IT IS CHIVALRIC TO KISS ONE'S BROS

"Did you lose a bet?" she asks, and his face immediately darkens.

"No," is all he says. 

They're interrupted by Jee-Yun stomping through the door after her. She'd been mad about the conference, about her science teacher who wants her to focus less on reading ahead and more on actually digesting their units. Jee has the opposite problem that Bobby does. She's always ahead, always pushing past the material in their classes, always ready for the next thing. Jee catches sight of Buck and shrieks in joy, a sound Maddie hasn't heard in ages, and runs over to hug her uncle, and that sets Bobby off yelling, and the two of them tousle and pull each other down the hallway to talk about whatever, which gives Maddie time to look around the kitchen and notice the fucking mess.

"Did you cook?" she asks. She hadn't asked him to cook. There were meals stacked in containers in the fridge, earmarked for each person for each day of the week. Her counters are piled with dishes, and the wok is on the stovetop and it's filled with something that admittedly smells delicious but definitely was not today's planned dinner. 

"Yeah, B-Bobby wanted to know how to make dan-dan noodles so we stopped at the store on the way home. Wasn't sure if you had any. We made enough for leftovers!" Buck is grinning, one hand full of suds from the sink, like he doesn't see anything wrong with the situation. 

"We had a meal plan," she says, gesturing at the words written on the smart fridge screen.

"I didn't know that before we stopped," he says, and shrugs. "It's healthy! All the macros and everything! And B-Bobby wanted to help out."

He's missing the point. "It's important for kids on the spectrum to have stability, especially when it comes to food," she says. She feels like she's parroting her son's therapy team. "You should know that."

"What?" he asks. He turns off the sink. He'd been rhythmically washing dishes since she walked in the door, and now he's finally standing still. 

"Being on the spectrum," she says.

He frowns at her. "I'm not on the spectrum, Maddie," he says.

Great. Yet another thing their parents had hid from him. But he's forty years old; he has to know by now. "You're—you're just like Bobby," she says. His face contorts. She realizes he might be thinking about the other Bobby Nash. A decade on and he's still always thinking about that Bobby, tripping over her son's name, welling up when the conversation turns to him, working in Bobby's old job. It's a lot. She quickly points in the direction of the kids. "Our Bobby."

"Okay," he says slowly.

This conversation is going off the rails. "How have you been?" she asks, to be polite.

"Oh, you know. Busy." He's still frowning like he's trying to decide how offended to be.

"And your… husband?"

"He's, um, he's okay," Buck says.

Three months into marriage and the best he can manage is okay. Christ. "I don't understand why you would marry him," she says before she can stop herself. "Why you would elope, of all things. That's so—"

"That’s so what, Maddie?"

She casts around for the right words. "Irresponsible? Ridiculous? Attention seeking?"

Buck scoffs.

"Why wouldn't you at least have a wedding? Let people see that you're serious? Get presents?"

"We've been busy," Buck snaps. "We've been overwhelmed with some stuff. This made more sense for us."

"Yeah, but it's you. He should've made time for you. For a wedding."

hen: ohhhhh we have to talk about it, it's been long enough, we almost died in a helicopter, in a hurricane, we have to talk about her tommy stares at them, then at buck and eddie, as he melts into a giant lake of sweat. "i don't… know what you mean…" buck and eddie, rolling up to the el chisme buffet: oh gosh what is this about, someone should tell us everything right away chimney: it was like the second thing i ever learned about you!!! and you didn't even tell me!!!! i had to hear it from this lady who shows up while i'm man behind. she comes looking for tommy, he left his phone at my place and he's been calling it all day, is he around? tommy, to buck and eddie: i need one of you go to drive to harbor, find a chopper, turn it on, and let me walk into the blades. fly it here. now. it's not that hard. turn the key and pull up. buck: can i????????????? eddie and hen and tommy: NO chimney: and i'm like, ooooohhhhhh yes ma'am, i'll GLADLY pass this on to TOMMY KINARD, who should i say it's from????? and then her diamond ring sparkles right in my eye— hen, a memory suddenly dawning on her: uhhhh wait chim before the grand finale what if we get some more cheese fries, go up and order some and then come back and we'll do the big reveal tommy: of my corpse, because i'm killing myself. i'll get the cheese fries, you guys get a body bag chimney: everyone shut up!!!!!!!!!!!!! she says, i'm abby clark, tommy's fiancee. and then she disappeared into the mist and tommy refused to speak about it ever…….. until now tommy: there's no until now, there's— buck: ….abby? my ex-girlfriend, abby? hen: no………………. uh…………… another abby………… it's a big los angeles metro area out there, there's tons of 911 dispatchers named abby clark out there…........... tommy stares at buck, then asks: himbo?

2) hahahaha so funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tommy buries his face in his hands, EVERYONE goes up to order every appetizer on the menu, but buck stays behind so he can watch tommy have a nervous breakdown for several minutes. finally tommy sits up and stares at buck. "so." buck pulls out his phone and slides it across the table. the folder is just labeled ABBY (2018) and, yep. that's a whole relationship with his ex-fiancee happening on some other guy's phone. "shit, you bulked up," is all tommy can say. "anyway, yeah. that's… my ex. and your ex." "why'd you break it off?" buck asks. "i'm gay." "oh. did she know that?" "if she does, i didn't tell her. why'd she break up with you? i mean, assuming—" "uh, her mom died and she went to travel the world, then kinda ghosted me." "oh. wow." "yeah." then they sit in silence for a while, peeling the labels off their beer bottles, until everyone comes back with many hot foods. "… did things somehow get weirder while we were away?" chimney asks. "you were supposed to talk about this, figure it out!" eddie: you guys, this can't be the first time either of you- tommy: i'm gay and i broke up with her because i never loved her. um. thanks for the fries and the drinks. nice meeting you or catching up with you. i gotta go. bye he flees for his life, and buck watches him go. chimney and hen watch, too, then catch buck and eddie on The Life and Times of Tommy Kinard (as far as they know, which is clearly not at all)

3) tommy opens his door: it's eddie? "so before everyone blew up your spot over the whole………. got engaged to someone and never really loved them, which, well, i don't know, people just do things sometimes for good reasons or not-so-good reasons, or good reasons with good people at the wrong time, or good people you thought you were just starting to—" "are you eddie? sorry, i blacked out and died after i ran out, so. didn't quite catch your name." "yeah i'm eddie. you wanna hang out? chim said you're into muay thai and i just started taking classes at a gym near my place." "……….. yeah ok." because they're really manfully beating the shit out of each other, they manage to…………. share? their thoughts? honestly? also eddie's kid is cool and they all like watching sports, so. is this……….. a friend?

3b) this evan or buck guy, though. the one who like. actually- yeah. maybe. maybe he is. to be. avoided. like just until tommy gets a handle on the humiliation he's managed to bury for 5+ years, then maybe he can say more than hey what's up to the dewy-eyed himbo whose dick abby rebounded with before her mom died and she escaped from LA. it's fine. he's not avoiding the guy. he's just making sure to never be in the same room as him for more than six seconds. nothing weird about that. tommy's busy! he's got a busy life! places to be! hobbies to hobby!

4) unfortunately, eddie is only kind of tommy's new friend; he's evan's best friend. tommy figures that's how evan got his address and why he's standing in his driveway while tommy's tinkering in the garage. why did he leave the door open? this is what he gets for trying to embrace a "welcoming" aura in the neighborhood- some asshole shows up and expects to be welcomed. "hey, tommy. why are you being so fucking weird about having the same ex?" "hey, evan," tommy calls from under a car. "well, i'm being fucking weird about it because i'm gay and for about five minutes i thought maybe i wasn't that gay, like i could marry a woman and also be gay, it's not like i needed to act gay or do gay things, i could just—whatever, man. why are you here?" "because i want to be your friend and you don't like me? and you don't like me for reasons that have nothing to do with me? maybe i want to hang out with eddie and chris and you, because they think you're really cool. maybe it's stupid that you made up your mind to not like me over a woman who hasn't been in the same country as you for five years. do you save all the common sense for the helicopter?"

tommy sighs deeply and slides out from under the car. "that wasn't very nice of you, new friend." evan looks down at him, upside down and really annoyed. "wasn't very nice of you to avoid me." "… do you want a beer or something?" "i would. thank you. and then tell me about this car." "do you know anything about cars?" "guess you gotta find out."

5) eddie and tommy get along sooooooooo well. they're like, weirdly similar, buck thinks, like the gay side and straight side of the same bitchy coin. and it's sooooooo not fair that it's so EASY for eddie and tommy to get along and so not for him and tommy. no ok, like, buck and tommy DO get along. their conversation is so easy and buck loves leaning in close to listen to whatever tommy says, and the 118 invites tommy out to drag him back in with their tendrils, but tommy hangs out with eddie, too, and he starts inviting buck places, just the two of them. they do outdoorsy stuff that eddie has no interest in, tommy invites him out to movies because buck has never seen any but he wants to see them with tommy, they go to new restaurants all the time, sometimes they just hang out at the loft or at tommy's place (aggressively comparing tommy's porch to bulk's balcony). he and tommy don't have a list of things in common like he and eddie do, but they spend so much time together and talk and text all the time and buck just likes being near him and with him and prying him open like-

6) "hey hen, i took five quizzes about whether i'm bisexual and it says i am, but like, how can i know? like really know?" "good question. is there a 6'2" firefighter-pilot whose mouth can help you answer that?" "…………………………. what if he hates me, though. like we're friends now. what if he still hates me because of abby. …………. not that this is about tommy. it's about me. and not tommy. it could be about anyone." "talk to him. kiss him if it goes well. talk to him some more if it doesn't. try kissing him again. you two have been coming to our group hangouts and treating them like dates for more than a month now, so both of you might need to knock your heads together a few times to figure it out." "oh. okay. thanks hen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also i'm bisexual you can tell everyone if you want!!!!!!!!!!! is there a special place to get one of those flag pins and bumper stickers or can i get them anywhere?" "please ask tommy. that's a good question for tommy." "ok now you're making fun of me >:( " "absolutely. have fun!!!!"

7) buck comes to tommy's house and they stand across the kitchen from each other, and buck tries to piece together everything: the abby thing, the friendship thing, the chemistry thing, the wanting-to-kiss-his-mouth-and-dig-his-fingers-into-his-hair-so-fucking-badly thing. and buck opens his mouth and……… nothing comes out. until finally:

"i think……… i have a crush on you? i think……… i really like you? and i can't remember the last time i…….. liked someone this much? i feel all bubbly and excited to see you, and i don't care what we do as long as we do it together. lately i think the only thing that could make it amazing, so much more amazing, is if we were kissing, too. oh my god, see what i mean, like, who says that when they're normal about someone, who calls it kissing, what i mean-" buck pauses. "yeah that's exactly what i mean. sorry." "what are you sorry for?" tommy asks, having addressed none of his concerns. "………. that it's me," buck says. "that i'm….. your friend, but…. but i was abby's himbo first. and you were abby's fiance first. and maybe we've been…. maybe we're friends now but maybe we'll always be abby's exes first. maybe we can't be anything else." "but you just said we were friends," tommy replies. "so clearly we can be something else." "tommy," buck whines. "can you- about the other stuff, could you just- just tell me whether it's possible. please." "i think… the first thing you knew about me was the worst thing about me, and you still stomped over and demanded to be my friend. so i think…… if you saw that- if you saw me- and you still stuck around, and you're- you're here and you want to, uh, stick even more-?" "i wanna stick around so bad," buck says, suddenly all the way across the kitchen, right in tommy's face, so close they can feel each other breathing. but buck holds back, stares at his lips, whispers, "tommy, please."

3. They're playing pool at a badge and ladder bar, and Sal's losing. "How'd you get so good at this?" Sal asks, smirking. "We had a pool table at the base," Tommy says. "And it's just math. Pilots are good at math." Sal hums and watches him sink another ball. Tommy misses the next shot because Sal is stretching out a kink in his shoulder and makes an obscene noise when something audibly cracks. "Fuck, never get old," Sal groans. "I'd planned on trying," Tommy says dryly, and Sal smiles. "Here's hoping I look half as good as you do in my old age." It's the closest he's come to a compliment, even if he wrapped it in a dumb joke, and he feels like he's gotten away with something when Sal laughs and slaps his back.

4. Gerrard hears Tommy say he doesn't have a girlfriend, says something homophobic, and Sal gets up from the table and goes downstairs, pulling his phone out. Tommy slinks away a moment later and follows. "I don't give a fuck about procedure, get him the fuck out of here or I'm calling the goddamn union, the press, and my shady Sicilian cousins," Sal hisses. "I filed three fucking reports in the last--look, you come down here and bug the place so you can hear the shit he's saying. He almost got the new guy killed, and--he's not going to file a report, he's a probie who keeps his head down and doesn't want to make waves. If he sends me or Tommy or anyone else into a situation like that, I want you to remember this conversation at our fucking funerals." And he hangs up and looks like he's about to throw his phone when Tommy clears his throat. Sal turns and relaxes when he sees him. "Guess my secret's out," he says with a grim smile. "I won't tell," Tommy promises. Then he looks over his shoulder to make sure no one's lurking nearby. "A-and I'll tell them. About the building." Sal's expression softens. "You don't gotta do that," Sal says. "I don't want any of this blowing back on you. I can take it if I need to, it'll just take me another decade to make captain." Tommy nods and shoves his hands in his pocket. "Thanks for looking out for me," he says. He knows Sal's probably just doing it because he's tired of Gerrard's shit, but Tommy hasn't had someone look out for him like this too many times in his life. "Don't worry about it, kid," Sal says, pressing a hand between his shoulder blades and steering him toward the changing area. "Let's see about making some real food."

5. Gerrard is gone, and Sal is made interim captain. Tommy feels like it could become permanent. It should, really. He's a good captain. But things are different between them, and Tommy can feel it. It's like Sal's treating him like a stranger. So he slips into the office when Sal's chained to the computer for paperwork. "What's up?" Sal asks. "Is everything okay?" Tommy asks, sitting in one of the chairs across from Sal. "Like, did I fuck up?" And Sal frowns and leans back in his chair. "No, why would you think you did?" he asks. "Because you've been avoiding me," Tommy points out. Sal freezes and looks like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment. "I'm not," he insists. "I just...y'know, I can't play favorites." And Tommy smiles and asks, "So I'm your favorite?" It borders on flirtatious, but he's been getting away with that with Sal for months. "Get out of my office, brat," Sal says, his lips twisting in a familiar smile, his eyes twinkling. He looks more like himself. Tommy hunkers down and crosses his arms over his chest until Sal flicks a paperclip at him.

6. It's a risk going to the club he's in, because he could be spotted coming out of it. But LA is a big city, so what are the odds? He's had a beer, he's working on another one, and a guy is next to him and looking at him with open interest. He's young, though, younger than Tommy. That's not what he's looking for. Sal's laugh lines and barely graying hair flashes through his mind, and he finishes the beer and goes out to the dancefloor to see who's around. It's mostly younger guys, because it's a Thursday night. It's always the college students without classes on Fridays that are out. But Tommy gets toward the edge on the other side, close to the wall, and he sees a broad back that catches his eye. Then the guy turns his head, and Tommy's nearly knocked over by a guy trying to get past him when he sees that it's Sal. His first instinct is to run, but if Sal's here, he's got just as much to lose. Unless he's here with a friend or girlfriend or whatever. Tommy could always pretend he was meeting a buddy or that a girl had stood him up for a date or something. He moves past the small group of guys between him and Sal and pressed a couple of fingers between his shoulder blades. Sal turns and his eyes get big, and Tommy leans in to say, "Fancy seeing you here." They talk a little, dancing around why they're there. Except Sal's wearing a tight shirt that's unbuttoned down to his sternum to show off his chest hair, and Tommy had dressed to draw attention, too. The plausible deniability is thin, to say the least. Sal excuses himself to use the bathroom, and Tommy ends up dancing in the crowd. There's an older guy who tucks up against him and dances with him, and Tommy would take him home if he wasn't looking around for Sal now.

7. Sal is at the bar, and Tommy ends up next to him. "You ditched me," he accuses. "No, I'm just not gonna dance with you," Sal says, tapping his fingers on the bar. "I shouldn't even be here with you." "Why not?" Tommy asks. "Because you're my subordinate now, and I can't--there's a line there now," Sal says. "But if there wasn't?" Tommy asks. Sal scrubs a hand over his cheek and scratches his stubble and laughs. "If there wasn't," he says, looking over at Tommy. "I'd have a hard time keeping my hands to myself." And Tommy steps closer, pushed by two guys trying to wedge in to get the bartender's attention. "Kid--" Tommy leans in and kisses him, and Sal lets out a shuddering breath that Tommy can feel as he pulls back a moment later. "Fuck, why'd you have to go and do that?" Sal asks, and Tommy feels a stab of anxiety and he doesn't know what else. But then Sal grabs him and kisses him, and Tommy desperately kisses back. He's hard and moving against Sal, and Sal has a hand on his ass and another up the back of his shirt, and Tommy reaches for his fly. "Not here," Sal says. "But not no?" Tommy checks, and Sal presses his nose to Tommy's cheek and huffs out a laugh. "Fucking no, not no, goddammit, even though I shouldn't be doing this. You're my subordinate, you're so fucking young--" "I just turned twenty-four," Tommy protests, and Sal gives him a pained looked as they move toward the exit.

8. Sal drives, because he never has more than one drink if he's planning on taking someone home. And they're going to his place, thankfully, not Tommy's shitty little shoebox apartment with the five minutes of hot water. He's never been to Sal's. It's a condo near the station, and they're on opposite sides of the elevator while they ride up three floors. Tommy's got his hands behind his back, squished between his body and the wall. And Sal's hands are braced on the rail, and he's looking at Tommy intently. "Shouldn't you be going home with someone your own age?" he asks. "No," Tommy says, letting his head fall back against the wall. "Just you." And Sal closes the distance and kisses him, tugging him through the doors when they open. His condo is down the hall, and he lets them in and they get their shoes off, kicking them aside before they start on their clothes. The military and their job has helped Tommy to get good at undressing fast, even when he's wearing tight jeans. "Fuck, look at this pretty boy I found," Sal teases, backing Tommy up against a wall and hooking a finger in the waistband of his underwear. And Tommy finally gets to run his hands over all the hair on Sal's chest and stomach and sees little strands of silver there, too. "Pretty sure I found you," Tommy points out, his hand covering Sal's cock through his jock. "Daddy." "I ain't even forty yet," Sal protests with a grin, but Tommy feels his cock jump against his hand. They make out against the wall of Sal's hallway until Sal drags him into the bedroom, and Tommy ends up on all fours with his fingers tugging on his own hair while he sobs and whines through Sal fucking him open. After, he falls asleep when he knows he should be getting up and leaving.

9. They try to keep it under wraps at work, but Tommy can tell Sal feels guilty about it. He doesn't. He just feels guilty about how torn Sal is over the whole thing. But then a new captain gets brought in right before Tommy's probationary year is up, and he goes through his ceremony and gets his shield pinned by Sal. He doesn't have anyone else to do it. Just a few weeks later, Howard Han starts at the station. He's wisecracking and cute and hot, and Tommy likes hanging out with him. He's a good buffer to keep Sal and Tommy from getting too close at work, and he's just a fun time. But Sal is angling for a permanent position. The new captain won't last long, Tommy can tell. He's gone in six months, off to be a captain somewhere up in the Bay Area. He debates switching shifts, but then Sal pulls him into the office and brings him around to show him an email. Harbor is looking for pilots. "I'd hate to lose you to another station," Sal says, his chin hooking over Tommy's shoulder. "But you said you wanted to fly again, baby. I will give you a fucking sparkling letter of recommendation, talk to their captains about getting you some time in a chopper to show you off. Anything you want." And Tommy's hands are shaking, imagining holding a cyclic again. Doing that nearly every day he works. "And then I can take you out for real," Sal adds. "I'm not just doing this out of the goodness of my own heart." Tommy turns and kisses him and hugs him and smiles. "Yeah, you are, you fucking meatball," Tommy says. "Thank you."

4. The sachets don't help, the tincture does for a few nights, they try more charms and Evan's getting a deeper and deeper wrinkle between his brows every time they come back, and then Sal's ready to lose his shit. He prowls at night, shifting through the spaces between his home and the spirit world, trying to catch the fucker. It must be old, whatever it is. But it's like having a skunk in the backyard: Sal can't see it, but he knows it's there. It's like an acrid smell. He wakes without satisfaction and goes to work. When he's off the next day, he goes to Evan's shop again. "I can do a house call," Evan says, grabbing his keys. "What, now?" Sal asks. "Yeah, if that's okay," Evan says, and Sal can't do anything but nod in the face of those blue eyes and that wrinkled brow. They meet at the house, and Tommy's pouring himself into bed, having just gotten off work himself. "Baby, I brought the witch," Sal says. "Mm, thought we were gonna talk about that," Tommy mumbles, pulling the blanket around his shoulders. "No--to deal with the thing," Sal says, pinching his nose and hoping Evan doesn't bolt.

5. Evan doesn't bolt. He does find out there's a fucking corpse buried in their backyard, and it's a cowboy named Billy Boils. He has a full conversation with the guy, and he says some really nice things to him that make Sal want to wrap him up in something warm and soft. Sal goes under and spirit walks so he can communicate with the fucking ugly bastard haunting his home, telling him they'll call the city, have him exhumed, and bury him in a proper cemetery. The cowboy looks doubtful, and he casts a glaring eye to Evan. Sal reaches out and wraps his rope of fennel stalks around the guy's neck. "You touch him, I'll scatter your essence to the four corners and you won't be anything, asshole," he snarls. "He's trying to help you, you ungrateful bastard." And Billy raises his hands in surrender and swears he'll give it all a rest until they move him. When Sal wakes up, Evan's sitting in the backyard and doing something that's making the tomatoes ripen. Tommy's sitting on the back step and watching, enchanted. "I heard you, you know," Evan says to Sal. "You didn't have to." "He was gonna curse you, I definitely had to," Sal says. "Can't let anything happen to you on our watch."

6. They resettle Billy Boils, and Evan gives a eulogy and everything. Sal holds out an arm to him and another to Tommy, and they leave the cemetery together. When they go to Evan's place after, he's got his plants crammed into his loft and the balcony. Sal privately thinks that their yard would be a better place for them. More room to grow. They could build a greenhouse. "I don't usually deal with spirits," Evan admits. "We thought you were an expert," Tommy says, frowning. "Ah, yeah, I kinda just wanted to...help you guys, I guess?" Evan says, flushing. "I-I didn't expect all of this to turn into what it did, I just wanted to see you--" And Tommy kisses him. When Sal kisses him, he tastes like he's been chewing spearmint leaves.

It isn't difficult to lift a defective clone. It is near impossible to steal a new clone; the security at the warehouses rival the battalion armory down at Glint Street 77. But one that's returned and marked for destruction? No one looks at it closely enough.

Him. No one looks at him.

Tommy follows Sal into the dispatch center, both of them fully geared up, complete with the oh-so-helpful helmet covering their faces and gloving their hands.

The defective product is in his assigned room, curled up in the corner. It is a small room, so it is basically all corners.

"Up you get," Sal orders, snapping out the stun baton. "Defective product Evan Buckley."

Evan Buckley unfurls from his protective roll and struggles to his feet. His eyes are bloodshot and the skin around them puffy and pink, the tear stains on his face evident in his pallor. He is tall, as tall as Tommy, and his long legs almost buckle as he straightens.

"I'm sorry," Evan croaks. "I tried. I don't know why I didn't work."

Tommy has to stop himself from reaching out to take the clone's hand to comfort him. "Come along. We need to take you back."

"Will it hurt?" Evan asks quietly. He sounds so much like a child.

In terms of the actual number of years, Evan Buckley is a child. Less than two years of existence. Everything he knows was planted into his head with a chip. It will be several more years before he is considered a legal human being.

But he knows enough to be afraid.

Tommy clears his throat. "No," he lies.

Sal prods the clone. "Come on, don't make me use this thing. This thing will hurt you."

Evan Buckley hugs himself and comes over to them to be cuffed to Tommy. He is so withdrawn and docile that Tommy aches to assure him and tell him that he'll be okay.

"Help me pass a message?" Evan's eyes are very blue. "To my parents."

They're not your parents, Tommy wants to say. They're heartless bastards who placed an order for you and are returning you like you're a toy. Like you don't feel.

"What do you want to tell them?" is what comes out if his mouth.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save Daniel. I really tried."

Sal hurries them along to the waiting van. The clone tenses as he is dragged forward, but Sal pushes him into the van, locks the door, and gets into the passenger seat.

"Take us home, Jeeves," Sal tells Howie. "Got a clone to re-home."

Tommy unshackles Evan from himself, and the clone stares at him in astonishment. The astonishment gives way to... shyness? when Tommy removes the helmet and gloves.

"Hey," says Tommy, finally reaching out to take Evan's hand and squeezing. The clone squeezes back, his hand warm and his grip strong. "Don't be scared. We're not taking you to the Manufacturer. You're safe with us, I promise. You're leaving the city with us."

"Leaving? How?"