Page 25 of Concluded (The Bureau #13)

D ee had virtually no experience with emotionally close relationships.

Nevertheless, he was fairly certain that when someone gave you their difficult backstory, including one of their deepest regrets, and then admitted that they were risking their life to keep you safe, it was appropriate to react with physical contact.

Especially when you had kissed that someone and could still almost taste them on your lips.

So although Dee froze in astonishment after Achilles’ announcement, his inaction lasted only a few seconds.

Then he shot to his feet fast enough to knock over the chair, rushed around the table, and threw himself into Achilles’ arms. Fortunately, Achilles had fast reflexes, and he caught Dee without major mishap to either of them.

He did, however, grunt softly, which reminded Dee that Achilles had fresh scars on his torso and had been recently tortured.

“Sorry,” he said as he tried to pull away.

But Achilles held him fast. “I’m fine.”

“You’re hurt. And this is an awkward position.”

Achilles put his mouth so close to Dee’s ear that Dee could feel the warm puffs of breath. “I’m fine,” Achilles whispered softly. “This feels good.”

Which was true, despite everything. It had been only a couple of days since Dee had spent a night and day with Achilles in his arms, and now that strong body felt familiar.

Like home territory. Dee felt as if Achilles could do anything he pleased to Dee—could disassemble him atom by atom, if Achilles wanted—and Dee would take pleasure in it because serving Achilles was what he was made to do.

Which were stupid and dangerous things to be feeling, but he felt them nonetheless. And he wasn’t sorry.

“Hope sex?” Dee asked… hopefully.

Promisingly, Achilles paused before responding. Then he sighed, a motion that made Dee’s body move too. “Still not a great idea.”

“I guess not.”

“But… if this isn’t too weird…. Maybe we could just lie down together and… cuddle?”

That idea hadn’t crossed Dee’s mind, but now that Achilles had made the suggestion, it seemed like an excellent one. “I’d like that.”

The beds were only a few yards away, but a little stumbling happened as they decided which bed to use, settling on the one that Achilles had slept in.

They were both wearing jeans and T-shirts, thanks to the generosity of their hosts, and they remained fully clothed as they climbed onto a mattress that wasn’t really large enough for two big men.

They ended up spooned on their sides, the wall against Dee’s back and Achilles against his front, and a thin soft blanket covering them to their shoulders.

This time they sighed in unison as soon as they were settled.

“I haven’t done much of this,” Achilles said after a time. He sounded wistful.

“I haven’t done any. It’s nice.”

“Yeah.”

Silence for a while, but neither of them was asleep.

Finally Achilles spoke. “If you had a genie available to you, what would you wish for?”

Dee’s mind went blank. He’d never given much thought to his own wants and desires, aside from the basic needs of life and maybe some cannabis now and then.

What he wanted had never seemed especially significant, since he probably wouldn’t get it anyway.

“No wishing for unlimited wishes, huh?” But that question was mainly to stall for time.

“Nope. Ya gotta play by the rules.”

“You tell me yours first.”

“I already got my wish. You freed me.”

Oh. That was a nice thought. “Okay…. Assuming my hypothetical genie is constrained by the same rules I am, I guess I’d wish for a nice home. A permanent one.”

Achilles nodded, his hair tickling Dee’s face. “I’ve got a condo in LA. I don’t know if I’ll see it again. It’s a nice one.” Then he yawned.

They stayed like that for a long time, quiet but awake, pressed together in their tiny, imaginary safety zone. As content as anyone could be when the world was in the process of ending.

* * *

“Sorry about the exposition dump,” said Achilles when he woke up. Dee hadn’t fallen asleep—except for the arm that was trapped under Achilles—but he’d been content to listen to Achilles’ deep, even breathing and to bury his nose in soft curls.

“It wasn’t a dump,” said Dee, extricating his arm. He was still pinned against the wall.

Achilles slowly sat and stretched, then ran a hand along his cheek and grimaced. “I need a shave.”

“There are razors in the bathroom. You know, I never grow a beard or mustache. I always assumed it was another weird biological tic—I have several—but now I wonder if it’s a genie thing.”

“We can ask Diana Afolabi to research it.”

Dee scoffed. “I think she probably has more important things to worry about than genie facial hair.”

Achilles’ grin made him look years younger. “She can add it to her list for later.”

The rest of the day was spent mostly relaxing and eating healthy snacks.

They found a deck of cards and played for a while, but since Dee always won, Achilles eventually abandoned the game, laughing.

One of the aliens brought a totally random selection of paperbacks.

Achilles dipped into parts of, variously, a murder mystery set on a cruise ship, a romance between a starship captain and an android, and the autobiography of an actress neither of them had heard of.

Dee, meanwhile, worked his way steadily through a collection of Greek tragedies.

Sometimes the two of them simply chatted about unimportant things that nonetheless mattered a lot: their favorite foods, places they’d visited, books and movies they’d enjoyed.

As days went, it was entirely unremarkable. And if Dee had been given the chance, he would have wished for it to last for a month.

An hour or so after sundown, two of the aliens arrived and led Dee and Achilles outside. “What’s happening?” Dee whispered to Achilles, worried, although their hosts seemed happy and relaxed.

“No idea.”

Together they walked about a hundred yards into the desert, their footsteps muffled by the soft soil. There was no moon tonight and no artificial lights, but the aliens could apparently see just fine and made sure that Dee and Achilles stayed close.

When they stopped, one of the aliens pointed up.

Dee gasped. “The stars!” Maybe it was a dumb thing to say, but it was all that he could manage.

With no clouds, haze, or light pollution, the glitter of the night sky was breathtaking.

There was the long, speckled streak that he assumed was the Milky Way, and for the first time he understood how the galaxy got its name.

He’d seen stars before, of course. But he’d rarely been anywhere that granted a view like this.

And, well, he hardly ever looked up. What a loss if he’d died before having this experience!

It made him feel infinitely small yet at the same time larger than life.

Because nowhere in all this immensity was there anyone else exactly like him.

Somehow it helped him believe what the Bureau had been telling him: everyone mattered.

“Beautiful,” said Achilles, followed by something in what must have been Greek.

One of the aliens said something in her own language and then pointed one clawed finger at a spot near the periphery of the Milky Way.

“Your home?” Achilles asked softly, and when she cocked her head, repeated, “Home?” Then he gestured toward the building where they’d been staying before directing his own finger in the same direction she did. “Home?” he said again.

She smiled and said something that was pretty close to “home” only with more fangs. Her expression turned somber after that, and she moved her hands in a way that suggested something exploding. Her companion made a low ululating sound that was especially mournful under the vast sky.

For several minutes, they all stood silently, a tiny memorial service for a lost planet.

“Hey, Dee? Do you think I could have a small wish on their behalf? I don’t want to drain your battery, but?—”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Achilles bent, picked up a small jagged stone, and handed it to Dee. “I wish for something small but meaningful to our hosts. Something to remind them of home. Is that too vague?”

Dee, who was already working on it, shook his head.

The familiar tingle danced through his nervous system, making his heart race and skin flush, making his cock hard, to be honest. He wondered whether the aliens or Achilles could see that in the darkness but then decided he didn’t care.

He was smiling when he returned the stone to Achilles.

Achilles repeated his wish right away. Nothing happened, except that the stone crumbled to dust and Achilles brushed off his hands. He looked around expectantly, which made Dee realize that Achilles trusted him. Expected that he’d be able to accomplish things.

Dee himself was feeling doubtful, however, and was about to trudge unhappily back to the building.

If he couldn’t even do this much, how could he possibly help to save the prisoner in the black hole?

But after only two steps, he nearly tripped over something, and when he stopped to peer at it, he saw… a potted plant?

He couldn’t see details very well, but the plant didn’t look familiar. He picked up the pot and held it toward the aliens. “Uh, is this yours?”

They came closer to inspect it and then hissed in surprise. They spoke to each other very fast, with evident excitement, before bursting into what sounded like a celebratory song. The female took the pot and cradled it in her arms as if it were a baby. “Home!” she exclaimed.

This felt good.

When they were alone again in their borrowed room, Achilles set a hand on Dee’s shoulder. “That was a nice thing you did for them.”

“It was your wish.”

“Which would have been useless without you.”

They slept together that night, again with no sex, but with a speck more hope in their hearts anyway.