Chapter Twenty-Three

Darkness had spread across the sky like a bruise by the time they exited the alley.

The glowing signage everywhere seemed brighter in contrast as the street was cut into pieces by bright light and deep shadow.

Peering into one of the shadowed sections, Theo recoiled and tugged on Jun’s coat. “Jun, look. What in the stars are they doing?”

Theo gawked at a cluster of people of indeterminate age taking turns shocking themselves with a rusty phaser, screaming and laughing. Tears flowed freely in technicolor streams down their faces, bright makeup washed away in smearing streaks.

Jun tugged Theo’s hood further up over his head, then crossed his arms over his chest with his right tucked in snug against his holster. “Just some stun-junkies and mist-mouths. Don’t stare. Keep your head down; act natural. We don’t want anyone to know you’re from the Core.”

Theo trudged along at his side, hands shoved in his pocket. He lent a mocking tone to his voice that usually got him pinched by his twin as he said, “Right, because then they might try to snatch me from under your nose, seeing as I am something of a hot commodity in the region. It would be terrible if someone were to try to kidnap me, Jun. Just awful. Could you imagine such a thing?”

Jun cut in over his sarcastic monologue with a short, quiet command. “Stop talking, eyes front. Let’s go.”

A lovely young lady smiled broadly at Theo from the other side of the walkway. Knotted lines of barbed-wire ink twisted down her neck, around her glowing circuitry tattoos. She licked metallic blue lips with a long tongue stained the same unnatural shade.

Theo lifted his hand in a respectful little wave, then yelped when Jun smacked it back down to his side with a particularly colorful curse.

“Don’t engage. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”

It hadn’t hurt even a little, but Theo still shook his hand out theatrically with a glare. “And what idea might that be?”

His theatrics had absolutely no effect on Jun, who simply continued to scowl at their surroundings. “That you’re available.”

Wasn’t that an interesting thought?

A thought that required chasing all the way to the end. Theo bumped their shoulders as he hurried to keep up with Jun’s long stride. “Oh? Are you saying I’m unavailable? That I’ve been taken off the market? Why would you say that, I wonder?”

It was as if he hadn’t said anything. Jun didn’t even twitch in his direction beyond a slight deepening of the line between his brows. He stopped in front of a building that held no distinction Theo could determine from the others to either side. “We’re here. I need you to tell me everything they say to the best of your ability.”

The weight of responsibility settled unevenly across Theo’s shoulders, heavy and unfamiliar. He summoned up a nervous laugh as he contemplated the dark metal facade. “I’m amazed you would entrust me with something so crucial, having met me. Surely, you’ve realized by now what an unmitigated disaster I am.”

It was disconcerting to suddenly have Jun’s full attention when he had been chasing it fruitlessly for so long. Jun’s coat flared dramatically as he turned to face Theo. He kept quiet but firm, leaving no room for argument. “I have never met anyone more capable. You’re incredible, and I don’t say that lightly.”

A pleasant burst of warmth ran through Theo’s veins at the simply stated praise, knocking his breath out in the soundless shape of Jun’s name.

Jun watched his mouth for a moment before continuing, the beautiful lines of his face cast in stark relief by the shadow of his hood. “Stay close. If I have to pull out my weapon, you run. Understand?”

Adrenaline gathered in Theo’s fingertips like rain dripping down until he was buzzing with it, shaky with nerves even as he lifted his chin against them. “Yes, Captain.”

Rough, tattooed fingers grazed his cheek in the barest caress, and then they dropped away to disappear into the folds of Jun’s coat. “Good.”

It would have been remiss of Theo not to notice the bunch and strain of Jun’s muscle as he hauled open the riveted steel door manually, then slid it halfway across the opening with a grunt.

Theo prided himself on his observational skills.

So, he definitely noticed.

The interior revealed some sort of warehouse, full of crates piled twice as high and in much worse shape than the ones crowding Jun’s ship.

Nobody was inside, but a single, dim light switched on in the center of the space.

“Close the door.”

Theo jumped at the sound of a soft feminine voice, his face scrunching as he realized she had spoken in a language he’d never heard beyond his own voice, reading aloud.

Damn, he had botched his pronunciation of some of the vowels.

Jun stepped in front of Theo, peering into the darkness with one hand inside his coat. “What did she say?”

Theo grabbed onto Jun’s coat and pressed up close to translate quietly. “She asked us to close the door.”

“That’s enough Standard. You speak as I do, or not at all.”

Scanning their abandoned surroundings critically, Jun edged a boot in front of Theo’s. “Translate.”

Theo released his coat to examine the space himself and discovered nothing to be seen. “She demands that we cease using Standard.”

“No more.”

Jun opened his mouth, and Theo rushed in to cut him off with Korean: “Don’t speak another word. Allow me to take over from here, please. You’re going to have to trust me.”

“Cease now, or I leave.”

Theo spun around to hold a placating hand out toward the empty space the voice had originated from. “Apologies, friend. We have your package. You have credits for us?”

He winced at the awkward, rusty pronunciation and mixed-up articles. But for all that he was making a mess of it, there was a tiny thrill in practicing a language he had never used in conversation.

The contact stepped out of the shadows. A delicate filigree mask covered the top half of her face, leaving her unadorned mouth exposed. Her outfit left much of her body on display, bare skin peeking out between strips of black fabric.

It was disconcerting to realize that she was unmarked. No tattoos, no augments. Theo had grown so used to seeing Outliers with decorated skin that it was something of a shock to come across someone as plain as himself.

Theo took in the details of her appearance with avid curiosity, but she only had eyes for Jun. She never glanced away from him even as she addressed Theo.

“He doesn’t remember me, but I remember him.”

Twisting his head from one to the other, Theo could read no signs of recognition on Jun’s stony face. “You know each other?”

She slowly lifted a hand in the air between them, as if to reach out, but held it back. “Older now. Softer. Is that for you?”

Theo shook his head in complete bafflement. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Her hand dropped to her side. Jun’s hand hovered within inches of his hidden weapon as he remained vigilant and cold. She finally turned to Theo, her brown eyes wet behind her mask. “He released me, along with many others. Nearly died for his efforts.”

Theo couldn’t resist a tiny smile at that, pride blossoming. “That does sound like him.”

She didn’t smile back. Her lips were full but chapped, and she pointed at Jun with bitten nails. “He has our support.”

Jun edged closer, examining her finger as though it might suddenly develop the capability to slice through Theo’s chest. Theo rushed to move the conversation along.

“It’s always nice to have friends, I suppose.”

She wasn’t large, but with a slight shift in posture, her petite frame hardened into something immovable. “Not friends. Backup. Tell him I am ready to make the exchange.”

Theo translated, and Jun retrieved a small, cylindrical package from an inner pocket of his coat. Wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with a string, it was completely unimpressive and incongruent with their surroundings.

She held out her hand, cupping in it a simple black bag clinking with credits. The thick leather bracelet around her wrist shifted enough to reveal the raised edge of burned, curdled flesh, long since healed. The resulting scars had formed a pattern. The letter B.

A brand.

Theo opened his mouth to ask about it, but Jun’s fingers dug into his arm as he gave a minute shake to his head. Theo flushed at the belated realization that it might be insensitive to inquire after a stranger’s scars.

The lone light cut out just as Jun made the exchange, and then a bright, blinding spotlight switched on with the ominous, building buzz of a charger sounding off to the side.

With a curse, Jun shoved Theo between some nearby crates and hastily stuffed the packet in Theo’s pocket. “Stay down!”

The stranger had fled, her frantic, slapping footsteps echoing off the maze of crates.

Jun withdrew his ancient phaser with one hand, and one of Boom’s glinting, iridescent blades with the other.

Peering around the corner of a crate, Theo watched Jun drop low and roll out of the spotlight just as a beam scorched the concrete where he had stood.

Theo covered his mouth against a gasp, shrinking back at the sound of the door screeching open and boots hitting the ground without a care to stealth. Four men strode into the warehouse with phasers in hands, examining the area closely.

The tallest one sucked his teeth and barked out a command without pausing his perusal of the space Jun had rolled away from. “Park’s in here somewhere. Scan for signatures and shoot anything that breathes. We’re not taking any chances of going back to Barnes empty-handed.”

Theo fumbled for his detonator, trying to remember Boom’s instructions, just as the shortest of the group lifted his wrist to tap on the view screen embedded in his flesh. His circuitry tattoos flickered and glowed. He held the screen up as he turned in a circle, projecting the readings out in front of him in glitching red numbers.

Theo’s heart stopped when he paused and scanned the crate in front of Theo again. “There. Picked up a signature. Definitely breathing.”

The man with a shaved head chuckled softly as he took a step closer to Theo, phaser aimed just to the side of his chest. “For now.”

Theo unlocked the detonator, thumb poised over the button as the man charged up his phaser. He started to press down, the plastic giving slightly before engaging, and—

Jun dropped down on top of the bald man, boots mashing his face into the ground. He kicked his phaser away, turned, and flicked his blade at the tallest man, embedding it in his wrist. The man shouted and dropped his weapon. Theo was so busy gaping at the running kick Jun aimed at the chest of the shortest man that he jumped in surprise when Jun slid over the crate, landed beside him, and snatched the detonator. “On the count of three, run for the door. Take this.”

Jun shoved his charged phaser in Theo’s hands and lifted him by the collar. “One—” He threw Theo over the crate in the direction of the door. “Two—” He let loose a hidden blade to pin the third man to a dilapidated crate by his loose jacket. “Three!”

Jun hit the button and dropped the detonator, swiftly gaining on Theo as they ran for the door. He hooked his arm around Theo’s waist, turning them around the corner into the alley. Jun pressed Theo back against the cold metal wall of the building, damp seeping through his clothes as Jun covered his body, Theo’s face tucked into his neck. The stun pulse gave a muted thud against the walls of the warehouse behind them.

Theo started to move, but Jun shushed him softly and took his phaser back with one finger held to Theo’s lips.

Theo pressed a kiss against it, adrenaline coursing through him in hot, jittery waves. “Jun, who were they? What—”

Jun’s quiet “hush” rustled the hairs on Theo’s neck, and, oh stars, he was suddenly rock-hard in his trousers.

Achingly so.

He carefully, silently shuffled his legs until he straddled Jun’s tense thigh, then let his hips slide, just once, against him.

Jun didn’t make a sound, but his breath hitched, and his finger moved to trace over Theo’s lower lip, then pressed just inside.

Theo swirled his tongue around the tip, and Jun pushed away from the wall and took Theo by the hand once more.

“They’re down,” Jun panted. “We’ve got to get out of here and off planet before they can trace us.”

Theo gave a breathless agreement and stumbled after Jun as he set a punishing pace out of the alley.

They took a shorter, more circuitous route back to the ship, with Jun hissing at Axel over the coms to get everyone on board and prepare for launch.