“Better now?”

Titus offered a nod as he crept into place next to Beau. “Yeah. Thanks. Tell me what I’m looking at?”

“Danni was just coming up to the gate when I got in place,” Beau whispered back, and Titus appreciated how he got down to business without further questioning of what had kept Titus lying on his back like a turtle. “Guard in the gatehouse stopped her and called her in. The suit came out and met her. They’ve just been talking.”

Titus peered up over the ledge to take in the scene. Danni was talking through the gate to the guy in the suit. Under the illumination of the streetlights, Titus couldn’t tell if it was black or navy, but the lines of the suit looked well tailored even from this distance. They were directly across the street and had a clear view of the gate, the guardhouse, and the closer door on the building. “I’ll get out the earpiece and monitor Danni’s end of the conversation. Keep an eye on things while I do.” Titus hunkered down without waiting for Beau’s assent, instead shucking off the backpack and sitting down with his back to the wall before slowly tugging open the zipper to minimize any noise it might make. He flicked the tiny switch into the “ON” position before fitting it into his ear. Danni’s voice came through loud and clear.

“Yeah, I know what I’m signing up for,” they were saying. “Look, I just need the extra cash. I’m not planning on asking unnecessary questions or sampling the goods. I have my own sources for Simp and prefer to get it the natural way. My mom would kill me if she found tracks in my elbows.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Beau muttered beside him.

“You can hear that?”

Beau tapped the edge of his ear. “These ain’t just for show,” he replied. “And that transmitter is clear as crystal. Also, smart of them to drop the hint that they’d be missed.”

Titus nodded. He couldn’t make out what the contact was saying, but the drone of a voice came through just enough to indicate that there was someone else speaking. “Yeah, I’m legal age,” Danni answered after a minute. “Not gonna show my ID, though. You don’t need it for hiring me, anyway; none of this shit is above board.” There was a pause. “Yeah, I can start immediately. Just gimme the Simp and the delivery address.” Another comment from the other person. “Hell no! I’m not that stupid! Cash up front or I walk. I know how this goes. If I agree to get paid on the other end, I won’t see a dime.” The contact replied something, then the conversation went silent.

“No! Shit, Danni. Don’t be stupid…” Distress flooded Beau’s words. Before Titus could ask, Beau supplied the context. “Gate’s openin’. I think they’re plannin’ to go inside.”

Titus swore under his breath and hurried to fish out the radio. “Branch! This is Westman! Do you copy?”

“Copy,” came the crackling reply. “We got eyes on the plant and the target.”

“Plant looks to be moving inside. Have assistance standing by.”

“Roger.” 

“They’re texting,” Beau reported at nearly the same time.

Titus fished out his phone a second before it vibrated. “fence is ag” the text read. Beside him, Beau swore colorfully and started texting a reply.

“GTFO!!”

“just a peak. lookin for the kid”

“Sonuvabitch,” Beau snarled under his breath. 

“What’s their initial text mean?” Titus asked, trying to get Beau to focus on something other than the fact that his sibling was being incredibly stupid.

“Means they’ve silvered the fence. Prob’ly the razor wire.”

“Why?” Titus felt his horror pour out in just that single word.

“Don’t want Lycos in or out,” Beau spat. “Thought I felt an itch as we cruised past. Dammit!”

Titus got on the radio again. “Branch, the fence is silvered. Repeat: the fence is silvered!”

“Copy.”

“Beau, it’s gonna be okay.”

“No, it ain’t!” The anguish in Beau’s voice snapped Titus’ head up to really look at the Lyco. Beau was shaking, his frame wracked with tremors. The Lyco had crouched back down below the height of the wall and was staring at the phone clutched in his hands, though Titus was confident he wasn’t seeing anything that might be on the screen at the moment. “Danni went in there! An’ if the fence is silvered, it means they can’t run. They’re trapped in there! Danni’s trapped in there an’ there ain’t a damn thing I can do about it!”

“Calm down!” Titus didn’t really want to startle Beau, as he wasn’t sure how Beau would react to it. But at the same time, he had to try something, anything, to get Beau to snap out of this panic. So as carefully as he could, Titus laid his hand on Beau’s forearm. It was just enough to get Beau to flinch and look up at him without provoking an attack. “This is why we have Ky and the other officers, remember? They can smash through the fence. And we don’t know yet that Danni’s in trouble. This may turn out to be nothing. They may still walk out of that gate, none the worse for this whole affair. We don’t - “ 

The squeal of static right in Titus’ ear was definitely not a good sign. He winced, and watched Beau’s pupils dilate in real time as adrenaline flooded the Lyco’s system. Titus ripped the ear bud out and tossed it into the backpack. “Branch!” he barked into the radio. “The plant is compromised. Contact lost!” And Beau is freaking out, he added to himself.

“Copy.” Ky’s voice over the radio helped Titus pull his focus back. “I’ll set retrieval in motion. Get your Lyco civilian clear.” 

Oh God. There was no way he was going to be able to get Beau to leave. Not with his sibling in danger. But Titus had to try. “Beau! Go back to the car! I’m gonna go rendezvous with Ky and go in after Danni. But I need you to be safe, okay? Danni needs you to be safe. If Danni can’t get past the fence, then you won’t be able to either. But me and Ky can. Also, I’m definitely going to need your help to get off this roof,” he realized. 

Titus was literally swept off his feet a moment later. He had no idea what happened. But between one minute and the next, he found himself upside down. Wait, that wasn’t entirely correct. Another moment’s thought brought him to the realization that Beau had scooped him up off the rooftop and tossed Titus over his shoulder like so much luggage, because his face bounced off Beau’s back before he could control it. An arm like an iron bar was wrapped around the back of his knees. Titus bounced several times, because Beau was tearing across the roof at a full run. And then he felt both of them falling.

Titus couldn’t help himself: he screamed.

The ground rushed toward Titus’ face, and he so could not deal with that right now. His eyes screwed shut. But there was no impact. Not of his face, at any rate. His gut, however, was driven into Beau’s shoulder with enough force that Titus nearly retched. The scream choked off abruptly, since now he couldn’t breathe properly and he was pretty sure his diaphragm was bruised. Then he was being set upright on his feet.

Titus grabbed onto Beau for dear life, his body protesting the rough treatment. He wasn’t sure whether he needed to gasp or cough. Doing either hurt like hell. And he still wasn’t entirely convinced that he wasn’t about to vomit. Doubled over, one hand fisted into Beau’s shirt, Titus choked on air.

“Fuck.” A hand rubbed at Titus’ back. “I’m…dammit. Sorry. I didn’t…mean to…Danni…”

Titus sucked in as big a breath as he could manage, trying to get his body back under control. “What the fuck, Beau?” he gasped, then coughed some more. God, his gut hurt.

Titus heard a sound from Beau, something that sounded like a mix between a growl and a whimper. Then the hand he had wrapped in Beau’s shirt was grabbed. “Okay, new plan. But I need my shirt back for a sec.” Seeing as he was in no shape to argue, Titus let his hand be pried open. But Beau kept hold of him, steadying him as he struggled to function. He had no idea what was going on other than his own difficulties. “Okay, get on.”

Trying to see past his watering eyes, Titus squinted toward Beau to find the Lyco crouched down in front of him. “What?” he croaked out past his abused throat and lungs.

“Get on,” Beau repeated, looking back and up over his shoulder. “This’ll be faster. And less likely to cause you problems if you ride pick-a-back.”

“Beau, you can’t…” The protest died in Titus’ throat. Beau could, in fact, carry him. With ease, apparently. It made about as much sense to Titus as how easily Beau had tossed him up onto the roof in the first place. 

“I can and I will.” That almost sounded like a threat. “You gettin’ on or gettin’ left?”

Titus decided it wasn’t worth the effort to argue. Not that his abused body would let him right now. Wrapping his arms over Beau’s shoulders, Titus half collapsed against the Lyco. Arms locked beneath his knees like steel cables. Then Beau took off running like a sprinter out of the starter’s blocks.

“The car!” Titus wheezed into Beau’s ear. “You need to go to your car!”

He was summarily ignored. 

In mere seconds, Beau burst out of the alley, sprinted around the corner, and raced toward the warehouse his sibling had disappeared into. Titus was fairly well convinced that his weight was no hindrance at all. At least, not until Beau was about 10 feet from the silvered fence.

That was when he staggered. Titus immediately assumed it was the additional weight, dragging Beau down, unbalancing him, and causing him to take a bad step. “Beau! Put me down!” He was pretty sure the Lyco wasn’t listening to him any more. But he had to try. “Come on, Beau! You can’t stay here! Ky and his backup will be here any second! We’ll take care of this, okay?”

Beau crashed into the fence. An agonized yelp wrenched out of him as a jolt of electricity arced. It wasn’t enough to cause permanent damage. But Titus felt the twitch as Beau’s muscles gave a single spasm, and the Lyco staggered back a few steps. “Fuck!”

Did Beau’s voice sound deeper? Or was it just a result of the stress and adrenaline coursing through his system? 

Beau staggered back across the street, away from the fence, before finally letting Titus slide to the ground. “I can’t…I can’t…” Titus took a hard look at the other man and realized he was practically sobbing.

“Beau? Oh God! What’s wrong?” Quickly, he moved around to Beau’s front, prepared to comfort the distraught Lyco. Before stopping cold.

All over Beau’s skin, visible even beneath the thick red hair, Titus saw angry welts rising up in a rash. Hives. He was suffering a severe allergic reaction to the silver on the fence. Beau was also trembling and shaking again, like he’d been on the rooftop. Worse, Titus could see parts of his features that looked like they were trying to melt. His jaw was jutting out at a strange angle, and it seemed like Beau was having trouble keeping his balance. “Not now.” No, his voice was definitely deeper. And had taken on a broken, snarling quality. “Not like this.”

“Beau? What the fuck is going on?”

“It’s the stress. And the silver. I’m having…trouble…keeping myself in the right shape.”

The right…? Oh, shit. “Oh God, Beau. You’re not a Lyco.”

“Like hell I ain’t!” 

“You’re a Garmr!”

Silence dropped on them both like a bomb. “Why’d you have to go and make this weird, Titus?”