Yin and Yang [A Superhero AU] - Book Three

Chapter Thirty-Two - One Last Time

A/N: Every day, I stray further from the light of God.  I am a dirty sinner. 

(At this point, I hope you can recognize that if I have some stupid author's note at the beginning, it means I wrote a thing and babies shouldn't read this chapter.)  Anyway...

Dan heads home for the night after promising to come back as soon as possible, leaving Phil in his empty apartment and empty bed for the evening. He sleeps restlessly, getting up every couple of hours to get a glass of water or to simply wander the house. At one point, the sun is just beginning to rise over the wall around San Francisco and Phil sits by his window, watching in silence. If the wall was stage one, and the CEOs were stage two, what's stage three? Stage two was a week ago. When will the villains strike again? He finds himself wishing that both he and Dan had no part in this.

He heads to work early and spends his day healing injured people and trying to break up fights. Key word: trying. Mark, Felix, and Ken are the best at handling fights. Phil just isn't aggressive enough, according to Matthias. The Brit agrees and sticks with playing doctor.

Phil gets home surprisingly early and crashes on the couch, letting his eyes fall shut. His very bones ache and he has this anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach that won't go away, so he tries to ignore it. He lies on his back and rests his arm across his closed eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly. It calms him a bit, and he figures that if he stays like that and lies very still, he could potentially fall asleep. Then, the door of his flat clicks open and he's on his feet, heading for the entrance. A smile finds its way easily onto his face when he sees Dan there, kicking off his shoes and setting them aside. He glances up and smiles faintly when he sees Phil there, although a deep kind of nervousness resides in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Phil asks, his head cocked to the side ever so slightly. That smile isn't the smile of a Dan that's okay. Something must have gone wrong. More bruises? Scars?

Dan watches him for a moment longer before straightening up and pulling him in, his fingers tightening on the collar of Phil's shirt as he kisses him, so deep that the hero can almost feel the anxiety on his lips. Phil's eyebrows furrow more and Dan only pulls him closer, breathing him in like he needs him to survive.

"Dan, what's wrong?" Phil asks, breaking away and cupping Dan's face in his hands. The villain meets his eyes and lets his thumbs ghost over the hero's ears, the shaking in his fingers obvious against Phil's skin.

"I've got this horrible feeling in my gut, like something's going to go wrong," Dan whispers, touching his forehead to Phil's. "I can't explain it."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Phil replies, although his tone betrays the cold sense of fear stewing in his gut. The little twinges of anxiety he felt earlier grow, and he tries desperately to shove those feelings away.

"But what if it isn't?" Dan touches his lips to Phil's once again. "I need to spend tonight with you just in case I never get to again."

"Don't talk like that."

"Phil..."

"I don't want to think about you being gone forever."

Dan sighs heavily and wraps his arms around Phil's neck, locking their lips together once again. The villain murmurs an apology into Phil's mouth, which is immediately swallowed up as the hero wraps his arms around his waist. The two move backwards clumsily and only stop when Dan's back hits the wall, their lips only parting for moments as they attempt to catch their breath. Phil continues his loving attack, lips locking onto Dan's neck and making the villain gasp. The hero's fingers trail beneath Dan's shirt as he sucks a hickey into his neck, turning the younger Brit into a panting mess.

"Phil, I'm sorry—" Dan begins, but Phil shakes his head and lifts his eyes to the villain's.

"You don't have anything to apologize for."

Dan watches him for a moment, nervousness still haunting those beautiful brown eyes, before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Phil's jaw. The hero runs his hands down Dan's sides and squeezes his hips, leading him to the bedroom with less-than-perfect coordination. The villain holds onto Phil like his life depends on it, a tear running down his cheek. The hero sits Dan on the bed and wipes the moisture away with his thumb, blue eyes burning into his very soul.

"What do you need, Dan? What can I do to help you?" he asks.

"I need you to love me," Dan whispers back, cupping Phil's face in his hands. His voice breaks and he shuts his eyes for a moment. "Please. I'm scared."

Phil leans forward and kisses him until they're both short of breath, his hands wandering all over Dan's torso beneath his shirt. His skin is warm to the touch, and Phil has to make a conscious effort to pull his hands away. He hooks his fingers into Dan's belt loops and tugs on them lightly, his breath intermingling with the villain's.

"Off. I want these off," he murmurs.

Dan nods, his face flushed, and pushes Phil onto the bed before shimmying his pants off, followed by his shirt. Phil pulls his own shirt and pants off, and before he has a moment to think Dan's lips are on his again. When they part for breath, Phil looks into Dan's eyes and brushes his thumb down his jaw.

"Are you sure you're okay, Dan?"

The villain meets his gaze and bites his bottom lip, anxiety still lingering in deep brown eyes. "Phil, I know I'm not okay. I'm scared out of my mind. That doesn't change the fact that I love you more than life itself and that right now, I want you so badly I can't stand it."

Phil sits silently for a moment, words failing him, before he finally says the only response he can think of. "I love you so much."

Dan pulls him into another kiss, and Phil does his best to give the villain every ounce of love he can muster. He loves him until tears are streaming down Dan's cheeks, anxiety and tension leaving him in waves. Dan loves him back with an equal amount of passion, and Phil finds himself so overwhelmed with emotion that he has to bury his face in the villain's neck.  They lie without speaking for a moment, their rapid breathing the only sound in the room, before Phil manages to say something.

"I love you," he whispers, his voice breaking halfway through.

"I love you too," Dan whispers back. "No matter what happens, I'll never stop loving you."

"Dan..."

The villain meets his eyes and Phil kisses him gently, stopping himself before they get too worked up again. Dan tucks himself against Phil's chest and closes his eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Thank you," he murmurs.

"I promise you, it was no trouble at all," Phil replies with a grin of his own.

Dan huffs a quiet laugh against his neck and wraps an arm around Phil's waist, falling asleep in moments. The hero holds him close, satisfied through and through, and lets himself drift off as well.