'My friend, your desire is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess. Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return.'
The deep voice that normally sent shivers of arousal down his spine now made him shudder with a mixture of fear and dread. "I'm here, Xan. Zack's on his way." He glanced around the room, azure eyes narrowing a certain cabinet. "I'm going to get something to stop the bleeding. I'll be right back."
Xander didn't respond, merely watched the other man through half-closed lids, his pale green eyes alight with pain and hunger. Raphael moved as he always did, his lean body graceful, his movements elegant, his mouth spouting those filthy curses that had always been at odds with his aristocratic bearing. He could only smile as Raphael finally found what he was looking for, slamming the cabinet door shut so hard that it warped both it and cabinet, an unintentional reminder of his TANTARA strength.
Raphael knelt beside him and ripped open a large plastic bag. "What are you smiling for?" he asked waspishly. "You do realize that you're dying, don't you?"
He grunted once in acknowledgement, conserving his strength as Raphael began to bind the wound. The other man was shaking his head, muttering under his breath, threatening Harland with a surprisingly varied assortment of vile and gruesome deaths. It only made the smile widen, despite the blackness that hovered on the edge of his consciousness. He had nearly forgotten what it been like to have Raphael as merely his friend, and he realized that he had missed that aspect of their relationship, as well.
"I've missed you, Raph."
Raphael hesitated, struck by the sincerity in Xander's too-low voice. "It was a stupid fight," he said at last, securing the bandages and tossing the leftover scraps aside. "It wasn't your fault that Aldrich didn't choose me for that mission. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."
I'm sorry.
The words hovered unspoken between them, as they always had, but no longer. "I shouldn't have accepted," Xander responded, his words slurred. He remembered this incident he thought fuzzily, and the long weeks they had spent apart because of it. He had always regretted not insisting that Lazard change his mind. "I know how important it was to you. I'm sorry."
"Hmph. It's not like you had a choice." Raphael reached out and touched his silver hair with a tentative, blood-stained gloved hand. "I-I'm sorry, too, Xan."
A first for them, Xander thought with dim satisfaction. Who knew what could have come of it, had any of this been real.
The door slid open with a quiet mechanical hiss, and Zacky came rushing in, his massive Buster Sword strapped to his back. "What happened?" he demanded, kneeling as he drew a small greenish orb from his weapons harness.
Xander could only stare in grieved silence at the ghost who had once been his friend. It wasn't until Zacky actually touched him to check the severity of the injury that it hit him. This was really happening. This wasn't his imagination, not the product of his dying mind, nor a false memory created to torture him in his endless purgatory. The Ancient had given him-The Nightmare, The One-Winged Angel-a second chance.
When Xander failed to answer, Zacky frowned and looked to Raphael, who shrugged his own ignorance, his voice a bit unsteady as he said, "I don't know, either. He's a little out of it right now. He thought you were dead when I first found him."
If anything, the frowned deepened. "We need to get him out of here before Harland comes back," Zacky said, his cobalt eyes narrowing in concentration as he cast a 'Manter4' spell. He watched with a critical eye as the curative magic did its work, hoping that it would at least be enough to stop the bleeding, if not close the wound. Xander's body had always had a high resistance to magic, curative or otherwise.
He watched the younger man hiss with pain, his back arching as the wound knitted itself closed, and breathed a silent sigh of relief. He didn't know exactly what Hojo had done to Xander, but it didn't really matter. The man had gone too far this time.
"Xan?" He set one hand on Xander's shoulders, his tone gentling when the injured man focused on him. "Raph and I are going to take you back to your quarters. Can you stand?"
Xander didn't answer, merely placed his right hand on the floor and pushed himself to his feet. His body swayed and he would fallen had his friends not prevented it. "It seems. . .that I cannot."
"We've got you," Raphael crooned, shooting Zacky an infuriated glance as he pulled their friend's arm over his shoulder. "Zacky and I will talk care of everything, Xan."
"Thank you," came the exhausted reply.
Zacky only shook his dark head negatively, silently urging the hot-tempered TANTARA to keep his mouth shut, as he did the same. Xander was already in pain, and he'd lost a lot of blood. The last thing he needed was to hear his lover rant about the indignities he had undoubtedly suffered at the hands of the man who had raised him. What he needed right now was to sleep, so that the Michael coursing through his veins would have time to heal him more thoroughly.
They took him upstairs via the cargo elevator, where they were least likely to attract unwanted attention. They had to stop on the 69th floor and switch elevators, but with Raphael slipping away to harass the 3rd Class cadets standing watch, it was relatively easy to sneak in to the one of the main elevators. He used his keycard to activate the elevator, then pushed the button for the 70th floor.
Zacky uttered a sigh of pure relief as he half-carried, half-dragged Xander's taller form out of the elevator. Thank Gods, there were no guards up here, he thought fervently. While President Bable lived here with his family, as did most of the Board Of Directors, the only other resident being Xander himself. Unlike he and the rest of the 1st's, The President insisted that Xander live here. He liked having his best TANTARA close, to deter possible any possible threats. Terrorists would think twice before attacking the home of the Silver Demon of Wutai, after all.
Xander stumbled, his usual feline grace gone, and Zacky tightened his hold protectively. "We're almost there, Xan."
"Where's Raphael?" Xander mumbled, his words slurred so badly that they were nearly intelligible. "Is he still angry with me?"