A Promise To Protect - 36. Z

Waking up in a dark room in a stranger's bed, Tyler feels his body tense and his blood run through cold, completely immobilizing him with fear. He blinks a few times, trying to force his eyes to adjust to the darkness that surrounded him as quickly as possible so he could work out where he was, or at least how to escape. He feels his head pounding in time with his heart, the sound of blood rushing through his ears was almost deafening. Realising he was panicking, he tries to control his breathing, taking deep breaths to calm down. He inhales slowly and holds his breath for a moment to try to will himself out of the impending panic, that’s when he hears something that sends his blood cold again. His breath was held, but he could still hear breathing. It was rapid and panicked, just like his.

"Hello? Is, is someone there?" Tyler asks gently.

"Who are you? How did we get here?" Another boy's voice asks back.

"I don't know, where are we?" Tyler tries to move, but his wrists and ankles are restrained to the bed.

"We're going to get killed. We're going to get tortured and killed." The other boy's conclusion jumping panic was hard to ignore, but Tyler wasn't going to go down without at least putting up a fight until his last breath.

"Can you move or see anything that could help?" Tyler asks, looking around himself but barely able to see more than a few centimeters ahead of himself.

"No, I'm tied up!" The other guy was not going to be any use to him in this frantic state.

"What's your name?" Tyler asks, trying to be distracting enough to calm him down at least a little.

"My name is Wyatt." The shaky voice replies. "You?"

"Tyler. Listen, I'm scared too, but we're not alone. No matter what happens. We're in this together, ok? " Tyler closes his eyes. At least in the dark he could sound convincingly sure that they had a chance of surviving this, and no one could see the silent tears running down his face in fear.

"I like your thinking. Shows great potential for what I have ahead." Lights come on in the room, revealing a large white room with padded walls. Behind them they hear the sound of a door opening, then footsteps coming closer. Wyatt is in a screaming panic while Tyler is desperately scanning his environment for any useful information he can. There was nothing in reach he could use to defend himself, but there was a row of doors to one side of him, and elevator door to the other side. At least if he got a chance to run, he knew where he'd run to.

A masked man steps into his line of sight and lingers on him for so long it makes Tyler squirm. He then turns to Wyatt, looking over him too. Tyler turns his head to see what's going on, Wyatt is thrashing on the bed trying to break free of his restraints while the man just watches him with disgusting interest.

"Let me go!" He's screaming to no avail.

"You're first." The man replies, kicking the breaks off the bed.

"No! Leave him alone! Leave him alone!" Tyler starts shouting, panic rising in him as he listens to the screams and pleads from Wyatt while he's being wheeled away into a room past the lifts. The man scans something at the door to unlock it, then disappears. Tyler takes deep breaths, holding them in and letting them out slowly, doing his best to shut off the tormented screaming coming from behind the door. This wasn't the time to be impractical. He had a window of opportunity now at the expense of his poor co-captor and he didn't want to find out what was happening in that room, first hand. Tyler sits as much as he can in his position and gets a better look at the restraints. He tries to lean down to use his teeth to get out, but he just pulls up short.

Before he gets a chance to try anything else he is aware of the silence from the other room, before he hears the creak of a door opening. The man walks back out of the room with a smile on his face as he heads over towards Tyler.

"Your turn." He states.

"What did you do to him?" Tyler asks nervously but gets no answer.

~

"Hey. Are you ok?" Tyler asks Wyatt as they wait for the man to return for them.

"Mm, yeah. I just feel weird. Like I'm not really here." Wyatt replies slowly. The door opens and the man enters the room again.

"How's it going?" He asks casually, walking first to Wyatt.

"What did you do to me?" Wyatt asks dully.

"Compliance." The man answers with a smile, loosening the restraints. "Get up." He orders. Wyatt nervously does as he's told, waiting for more instructions. "Now, if you do as you're told, we won't have any problems."

"Yes, sir." Wyatt nods.

"Good." The man moves over to Tyler. "And what about you? How are you feeling?" He asks.

"What do you want us to do?" Tyler asks calmly. The man undoes Tyler's restraints, too.

"Up." The man orders. Tyler gets up, standing by the bed he'd been strapped to and waiting. "How about you? Are you a good listener?" The man asks. Tyler nods but when their captor turns away, he gives Wyatt a wink and mouths, 'get ready to run'.

he man turns back to them with a smile, taking a photo of Tyler, then of Wyatt.

"So here's what's going to happen. You two are going to tested, the person that proves himself will be given a special task and when it's completed, you'll forget all of this and go back to your normal life. The one that fails, won't have a life. Do you understand?" The man asks. Wyatt gulps and Tyler doesn't do anything. The man walks up close to him with a frown. "Do you understand?" He asks again pointedly.

"I understand."

"Good..."

"That you're a complete fuck-stain." Tyler throws his fist straight up under the man's chin, knocking his mask off. "Run, Wyatt." Tyler shouts as he escapes the room, running for the lifts. He presses the button, then turns around to see where Wyatt was. The door behind him opens and the empty lift offers him freedom. But he would never be able to forgive himself for leaving someone else behind. Quickly he moved to one of the other rooms, hoping he'd at least be able to hide. He finds himself stuck in a small room with just a bed, a side table and a set of drawers. He opens another door to find a toilet and a shower, no escape and nowhere to hide. He backs up as the door is opened and the man walks back in, his mask re-secured on his face.

"I see a lot of potential with you, with the help of a higher dose." The man holds up a syringe.

"Try me."

~

"How's project seduce the hot guy going?" Wyatt asks as he walks into Tyler's bedroom.

"It's taking time." Tyler answers, stuffing his phone under his pillow.

"Why?"

"Well, for one he'd never kissed anyone before."

"So? You're meant to be killing him. You don't actually have to sleep with him first." Wyatt crosses his arms and looks over at Tyler who just smirks back at him.

"Yes, but we also weren't told not to."

"Slut, no wonder you got picked for this." Wyatt scoffs.

"Oh, stop projecting."

"Are you into him?"

"No."

"Then stop playing with your food and just kill him. I don't want to be stuck here longer than I need to. I'm starting to lose my mind." Wyatt sighs. Tyler laughs at the irony of his comment and feels his phone vibrate under his pillow. His mind going back to the person messaging him and how excited he was for Wyatt to leave so he could read and reply and spend the rest of his night talking to him.

~

"I'm not doing this anymore." Tyler states, standing in an empty room.

"You don't have a choice." The voice through the speaker replies.

"Like hell I don't. If you want him dead, you do it. I'm not a killer and I don't believe he is either."

"I don't care what you believe, you do what I have tasked you with, or your family will pay the price."

"You expect me to believe you won't assassinate a teenager, but you've got the balls to kill my whole family? Nice try. Face it, your intimidation techniques don't work on me. You don't have it in you. I'm out. This stupid plan of yours, I have no interest in. You've got other options, you don't need me."

It was too easy to leave, Tyler had thought. But time had passed and his family was fine. He watched them from a distance, as he did with Zeke.

Yes, he knew Wyatt was going to be the back-up plan, so when he saw Wyatt meeting Zeke; he wasn't surprised. Nor did he particularly care. He'd shared enough details about things he and Zeke got up to all the times he was meant to be committing his murder, to know Wyatt wasn't going to do the job without first taking the opportunity to indulge, too. So Tyler took to petty attempts of foiling Wyatt and Zeke's dates instead. Cock-blocking was literally saving Zeke's life, and that concept was hilarious to Tyler.

He couldn't deny that part of him was relieved when Zeke pulled up beside him with tickets to sweep him off his feet. He also couldn't deny the danger he was putting himself in by accepting and going on a date, but he considered a very public event would be somewhat safe. So Tyler let his guard down. He had the best night, and he realized just how completely screwed he was when Zeke kissed him fearlessly at the finale. He'd been telling himself the only reason he didn't want to kill Zeke was because Zeke didn't deserve it. But he was stupidly, dangerously invested in him. There was no way they could just have a simple life together. Wyatt would kill them both if he found out, while he was being continually rejected or interrupted when he was with Zeke, that Tyler was secretly seeing him. It was playing with fire, but it just tasted so good that Tyler didn't know how he'd ever be able to give Zeke up.

The choice was taken out of his hands when his plan to disappear from Zeke's life turned out to be someone else's plan, too.

"Who the hell are you? Let go of me." Tyler tries to fight his way out of his captor's grip on his wrist. He plants his foot and rolls his arm over quickly, grabbing the man's wrist and forcing his hand to flex backwards until it couldn't go any further and he had full control. "Word of advice asshat, don't underestimate me." Tyler warns and moves to see the face of who had grabbed him. He recognized him, the man that drove Zeke around, dropped him off and picked him up and even drove them here tonight. In the moment of confusion, he loosens his grip and the man quickly pulls out a syringe and stabs it into the side of his neck. Instinct kicking in, Tyler leans back like he's about to faint and as Zeke's driver steps back with a satisfied smile on his face, Tyler snaps a head high kick to his face and they both fall to the ground.

The torture was relentless. The pain was insufferable and the face of his boss was almost as unforgettable as the voice that he'd heard for years through a speaker system. Other men called him G, but Tyler liked to call him just about any other stream of insults that he possibly could. It'd take cutting out his vocal chords altogether, for him to stop pushing his luck. The moment Tyler had woken up here, he knew he would die on this wall in these chains by this man. All he could do was not let what was happening to him, stop him from being an absolute nightmare victim. He didn't cry, he didn't beg and he didn't care how many cuts and bruises he got in the process. G wasn't going to crack him, not for a second.

But when Zeke came to his rescue, the objective changed. It changed for the shortest period of time, to 'maybe we can survive this together', before all of that was crushed. Zeke unconscious in the car, his body pinning down Tyler's legs and trapping him in his place.

"Go on, kill me then!" Tyler shouted at G as he wakes up, chained to a chair in G's office.

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." G replies, tapping the top of a syringe, very clearly pretending he knew what he was doing.

"I'm not killing Zeke, so you might as well."

"You know, murder is like sex. The longer it takes, the more satisfying it is to finish."

"I'd have appreciated that analogy through the speakers, but now that I know what you look like, I have my doubts that you've ever gotten laid. Or that you have ever lasted long enough to satisfy anyone."

"I'm going to set you free. I'm going to kill your family and force you into hiding and hunt you down like the scared child you are inside."

"Most people take medication for erection problems, not commit murders." Tyler smirks as he sees G starting to lose it. His victorious and all powerful villain speech failing to impress or instill any kind of fear.

~

Things were like a blur from there, a scattering of genuine trauma blackouts of his family's murder.

Then there's Zeke's face, kind and comforting. The alluring gentleness and compassion that came with every word and action.

There's all the moments when there was something else there that neither of them knew how to act on. Drawn to each other with a painful amount of confusion that kept building to an explosive amount of frustration.

"No, I love him." Tyler replies then bites his lip, feeling just as uncomfortable as Corey looked, about that statement. "I don't mean it in that way..."

"You've been through a lot, you do not have to explain yourself." Corey replies, though he's making a note anyway.

"Can we not tell Zeke that I said that?"

"I told you, this is completely confidential. Now, medical history..."

~

“Tyler, I hate you. You’re nothing to me. I’m sick of you. You’re so damn needy and pathetic that I can’t stand you, that’s why I started leaving you alone all the time. I hoped you’d leave sooner but you seemed to think that if you stayed I’d fall for you. I like making you think I care about you when really, I don’t. I have been lying to you this whole time, you’re not safe, I’m not who I said I am. You’re just a naive, scared kid that wanted to believe it all so badly. It’s been a game to me, having you here. Playing with your feelings. Game is over now.” Tyler looks at Zeke in disbelief, tears stinging his eyes, though he tries desperately not to show how much it hurt him to hear Zeke talk like that.

“Then you won’t care if I die.” Tyler mumbles and drops his suitcase at Zeke’s feet. He turns and runs towards the front of the house, taking Zeke by surprise. He runs straight up to the car waiting for them. "Help me please, he's been holding me hostage. Please, please help me." Tyler begs.

"Tyler? Get in quick. We've been looking everywhere for you."

~

~

All the arguments and the flirting, the tension and the passion of the last few years, comes alive in his head, lifting Tyler from his seat. With the name lingering on his lips, along with the salty taste of his own tears, he turns around to look out the window and see where Zeke had gotten to.

"Zeke." Tyler whispers under his breath as he sees Zeke leant against a tree. Tyler feels like he is floating, being led out the door by pure need to get answers, there was too much unfinished business between them. “Z!” Tyler shouts. Zeke turns around and smiles as he sees Tyler now running towards him like he's afraid that he might somehow disappear if Tyler lets another second pass. Zeke starts walking towards Tyler, his steps getting faster until he finds himself running, too. As soon as he is close enough, Tyler launches himself at Zeke wrapping his arms around him.

"Tell me you remember." Zeke pleads as he sets Tyler back on the ground. He didn't see any way Tyler could have come to him like this if he didn't remember, but he needed to hear it himself.

"You wiped my memory!" Tyler hits him on the shoulder.

"You were out to kill me."

“And yet, you came back for me.” Tyler grins and kisses Zeke hard. Zeke’s hands cup Tyler's face and he wipes away the tears as they kiss passionately. Tyler abruptly ends the kiss to ask a question. "G is the one that wants you dead. I know you don't want to believe..."

"I know. He's dead. He's extremely dead." Zeke answers.

"Tell me you're to thank for that."

"I don't even want to talk about the things I did to him when I found out the truth."

"So you know everything, about me?" Tyler asks and Zeke simply nods. "Are you mad at me? Because I swear, I didn't know what I was getting into."

"No." Zeke shakes his head and leans in to kiss Tyler again, but Tyler pulls away.

"I was set out to kill you. You have no problem with that?"

"You didn't kill me."

"I still might." Tyler says with a cheeky grin.

"I'll take my chances." Zeke answers with a smirk. "Living without you would be the death of me, anyway."

"What about everyone else? The agency and everything?"

"It's all over. G literally blew up the entire building. We have nothing to worry about anymore. Kiss me." Zeke pulls Tyler back in for another heated kiss. Tyler wraps his arms around Zeke's neck and kisses back in a soft, relaxed kiss. For once neither of them had anything to hide or any reason to hold back and god did it feel good for the few moments it lasted before Tyler asks him another question.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, G spent all of my inheritance on renovating and re-purposing the building my parents owned and ran as a safe house for domestic violence victims. Which, obviously, was greatly insured for damages. So, in a way, he accidentally gave me all my money back by blowing the whole place up. So, I'm about to have a lot of money. I can re-build. I can work a normal job. I can have a normal life." Zeke takes a deep breath and holds Tyler's hand, then looks into his eyes longingly. "And I can tell you, I love you.” Zeke states, letting out his breath with relief at having finally been able to say those words, no longer held back by fear of someone using it against him, or causing Tyler any harm. Finally free. Tyler smiles and kisses Zeke softly, feeling the same amount of freedom that there was nothing to stop them, this time.

"No more secrets." Tyler whispers when their lips part.

"No secrets." Zeke agrees and holds up the hotel keycard. "I feel like we have a lot of memories to re-live." He winks.

"Only if you promise not to get all nervous and make me do all the work this time." Tyler jokes.

"Oh my god, am I the ex that never reciprocated?"

"The one and only."

"I am so sorry. It's amazing you didn't kill me." He laughs, embarrassed.

"It's not your fault, I wanted you to die happy."

"You're so considerate. Sounds like I have some making up to do, though." Zeke states, slipping a hand in Tyler's back pocket and turning to head down the street towards the hotel.

"Promise me you won't wipe my memory this time, Z."

"Never again. I promise."