volnopesh

The cowboy was laying very still, arms and legs spread out in an ungraceful sprawl. His face was turned to the side, mouth slightly parted in unconsciousness.

Octavius made a noise of dismay, reaching out to gently shake his shoulder, "Jedediah?"

Nothing.

"Jedediah... do awaken," he pleaded, shaking him a little harder on the other man's shoulder.

Still nothing.

The Roman general groaned in exasperation. "Jedediah." How was it that even in unconsciousness he was stubborn?

But Octavius was not going to give up.

"I shall not quit you," he said, echoing Jed's earlier words as he began to press down on the cowboy's chest in a series of compressions.

It was in vain, though. Jed was still unresponsive.

Octavius sighed. It looked like there was only one other thing to do. And it was not giving up.

"Very well," he said to himself, turning Jed's face upwards and tilting his head back. "If you shall not breathe with life on your own, then I shall breathe life into you," he concluded with resolution.

What he didn't know, though, as he prepared himself to administer the CPR, was that his previous efforts did work. The cowboy's lids began to twitch, and it was the moment Jed felt a breathing on his face that he opened his eyes, taken aback at finding the Roman nearly nose to nose with him and inching closer to his face still.

He put a stop to it right away. "Whatever you're thinkin', boy, I suggest you stop thinkin' it."

Octavius gasped, jerking back and blinking in astonishment. "J-Jedediah!" he stammered.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," Jed joked, though the laughter that followed came out sounding weak and a little strained. And the next moment, the cowboy hissed in pain and clutched at his ribs.

"Jedediah! You are injured," Octavius exclaimed, worry evident in his expression.

"Ah, no," Jed replied, trying to dismiss the matter. "It ain't so bad. Just a lil banged up n' bruised, but ain't nuthin' to cry 'bout."

Still, Octavius couldn't help but fret. "Are you sure? Perhaps we should check for blood..."

Jed gave him a funny look. "But we're plastic, partner. We ain't gon' bleed."

"Oh. Right." Octavius looked at him uncertainly. "Would you would be able to move?"

Jed assessed himself for a second, and then nodded. "I should. Wouldja mind helpin' me out, though?"

"Most certainly," Octavius assured him. He extended his hand out to Jed, which the cowboy took in his grasp. Then, carefully, the Roman helped him get back on his feet.

"Woah now," the cowboy said, wobbling a little as he attempted to get his footing on the uneven ground.

Octavius held him by the arm until he did.

"Steady does it," he said, relieved when Jed was able to successfully plant his feet without stumbling.

Jed thanked the Roman and then brushed the remaining snow that was on his front off of himself. "Whew!" he exhaled. "That sure was one doozy of a fall... how long were we out?"

"I'm not certain," Octavius admitted. He looked up into the sky, but didn't see it much differently than he had earlier in the night. Above the trees still stood a pitch black sky, dotted with the occasional distant stars.

Jed in the meantime looked determinedly at the pathway ahead of them. "Well. That rascal couldn't've gotten that far. We can still catch 'em if we tried!"

Octavius, truthfully, did not want to try. He was worn out, both from the crash and the chase that had happened just before it. And, there was also something else. Something else that he had to let his companion know of.

"Jedediah?" he said tentatively. "I believe we should go back... to the museum, that is."

The cowboy whirled on him. "What? Why? That tablet could be long gone with the wind by now!"

Octavius shook his head. "I don't believe that it is. Larry has successfully completed the mission."

Jed looked confused. "What... but... how do you know?"

Octavius rubbed the back of his neck, hoping he didn't sound foolish.

"Well... perhaps it is only in my imaginings, but... I have a certain feeling. A sort of... pull to have us return."

Jed was giving him a baffled look.

"Perhaps you could sense it as well?" the Roman suggested.

The cowboy didn't really feel like disagreeing or calling him crazy. The night was wild enough as it was without them butting heads. So he tried to understand what Octavius was saying, facing the opposite direction of the path they'd been chasing the old nightguard on - the direction where they'd come from - and closing his eyes.

At first, he felt a bit silly. All he could feel was the cold breeze and the still night.

But then, he felt it.

He wasn't sure what to call it, or what it was. But it was as Octavius had described. A pull. Like a mystical tug in the direction of their home rather than the woodland that was Central Park. Was it a sixth sense? Was it the tablet's magic at work? Whatever it was, it was there, that was for sure. He opened his eyes and raised his brows in astonishment.

Octavius by this point was standing to the side, shaking his head. "I suppose it was only myself," he murmured, the assumption made when Jed hadn't said anything for several moments. "I should have known that - "

"Now hold your horses there, Oct," Jed interrupted him, putting a hand up. "Call me crazier than a road lizard, but... I can feel it, too."

The Roman looked at him in amazement. "You can?"

Jed nodded slowly. "Yeah. I can." He glanced at the Roman sincerely, no quip or slick comment attached.

Octavius cleared his throat after a moment. "Yes, well. I suppose we should begin to head off," he reasoned.

"Mmm-hmm," Jed agreed. "Say, uh, don't suppose the car's still salvageable, is it?"

"I highly doubt that," Octavius admitted, gesturing over to the heap of burned metal and plastic that used to be the toy Humvee.

Jed took one look and kicked the snow in frustration with his boot. "Aw, hell." Then he sighed. "A'ight then. May as well get started." He began to walk in the direction that they'd driven the car, Octavius sticking closely by his side.

The packed snow crunched underneath their sandals and boots as they went along, breaths coming out in puffs with the frigid temperature in the air.

Jed rubbed his hands up his arms. "Gonna be a long way back, boy," he mused.

Octavius wrapped his cape tighter around himself, slightly envying the long-sleeves that the cowboy had. But one look at the genuine concern on the cowboy's face made that envy go away. Rivalry or no rivalry, he'd still known Jed for a long time. Which meant that he knew that the cowboy would never dare to show vulnerability like this, especially in the face of his enemy. His concern was real, and Octavius couldn't blame him. He was worried, too. They were small, a hard fact they'd known since the very beginning. If they didn't arrive in time, before those sun rays lit up the city, they would crumble to dust, never to be seen again. Octavius swallowed down the fear of that happening, putting on a brave face for the man.

"We will make it, Jedediah. I trust that we can."

Jed gave him a look of disbelief, but didn't say anything against it. He was quiet for a minute, unusual for a boisterous man of his kind, before he spoke again.

"You coulda been a lot closer, ya know," he said. Octavius paused, confused. "Pardon?"

"To the museum," Jed explained. "Okay, well, maybe not there yet, y'know, since it's still a distance, but at least a whole lot closer than we are now."

Octavius furrowed his brows. "I don't understand..."

Jed sighed and stopped in his tracks. Octavius stopped, too. The cowboy faced him, looking the man seriously in the eyes, blue into brown.

"Listen, 'Tavius. Truth of the matter is, you had every chance to take off the second you woke up again."

Octavius blinked. "After the crash?"

"Well, yeah, what else?" Jed replied. "Ya coulda just left me for dead. Went back to the museum and ain't ever hafta deal with me again. Ain't nobody was stoppin' you from doin' it!"

Octavius shook his head. "Why... no. That's preposterous! Why would I leave you behind?"

"You got a fog in your brain, boy?" Jed replied. "We ain't ever get along! So why'd you save me?"

Octavius scoffed. "You speak as though you wished to die."

"'Course not," Jed replied. "I'm just tryna wrangle my thoughts and understand."

"Well..." Octavius began, thinking about what to say. "If you had been in my situation, Jedediah - awakening first, that is - would you have left me behind?"

Jed paused. He shook his head. "No way, kemosabe."

Octavius pressed on. "Why is that? You loathe me, do you not?"

"Octavius, it wouldn't've felt right leavin' ya there like a piece of roadkill," Jed huffed. "I gotta better conscious than that. The Wild West can be fulla rascals, but I ain't one of 'em. Gotta set an example for my folks back home, too. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, right?"

Octavius hummed, not really agreeing, not really denying. He observed Jed. The man had stopped talking, but there was something about his demeanor that told him that he wasn't quite done yet.

"Is there anything more you wish to say?" Octavius asked.

"No," Jed replied, but then he shrugged and changed his mind, kicking at a snow tuft. "Well, maybe."

Octavius regarded him. “Go on,” he prompted.

Jed sighed. “Well, see, the thing is… I…” The cowboy said something to complete that sentence, but he’d said it so fast and so low that Octavius couldn’t catch it.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, you ain't so bad of a guy as I thought ya were! There," Jed huffed, looking mildly embarrassed and tucking his hat further down upon his head in an attempt to shield his eyes.

Octavius couldn't help but chuckle. "Jedediah, there is no need to feel shame. I've come to find that, well, I do share the same sentiments in regards to you."

Jed managed to meet his eyes. "Come again?"

"I mean to say that you are not the man I previously thought you were," the Roman general explained. "I saw nothing more than a barbarian before. Today - tonight, I should say - I saw a man who exemplified bravery in the face of danger, and who did not so easily give up even in the midst of perils."

"Hey, I meant it when I said I wasn't quitin' you," Jed said sincerely.

"Yes," Octavius said, and then went on. "I suppose what I am trying to state is that I saw a man... well... a man not much unlike myself, I should say."

Jed snorted. "Ego, much?"

Octavius gaped for a moment, but Jed laughed the next second, showing that he really wasn't annoyed.

"Just playin', boy. I get exactly what you mean. I’m glad you stuck it out with me.”

“Likewise,” Octavius said. “And… that is the reason I had to rescue you, Jedediah. A brave warrior such as yourself should not have been left alone to die. You are courageous, my friend.”

At that, Jed gave him a bewildered look. “Friend?” he repeated.

“Well… do you not think of me as such?” Octavius asked. He suddenly worried. Maybe he had overstepped his boundaries, was taking things too quickly between them. After all, one night of setting aside differences and working together was not going to erase the tense decades-long history of feuding they had.

Jed had gone quiet again. He was thinking. Thinking hard. The pensiveness was clear as day. Slowly, he turned to Octavius.

"Look…” he sighed, “I know we ain’t always seen eye to eye, and our relationship’s been real… rocky at times.

“Since our initial meeting, actually,” Octavius reminded him, thinking back.

“Right,” Jed agreed. “But… heck… I think all them years of fightin’s been long enough. I’m ready to let this be water under the bridge, if you are.”

“So… a truce, perhaps?” Octavius asked.

Jed looked at him, and the hand that he had extended. There was some slight skepticism on his face, but it was only fleeting, because it was gone the next moment, when he grinned and gave the other man's hand a firm shake.

From there, the pair focused solely on their trek back, trudging through the snow, plowing against the biting wind, and, all the while, keeping a close eye on one another. The journey felt like it took forever, and the sky began to brighten. It wasn't quite the break of dawn yet, being that the sun's rays weren't out, but it wasn't quite the dead of night, either, with the dark blanket that was the sky being a deep, navy blue color rather than a pitch black.

Finally, though, they managed to get back.

"There it is!" Jed shouted, pointing at the loading dock where they'd started their adventure outside of the museum in the first place.

"We made it," Octavius breathed, exhausted but happy.

"Yeah. But it ain't over just yet," Jed pointed out, gesturing out to the stairs that led up to the doorway. To anyone else, they were regular stairs. To them, well, it was like climbing several cliffs.

Octavius felt tired just looking at it. "Right..." he sighed. There was no way around it.

But just then he felt his spirits lift a little when Jed patted him on the back and gave him a small smile. "I don't wanna either, but I'll help you if you help me, partner."

Octavius returned the smile. "Very well."

Little by little, they were making it. One would boost the other up - Octavius lifting Jed, and Jed lifting Octavius - and then alternating as they went up the steps.

It was worth the greeting they got in the end.

“Dad… look!”

It was Nick, the son of the nightguard happily pointing down at them.

Teddy Roosevelt, now repaired from his own mishap, glanced at the pair and gave a delighted laugh.

Larry didn’t say a word, but the relief and joy on his face was enough said. A grin spread on his face to see the two little miniatures, no matter if they were covered in soot or looked like they’d just been traveling for ages. They were there, that’s what counted.

Jed beamed up at the nightguard - Larry, he remembered he was called - proud to have Octavius by his side.

“You ain’t gettin’ rid of us that easily,” he said with a grin.

Octavius, feeling just as proud and accomplished as Jed, held his head up high, giving the Roman salute to Larry and Teddy. They returned it, just as they returned Jed’s cowboy salute when he did it right afterwards. Then the pair, much to their relief, headed back inside to the museum, making a beeline to the Hall of Miniatures.

“Thank goodness,” Jed said, wiping his brow as he looked up into the Wild West diorama.

“A sight to bring relief, I should say,” Octavius agreed, his own sights set on Rome. Before he left, he turned back to Jed once more. “Well, I suppose this is where we part ways.”

“Right,” Jed said. He stuck his hand out to the Roman general. “Was a pleasure workin’ with ya, Oct.”

“As it was with you as well, Jedediah,” Octavius agreed, taking Jed’s hand once more and shaking.

“Lookin’ forward to the nights ahead,” Jed said, a certain excitement in his voice.

Octavius smiled. “As am I. Until then, farewell, Jedediah.”

“See ya ‘round, Oct.”

Neither man could say that they were the best of friends just yet. But, it was a step in the right direction.