian's hobbies?"

The bell above the door jingled as another customer entered the store. Sin looked over and saw that it was a young couple, bright-eyed and all friendly smiles as they greeted Chandler. Obvious tourists.

"I ran into him a couple of weeks ago. He was in a bad mood about something so I decided to comment that they likely offered Midol in the med wing." Sin stopped in front of a forest green bike that had a faint camouflage print. "Somehow the topic turned to him deciding to go camping in some woods somewhere in the midwest."

Boyd looked genuinely intrigued by this and had turned his attention solely to Sin. "Interesting. I'm surprised you two actually stood around chatting long enough for that to come up."

"So was I. But it didn't last after I reassured him that if he became a mountain man, no one would miss him at the Agency anyway since he is a terrible agent now or whatever nonsense he was complaining about."

Boyd watched Sin a moment before he shook his head to himself and looked down at the bike. His eyebrows drew down and he seemed caught between bemusement and concern. "Odd. I wonder what he was worried about. I haven't heard of any major screw ups from him."

Sin squatted down and looked at the wheels of the bike, not really knowing what he was looking for but deciding they looked thick enough to be reliable for how he wanted to ride. "Apparently they've been giving him babysitters on assignments. Once with Jon and once with my father."

"What-- Why?"

"I'm not entirely sure. He didn't get into details but alluded to the fact that they think he's having alcohol issues."

Boyd grew quiet and stared at a deep red bicycle with a silver design that was near him. A troubled frown briefly darkened his expression and Sin knew Boyd well enough to recognize the flash of guilt that went through his eyes.

Boyd seemed distracted and turned away to survey the shop. His gaze briefly rested on the happy couple who were chattering with Chandler as they grouped around some lightweight bicycles near the front door. The woman seemed pleased by the silver bike she was studying as she listened to Chandler describe a meandering trail through the woods nearby.

"So, what are you getting?" Sin asked abruptly, not really wanting to get sidetracked on lamentations about Kassian's issues.

Boyd looked around at the all terrain bicycles and frowned to himself. "I don't know." He pulled some hair behind his ear and seemed to shake off the reverie. He started walking around, putting more effort into studying the choices. He paused by one that was a hunter green color and eyed it in assessment, tilting it upright so he could test out sitting on it. He looked thoughtful and glanced over at Sin. "You find one yet?"

Sin jerked a thumb at the camouflaged bike.

Boyd smiled to himself with fondness clear in the tilt of his lips and the look in his eyes. "You didn't even look at any others."

"I don't want to. It will take too long."

The smile widened before Boyd pushed himself off the bicycle and headed toward the first few bikes he'd been studying. He casually walked by Sin in the process, passing close enough that he discreetly ran his fingers along Sin's.

Since the moment they'd started their trip and especially since they'd reached the cabin, Boyd had been particularly apt to touch Sin, from gentle caresses to obvious sexual advances. Sin didn't know exactly what it was about the setting that apparently made Boyd feel especially endeared toward him but he suspected it may be because they were finally able to have complete privacy. Whatever the case, Boyd had been touching and kissing him more than usual and Sin couldn't say he minded.

The brief slide of Boyd's fingers against Sin's hand was gone almost before it was there but it left a tingle on his skin in its wake. When Sin looked over, he saw Boyd give him an intimate look that if they weren't in public probably would have resulted in one of them pulling the other into a deep kiss. As it was, his blond hair barely sheltered his expression from the others in the shop. The look disappeared as he shifted and the others would see his face.

"I'll go with this one," Boyd announced as he paused by the black bike he'd first considered.

They had to wait a few minutes for Chandler to stop chatting with the couple and that was enough time for Boyd to examine his chosen bicycle more thoroughly. They paid for the rental in cash and started off on the ride. Chandler had given them some directions for a bike path he recommended based on what Boyd explained they were hoping to do.

They started out on the trail that Chandler had recommended, Sin ending up in the lead because he'd been the first into the forest. The path wound around, ducking around tree trunks sometimes at the last second like the meanderings of a stumbling drunk. They rode fast, almost recklessly, the ground rising and falling beneath them but starting to head at an increasingly steep incline.

The trees were clustered together, dark shapes that rose well above them and flashed by like blurred red and brown lines. Crinkling leaves and brittle sticks littered the forest floor, crushed beneath their tires as they flew past. The uneven ground gave ample opportunities to jump the bikes over small distances and when one or both of them tried to take too quick of turns, sometimes the back tire slid across the ground in a spin out and they would have to put a foot down to keep their balance.

Sin could hear Boyd close behind him. Boyd laughed as they sped through the forest, a happy adrenaline-high of a sound that was occasionally lost to the wind rushing past Sin's ears. Sometimes Boyd heckled Sin, yelling that he wasn't going fast enough or he was too much of a pansy around a particular turn, although they both knew he was just talking shit. Sin was fast enough that he nearly left Boyd behind more than once.

The longer they road through the forest, the more daring their stunts became. More often than not, it was necessary to do them to get around the natural obstacles that frequently got in their way. One such moment occurred when Boyd challenged Sin to an impromptu race.

They'd begun speeding down a steep hill and realized belatedly that the hill ended abruptly in a small cliff with a sharp drop. Boyd wisely slid to a stop but Sin didn't.

He wasn't experienced in bike stunts and had been doing most jumps on a whim so far. But for some reason he wanted to keep going. A part of him deep down wanted to see how far he could push himself. How crazy he could go, how reckless he could be, until he proved that he wasn't an indestructible science project.

Flying off the edge of the small overhang proved that point but it quickly became clear that it had been stupid to do the jump without even looking to see what was below. He barely even heard Boyd's frightened shout in the distance as the wind rushed past him. He was weightless, the bike loose beneath his grip, the trees flashing by like a silent movie on fast forward.

The freedom only lasted for a scant handful of seconds.

The bike soared downward before slamming into the ground violently. The front tire slammed into a group of rocks that caught the bike forcefully. The back end of the bike flew upward, wrenching the handlebars out of Sin's hands and throwing him off.

He hit the ground hard and instantly covered his head with his arms to protect himself as he half rolled and half slid the rest of the way down the slope. Rocks, sticks and raised tree roots slammed into him from every angle and for a moment all he could hear was the rushing of the noises around him and the crashing of his bicycle as it disengaged from the rocks and clattered down the slope after him.

By the time Boyd raced down, Sin had already noted that he was relatively unscathed except for a likely sprained ankle from getting twisted beneath him.

"Hsin!" Boyd yelled breathlessly, concern and fear clear in his face as he jumped off his bike before he'd slid to a complete stop. He nearly tripped over himself in his haste to crouch next to Sin. He automatically ran his hands over him to check for obvious broken bones or trauma.

"Are you okay? Can you feel your feet? Are you hurt?" His voice stumbled over itself the way his feet had; slightly shaky and unsteady and rushed to ensure his lover's safety.

When Sin looked up and he saw just how far the drop had been, it was probably no wonder that Boyd was so alarmed.

"I'm fine." Sin brushed dirt off his jacket and surveyed the distance of the fall. It annoyed him. He should have at least broken something. "Maybe just a sprain."

Relief warred with disbelief in Boyd's eyes. He leaned back, pushing hair away from his face with a trembling hand, and glanced back up at the drop that Sin had managed to survive nearly unharmed.

"Jesus Christ," he said distantly, starting to gather his wits again. He turned back to Sin with narrowed eyes and punched him on the chest, leaning in. "Pull that shit again and I'll kill you. You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry. Spur of the moment decision," Sin replied, actually meaning it. It was entirely possible that if the fall had been worse, he could have broken his neck. If Boyd had done such a thing, Sin likely would have had a fit.

Boyd let out a low breath and shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair again, a grimace of worry and distraction lingering. "Forget it. I'm just glad you're okay." He pushed himself up and looked along Sin's length again, in assessment this time as if he was trying to verify that Sin really wasn't hurt terribly. "What's sprained? Do you need help?"

Sin threw him a derisive look and stood. "I've finished storms with bullet holes in my body. I'll manage."

Boyd rolled his eyes. "Excuse me for wanting to help my crazy lover who just rode off a cliff." When he saw that Sin seemed to be managing fine, he returned to his bike and pulled it upright.

"What do you want to do now?" Sin asked.

With the bike leaning against his thigh, Boyd paused and studied Sin more seriously before glancing around them. The cliff would be difficult to get back up with their bikes but there were patches they could ride through down here as well as a path that could be seen between some trees.

"Why don't we head back? I'm starting to get hungry anyway."

Sin nodded and pulled his bike upright. "That's fine with me. You can do the cooking this time."

Boyd smirked and swung one leg over the bike. "Be careful what you wish for."

The ride back to town and the hike back up to their cabin proved to exacerbate the sprain. Despite the fact that Sin had indeed survived storms with a lot worse wounds, they were usually dealt with on excessive adrenaline highs when he could barely feel it. Walking sedately with a steadily swollen ankle was becoming a nuisance.

By the time Boyd had finished preparing a plate full of turkey sandwiches for them, Sin's ankle was swollen and discolored with bruising.

"Appetizing," Sin commented, motioning to his ankle and grabbing a thick sandwich.

Boyd set his plate on the table, his eyebrows drawing down as he looked at Sin's ankle. "Are you sure it's not broken? Can you wiggle your toes?"

"It's not broken," Sin replied blandly around a mouthful of turkey breast.

"Then we should get some ice for it."

Boyd walked over to the kitchen and pulled some ice out of the freezer, dropping it into a plastic bag that he wrapped in a dish towel. He returned to Sin's side and didn't give him a chance to say he didn't need the help; he picked Sin's leg up and gently rested his foot on one of the extra chairs, then balanced the ice against his foot.

"You should be keeping it elevated anyway," he said absently, mostly to himself.

Sin just made a face, not entirely feeling gratified by the attention. "Can we not make a big deal over a ridiculous sprain?"

"No." Boyd leaned over as he passed by Sin and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He returned to his side of the table and dropped into his chair. "Someone has to take care of you and you won't do it yourself," he said lightly as he picked up his sandwich.

"I have better things to do with my time," Sin replied. "Like finishing this series of sci-fi novels I recently acquired. I was considering making an attempt at relaxation tonight and starting to read one in that jacuzzi... thing."

Boyd raised his eyebrows, looking intrigued. "That sounds like a good plan. I may join you."

"Who said you're invited?"

Boyd smirked to himself. "Maybe I'll just crash the party," he said playfully and took a bite of his sandwich.

"Well if you do," Sin said, looking at his lover with an arched brow. "Remember that I am there to read my book."

"Oh, I will," Boyd drawled, his lips lifting at the edges impishly. "But I may have to entertain myself since you didn't bring me anything to read."

"You do that." Feigning disinterest was amusing but Sin found the idea highly intriguing. It was too bad that submerging his ankle in hot water would likely make it worse. Perhaps he would have to keep a bathtub rendezvous casual after all.

He held on to that vow until he was actually sitting in the jacuzzi with his leg propped up on the opposite end, his head resting on a towel and book in hand. The water felt good and surprisingly, it did help him to relax. There was something oddly soothing about the suds surrounding him while the water jets massaged muscles he hadn't even known were sore until they began to unwind.

The bathroom was steamy and hot from the running water, making him feel even more lethargic. When Boyd finally entered the bathroom and slid into the tub naked, Sin could barely do more than give him a lazy once over before returning to his book. He felt too comfortable to move.

"How's the book?" Boyd asked as he settled against the opposite side of the tub. He extended his legs, one of them sliding briefly against Sin's.

"Interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it yet. I'll let you know after a few chapters," Sin replied, not taking his pale green gaze off of the pages.

Boyd made a 'hmm' sound and fell silent. For a few minutes, there was only the sound of Sin flipping pages and the whirring of the jacuzzi. Boyd stretched and leaned back, his eyes falling shut. He rested his head against the edge of the tub and groaned appreciatively. "God, this feels good. I wasn't expecting this."

"Shut up. I can't relax if someone is talking."

"That's a sad story," Boyd said idly, rolling his head back and forth as he seemed to be working out some kinks. "Maybe I should help you learn how to multitask."

Sin didn't bother to reply and flipped a page in his book.

Silence fell between them again and Sin started getting back into the book. He didn't pay much attention to Boyd, although he could feel that golden brown gaze studying him. After a period of time, Boyd shifted and ran his foot along Sin's leg. The slide of skin against skin seemed to be more as a way to get Sin's attention than anything overtly sensual.

"Hsin?" Boyd watched Sin intently, his eyebrows furrowed the slightest in the center and his eyes thoughtful. "Do you like staying with me? Like here or Monterrey?"

"I hate it," Sin replied automatically. He read the passage he'd been in the middle of before the words filtered through his mind and he glanced up at Boyd. "Why?"

Boyd continued to study Sin before he dropped his gaze to the water, watching the suds rise and disintegrate. He swished a hand through the water, leaving a miniature wake of destruction behind it. "Because I like living with you."

Sin carefully closed his book and dropped it over the side of the tub to the safety of the rug that stretched across the wood floor. "The feeling is mutual," he said at length. Some of his earlier thoughts echoed in his mind and he wondered what Boyd was getting at.

Boyd smiled to himself, appearing pleased. He pushed some suds into a small mound in front of his chest and looked up to meet Sin's eyes. His hands disappeared beneath the layer of suds and he shifted, one foot sliding against the tub floor and briefly brushing against Sin's.

"Well," Boyd continued slowly, tilting his head and flicking his gaze across Sin's face. There was the slightest hint of hesitation and nervousness in his eyes, but his expression remained largely contemplative. "I was thinking it would be really nice living together back home too."

There was a brief moment of silence before Sin closed his eyes again and tilted his head back on the towel. He allowed the warmth of the tub to fully consume his sensations once again even as he replied. "I was thinking the same thing just this morning. However I didn't want to propose it until the new year when the new administration arrives. I didn't think it'd be practical to try doing it now, even if you'd agreed."

"To finalize everything, we probably should wait until we know what they'll allow," Boyd agreed, sounding pleased by Sin's response. "I thought eventually we could buy a place together. But until then, if you ever wanted to stay at my place for awhile I'd like to have you there."

Sin opened his eyes and looked at Boyd with surprise. "You'd leave the house?"

"Yes," Boyd said without hesitation. He ran his foot absently against Sin's underwater and tilted his head. "In fact, I was thinking of selling it if we lived together."

The information was more than a little welcoming and Sin smiled slightly as he took it into consideration. "It isn't that I have something against the house, but I would never want to live there. That was one point of contention when I started thinking about suggesting this. I could never feel like that place is my home."

"I didn't think you would," Boyd said with a nod. Part of his hair was submerged, turning the golden blond a deeper shade on the ends. "I never got the impression you cared for the neighborhood and it would probably feel strange moving into someone else's house."

"More specifically, Vivienne's house." Sin frowned slightly, unnerved by the idea. "It just would not feel normal to live there."

"I hadn't thought of that," Boyd mused, frowning to himself. "I would have wanted to move away anyway, though. Even if she never comes by anymore, I wouldn't want her to suddenly decide to while we're in the middle of something."

Sin sifted his hand over the water, skimming the surface and deflating the suds that the jets continuously made. His expression was thoughtful as he watched the water move around his hand, heavy eyelids low over the pale green of his eyes. "Would you have anything specific in mind to share?"

"I hadn't gotten that far," Boyd admitted with a bemused smile. "I was just hoping you'd say yes."

"Ah." Sin nodded and allowed his mind to wander idly.

There was a part of him that didn't think any of it would ever come to pass but there was another foolishly optimistic part that was looking forward to actually having his own home. He'd never lived anywhere that was his own in over thirty years. He'd never had any kind of haven-- somewhere that he didn't feel uncomfortable or spied on. And along with that came the idle musings about what kind of place he would want.

"Once we know if it'll work under the new administration, I thought we could start looking at postings," Boyd continued, leaning his head back against the edge of the tub. "We could each come up with things we wanted. Maybe you'd want a gym room. I'd love an art studio with maximized natural light..." He trailed off wistfully.

"I don't want a house," Sin replied automatically. "And no suburbs."

"What are you thinking? An apartment in the city?"

A frown pulled at the corners of Sin's full lips. The idea of an apartment in the middle of downtown didn't sound any better. Being forced to live in a single building with two dozen other families was mildly disturbing, especially considering his paranoia about being in the city in general.

"Maybe..." Sin trailed off, thinking. He didn't know what he wanted but he knew exactly what he didn't want. It was quite backwards and irritating. He pictured places he'd stayed in before, attempting to find one that didn't entirely horrify him, and finally said, "Maybe a loft in the industrial district. That's where Ivan lives. His space is very large and I believe he lives in the building alone."

Boyd quirked an eyebrow. "You want to move into Ivan's building?"

Sin stared at him. "No. I was using his place as an example."

"Good," Boyd replied idly. "I think I'd be about as comfortable living in a building with him as you would be living at my mother's old house." He paused and looked at Sin curiously. "Not that I'm opposed to lofts but what's wrong with a house? They're not all in suburban neighborhoods. Is it a house itself you don't want or is it the locations they usually have?"

"I just don't want a house. There's something about them that bothers me. They seem so stifling." Sin's brow furrowed slightly as he tried to explain. "I prefer penthouses and lofts, I think. Wide open spaces and large windows."

Boyd considered that. "That could be nice. The open concept was one thing I liked about our apartment in Monterrey. We could talk no matter where we were."

"You're assuming I consider that a good thing," Sin replied with a smirk, raising his eyebrows at his lover.

"Oh, you'll learn to like it," Boyd drawled, his eyes sparking in amusement. "The fine print for me living with you states that the duties of my mouth are non-negotiable. You get me talking and blowing you or you get nothing at all."

Sin's smirk widened slightly into a grin and he shook his head from side to side. "You're ridiculous."

Boyd chuckled quietly and they lapsed into mutual peaceful silence.

For a long stretch of time Sin drifted into a daze as the jets massaged his back and knots slowly unwound until he was slouching dangerously low in the water in complete relaxation. He looked over at Boyd and saw that his lover was in a similar state. His normally pale skin was flushed from the heat of the water and the steam. His head tilted backwards as he sat with his eyes closed and full lips parted slightly. His blond hair was damp and in some places clung to his face. He looked fucking amazing.

There was something intriguing about looking at Boyd like this. Sin could count on his fingers the amount of times he'd seen Boyd so relaxed and at ease. He was sure Boyd would say the same about him. And as Sin really thought about it, he realized that wasn't always because of the Agency. It didn't always have to do with missions.

Their relationship seemed hectic sometimes, even without external forces pressing down on it. They were both always in a rush to do specific things together, take specific outings or even be together sexually as much as possible. It was like they were going down a list of things they wanted to do together before something inevitably happened to rip them apart. There was rarely any time for them to just enjoy each others' company and relax. As passionate as they were together, their union it seemed also caused considerable tension in both of them.

As the thoughts drifted across Sin's mind he found himself vaguely wondering if it had been easier and more peaceful for Boyd with Kassian. For the first time in a long time, the thought didn't sting. There was no reason for it to. Boyd was his. Boyd loved him. Sin had never been so doubtless about anything in his life.

"Did you have an easier time relaxing with Trovosky?"

Boyd's eyes blinked open and he looked at Sin in clear surprise. "What?"

Sin gave a one shouldered shrug. "Kassian. When you were spending time with him a lot."

Boyd's eyebrows furrowed faintly and he started to grow more alert, some of the dazed relaxation falling away to be replaced by confusion. "You said before that you didn't want to hear about it," he said slowly, eyeballing Sin. "What changed?"

"That was when we first got back together. I still felt unsure of everything and paranoid." Another shrug. "He isn't a threat to me."

There was a moment of silence as Boyd continued to study Sin almost suspiciously. "So you want me to tell you the truth about any of it? I don't want to ruin a nice night if we're going to end up in an argument over something that's over and done with."

There was a beat of silence before Sin said blandly, "I have occasional nightmares about us having a threesome with that meat-head. I'm far from being easily shocked."



"What?" Boyd looked completely taken aback, his eyebrows shooting up. "That's the last thing I thought I'd ever hear from you."



"It isn't exactly a voluntary thing. It's quite horrifying. I usually wake up before he can put his dick in me though." Sin made a revolted expression, his lips twisting in a scowl of disgust.



"So I shouldn't expect to be propositioned for this threesome too in the near future?" Boyd asked jokingly.



Sin stared at Boyd and didn't bother to reply.



Boyd continued to watch Sin in amusement for a moment and then sighed. He pushed himself up more upright in the tub.



"To answer your question-- Yes," he said simply. "I did."



"Why?"



Boyd frowned to himself and seemed to be considering the question. His eyes narrowed faintly and he ran a hand across the suds, absently smoothing them out in front of him.



"I don't know," he said honestly. "I think a lot of it is personality. I never felt like I had to be anyone for him, or prove anything. He didn't care what I did or thought. It made it easier to relax."



"And you felt like you had to be someone for me?" Sin asked with an arched brow. "I liked you before you had a personality."



The comment drew a chuckle out of Boyd. He smiled slightly, although it soon became tinged with pensiveness. "I did, though. I think we tested each other a lot."



Boyd shook his head to himself. "When I think back, I realize I had a subconscious desire to prove to you that not everyone was as horrible as you'd so far experienced. I was the first person who got that close to you and it became a responsibility to me-- you had such deeply ingrained distrust of people that I felt like I couldn't mess up, like if I did it would show you people couldn't be trusted after all."



He drew his eyebrows down as he mused, "Maybe I felt like I had to counteract nearly thirty years of abuse with two years of trying to be a good person." He frowned, destroying the plateau of suds he'd created. "But since I have a lot of my own issues, I was bound to fail."



Sin watched Boyd silently, not entirely sure what he thought about that. He didn't feel like he'd ever pressured Boyd to be a 'good person' but he supposed, Boyd's assumption that Sin needed that mirrored Sin's own assumptions about what Boyd had wanted from him back then.  



He'd thought that Boyd's refusal to acknowledge anything wrong in him, whether it be mental or former actions against people, stemmed from Boyd not wanting to see the truth because the truth would possibly be too much for him to handle. That was what had led Sin to go through so much trouble to hide things from Boyd in the first place. How ironic that Boyd's real reasoning had been that he'd felt the need to defend Sin against everything, even when it was something he didn't need defense from.



Sin glanced at Boyd again, not commenting on his thoughts because he didn't want to sidetrack the conversation. Talking so openly about Kassian for the first time brought more questions to mind.



"So you initially became friends with Kassian because you didn't feel pressured around him," he surmised.



Boyd nodded. "I don't think either of us expected to become friends. It just happened, mostly because neither of us cared what the other felt or thought. I didn't care whether Kassian lived up to the image he had at the Agency and because of that he felt like he could relax around me. And he didn't care that I was your partner or Vivienne's son; he just let me be myself."



"Are you implying that I didn't let you be yourself?" Sin asked, a spike of irritation rising inside him.



"No, not at all." Boyd's eyebrows drew down. "If I couldn't be myself around you there's no way we would've worked out. I would never have gotten to where I am now, wanting to live the rest of my life with you."



Mollified by the answer, the irritation bled away into the warm water that surrounded them and Sin relaxed again. It was hard not to when Boyd kept making nonchalant statements like that.



"Okay, so I suppose I understand how your friendship came to be. It makes sense. It even makes sense to me that you hung out with him frequently while we were apart and you were having difficulties. But why did sex have to come into the fray?" He'd tried to ask the question neutrally but as soon as the word 'sex' had left his mouth, it did so with a slight demanding edge.



Sin frowned and shook his head slightly. "I'm not trying to pick a fight. I just want to understand why."



Boyd studied Sin for a moment and then sighed quietly, looking away. He pushed his hair back from his face, water dampening the strands and causing some to clump together. His eyes narrowed but it was a pensive look more than anything, his gaze tracking back and forth minutely as he stared at the wall of the bathroom. He was silent for a few seconds and Sin got the impression that he was formulating his answer.



"I've always been in others' shadows," he said at length. "My whole life. Even when I came to the Agency, no one saw me as Boyd-- I was the Inspector's son, or Sin's partner. I think I've always lived in reference to other people: trying to be who my mother wanted, who Lou liked, who my father loved, who I thought you needed..."



His eyebrows twitched down, followed by the edges of his lips, but when he met Sin's eyes again he only looked thoughtful. "I'd never done anything just for myself. When everything between us fell apart, I was just... so tired of feeling pulled in so many directions. Of always feeling like I wasn't measuring up to what others expected of me. I felt like I needed something simple, meaningless really, that could also distract me from how miserable I otherwise would have been. Kassian said he was interested in me but I didn't think much about it until one night when it came up again and I needed that release."



His lips pulled down into a frown. "I honestly never meant to hurt you, Hsin. I never would have hurt you on purpose."



Sin studied the younger man silently for a moment. It was a sore point in their relationship and likely something that would always bother him even if he didn't hold a grudge over it. But at least now he understood to an extent. 



However Kassian aside, there was still something about the entire time period that bothered him. Despite the fact that Boyd had felt that he'd "needed" the release of being with Kassian, the thoughtlessness of the entire situation and several other things he'd said around the same time had made him seem completely uncaring about anyone's feelings but his own. At certain points, Sin had felt like he hadn't even known Boyd at all.



After a pause he said, "You seemed very different during that time. Even before the Ann thing. You just seemed... different after you went into training."  



"I'd never been accepted by others before." Boyd paused and shook his head. "It sounds stupid, but it's true. I'd always been the one on the side, ignored or harassed. Even at the Agency, people hated me before they even knew me because of my mother, because I was in the Janus unit, even because I was your partner. I'd never been on such even ground with my peers before, never even realized it was possible for people to see me as me and seem to actually value my opinion for once. It was... a bit of a relief."



He trailed off briefly and then grimaced. When he continued, the way the explanation was so calmly said, without hesitation or avoidance, led Sin to believe that Boyd had thought about this enough to have identified the issues in the last several months.



"The problem is, I went too far. I got lost in my autonomy and became selfish in the process. I thought about myself, my training, and not anyone else. I didn't realize what it was doing to you." He searched Sin's eyes, his gaze regretful and sincere. "Regardless of why I started that with Kassian and why it continued, I should have been more sensitive to how it would make you feel. I never should've said such hurtful things. I was wrong and I'm sorry."



There was a brief pause before Sin nodded slightly, glad that Boyd had acknowledged what had been nagging at Sin for months. He'd begun to wonder if Boyd hadn't noticed what he'd been like at times back then and had worried that without knowing the cause of it all, it could happen again the next time they got into a bad fight.



"At any rate," Boyd continued after a pause, "it was inevitable that all of that would change after awhile. I'm too naturally introverted to handle being social for long."



A slight smirk graced Sin's lips again. "I've noticed. I think Captain America has too. He made some side comment about not seeing you much anymore."



Boyd smiled faintly. "That would be a side effect, yes," he said mildly. "Although you're part of it too. I've been so happy to be back with you that lately I haven't thought about much else."



"As much as I loathe to say this," Sin drawled, rolling his eyes. "I don't really think you should neglect your other... people, because we are together again. You'll end up where you were before."



"I was thinking that earlier, actually," Boyd said, tilting his head. "It was never a conscious decision to avoid anyone else; I just got wrapped up in being with you. I'm going to call Kassian when we get back, though. I'm worried about him."



"The meat-head will be fine."



"I'm sure he will but I'm still going to check," Boyd said idly, resting his head back against the side of the tub and closing his eyes.



Sin didn't reply and Boyd didn't speak again immediately. Silence fell between them once again, aided by the heat and the jets of the jacuzzi. Boyd's eyes remained closed but his eyebrows drew down and it wasn't long before he opened his eyes to watch Sin.



"There's something I've never understood," he said with a faint frown.



Sin glanced at him again, raising an eyebrow. "About what?"



"Ann," Boyd replied simply. "How did you two ever get close in the first place? She hated you."



There was a beat of silence where Sin realized that Boyd had never heard important parts of the story of what had happened during his training. It was strange considering a large amount of time had passed since then. It only showed how poor their communication skills could be.



He observed Boyd for a while as he tried to figure out where to start the story before asking, "Did I ever tell you that I'd begun visiting Lydia some time ago?"



"No. You only mentioned you'd thought about it."



Sin nodded, thinking back to the time he'd mentioned it briefly. "I was feeling out the conversation because I wasn't sure what you would think if I told you the truth. You were so passionate about how pointless it would be that I decided against it, though."



"I didn't say it'd be pointless; I said she didn't deserve it after what she did," Boyd said with a shrug. "So you were already visiting her?"



"Yes, I'd started going every now and then. I was having nightmares about her, Jessica... everyone, pretty much." Sin frowned slightly, not wanting to relive those nightmares and feeling relieved when they didn't start flashing through his mind. "I'm not sure why I started visiting her. The entire situation seemed very surreal to me for a while. I knew what I'd done to her but I suppose I wanted to go there and see the proof of what I was capable of in person. After the first time, I felt compelled to come back. I'm still unsure why."



He looked at Boyd again. "In any case, Ann found out I was going."



"She wasn't mad?" Boyd asked doubtfully.



"She was at first," Sin replied, thinking about the incident in Lydia's room when Ann had glared at him with such contempt. "But it was more over the fact that she believed me being there could possibly make Lydia worse somehow than her believing I meant harm. By that time she had already seemed to have accepted that I wasn't the unrepentant bastard she'd always assumed me to be."



"Why would she suddenly change her mind about that years later?"



"Well, I doubt it was sudden. She said it had happened over a period of time. And she had viewed the tape of the incident at some point, which apparently proved to her that her sister had been responsible for my condition at the time of the incident."



A frown marred Sin's face and he ran a hand through his damp hair. "That was what led her to want my case after the incident in the elevator. If she hadn't taken it, no one would have and I'm not sure where I would be now. The only reason I have a doctor now is because he's from the new batch of Euro division staff."



Boyd was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "That explains how she became your doctor but you still didn't say why you two had sex."



"Because I was falling apart at the seams and I felt completely isolated from everyone. I turned to her out of desperation to forget everything. And I turned to her again because when I felt like a complete monster, someone touching me and being kind to me helped. It's not an excuse for my behavior but those were my reasons at the time. Had I known what would have happened, I wouldn't have allowed myself to react that way."



There was another long beat of silence and then Boyd nodded. "Okay."



They looked at each other for a long moment, and then Sin sat up. He swung his legs over the side of the tub and stood up. He wrapped the towel around his waist and looked down at Boyd. "I want to get my foot out of this hot water for awhile. Are you staying in?"



"No." Boyd got out as well, grabbing his towel and starting to dry off.



Sin padded out of the bathroom and across the short hall into their bedroom. With a low sigh, he stretched out across the king-sized bed and propped his foot up on the frame.



After a few minutes, Boyd walked in. His hair was still damp and the occasional droplet of water glistened on his skin where he'd missed it while drying off. The towel was nowhere to be seen and he hadn't bothered to put any of his clothes on again. His gaze flicked along Sin's length, pausing briefly on his ankle before returning to Sin's eyes.



"Mind if I join you?" 



"Not at all." Sin turned his head slightly to look back at Boyd.



Boyd crawled onto the bed next to Sin. He remained sitting up, looking down at Sin's foot while leaning back on his hand. "How's your foot?"



"Swollen. I should probably be icing it down but I can't be bothered." Sin shifted slightly and rested his face against the pillow. "My back is beginning to ache though, likely related from the fall. It's amazing how emphasized the slightest pain feels when I'm completely relaxed."



Sin could feel the depression in the mattress when Boyd shifted next to him.



"Do you want a massage?"



There was a brief pause as Sin debated his answer. After awhile a small half-smile played on his lips and he shot his lover a look. "Will it be just a massage?"



Boyd smirked. "Well, I can't make any guarantees..."



Chuckling quietly, Sin settled down on his stomach. He rested his arms on the pillow and turned his head to the side, his cheek against his forearms and eyes closing once again.



Boyd knelt beside Sin, hovering over him. It wasn't long before Sin felt Boyd's hands rest on his shoulders and slide down his back. It was a sensual touch that dragged back up to his shoulders, where the massage began.



Boyd's fingers strengthened, pressing down and working at the sore muscles. He moved steadily down Sin's back, alternating between rubbing his thumbs in powerful circles and kneading the muscles.



"Mmm," Sin said appreciatively. He hadn't seen the use in massages until Boyd had forced one on him one night after a particularly brutal mission.



"Am I hitting the right spots?" Boyd murmured, his voice low and lulling.



Sin felt his dick respond to the combination of Boyd's hands and voice but he ignored it. He ran his teeth over his bottom lip and released a slow exhalation of breath. He was determined to prove to himself that he could be in an intimate setting with Boyd without it always resorting to sex. He could do it. He would.   



"Yes," he said belatedly.



"Good," Boyd said in the same tone.



His hands moved lower, pressing into the muscles in Sin's lower back. Sin could feel Boyd shift behind him for better access. He leaned forward even though it wasn't necessary, drawing close enough for his warm breath to faintly curl against Sin's neck.



"Boyd," Sin said from where his mouth was pressed against his arm. "Be good."



Boyd chuckled lowly and tilted his head, brushing his lips against Sin's neck. Sin could feel Boyd's still-damp hair fall against his shoulder.



"Why?" His voice had a definite husky quality to it.



"Because I'm determined to not fuck you at the moment and if you keep behaving that way, I will have very little choice."



"What's wrong with fucking me?" he murmured against Sin's neck. His breath was warm; his lips a brief caress. The pressure of his hands lessened, turning into more of a sliding motion.



Sin felt himself getting harder but he ignored it, responding neutrally, "I'm attempting to prove to myself and you that we are capable of not having sex in an intimate setting."



"Why do we have to be capable of that?" Boyd asked, sliding one hand so low that his fingers brushed the top of Sin's ass.



Sin rolled onto his back so that he was facing Boyd again. "Because you had commented some time ago that one of the reasons you'd begun to have doubts about our relationship in the past was because it had become all about us fucking every time we were alone."



Boyd shifted and hovered over Sin, his fingers absently kneading Sin's shoulders. His gaze was heavy-lidded and focused on Sin's mouth, his full lips parting.



"True," he murmured and looked up to meet Sin's eyes with desire clear in his eyes. "But we'll have plenty of time to prove that when we aren't alone in a cabin with the woods as soundproofing."



"Boyd," Sin said reproachfully. "I'm serious."



Boyd paused and partially straightened his back. He looked at Sin in assessment and, noting the steadiness of Sin's expression, a disappointed look crossed his face but he still pulled his hands away. He leaned back and didn't make a move to touch Sin again.



"I don't think we need to worry about that anymore, but okay. If you're concerned, I'll stop."



They looked at each other silently for a sullen stretch of time before Sin shook his head and pulled his lover down on top of him. He rested his arms across Boyd's lower back. "I'm still unsure of a lot of things. I don't entirely know what I'm doing so I'm trying to be careful."



Boyd sighed. He held his upper body away from Sin's by resting his forearms on Sin's chest. His fingers sifted through Sin's hair. "I'm confident we'll make it indefinitely if it's up to us but I'm worried about what we can't control. About what could take you away from me. I don't want to miss any chances with you. It makes me not want to miss one second while we're finally completely alone."



Sin turned his head and looked out the window. It had already gotten dark outside and he could only make out the barest hints of shadows through the tight clusters of trees. They were completely and utterly alone except for the handful of other couples who were also staying somewhere on the grounds. The feeling of isolation from the rest of the world was strong and his hand slipped down Boyd's back, rubbing the smooth skin slowly.



He felt Boyd settle down on his chest, his breath curling out against Sin's bare skin.



For a moment he could only wonder what it would be like if they could stay. What would it be like if it really was just the two of them alone in a place where no one knew them? What would it be like if they weren't in the Agency?



In that moment, Kassian didn't matter, Ann didn't matter-- none of it did.



"I want it to be like this forever," he admitted finally, his full mouth drawing down at the sides. "I'm sick of being a captive. I'm sick of always expecting to disappear any moment and never see you again."



Boyd's fingers tightened against Sin briefly and he shook his head. "I wish that wasn't such a real possibility. It was hard enough losing Lou and my dad but I feel closer to you than anyone in my life."



His voice dropped as he said quietly, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."



Sin turned his eyes back to Boyd, eyebrows drawing together. "You'd keep doing what you have to do," he said forcefully. "Right?"



There was a moment of silence and then Boyd pushed himself up enough to see Sin. His eyes were somber, his mouth pulled down faintly at the edges. He studied Sin's face, a serious expression he usually got when he was committing something to memory, and met Sin's eyes.



"I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, Hsin," he said soberly. "It would be really hard. But I promise, if you die I'll keep going."



A feeling swelled inside of Sin that he didn't entirely understand and he had to once again drag his eyes away. His brows drew together and he opened his mouth to say something but he didn't know what to say. There was a heaviness inside of him that was depressing and disturbing but it was accompanied by an almost simultaneous surge of affection for his partner.



In the end he just shook his head and leaned up slightly, pressing his lips against Boyd's forehead. "I think I'm going to get some rest," he said finally. "Do you want to stay?"



"Yes," Boyd said quietly.



He rolled off Sin and briefly disappeared into the cabin to shut off any lights that had remained on. Sin had the blankets pulled down by the time Boyd came back into the bedroom. Boyd flipped the light off in the room on his way to the bed, where he crawled under the covers with his partner.



They shifted until they were comfortable. Boyd ended up half sprawled on Sin, one arm loosely wrapped around his side, his cheek resting against the left side of Sin's chest.



Silence fell between them for a few moments. Sin could feel Boyd's breath curl against his bare skin and the faint, steady tempo of his heartbeat against his side. Sin slid his eyes closed and he was on his way to relaxing completely when Boyd's quiet voice broke the stillness.



"Hsin?"



"Yes?"



There was a pause and then:



"What if something happens to me first? What would you do?"



Sin shifted in the bed and pulled Boyd closer to him. "I don't know."



Boyd's arm tightened and his face shifted until his ear was more directly over Sin's heart. "I wouldn't want my death to destroy you," he said quietly, sadly.



Sin had no response and as the minutes passed, the combination of warmth and the hypnotic sound of even, undisturbed breathing lulled them to sleep.

 

 

At first, Boyd didn't know what woke him. He had been deep in the middle of sleep when something dragged him out of his dreams. He sleepily made a face and slid one hand across the bed when it filtered through his mind that Sin's warmth was missing. He was just about to roll over when he realized something was wrong.

He didn't know what it was but the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he casually went still as his mind jumped to full alertness. He ran through a number of scenarios quickly but he didn't want to make a sudden movement in case the unfamiliar presence he felt in the room was something dangerous. He slid his eyes open just enough to look through his eyelashes.

He could see his partner's familiar body near the far wall, still naked except for a pair of underwear he'd slipped on. There were two other people Boyd could see in Sin's vicinity but before Boyd could tell anything more than that he felt a presence at his side. A hand reached toward him and Boyd snapped a hand out, grabbing the wrist and wrenching it up as a man let out a startled shout. Boyd half sat up and was about to jump out of bed to attack the man when he flicked his eyes in quick assessment across the room.

Five people stood in the room aside from Sin; four men and a woman. Boyd was too caught off-guard to immediately recognize three of them but when he saw Archer's hawk-like stare and Jon's calm expression across the room, he felt a moment of surreality and confusion.

His first thought was that he was having a bizarre dream but then the man reached over and yanked Boyd's loosened hand away.

Boyd looked over. The man was in his late thirties with a five o'clock shadow and wavy brown hair. His eyes were a pale brown and as he stepped back from Boyd, he rubbed his wrist with a scowl. Boyd absently placed him as Leo Vasile, a Level 9 Insurgency agent from another unit.

Boyd glanced over and saw Sin glaring at the others, looking highly pissed off.

"What the hell?" Boyd demanded, half bewildered and half annoyed.

Jon gave Boyd an apologetic and chagrined half-smile as Sin glowered hatefully. "The Marshal sent us in when the two of you went silent."

"Silent?" Boyd echoed, even more confused. He looked between Jon and Sin. "What?"

"My fucking cell phone got smashed when I fell yesterday," Sin growled, barely resembling the relaxed and affectionate man who Boyd had spent time with for the past few days.

"And yours goes straight to voice mail," Jon informed Boyd with a frown. "Honestly, they sent us out not knowing if we'd find you lot dead or on the offense after having gone rogue."

Boyd grimaced, feeling a spike of annoyance. He'd been looking forward to spending the rest of the week with his lover, and being woken to a room full of agents wasn't at all how he'd hoped to start the day. He was even more irritated because if their phones had been working maybe they wouldn't have to be in this situation.

"My phone ran out of batteries and I forgot the charger," he said, running a hand back through his hair and frowning. The sheets shifted slightly where they gathered in his lap, hiding his lower body but not the implied fact that he was naked. "I didn't know his phone was broken. What the hell do you need us for anyway? We have a few more days off."

"Unfortunately, you don't. Mission came up," Jon replied, not looking at Sin's murderous expression. "That's why they were calling you in."

"A mission," Boyd said flatly. He had never been so annoyed with the mercurous aspect of his job as he was now. "And they couldn't send any of the other thousand agents or three Level 10s running around the Agency right now?"

He knew it wasn't Jon's fault and he should bring any questions up with the Marshal but he couldn't help feeling frustrated by the turn of events.

There were still things he'd wanted to do-- they hadn't had enough time. He didn't want to leave the idyllic setting they'd found. He didn't want to have to suddenly leave behind the quiet solitude; the way they could enjoy each other without external pressure. He didn't want to leave behind Sin's relaxed state and small, sincere smiles.

He didn't want to return to the Agency. He didn't feel ready.

"Guess not," Jon replied with a shrug, as unperturbed by everything as he'd been throughout training.

"Should we step out?"

Boyd looked over when the female agent spoke to Jon. She had a long rope of auburn hair hanging over one shoulder and clear blue eyes below long, sculpted eyebrows. He'd never met her in person but he knew she was Jenny White, the Level 9 valentine operative from Intel that Kassian had once recommended as potential dating material for Sin. Considering the fact she was known to have wanted to fuck Sin at one point, it wasn't surprising that she looked slightly uncomfortable with the situation now.

Jon looked at Sin and Boyd in turn. "We need to return to the compound ASAP. Since there appears to be nothing violent going down, do you need any help gathering your gear?"

"No," Boyd said with a hint more of an edge than he intended.

He saw Archer give him a stern look and Boyd looked away.

Boyd saw that the last agent was a pale man with jet black hair and pale blue eyes, who had a few scars on his face. Boyd recognized him to be Adam Blake, a Level 9 agent from Intel. Boyd had run into him a few times over the years although he'd never spoken to him much. Adam was looking between Sin and Boyd but he didn't have a particular expression so Boyd couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Leo was now studiously avoiding looking at Boyd or Sin, his light brown eyes narrowed and eyebrows drawn down. His lips tightened into a frown and he'd crossed his arms. The way he was leaning slightly toward the doorway made it seem like he wanted nothing more than to get out of that room, which was a sentiment Jenny seemed to share although she looked more uncomfortable than disturbed like Leo did.

Archer was angled with his back against the wall, so he could keep an ever-roaming watchful eye on the rest of the cabin through the open door at the same time as he could watch the window in the bedroom. Aside from the sharp look he'd given Boyd, he didn't seem to be paying much attention to the conversation. His expression was as serious as usual and with how little Archer seemed perturbed, Boyd almost felt like he and Sin could have been in the middle of fucking when the agents entered and Archer still wouldn't have blinked an eye.

The irritation Boyd had been feeling didn't leave but it did become less intense. He knew he couldn't blame any of these people and when he imagined how awkward it would be to have been sent to retrieve, say, Jon and Harriet, and finding them naked in bed... Well, he probably wouldn't want to be in the room either.

He returned his gaze to Jon again and made more of an effort to stop being so confrontational. Jon probably hadn't wanted to come on the retrieval in the first place. If Boyd had anyone to blame, it was the Marshal. He couldn't help feeling irritated with her; could she really not have found someone else to do the damn mission? He and Sin asked for one single week free of Agency responsibilities and they couldn't even get that. Although as far as that went, they were lucky she'd agreed to even that week.

"We didn't bring a lot," Boyd continued more reasonably. "Give us a few minutes and we can meet you outside."

"Will do," Jon said with a nod. He didn't even have to say a word before the others trooped out of the room.

The door shut behind Jon, and Sin released a noise that sounded like a growl. He looked furious and his posture had once again returned to its typically tense form.

Boyd looked over at Sin and finally got out of bed. "I'm pissed too but unfortunately we can't do anything about it," he said as he looked around for clothing.

Sin didn't respond and violently grabbed the jeans he'd discarded the day before. He got dressed in icy silence, his black hair curtaining most of his expression although his mouth was in a visibly tight line.

Boyd pulled on his underwear and jeans but paused before he searched for his shirt. He took in Sin's tense posture and walked over, running a hand down Sin's arm and stopping to briefly wrap his fingers loosely around his wrist. "Hey."

"I'm tired of this shit," Sin growled, yanking a black shirt up from the floor.

"Not having a say?" Boyd asked, watching Sin.

"Everything. I've just fucking had it." Sin yanked the shirt over his head and tied his hair back in a knot.

Boyd was at a loss for words at first. He was tired of this too, although he thought Sin felt it more strongly. He wanted to say they could find find a way out of this lifestyle, that if they just searched hard enough surely there would be an answer, but there weren't many feasible options. None that he knew anyway, although that wouldn't stop him from looking regardless.

Emilio was the only person he knew who had ever successfully escaped and although he'd seemed to have a plan for Sin when he was on death row for Bridget's murder, it was unlikely that the plan could easily be expanded to include two people.

And even if it could, Boyd doubted he and Sin would be able to disappear without the Agency tracking them down or at least chasing them the rest of their lives. He didn't want that as a life; constantly looking over his shoulder, afraid to trust anyone, and more terrified than usual that Sin was going to be killed without him being able to stop it. At least at the Agency there were rules, of sorts. If they managed to go rogue, they would be targets from every angle.

"I am too," Boyd said instead, placing his hands comfortingly on Sin's shoulders. He looked up into his lover's face with determination, his fingers squeezing briefly. "But we'll get by and we'll figure things out. In the meantime, we can finish the rest of this vacation later-- we could spend some time together after the mission. Maybe the next time we have some days off at the same time we can take a short trip near the city."

Sin looked up at him through his overgrown hair and shrugged, his lips still down-turned. "I had plans for you today," he said sullenly.

A smile played on the edges of Boyd's lips. "Yeah?" He stepped closer to Sin, his hands shifting against Sin's shoulders. "Would I have liked them?"

A grudging smirk briefly made an appearance on Sin's face and he couldn't seem to maintain his anger with Boyd trying so hard to snap him out of it. "Yes. It involved me making up for last night."

Boyd made a 'hmm' sound, the smile growing as he tugged Sin down. He kissed Sin; it started out chaste, just a brush of his lips against Sin's, but Boyd soon parted his mouth. The heat of their breath intermingled and when Sin opened his mouth too, Boyd briefly forgot his train of thought. He would never grow tired of the feel of Sin's hard body against his, of Sin's taste filling his mouth as their lips and tongues meshed. Every time it felt like his heartbeat quickened and the world lost importance around him.

Boyd's hands tightened against the back of Sin's head, his fingers loosely tangling in the silky black hair that was already starting to unravel from the knot. A moan escaped one of them, he wasn't sure who but he thought it was him, and Sin's arms wrapped around his back and pulled him closer.

The kiss was deep and filled with a passion that only grew stronger, more urgent. For a moment, the only sound in the room was their muffled breath, the shift of fabric as their hands gripped each other, and the occasional hint of a moan.

Before long Boyd pulled away, his lips reddened as he caught his breath. A smirk crossed his face as he murmured huskily, "Did it involve something like that?"

Sin exhaled against Boyd's moist lips and said in a low heated voice, "It involved me counting the amount of times it takes me to ram my cock into your spot before you come all over yourself."

Boyd groaned, his fingers twitching against Sin. He felt himself start to harden at the thought combined with that voice. "I think I need to know that answer too."

He was yanked against Sin with near-violent intensity before his mouth was once again ravished. Boyd found himself being pushed up against the chest of drawers that lined the wall. Sin's powerful hands picked him up, leaving him perched on the edge of the dresser with his knees apart and Sin between them as they kissed each other fiercely.

Boyd lost all track of everything but Sin. They nearly devoured each other, their tongues scouring each others' mouth and leaving an intoxicating taste behind. He couldn't stop himself from groaning desperately. The harder Sin pressed against him, the deeper and rougher they kissed, the more Boyd was aroused.

The layer of clothing between them was becoming a nuisance and Boyd's breath started to quicken from excitement as he imagined Sin slamming into him, repeatedly hitting him in the spot that made him crazed with pleasure.

He slid his hands beneath Sin's shirt and up, his fingers digging into Sin's back and his moans becoming quicker and louder. His bare torso felt flushed and hypersensitive to the air, to the rough callouses on Sin's fingers as he dragged his hands across Boyd's back.

Boyd's heartbeat thundered in his chest and his need for Sin was making him lose control--

The door suddenly opened and Boyd was startled into looking over, seeing Jenny standing there.

"Get the fuck out," Sin snarled at her, panting against Boyd's neck where he had been sucking it.

"Ah," Jenny said awkwardly, delicately arched eyebrows rising as she took in their intimate position and flushed faces. Her blue eyes skimmed them with interest and although the discomfort was more evident on her face than it'd been before, she didn't appear unattracted to the scene before her.

"General Carhart wants a response within the next five minutes," she said quickly and backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Sin hissed between his teeth in obvious frustration and straightened. "Fuck them all."

Boyd groaned and slouched forward, hands sliding off Sin's body to grip the edge of the dresser. He tilted his face down, his hair curtaining his expression while the top of his head brushed Sin's chest. He tried to ignore how strongly he wanted to rip Sin's clothes off and fuck him mindlessly.

"I'd say let's continue if I didn't know we'll be interrupted again in a minute," he grumbled.

Sin nodded stiffly and finally pulled away, adjusting his jeans and looking very put out. "And when we get back, it won't be much better."

Boyd slid off the dresser and padded over to where his shirt was still lying crumpled on the floor from the day before. He swiped it off the floor and yanked it over his head. He looked over at Sin as he straightened the shirt and the rest of his clothing. "Yeah, well, I'm expecting you to fuck me twice as long when we get the chance."

Still looking mighty disgruntled, Sin grabbed their empty duffel bag and tossed it onto the unmade bed. "Count on it."

Mildly mollified, Boyd set to the task of gathering his things. He hadn't brought much clothing so that didn't take long but once he left the bedroom and saw the other agents in the living room, it hit him even harder that they had to leave. Seeing the formerly empty room filled with an unavoidable reminder of their situation made the fact they had to return burn in him.

All he could do was run down a mental checklist of the moments they would miss.

Sin and he hadn't had the chance to fully appreciate the fireplace yet; they hadn't gotten through all their food. They hadn't had sex in the jacuzzi, which he had been looking forward to doing especially since last night. The last drawing he'd started would never be finished. He would never know what had happened in the woods to all those people. They wouldn't have the chance to bike through the woods again or to light a fire and make smores like Boyd had been planning for that night. He wouldn't be able to lean against Sin's chest and feel that steady heartbeat and those powerful arms encircling him, and know without a doubt that they were alone, that no one was peering in on the intimate scene, and that the relaxation he felt in his lover's body was his and his alone to share.

The last few days had been a dream unlike even what he remembered in Monterrey, because he knew that back then they hadn't been in the same mindset; they hadn't truly been a couple. Spending the days with Sin, having the opportunity to touch him and kiss him and have sex with him as much as he wanted had been incredible. He'd enjoyed his time here. He'd liked walking into the kitchen and seeing Sin prepare a meal. He'd liked knowing Sin was always nearby.

And more than anything, he'd loved falling asleep next to Sin and waking up to his warmth. Since one of his preoccupations a year ago had been that Sin didn't seem to want to spend the night with him, it felt comforting to know that he could fall asleep to that steady heartbeat and not have to wake to a cold bed.

He'd felt comfortable and liberated and safe at this place, hidden in the woods and removed from reality. He'd felt at peace.

He hadn't gotten enough time to enjoy it, to enjoy Sin. He hadn't had enough time to pretend, for just one week, that they were normal and that he didn't have to fear his loved one getting ripped away from him once again. He hadn't had enough time being with Sin as only a lover instead of a combination of that and work partner.

It was almost heart-wrenching to know that the peaceful life they'd managed to build for those few days was being taken away so casually.

"He's a smarmy git, that one is," Jon was saying, his voice breaking through the reverie Boyd had fallen into. It was obvious that Jon, Adam and Jenny at least were all familiar with each other likely because they were all from Intel.

"He's not that bad," Jenny laughed. "Just a bit of a smartass. The first time I met him he caught me off guard too though. But I figured if Adam was hanging around with a character like that, he must have something good about him."

Adam shrugged, not appearing to care either way although a flicker of a smile crossed his solemn face before he looked at Boyd and Sin, who walked through the door behind Boyd. Jenny's blue eyes also turned to the agents and she stood up from where she'd been leaning casually against the wall. She was rather tall for a woman and her legs were encased in tight black pants that made them look even longer.

"I don't know if you all have been acquainted," Jon said, looking mostly from Boyd to the rest of the people on the team likely because Boyd and he had become something close to friends during training. "This is Jenny White and Adam Blake from Intel. Leo Vasile from Insurgency and I'm sure you know Archer."

Sin didn't respond and began shoving something in a duffel bag, studiously keeping his back to the group.

"It's nice to finally meet the infamous duo," Jenny said casually, her eyes sliding from Boyd to Sin. "I doubt Senior Agent Vega remembers, but I auditioned to be his partner as well."

"You did?" Boyd asked, looking over at her. He wasn't entirely interested in getting pulled into a conversation and yet he did wonder about that tidbit. He'd never known who all had been in the running to be a candidate for Boyd's position.

"Yes. They chose me because I am a very experienced valentine operative," she said bluntly. "But in the end General Carhart didn't think that route to be the best."

Boyd didn't know what to say to that. He didn't imagine that would have worked well either but then again, he didn't really know. "I see," he said neutrally, and glanced over to see Sin packing up the rest of their items in the main room.

"I wonder if it would have worked," Jenny went on, a mischievous smile crossing her face. Adam raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head as she eyeballed Sin exaggeratedly.

"I don't think he's paying attention, hon," Jon observed idly as his eyes moved about the cabin with interest.

Sin let the bag drop to the floor with a thud and walked over to the couch to sit down where he began putting on his boots. He didn't look at any of them and didn't speak. They may as well have not even been in the room.

"Too bad. I was just trying to get him to cheer up."

Boyd thought that all the agents leaving would be the only way to cheer either of them up but he didn't bother saying so aloud. Instead, he noticed his drawing pad sitting on the side table where he'd left it and went over to pick it up.

He half leaned over Sin to grab it and asked quietly, "What should we do about the food?" He didn't feel like having a conversation with everyone listening in; they'd already had too many eyes on them in the bedroom.

Sin frowned and yanked on his other boot. "Just leave it, I suppose. The disposable things anyway."

Boyd nodded and dropped his drawing pad on his messenger bag as he passed. He headed toward the kitchen and left most of the food there, but he did grab a few items including some of the leftover candy. He figured Sin would probably still want that.

The other agents remained largely out of the way, watching as Boyd and Sin finished gathering the last of their belongings. It wasn't long until everything was packed and ready to go. Jon led the group out of the cabin, a few of them talking amongst each other while Boyd and Sin remained silent. They grabbed their bags and followed the agents out toward the van.

The cool Autumn air hit Boyd on the face as another wake up call. He paused very briefly on the deck, seeing the trees shift around them tranquilly, the sunlight already struggling to pierce through the clouds. Birds chirped and leaves rustled, and the faint squeaking of the bench swinging on the deck caught his attention. The thought strengthened about how much he was going to miss this and his free time with Sin. He was even going to miss the beat up truck they'd rented and the trips to the local grocery store on a double-lane road winding through the countryside.

He didn't turn to look at Sin because it would have made the moment harder for him. He made himself move again, letting the heavy front door of the cabin slip along his fingers until it swung away from his grasp.

As the door to the cabin shut with finality behind him, Boyd didn't let himself look back.