fic for jade_lil (3/5)

[nino-mod.livejournal.com]

For: jade_lil
From: phrenk

Part 2

*

Jun went over the plan in detail again while the plane sat on the runway waiting to be cleared for takeoff. He changed one or two things midway through when he received a phone call confirming what early surveillance had reported, that one of the terrorists wasn't believed to be at the weapons dealer's compound. It changed very little about the plan, and when he got to the end and they were still on the ground, he told them all to make use of the time to get some rest. Then he headed for the cockpit with a grim look on his face that boded ill for the pilot, the crew, and anyone else who might be part of the reason for the delay.

Nino sat quietly and went through his part in the plan one more time in his head. Ohno, next to him, fidgeted nervously for about two minutes and then fell promptly asleep, his head lolling onto Nino's shoulder with that easy vulnerability Nino couldn't at all fathom but helplessly adored.

He started to try and puzzle out the way to let Ohno know that he wasn't alone, as per Sho's instructions, but without confusing Ohno with words (since Nino didn't yet know the right words, let alone the right timing to say them) or romantic actions (like kissing, even though part of Nino was obstinately sure he could tell Ohno just what he needed to through one good, long kiss). Ohno needed to be be clear and focused on the mission. How exactly was Nino supposed to convey his message without disrupting that?

He was pondering the merits of a firm handshake when his phone pinged. He briefly considered ignoring it, then remembered that it was his work cell. Nearly everyone who had the number was in the plane with him right now, and those who weren't were people who knew he shouldn't be disturbed.

Curious, he checked the message. It was from Sho's assistant, an earnest young woman named Haru.

N-san. I've been given orders not to give you this information, and I can only hope this reaches you before you leave. S-san's been taken. Our office has received demands from a person who claims to have been the orchestrator of the bombings, and he wants you, for reasons unknown to us, to come alone to speak with him, 'back where it started.' He was very explicit about the consequences for S-san should this not occur. It was decided by those in charge to let the mission go ahead as planned and deal with this when you get back, due to pressing international priorities. I hope you will understand that while I am proud to serve this agency and our country, I find it unforgivable on a human level to keep quiet.

Nino wasn't breathing. He wasn't sure his heart was beating. He got to the end of the message and read it again, then unbuckled his seatbelt and stood up. Ohno, his head dislodged from his makeshift pillow, woke up with a little grunt of surprise.

Turning in the aisle, Nino saw Jun coming back into the cabin with a satisfied look on his face that meant they would soon be airborne.

Nino was not taking off on a flight to another country while Sho was in danger. In no universe, in none of his past or future lives would he find it supportable to toe the agency line on this matter.

He walked up to Jun, who assessed his expression and immediately went tense, and said, "I deeply regret that my participation in this mission is no longer possible, sir."

"Explain yourself." Jun's voice was demanding, but not angry. He knew Nino very well, after all, and knew the severity of the crisis that must be occurring to get Nino to abandon his duty.

But the plane was already beginning to move. Nino stood as straight as he could, trying not to shake with nerves and shock, and said solidly, "I'm getting off this plane now. I apologize."

Jun came close and said softly, "I could confiscate your phone. I feel sure the explanation is there, isn't it?"

Nino kept very, very still. Only his long relationship with Jun was keeping him from shoving him out of the way so he could get off the damn plane and find Sho.

Jun sighed. "Stop the plane."

The order was quiet, but someone ran the message into the cockpit, and within seconds the plane was slowing back down.

As it stopped, Jun said, "But if you're taking a personal day, which it seems that you are, then your gear stays here."

Nino clutched involuntarily at his bag. "I need a weapon, Matsumoto-san."

"Drop your gear and leave while I'll let you, Nino," Jun said warningly. Time was more important than equipment, so Nino dropped the bag in the aisle. An identical bag hit the floor next to it, nearly landing on Jun's boots.

"Mach--Matsumoto-san," came Ohno's quiet voice from behind Nino. "I think I need a personal day as well."

Nino froze. At first he was angry--this was just another delay that kept him from reaching Sho--and then incredulous, because Ohno didn't even know what was going on, so why was he throwing his career away like this? In the next tumultuous flash of emotion, he wanted to push Ohno back down into his seat and spit something awful to keep him there, because this was Nino's fight, not his.

Then, in the space between one heartbeat and the next, Nino accepted something. He'd fought against destiny for so long in declaring Sho as his, but circumstances had changed. He'd been holding onto a possessive, narrow view of Sho. In this moment, this agonizing crucible with no room for logic, he let that go and accepted that Ohno had as much right to fight for Sho as Nino did.

A hesitant voice sounded from up the aisle. "If my agent isn't coming on the mission, I--"

Without turning around, Jun snapped, "Sit your ass back down, Aiba-chan."

Aiba shrank bank into his seat, but his eyes stayed fixed on Nino until Nino made a small, calming motion with one hand. Aiba nodded and stayed put, trusting Nino, but one of his own hands made the tiniest hint of the gesture that indicated a phone, as in call me.

Normally Nino would've made a caustic remark about the likelihood of Aiba finding cell service on a remote mission in Russia, but right then he could only see the offer of support when his life was falling apart. He forced a tiny nod of acknowledgment.

Jun stepped up threateningly close to Nino, who clenched his fists in an attempt not to fly to pieces with impatience. Then Jun stepped around him so that Nino had an open path to the door.

Nino was about to bolt for it when Jun said, "Take this. It belongs to me personally, not the agency, and I have no need of it on this mission."

He was holding out a pistol.

Nino drew in a shuddering breath, but there was no time for gratitude. He took the pistol and made for the door, Ohno behind him.

They were running to the nearest car when the plane took off.

*

The driver didn't question Nino's requisition of the car, which was lucky for him since Nino was not in the mood for gentle persuasion.

Nino drove as quickly as he could without standing out--it was no time for him to get stopped by the police. He couldn't handle thinking about Sho in a terrorist's clutches when there was at least an hour's driving ahead of Nino and Ohno before they could rescue him. He didn't even have a way to contact the person holding Sho to tell him he was coming.

For the first ten minutes on the road, Ohno didn't say anything. A small part of Nino's mind marvelled at this superhuman patience. The rest of him was divided into two parts: utter, raging terror and a clinical professionalism that would be what counted if he was given a chance to save Sho. It was also the latter part that knew exactly where they needed to go.

Finally Nino said, "Aren't you going to ask why we're not headed to Russia right now?"

Ohno sighed and shifted, and it was only then that Nino looked over and noticed he'd had his hands gripped together so tightly in this lap that there were visible marks when he let go. Ohno's voice, too, betrayed the strain: it was hoarse when he asked, "Are you ready to say it out loud?"

Nino opened his mouth, then closed it. It was true that if he didn't say it out loud it felt like it might all be a bad dream or misunderstanding. But his feelings weren't what was important then--saving Sho was the only thing that was--so he told Ohno what Haru's message had said.

All Ohno said was, "What does it mean, where it started?"

"Same place I met you, of course." Nino's smile was humorless.

Ohno nodded slowly. "And what are we going to do?"

Nino had been working through it in his mind ever since he'd read the words that changed everything. And yet there was a part of him, the part that remembered he'd worked for Jun for years now and respected him beyond measure, that held back from simply telling Ohno how it was going to be.

Instead he said, "What do you think we should do?"

Ohno thought for what felt like a long time but was probably only a matter of minutes.

"The agency must be stalling him, since they think no one's doing a rescue until the Russian mission is done. That means he doesn't know you're coming. You think he's in the bank?"

"Has to be."

"Then… give me your phone; I'll draw you the floorplan so you'll have it."

Nino handed it over, but couldn't help asking, "You have it memorized? Oh-chan, that was two years ago, and you weren't even an agent."

Ohno was silent, occupied with drawing in detail on the small screen, and when Nino was about to ask him again, genuinely curious, he forestalled him with one word. "Later."

He handed the phone back to Nino after another minute and continued, "We split up to find out where Sho-kun is, then meet back outside. I pretend to be a civilian and draw the bad guy out while you go in without being seen to save Sho-chan."

Nino said sharply, "And what if he knows who you are, like he somehow knows me?"

Ohno shrugged. "It's still Sho-kun's best chance."

It was. Even so, Nino said vehemently, "You're not expendable, Oh-chan. Your plan is good, and I agree, but only because I don't think he'll know you--you are not expendable, no argument."

Again, Ohno shrugged, but when Nino turned his head to say something blisteringly angry about this nonchalance about his own life, Ohno's eyes were suspiciously damp.

There was nothing Nino could say to that right then, not with everything.

They still had at least half an hour until they reached the place where Sho was being held--where he had to be, because otherwise Nino had no idea where to begin looking. That was yet another thing he couldn't think about right then.

He was about to lose his mind, he could feel it.

"Oh-chan," he said abruptly. "Tell me about yourself. Whatever you can say that'll help me forget just enough that I can get us there."

It was a moment before Ohno spoke, and when he did his voice was steady. He spoke purposefully even though the words themselves were clearly unplanned.

"Nothing special, really. Got hurt a lot as a kid, just being stubborn about what I could or couldn't do--my mom was worried all the time, seems like. I got to like drawing, and dancing, and I did just enough in school that I could do what I wanted the rest of the time."

He paused.

Involuntarily, Nino reached over and took Ohno's hand. He felt something coalescing inside himself and tried to ward it off, but he couldn't do anything about it. The realization of feeling became one thought: If it were Oh-chan there instead of Sho, I'd be just as fucked up over it.

For all his efforts to avoid gaining another person he loved just to lose them to a destined soulmate, he'd gone and done it--the idea of losing Ohno was the same as the idea of losing Sho: like drowning.

"If you need to stop..." he said, trying not to hyperventilate, but Ohno shook his head stubbornly.

"I can say it. I just haven't in a while." All the same, it was a minute before he spoke again. "On my third day of high school, my parents and my sister were in a car crash. They… it was quick. I dropped out, and I couldn't stay in that house. I ended up with a job at the convenience store, and eventually it was enough that I had a place to sleep."

Nino pictured Ohno as a teenager, grief-stricken and alone and homeless.

"Ah," Ohno said suddenly, and Nino came back to himself in time to swerve back into his lane.

"Go on," he said, because it was all he could manage.

"It wasn't a bad job," Ohno said. "Obviously I stayed, so it couldn't've been that bad. I couldn't handle anything more for a long time, and by the time I might've been able to, I'd changed. Before I met Sho-kun--"

"That's enough," Nino interrupted. He couldn't stand talking about Sho when Sho might be in pain right then, or even--no. He tried to pull his hand from Ohno's, but Ohno held on. "This won't help me focus so I can drive, just stop."

Ohno said quietly, "I need you to know this. Nino, please let me say it. I need to."

Nino muttered, "I'll drive us off a roof again if you keep pushing me," but he knew Ohno heard it as the capitulation it was. He couldn't recall Ohno ever asking for something real. It made him ashamed, to have been so selfish, but at least he could try to bear this for Ohno now.

"I made myself as small as possible after--after, because otherwise I couldn't go on. I don't know why I made it, but by the time I came back to myself I felt like I wasn't there anymore. No one ever seemed to see me, and it made sense--it didn't feel like there was anything there for them to see. It's not like I just cried all the time or anything, don't imagine anything weird, but--"

"You were alone."

"Not just that," Ohno said, sounding embarrassed. "I didn't have myself, either, somehow. I was nothing."

"You weren't--"

"I don't mean it in a bad way," Ohno said, and Nino let it go because he could tell Ohno needed to keep going. "But then I met Sho-kun. I swear, all I did was mark down that box lunch and he looked at me like I'd saved his life. He remembered my name the next time he came, and he told me about you--I think I'd forgotten that people loved each other just because. I had customers who were polite, and I had this soulmate tattoo that would mean something someday, but sure didn't help me then, but--and Sho-kun told me about you proudly. He couldn't stop talking about you, except I didn't know it was you then, of course. Makes sense."

Nino smiled despite himself.

"Sho-kun saw me. And he had this whole life he was making for himself, and he let me in, even just as a person who gave him half-price food at a convenience store. He talked to me like I mattered. He was interested in what I had to say. Sho-kun… Sho-kun gave me something to look forward to, and he made me laugh. He made me want to have things to say, and I started to look for things I liked to do again, because I could talk about them with him, and I know that's pathetic, but to me--I started drawing again, and once I showed him one and it was like he'd never seen art before, he acted so impressed."

"I'd like to see your drawings when we all get home," Nino said. His face was dry, his voice almost calm, but on the inside he felt wrecked. If they all got through this alive… but right then all he could do was hold it together.

"Oh wait," Ohno said, remembering something. "It wasn't romantic or anything--seriously, everything he talked about came around to you, and it wasn't long before I got the promotion to manager that meant I moved away… which I wouldn't have done before Sho-kun, wouldn't have seen the point in trying. After drifting so long, I don't think I'd ever been more scared than when I moved somewhere new to start over."

Nino said with false lightness, "And then the city blew up."

"They're rebuilding it," Ohno said simply. "And we're going to save Sho-kun. I just needed you to know why I'm here."

"Just to be clear, if this car doesn't have all three us in it when we're done, we lost. Remember that during the mission--remember that your life means something to a lot of people." Nino glanced over at Ohno's pale face, then added, "Like Matsumoto-san. Remember that time you came into work late and you hadn't fixed your hair? And he took all those pictures of you with your bangs down… I wouldn't be surprised if he started a fan-blog of you, Oh-chan."

Surprised, Ohno laughed, and it was the sweetest thing Nino'd ever heard.

"We get through this together," Nino said, and he was surprised to realize he felt determined instead of reckless, like he'd found his center again. Ohno had been right after all--his story was just what Nino had needed to hear.

Ohno nodded, resolute. "For Sho-kun."

*

The bags they'd left at Jun's feet had contained their mission uniforms, and Ohno had long since stopped wearing suits to the office. In his casual trousers and button-down shirt, he looked perfect to play the part of the disoriented visitor who'd wandered from the temporary living areas and re-emerging houses in the residential areas to the downtown region that was still barely beginning to rebuild.

Nino parked the car several blocks away. The streets, at least, were largely clear--though some side streets had clearly been classified as low priorities and were, even now, littered with rubble.

He was finding it hard to breathe and the danger Sho was in was only part of it.

Bombs had broken this city, bombs it had been his job to defuse.

"Focus," Ohno said sharply. Nino elbowed him in pretense of irritation, but deep down he was grateful. Suddenly the idea of being here alone, even if that had been his plan before Ohno wedged himself in, made him want to throw up.

He wanted to say thank you for coming. Instead he said, "Just as we discussed. The parts you marked on the floorplan are mine; the rest are yours."

They picked their way down a side street to avoid the construction work happening elsewhere, then moved carefully onto the street the bank was on. No one was around, and both Nino and Ohno turned to set their sights on their target building.

But it wasn't a building anymore, it was a ruin. Whatever had been left of it after the bombs, that had been knocked inward to avert the danger of it collapsing onto anyone in the street. All that remained was a haphazard heap of materials that had been walls, ceilings, floor, furniture. The place where Nino and Ohno had met.

The building where Sho was supposed to be.

"How did I not see that coming," Nino said wildly, covering his face with his hands. "I was in the room with the bomb that blew it up!"

Ohno was unmoving beside him, but he was clearly thinking so hard that Nino might have been able to hear it if he hadn't been occupied muttering to himself.

where is he where is he where is he

Ohno said abruptly, "Think about the floorplan. Think about where we met. The vent came out on the ceiling in the room with the bomb, but near the floor in the lobby. The vault's down there, too, and a storage room."

Nino stopped muttering. "The basement," he said, catching at Ohno with his hands like he could shake Sho's location out of him. "But that's where the bomb was--"

"The small bomb, the one that was just for you. A bomb that small wouldn't have gotten through the vault walls, maybe not even brought down the ceiling of the office."

"Then the other bombs brought down the building…"

Ohno nodded. "Sho-kun might still be in there. A ruin would be a good place to hide, especially in a construction zone--the machinery would hide any suspicious noises."

Nino couldn't help it: he kissed him. He took Ohno's face in his hands and laid a smacking kiss on his shocked mouth, then turned back to the rubble of the former bank and hooked an arm over Ohno's shoulder as he thought furiously.

"Um," Ohno said.

"Focus," Nino echoed him from earlier, a hint of teasing amid the distraction. "All right, here's the plan. I'm going in, hopefully to take the asshole by surprise, but otherwise to negotiate. You wait five minutes and then come in after me."

There was an awkward silence. Ohno said, "Is that the whole plan?"

Nino shrugged, any lingering amusement dropping away. "We don't have time to waste. The agency's stalling could be hitting a wall as we speak, and if Sho-chan's not here…"

Instead of arguing, Ohno said, "Be safe. I'll see you soon."

Within a minute Nino had reached the fallen building. Seconds after that he'd found a likely-looking crevice and crawled inside.

*

It was dark and cramped in the bowels of the ruins. The surface he was walking on was treacherously inconsistent, but Nino moved quietly, carefully, and tried to keep Ohno's map in his mind.

He was somewhere in what had been the lobby. He turned, unable to stand, trying to head toward the vent that led to the lower level office, but his way was blocked by debris. He could smell dank water nearby, possibly still built up from the bathrooms before the water had been shut off. It was more likely to be collected rainwater, but either way it was another reason not to risk shifting the rubble.

He stood still, thinking about the floorplan, then headed deeper into the wreck. He tried to be soundless, not only for stealth but so he could hear any sounds there were around him--or below him.

The mangled wood of the tellers' stations let him know he was getting close to the manager's office, and thus to the inner stairs. They'd been blocked during his fight with the bombs, but the block might have been destroyed either in the explosion or subsequent collapse of the building.

It was a tight fit between some of the fallen pillars, the collapsed ceiling, the flooring jutting up from below. Nino couldn't help thinking about Sho--what if he wasn't down there at all?--and Ohno, still outside. His partner in this mission was inexperienced, with little information to go on, and he was also someone Nino loved: someone whose safety was paramount to Nino's happiness. Thinking of them made it so hard to focus that Nino's breathing started to come faster and faster. He should have stopped and tried to relax, but there just wasn't time.

He still hadn't heard anything except his own tentative exploration. Suddenly what he was walking on felt different through the soles of his shoes, and he looked down to find out why. It was too dark even with the adjustment his eyes had made, so he knelt and felt carefully with his hands instead.

It was a door. Nino tried to remember what the inside of the lobby had looked like before the attack, but all he could think of were the outlines of Ohno's map. It might be the door to the manager's office. The stairs might be close.

Nino was feeling his way between what felt like the remains of bookshelves when his foot went right through what passed as the floor and he fell through the rubble all the way up to his waist.

The shock of pain to his ribs where he caught himself made him gasp, but he smothered more sounds of pain in a desperate attempt not to give himself away. The sound of his fall could be taken as natural, if he were lucky, considering the precariousness of the fallen building.

He wasn't feeling that lucky, though, and he set himself to climbing back out of the hole.

A thought made him pause. Down was where he wanted to go. There was a chance the hole he'd fallen halfway into went all the way to the lower level. He felt around with his feet, wincing at the ache of his chest against ragged wood as his hands gripped whatever he could find to hold himself up. The hole seemed mostly closed but there was one direction where his searching feet felt only empty space.

The idea of slithering down feet first into a completely unknown situation made him hesitate. Then he put both his feet into that empty space and let go with his hands.

He slid down the painful bumps and jagged edges like it was the world's least comfortable slide, wiggling his body as best he could to keep moving. The absolute worst thing would be getting stuck. He could tell he was bleeding in a dozen places already, and the oppressive nature of his location made continuing to breathe almost impossible. He didn't think he'd be able to climb back up.

His feet hit something solid. Nino forced himself to take a deep breath, feeling the darkness close in on him even further as he lay there like a dying fly in amber.

In the limited space, with all the strength he had, he kicked out. Something cracked loudly, and he kicked again, already having given up on stealth in his struggle for survival--his and Sho's and Ohno's.

The wreckage of the building gave way beneath him and he dropped into an open space. There was light, and a face staring at him as he fell, and then Nino hit his head on something metal and knew no more.

*

Nino woke to Sho's voice. His boyfriend was pleading, cursing, threatening him, and it all seemed so unfair when Nino's head hurt so much already.

"I get it," he groaned, trying and failing to open his eyes. "I'm awake, just give me a goddamn second, Sho-chan."

It wasn't just his head that hurt, and Sho's voice sounded strange--and they weren't in bed, were they? Nino was on a cold, hard surface that felt like concrete.

Awareness came in a surge of pain and fear.

Sho.

"Sho," he said raggedly. "Sho-chan, you're here? You're okay?" He got his eyes open with a terrifying amount of effort.

There Sho was, staring back at him, alive and whole. Nino was so relieved he nearly passed out again.

Then Nino's eyes dropped from Sho's beloved face and saw what was strapped to Sho's chest.

"What is it with this guy and bombs," he complained weakly.

"He'll be back any minute," Sho said, more subdued now that Nino was conscious and aware of the situation. "There's no time. Nino, you idiot, what the hell…"

"I'm here," Nino said grandly from his bloody heap on the floor, "to rescue you."

Sho snorted. "I'll believe it when I see you can sit up."

Nino sniffed in loud offense and sat up just to prove he could. His head didn't feel right. Deep down, where he'd have to deal with it later, the sight of Sho wearing a bomb-vest while Ohno was out somewhere in the same area as a murderous kidnapper who liked to blow people up had Nino so terrified it felt like even if they made it through somehow, he might never recover.

He worked his way slowly up to his feet with the aid of the filing cabinet it felt like he'd left part of his skull on as he questioned Sho. He couldn't move any quicker, so he might as well get as much information as he could.

"How does he get in and out? Did you see him set the bomb, do you remember what he did? Have you seen him communicate with anyone?"

He swayed on his feet and focused on Sho, who was tied to a chair with a bomb strapped to his chest. The former, at least, he could do something about, and he headed over unsteadily to untie the knots. He couldn't hear anyone coming, but then everything he did hear was suspiciously echoing.

"I was drugged when he brought me in, but I believe he's dug some sort of tunnel that comes out… elsewhere. He always has dirt on his clothes when he comes back," Sho said. Nino was absently proud of his boyfriend's steady voice.

"You're so brave," he sighed, and the shock of saying something he certainly hadn't meant to say out loud actually woke him up a bit. He made it the last few steps over to Sho and went around him carefully (the urge to collapse on his boyfriend's chest was strong but he resisted it, considering the whole bomb thing) to get his hands started freeing Sho. "Excuse me, my mouth seems to be malfunctioning."

Sho chuckled, but he didn't let himself get sidetracked. His hands were so cold. "The bomb was on me and already set when I woke up. He has the detonator--he wears it around his neck. I haven't seen anyone else, and he hasn't talked to anyone, but he talks to himself a lot. Like, a lot. So much it stopped being scary and just became irritating."

"What does he say?" Nino asked curiously. He took a break from yanking at the ropes to rub some warmth into Sho's hands, wondering just how long Sho had been tied up.

"He blames you that he got kicked out of the group--says he was humiliated by you when you saved the city from his bombs."

"But I didn't," Nino said, bewildered. "The city blew up; I didn't stop it."

"Everyone in the city was supposed to die. Somehow Rambo found out you were the one who hacked his message to the rest of the group--you never told me you did that, Nino--and he's been trying to find you ever since. Last week he found you, and he saw us together. He's been planning this, says he was going to do it more slowly but he found out from an old contact about the biological weapon thing and figured out the agency might move on it. He doesn't have a good plan, Nino…"

Nino agreed with the rest of Sho's thought. "And it only makes him more dangerous, that he's unpredictable. Did you say Rambo?"

"That's what he told me to call him," Sho said tiredly. "He's Japanese, though."

They were quiet a moment. Nino's fingers weren't up to their usual dexterity, and it was so frustrating that he might've cried if it wouldn't have reduced visibility for his task.

He tried to keep his voice calm. "Are any of the other rooms down here intact? This must be the storage room, to go by all the deadly filing cabinets with sharp edges. The vault? The back office?"

"I think the vault was ransacked ages ago, or maybe the authorities got in to retrieve all the valuables, but he goes in there sometimes when he doesn't want me to see what he's doing. I haven't seen him go in the office except when he leaves and comes back. The tunnel goes through there."

In some miracle, Nino finally got the knots undone and was about to say something about exploring the room with the tunnel while Sho stayed as still as possible, considering the bomb, but just then there was a noise from the hallway. Nino turned, taking in the open door to the storage room, the vault door that he could see was standing ajar in the hall. It blocked his view of the other door he knew was there: the one to the back office with the tunnel through which, it seemed, Rambo was now coming back.

Nino turned and quickly looped the rope back around Sho's wrists. Sho hadn't moved. For all he'd said the terrorist was more irritating than scary now, he looked petrified to hear him returning.

Nino didn't blame him one bit. His only hope was that Sho stayed still and looked restrained so that the terrorist would ignore him as dealt with already. He took out his pistol and pointed it at the open door, just waiting for his angle to aim it at Rambo's head so he could force him to disable the bomb.

Despite his nerves and pressing injuries, his hands were steady. He'd been trained relentlessly and was an agent of long standing--this was his job, and he was good at it.

There was the sound of footsteps, then the vault door moved. Nino controlled his breathing and waited for his chance.

The figure that came to the door of the storage room was Ohno.

Nino blinked, pistol starting to drop automatically, but then he saw the glint of a weapon and he jerked his hands back up.

Behind Ohno, whose hands were lifting into the air, was a tall, Japanese-looking man with one hand on Ohno's shoulder and a gun to Ohno's head.

"Drop your weapon," he said, his eyes on Nino. His Japanese was unaccented, his tone ruthless.

Nino didn't hesitate. It would cost this man nothing to shoot Ohno now--he still had the detonator around his neck to ensure Nino's good behavior.

Bending slowly, Nino put Jun's pistol on the concrete and stood back up without taking his eyes from the two people framed in the open door.

"What do you want?" he asked, keeping all traces of rage from his voice. It wasn't like he didn't also have training in negotiation. This might be the negotiation where he stood to lose the most he could ever lose, but he had to believe he had the skills to find a way they could still get out of this alive.

The gun trained at the back of Ohno's head didn't move. "Kick it over."

Nino carefully kicked the pistol about halfway between his feet and Ohno's.

For a moment, no one did anything.

"See?" Ohno said at last. He met Nino's eyes with a strangely insolent expression. "And that was his only weapon."

As Nino watched, disbelieving, Ohno dropped his hands to his sides and smiled at Nino. The next moment he was shoved into the room as Rambo said, "Don't you go near that gun," but when Ohno didn't, just walked across the room, past Nino, to stand midway between Sho on his chair and Nino by the filing cabinets, the gun that had been pointed at Ohno moved to point at Nino instead.

"So it's true," the terrorist said, gloating now. "You've turned your own colleague against you, Ninomiya-san. He told me how you've kept him from the love of his life--he told me that he was willing to trade your life to save Sakurai."

Despite himself, Nino's eyes darted to Ohno, then back to the barrel of the gun. It was coming closer.

"I found him out there trying to get in. I checked him for weapons, but see, he wasn't coming to hurt me, after all--he's like me."

Nino had to look up now if he wanted to meet the terrorist's eyes. He did, because staring into the gun wasn't going to help him think, and he wanted to show he was listening. As long as they were talking, he had a chance, and from what Sho had said Rambo really liked to talk.

"He's like me," Rambo said with quiet menace. "You tried to ruin his life, just like you ruined mine. But when I kill you, they'll see. I'll be back in, Ninomiya-san, and you'll be dead."

"And Sho?" Nino asked steadily.

The terrorist shrugged. "He doesn't matter to me. Ohno-san can have him, since he made this so much easier than I even thought it'd be."

"Thank you," Ohno said, his voice going hoarse with gratitude. "If I could, Rambo-san; may I take the first shot?"

The answer was a growled, "I'll be the one to take his life. And if you think--"

Ohno interrupted him recklessly. He was dropping the humble tone and gaining in confidence, clearly trying to be a comrade instead of a supplicant. "No, I won't kill him. I want to shoot this asshole with his own gun. I want to make him hurt before you kill him."

"With his own gun?" Rambo said slowly.

"Just like he used your own bombs against you," Ohno said, his anger ramping up. "He brought that gun in here to kill you--let's kill him with it instead."

Suddenly Rambo smiled. His teeth were very white. "I like it. If you make any sudden moves, though, get any idea about betraying me…"

"I wouldn't," Ohno said. "When he's dead, I can be with Sho-kun."

Sho was suspiciously quiet, but Nino couldn't spare any attention for him right then. He was still trying to see the way for them to make it--there had to be one. There was always some way to survive. Wasn't that what Ohno had taught him in this very building, two years before?

The terrorist stepped back, keeping his gun aimed at Nino's head. He moved all the way back to the door, giving Ohno space, then nodded his new partner in toward Jun's pistol.

Ohno walked over and picked it up. As Nino watched, he cocked it, then turned and pointed it at Nino's chest.

Nino couldn't breathe. He couldn't see the way, couldn't see how he'd survive, could only see pain and death.

Ohno smirked, the look not any Nino had seen on his face before. "This is how it felt," he said softly, "to watch you with him."

He dropped the pistol down to aim--and pulled the trigger.

Nino screamed and crumpled to the ground. He heard Sho make a strangled noise, then Rambo's laugh filled his ears.

"A man after my own heart, Ohno-san."

Nino looked up, his hands trying to staunch the flow of blood. The bullet had gone straight through his thigh. The pain was excruciating, but if this was the way Nino was going to die, he wasn't going to be on the floor when it happened.

With a monumental effort of will, Nino stood back up.

Ohno was still standing in front of him, his face blank. Rambo was still at the door, laughing.

Turning away from Nino, Ohno said casually, "He's ready for you. I can't wait to watch you end it, Rambo-san," and he held out Jun's pistol invitingly.

The terrorist's eyes sharpened on it as he hesitated, and then he full-on beamed at Ohno. "I like you, Ohno-san. After this is over, let's talk--I bet I can convince my group to take us both."

He took the weapon from Ohno's hand and, despite his words, motioned Ohno away from both himself and Nino before he did anything else. Ohno went willingly, ending up back between Nino and Sho, and kept his eyes trained on Nino like the rapt audience Rambo wanted.

Rambo aimed the gun from Ohno at Nino's forehead, grinning, and he tucked his own gun back into the holster at his hip.

Facing death, Nino kept his eyes open. He didn't try to shove any of his feelings down. He felt everything, heard everything, paid attention to everything--if in the last seconds of his life there was a way forward, he'd find it. He'd meant what he'd said to Ohno before, about all of them getting out of it alive. Before, when they'd made a plan together... a plan that certainly hadn't included this.

Rambo's voice, at the end, was almost pitying. "Goodbye, Ninomiya-san."

He pulled the trigger.

In the next second, it seemed everything happened at once. As the pistol clicked--empty--Nino went for the other gun, and Ohno leaped from the side to grab for the detonator around Rambo's neck. Sho flashed by in Nino's peripheral vision, but he couldn't look--he was wrestling with Rambo for possession of the last gun in the room that had any bullets.

Then Ohno had the detonator, the chain broken from around Rambo's bleeding neck, and Nino got hold of the gun at last.

But instead of looking defeated, Rambo laughed. "Then we go together. I set the bomb to go off if the detonator didn't detect my heartbeat--enjoy your last thirty seconds of life, motherfuckers."

Too late, Nino looked for Sho. Ohno spun, mouth dropping open in horror.

Sho was nowhere in sight.

Rambo started to say something else, but Nino clubbed him viciously over the head with his own gun. The terrorist dropped to the floor like a rag doll.

Nino and Ohno moved to the door as one, Nino's wound forgotten, only to collide with the person they were looking for. The sweaty, bedraggled figure of Sho shoved them back into the room and yanked the door shut behind them.

"Go, go, go," Sho rasped frantically, and his momentum carried them back, past the crumpled body, past the chair, behind the first row of filing cabinets just as the world seemed to end in a roar of noise and air and force.

The filing cabinets toppled back onto them, knocking them all to the ground. Nino couldn't hear or see, but he could feel pain--his head, his leg, the cuts and scrapes from his slide through the building, and now something had gone dreadfully wrong with his shoulder.

None of that mattered. He groped for Sho, for Ohno, the two people he loved most in the world, and held onto whichever of them was closest, the cabinets a painful but effective cover as the building seemed to collapse anew on top of them.

The blast ended; the force against the filing cabinets ceased. The ground shook, but only from rubble shifting and falling on the floor above them--something that Nino realized he was starting to be able to hear again.

For a long time, all he could do was lie there, gripping whoever's arm he was holding, and try to breathe.

Finally there was a wan, irritated voice. Sho's voice. "Are we alive?"

Nino heard a grunt that must've been Ohno. It sounded like agreement, not some sort of dying wheeze, and from the proximity Nino was pretty sure he was the one whose arm was in Nino's grasp.

It was Nino's turn, he figured, so he said, "Seventy points."

"For what," Sho said, sounding very tired.

"Oh-chan's acting," Nino said promptly. "Out of a hundred. It'd have been seventy-five if he hadn't shot me."

"Sorry about that," Ohno said, but Sho said at once, "I think that should give him extra points, for authenticity. Otherwise you're just being spiteful."

Nino said pitifully, "I think what I'm being is crushed. Do either of you feel up to pushing these elephants off of us?"

"Sho-chan, how'd you get out of the bomb?" Ohno asked, not moving. Sho didn't move either, despite Nino's words, and Nino started to worry that none of them were able to move.

"Nino'd freed my hands. While you guys play-acted like a bunch of fools, I had plenty of time to take the vest off."

"It could've exploded," Nino said, trying not to sound accusing.

"I had to risk it. It was the only way I could help. I figured the vault would contain it enough we'd survive… I thought. I admit I didn't think about how we'd get out after that--I don't think we can get to the tunnel, if it even still exists."

"And what about you, Ohno-san?" Nino said. He was starting to feel faint again, and this time he was pretty sure it was from loss of blood. "How'd you know Jun-kun's pistol only had one bullet?"

"He's been helping me with target practice," Ohno said, already regaining his equilibrium. "Yesterday we did it together, and when I was talking to that jerk outside, trying to convince him, I was counting bullets in my head. I was pretty sure Matsumoto-san only used eleven."

"Pretty sure? And if he'd reloaded at any point since then?" Nino asked sharply. "We were about to head on a mission; what if he'd loaded it for that, you idiot?"

"Nope," Ohno said. "When I went on a mission with him that one time, he said he liked to wait to check his gear on the plane, so his hands have something to do while he waits."

"That's as big a gamble as mine," Sho chuckled. He sounded a little stronger than he had before, like he was recovering.

Nino protested, "How is that funny? How are either of those things funny?"

Sho said, "It's funny because we survived."

Belatedly, Ohno laughed, too, that helpless, hiccuping laugh that Nino loved.

"Oh yes…" Nino whispered to himself. "So hilarious you shot me. So hilarious Sho-chan decided to … to fuck around with a live bomb. That a building is on top of us, that is … definitely the most …"

"Nino?" Sho said, sounding very far away.

He was fading. But he was happy, too, because they'd survived despite everything, and he was there with his two favorite people.

"Nino, listen," Ohno said urgently.

He tried to listen. He heard rumblings--not the kind that meant the building was giving it up and falling the rest of the way onto their heads, but the kind that was heavy machinery very close by, working hard on something.

"They're digging us out," Sho said. "Nino, stay with us."

"I'm … right here," Nino complained, his voice a thread. And he was. He knew later that he'd still been conscious, even if those were the last words he was able to speak for a long time, because he remembered the moment the machinery broke through the wall opposite them.

And he remembered that moment so distinctly, even after heavy blood-loss and imminent unconsciousness, because of the person who'd stepped out of the excavator and peered down in at them from ground level in the sudden shock of full daylight.

Some idiot had given Aiba the keys to heavy machinery.

The struggle to speak so he could make a joke about this was what made Nino finally give up and pass out.

*

Nino woke up in the hospital. He was very sore but surprisingly lucid despite his aching head.

Aiba was staring down at him, looking anxious.

Grateful not to have a tube down his throat, Nino croaked, "Whoever gave you keys to that machine needs to be locked up for criminal recklessness."

"Not at all," Aiba said proudly, his face easing as he sat back in his chair. "I hotwired it."

"You hotwired an excavator. Of course you did. Why weren't you in Russia?" This wasn't something Nino cared that much about right then, but he figured if either Ohno or Sho were badly hurt, Aiba wouldn't be bragging about his skill with construction equipment.

Aiba took his hand. Nino was too tired to stop him, and actually it felt really nice. "Matsumoto-san changed his mind. He sent me to the agency to figure out what was going on. Also, he says you're suspended."

"Are they back?" Nino said, surprised, and tried to sit up. "Is everyone okay? Did the mission succeed?"

Aiba put one hand on Nino's chest and pressed him back down into bed. He did it far too easily--Nino was going to have to build up strength quickly so that Aiba couldn't have his way like this.

"Everyone's fine. They captured the terrorists alive, and the US took them… Matsumoto-san's not too pleased about that, but coming home with no casualties helped keep him from throwing staplers. And Saori-chan sparked with one of the soldiers during the mission--it was epic."

Nino grinned at the mental image. "Did she throw whoever it was over her shoulder and bring them back?"

"Just about," Aiba laughed. "She and Masuda-san are probably squabbling right now over whether he's really going to pick up and move here. I think she'll win."

"Of course she'll win," Nino said, his breathing starting to slow down as tiredness overtook him again. "You said I'm suspended?"

"You and Ohno-kun both, for two weeks. Sho-kun and Matsumoto-san are in New York, testifying about the mission and the kidnapping and everything… but don't worry, I'm here for you, Nino. Just say the word and I'll be by your side night and day."

Nino kept his heavy eyes open just a moment longer to glare at his long-time friend. "Or you could call my mom, don't you think?"

"Oh right," Aiba said sheepishly, and the way he squeezed Nino's hand as he laughed at himself was the last thing Nino felt before he was asleep again.

*

Nino was in the hospital a week. He'd been meaning to visit his mom anyway, and he got Aiba to bring him his phone so he could text Ohno and Sho, so he accepted that his body needed to recuperate and tried not to be too grumpy about it.

His mom, from long experience, avoided the questions he wasn't allowed to answer. She caught him up on all the family news, got some out of him that she would be able to pass on in turn, and made sure by the strength of her stare and her sharp tongue that he stayed in bed where he belonged.

Sho didn't respond to Nino's texts, but Nino heard from Aiba that he was fine and still in New York with Jun, so he tried not to worry. Ohno responded to Nino's texts at the oddest hours, but he responded, and soon they were talking about everything and nothing--mostly nothing. Ohno frequently replied with pictures that didn't seem to have anything to do with what Nino had said. Neither of them mentioned the kiss.

Nino was antsy about it, antsy about the whole thing. But he couldn't work to move things forward from a hospital room, especially with Sho on another continent, so he didn't try.

They'd survived, all three of them. Rambo was in custody at a different hospital--probably to be shipped to the United States with the rest when he'd recovered enough from the explosion--and soon Nino would be at work together with everyone, like always.

Everything felt different. A lot of it was good, but some of it, like the nightmares he had or the way he sometimes had the thought, out of the blue, that he'd never see Sho or Ohno again, were things he would have to work through for a while.

It was good to hang out with his mom. She knew him and loved him, and he knew her and loved her, and that was all there was to it with them. Though he knew that she knew he wasn't fully honest with her about his profession, it didn't seem to matter. And this time, seeing her, he had something to anticipate for the next time they met. Though it might not be something she'd put in the family newsletter (or maybe she would, considering her), he was looking forward to updating her on his private life the next time.

Despite the nightmares and the worries, all the good stuff that had changed inside Nino made him hope that he'd have something very interesting to say.

*

For the second week of his suspension, Nino was at home. After his mom helped him settle in, Aiba took over. That lasted for about a day before Nino booted him out.

He was tired all the time but was otherwise mending nicely. The soreness from his dislocated shoulder had already faded, and there was no long-term damage foreseen from his head injury. The gunshot wound to his leg was neat and pained him very little, and he found that even though the blood loss from that was what had nearly killed him, what bothered him the most now were all the little injuries he'd gotten from that agonizing slide from one level of wreckage to the next.

His back had been torn up so badly he'd had to have several rounds of stitches. He took to sitting in one of the chairs from the kitchen, turned backwards so that he could rest his chest against it instead of his back.

Still, all of his wounded parts were healing just fine, and he had a week of free time on his hands. He decided that although he wished Sho were there, and that he could call Ohno over to be with him without it getting immediately complicated, this time apart from everyone was a rare and precious gift.

From the Tuesday when he kicked Aiba out of the apartment for his fussing to the Sunday when Sho finally, finally got home, Nino spent at least three-quarters of his time playing video games. Almost all of the rest of it was spent sleeping, and in between he ordered takeout and texted Ohno and Sho. The latter had replied once with reassurance and the message that, as expected, he was extremely busy and tired. Nino had grilled Aiba on the details of Ohno's and Sho's injuries and knew that Sho must be overextended from an overseas trip followed by long days of testifying in whatever sort of court it was he'd been summoned to, all on top of his recent kidnapping and subsequent involvement in a bombing. The ordeal had left him with dehydration, exhaustion, minor lacerations, and a piece of shrapnel that had needed to be removed from his hip, which had then taken fifteen stitches to close.

Nino also knew, however, that there was no one who could tend an injured employee like Matsumoto Jun.

Ohno, on the other hand, required more thought. Aiba had said that Ohno was largely uninjured except for a sprained wrist and a concussion, but Nino didn't like the thought of Ohno being alone. He'd sent Aiba to check on him several times during his week in the hospital, and when he got to the point that he needed a longer break from Aiba's lovable, smothering presence, he showed Aiba one of Ohno's more abstract picture texts and claimed it was deeply worrying in order to dispatch his friend over to Ohno's place to stay with him until the suspension was up. As Aiba from that point on frequently sent Nino pictures of Ohno in all sorts of cute poses, from beaming selfies with Aiba to him hunched over a sketchbook with spectacular bedhead, Nino didn't feel guilty at all.

His gift from the universe of time that was his alone was both torture and joy. He focused on the latter. Soon enough everything would be back to normal, and it was extremely unlikely he'd have so much time to himself to devote to gaming once that happened.

It was still an unmitigated relief when Sho came home at last.

*

It happened on Sunday night, the last day of Nino's suspension, and Sho hadn't called ahead. Nino was in full grunge-mode, wallowing in his last day of freedom before he went back to work and started dealing with everything again.

The remains of several days' worth of takeout littered the living room. Nino himself was in a raggedy tiger-printed t-shirt (courtesy of one of Aiba's many zoo excursions) and sweats that he'd had for verging on two decades. He had plans to bathe before bed, but it was only eight o'clock, so when Sho came in it was a bit of a shock.

Sho had left his shoes and suitcases in the entryway and was in creased pants and a slightly-crumpled polo shirt. He looked like he was about to drop.

Nino sat very still on the couch, still clutching his game controller. He badly wanted to leap up and steal a hug from his boyfriend, who'd been gone for two weeks and apparently forgotten how to communicate long-distance. On the other hand, he didn't think the fragrance he'd greet Sho with would be particularly agreeable just then.

Sho slowly closed his eyes, then opened them blearily. He focused with an effort on Nino.

"You are the most wonderful thing I've ever seen," he sighed.

Nino perked up a bit. "Of course I am," he said, trying to sound confident. He wondered if he could sneak in a shower before they kissed. It wasn't like Sho had never seen him like this before, but he'd usually been there for all the gradual stages leading up to it, never suddenly on his return from another country after they'd both nearly died.

Inspiration struck. He said kindly, "You look tired, Sho-chan. I'll run you a bath."

He got up, scattering crumbs everywhere, and made to dart around the couch toward the bathroom. He was sure he could sneak in a little scrubbing of his own body before he let Sho know the bath was ready.

Sho, however, snagged one of Nino's wrists and pulled him in for a hug. At first Nino was still, but then, since the damage was done, relaxed and hugged Sho back. It was what he wanted, after all, and it felt so good, so safe--Sho was so tangibly there--that he practically melted into Sho's arms.

He could feel Sho's laugh more than hear it, when it came. "Nino, you smell."

Nino shifted, trying not to feel embarrassed. "I'm about to clean up."

"Let's go together," Sho said, but he didn't let go of Nino or move at all. He didn't seem to mind the state of Nino or the apartment. Nino held him a little tighter, squeezing his eyes closed and imagining that he could just keep Sho like this forever so that he'd be safe.

Nino helped Sho through his bath, since Sho was practically sleepwalking at that point. The only time Sho seemed fully present was when he saw Nino's back for the first time. The look on his face when he saw the half-healed wounds wasn't something Nino would forget easily, but then again, Nino was going to have to work through his own feelings about the jagged scar still puckered and pink on Sho's hip. Mostly, however, it was easy like it usually was with them, and soon enough they were both clean and warm and getting into bed.

In the hour or so he'd been home, Sho hadn't spoken much, and Nino didn't press him. He'd had to testify after missions before and knew how it went. Just about everything that Nino did want to talk about could wait. It was as they were settling themselves under the covers that Nino worked up the bravery to start a conversation that could affect so much of his future.

"Sho-chan," he started, eyes on Sho's exhausted face. "When we were making a plan to rescue you, I nearly gave up hope."

With effort, Sho opened his eyes. He nodded his head on his pillow.

"When I saw the bank had collapsed, I thought for sure you weren't in there after all, and I didn't think we could make it anywhere else in time… I didn't even know where else you could be."

"But I was there. You saved me." Sho's voice was husky, a sleepy rumble that made Nino want to wake him up in filthy ways, though he knew it wasn't the time. It was frustrating that Sho was finally back and it still wasn't the time for so many things Nino needed, but there was one thing that couldn't wait.

"Oh-chan was the one who kept me going. And I wasn't thinking, or maybe I was, because he gave me hope that we'd find you and I--I kissed him."

Sho, who'd let his eyes drop shut again, didn't bother opening them. "Tongue?"

Surprised, Nino huffed a little laugh. "No."

"Pity," Sho concluded, and he snuggled deeper under the covers like that was all there was to it.

Nino resolutely didn't wallow in Sho's nonchalance. He'd had a feeling Sho wouldn't be upset, but they'd never actually talked about what Sho himself felt for Ohno, or whether Nino still had permission to act on his own feelings, permission that had been given what felt like forever ago. The relief of having even just this one conversation go smoothly made Nino move forward and press his lips softly to Sho's.

It took a moment, but then Sho was responding sweetly, his full mouth familiar and warm.

A few seconds later, the lips against Nino's stilled. Nino twitched back to stare because, mid-kiss, Sho was fast asleep.

Inclined to offended amusement, Nino bit back his comment when he saw again how tired Sho looked. He reached out his hand and brushed a fingertip over one of the dark circles under Sho's eyes.

He couldn't help thinking of the last time he'd seen this beloved face: in the storage room under the ruins of the bank, facing down a terrorist. Without Sho's bravery, none of them would have made it.

But they had survived, and Sho was here in bed next to Nino where he belonged.

"Welcome home," Nino said quietly, settling down for his own rest despite the early hour, and his feeling wasn't only satisfaction but the hope that there were somehow even better things to come.

*


Part 4

Comments

[helenmaldon.livejournal.com]

WOW you did the action in this chapter so well!!!!!! SO GOOD!!!!!!!! It was really suspenseful and I was genuinely surprised by the turns the plan took!

[satoyan]

(here goes...!)

I'm glad you liked the action in this chapter! As you know, I have action-writing regrets, but I feel a little better knowing you enjoyed it. Probably the turns were surprising because I didn't know what I was doing, but I'll take it. :D :D Thank you!