Dog Fights

Chapter 28; Stress Fracture

"Leon?" Ezra asks as he approaches, reaching out and putting his hand on the hooded figure's shoulder. They don't move.

He sits down on the wet metal, ignoring as the cold soaks into his already wet shorts. He's completely drenched already, a little more water isn't going to do much.

"...It was Orgon," Leon finally mutters, keeping his puffy eyes on the water ahead of him. He doesn't say anything more as Ezra turns and wraps his arms around his shoulders, pulling him as close as possible. Leon sniffs, lip beginning to quiver as he closes his eyes and rests his forehead on the other's shoulder.

"Amelia and Alexandra are going to meet us there," Ezra says quietly, "and they said they'll rally a few people from both bases to help. We won't go in alone; we'll be prepared this time."

Leon nods into his shoulder, breathing hard as he pulls back and wipes his nose on his wet sleeve. He's been outside longer than Ezra has.

"C'mon," he says gently, coaxing the younger to stand up, "we'll go there as fast as we can, alright? By the time we get there the others will be waiting for us."

"It was him, Ezra," Leon chokes out, gripping his hand as they start walking across the bridge. It's only a block or two down the street. "He took her, and wants me to go after her. I got the address on my phone and just, I just left. Dad's been at the police station for hours and I was scared. I couldn't call him- he wouldn't believe me."

"Salvation is watching your house, aren't they?" Ezra asks.

"Y-Yeah." He rubs his eyes. "I tried to talk to one of them, but they said they didn't see anyone strange anywhere around the house. I asked if one would come with me, but they said no- it wasn't part of the deal."

Ezra sighs, watching through blurry eyes as red and yellow lights glint on the wet asphalt of the street. The two of them walk toward an almost certain battle, or maybe even death, but pedestrians don't pay attention. No one knows and no one looks. "I guess that's true," Ezra murmurs, tilting his head down. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Yeah," Leon says, a small smile clipping the corners of his mouth, "it's a damn strip club. How are we even gonna get inside without ID's?"

"Are you planning on going in the front door?" Ezra asks, bumping their shoulders together as they continue their walk. No one hogs the sidewalk, and traffic has long died down from the after work rush. The only people working at this hour are the night owls and vampires.

"Well, I guess not," Leon says, "but usually I do my creeping from my computer. I don't know how to be smooth in real life."

"I'm good at getting into things I'm not supposed to," Ezra says, nudging his arm, "we'll get in."

Leon smiles, hugging his dripping jacket around his shoulders. His expression quickly fades, looking down the street at the neon lights that shine in the darkness. They can see the blinking sign from here.

"I'm scared, Ezra," Leon says suddenly, shaking his head as he rubs his face. "I'm not a fighter. I'm not strong, I'm not fast, I'm not smart- I can't even keep myself out of the way. I don't understand why you keep responding to my calls and messages; I'm not that special."

Ezra hesitates, almost losing his pace. "Excuse me?" he asks.

"You shouldn't have to deal with my problems on top of every thing else," he says quietly, "I feel like a lot of your injuries would have never happened if, if we never met."

"I don't think you'd have those same problems if you didn't save me that day," Ezra says, pausing for a moment. "You do realize, literally all of this is because of me, right? The hunters, the police, the gangs, the kidnapping. If you wouldn't have even given me your number the day we met, it never would have happened. This, this story would be completely different. It would have been better."