"Bel. Bel. Open your eyes."
"You have to go find Nina."
Bel has been saying the same thing, over and over since Kam half-dragged, half-carried him into the empty warehouse. Kam has no idea how clean this place actually is; but it's dry, and it's empty, and that's what counts for now.
They drove until it was dark, and would have kept going if Bel hadn't started to slump in his seat. When Kam glanced at him, and saw the color of Bel's face, he pulled over.
"You gonna tell me how bad it is?"
"No..." Bel's voice was hoarse with pain. "Don't stop...just drive.'
"Bel--"
"No hospitals, Kam."
"That's a given." It's damn stupid, but it's a given. "But--"
"Kam. Just drive."
It started to rain. Kam drove until he saw a side road, and then followed that side road to an empty warehouse. He parked the car behind it.
"You think up a good lie to tell me?" Kam is only half-serious.
Bel lifts his head with an effort. "Not funny, Kam."
His head is lolling on his shoulders and his face is colorless, slick with sweat. His eyes--those beautiful innocent baby brown puppy eyes--keep shifting in and out of focus. Kam lets go of him long enough to close the car door and Bel sways, barely catching himself on the side of the car. His feet don't seem to want to work properly.
"Lean on me." Kam didn't need to say the words, but talking to the kid made him feel better. If he was talking, he could drown out the shallow breath coming from those pale lips, and he didn't have to think about the blood that was staining both his clothes and Bel's.
So much blood.
So damn much blood.
Not just from the slash in Bel's forearm, but from a perfectly round hole high up on Bel's left shoulder.
When Kam had heard that pop-pop-pop, and Bel had said he was fine, Kam believed him. Believed him until they were in the car and Bel had started to droop, setting off alarm bells inside Kam's head.
"You said he missed." Kam fought to keep his tone light, unconcerned, and his body relaxed. The only thing that gave him away were his knuckles, white because he was gripping Bel so tightly.
"I thought he did." Bel's voice was equally light, but the words slurred in a way that Kam didn't like.
Because Bel's attacker hadn't missed.
Bel had lied to him.
Shit.
Just...shit.
"Let me help you take your jacket off." Kam leans Bel against the interior wall of the warehouse, removing the blood soaked clothing as gently as possible.
One of Bel's eyes is swelling shut, and the cut on his eyebrow is streaming, leaving a macabre painting down one side of his face. He doesn't look like a feisty little puppy anymore. Now he looks like an abandoned stray.
"My dad was a spy," Kam confesses so he can think about something else. Something other than the dark, viscous substance covering Bel's jacket. "That's what Silo and Talay told me today."
"Oh yeah?" Bel would probably be more surprised if he was less of a bloody mess. "That makes sense, I guess."
Bel's knees buckle and he starts to slide down the wall. Kam's hands tighten instinctively on Bel's shoulders. Not tightly enough though, because Bel continues to slide, almost knocking the two of them over.
