A STUDY IN BLACK ✓

VIII

Hayley Kiyoko turned out to be the second in command of Heaven's Templar, and their only chance of getting into their base in Bangladesh undetected. Obviously, Tyler already knew this, but didn't bother telling Josh until found her file at the bottom of the pile.

It was in the capital, Dhaka. Tyler was way too prepared to sneak in at the exact moment, guns blazing and all. Josh, on the other hand, had been worn out physically and emotionally from the discovery he was being stalked by a cult and was too tired to go fighting bad guys at that time at night.

"Look, you can go and do your hero thing tonight and I'll stay here, in this comfy ass bed, and sleep for the next ten years," Josh said from beneath a pile of blankets.

Tyler rolled his eyes and slipped Kiyoko's file into his laptop bag, along with Josh's and Brendon's. "If you're so persistent on resting after being on a plane for a whole day, then fine. We'll go see her tomorrow. You sleep and recharge, and I'll do more research."

"Or... you could go to bed too and sleep like a normal human being so we can both be well rested when we go to talk to her, tomorrow."

"Since when are you so concerned about my wellbeing?" Tyler inquired, sneaking a sly glance Josh's way, who was busy trying to pull up Netflix on his phone.

Josh waved his phone around. "Since we became a crime fighting duo. People need sleep to survive, Tyler. You can't rely on tons of pounds of sugar and liquor to keep yourself going."

Tyler stared at him for a moment before spinning back around and fiddling with something.

"I'll take my chances," he said, and didn't turn around again.

Josh found a movie about spies- how convenient- and waited for Tyler to move. He saw him stifle a yawn, his whole body shuddering.

"Seriously, dude, you're going to go into a coma."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Josh pushed the covers off his legs and walked over to Tyler's side, peaking over his shoulder to see what was keeping him from sleeping.

A picture of Tyler and Jenna was propped up against the alarm clock, the edges singed. The crease in the middle made it look like it'd been folded several times over. Multicolored files were spread out across the desk, including his own. The thought of being watched and possibly recruited by a sex trafficking cult sent shivers down his spine. Scribbles in red pen made some of the print unreadable.

Hayley Kiyoko's face had been circled exactly fifteen times over, her strawberry blonde hair hanging loose around her tan, round face. She looked around his age, if not younger. Her dark eyes pierced Josh even through the photograph, a smirk placed on her dark ruby colored lips.

Something about her felt familiar to Josh. Perhaps because she looked similar to Debby, a friend of his who was currently stationed in Korea. He was afraid that he might've worked with her before he was discharged.

"Can't this wait until the morning?" He asked, stretching dramatically for effect. Tyler barely gave him a side glance before returning to write incoherent notes into the margins of files.

"No it cannot. I've been able to track down seventeen missing persons from our city alone to kidnapped people who were either sold off or going to be sold."

Josh winced. "That's a little too close for comfort."

"You obviously don't know what we're going up against when you keep on insisting to sleep and be defenseless if someone breaks in and attacks us in the middle of the night."

Josh smacked the back of Tyler's head. "I shot at and was shot at by terrorists. I was a master sniper. Hell, I fell of a goddamn cliff. All in the span of half a decade. I think I'll okay."

Tyler spun around and stood, making Josh step back and almost fall. He glared at him, pressing a finger into Josh's chest.

"You don't know half the shit you're about to witness, Josh. You cannot even begin to comprehend the horrors right in your own backyard because you're still getting over the ones you witnessed across the ocean. Well, guess what, Lieutenant? This isn't Afghanistan. This is real life. So don't use your PTSD to treat me like a child."

Josh grabbed Tyler's hand and yanked his whole arm  so they were inches apart. Tyler tightened his jaw and narrowed his eyes, pulling at his arm, but Josh didn't loosen his grip.

"Call me that one more time and it won't be the Way Brothers you'll need to worry about," he warned.

Tyler leaned in closer so their noses barely touched. "Try to stop me, Super Soldier."

Josh didn't react, but he was itching to knock Tyler's front teeth in. Instead, he let go of Tyler's arm and reached over his shoulder, turning the lamp off and throwing them into darkness.

"Go to sleep. We can fist fight tomorrow."

"I hate you."

The next morning, Josh woke up before Tyler, who had fallen asleep curled up in the desk chair. His legs were tucked into his chest, his head lying on his knees. Josh pulled the comforter off the bed and tossed it over Tyler.

He picked up his phone and swore when he found it was dead. There were no American plugs in the wall, so Josh couldn't charge it. He tossed it onto the bed and grabbed his bag, heading to the bathroom to shower.

While he waited for the water to heat up, he heard a yelp and crash. Tyler swore loudly in what Josh assumed was Russian and then a loud clattering then silence.

"You okay out there?" Josh called out.

Tyler replied in Russian. Josh couldn't understand him, but he knew it wasn't good.

He showered and stepped out with a towel around his waist, rubbing a smaller towel in his hair. The lamp was flipped on, and Tyler was lying flat on the floor, holding a piece of paper to the light.

"I'm done if you want to shower," Josh said.

Slowly, Tyler's eyes left the paper to look at Josh, and his expression changed only a fraction, but enough for Josh to notice. He tossed the towel from his hair into the bed and pulled his suitcase onto the bed, unzipping it. Tyler was still staring, his eyes pinned to Josh's torso.

"What?" Josh asked, no longer facing him and rummaging through his clothes.

He heard Tyler stood up, but wasn't expecting him to drag his hands from Josh's chest down to his stomach- which, embarrassingly, short circuited his brain for about two seconds- before yanking the towel from around his waist. Josh broke out of his trance scrambled to cover himself, all while making incoherent noises in an attempt to ask Tyler what the hell he though he was doing. Tyler only waved the towel in victory as he made his way into the bathroom.

"We need to preserve towels," he chimed, closing the door behind him.