This Delicate Thing We've Made

Chapter Two: Promises

Time is a broken glass that splinters against the wall.
But the pictures coming back now baby,
And I wanna take it all.
Don’t go making all these promises you know you cannot keep.
Then time will be the thief and
Your fallen king will end up alone……..

“Three hours! The brat’s three hours late for the stupid ‘anniversary’ date that I didn’t even feel like celebrating, yet I’m here and he isn’t. Goddamn twat.”

Brian Kinney was pissed, but he had a good reason. His ‘partner’ of three years, partner being the only word that Brian was willing to use in public to describe their relationship, was almost three hours late for a date that he had set up to celebrate their anniversary. Brian would most likely have been fine if this was an actual anniversary, like their commitment ceremony the year before or the anniversary of when they first fucked, but the brat had decided that they needed to celebrate the first time that Justin knew Brian loved him. The blond swore that he knew when Brian stood up to Justin’s dad and took him in, but Brian had different thoughts. He knew the moment when he fell in love with the blond, though he would never admit it. It was the night that Brian had told Justin that he was just a fuck, nothing more. Watching the blond drive away was one of the hardest things Brian had ever done, and for a moment was even tempted to go after him. Of course, the old Brian Kinney would never have done such a thing, he had a reputation to uphold, but times had changed. Brian still tricked, though not as often and only when Justin was away on business, selling his art or meeting with his agent. The tricks were never enough though, and it was almost guaranteed that, when the blond went away for more than three days, the pair wouldn’t be seen for at least 24 hours after he got back. Oh, how the times had changed.

“What is our resident superhero doing here without his faithful sidekick? Did something go amiss back at the bat cave?”

Forcing Brian out of his memories was the distinctive voice of the one and only Emmett Honeycutt, Queen of Liberty Avenue. Even though his personality was still as fabulous as it ever was, Emmett had toned down just a tad ever since he and Drew had gotten back together. In Emmett’s opinion, a ‘trophy wife’ had to act the part.

“Don’t you guys get tired of the superhero jokes? I mean, it was only three years ago, I know, but I figured that someone else would have become the center of attention, but I guess with my charming good looks and irresistible personality, you’ve proven me wrong once again.”

The superhero jokes had started after Ben and Michael’s annual Halloween party, where Brian had been coerced by Justin into dressing up as Batman and Robin. Christian Bale couldn’t measure up to Brian in a bat suit, as Justin proved over and over again before, during, and after the party. However, the gang had become almost obsessed with making Dynamic Duo jokes, and it seemed to be their favorite pastime. Well, whatever made them happy, he guessed?

Trailing right behind Em was the rest of the gang, still together after all the bullshit. Ted and Blake were surprisingly still together, though Ted still had his relapses every now and again, but he knew he had all of them to fall back on, and Blake was probably the biggest help of all. The man knew when to push and when to back off, and when to let Ted go off on his own and when he needed to stay with him. The two men were perfect for each other.

Surprisingly, Hunter had become one of the group, after he had grown up and gotten over his crush on Brian. The kid had graduated high school, and was getting ready for college in the fall, finally deciding to go to University of Philadelphia, so that he could be far away enough that there would be no unexpected visits, but close enough to keep his “parents’” minds at ease. Even though the kid pretended he was straight, Brian had never seen a straight man enjoy Liberty Avenue as much as Hunter did.

Speaking of his “parents”, Michael and Ben had actually come out tonight, most likely after falling under the blue-eyed, blond haired man’s spell. Christ that kid could convince the most stubborn man to do whatever the fuck he wanted, just by flashing them a smile. It was surprising to see the professor out, much less at Babylon, after the health scare a few months back. Ben’s viral load had risen dramatically and his immune system had taken the hit badly, forcing Ben into the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia. It was touch and go for a week or so, but the man had pulled through. Now, his numbers were almost back to normal, for him at least, but Mikey had been so scared of losing Ben that he had gone into full mother hen mode, barely letting the professor out of his site at any time, and if Ben did go out alone, the phone was guaranteed to ring at least 15 times within a half-hour. Mikey hadn’t changed much in the past few years, still comic book crazy as he ever was, but he didn’t go running to Brian after every little fight, just like Brian didn’t use Mikey as a crutch anymore. Both men had grown up a lot in a few short years.

“Hey Bri, where’s the other half of the Dynamic Duo?”

“Hey Ted, where’s the unemployment office, cause one more superhero joke and that’s where you’ll be come Monday morning.”

“Touchy touchy, Mr. Kinney. What crawled up your ass, or I should say, what hasn’t?”

“Yeah, where’s Justin at? Wasn’t he supposed to be here, like, three hours ago? I mean, I know he can easily beat the ladies at hogging the bathroom to get ready, but even this is a little extreme, don’t ya think?”

“Maybe the bat signal went off and he had to dash off to save some poor kitten in a tree.”

“Yeah, Michael, but wouldn’t the Dark Knight have been summoned as well? Unless, Robin is finally leaving the nest?”

“Well in The New Adventures of Batman, Issue 47, Robin leaves Batman to become Nightwing and becomes a superhero of his own. Batman then has to find a replacement Robin but everyone can tell that he….”

“Alright Boy Wonder, save the comic book facts for the kids at your store.”

As the conversation went on, Brian started to look angry, but he was really becoming more and more worried and concerned about Justin and his current whereabouts. The pair had set up a system a few years ago, after Justin had come back from New York, that, unless the men knew exactly where the other would be, they would call each other every three hours to check in. It may have been a little obsessive, but it kept the demons at bay, and their thoughts from becoming too violent. It had been almost four hours since Justin had last called him, and, even though his phone might have died, the blond would have found a way to call, no matter what. Concern winning out over getting drunk and blowing it off, Brian made his move to get the fuck out of their.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I personally have better things to do then take part in this useless conversation about whatever the fuck you guys are talking about. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go twat hunting.”

Exiting the club, Brian quickly scanned the crowd for a glimpse of the blond but he had no such luck. Checking his phone for missed calls and finding none, he decided to try Justin’s cell phone one more time. When it went straight to voicemail, Brian knew something was up. The only time Sunshine’s phone got turned off was when the pair had no intention of leaving the loft for an extended period of time. Racking his brain for possible Justin locations, he quickly ruled out the loft, the diner, Deb’s house, and, of course, Babylon. Mel and Lindsay’s place was a possibility; since the blond had been helping the munchers redecorate their new house after the family had come back to Pittsburg. The girls had told everyone that the reason that they came back was because Proposition 14 hadn’t passed and had no possibility of coming back, but Brian had gotten the real reason from Lindsay. Toronto was nice, but there was no place like home, and the two women had wanted to move back a week after arriving. Lindsay said that even Mel had missed Brian and his snarky attitude, which meant, in Brian’s mind, that the apocalypse was just around the corner. There was just something about the Pitts, Brian thought, because everyone always found their way back.

Just as he was about to press the speed dial, a strange feeling came over Brian that told him to turn around. At the end of the street, Brian saw a blond haired kid stumble into the street, using the wall for support. The same feeling told him that he couldn’t walk away from this kid, but as Brian made his way across the traffic-laden road, he swore revenge on Sunshine if this turned out badly.

The closer he got to the kid, Brian could see the numerous injuries all over the kid’s body, the blood that seemed to be coming from everywhere, and the still bleeding wound on his left leg that would need stitches, if not more. A few feet away, Brian saw a man approach the kid and tap him on the shoulder, probably to ask if he was alright. As the kid’s eyes finally became visible, a wave of terror and fear swept through him as he realized that the kid in the alley was Justin.

Sprinting towards the blond, Brian’s mind flashed back to the night that he first met Justin, under the streetlamp that was surrounded by fog.

“’So, where you headed?’

‘No place special.’

‘I can change that.’”

Putting on an extra burst of speed and shouting Justin’s name, Brian caught the blond just as his head was about to hit the pavement. Cradling the man in his arms, Brian yelled at the man who had tapped Justin on the shoulder to call for an ambulance as Brian ended the call with Lindsay that he had unconsciously dialed a few minutes ago. Looking into the unconscious man’s face, Brian wiped some of the blood away before he leaned in and gave Justin a kiss.

“What the fuck happened, Sunshine?”