Stig

"Would sit still for a fucking minute?" I seethe into Nathan's face.

"It's a scratch!"

"I am just going to put this one so-"

"I can do that myself. Done that a thousand times on my own!" He narrows his eyes.

"Yeah, now I am here!"

We stand there looking at each other. We say nothing but we both know it. Letting go of each other is not going to be that fucking easy after all. Not fucking easy at all. I take in Nathan's green stare and I read the same mixture of surprise, hurt and something that goes a lot deeper than lust. Not that he doesn't have a I-am-so-pissed-at-you-I-want-to-fuck-you-hard look in those damn eyes of his.

"Uhm," Anthony interrupts the staring contest.

We both turn and look at the kid. We came to a place Nathan uses, some kind of abandoned warehouse right in the middle of the industrial area of the city. I wanted to do some research in a more stealthy spot but time is of the essence.

"So, you tell us what we know while you unlock your laptop," Nathan walks up to him.

"I... I..."

"We will protect you," Nathan promises.

We? I frown but deep down I like the sound of it. And instantly a strong tether pulls at me with force. My brothers, they call me to them and my soul rejoices at their beckoning. The thought of stop being a Rider hurts me. Sure, they might let me be a nomad but it wouldn't be the same.

I don't enjoy being Rider. I like being a Rider with them. And I am not sure how that bunch of macho straight men wouldn't accept a... faggot. And what would Nathan be? A Valkyrie? Ridiculous.

"You don't understand," Anthony says sadly and drags me away from my thoughts.

"I understand that you are way in more than you want. You help us find that kid and the men I work for will protect you."

I feel a pang of pain. That's what he meant when he said "we", not what my confused brain offered. It seems that Nathan is in fact the brains here.

"Listen, kid, I am not going to lie," Nathan sighs and sits down in the plastic chair right next to Anthony. "I am guessing you know whose kid you took."

Anthony goes pale and bites his jaw down. He sure does and he knows that he is caught in a very very bad place.

"So you know that this can get messy. But you help us and you will be spared. I will even lie and tell my employer that you came to me and volunteered to help."

"You don't understand," Anthony places his elbows on his knees and leans forward in despair.

"I have no idea what his rivals think they can accomplish taking his kid," Nathan offers, "but it is not going to work."

"Like I said," Anthony shakes his head, "you don't understand."

I frown. Something is off here.

"It's not about whose kid it is," I say.

By the way the kid shoots his head up and looks at me, I know I am right. I grab my laptop and look into the kid we are looking for. Never had it crossed my mind to check him out other than his photo. Both Nathan and I thought that anyone after the kid was after his father.

"Fuck," I hiss and glare at Anthony.

I sure wish I am wrong. Or else we wasted time fucking around in Eileen's house and that's going to be on my conscience.

"They made me." The kid tries. "My baby brother..."

"What the fuck is going on?" Nathan looks between us.

"The kid has a rare blood type."

Nathan blinks a few times. He has been up against hardened criminals but the depth of human cruelty is bottomless.

"Tell me it's a kidney or liver or fucking bone marrow," I loom over Anthony.

Behind me, Nathan let's out a surprised breath. Now, he is on board. And he is not going to like it if I am deciphering Anthony's miserable face.

"H...heart and lung," he mumbles.

"Shit, shit, shit," I grab my laptop once more.

"Where? When?" Nathan yells.

"These people-"

"These people just took a boy and are ready to butcher him!"

"The people that pay them are more powerful than your boss! And my baby brother needs a kidney!" Anthony yells back and stands, the chair falling back.

"That's not a way to save your brother."

"Yeah? We are illegal here, people would gladly see him dead. But I can help and nobody is going to die."

"A kid is going to die!"

They stay silent for a while, just my rapid typing feeling the air. We are just lucky that I decided to play with medical records to give Lil' Ed a temporarily heart-attack when he did his check-up. I have a way to find what I want fast.

Requiring both heart and lung transplants is rare in itself. Adding the blood type, the weight, and height of the kid and I can narrow it down. And I sure do. A name pops up in the list, only one. I turn to Anthony once more.

"I fucking told you!" He has gone from scared to furious. "A Hispanic kid can die a hundred times but a billionaire's kid has to survive at any cost."

"Fuck," Nathan leans over the screen. "Is he...?"

"Not yet." Anthony sits back down exhausted. "They need to fly the kid to Spain and they want to be careful. They know people are looking for the kid. Dangerous people. And when you found us... They got more paranoid. But the private jet is coming tomorrow."

I see tears fall on his face as he lowers his head once more defeated. He too is a kid. A lost kid that is trying to survive with the cards he was dealt with.

"You could have put your brother's name on the list," I say.

"I tried," he shakes his head. "I couldn't get past... Why the fuck would you care about it anyway?"

I take in a breath and go back to my laptop. I look for Anthony's brother and I confirm what he said. The truth. Refreshing. It's going to take some tampering but I can make it work. I just need time.

"I will do it," I say. "Even better. I will teach you to do it. But first, the boy."

Anthony looks up to me.

"You got some talent, kid but you got a lot to learn yet. But let's be clear. I am not putting him in the front or anything. I am just going to put him on the list as legitimate American cit- gah!"

I don't get to finish my sentence and Anthony has wrapped me with his arms in a tight hug. I turn to Nathan not knowing what to do. Nathan chuckles and shrugs.

"OK, OK," I push him slightly away. "Now will you help us?"

"I can take you where they are keeping the kid."

"How many?"

"One doctor, three nurses and eight guards. They... they are looking for me."

"Why?"

"They need me to fake some papers for the kid, to tamper with the flight schedule. They don't want to bribe officials. That kid is not some no-name low-life no one is looking for. Fewer people know, the better. But I - I don't know how to do it. I know some things but what they are asking me to do... I had to look like I knew what I was doing. Or else they would kill me and my family would suffer too."

I frown again. This is seriously fucked up. Three kids are involved, two sick. I am no father but I can only imagine how it is to see your son die. But to pay people to abduct another kid and hack him to pieces? That takes a sick mind and a ruthless soul. It's hard but you do not condemn a healthy kid to death. And that kid might be the son of a man that has killed dozens with his bare hands but it's still a kid and has nothing to do with his father's sins.

All the while, there is a baby out there in need of a transplant that can't get it cause he has the wrong papers and the wrong color. I came illegally in the US too but nobody would look twice my way. Too blonde, too blue-eyed, too Swedish...

"Will we do this?" Nathan asks.

He knows that this has gone deeper than we originally thought. In more ways than one.

"We will do this." I nod.

"Together," he says firmly.

He half-read my mind. I am tempted to do this shit alone. He would be safe and not caught up in some shit. Eight guards and who knows what muscle a billionaire will send to ensure that the "body bag" containing the heart and liver his son needs are safely transported to him.

"Stig?" Nathan comes close. "Together, right?"

I get a sting when he says that word. A sting and a cut and a beating. Together. That fucking word ties me up in knots. It scares me. And at the time, it seems so fucking natural as it has been true since the dawn of time.

"Together," I simply answer and he smiles.