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footsteps echoed through the dark corridor as charles limped through. the bright golden scars that usually littered his body were dim and grey. ‘it was all part of the job,’ he told himself as his legs wobbled and he pushed open the door to the kitchen and living space. he sighed as he dragged his feet towards the door hoping to get a small midnight snack and a drink before crashing on the sofa. charles knew that he wasn’t making it back to the comfort of his own bed that night, his body ached and screamed at him with every step and the thought of trying to navigate up a flight of stairs to reach his sleeping quarters made him feel like lying down and letting the world consume him whole. so the couch it was.
charles examined the fridge carefully, frequently blinking and shaking his head to ward off the black spots and blurriness that tried to invade his vision. bile rose up his throat as he looked at the limited food options he had, he’d have to steal hamilton to go food shopping tomorrow. charles huffed in defeat and pulled out a bottle of chilled water, food would have to wait until his stomach settled. the bottle shook in his hand as he undid the lid and drank like he had been in the sahara desert for two days. charles savoured the taste of heaven as it soothed his throat before setting the now empty plastic bottle on the side.
he blinked slowly and rubbed his eyes taking a step forward to make his way to the sofa when the world around him distorted into a blur of shapes and colours. he felt his body tumble forwards and instinctively reached out his hands finding purchase on the kitchen island for a moment before the sweat coating his hands let his hands slip off like a waterslide and join the rest of his tumbling body. charles sharply inhaled as his chest collided with the marble floor, knocking the air out of his lungs and making it impossible to breath for a moment. his eyes filled with water while he pathetically gasped for air like a fish on dry land. he balled his hands into fists, clenching his eyes shut to try and relive himself of the burning pain in his lungs or the churring of his stomach threatening to spill. nothing. the scars on his body glowed golden for a moment before fading back to their lifeless grey.
‘the golden boy’, they had called him. leclerc, the hero known to nurse anyone back to health with just a touch of his palm. the city’s totem of undying. the man who bled gold. charles had always wanted to help people. civilians. but instead his power was locked up, he was locked up. not literally, but in all other ways that mattered. while he went out on missions he was restricted to using as little as his golden gift as possible, only being allowed to heal broken bones or deep gashes. the rest of his power and energy was to be used on other heroes, they were the agency - or well the FIA’s - top priority afterall. not the city they swore to defend. not the civilian’s they took an oath to protect.
with his cheek pressed against the cold floor of the heroes kitchen, head swimming with nausea and the comforting warm of sleep hypnotising him to give in, he didn’t feel like much of a ‘golden boy’. his eyelids became too heavy to keep lifted and his chest still burned with every deep inhale. his legs felt like cinderblocks and his head throbbed against the cool tiles. he’d just rest his eyes, rest them long enough to regain his energy and pull himself up off of the floor and drag himself to the sofa.
charles woke to an orange light blinding his eyes, a hand on his cheek and a familiar spanish accent mumbling rapidly under their breath,
–”charles? mate? come on, wake up mate.”
charles peeled open one eye and noticed how the silhouettes shoulders visibly relaxed at the sight.
–”oh gracias a dios. what are you doing on the floor? here let me,”
(oh thank god.)
there was a tight arm that wrapped around charles’ torso before his world tilted sideways and eventually settled upright. his back was pressed against the kitchen island and his head leaned back. he opened his eyes briefly, meeting carlos’ warm eyes before the world fizzed into an overwhelming blur of colours. his hand shot up and clasped around his mouth with the feeling of bile hiking up his throat and leaving an unpleasant taste in his mouth. within a moment, carlos was pressing a thankfully clean, small recycling bin into his lap and charles looked down, moved his hand away and let a trail of vomit fall from his mouth. he retched and gasped until his stomach was empty and his throat burnt and stung. carlos stayed by his side, only leaving for a moment when he was sure charles had stopped throwing up to move away the bin and grab two clean towels, one for the left over vomit and saliva that clung to the skin around charles’ chapped lips and another to wipe away the sweat that gathered on the other’s forehead.
–”you’re alright mate, you’re okay.”
carlos whispered as he tucked a loose strand of charles’ hair behind his ear. then, he opened his arms and charles took no hesitation in completely falling into him. their chests knocking against each other, charles’ head burying itself in carlos’ shoulder like it had done so many times before while carlos’ hand weaved between the loose curls of the other’s hazelnut hair. charles’ shoulders shook with sobs. ugly, hiccupy, gaspy sobs that left his face red, puffed up and teary. carlos thought he looked gorgeous. the spaniard’s eyes trailed down to charles’ arms. charles’ arms that should have been littered in golden, glowing scars now were faintly pulsing with the warm gold like a broken christmas light in june.
–”¿qué te han hecho?”
(what have they done to you?)
carlos whispered so softly that charles thought it was not meant to be heard by his ears before it was followed by a string of cursing between hissed teeth. silence shortly fell upon the two, except for the quiet hum of the refrigerator reminding them that they were still sat, curled up and holding onto each other like their worlds would fall apart if they separated. carlos cupped charles face, gently pulling it away from where it sought refuge from the world and simply held it. his thumbs slowly moving back and forth, wiping away any stray tears that spilt from his eyes despite the efforts to blink them away.
carlos’ breath shuttered, his cheeks grew warm and his heart pounded against his ribs for just a moment. there was always this “unspoken thing” between the two heroes, something neither one of them wanted to acknowledge through fear of losing the other. he leaned forward and pursed his lips together before pressing a featherlight kiss onto charles’ forehead. the side of the other’s mouth raised ever so lightly, unnoticeable to almost anyone. but not to carlos. he smiled back. from this close carlos could count all the freckles that littered charles’ cheek, which he’d done before there were 22. he memorised them, engraved them into his memory permanently. he could see the different shades of blue and gold that made up his eyes.
—“you are staring, mate.” charles giggled, croaky and shaky. like a broken record still playing a beautiful song.
oh that, that was music to his ears. carlos awkwardly cleared his throat, forcing his eyes off of charles and at the cabinet ahead of him.
—“we should get off the floor, yeah?”
charles nodded and carlos pulled himself to his feet first before holding out a hand for charles to take. slowly, the two of them shuffled out of the kitchen - not before grabbing two waters for them both, after all that’s what carlos had originally planned on retrieving when he stepped into the kitchen at two am. carlos slung his arm around charles’ waist, hand resting on the other’s hip like it belonged there. their bodies pressed up together like two pieces of a puzzle. carlos helped charles up the stairs, taking each step slowly while his grasp on the other grew tighter with every wobble and shake. it was a miracle they had managed to make it up the stairs without any casualties.
once they made it to carlos’ door, he pushed it open with his hip before eventually letting go of charles. placing his water on the bedside table and crouching down to search through his drawers. after minutes of digging, he eventually pulled out a red, oversized shirt and a pair of shorts and checked them at charles who mumbled a quiet, “thank you”. before throwing them on, relieved to finally be free of his sweaty clothes he had been wearing all day. charles collapsed back onto the mattress with a sigh, he had spent many nights in carlos’ bed curled up to the other on nights where the nightmares plagued him or on days where the silence put carlos so on edge he couldn’t relax until he heard the quiet thumping on charles’ heart in his chest. carlos picked up the pile of discarded clothes and placed them in his laundry basket.
carlos sighed and ran a hand through his hair, turning back to the sight on his bed where charles had already made himself very comfortable, wearing his clothes, lying in his bed and hugging his pillow. the sight alone made him blush. carlos, after glancing for far too long again, eventually dragged himself over and lifted the cover and climbed into bed. he settled down into charles’ side, his head on the other’s chest directly over where his heartbeat was, feeling every beat of the heart and every inhale and exhale. carlos had offhandedly mentioned one time that hearing other people’s heartbeat had brought him comfort and helped him to relax after a stressful day and since then, there had been a silent agreement that carlos would lay his head on charles’ chest or press his hand against the other’s wrist to feel the faint pulse there.
—“thank you carlos.. and I- sorry for the mess.”
—“don’t apologise for that, that’s george’s problem tomorrow.”
they both laughed, quiet and small before they fell back into silenve. carlos’ hand tracing the faintly glowing scars on charles’ arm while the other ran his hand up and down his back. sleep settled thickly above them, persuading them to give in and let comfort over take them.
—“i am going to kill the FIA.” carlos hissed under his breath, tracing a specific scar on charles’ upper hand over and over again.
—“please don’t do that, mate.”
carlos only laughed at that, well it was more of a breathy chuckle but said nothing more on the subject. the air around them thickened, not uncomfortable or hot, more like a weighted blanket, settling around them and tucking them in for the night. their legs tangled together and their chests rose and fell slowly. it wasn’t long until the deep rumble of snores broke through the silence and provided a white noise for the room.
charles woke up the next morning to carlos, who still had his head on his chest scrolling on tiktok and occasionally letting out a quiet chuckle. the blanket half on the floor and the duvet rumpled in the middle of the bed so their legs and feet poked out from under it. carlos’ arm wrapped under charles’ torso while his own arm rested gently on the other’s waist.
—“i know you’re awake.”
—“hm?”
—“your heartbeat. it is going quickly.”
—“mm.. five minutes more.”
—“you can have all the time you want,”
carlos opened his mouth before promptly shutting it, it was too early for the playful flirting and pet names that made his heart ache and left him wanting more. for now, the two heroes would just lay in a single bed, limbs tangled while the sunlight creeped through the blinds and rested on their bodies and faces, nature’s good morning kiss. for now they would lie in each other’s embrace and pretend that nothing mattered more than each other. later, carlos would storm to the FIA, demand for answers on why they were treating charles like some disposable health pack and the FIA would wave him away, they always did. but for now, they would simply lay and let themselves enjoy a quiet morning as if the whole city and a thousand beady eyes didn’t look to them for answers and to be saved. for now, they could work on saving themselves.