Heiya!
So here we are yet again. This will be the last chapter of this story - for now. I might write a sequel - no promises - and a few one-shots. I simply can't completely let go of this couple. I really want to give Kim, Paul, and William/Vincent their happy endings, too.
So I hope you enjoy!
Derek’s POV
Derek sat silent because of the gag stuffed in his mouth, but even more so by the fact that his brother was alive. Had been all this time. All these years. Every time Derek had gone to William’s grave he had been alive and kicking. At least according to Stephen. And Derek didn’t exactly trust the guy, but...
Could William be alive? Derek looked to his side. Kim was glaring at Stephen but at the same time discreetly working on the handcuffs on her hands. Derek didn’t know when or how she’d managed to get a hairpin out of her hair and down in her hand, but somehow she had. Quickly looking away so other people wouldn’t notice what Kim was doing, he focused on Stephen who was pacing back and forth in front of a window. Even though the man was pacing, he was able to do it with such a confident swagger that seemed to say worship-me.
There was no clock in the room so Derek didn’t know what time it was or how long he’d been here. But judging by his numb butt and cold limbs he’d guess about three or four hours. Or eternity. All three seemed plausible right now.
As time dragged on, the gunnies - the name Derek had given Stephen’s small army - grew more and more tense and kept glancing nervously out the window or to the rusty elevator. Derek knew why they were nervous. He would have been too if he knew Leo was coming for him in a less than friendly mood.
Kacha... wreeeeeeeeesceeeeeeeeee
The rusty elevator began to descend and disappeared under the floor. Had these been normal circumstances, Derek wouldn’t have set foot on it even if he was paid to. It looked like it might break and fall to the ground any second. Derek’s heart started pounding. Whether it was because he was scared shitless, because Leo was coming - right into a deathtrap, or because Kim had made little triumphant grunt Derek wasn’t sure.
A tense silence settled among them. The gunnies checking their ammo one last time and then getting into position. Stephen grinning like a maniac. And he and Kim staring at the hole in the ground where the elevator would soon emerge.
Derek took a quick glance around to locate all possible hiding places. Leo would no doubt be whipping out his guns soon and giving the floor a nice bloodbath.
The elevator emerged with Leo standing inside. He looked grim and fierce. The dark look a haunting contrast to the blank, emotionless expression he’d had when Derek first met him. It made him shiver and his mind wandered to dirty, indecent places that weren’t very fitting given the situation. But later when Leo had kicked all these bustards’ arses...
Leo stepped out of the elevator started towards Stephen. All the gun-muzzles were targeted on his back, the gunnies twitching with nerves.
“Well, well, well. You decided to show up! You’re actually a romantic at heart, Leo,” Stephen sneered, “Wasn’t sure you’d actually come to get you baby sister and main-shag, oh I’m sorry, your partner.” Stephen looked impossibly smug as he taunted Leo, obviously having the time of his life. Well, I certainly hope you enjoy it because in a little while you’ll be a corpse, Derek thought and glared at Stephen.
Leo stopped a couple of feet away from Stephen, tense and looming. His shoulder-length brown hair was put up in a small top-knot and he was dressed in rough, black leather from shoulders to his feet, which were wearing his usual shit-kickers. He looked like a force of nature in Derek’s opinion. All that power coiled up in a lithe body. Cut the drooling-engine, buddy.
“Our deal,” Leo said curtly cutting through Stephen’s farce. Stephen regarded Leo with disdain, like a mother might look at her child as it went to take its fourth piece of cake at a dinner-party. “So impatient. I don’t know if you’re alone or not, or if you have some weapons hidden away on your body,” Stephen beckoned for two of his people to come over and search Leo, “of course I’ll also be needing you to put on these...” a pair of handcuffs were dangled in front of his face. Leo snarled put took them none the less. What the hell? Derek frowned as the two men assigned to search Leo shook their heads. Why would Leo walk into the midst of his enemy without being armed? He wouldn’t do that unless he was taking the deal that Stephen had proposed - thanks to Stephen’s villain speech Derek knew practically everything about the situation - and that would just be plain stupid. No, Leo had to have a plan. Had to.
Derek looked to Kim to see if she knew more than him. She looked as horrified at Leo’s actions as he felt. Well, fuck. Kim met his eyes and gestured towards Leo with her head, then gave a confused shake.
“Let them go,” Leo said in a calm, clear voice, his gaze steady on Stephen. Stephen chuckled and shook his head disapprovingly. “I really didn’t think you’d be this stupid. Hoped, yes. But you actually believed I would let them go?” Stephen chuckled again and casually walked around Leo, “to think it would be this easy to bring down the great Leo, the cold-blooded killer, the headshot champion, the legend. That easy. I am actually kind of disappointed.”
Two buff men swooped forward and grabbed hold of Leo’s arms to hold him in place. Leo didn’t try to avoid or pull out of their hold. “Now please wait a minute while I assert my claim over Pareo by killing the Don and all his living family, “Stephen’s eyes focused on Derek, “I know you’re not married to Leo, so technically you are in fact not part of the mafia family, but only terminating Kim seems a bit boring, don’t you agree?”
Stephen opened his palm and a woman with black hair placed a gun in it. Derek felt cold-sweat run down his spine and his stomach churned as the gun was levelled at his head. Glancing at Leo, he saw that his lover had a cold detached expression. It felt like a punch to the gut.
Leo’s POV
Leo watched with a mix of terror and fury as his former Consigliere slowly aimed the Colt m1911 on Derek’s forehead, dragging out the moment. He wanted to leap at Stephen and bite out his throat, could almost taste the bastard’s blood on his tongue.
“Any last words to your lover?”
Leo didn’t trust himself not to try and attack Stephen if he opened his mouth, so he stayed silent. Why were Vincent, Syn, and Paul taking so long? Ten more seconds Leo decided, if they were not in here putting bullets into brains by then he was going to attack.
A sudden movement threw Stephen off balance. Kim had jumped him and was tearing the Colt out of his hands. Immediately guns started going off. Fuck it! Leo head-butted the man holding his right arm, the man’s nose exploded in a fountain of red and he let go to instead cup his nose. The man on his left arm Leo kicked in the crotch - there was no such thing as dirty fighting in the real world, only fighting to win - and slammed both fist into the back of his head as he doubled over.
Leo looked up and around to locate Derek. Kim was wrestling with three guys trying to pull her off of Stephen. Leo had to jump behind cover to avoid the bullets flying his way. Glass exploded around him and rained down. A wire on what looked like an arrow had been shot through three of the windows at some pillars, in less than a second Vincent was standing in the middle of the fray a Sig 556 PSD in hand instead of his cane. Paul was the next to arrive, he looked around and when he spotted Leo, dove for him.
“Glocks,” he yelled over the noise, handed Leo his weapons of choice and sped off to help Kim. A gun in each hand Leo started firing while keeping an eye out for Derek. Where the hell was he?
Derek’s POV
Derek dove for the gun a now-dead man had dropped as he fell to the ground. It was a complete chaos in here. First Kim had jumped Stephen, then the gunnies had started shooting, and if that wasn’t enough the windows exploded and people swooshed in. And now everyone was fighting. Complete. Fucking. Chaos.
Derek didn’t feel assured by the cold, heavy steel in his hands. Not that he hadn’t fired a gun before. He just never hit what he aimed at. Okay, what now? Derek fell back on his arse as a pair of hands pulled him down. “Get down you idiot!” Derek’s eyes widened and his head whipped around. There wasn’t a hint of French accent, but he recognized the voice as Vincent’s. Or William’s.
Derek’s breath hitched in his throat at the sight of his deceased brother. Or thought-to-be-deceased brother. Derek wanted to hug the bastard and punch him at the same time. He wanted yell at him for leaving him and tell him much he loved and missed him.
William wasn’t even focusing on Derek - having hid them both behind a half-finished wall - but was shooting at gunnies with a huge machine-gun looking thingy. Derek shook himself into focus and carefully peeked over the wall. Bullets were being exchanged so fast it was impossible to keep track of who was shooting at whom. And others were rolling around on the ground in close combat. Kim being one of them, she kicked high and hit another woman’s face - then proceeded to squeal in victorious delight. Crazy-ass woman.
“What the-? I said get down!” William forcefully pushed Derek back down, while cursing up a storm. Derek glared at him then yelled, “I want to help!”
“You can’t tell people apart, you suck at names and faces, always have. And your aim sucks, too. So no. Fucking. Way. Am. I. Letting. You fight,” William punctuated each of his words with a press of the trigger. Derek huffed, but stayed down. And even thought he wasn’t actively participating in the small war going on, adrenaline still whooshed around in his veins, making all his senses sharper and his body restless.
“You!”
Derek whipped around so fast he almost lost his balance. Stephen was right behind him - blood coating his fancy suit and his hair a wild haystack - panting and heaving, a gun in his trembling hands. Derek couldn’t tell whether it was from fear or anger.
“You betrayed me!”
Okay, scratch that. Definitely anger. William had his gun trained on Stephen, but he was grinning playfully. “Aww, you miss me already?” If it was even possible, Stephen’s face got even redder. “I saved your life! You wouldn’t be here without me! And yet you choose to help my enemy for this, this slu-“
William, still crouched from shooting over the wall, threw out a lightning fast kick, that made Stephen’s face kiss the floor. “Think twice before you finish that sentence, pal.”
“Arrrrgh!” Stephen bellowed and jumped William faster than Derek would have thought possible. William was caught off guard and the gun clattered to the floor. Derek was stunned for a second but then grabbed Stephen to pull him off. The man already had a choke hold on William’s throat.
Derek’s hands kept slipping on the blood-soaked fabric. Come on, come on, COME ON! Derek kneed Stephen in the side, hoping it would make the maniac let go. No such luck. Stephen held on like a leech. What do I do?! William was beginning to look slightly purple. Derek dove for William’s gun and pressed it into Stephen’s back.
“Let go off him, fucker, or I swear to God I will stuff this gun up your arse then empty it!” Stephen didn’t even pause in his strangling of William. Derek pressed his lips together. If he fired now would the bullet go through Stephen and hit William? Derek looked up in despair and saw the most beautiful sight his eyes had ever gazed upon. Leo was coming toward him at full speed. Jumping over bodies and people with the agility of a feline. Derek looked back down at William. Leo won’t make it in time. Crouching Derek pressed the gun into Stephen’s side instead of his back and pressed the trigger. The thing jumped like it was trying to get free and sent Derek down on the floor. Again.
With frantic movements Derek got back up to see Stephen slumped over a coughing, red-faced William. Leo vaulted over the wall they were hiding behind and landed next to Derek. With strong arms he pulled Derek into a crushing embrace before pushing him back behind the wall.
“You able to shoot?” Leo asked emotionlessly. William coughed and sat up. “You’re worried about me,” cough, “how sweet. Don’t worry I’ll protect Derek, just,” cough, “hand me my Sig.” Leo nodded, handed William the Sig-gun, and turned so he could shoot. William joined him a second after. Seeing the two of them shoulder by shoulder was a weird experience. Here were the two men he loved most, working together in trying to protect him. It made Derek feel loved and a very inadequate. First thing I do after this is to take some self-defence lessons and shooting classes.
Once in a while Leo or William would glance back to check on Derek while they re-loaded and give him a don’t-fucking-move look. After what felt like hours the shooting finally decreased and then stopped. The silence that followed seemed too loud to Derek’s ears and the tension still lay thick in the air.
Leo grabbed Derek’s upper-arms and pulled him to a stand. “Are you injured?” His voice was rough. Derek threw his arms around Leo’s neck and pulled him in for a hug. “I’m fine. You?” Leo ignored the question and leaned back so he could look Derek over. Derek sighed and rolled his eyes. Typical.
“I know you’re having a moment there, but maybe we should check in with the others? See if they’re fine?” Derek stepped out of Leo’s arms so he could look at William without bullets flying over their heads. He looked good - or as good as you could expect someone who’d just been strangled and shot at to look. His blond hair was tousled and his eyes gleamed with that familiar laughter Derek remembered always seeing in them. Derek slowly walked over to him. Afraid that he’d wake up and his brother would be dead again. William spread his arms for a hug as Derek neared. Derek sped up and was soon only a couple feet from his last living family.
Derek’s fist landed on William’s cheek with a loud smack.
“How could you fucking do that to me?! You left me. You let me think you were dead. I mourned you for years. I’ve cried at your grave so often the groundskeeper remembers my name. And you were alive the whole bloody time! You bastard! You were even in the same city. You could have gone and seen me any time you wanted. Would it have fucking killed you to drop by and, I don’t know, tell me you weren’t dead.” Derek paused to catch his breath, tears streaming down his face.
“I guess I deserved that,” William said and grinned, rubbing his cheek. Derek grabbed him and pulled him into a crushing hug. “If you ever do that again, I swear I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself.” They stood there just holding each other for a while, when William whispered, “Your boyfriend is contemplating whether to kill me or not.” Derek glanced back over his shoulder to see Leo not glaring, no that was too soft a word, no he was willing William to drop dead with his eyes.
“Leo, stop glaring, this is my brother. Long story short; thought he was dead. Surprise! He isn’t.” Leo’s expression immediately softened into its usual detached state. Most people would have been freaking out over such a development, not Leo though. Derek chuckled and went over to Leo and took his hand. “Let’s join the others.”
Turned out most of Stephen’s people had fled when it became obvious who would win, but before they did, they killed eleven of the Chinese Don’s men and wounded practically everyone - including Paul. He’d taken a bullet in the shoulder, thigh, and abdomen. He was lucky though, none of them had hit any of his vital organs. Still lost a lot of blood of course.
The goddess of luck must have favoured Kim, because she escaped with only a few scratches and a graze-wound.
Leo called someone and twenty minutes later they were stuffed into ten different vans. Leo, William, Paul, Kim, and Derek shared one. William decided to take the wheel and now they were speeding along on the main-road.
“Psst.” Kim bumped Derek’s shoulder and leaned in. With the lowest of whispers she asked, “Who’s the hottie?” Derek cringed. That question was both awkward and gross. “My brother, William, who you are banned from ever calling hottie, sexy, eye-candy, or any of the like in my presence.”
“’Kay. Who’s the incest-inspiring hunk of a man behind the wheel?” Kim smiled widely while pressing her lips together and wiggling her eyebrows. Derek cringed and forced himself to think of pink elephants to keep the images that would no doubt haunt his nightmares from appearing. “Kim...” he groaned. She smiled even wider.
“Where do should I pull off?” William asked without taking his eyes off the road. Leo gave him directions and then returned to his discussion with Paul. They were talking about how they should proceed next. Stephen couldn’t have staged all this without someone helping him. It didn’t seem to matter either of them that Paul was literally bleeding on the seat, even though he’d been emergency bandaged. Every so often though Paul’s eyes would stray over to Kim - who remained completely oblivious - then quickly look away.
Finally they stopped at The Petit Lion and Kim, Leo, and Derek climbed out. Derek frowned and went over to the driver side. “You’re not coming in?” he asked William. He had this feeling crushing his insides. What if William was going to disappear again? William reached out and ruffled his hair like he’d done when they were younger.
“Don’t worry, lil’ bro. I’ll be back tomorrow. I need to get some clothes and stuff. Lost my cane, too, so have to get my back-up.” The crushing feeling eased, but Derek kept frowning anyway. “Why do you need a cane?”
William grinned before answering. “The nice doctors couldn’t completely patch up my leg, so I need a bit of support so I don’t fall into stuff all the time.”
“But you were running around shooting just before, is that okay? Are you okay?” Derek started playing with the idea of dragging William out of the van so he wouldn’t hurt himself while driving with a bad leg.
“Yeah, I’ll be paying for that all day tomorrow,” William cringed, but then smiled, “bet I’ll feel better if you bake me a cake and fan me with a big palm-leaf all day. And besides, who else is going to drive Paul?” Derek lightly punched his shoulder and huffed. Good to know he’s still annoyingly stupid.
Derek waved as William pulled out and drove away. Kim came up and stood next to him, they watched as the car disappeared down the road.
“YOUR BROTHER IS GORGEOUS!” Kim squealed and jumped up and down. Derek groaned and jogged over to Leo who was waiting by the entrance. Together they went in. People in nice clothes were sitting in the sofas or walking towards the restaurant. Everything was so mundane here. Everybody was just going about their day as usual. As if time hadn’t touched the place. It felt very, very odd.
Leo didn’t stop to look at the people filling his pockets with money but marched on, a tight grip on Derek’s hand. Just before they reached the elevators Leo beckoned to Steffanie the receptionist - who rushed over immediately.
“Have someone bring me two full course meals,” Leo ordered and stepped into the elevator. “Of course, Sir. Which meals do you wa-“ Leo closed the elevator-doors before Steffanie could finish her sentence. Now that they were alone, Derek let his eyes take in Leo. That leather really suited him. It wasn’t the kind of shiny, cheap stuff you’d find in an SM club. No, this was rough and tough. Derek spotted the top-knot on Leo’s head. That thing looks ridicules, I’d do him a favour if I removed it... together with his clothes. Derek licked his lips. Turned out adrenaline made Derek horny. Who would have thought. Or perhaps it was just Leo’s presence. Who freaking cares?! His libido screamed at him.
The elevator doors opened with a soft ding. Derek couldn’t get back into their apartment fast enough. Wait a minute. Their? Derek blushed. He was beginning to think of it as their apartment. God, how embarrassing. Leo closed the door behind them and stalked into the living-room.
“Take a shower while we wait for the food.” It sounded like a demand, but Derek knew it was more of a suggestion when coming from Leo. The dirty side of his mind immediately came up with a lot of suggestions that involved taking a bath.
“You want to take one with me?” Derek asked and walked up behind Leo, placing a soft kiss on his neck. Leo tensed and met Derek’s eyes. They were lit up with desire. “You drop those clothes and I’ll be all over you in a second.”
“Mhm,” Derek purred, “I’m keeping you to that promise.”
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As promised here is something for my perverts. ;)
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Leo’s POV
Leo held Derek against his chest as his lover snored softly. He couldn’t wait to see Derek’s expression in the morning when he discovered they’d destroyed the bed. Somewhere along the way of their heated love-making the bedposts had given out and collapsed. Leo didn’t think that Derek had noticed at the time it happened.
Another soft snore left Derek and Leo kissed his cheek softly. He couldn’t wait to wake up with Derek tomorrow. And the many tomorrows after.
Awww. Ain't that sweet? Yeah, I'm a sucker for happy endings. In the very beginning I was actually planning for either Kim or Vincent/William to die, put I couldn't make myself do it! ....I'm so weak....
Some of you are maybe saying, "Now wait just a goddamn minute, what about that crazy old lady from the prologue?"
She has not been forgotten, I want use her in other stories so I won't reveal all about her this time around. My plan is to write some stories in the Pareo "universe" but at different points in time.
Hah I don't really know what to say... so yeah. I never thought this story would take off. I was so surprised when I got my first comment. After that I decided I would do my best to finish this story since I knew at least someone was reading it. And then more people came and it was just... it made me happy. So thank you for reading. Truly. Thank you.
Hope you enjoyed!