Somewhere I Belong
by Surreal 
E-mail: surreal666@hotmail.com
Website: https://www.squidge.org/~surrealarts/
Status: complete
Category: Christmas, first time (barely)
Rating: R
Summary: Wake-up calls and just your average day.
Archive: Candy Store
Disclaimer: Not mine, though they belong to us all now.
Notes: This is my first fic in a *long* time, and only my second 
Fastlane fic.  Be gentle!  Soundtrack:  "Somewhere I Belong," 
Linkin Park

**********

"Van, get in the damn car NOW."

Van's head snapped around to look behind him incredulously, only to see
the last thing he ever expected: Deaq's head sticking out of Billy's 
favorite Mustang from the next ally back and across, yelling 
at him in the middle of a firefight.

For a moment, all he could do was stare.

He felt another shot richochet off of the brick in front of his head, 
reminding him of where he was.  He let loose a wild shot and yelled 
back at his partner, "I can't!  If I move, I'm fucking dead!"

"I've got you covered, man, trust me.  When I say go, you move your 
skinny white ass, you hear me?  Don't think, don't look, you just 
run."  

Van glanced back again, seeing Deaq safely hidden between the buildings.  
He figured the other man had driven through from a cross street, and with 
the noise and distance between him and the guys trying to kill him, Deaq 
hadn't been spotted.  

He knew it was his only chance, but he couldn't answer.  He was scared 
shitless.  

The last thing he wanted was to give the Hayes family another dead son 
for Christmas.

"Van, for fuck's sake, just do as I say for once, will you?"  Deaq's 
voice carried down the ally and Van couldn't hold back a shiver of 
dread.  

"Just say the word, Deaq."  Van bounced on his heels, ready to run when 
his partner gave him the clear.  

Hearing a volley of shots coming from behind him, Van hunched down and 
waited for the shout.  When he heard Deaq's "Now!," he didn't hesitate.  
On his feet in an instant, he stayed doubled over as he ran toward 
Billy's shiny new car.

The sound of metal ripping through metal accompanied him as he slammed 
into the side of the car's front end, the heat from the bullets leaving 
stinging burns on his arm.  

Crawling into the passenger side of the car, he reached over and pulled 
on Deaq's shirt, signaling that he'd made it.  Deaq fired off another 
few rounds for cover, then fell back into the driver's seat and floored 
the still-running car into reverse and out into the side street.

"Too close, Van.  Too fucking close," Deaq chanted, casting sideways 
glances to the other man still trying to catch his breath.  "Who'd you 
piss off this time?"

Van swallowed a couple of deep breaths and answered, "Boys in blue, 
man."

Deaq nearly ran them off the road and into a light pole.  "What?!  
You tellin' me we were just in a firefight with *uniforms*?"

"That's about it, yeah."  Van shifted in his seat and hissed, 
glancing down at his arm that he'd brushed against the door.  He 
tugged at the sleeve of his t-shirt with his other hand, pushing 
up the fabric to see a pair of shallow nicks in his bicep.  He 
opened the glove compartment and pulled out a napkin he found in 
there, wiping off the drying blood on his arm.  "Billy'll kill me 
if I dirty up her car.  How the hell did you end up with this 
fine ride, anyway?"

Sneaking a quick look over at his partner, Deaq's retort caught 
in his throat at the sight of blood.  "You hit, man?"

"What?  No, it's fine - just a flesh wound.  Scratches; had worse 
from your parents' cats," Van assured him quickly.  "Where we 
headed, back to the Store?"

"Nah, but I gotta call Billy and tell her to clear up the mess you 
made with the junior crew.  What'd you do that ended up with them 
tryin' to shoot your ass a new hole?"  

Van turned a darker shade of pink and cleared his throat, not 
looking up from his cleanup.  "I was climbing out the window of 
the dry cleaner."

That made Deaq blink.  "Ok, I need more than that."

Clearing his throat, Van kept his eyes facing out the side window.  
"It's closed on Sundays, but Rajindar let me in to drop off some 
stuff.  His...daughter, Darshini, was very *insistent* on me joining 
her for lunch.  Rajindar pointed me to the back.  I was making my 
escape out the bathroom window when I saw the black and white comin' 
down the street."

Deaq listened to the explanation quietly, but by the end his barely 
contained laughter finally broke free.  He howled for a moment, 
but had the presence of mind to keep the car in control.  "You...you 
nearly got your head blown off for crawling out a WINDOW??  I swear, 
man, you have the WORST luck.  You must be a rookie magnet or 
somethin', 'cause ain't no vets gonna start shootin' at a guy for 
that."

"Shut up and drive."

********

Van was relieved when they pulled up to Deaq's parents' house.  He 
waited as his partner pulled a bag out of the backseat that he 
hadn't noticed.  Deaq caught his questioning look and shrugged.  
"Dropping a few things off for the family.  You're comin' over 
for Christmas, right?"

"What?  Oh, yeah.  Of course, your parents would never forgive 
me if I didn't.  And the kids..."  Van shook his head, not caring 
to think about what Andre's kids would do to him if he didn't join 
the family.  He followed Deaq into the house.

"Mom?  Anyone home?"  Deaq called, moving into the living room 
to drop his bag off next to the tree with the other gifts.  

The woman whom Van had come to know as Mom answered from further 
into the house.  "That you, Deaqon?  Is Donovan with you?"

"Yeah, Ma, he's here," Deaq smirked at Van.  

Mrs. Hayes came in and gave her son a warm hug, before turning to 
Van to do the same.  Van held back a hiss as she accidentally 
bumped his tender wounds.  "You boys going to stay for dinner?"

Deaq looked at Van, who shrugged.  "We got a few things to take 
care of, but we can come back tonight.  Usual time?"

"You know it is, Deaqon."  

"You been busy, I see," Deaq finally glanced around, taking in 
the Christmas decorations covering every surface and wall in the 
house.  Only when he spotted something that seemed out of place 
did he blink and point it out.  "Who put that up and how much 
had they had to drink, Ma?"

She followed his gaze, as did Van.  Sitting on a low bookshelf 
was a single, tiny artificial tree no more than a foot tall, 
resting in a burlap sack base.  It was leaning to one side, 
pulled by the weight of its single decoration:  a massive neon 
orange ornament the size of a cantaloupe.  It was covered in 
multi-colored glitter and had a large snowman head painted 
on one side.  It was the ugliest thing Deaq had ever seen.

Deaq saw his mother look at Van with what he could only describe 
as sympathy, but what shocked him most was that Van had become 
very pale.  "Hey, Van, what's wrong?"

Van swallowed hard and coughed.  "Uh, excuse me a moment, Mom.  
I...just need to go clean up..."  He stumbled in his haste to 
get to the hall bathroom.

Deaq watched his partner, confused and worried, until he felt 
his mother's hand on his arm.  "What's going on?" 

"I know it looks funny, but we had to put it up.  Van and Andre 
had this tradition, every year they'd try to find the biggest, 
ugliest Christmas ornament they could come up with and give it 
to each other," she explained with a sad smile.  "You should 
have seen some of the things they came up with.  That one there 
was the last one Van gave Andre, last year; it was declared the 
winner by the kids.  Your father and I wanted to put it out, to 
make sure Van knew he was welcome here, that we still love him 
even after we lost your brother."

"That's...that's real nice, Ma," Deaq knew it sounded weak, but 
his mind was on his partner.  "I'm gonna to see if Van's doin' 
all right."  He turned quickly and followed Van's trail down 
the hall.

Knocking once, he didn't bother waiting for a response.  He went 
into the small bathroom and closed the door behind him.  "Hey, 
man, sorry 'bout that.  I never knew, about stuff like that, you 
know?"  He stepped in front of where Van was seated on the closed 
toilet lid, head down and elbows resting on his knees.  Deaq 
knelt in front of him, putting his hands on Van's forearms.  
"I wish I had known.  You and my bro did all kinds of crazy shit 
together that I wish I'd been around to see, but there ain't nothin' 
I can do about that now.  'Cept make you talk."

Van sniffed and looked up, his eyes brimming with tears.  "Sorry 
'bout running like that.  I just...I'd forgotten about the exchange, 
I wasn't expecting that.  Your parents...I can't believe how good 
they've been to me, after Andre..."  His voice broke and he dropped 
his head back down.  

"Hey, don't be like that.  You know them, you know my family better 
than me sometimes, man.  Can you really see them disowning one of 
their kids, for just bein' there to watch their son die?  Can you?"  
Deaq moved his hands up to rest on Van's shoulders, noting how they 
were shaking under his palms.  

Shaking his head violently, Van let out a sob.  "No, god, no."  He 
shook with emotion.  "I just...I'm glad you're here, now."

Deaq took his cue and pulled Van into a tight hug, promising himself 
never to let go.  Promising to never let Van feel abandoned, or 
unsure of his place in the Hayes family ever again.  He tilted his 
head to the side and kissed Van's throat, then pulled back and kissed 
him lightly on the lips.  

Van shivered in response, a small gasp escaping as he returned the 
gentle kiss.  His eyes filled with questions, but he said nothing as 
he saw his answers returned in Deaq's smile.  Unable to stop a smile 
of his own, he rested his forehead against his partner's and sighed.

"So.  You ready to go explain to Billy how her car and one of her 
boys got holes shot in them by rookies while escaping from a horny 
lunch date?"

Laughing, Van refused to let go just yet.  "If you put it that way, 
maybe it'd be better if we just did it over the phone."

***********

End.