Work Text:
"Vorgorov."
Hector knows instantly: whatever this is, it's so dire that Aleksi is approaching him openly. Therefore nothing else matters.
Hector makes bland excuses to the men around him in the serene certainty that he will never see them again. He turns and walks out of the mess at Aleksi's side, follows him through the corridors of the flagship to Aleksi's quarters. Dozens of men see them; none seem to remark them. It doesn't matter anymore what they remember later, what they might suspect, what they might tell Vorrutyer or a political officer.
Aleksi leans against the door of his cabin once it closes behind them, seeming unable to go further. Hector stands a half-stride away and waits to find out what's befallen him--what's befallen them. If there were any chance of Hector escaping cleanly, he knows, Aleksi would not have compromised him.
"Hector," Aleksi says, and then he closes his eyes, shudders. His face twists with an expression Hector can't interpret beyond sheer intensity. Pain, he thinks. Aleksi is crying.
Hector closes the space between them, slings an arm around Aleksi's shoulders, and Aleksi instantly returns the embrace, bowing his head. Hector kisses the tear tracks, kisses the tight corner of the grimace twisting Aleksi's face.
"Alyosha," he dares to whisper, for the first time in months, the first time since they left Vorbarr Sultana and the dubious safety of the hiding places they had carved out here and there in the city. "It's all right. We're together. Whatever it is, it's all right."
"I know," Aleksi gasps. "Hector, he's dying right now."
Hector pushes back far enough to see Aleksi's face, but there is no possibility of mistaking what Aleksi means. The pain on Aleksi's face is suddenly Hector's own: a manacle that had cut into flesh, deadening a limb, is suddenly broken open. The impact of the breakage and the release of pressure hurt so much more than the long-familiar bondage.
"As good as dead. I wanted to always remember where I was when it happened. With you."
"How," Hector whispers, but even as he says it he thinks he knows. The courier arrived only hours ago. There is one man who would dare, just one, and that one might well think it his responsibility. His right.
Aleksi nods. "Vorkosigan returned this afternoon. I trailed him when he left the conference with the prince and Admiral Vorhalas--he went straight to the detention area. The guard told him. I passed him coming the other way and then went on to find out what he knew, but--I saw his face. Hector, he's going to do it. After all this time, he's going to--"
Hector shakes his head, pressing a kiss to Aleksi's mouth. He doesn't want to think of the man sacrificing himself, doesn't want to think of the monster dying. There will be a lifetime for that. For this one stolen moment he wants nothing but to kiss Alyosha and feel that they are free.