Elliot & Reno

I wasn't sure what the protocol was when you were being dragged through the desert by what were probably members of a cartel. But trying to ask them not to be so rough as you stumbled through the dark probably wasn't allowed. Still, he'd been dragging me for almost twenty minutes, and it didn't look like we were getting any closer for me to have a moment to catch my breath.

"Can we slow down for a minute?" I asked as another couple of forced steps almost sent me reeling to the ground.

"Aww, poor thing," Keith said beside me, chuckling as he continued to pull me along. "A shame we couldn't have taken one of the horses for you. Then you could prance your butt back to the camp."

"Coyote didn't deserve that," I shot back at him. "He was just trying to protect part of his herd."

"Well, that's what happens when you try to be a hero," Keith chuckled, and I hated him for it. Everything about the situation seemed to be a big joke to him. "Probably why Eddy wants your little boy toy to stay behind with him. He seems like he's the type to play the hero."

Okay, I didn't like how he'd referred to Reno, but I didn't want to focus on that for the moment. "Why? Didn't want him hurting you?"

Keith gave a good laugh at that. "Yeah, that's not why."

"Then why?"

"You're still talking. Always talking."

"I've been told I do a lot of that."

"And they're right. Surprised no one in prison tried to make you use that mouth for something else."

"I guess it never crossed their minds."

"Their loss."

I only had a moment to register what he'd just said before I felt myself spun around and shoved hard into one of the rock walls. Thankfully, I managed not to bounce my head off it, but the air was still knocked from my lungs. Keith stood before me, almost exactly my height, and with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Wha…" I managed to gasp as I was held tight against the rough rock.

"See, I was the one who spotted you two first, before anyone else," he said, cocking his head. "Told Eddy all about you two…well, not all about you."

"What?" I asked, fear spiking through my system like a painful drug.

"I didn't mention how you two got all cozy on that rock. So sweet, hugging him while you watched the fire and talked," Keith cooed, reaching behind him and pulling out a blade as long as his hand, letting it catch the moonlight. "And you boys didn't air that tent out. If you think I couldn't smell what you two did before we came upon you, then you don't know a damn thing."

My eyes followed the blade as it moved through the darkness, waving back and forth. I might have been trying to exaggerate how freaked out I was earlier, but I was feeling real terror creep into my throat. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that I've been stuck with these assholes for weeks and ain't had a piece of ass in so long. Thought I might find a way to have some fun with Ol' Red up there, but honestly, you're both damn fine," he said, shoving my arms above my head, my wrists cracking with agony as they slammed into the ridge at the top of the rock.

"Aw fuck," I groaned. It was my worst nightmare while in prison. There had been a few passes thrown my way, but I always made sure everyone knew I wasn't interested. And then I'd gone out of my way to make sure I was never caught by myself by guys who were known to help themselves when they pleased. Now, I found myself staring down the barrel of that particular horror. "Don't."

"Aww, don't worry," he crooned at me. "If Ol' Red hasn't blown you out, it won't take me long. Just want to get mine, and it's been weeks, so…behave."

The last word was punctuated by the cold, biting press of the blade against my neck. It wasn't enough to draw blood, not yet anyway, but the message was obvious all the same. I could only stand there as he leaned in, stealing a kiss from me in the most wretched way possible. My fingers flexed, wrapping around something that fit between my palms, wiggling as my arms shook.

Oh…bad idea, bad, bad, bad idea when this sadist had a knife to my neck. But…fuck it, I was probably going to end up dead if I just accepted everything that was planned for me. At least if I failed this one bad idea, then I'd probably go quick.

I clamped my teeth over his bottom lip, making him hiss in pain. A slice of fire went along my throat, followed by warmth that trickled down as he jerked toward me then back. His mouth curled into a sneer as blood ran from his broken lip, but my grip tightened around the rock, and with a heavy grunt, I slid it forward and brought it down.

I remembered with sickening clarity the sound of the gun slamming into the elderly clerk"s head. The jarring sound of metal brutally meeting flesh and bone still occasionally popped up in my dreams, never entirely leaving me free of the guilt. That was nothing compared to the sound of that rock coming down on Keith's head. I felt something give as rock met skull, and a wet noise dampened the crunch, making my stomach lurch.

Keith stumbled back, his mouth moving without making a sound…at first. Blood trickled down his face, into his brow, and dripped down onto his chin. A wet noise, somewhere between a snarl and a groan, bubbled up in a sickeningly thick way. The moonlight was too strong, and I could see the dent on Keith's head as he swayed on the spot.

For one horrifying moment, his dazed eyes managed to swivel wetly in their sockets, lock onto mine, and recognize me. Hate and fury I had never seen in another person's eyes boiled in his gaze, and he took a stumbling step forward, knife coming up.

"Gug," he choked, and the next noise was the clatter of the knife dropping to the ground.

"No," I whispered, holding my hands out to ward him off. Deep down, I knew there was nothing left capable of hurting me. I'd hit him too hard, and…oh God, there was a huge dent in the top of his head. But even still, I wanted desperately to push him away, to make sure he couldn't put his hands on me.

But he did. Just as his knees gave out, his fingers found my shirt and gripped with the strength of the desperate. I wanted to shriek, but all I could manage was a rasping whimper as I pushed myself as far back against the wall as I could manage. He was no longer staring directly at me. His head was lolling back and forth between watery gasps for air.

Keith's grip tightened as he pitched backward, and I felt rather than heard my shirt tear as he collapsed. I stood there, staring at his blood-smeared face, the moonlight making the crimson utterly black. His lips and fingers twitched spasmodically for several seconds, his legs kicking. A choking sound bubbled up out of his chest as his fingers splayed out before he finally went completely still.

I didn't know how long I stood there, staring at his unmoving body with what felt like everything in my chest locked in my throat. At some point, my chest loosened enough that a whine squeezed through my lips as I stared down at him. My eyes drifted to my hands, still clenched around the rock. To my horror, I could see the bottom was wet and dripping. Even worse, there was a chunk of what I hoped was dirt stuck to the bottom but I didn't examine it, throwing it away from me with a whimper.

"Fuck," I moaned, putting my hands to my face and squeezing. My nails bit into my skin, and I welcomed the pain. My face was wet, and I wiped furiously at it with the back of my hand only to realize it was tears. "Wait…what?"

I stared at my hands, spreading them apart and realizing they were free. I had no idea where it had gone, but the zip tie was no longer around my wrists. Vaguely, I remembered joking around months ago with Dom, who had tried to teach me how to break out of zip ties since that was apparently how he managed to escape police custody after getting caught breaking into a store.

"Just bring your arms up like this, elbows together," he'd told me, demonstrating with a tie we'd nabbed from the supply shed around his wrists. "And bring your arms down fast, snapping your elbows apart."

Everything, from his position to the action, had been what I'd done. Or, more accurately, Keith had forced my arms into that position. The motions had all been done perfectly, by accident, but perfectly, when I brought that huge stone down on his head. Now I was free. I had killed someone, but I was free.

A voice spoke up from the darkness, and I shoved my fist against my mouth to muffle my scream. "Boss? We made it back in one piece. Well, I'm in one piece, Pey is still moaning."

Edgar's voice rose from the dark as well. "Get him fixed up. Keith and the whimpering one are on their way back. Keep your eye on them. You know why."

My heart thumped when, in the background, I heard a familiar growl. "What does that…" But the voice cut off. After a few seconds of confusion, I realized the voices had come from Keith. Oh God, I didn't want to get anywhere near him, but I knew I had to…oh, but I didn't want to.

With a soft moan, I slid forward to crouch next to him. I picked up the knife he'd dropped, finding the sheath on a belt loop, which I removed carefully to loop through mine and slide the knife in. The voices had come from the radio on the other hip, which I also took, careful to turn it down as far as I dared and still be able to hear just in case. I took his holster and gun, neither of which I ever wanted to use, but…well, desperate times. The last was the handful of ties he had in his pockets, shoving them into mine.

The final step was the one I dreaded the most. There was no way I would be able to move him, but I had to know…I had to check. I reached out, fingers trembling dangerously as I made sure to stare at his chest and neck, avoiding his face and head. It took me a couple of tries with my shaking fingers and the low light, but I managed to stick my fingers into his neck at the right spot. After several heartbeats of my own, I felt not one pulse of his.

Dead.

My stomach won the war I hadn't known it was fighting, and I twisted around, falling to my hands and knees. The previously delicious dinner came up in a flow of acid and sour, rank chunks. My stomach curled up on itself as it expelled every last bit of food and water I'd had onto the rock beside me, hitting with wet splatters.

A sob followed the last heave, snot dripping from my nose, saliva from my mouth as I gasped for air. It felt like I'd tried to throw up everything I'd eaten in the past five years, and my stomach was still twisting in knots. My throat felt raw, and for a moment, I was afraid I'd started screaming without realizing, only to get the strong whiff of my stomach acid on the ground in front of me to be reminded what it really was.

"Aw God," I groaned, staggering to my feet.

I had been doing my best to act as scared as possible in front of those guys. In my assessment, the more scared I acted, the less likely they would treat us like a threat. Even if it didn't save us from them trying to kill us, it might make them let their guard down and give us a chance to do something.

I hadn't known it would result in us being separated. I hadn't known I would be pulled away and left in the hands of some sick bastard who was going to try to…my stomach rolled again. It had been brief, only a moment of his hands and…lips on me, but it would stay with me forever. The sheer terror of what was going to come, the horror that someone thought they could?—

I wasn't going to sit around and mourn the twisted bastard who was more than happy to rape me and probably kill me. The only thing I could well and truly mourn was whatever I'd just lost, making sure he didn't get what he wanted. I would forever see the moment the stone met the top of his skull and the way the latter …gave. The sound would haunt my dreams, and I didn't think I would ever?—

"Hey, Keith?" a voice whispered beside me, sending me scrambling along the rocks until I realized it was the radio again. "You there?"

I picked it up with a shaking hand and realized it was coming through a different channel that blinked on the display. Holding it, I twisted a dial until it showed the same channel and hit the button to respond. Only to realize…I had no idea what I was supposed to be saying and could only stare at the display with a blank expression.

"Mmm," was all I managed to pitifully whimper before releasing the button.

"Jesus Christ," the voice hissed. "Ed's gonna be pissed if he knows you're over there diddling that fucking idiot instead of doing what he told you. You better nut fast and get back here. Jesus, you play with your food too much." I could only stare at the screen, pressing the button again but letting it go a few seconds later. "Yeah, fuck you too. Hurry up."

I turned the volume down even further and stared at the device. The nausea and horror were leaving me as I looked up at the sky. It wasn't like I hadn't already known what kind of fucked up bastards we were dealing with, but…that was something else. I'd thought Keith had gone out of his way to hide what he was trying to do to me because the rest of his crew would string him up for touching another guy like that.

But no, everyone was probably aware of what Keith did when he was allowed to ‘play.' And it wasn't that they hated him doing it. They would just be pissed that he was wasting time and not following orders. Anything went as far as these guys were concerned. It didn't matter how screwed up or wrong.

I glanced at Keith's body and then looked away, glad I didn't feel the urge to throw up again. That shit would haunt my nightmares for years to come if I got through this, but there were other things to be worried about. Turning my back on his body, I looked at the rocks behind me. After a moment, I found what I needed and began to climb. From there, leading back the way I'd been brought, I could keep my footing and go upward.

Or I could turn around and head back the way we'd come, steadily working my way down toward the plains. By the time I reached that point, the sun would probably be rising, and it would be a good measure of what direction I needed to take. Of course, that wouldn't matter much since I had no supplies to keep me cool or alive, but I could theoretically make it if I were careful.

That would mean leaving Reno behind, however. Back with the leaders of these assholes who were willing to either rape or ignore rape happening and do plenty of killing, of that I was sure. Two of them were already back at their camp, wherever that was, and were awaiting not just Keith and I's arrival but orders from this Edgar guy. They"d snap to attention once he gave the orders and do what they were told. It didn't matter what I did, either running to get help or going back to see if I could help Reno. After enough time passed, they'd find Keith's corpse, and the jig would be up.

They were separated into groups of two, and if I went back…it would be two against two. That was if I ignored the fact that Reno was under guard, zip-tied, and I wasn't exactly excited at the idea of killing…again. The very thought sent another wave of nausea through me as I realized that going back would mean potentially needing to do it again.

But it was Reno. The guy was a grumpy jerk who didn't deal with people well, but he was my grumpy jerk who dealt with me pretty damn well. And while plenty of people wouldn't believe me, I wholeheartedly believed he would do what it took to save me. I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to him when I might have been able to help.

So that's what I was going to do, even if it meant chipping away another piece of myself to do it.

Er..but how?

"You know,"Edgar said after almost twenty minutes of complete silence, turning to watch me. "I feel like you are much better company than your friend would have been."

I glared at him. "First off, fuck you. Secondly, what did that fucking mean?"

His brow raised. "What did what mean?"

"Why your little demon needs to be watched around Elliot," I growled.

"Because Keith is intelligent, clever, and has a sixth sense for people, that's come in handy."

"Okay? What's your point?"

"Hm, maybe he was right to cuff you behind your back after all."

"Excuse me?"

"He's good at reading people. And he's good at anticipating me. He probably knew I planned on separating the two of you. No one could have predicted the beast, though," he said with a scowl, glancing toward Coyote's body. "And if I know my second like I think I do, he guessed that you might start getting…difficult without your friend around."

All I could do was glare furiously at him, hating that if he was right about Keith's prediction, that meant two people had anticipated me correctly. As absurd as it sounded, Elliot was a good anchor for me in many ways. How the guy who irritated me worse than anyone I'd ever met had somehow managed to become so important to my well-being, I didn't know.

Somewhere along the line, though, I had come to slowly rely on Elliot as a good measure for what was and wasn't worth getting pissed about. He had a temper, but he rarely held onto it. He was generally so full of life and enthusiasm about anything that if I let my temper get the better of me, I would risk souring his mood, making me feel like absolute dirt.

"Maybe he was right," I ground out. "Or maybe I'm a little fucking ‘difficult' because you just had my friend dragged away by some dude you called a demon without anyone to watch over him and then told your other buddy to keep an eye on them."

"Keith…enjoys himself a little too much," Edgar said, his lips thinning. "Given the chance, he can be impulsive."

"What does that mean? What happened to still deciding if you were going to do something to us? And you send Elliot off with him?"

"Keith listens to the boss," the big one, Julio, told me with a scowl. But he wasn't facing Edgar, so he didn't see the man's frown.

"Let me guess, most of the time. But not all the time," I snapped at the leader of idiots. "Sometimes he goes off the reservation and does whatever he wants, even if it gets in the way of your plans."

"And here I thought your friend would be the talker," Edgar said, turning away.

I opened my mouth to say something else but stopped when I saw movement to Edgar's right, above us. Edgar was watching the horizon, and Julio seemed more interested in examining the ground to notice, but I certainly did. It was a quick, nervous movement, but I had seen a shape dart into view before disappearing.

Someone was above us.

Which would have been the perfect moment to alert them…if they were my friends instead of my captors. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and glanced up occasionally, waiting to catch another glimpse, if only to confirm that I'd seen what I thought I'd seen. I was careful not to be obvious, not wanting to draw either of the other men's gazes upwards.

I was glad they weren't paying attention to me when the shape reappeared. The moon was on the other side of the rocks, leaving the three of us in complete darkness, but the shape turned to the side enough for me to see his features.

Elliot?

He gave me a shit-eating grin as he held up something that glittered in the light, letting me see the blade. He mimed cutting at his wrist and then pointed at me. After making sure I was still being ignored, all I could do was give him a look of confusion. How the hell was I supposed to get the knife from him to free myself while I was under guard?

Elliot held out a finger, gesturing to give him a moment. Then pointed at me, silently flapping his fingers against his thumbs in what I took as a gesture to talk, and then pointed at Edgar. I honestly didn't know how he could even see my face in the dark to understand, or maybe he was having one of his brilliant moments where he could just infer what was going on. Either way, he didn't wait for my affirmation before disappearing again.

"Why did you send Elliot with Keith instead of me?" I asked bluntly. Then raised my voice when I went ignored. "Hey! I'm fucking sitting on this rock freezing my ass off because you jack-offs decided to fuck with me and E, so the least you can do is talk."

Edgar grunted what I thought was annoyance. "Keith was showing far too much interest in you. Separating you two was necessary, but sending you alone with him would be…bad."

"Afraid he'd take advantage of being alone and decide to have some fun with me?"

"Exactly."

"So what's his thing? Knives? Bamboo shoots? Fire?"

"All of it. As well as his dick."

The noise I made was half a step away from a gag. "Excuse me?"

"With men only. He's not picky. If they're decent looking and under his control, he gets…impulsive."

"Seriously? I thought you Cartel assholes didn't fuck with that kind of shit?" I asked, eyes going wide. Oh God, what had happened to Elliot before he had…magically shown up back here?

"Generally, no. But I'm in charge of this group, and what I say goes. Plus," he said, turning to look at me. It was too dark to make out his features, but a maliciousness radiated off him that made me sick, "it can be a very effective way of convincing people."

"Yeah, imagine that. Raping people to torture them, how weird that that's effective," I spat at him. "Jesus, you're all disgusting."

"I'd be less worried about what I allow and more worried that we still haven't heard from Keith," Edgar told me with annoyance and spite. "He should have been back, even with your friend stumbling all the way to our camp. Something tells me he's made a ‘detour' along the way. I've seen Keith's different toys, and your friend certainly fits the bill."

All I could do was hope that whatever had happened out there hadn't involved Elliot getting raped before he'd got free. I didn't know how the hell Elliot had managed to get free without the alarm going up, but I would remember not to underestimate him again. It didn't matter if the guy had been genuinely terrified or not when he'd been here, he was obviously able to get his shit together when it counted.

"Maybe you should be worried about what's going to happen if that fucker decides to do something stupid," I snapped at him, fingers flexing behind me. "If he doesn't follow your fucking orders."

"Don't threaten me," Edgar warned in a calm voice. "It won't work out the way you want it to."

"My whole night hasn't worked out the way I want it to, Eddy."

A knife flashed into view, poking me in the nose. "And show respect, or I'll remove something you'll miss."

I was still trusting Elliot's plan, something I had always said was a bad idea, and so I kept talking. "Fine, Edgar. You're the one who needs to start worrying if you can't even keep your guy under control."

I could feel his glare in the dark before I saw him grab something, the screen of his radio lighting his face briefly as he pushed a button. "Keith. Where are?—"

He stopped when his words were met with a high-pitched and muffled shrieking noise from the direction Keith had marched Elliot off in. It was impossible to tell what kind of animal had made that sound, but it could have been a coyote. On the other hand, I had to admit it didn't sound like anything an animal could have possibly made.

Edgar turned, then jerked his hand. "Julio. Go check that. Now."

"Got it," the quiet man said, hopping down to begin walking along the flat rocks that made up the base of the range of huge boulders.

"That…was weird," I said, noticing movement again, skirting along the edge of the ‘cliff' only ten feet above us.

"That's one way of putting it," Edgar said calmly with a slight edge. "Suspicious also works."

"Why? Do you find all animal sounds weird?" I asked him.

Edgar remained quiet, and the seconds ticked away into minutes. "That didn't sound like an animal to me. Did it to you?"

"I don't know what half the shit out here sounds like. I live on the ranch with farm animals."

"Then consider how strange it is that it happened when I tried using the radio."

"I don't know shit about that either."

Another couple of minutes passed before I saw movement above us again. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. Elliot was hanging partially over the edge, holding a rock. It didn't take much to guess that he was trying to gauge where Edgar was in the dark and, hopefully, trying to avoid hitting me.

"Fucking hell," I growled, making a point to shift my body as if fighting with the zip ties. "These fucking things are…fuck!"

It wasn't my best acting, but I flung myself to the ground on the other side of the rock, making plenty of noise. At least it was effective enough for me to see Edgar turn in the dark and find myself blinded by a light.

"What are you…" Edgar began in annoyance, but the light was enough for Elliot to position himself overhead. The rock came down and slammed into him, getting the base of his skull just at the neck and making him stumble. The flashlight in his hand fell to the ground, clattering as its spotlight hit the rock wall behind us.

"Here!" Elliot called out, and I watched something heavy clatter noisily to the ground a couple of feet from me. I hadn't been expecting it so soon, but I rolled quickly, inching my way over as I tried to get to the knife. The problem was Elliot had either lost his grip or was too excited, and with a yelp, he slid forward.

"Fucking hell!" Elliot yelped, grabbing the edge of the large rock and swinging around so his body dangled rather than plummeting headfirst into the ground.

Edgar swore profusely, swinging his rifle around and taking aim. My heart skipped a beat, and I forgot entirely about the knife as I saw the rifle's tip come to rest where Elliot was dangling. Heart in my throat, all I could do was painfully use my bound arms beneath me, shoving against the ground with all my might toward Edgar.

Three things happened at once. One of my feet slammed into Edgar's knee, and the other hit his groin as my shove worked perfectly. I felt a stinging burn along my arms as they suddenly burst out from beneath me, and I flopped on my back while Edgar buckled. His gun went off with a furious blast, lighting the area around us, and it was followed by another cry from Elliot, who dropped.

"Elliot!" I cried out, not sure how my arms were free but not caring as I rolled over to see him slump against the wall of the tall boulder he'd fallen from.

"I'm…Reno!"

I whipped around in time to find the rifle swiveling to aim at me. Without thinking, I smacked it away, flinching when it went off again, blinding me for a moment, and I felt hot sparks dig into my neck and cheek. Still unable to see, I lashed out blindly, my foot connecting with another piece of Edgar, this time with more force than before.

"The gun, the gun!" Elliot managed to shriek over the ringing in my ears.

"Thanks, Mom!" I snarled, getting up into a crouched position. I still could barely see with the white spots in my vision, but then the flashlight was knocked around, and I could finally see Edgar getting up from one knee, his hands still tightly gripped around the gun. "Like fuck you are!"

I dove forward without thinking, tackling him and cringing when the gun went off again as we both hit the ground. His breath was hot on my face as he tried to free the gun to get his hands on me. Knowing damn well, if I let him have even a moment to get control, I was probably going to lose to a far more skilled fighter. I grappled, trying to keep him off balance and fighting more than I was, just like Riley had done to me months ago.

"Oh shit," I heard Elliot swear fiercely from behind me.

"Boss!" came the very unwelcome sound of Julio's return.

"Shoot…him!" Edgar growled, still fighting to get the gun out from between us and trying to loosen my grip.

"But I don't want to hit you!"

"Not him! The other one!"

Terror clawed at my mind as I heard a gunshot almost immediately and heard Elliot give another cry. Only to follow up with an inappropriate, "That was almost my dick, you asshole!"

Jesus fucking Christ, he was so stupid sometimes. I loved the fuck out of that man.

The air was filled with gunshots and, to my surprise, not just the sounds of a rifle. Even Edgar's eyes went wide in the faint light from the flashlight as he realized Elliot was fighting back.

"I'm guessing he got that from your little fucking demon," I hissed in a sudden flash of delight.

"His aim needs work," Edgar snarled, reaching out to grab my face.

"We'll work on it," I said, not caring what was right and what wasn't, as I sunk my teeth into his hand. He cried with pain, yanking his hand back and then headbutting me. I should have seen it coming, but it managed to daze me enough, and he surged forward.

With a frustrated grunt, I found myself propelled onto my back, air slammed out of my lungs as I hit the rock. Edgar didn't bother fighting with his gun as he rushed forward, trying to slam the flat side of the butt into my head. I caught it before it got too close, grappling with him even as I could feel my strength beginning to wane. I'd had the upper hand before, catching him off guard, but he was more experienced at fighting than I was and had far more stamina.

"Just…hold…still," he growled.

"Fuck you," I snapped back, squeezing his hand as hard as I could to force him to loosen his grip. It almost worked, except it made him shift his grip, and I had to follow after, trying the same tactic.

It wouldn't matter how much time passed after this. What happened next would never make sense. During our struggle, my failing but superior strength in the face of his better stamina, someone's finger slipped. Both of us were left wincing at the roar in our ears that created a lingering ringing as the gun went off in our hands. Something pinched my skin, making me cry out, but I never loosened my grip as we struggled.

I had only a few moments to register that the fight was lost on my end before a figure bathed half in shadow, half in light, stood above us. I was sure it was over, that Elliot had lost whatever weird gunfight he'd been having, and now Edgar's flunky would end me as well.

"Hey, fuckface!" came the scream of a familiar voice.

Edgar and I both looked up in surprise, but it was Edgar who was met with a size eleven and a half boot slamming into his face with the grotesque crunch and squirt of cartilage and blood. He fell off me, his grip loosening, and I threw the gun away, not wanting anything to do with it, as I followed Edgar forward.

The man was still in a daze and could only wrap his hands around my wrist before I shoved his head back. He'd fallen toward the hard ground rather than the rock, but I still felt the reverberation of the blow run up his head and into my arms. I didn't hesitate, doing it again, and again, and again, as hard as I could manage as his eyes rolled back in his head.

And then suddenly Elliot was there, his hands on my face, forcing me to look at him. His eyes were wide and wet around the rims, but he smiled gently. "Hey. Stop. Don't. He's not going to hurt anyone, alright? We won."

"He…" I began, looking down and finding Edgar's head lolling off to the side when I released him. "Shit…he dead?"

"Don't think so," Elliot said, letting go of me and noticeably hesitating before reaching down and pressing his fingers against Edgar's neck. After a moment, I saw relief, disgust, and a pain-filled flash over his face before drawing his fingers back. "Alive."

"Boss?" came the shrill call from the radio sitting in the dirt beside us. "Boss, what's going on?"

"Shit," I muttered. "What do we do?"

"Let's make sure this one can't get up again easily," Elliot said, pulling zip ties from his pockets. "And do it better than they did to us. I'm not making that mistake like they did."

"What about…" I began and turned to find the big guy on his side nearby. Half of his neck was a bloody ruin as he lay, staring unblinkingly at us. "Oh shit. E, did you?—"

"Not him," Elliot said, rolling Edgar over. "Grab his arms, hold them together for me. Then his legs. Then we're getting some rope from the tent and really bundling him up."

He clearly had a plan in mind, and I wasn't going to argue since his last one had gone off…well, not perfectly, but it was hard to argue with the results. "What did you mean about?—"

"Boss!" came the voice from the radio again, and Elliot gave a snarl of frustration, tightening the third zip tie around Edgar's wrists before snatching up the radio.

"Listen here, you sackless piece of shit," Elliot snapped into the radio. "Two of your guys are dead, and we've got your boss hogtied, ready for Christmas dinner, got it? So either sit around with your thumbs up your asses waiting for an order or be smart and get the fuck out of here while you have the chance. Because I'm definitely using this radio to call out on the emergency channel, and every ranch in the area is gonna come this way."

I stared at him while we worked on tying Edgar's ankles together. Only for Elliot to follow through on his word, rooting around in Ed's pockets for a moment and producing more ties to create a tight loop between the bands on Ed's wrists to his ankles. The result resembled something like a holiday meal or the ones people associated with the holidays anyway. We were lucky to even see a package of ramen in our house most of the time, let alone a turkey or ham.

"I'm going to get the rope," Elliot said, setting the radio down roughly.

I caught his wrist, holding it tight. "Elliot?"

"What?"

"He's not going anywhere for the moment, and I'm pretty sure you scared the shit out of the other two. So…what happened?"

Elliot tugged at my grip but began to sag after a few seconds. "I killed him."

"Keith?"

"Yeah. We were walking to their camp, and he…he decided he wanted to…he was going to have his way with me. Pinned me against the wall and started…kissing me."

"Okay," I said, rage flaring inside me.

"I knew what was going to happen next, and I…grabbed a rock," he said, his steady voice finally cracking. "I didn't think. I just brought it down on his head with everything I had. I hit him so hard. Oh God, I caved in his fucking skull Reno, his fucking skull."

I didn't hesitate. I stood up and brought him close, wrapping my arms around him as a sob bubbled out of him and then broke. He sagged against me, his shoulders shaking as he released the torrent of emotions built up inside him. I didn't let go, knowing he needed this after what he'd gone through. The almost rape would always exist like a ghost in his mind, but it was the taking of another life, deserved or not, that would be the true demon for years to come.

"It was awful," he said in a crackling voice against my chest. "It took him forever to die. I could see it in his eyes. Sometimes, he knew what was happening. Other times, it was like he was so confused. And fuck, the noises he made. And this guy, he just…it was like his neck exploded and he…he dropped. I couldn't watch it, not that one."

"Good thing because you saved my ass," I told him, waiting until he pulled away to smile at him. "More times than one, by the way. Jesus, Elliot, do you realize how much you did today?"

"Too much," he said with a sniffle, then began wiping his face. "Way too much."

"You saved your own life and…saved yourself in other ways," I told him gently. "No one is going to hold that against you. And then you still had the control to find a way to save me, save us both."

"Like I was going to leave you behind to deal with this shit," he said with a shaky laugh.

"Well, you're not going to hear me argue," I told him with a smile. "Let's get Eddy here tied up properly, and then we can call for help."

"Yeah," he said, wrapping his arms around my neck. "Sorry, I'm gross right now, but?—"

I kissed him without giving one shit about what he looked like. What mattered was that we were both alive and, other than a few cuts and bruises, mostly unharmed. This night would haunt Elliot more than me, but we were alive and together. All that mattered was that I could hold him against me, appreciating the idiot for all he was worth.

It turned out that when Elliot said he was intent on making sure Edgar didn't get free, he wasn't kidding. After several minutes of tugging the ropes out of the bag, he had Edgar bound so tight his limbs were mostly rope, his body position so uncomfortable I almost felt bad when the guy woke up.

"What the…" Edgar began, looking around. Rolling my eyes, I sat down and pulled off my boots as his mouth contorted when he saw me. "You?—"

"No," I interrupted, shoving one and then another of my filthy socks into his mouth. For good measure, I used the last bit of rope to wrap around the socks and tie behind his head. "I'm done talking to you."

I turned to find Elliot watching, his nose wrinkled. "I don't even want to think about how that tastes."

"Not our problem," I told him. "Though I have to say, your knot-tying is impressive. Didn't realize you'd picked that up in your time at Boy Scouts too."

"That…wasn't from the Boy Scouts," he said, smiling for the first time. It had the same wickedness he always reserved for when he was being a shit.

"Oh? Remind me to look into some ropes when we get back to our cabin," I told him, and he sighed.

"God, to be back in the cabin would be…so great right now."

"Agreed. But we've probably got a whole long day of explaining."

"Ugh," he said, shoulders slumping.

I peered up at the sky, seeing it was growing lighter. "C'mon. Let's go up top."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I don't want to spend more time with this asshole than I have to," I said, looking for a spot to climb. "And I think we've earned a nice sunrise."

"Near-death experiences making you a romantic there, Reno?"

"Shut up and climb, asshole."

"That's more like the man I know."

I laughed as we finally climbed our way up. It was only about ten feet, but I still reached down and helped him climb the last bit. It was worth the ache in my shoulder to see him smile gratefully at the gesture before we found a spot to sit down and watch as the horizon grew bright, a line of yellow cresting horizontally.

Color began to grow, blossoming into soft oranges and brilliant yellows. Elliot made a point to sit between my legs, leaning back into me as we watched, the silent radio sitting in his lap.

After everything, I felt my heart swell, and I remembered what I'd thought in that desperate fight for our lives. He needed to know something now that the smoke had mostly cleared, and I wanted him to hear it before the cavalry rolled in to save us.

I caught his hand as it raised, radio in hand. "Wait."

"What?" he asked, turning around to stare at me in confusion. "What's wrong?"

I reached up, grabbing his chin so I could stare into his eyes. "I love you."

His eyes widened and then brimmed with wetness once more. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well…I love you too."

"Oh…good."

"Yes, good, asshole."

"Idiot."

He kissed me, and I was glad he didn't ask if this was some post near death psychosis or something. Instead, he just leaned into me, holding onto my shoulder while I held on to him, and we savored the moment. It was absurd that our lives had brought us to this point, but here we were all the same.

"Let's bring in the cavalry," I told him. "I want to be alone, back at the ranch, as soon as possible."

"Me too," he said, pressing the button on the radio.