#ffbab

Angst:

Child Inserted into a Very Different Family Prevented from Migrating Omen of Death Mourning a Partner Conscripted into the Military Lost on a Journey Separated from the Flock Never Touch Land Canary Warning Swan Song Ugly Duckling

AU:

Wingfic AU Migration AU Mating Plumage AU Imprinting AU Changeling AU Bird-Themed Alias AU Breeder AU Phoenix AU Extra Senses AU Winged Guardian AU

Fluff:

Nesting Mated for Life Birds of a Feather Offering a Trinket Collecting Shiny Things Singing Together Adoption Mimicry Racing Carrying a Message Beautiful Mutation

Lyrics:

'Take These Broken Wings and Learn to Fly' 'Some Birds Aren't Meant to Be Caged' 'When I Left That Little Bird with Its Broken Leg to Die' 'Tonight We Fly Over the Houses, the Streets, and the Trees' 'There's Something Wrong with Me, I'm a Cuckoo' 'Hold Out Your Hand. Yours Is the Only One That I Dare to Land Upon' 'What Do You Say to Jumping Off the Edge?' 'Rare as the Feathers on My Dash From a Phoenix' 'Fly Me to the Moon, Let Me Play Among the Stars' 'Is That a Guarantee of Freedom For Our Descendants?' 'Birds of a Feather, We Should Stick Together'

Quotes:

"Get to the garage. Left at the stairs, last door on the right."

"Roger that."

Julius skipped the entire last set of stairs to reach the ground floor, pushing his way through the left door and down the short hallway.

Last door on his right opened up into a empty garage, the door wide open and a familiar dark blue car waiting for him.

The group who'd been chasing Julius reached the garage in time to see the American spy slipping through the passenger window as the car speed off.

"Great timing," Julius praised once properly in his seat.

"Great escape," his partner replied with a smile, making a sharp turn around a tight corner as they sped down the narrow streets. "Did you get it?"

"Course I did." Julius held the desired flash drive between two of his fingers. "Easy as we thought. Minus the chase, my slip up there."

"I messed up with the cameras, don't blame yourself Julius," Radcliff insisted.

"Well I got lazy and wasn't paying attention either, so we both had our faults on this one," Julius compromised, refusing to let Radcliff take the blame. "But, regardless, mission accomplished. And that's what matters."

Radcliff nodded in agreement as he turned their car out of the packed neighbourhood and onto the main road, adjusting to a normal, less conspicuous speed. Blending perfectly in with the few other late night drivers seamlessly.

"Should let The Boss know we're on our way back," Radcliff suggested.

"Yeah, will in a second. Give me a minute to breath first," Julius insisted, leaning back against the comfortable seat. "And enjoy the ride."

"Take your time," Radcliff replied quickly. "No big rush, she's not expecting to hear from us for least another hour."

While he was doing his best to focus on the dark road ahead of them, Radcliff couldn't help but turn some of his attention to the other man just visible in his peripheral. His dark hair somehow still so neat after all that, his suit jacket still done up. It was unreal how flawlessly beautiful he always looked. He had his arm propped up on the edge of the window, resting his head on his hand. He was staring at Radcliff — or maybe just in his direction. There seemed to be a lot of thoughts visible just from his eyes.

"What's on your mind?" Radcliff inquired while reminding himself to look at the road.

"Few things," Julius replied vaguely. "Work, you, food, the usual."

"I see."

Did he say you? As in — me? Well obviously he thinks about me, we're partners. I'm so dense.

"Is it a bad idea to stop for take out while transferring something containing so much highly illegal information?" Julius asked, fully aware of the answer.

"Unfortunately. I can make you something when we get there," Radcliff promised.

"You don't have to do that."

"I'll be making food for myself anyways. But if you just want to order take out the, I'd get that. Good deal faster."

"Your cooking is so much better than take out. Definitely worth any wait, for sure." Julius sat up straighter again, full focus on Radcliff. "And sharing a nice meal with you sounds like a lovely way to end this adventurous night we've been having."

"More like early morning by the time we get there and I finish cooking," Radcliff chuckled, face slightly red.

Does he know he's describing a date? No — I'm reading into this too much. It's not a date, just dinner. Like we do. Like friends do.

"Any requests? Was thinking I could do a pasta of some kind, there's this old family recipe I haven't made in a while could work —"

"Radcliff's cooking tonight?" Their co-worker Billingsworth's voice came through their respective earpieces, he must have just switched over to their channel. "Enough for everyone, I hope, Boss would sure like it after today, let me tell you."

"Sure I can do that," Radcliff said with a small laugh, glancing over at his partner. He hate to change their plans, but surely Julius wouldn't mind the others joining.

It was just dinner.

"We're actually on our way back now, flash drive in hand," Julius reported with a small nod to Radcliff. "About twenty minutes. I'll forward you Radcliff's list and have someone get the kitchen ready for our Master Chef."

"You know we should get you on that show," Billingsworth remarked, only half joking.

"As good as he'd do, don't think being on TV is great for spy work," Julius pointed out with a short laugh, pulling his phone out of the car glove box.

"Fair enough. Text me that list Julius, and we'll see you in twenty."

"Roger that."

Radcliff listed off what he'd need for the meal while Julius silently typed it out, the second man attempting to hide his disappointment.

So much for our date.

2)

Radcliff leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the creaky table of the stake-out apartment with a breath of relief. Another successful mission. A little bumpy, but they got there in the end.

Well, Julius got there. He always did.

"On your way back now?" Radcliff asked into his earpiece.

The other spy mumbled out something close to a sound of confirmation, Radcliff sat up straight again.

"Julius?"

"Open the window."

Radcliff stumbled to his feet and over to the singular window. Julius was waiting just outside, having climbed up the fire escape.

"Good job out there," Radcliff praised as he opened the window.

Julius slowly climbed in, his hand grabbed onto Radcliff's arm as he leaned against the windowsill with his head hung low.

Radcliff got a better look at his partner is the crappy apartment light, noticing the blood on his knuckles and open wound on this side of the his head. His suit jacket and shirt were torn at his shoulder, scratch marks reaching down into his skin. And those were just his most visible injuries.

He knew Julius got into a fight while there, but based on his response afterwards, Radcliff assumed he got away fine. Then again, doing this for so long, he should have expected Julius to downplay his own injuries.

Radcliff slid his arm around Julius, the other man glanced up at him with that charming, tilted smile of his. A rather unconvincing attempt to prove he was fine.

More than enough to make Radcliff's heart skip a beat still.

Focus! God…

"You should sit down, Julius."

Julius didn't exactly reply, leaning into Radcliff while mumbling something he couldn't quite understand.

Radcliff sighed, gently picking Julius up and carrying him over to the couch. He laid Julius down, getting the medical supplies from their stash and setting it out on the side table by him.

They all had an amount of first aid training, of course, required for their job. But Radcliff liked to think he'd learned a little more than the average spy with all the ways Julius managed to get hurt.

He focused on Julius' head wound at first, reminding himself it just needed to last until the Institution could pick them up in the morning. Then he could take Julius to get more professional medical help.

Julius looking up at the ceiling with tired eyes, wincing slightly as Radcliff worked but otherwise silent.

He looked exhausted yet still on high alert, still stuck in the same mindset from the mission. Somehow still so focused on the job, even when it was technically over. It was impressive, and a little concerning.

"Don't look at me like that," he insisted, voice hardly above a whisper yet still surprising Radcliff. "I choose this, you know? The job."

"How am I looking at you?" Radcliff inquired, he hadn't even realized he'd stopped working and had just been staring.

"Looking sorry for me," Julius explained. "It's all part of the job. A, slightly painful part of the job."

He shouldn't have expected anything else. Agent Julius Johnson would do anything for the job. Regardless of his own safety.

"Won't be able to do much good if you're dead, Jules."

"And you're very good at keeping me alive," Julius remarked with a small smile. "Sure I keep that a full-time job."

Radcliff couldn't help but match his partner's smile, carefully pulling back his torn jacket and shirt sleeve to get a better look at the cuts in his shoulder. "Still be nice if you told me about this stuff right away."

Julius sat up a little, Radcliff quick to place a hand on his back to support him.

"Just cut the sleeve off if you need to, this jacket's got too many bloodstains anyways."

Radcliff used his pocket knife to cut what little held the jacket sleeve to the rest of the jacket, giving him a much better look at the injuries through the hole in Julius' formerly white shirt.

He sat down on the arm of the couch behind Julius. The cuts were deeper than he'd first thought, going further down Julius' arm as well.

"Hope you didn't like this shirt either."

Julius leaned back in Radcliff slightly as he treated his wound, scanning the cramped apartment like a watchdog. On guard, waiting for the slightest sight of an attacker to crawl out of the vents.

Radcliff would have told him to relax, but his need to be so alert was keeping him still, and making his job easier. Not like Julius was likely to listen to him anyways.

"Do you like this job?" Julius asked suddenly.

"Of course," Radcliff replied quickly.

"Do I make it harder for you?"

Radcliff paused, thinking over the odd question.

"Well, as you said, you keep it a full-time position. But if anything, you make it more enjoyable. And we both choose it. I love the job just as much as you. As — as you do."

Smooth Radcliff. Real smooth.

"We have each other," Julius remarked, resting his hand on Radcliff's leg. "Don't know what I'd do if you didn't have my back."

"I'm sure you'd manage," Radcliff insisted, face slightly red. "A line of people who'd gladly work with you if given the chance."

"But none would be as great as you," Julius said confidently, his voice quieting again.

Radcliff finished with the bandages on Julius' shoulder, sliding down from the arm of the couch to sit beside him.

Julius seemed to finally come down from the attentive state his work required, resting his head on Radcliff's shoulder and letting his eyes shut.

Radcliff gently pushed Julius' hair out of his face, shifting so the other man could lay more comfortably against him.

"You make this job a lot easier," Julius said, sounding somehow more tired. "Thank you."

"Just glad you're alright," Radcliff brushed off as Julius grabbed his hand. He lifted his head up slightly, glancing up at Radcliff with that same smile as before. Radcliff smiled back with a puzzled look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Your nice to look at."

"Radcliff, Julius, what's your status?"

Brilliant timing, Radcliff thought, Billingsworth's voice through their earpieces having caught the pair off guard.

"Mission was a success," Radcliff reported back as Julius took the small device out of his ear. "Julius' just resting now, we'll be ready for pick-up in the morning."

"Wonderful, good work team. We'll see you back here in a couple hours."

"Yeah, see you then."

Radcliff looked back down at Julius, the other spy appeared to have drifted off to sleep leaning on his shoulder, his hand still resting atop of his. Radcliff carefully leaned back against the couch, doing his best not to wake Julius. As much as he'd loved to of asked for any amount of clarification on what Julius meant just moments before, he needed rest.

He could always ask later.

3)

Julius kicked his feat up on the thin ledge that ran along the walls of the van while Radcliff type away with full focus on the mess that was the grid of surveillance feed that filled the large screen in front of them. Any and every camera they'd possibly have to pass here, covering two different buildings and then some. Very important surely, but Julius found his eyes locked on something arguable far more interesting.

Radcliff, to fit his cover as a random civilian, wore casual street wear. Dark blue jeans, grey sweater over a plain t-shirt. His light brown hair left loose, appose to the usual half up style he'd default to. By all means, significantly more boring than the man's average outfit he wore to work.

But, to Julius, his partner looked just as stunning as usual.

He loved how focused Radcliff got. The way his eyes squint slightly as they jumped around the screen, how his hands glided across the keyboard — the occasional pause when he slips up and he has to realign them on the keys — the slight bounce to his left leg that started whenever he working. The small things he did Julius had picked up on over the years, each one he found cute and charming.

"You alright Jules?" Radcliff inquired without turning, clearly having felt the other man's stare.

Jules, a beautiful nickname. Julius loved it as much as the one who gave it to him.

"Yeah, just watching," he said.

"Doubt it's that entertaining," Radcliff joked with a laugh.

"I love watching you do your thing," Julius insisted. "It's impressive."

Radcliff laughed again, smile now stuck to his face. Julius match it easily. It was hard not to, a smile so infectious.

"Seriously, I know it's a good mission when I get to watch the set up," he continued. "Like watching the magic happen."

And the hot magician.

"Plus the face you make when working is cute."

That last bit probably should have been an inside thought as well, but Julius' smile grew when he caught sight of the slight hit of red in Radcliff's face as he tried to laugh off the compliment.

"Suppose I'll have to take your word for it, Jules."

Julius dropped his feet down and slid his chair back over to Radcliff's side, having full intentions of what would most definitely have been flirting with Radcliff further. Maybe he could finally get the other man to realize what he was not so gently implying all the time. Said plans, however, got cut off by a voice from the van computer.

"Julius, Radcliff, confirm those new laser cutters are fully charged and ready to go," Billingsworth requested.

Julius let out a quiet sigh as moved his chair to the left and pulled open one of four drawers in the van.

"Both are here, fully charged and ready to go," he confirmed. "You tested these good Billingsworth?"

"Absolutely," the scientist promised. "Radcliff, think you can have everything read in five minutes?"

"Only need three," he said, Julius' smile temporarily returned.

"Perfect, mission is a go in exactly 270 seconds."

"Roger that."

Julius stood up and secured all his gear, still mildly annoyed at the interruption. He was just laying out a good mood too.

But the job came first. He'd tried again later.

4)

Radcliff loved cooking. His work at The Institution didn't leave much time for hobbies, so cooking was probably the closest thing to one he had.

They had a rather nice communal kitchen, but any new hire was introduced to it as "Radcliff's kitchen," which made him chuckle. And getting a home cooked meal from him was something everyone looked forward too. (Especially The Boss)

Cooking for others made it all the better, his father always said food tastes better when someone else makes it for you. He loved to give that to the team he saw as family.

Today, he started early enough they'd eat at a more "normal" dinner time. Lasagna and garlic bread tonight, a fan favourite.

"Radcliff!"

Julius slid into the kitchen, leaning against the counter while his partner was chopping garlic.

"Everything alright Julius?"

"Oh yeah, was just looking for you," Julius explained. "The Boss said you were making dinner, so that really narrowed it down."

"Did you need anything?"

"Just you," Julius insisted, turning around and sitting up on the counter. "Anything I can do to help?"

"You're company's enough."

Was that too forward? Maybe, but Julius doesn't seem bothered by it… in fact he's smiling still.

"If you say so. I certainly don't mind just watching."

Julius did just that, watching Radcliff from the counter while he prepared the meal, speaking about a mission from a few days ago.

"Fancy parties are my favourite cover, I think we do well in there. And you'd think you'd been practicing your dance moves."

"I stepped on your foot Julius," Radcliff reminded with a laugh.

"Only once. That's progress. And still, it's a fun and affective cover. And the outfits are a nice bonus."

Julius continued, going on about why those type of missions were his favourite. Radcliff fell into the bad habit of loosing track of what his partner was saying because he was too busy just staring at him.

It was, beautiful? The way Julius' face lit up when he was talking about something he liked. Beautiful didn't seem like the right word to describe the unfiltered joy, how bright his eyes seemed, even in the mediocre kitchen lighting. No. No word really seemed right the more he tried to place one-

"Ah - shit!"

So distracted, Radcliff almost cut his own finger off. That was an exaggeration, he'd only nicked the tip of his ring finger, enough to draw blood but far from a missing finger.

Radcliff turned to get a bandage, surprised by Julius standing right beside him. He grabbed his hand, taking a close look at the injury.

"Sorry, nothing to bad," Radcliff reassured, realizing his reaction might have made Julius think otherwise. "Not paying attention to what I was doing."

"Really? From the guy who throws knives?" Julius teased lightly, pulling Radcliff along to the drawer where they kept simple medical supplies.

"We all have our off days."

Radcliff stood still while Julius took charge of cleaning his finger in the sink and applying a bandage. More fuss than the small wound was worth, but he didn't argue.

"What was distracting you?" Julius asked, more serious than normal.

"You," Radcliff admitted sheepishly, unable to think of any excuse. "Not like — you being here. That's never been the problem. Just, I was not paying attention because I was focusing on you… whatever."

Julius laughed softly. Not teasingly, but just amused. He placed his hand on Radcliff's arm, his touch comforting as always.

"Sorry, guess I —"

Julius paused as footsteps approached, someone new entering the room.

"Julius, The Boss needs your help testing out some training simulation," Billingsworth reported, face buried in whatever report was on his clipboard.

"Right, right," Julius muttered. He gave Radcliff's arm a small squeeze, flashing his partner a smile before turning around. He followed Billingsworth out, moving his distracted coworker slightly left to avoid the door frame.

Radcliff couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed as he got back to cooking, now left wondering what Julius was going to say. Wondering if maybe they were close to… something.

But that was probably just wishful thinking.

5)

Agent Julius Johnson had been out countless missions in his life, working for The Institution. But, this current mission was the most important one of his career. The most stressful, heart racing one as well.

Actually telling Radcliff how he felt.

This odd game they were playing, Julius not so subtly flirting with Radcliff, Radcliff somehow not picking up on it while trying to slide Julius his own hints (at least Julius was fairly confident that's what the other man was doing) was getting them no where. One of them was going to have to be very direct.

And it was going to be Julius (I guess)

"You are a fucking spy Johnson," he muttered under his breath, glancing into empty meeting rooms in search of his partner.

"You jump out of planes, off bridges, steal from people with enough fire power to take out an army, and you freaking out over a fucking conversation."

"Julius!"

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, Billingsworth rushed over to catch up to him.

"Do you have a minute?"

"If you can walk and talk yeah."

The other man most definitely could not, that was clear to Julius as Billingsworth matched his step with his head down, attention fully locked on whatever was in the messy notebook he held. But anyone who knew him was use to guiding the science around objects right in his path, Julius especially.

"Listen to this; Lenard or whatever his name is-"

"Lionel."

"-Yeah, him. He's been assisting with the longevity formal work and we've got some calculations with the recent tests."

Normally, Julius wouldn't mind listening to Billingsworth's detailed information dumps about whatever thing he was working on. He always found them quite interesting. Today, however, his mind wasn't going to hold onto any information other than the half-baked 'speech' he planned to tell Radcliff.

It started with his usual string of complements towards the guy, how he started most of their conversations, then lead into inviting him up onto the roof. Where a proper confession could take place. Assuming his timing was correct, it'd be sunrise, Radcliff favourite time of day.

The confession itself was where things weren't as laid out. Trying to find a way to precisely word exactly how he felt about Radcliff wasn't easy, to say the least. How on earth could you describe the man who brightens your whole world? Who saves you life all the time, who you'd give anything and everything for?

He was honestly hoping the words would finally come to him in the moment. At least enough of them to form a few sentences.

Julius was paying enough attention to Billingsworth to steer him through the doorway instead of into the wall beside. They'd made it to the break room, Julius happy to spot Radcliff talking to The Boss inside.

"The point being we're getting somewhere with this, real close to breakthrough Julius," Billingsworth capped off, finally closing his book and looking up at Julius.

"Great, that's really great," Julius said with a small pat on the shorter man's shoulder, trusting he sounded more invested than he was. "Knew you'd figure it out, glad you got some help in there too."

That seemed to satisfy his coworker enough, allowing Julius to slip over to Radcliff while only feeling slightly bad about ignoring him.

"Cliff, Boss," he greeted, draping his arm over Radcliff's shoulder. "Not interrupting, am I?"

"Only talks of coffee and the right amount of sugar," The Boss replied with a chuckle, take a sip of her cup. "We thought we'd experiment with average break room talk you'd expect at a 'normal' job. Turns out, it's quite boring."

"Who could've predicted?" Julius remarked, using his free hand to take Radcliff's cup. His partner had no problem handing it over, use to Julius' tendency to steal his drinks. "You mind if I borrow Radcliff away from your little experiment? I'd say you could get Billingsworth to take over, but we all know he'd revert back to work talk in about three minutes."

The trio laughed, Billingsworth seemingly noticed none of that as he sat on the table with his head buried in his book again.

"He's all yours, I have a call to the CIA I've been putting off."

Julius and Radcliff watched her leave with a quick goodbye to Billingsworth, who didn't seem to notice her.

"You think if one of us dropped dead he'd notice?" Radcliff asked, making Julius laugh as he was trying to drink.

"Maybe if we got blood on his book."

"Even than, chance he'd just rub it off," Radcliff remarked. "Anyways, you need something?"

"Just your attention," Julius replied, pulling Radcliff ever so slightly closer to him.

Just as you planned Johnson. Start same as always.

"For any particular reason?" Radcliff inquired further with a smile.

God he's beautiful.

"Suppose so, haven't seen much of you in the last bit. They have you busy working on surveillance stuff, huh?"

"Busy, that's for sure," he agreed, taking his cup back for a drink himself.

"Normally I'd love to be there watching, but was tied up in training, then with Billingsworth," Julius remarked.

"Sure it was more interesting than watching me work."

He quickly shook his head.

"Told you before, I love watching you do your thing. Whole day of that would have been better than anything."

"Would of liked having you there as well," Radcliff admitted taking another drink. He was getting better at hiding the colour changing in his face. But not perfect.

"Entertain me for a moment, Radcliff, when both have a couple of free minutes now yes?"

"Believe so."

"I'd like to take you somewhere," Julius explained, taking the now empty cup from Radcliff and setting it on the counter behind them. "Where we could spend a moment together. Since we didn't get to all day."

"Yeah. I'd be fine with that," Radcliff agreed rather quickly.

Perfect.

Julius slid his arm off Radcliff and down to his hand, guiding him towards the door. Both gave a short goodbye to Billingsworth, still too engrossed in his work to notice.

It was a brief walk to the stairs, and an only slightly longer one to the top. Julius pushed the heavy metal door open, relieved his internal clock hadn't done him wrong as they were faced with the rising sun.

"Sure is nice," Radcliff remarked as they stepped out onto the open roof, taking in the soft blue sky and the dawning orange seeping in. "View doesn't get much better 'round here, huh?"

"It does not," Julius agreed, though focused on a different view.

Easy part done, now he just needed to hope those words he was struggling with finally found themselves.

"There's actually something I've been wanting to tell you."

"Oh? Everything alright Jules?" Radcliff asked, stepping back beside him.

"Yeah, nothing bad," Julius reassured. "Radcliff, listen. I need to be very honest with you, no more subtle (or not so subtle) messages or anything like that. Just, exactly how —"

Both men were slightly startled as the roof door went flying open, Billingsworth barrelling through with the book still in hand.

"Radcliff, I need you to look at this, these numbers! The data with this week's findings isn't matching up with — I think the whole graphs off!"

Julius wasn't an angry man. Never had been. But, as Radcliff went over to the frantic scientist, Billingsworth was sure bringing out some amount of angry in him.

He quickly reminded himself it's work. Very, very important work that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. And it wasn't like Billingsworth knew what he'd interrupted.

Still really annoying and inconvenient. But that was besides the point.

"Hang on, looks like someone recorded these dates wrong here," Radcliff realized, pointing to something on the cluttered page.

"What — oh God damn it Lionel!"

"It's inconvenient but not impossible to fix, with a bit of reformatting," Radcliff insisted quickly before Billingsworth got any angrier. "I can run through it with you, just…"

His eyes traced back over to Julius, a inquiry at how long what he had to say was going to take.

"Nothing to important, I can tell you later," Julius brushed off, dying only a little inside. "Certainly not more important than fixing this. Let's get down to the lab."

Radcliff smiled at him, turning Billingsworth around and guiding him back down the stairs with Julius following close behind them.

"Small question, how did you know we were on the roof?"

+1)

Thirteen hours.

That's how long it'd been since Julius' last check in.

To say Radcliff was worried would be an understatement. But he couldn't let it show. He had a job to do. That job being to find Julius.

Julius had left on what should have been an easy solo mission to retrieve something from some guy — details weren't very revilement to Radcliff at the moment. He only cared that, while Julius did report obtaining the desired object and said he was on his way back, that was thirteen hours ago, and they hadn't been able to find a trace of him since.

Radcliff had been scrubbing through any and every camera feed remotely close to his mission sight, around the time of his last message.

But trying to spot a world-class spy who avoided surveillance for a living, definitely not going well.

"Radcliff—"

"Nothing yet," he reported without turning, full focus on trying to spot his partner while flicking through different camera feeds.

"Radcliff,"

"Moved to the cameras North-East of the location… checking vehicles now-"

"Radcliff."

The Boss put a firm had on his shoulder and pulled him away from the keyboard .

"Take a walk."

"Boss I-"

"Take a walk. Five minutes," she instructed. "Come back with fresh eyes."

"… Yeah… okay."

Radcliff stood up for the first time in several hours, taking a deep breath as he forced himself out the door and towards the break room.

He'll be fine. Julius is the best agent we've got. Just… stop panicking.

It's true, the name Agent Julius Johnson was so well know around The Institution for a reason. And his record was a long list of near-death experiences that didn't even make him break a sweat.

But this was different. Julius had never just disappeared before. He valued the job more than almost anything, and Radcliff knew he'd never leave them in the dark this long on his own accord.

Something happened. And Radcliff hated that he didn't know what.

Radcliff made it to the break room, Billingsworth had taken over the table with a large spread of loose papers covered in red markings.

"Radcliff, come look at this," he insisted, waving the other man over. "I've built a map of the area Julius was last in, the house from the mission right in the centre. Crossed off all the locations we are absolutely sure he's not."

Sure, it looked like Billingsworth had crossed off a lot, and he had. But his map was a select area, technically Julius could have been almost anywhere after thirteen hours.

Billingsworth knew this, of course he did. But Radcliff knew he was grasping at any attempt to be helpful.

This was new and terrifying for everyone.

"This is great man. Hey, do me a favour, go run through everyone we know who knew about that — that thing Julius went to get. Pull up all their properties, make sure they get checked."

Billingsworth nodded quickly, clearly motivated by this task as Radcliff backed out of the break room.

He didn't head back to the computer yet, instead making his way up the stairs and up onto the roof.

It was cool, but not cold, judging by the sun, maybe six in the morning? He'd been so focused on what was going on everywhere and anywhere thirteen hours ago, so he couldn't be sure. Sounded right though.

It felt… strange… how much this was worrying him. The countless time Radcliff had a front row seat to Julius throwing himself out of moving vehicle and off building and always knew he'd come out alive.

This was the first time in all their years working together Radcliff had seriously been worried for Julius' life.

And he hated it.

He hated not knowing anything, anything. They didn't have the faintest clue to where Julius was, who he was with, if he was alive still-

Stop spiraling! Just… need to get back to work.

Radcliff turned to head back inside with one last look up at the early morning sky. Something caught his eye, stopping him in his tracks yet again.

If he was actually seeing Julius parachuting down towards him, it would have been more normally than anything else in recent hours.

He landed a few feet from Radcliff, taking off his parachute while the other man studied him.

His dark hair was messy, blowing back in the slightly in the light breeze rooming in. Once removing the equipment, he flashed a very familiar smile towards Radcliff.

Definitely Julius.

"Didn't think anyone would be up here waiting for me, had a gut feeling or something —"

Radcliff cut his partner off, wrapping his arms around Julius in a tight embrace.

"Alright then, missed me or something?" Julius teased lightly, the regret showing almost immediately on his face as Radcliff leaned back with his hands planted on his shoulders.

"What the fuck happened? The hell have you been — Julius I — I thought you were fucking dead!"

"Hey, hey, Cliff I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, arm sliding around Radcliff. "It's a long story — one I will tell everyone so I don't have to repeat myself — but I definitely didn't mean to leave you all in the dark like that. I'm sorry, really."

Radcliff took a deep breath, letting his arms drop back to his side.

"It's okay, sorry for snapping at you. Just… care a lot. Was worried about you."

"Which is sweet of you," Julius remarked, gently sliding Radcliff's hair back and letting his hand rest on his face.

Radcliff had spent a lot of his time trying to convince himself Julius was, in fact, not flirting with him. That all his compliments and physical touches were just because they're partners. But, trying to deny it any further was seeming like nothing short of stupid.

Flirt back you coward — now or never, right?

"Maybe… you could do one more thing to apologize to me Jules."

"Oh? What did you have in mind?"

Before Radcliff could answer, the door opened. Before he could turn to see who, Julius' cupped his face and pulled Radcliff into a long awaited kiss.

"Hope that works," Julius muttered before turning towards the now open door. "Billingsworth, Boss, I hear I had everyone worried?"

"Sure did Agent Johnson," she confirmed. "Glad to have you back, you got some story for us?"

"Full story — and the ledger that started this all," he promised, pulling the small book out of his pocket. "How about over coffee? It's a bit chilly out today, especially up there."

Radcliff hadn't taken in a word as this conversation continued, his hand touching his lip as Julius still had his arm wrapped around him.

Lots of thoughts running through his head, most of the boiling down to 'finally' and just… relief.

"Radcliff?"

"Hm — yeah?"

"Ready?" Julius asked, gesturing towards the door and stairs the others were already going back down.

Radcliff gave Julius a quick second kiss before nodding.

He did remember waking up in the Shepard's house, wrapped up in some blankets and unable to move his right leg much, if at all. And a sleeping Dallas laying right on top of him. He had, understandably, freaked out and damn nearly scared the entirety of the Shepards and Dallas and Ponyboy—which he didn't even know that Ponyboy was friends with the Shepards, or close buddies with Dallas.

He'd been in and out of their orbit since then. Partly because his leg was still fucked, partly because he owed the Shepards a favor for saving his life, and partly because damn it all to hell and back, he was in love with Dallas Winston.

"I climbed." Two-bit responded, his cocky grin only getting a raised eyebrow from the other.

"Well, get yer ass down 'ere. We got places ta be." Dallas responded, and Two-bit sighed, grabbing his, still, unopened beer and tossing it down to Dallas, who caught it just barely. Two-bit shoved himself up and moved towards the side of the building so that he could climb down.

The fire escape gave out years ago, but there were still enough things stacks beside the old general store that Two-bit climbed up and down regularly. It's where he slept most nights when he didn't have somewhere to go.

Two-bit came out the alleyway, accepting his now opened beer from Dallas, and taking a swig of it as he fell into step with the hood. They were both hoods; just because the Zombie Apocalypse came around didn't stop them from committing crimes that were no longer enforced. There were enough survival groups for some consequence to happen.

"What's goin' un today?" Two-bit asked, humming as the bitter liquid went down too easy.

"Tim wants everyone nearby 'cause of'a incomin' horde." Dallas responded, and Two-bit would have stumbled had he not already been limping. Dallas had an arm thrown over Two-bit's shoulder now, his left arm because he could barely lift his right arm unless there was adrenaline running through his system, and even then it had to be enough that it would be in his system for hours after whatever caused it.

Guilt had never stuck so relentlessly to Two-bit before then, before now.

"Why would 'e wan' me 'roun'?" Two-bit asked, tilting his head as he took another drink before offering it to Dallas.

"Yer one'a us, why wouldn' 'e wan' ya 'round?" Dallas asked, sounded partially baffled as he accepted the drink from Two-bit and taking a swig of it. Two-bit mourned the warmth from Dallas' arm, but it was back too enough when he passed the drink back to Two-bit.

Two-Bit was also reeling from being told he was one of them.

Two-bit didn't get over being told he was one of them until they were coming up to a house that was hidden from those who weren't looking for it. It was in an abandoned section of Tulsa, because even during an Apocalypse no one was lucky enough to escape Tulsa, where there was a lot of overgrowth with the barest attempts at fixing that. The lights were off, like they normally were, and there seemed to be nothing going on inside.

"Com'on, tha kids should be somewhere in tha back," Dallas murmured, voice sounding heavy with something akin to exhaustion. Two-bit finished his beer, letting Dallas take the actual final drink. He'd throw the bottle out once he was inside, because Tim didn't like there being any risks around the kids. Ponyboy ended up shredding up his ankle when he was running from the undead that were following him while doing a food run with José, Victor, and Curly a few weeks prior.

Two-bit knew that Ponyboy was still on limited adventure, and it was wearing on the former track runner.

"Tim no' wit' 'em?" Two-bit asked, cocking an eyebrow and Dallas snorted.

"Nah, needed a break from 'em." Dallas had his signature cocky grin on his face, but there was something softer around the edges. Two-bit followed Dallas inside, tossing the bottle in the trash once he was inside. He was still following after Dallas, who was walking towards one of the bedrooms. Tim had to have been resting.

From what Dallas talked about, some time ago, Tim often stayed up at night to make sure nothing got the jump on the kids when they were sleeping. Sometimes Dallas joined him, sometimes Tim was watching over him too. Sometimes, Dallas was watching over him instead so that Tim could get decent sleep.

Two-bit stayed near the door while Dallas moved across the bedroom like it was his own—it was mostly true, anyways—and watched as Dallas gently woke Tim up, who only blinked at Dallas before scanning the room and finding Two-bit near the door.

"Ya comin'n or no'?" Tim asked, voice slurring a bit as he stayed as comfortably as he could in bed. Dallas glanced towards Two-bit and motioned him inside. Two-bit walked in and shut the door behind him. Tim hummed in appreciation. Two-bit hadn't realized how loud the house, or outside of it, was before the door was shut and he felt how quiet the room was. Dallas was laying in bed next to Tim in a few moments, motioning for Tim to join them.

Two-bit wondered, briefly, how this came to happen but joined them anyway. He ignored how he was being held by Tim from behind when Dallas suddenly yanked Two-bit to sprawl across from him.

Two-bit will deny the yelp that escaped him in favor of hiding his face against Dallas' shoulder. He was an unfairly nice pillow, despite how boney he was.