The trip to Jonestown took an hour and fifteen minutes. Jamie chose this town because it was smaller than Krasport and didn’t have its own Legion branch, since this area still fell under the Krasport branch. Whoever in Legion the dark-haired man was afraid of could therefore be nearby, but not directly there. Moreover, Jonestown was close enough that Jamie’s contact from Krasport could get there in time after receiving the message.

When the hero saw the first sign mentioning their destination, he shook the man’s shoulder to wake him. To his surprise, he flinched and straightened quickly, so Jamie immediately tried to calm him by gripping both his shoulders firmly so he would shift his attention to him and realize he was safe.

“Okay?” he asked him quietly.

Creed nodded, and Jamie returned his gaze for a moment longer before letting him go and leaning back into his seat again.

“How much longer?”

“A few minutes.”

After they got off, the hero fully took the lead. After all, he still hadn’t told his companion the whole plan, so Creed simply had to trust him. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem like he had a problem with that. If he did, he didn’t say anything out loud.

“Walmart?”

The dark-haired man didn’t hide the surprise in his voice when the hero led him along the road toward the supermarket that was visible from a distance the moment they got off at the small stop, similar to the one in Hazen.

“Keep your head down,” Jamie instructed instead of answering.

Walmart had far more cameras than the gas station where they had been shopping the previous days, or the motel where they had been staying. There was a greater chance here that someone who shouldn’t notice them would, and so there was a risk in being here. Nevertheless, Jamie believed the person they were supposed to meet here wouldn’t disappoint him, and they wouldn’t have to stay long.

The only moment they lifted their heads a little higher so they wouldn’t look suspicious was when they passed security. They needed them to have no reason to watch them and to let them inside.

Fortunately, it worked, and Jamie began leading the other man toward the alcohol section.

Creed stayed close, almost stepping on his heels, but it was better that he stayed near than for the hero to worry they might get separated. Creed had seemed afraid of someone the entire month Jamie had known him, and Jamie didn’t want to find out who.

It was evening, so the supermarket was quite full. People who went to work were doing their shopping for the next day, some even for the whole week, and at the same time it was the hour when young people gathered here to hang out with their friends or buy alcohol. 

When Jamie and Creed finally reached the right aisles, the hero didn’t see the right person immediately. Still, he believed he was here.

First came the wine bottles, so he didn’t lose hope and kept going, scanning the shelves one by one until he saw the first bottles of hard liquor and knew he was in the right place. Now he just needed to get to Malibu.

Before he saw the white bottles with the orange logo and palm trees, he saw the person he had been looking for.

He didn’t even realize it and stopped in place.

Creed didn’t expect it and bumped into his shoulder, but quickly steadied himself before either of them could lose their balance.

Jamie knew the question would come soon, so he decided to keep moving despite how he felt his breathing quicken and heard his heartbeat in his ears. Adrenaline flooded him, and maybe panic too, even though he was heading toward a person he trusted one hundred percent. The realization that he had been kidnapped and no one had found him for a year still gave him an irrational doubt about whether anyone had been looking for him at all, even though he knew his team would never have given up.

He couldn’t keep thinking about it, so he moved forward automatically and approached the man from behind, who looked different after a year, but even from this angle Jamie recognized him without hesitation.

The moment he reached him, he grabbed him around the back and turned him toward the shelves so no one would see their faces and so that on the cameras it would look like two friends had simply met.

“Don’t turn around,” he said and felt the man in his grip stiffen.

“Jamie?”

Never in his life had Jamie heard his voice like this. It was disbelieving, surprised, frightened… and so close to tears. Jamie had never seen Elias cry.

“It’s me,” he confirmed, lifting his head so his teammate could look at him and confirm it with his own eyes. 

“How?”

Eli was shaken, and no one could blame him. Jamie didn’t know whether his kidnappers had ever sent any message or whether his team had managed to find out anything, but either way, they hadn’t seen each other for more than a year, even though Jamie had seen him in his mind every day.

“Not important.” The hero was still aware that he had a limited number of words since he was saving his voice. “I just want to go home. Please?”

The blond immediately nodded while his brown eyes kept filling with tears. He held them back, though, and for now his freckled cheeks stayed dry, which was good, otherwise they might have drawn unwanted attention.

“We have to go,” Jamie urged him and then risked one brief glance over his shoulder to make sure Creed was nearby.

“Where’s your car?”

Eli tried to turn to see where his friend was looking, but he didn’t allow it. Instead, he kept holding him firmly in place and demanded his attention.

“In the parking lot,” the blond answered him.

“Let’s go.”

Eli nodded and Jamie finally let him go so he could let him take the lead, since he didn’t know exactly where he had parked and couldn’t waste time searching for his car. However, although he let go of him, Eli surprised him by taking his hand and only then started leading him. The hero was taken aback by the gesture, but he didn’t pull away from his grip, since he understood why he wanted to hold him and know he was nearby.

Creed automatically fell in step with them, and after the blond ran his gaze over his outfit, which was practically identical to Jamie’s, as well as their posture and their effort to hide their identities, he understood that this wasn’t the time for questions and that the younger man now belonged with them.

When they stepped out of the supermarket and Jamie spotted Elias’s Honda Civic a few meters ahead, he exhaled as if the hardest part was behind him, though he knew that wasn't true. He picked up his pace, though he wasn't at all used to walking fast at the moment, and the other two men adjusted immediately.

A few seconds later the blond unlocked the car from a distance, and only now did Jamie pull his hand from his grip to move to the passenger door. Eli quickly moved to the driver’s seat and Creed sat in the back, though it was clear he hesitated when he opened the door and got in.

“Fuck,” was the first thing the hero said after he leaned his head back against the headrest and allowed himself to close his eyes for a second. Even though he wasn’t in Legion yet, he already felt safe in Eli’s car.

He was finally safe.

“Jamie?”

Elias’s voice made him open his eyes again and look at him. Only now could he properly take in how much his friend had changed. His carefree smile was nowhere to be found and his face looked pale and thinner. His cheekbones were more pronounced than he remembered, his lips cracked, but the biggest change was his hair.

Instead of the messy blond nest he had on his head before, he now had a buzzcut. It made him look older, more masculine, and although it looked good, this haircut didn’t suit his personality.

“Take us home, please,” Jamie asked before any questions could come. “Lot of cameras here,” he added so Eli would also be aware of what he should stay as far away from as possible.

“Okay.”

The blond nodded, and although his hands were shaking, he started the engine and slowly pulled out of the parking lot. Not before, however, giving a look through the rearview mirror to the passenger in the back seat.

“That’s Creed,” Jamie told him. “He saved me.”

Eli’s expression changed at that moment and instead of looking at the younger man suspiciously, something softer filled his irises.

“Thank you.”

Creed looked surprised, as he hadn’t expected this gratitude, and so he only nodded.

After that, Eli focused fully back on driving, although Jamie noticed how several times he glanced sideways at him, as if making sure he was really there. He couldn’t even imagine how his teammate must be feeling right now.

They hadn’t seen each other for a year, but during that time Jamie had never had a reason to doubt whether his friends were safe. He saw them every day, communicated with them, laughed with them… but all of it had been fake. He didn’t even know which had been his last real day before he ended up in a coma, as Creed had claimed.

Eli kept gripping the steering wheel tightly the whole time, probably trying to stop his hands from shaking. The same tension was in his jaw as he clenched it, and Jamie wondered what he should do or say to calm him in this situation.

As it turned out, he didn’t have to do anything.

A few minutes into the drive, once they were out of town and traveling along a single-lane road surrounded by nothing, Eli switched on his blinker to signal a turn. Jamie didn't even have time to ask what was happening before Eli was pulling over to the side of the road and opening the driver's side door.

While the hero in glasses was confused, Creed looked like he wasn’t far from panic. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary, because a second later both of them understood.

Eli walked around the car, opened the door on Jamie’s side, and then leaned across him with his hand to unfasten his seatbelt. Immediately after that he pulled him out of the car straight into his arms and held him as if there were no tomorrow.

Jamie’s shock lasted exactly a second before he recovered and wrapped his arms around him just as tightly and buried his face into his shoulder.

He was sure that the last time he had held him like this there had been more of him, and the blond had lost quite a bit of weight, but he couldn’t focus on that for long because his shoulders began to shake and after that the only thing that had the hero’s attention were the heartbreaking sobs of one of the closest people in his life.

“I’m here,” Jamie assured him, because he could tell that was what he needed to hear right now.

His own eyes began to fill with tears, but he held them back, knowing that he still had several moments like this ahead of him and he needed to stay strong in order to protect not only himself and Creed but also all the members of the team whom he had put at risk by returning.

“I’m here.”