All at once. Like the terrifying silence just before the first crack of thunder in a summer storm. With his breath stuck in his lungs, Gabriel watched as Monkey Cats went stiff. Every muscle in their body contracting so painfully that their bones snapped. Bodies twisting grotesquely, tails splayed straight out as they were stuck by the voltage.
The Off Formers reactions were slower, bodies tremoring as their suits absorbed the shock. FUD’s pinchers squeezed so hard they popped off, and the Handler’s heads swiveled. Even the Drones were affected, jerked from their flight paths to crash to the ground, where they rolled in seizure-like motions.
Gabriel lowered his gun, letting it dangle from his fingers.
They did it.
A ragged cheer rose up. Faint, at first. Almost a question. Then another joined. And another. Suddenly, there was a cacophony of whoops and chants.
With a big pop, the switch flipped, and the aliens all collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. Smoke curled off their limp bodies.
A warm hand slipped into his. Gabriel looked over to see green eyes sparkling at him. “Careful,” Blake said, smiling so hard the dried blood on his face cracked. “One of these days, I might really hold you to that whole life-saving punch card thing.”
Gabriel’s chest clenched, and he tugged Blake to him, wrapping his arm around him. Blake hugged him tight, burying his face in his chest. Gabriel’s ribs were screaming, but he didn’t care. He closed his eyes and kissed the top of Blake’s head, breathing him in.
Alive.
Words failed him. He’d been so close to death he could smell the sulfur pits of hell. Now he was standing atop melted rubble, hugging an angel.
“You saved my life,” he breathed.
Blake huffed. “That’s what I do.”
Gabriel pulled back so he could kiss him. He buried his fingers in his curls and kissed him deep. His lips were chapped, and he tasted like pennies and grit. But it felt like a stiff breeze through his hair after a hot, humid day.Relief.
It wasn’t enough. It never would be. But thanks to Blake, he might have a lifetime for more.
Injured people who had managed to roll out of the shock zone or squeeze into side streets began limping into the road. Zoe was supporting a now conscious Tyler, slowly picking their way through dead aliens. Beaumont climbed out of the station,blinking at the sunlight. Alvarez slipped through the wall, jogging up to him.
Beaumont smiled brightly…right before he punched Alvarez in the face. Gabriel winced and looked away just as Beaumont started shouting at him about being left behind.
Blake pulled away from Gabriel to hop down into the street to help the wounded. Gabriel was pleased to see there were more wounded than he thought. They popped out of hidey holes, nursing broken bones and bloody wounds, but alive.
“Whoo-fucking-hoo!” Judd screamed, throwing his fist in the air as he came out of the Metro station. “We just saved the goddamn world!”
Everyone cheered at that; bloody, dirty fists raised to the sky.
It wasn’t the whole world. It was just a single city. But it was a victory. One against incredible odds, wrestled from certain defeat with the stubborn singlemindedness that only humanity was capable of. A crazy plan full of so many holes it couldn’t hold a single teaspoon of water, and a group of people just insane enough to make it work.
Judd whooped, ruffling Blake’s hair as he checked Tommy’s pupils. Blake shoved him off, rolling his eyes. But he was smiling, his lips quirked like he couldn’t make them stop. Phin wrapped a protective arm around an unsteady Tommy. The look directed toward them all might have been a little more effective without the inch of filth on his skin.
Tommy knocked Blake’s hands away and began probing at his bloody right arm. Predictably, Blake tried to shrug him off, but Tommy was insistent, ripping at his mangled sleeve to get a good look. Phin and Judd bickered beside them, their words barbed but their eyes raking over each other to check for any injuries.
There they were. Team Oh Shit. Battered, bloody, and a little worse for wear, but still the same. A group of people who in nological way should have ever made sense. A mistake waiting to happen. Until the world went to hell.
His team.
Blake laughed at something Tommy said, chin ducked. Gabriel remembered that last image. The one he’d held onto as he prepared to die. It was still there, fierce and whole. But he let that image go. He wouldn’t miss it. There would be thousands of others he would replace it with. A new one every day.
Come to think of it, maybe Gabriel was wrong. They had saved the world.Hiswhole world.
He hopped off the wall and made his way toward his team. There were plans to be made. They needed to patch up the wounded. Rendezvous with Victoria, and get back to the museum. But for now, he would take a moment to stop being Commander Lennox.
“Excuse me,” he said to Tommy as he snagged Blake by the waist, kissing him deep. Blake laughed against his lips, wrapping his arms around Gabriel’s neck, standing on tiptoes so he could kiss him back.
“Thank you,” Gabriel breathed against Blake’s lips. “Thank you for coming back to me.”
Blake stroked the hairs at his nape. “Thank you for trusting me to.”
