reach for you with my hands tied

"Vegas, can you please turn around? I want to see you."

Vegas hears Pete, he wants to turn around, but his body is moving slower than he wants. But then he heard the first shot. A blistering white pain took over his body, then two more shots were fired right after the other with even more pain to follow.

Everything was moving very slowly, yet very fast. His mind didn't know what to process, his body started to give out on him, falling to the ground. Vegas started to feel as if he was losing all of his strength. He didn't know what was happening around him, his ears were ringing, his vision was getting darker. He felt cold, yet the bullet holes in his back were warm with all the blood that was pooling beneath him.

"Vegas! Vegas!" His hearing was very muffled through the ringing in his ears, he could only understand half of what was being said, he tried to open his eyes, but his entire body felt heavy, unwilling to move on its own. The only movement Vegas could feel was someone shaking his body, as if trying to get him to wake up.

There's only one person Vegas knew it would be, it was just the two of them, no one there to interrupt. No one else was there to shoot him.

Pete. His Pete.

The one who stopped Vegas from shooting himself, confessing that he missed his owner, how badly he needed to be fed.

Vegas assumed that the first time Pete shot at him that night was to only protect him from the other guards of the Main Family from shooting him, but maybe this was Pete's plan all along.

Was that the reason why Pete wanted him to turn around? To get a better aim at his chest? Did he get too impatient and shoot at his back instead?

He was starting to think that maybe, there was the slightest chance that he and Pete were going to be able to walk out of there together, but it looked like Pete had other plans and at the end of the day, Pete's loyalty lies with the Main Family, and not with him.

Vegas can't find himself to be mad at Pete though. He deserved it.

He had tortured Pete, abused him mentally, physically, emotionally. Humiliated him, dehumanized him. Doesn't matter that Vegas loves Pete, when he realized his feelings for Pete it still didn't stop Vegas from hurting him. Nothing can take back what he has done to him. What's done is done.

He was losing consciousness, nearing his death, but there was only one thought going through his head.

At least it was Pete.

***

Vegas goes in and out of consciousness, unaware of where he is, what is going on around him, how much time has passed, if he is dead or alive. The only thing that has been constant was the pain he was in. It was like a never ending cycle of waking up to bright lights in his eyes, hearing familiar voices around him, but not quite catching what was being said, and then back to an unconscious state.

This time though, Vegas' eyes were finally not blinded by bright lights and were able to come into focus. His eyes scanned what they could see with the position Vegas was in, and he could tell that he was in a hospital, and the events of that night came right back into Vegas' memory.

He attacked the Main Family, his uncle is alive, and his father is dead.

Pete shot him.

"Pe-" Vegas wanted to call out for Pete, but his words felt trapped in his mouth. His throat felt as if it was on fire.

"Vegas?" Vegas felt some sort of relief run through him at the sound of his brother's voice. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Macau moving towards him cautiously, as if he was double checking whether or not it was actually his brother he was hearing and not just the silence playing a trick on him, but once he saw that it was in fact his brother that spoke, he seemed more at ease. "You're not going to fall back asleep on me this time, right?" Macau jokingly said, but Vegas could tell that his brother was also being somewhat serious.