By the time AJ had the kitchen and dining room straightened, he had found a kind of peace in his mind. Everything that Brian had told him made perfect sense. All he’d had to do was step back and look at it from Brian’s eyes. Xander was a part of him, and pushing him down and burying him for this long wasn’t making him go away. It was simply hiding him from sight.
Just because he had that capability in him didn’t mean that he was going to automatically turn bad. That had been his fear for so long. That if he let that part of him free then he would turn back into that little punk. But that was a stupid train of thought. He was a different person now, just like Brian had pointed out. He’d made a man out of himself, where before he had only been a boy. A child. Now he had so much more to live for in his life. The most important of all was upstairs at the moment, fully confident in his lover.
After figuring that part out, the rest of what he needed to do loomed in front of AJ. So instead of going to find Brian like he’d intended, AJ moved in to clean and search his living room and plan. There was nothing better to help a person think than to really get down and clean.
To plan the way that he needed, though, AJ did something that he hadn’t done in close to ten years. Standing in the middle of the chaos of his living room, surrounded by the mess of it all, AJ closed his eyes and reached deep inside. Then, he let go of that part of himself that he had been holding on to for so long. The instincts that living on the streets had put in him, the knowledge of gang life and how it all worked. Everything. He let it fill him. Sought it out in a way he hadn’t for so long. He actively searched his mind for memories of Ángeles de la muerte.
As he gathered up what knowledge he had, he started to mechanically sift through the room, searching for any clues and cleaning up what he came across.
The easiest, most direct route would be to contact Jeff, meet him somewhere, and find out what Ángeles de la muerte wanted. But nothing would guarantee that they would tell him the truth, or that it would end it. Most likely it would be a suicide mission. They would most likely kill him and hide his body in some river somewhere.
Logic told him that they needed an intelligence mission. It was what he would have done when he was Xander. It was what anyone in any gang would have done when trying to figure out what was going on with their rivals. They wouldn’t be able to function off of half the information. They knew the who, but they couldn’t be positive on the why, or the where, or the how. Until they could answer those important questions than anything they did would be suicide.
But that left him wondering how they would do this. If the right people were talked to, the right buttons pushed, then you could find out anything on the street. You just had to know who to talk to and how to talk to them. That left Brian out of the mix most definitely. This wasn’t the kind of life he was used to or the kinds of things he would be comfortable with.
If Brian stayed behind, though, that meant that either AJ or Rex had to stay too. They couldn’t leave him alone. AJ pondered that one for a moment as he lifted the couch back upright. Well, obviously Rex would be the one to have to stay. There was no way in hell that AJ was going to just sit around the house while someone else did all the work for him. That wasn’t how it worked. Nuh uh.
On the tail end of that thought came another one that made AJ grimace. Absently he started to organize his CD’s back into the entertainment center. Neither Rex nor Brian was going to like the idea of AJ going off on his own. More than ‘not like’, actually. More like hate. Rex probably wouldn’t allow it, even if it meant sitting on top of AJ all night long. Ironically, it was Brian’s temper that had AJ the most worried. That man was a spitfire. There was no telling what his reaction would be if he thought that AJ was going to go off on this without them, no matter what they said. Hell, the way that Brian had become lately, he’d probably knock AJ out just so he couldn’t leave!
Funny, how that thought kind of turned him on. Brian was getting so aggressive in some ways. It was, sexy.
He shook his head to clear that thought out. Clear mind. He needed a clear mind. Ok, so this was simple too. He just wouldn’t tell them. He’d gather up his gear that Rex had brought him and just have it ready in a bag, maybe in the bathroom. Then he could sneak out the window. Rex would probably be watching the halls, so there was no walking out that way. Imagine, sneaking out of his own house in the dead of night like an escaping teenager.
Never once, as he cleaned and thought, did it occur to AJ that he was thinking fully like AJ and Xander both.
He found nothing, clue or evidence wise, in his living room. So he finished straightening up in here and headed toward the upstairs. It was time to talk with his friend and his boyfriend. He found them together in a guestroom, just putting the last bit of the bed together. The room looked almost perfect, as if nothing had happened, if you didn’t notice that the nightstand was gone and one of the dresser drawers didn’t sit in right. God damn it, these assholes had broken so much of his shit. It was going to be so annoying to have to replace it.
“Looks like you guys did some good work in here.” AJ said with a smile as he propped his shoulder against the doorframe.
The two turned to look at him, smiles lighting their faces when they saw the ease that AJ stood there with. It was easy to see what decision he had come to down there. Though he didn’t know it, AJ practically radiated calmness, a peace. The two men could see that he had made peace with a part of himself that he had denied for far too long.
Brian sat down on the edge of the bed. “Figured Rex needed a comfortable place to sleep. We got your room all cleared up too, switched out the beds. I thought you might like staying in there.” He said.
“Good guess, love.” AJ conceded. He turned to look at Rex. “Where’s the bag you brought me? While we talk, I want to take a look at everything.” That took his thoughts to his gear, and a sudden thought had him freezing. “Oh, no, no.” He mumbled only seconds before he spun and shot to his bedroom. Brian and Rex were right on his heels, frantic to see what was going on.
AJ raced over to the corner of his bedroom and pushed the dresser that was there. He shoved it over until it was just enough out of the way, then dropped down to his knees. There he prodded until he found the piece of hardwood flooring that was what he wanted. He used it to leverage up a whole square of flooring right there in the corner.
It was his floor safe, something that he and each of the guys had. A floor safe was safer than a wall safe for personal items. Each member of the group had installed one somewhere in their house to hide personal documents and other things like that. But AJ had two. One in his office, and the one here in his room. This one was different. Special.
Just lifting off the wood had him cursing. He knew the answer without even having to open the safe. It was keypad activated, and he could see where the wires had been pulled out to hook up the device that would let someone break into it. “God damn those cock suckers!” He cursed as he punched in his code and opened the safe door. He had to know how much they’d taken.
His cursing grew louder when he saw it was empty inside. Furious, he slammed the lid down and replaced the flooring. Then he leapt to his feet, hands clenched.
“What’d they take, Alex?” Brian asked worriedly.
“My fucking blades. My personal ones! I got them fucking years ago. The weight on those fuckers is perfect! Perfect! Fuck, they cost a pretty fucking penny. They were custom made to suit me!”
A quirk of the eyebrow was the only sign of Brian’s surprise. “You had custom made blades stored in a safe in your house?” he said with a hint of teasing to his voice.
AJ glared at him. “Yes. They were a gift. I may not have accepted that part of myself, but some little things bled through. I have a love for blades. Sue me. You’ve seen the antique sword collection I have! But these, these were special. Personal! I usually keep them available when I’m at home but when I’m gone I lock them up so they won’t get stolen.”
“Only you.” Brian said with a shake of his head. There was definite humor in his voice. “Only you would calmly look at your torn apart house and not freak out, but pitch a fit when your knives are gone.”
“Oh, they’ll pay for this one. I’ll get them back, God damn them.”
Rex stepped forward then, setting a bag on the bed that had been tucked into the corner. “Good thing I added on to the list you gave me. I had to guess the weight on the blades I got, but I wasn’t sure what you had and I wanted to be cautious. I figured whatever you don’t use, curly over here can learn with.” He said. Unzipping the bag, he opened the top flap.
Still grumbling, AJ stepped forward to reach inside. Everything he had asked for was in there, and a few things he had forgot to ask for. God bless Rex for knowing that he’d need them. AJ didn’t hesitate to disarm himself and toss everything on the bed, and then to strip down to his boxers. He was about to start talking when Brian stepped forward and put a hand on his stomach. “What’s this?” His lover asked, lightly touching the bruise on AJ’s stomach.
Huh? AJ looked down, confused for a second. Then it clicked. Oh, yeah. “Before I snuck down to your room Jeff got a few licks in. Only cause I let him, the bastard. Hits like a fucking girl.” No need to tell them it had knocked him to the ground. Pride kept that part inside.
“What?” Brian exclaimed. His eyes lit with that blue fire. “He hit you, and you let him? Why?”
“Well, at the time I didn’t know what I know now, and I knew that if I fought back or if I tried to call out for someone than he was going to take it out on you. I figured I could take a few hits to keep you safe. Now I wish I’d decked the bastard.”
As he grabbed the first harness out of the bag, AJ continued to grumble. This was a chest harness, meant to hold a few little tricks. He put it on and adjusted the straps to comfort. Rex automatically came around to adjust the back strap for him. Not too tight, but nowhere near loose. They all had to fit like a second skin.
Next he added the harnesses for his thighs and for his forearms, tossing aside the ones he’d been wearing before. At the same time that he did these, he started to talk, trying to reason through everything. “We’ve got to do all of this carefully. The last thing we need is to make this war bigger than it already is. I’ve been trying to figure out what they want, but I’m not quite sure on exactly what. Me, yeah. But what do they want from me? To kill me? Money? There’s got to be a motive. We figure that out, we got a better chance of figuring out what to do.”
“After all these years, they might have a fine rage built up.” Rex pointed out. He moved back to the bag and was pulling out all different kinds of knives, laying them out for AJ’s inspection. “They might want both. To take your money and end up killing you afterward. But I think your celebrity status is on your side. They’ll think twice about killing you. Between the story coming out about your past and the gang stuff, if you end up missing or dead the way they usually kill, suspect will immediately go to gangs, and it won’t take long for the connection to be made to them.”
Brian sat down on a clear spot on the bed. “Would they just want money then? I know it’s a poor way to do it, but might we be able to pay them to at least stall for time until we figure out something? I’m not stupid enough to think that one payment would be enough. They’d think they could keep coming back. But it would give us time.”
For a moment AJ stared at Brian in surprise. “For someone who isn’t from this life, you sure do grasp some of it pretty well.” He complimented him. On impulse he leaned in and gave Brian a hard kiss. “That’s a good plan to think of. But first, we need to start contact between us. On that note, I was thinking that we should invite Jeff here.”
That brought up the expected uproar. Neither of the two liked his idea very much. AJ waited out their ranting and their yelling, totally unconcerned by it. He just went through the knives, testing each one’s weight and feel, keeping the ones he wanted and putting the others in a pile.
When they finally wound down, he didn’t even bother looking up as he spoke. “Look, he already knows where I live. Hell, he probably knows that we know the truth about him by now, or at least suspect it. Most likely he’s going to be in the area before tomorrow anyways. Why not invite him over to hear what he has to say? I’ll have you two with me as witnesses for anything.” He looked up, a cocky grin on his face. “When you fight an enemy, always pick your own turf and make your own rules. Don’t let them pick it for you. Rule to survival, gentlemen.”
He could see that, when he put it like that, they didn’t have an argument. Smug, he started to fit the knives he’d selected into his braces. “It really is a sound plan, admit it. And, if we have Rex make it look like he left, and he uses his sneaky talents to sneak back in, we’ll have a hidden ally. Jeff won’t be able to resist being cocky if it’s just me and you, Bri. He’ll probably let more slip, thinking we won’t be able to do anything about it.” When AJ caught Brian’s eye, he saw his own grin reflected on Brian’s face. “Because, naturally, we’re going to play distressed and panicked, but valiantly trying to cover it up. We’ll let him think we’re scared. Good to have an edge like that.”
“I like the way you think, Age.”
“Thank you, love.”
A little more content now that he had a plan, as well as the plan that they knew nothing about, AJ walked over to his mirror which had managed to survive the mess. He checked himself over, looking to make sure that everything was situated right. It had been a while since he’d geared up like this. Since he’d packed this much on him.
There were two blades in each brace on his forearms. The ones on his thighs each held two thin, long daggers. His ankle holster held his gun while the other held a sheathed hunting knife. The chest harness held the most. On the front it held a total of six throwing knives, three for each side, each hand. On the back it had six more, easily accessible. That gave him a total of eighteen weapons on his person. He would add more to his clothes.
Brian came up to stand beside him. “If I didn’t know from the way you two talk that this was necessary, I would almost think it’s excessive.” He said softly. Then a smile lit his face. “As is, you look like you belong in some cheesy assassin movie.”
“Sweet.”
Very carefully AJ took all the harnesses off, leaving the weapons inside of them, and set them gently on his dresser. He looked out the window and saw that, somewhere along the way it had become dark out there. “Why don’t we get some rest, guys?” he suggested casually. “It’s been a hell day. I think we’re all ready for some rest.”
“I’ll lock the place up, do a quick check around.” Rex offered. The twinkle in his eye said he was also trying to afford them some privacy before he ended up in the bedroom down the hall. “You guys have a good night.”
The instant Rex was out the door, Brian’s hands slid around AJ’s waist. They didn’t speak with words, but the hand that dipped inside of AJ’s boxers spoke volumes. Oh yeah, he was going to have a hell of a good night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hours later, when their loving was done and Brian had long since fallen asleep, AJ lay awake listening to the sounds of the house. He had heard Rex when he came in and had heard him settling in to his room. Brian had already been asleep by then. Still AJ waited, his ear cocked to listen for any sound. Only when everything had been quite for almost an hour and a half did he finally move from the bed.
On silent feet he moved, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. He grabbed his harnesses off the dresser, sliding them on even as he moved toward the closet. He listened carefully to the sounds of the house before sifting through his clothes. He’d always had good night vision. That was how he’d got away with wearing sunglasses for so long and still being able to see out of them, even in semi darkened rooms.
It didn’t take him long to find the clothes he wanted. Just a simple pair of old, dark blue jeans. Loose enough to hide his weapons but comfortable enough and tight enough that they’d stay on if he had to run or hop a fence or climb anything. He pulled on a black wife beater, adding his beat up old leather jacket to it. To the casual eye he’d probably look like any other punk on the street.
After a moments debate he sighed and sifted until he found an old suit he never wore. Inside the inner pocket he found what he wanted. A bandana that had used to be way too big for his head, emblazoned with the python symbol. He tied it on, letting the ties dangle down his neck, and then put a plain black skull cap over it.
He slid on socks, then his ankle harnesses, and finally his combat boots. Inside his leather jacket he zipped in his permit, in case he fucked up and a cop stopped him. That way he wouldn’t get in legal trouble for all he was packing. Not that he’d get caught. But he wanted to cover his ass.
Last but not least he pulled on the fingerless leather gloves he liked. He wore them out and about as AJ, so they weren’t really anything special. But they would make better grip for his hands, and they laced up his arms under his jacket, almost all the way to his elbow, effectively covering the knives he hid there.
Ready to go, AJ carefully listened one last time to the sounds in his house. Then he walked over to the bed and bent to kiss Brian’s forehead. His lover was going to be furious with him if he found out about this. Which he would, when AJ told him about it in the morning. He wasn’t going to permanently keep this from Brian. Just long enough for him to get done what needed to be done.
One look at Brian’s sleeping face was enough to tell AJ that this was the right choice. He would do anything, anything, to protect that man sleeping there.
Silent as the night, AJ moved to his bedroom window and opened it. One last look behind him and then he was out the window, bracing on the outside of the windowsill so that he could silently shut the window. Once that was done he managed to turn himself around. Not far away was a thick branch of a tree. After one deep breath he flung himself over, catching on to it at the last second.
From there it was easy to shimmy down. He got out the gate using his code, shutting it behind him. Then he set off into the night. First, he’d find a cab, catch a ride downtown. Then, well, he’d see what he could see.