The Magpie's Death

Found (2)

With Jack still pressed against his chest, he reached into his pocket to grab his phone and dialed.

"Squirrel. Change my picture on everything. Brown-haired, brown-eyed, average-looking anyone."

"What?" The delicate voice sounded a little groggy on the other end. "What happened?"

"Rising Suns scouts tracked me here." It was urgent, but he wasn't particularly worried. Not about those two, anyway. "They have a name but no face. You have maybe ten minutes before they find something."

"Shit. Fine. It won't take more than five."

There was a click and the call ended. Stuffing his phone back into his pocket, he heard a muffled sniff at his shoulder and quickly lifted Jack's head to look. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and his face scrunched, trying to hold back the flood.

Sam panicked, eyes darting around as if there was something that could help him with this.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his hands taking a firm grasp of Jack's jaw and neck. "Why are you crying?"

What is there to cry about?

Jack punched him hard in the shoulder and took a deep breath to calm himself. "I thought they were gonna find you!"

Bringing him into his chest, he rubbed Jack's back the way he did for Ellie when she was afraid. It was the only way he knew to comfort someone.

"Those men can't do anything to me," he promised. "Maybe it was a good thing. They didn't have any real leads and I made my presence obvious when I went back. Hopefully this will keep them looking in that direction."

He wished that was true. It would start that way and it might stay that way for some time. Squirrel was talented. But now they had a starting point and the Suns would eventually figure it out. Whatever he told himself, he had too much of a presence in this town. It was only a matter of time before they found him.

Jack's arms were back around his waist and Sam knew he couldn't tell him that. If Jack could accept him as a person, after everything he'd heard, Sam could take care of the rest. Or the Magpie could. He was such a hypocrite.

Before Jack could reply, footsteps came hurrying into the kitchen.

"Did you hear that?!" Jade cried out, her voice shaking with a mix of fear and excitement. "God, that was so scary! Those men..." Seeing the two in their tight embrace, she trailed off, then let out a small gasp. "Wait, is this...? You? And my brother?"

Sam only shrugged and put a finger to his lips, motioning for her to stop talking and leave. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate what she'd done for him, but this moment was too important for her to interrupt.

"Thank you," he added quietly as she turned. She only waved a hand and headed back to the desk.

After a minute or two, Jack took a few breaths and detached himself, wiping his face with a sleeve. He should have looked awful, with bloodshot eyes and snot dripping from the corner of his nose, but Sam found even this version of him attractive.

"Are you okay now?" he asked.

Jack nodded, wiping at his face again to remove the remnants of his breakdown. Sam didn't move his hands from his shoulders. There was awkward silence, their previous conversation interrupted by the very thing that worried him. He had already made his decision, but Jack might be having second thoughts.

"So, now that you've heard it..." He paused to swallow. Had he ever been this nervous before? "Maybe you want to change your mind?"

"What?" Wet eyes looked up at him in confusion.