Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 20:00:54 -0600
From: Katya_Dee <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: The Dreamtrap - chapter 26

This is a story of fiction, all resemblances (dead or alive) are eerily
coincidental. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved. Contains
descriptive sexual scenes between males, if you are not supposed to read it
then don't. Feel free to e-mail me.

****

- XXVI -



               Julian never let go of Raven's shoulders while they walked to
the car, as if afraid that the brunet would disappear into thin air the
minute he lets go of him. They both slid into the back seat of the car, and
Julian pulled Raven closer again, inhaling familiar scent while the brunet
dropped his head onto his shoulder.

   "Give me a cigarette," Raven muttered a minute later when the car started
moving. "I went smoke-free for ten bloody days; I crave one right now like
no other...!"

   Julian tutted with annoyance when he realized that he ran out of
cigarettes a couple of hours ago.

   "I don't have any on me," he sighed apologetically, and Raven growled
softly.

   "There is a gas station a couple of blocks away from here, master
Salamander," the driver threw a quick, questioning look into the rearview
mirror, meeting Julian's eyes.

   "Go there," the blond nodded immediately.

   "Mmm," Raven said almost lustfully. "I hope they have coffee there as
well..."

   "There is a coffee shop not too far from the gas station," the driver
spoke again.

   "All right," Julian sighed. "Let's get your smokes first, and then we'll
hit that shop... Even though I want to get home finally," he added a second
later. "Or at least on the plane," he nodded and ran his fingers along
Raven's thigh.

   "Charter plane?" Raven asked in a low voice.

   "Uh huh," Julian nodded, leaning closer and nibbling on brunet's earlobe.

   "How long is the flight...? Four hours?"

   "Give or take," blond's tongue became more insistent, and Raven seriously
considered forgetting about cigarettes until they got home, leaning into
Julian's touch, his eyes closing all by themselves.

   Suddenly, Salamander sighed and pulled away, making Raven groan with
protest.

   "But I'll wait," Julian said mildly as if not noticing Raven's reaction.
"Let's feed your cravings first."

   Raven narrowed his eyes, immediately recognizing the look on blond's face
– it was the same look he would wear every time he kept Raven on the
tingling edge of unreachable release that seemed so tantalizingly close.
Raven let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that even if he says, `Forget the
cravings,' it wouldn't change anything – Julian was going to make him wait.
Then he thought of something and his mood improved.

   "You know," he murmured into Salamander's ear, his fingers caressing the
other man's neck. "I am sure there is a bathroom in that coffee shop... And
I am sure..." He nipped at the side of Julian's throat before returning to
blond's ear. "...it has a lock on the door..."

   "Mmm..." the blond said with fake regret. "You are too loud for public
establishments..."

   "Since when is that a bad thing?" Raven grinned, knowing that he won this
round. "Plus," he added in a lower voice. "It wasn't a problem for you the
last time... Just shut me up," he whispered and ran his tongue along
Julian's ear, noting a short, almost inaudible inhale.

   The blond didn't say anything to that, he just shot Raven a quick look,
and the smaller man grinned again when he saw that look. He nipped at
Julian's throat one last time and pulled away slightly, never letting go of
Salamander's hand.



****



   A couple of hours later, Raven downed his last cup of coffee and looked
at the content blond.

   "Let's go," he said, knowing that his own expression matched Julian's to
a *t *– he was right when he said the bathroom had a lock on the door.

   "Yes," the blond said in his usual manner and got up. "Do you need
anything else?"

   "Yeah," Raven nodded. "But it'll wait until we get on the plane."

   Julian gave him a small, smug smile, and they finally left the coffee
shop. The driver immediately started the engine the minute he saw them. They
slid into the back seat as they did before, and Raven let out a small,
content sigh, dropping his head onto blond's shoulder.

   "To the airport," Julian said to the driver, and the man nodded and threw
the car into gear.



   ..."...and then she exploded every single mirror in the apartment,"
Julian said ten minutes later.

   "That guy will have fun explaining all that massacre to the landlord,"
Raven muttered. "Holy hell, how did she do that though? If she is just a
ghost..."

   "You'd be surprised at what you can achieve if your will is strong
enough," Julian said darkly. "It doesn't matter if she is not corporeal; she
knows how to transform her spiritual energy into physical concept."

   "Damn," Raven shook his head slightly. "Yeah, she was always that way,"
he muttered thoughtfully. "Wouldn't back off until..." he stuttered
slightly. "...until... Damn...!"

   He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a huge, long yawn.

   "Damn!" he said again with feeling. "I've slept for ten days... One would
think that..."

   He choked on another yawn, and Julian looked at him with a small frown.

   "You just had seven cups of espresso," he said slowly without taking his
eyes off Raven, who produced yet another huge yawn.

   "Tell me about it..." Raven said, his speech slightly slurred. "Unless
they spiked that espresso with some..."

   He never finished that sentence, his eyes closing all of a sudden.

   "Raven...?" Julian called rather loudly, the frown on his forehead
deepening with each second. "Raven...!"

   The brunet swayed slightly on the seat when the car took a smooth right
turn, and then he collapsed into Julian's lap without opening his eyes.

   "Raven!" the blond shook him furiously. "Raven...! Ah, shit...!" he
hissed when he recognized the look on brunet's face – he observed that very
look for the last ten days. "Not again...! Turn around!" he barked at the
driver, who threw a puzzled look at him in the rearview mirror. "Turn
around!" Julian repeated in the same voice. "Go back to the same bloody
house! Goddammit..." he squeezed his eyes shut for several seconds. Then he
opened them and started calling Raven's name, even though he knew it was
useless.



   ..."I will call you when I need you," was all Salamander said to the
driver, emerging from the car with unconscious brunet in his arms.

   "Yes, master Sal..." the driver started saying, but Julian slammed the
door of the car shut without listening to him.

   He quickly walked up the steps and banged on the door with his foot, not
even bothering with the doorbell. After several seconds of banging, he
almost reached for the magic stream, determined to blow the door off its
hinges, when it swung open, revealing very pale Gabriel. His eyes darted
towards unconscious Raven.

   "Oh, fucking hell..." Rayhe said with desperation, and Julian closed his
eyes – apparently, the same thing happened to Specter, he thought, gritting
his teeth. "Fucking hell..." Gabriel repeated and stepped aside, letting the
blond into the house.

   "How long ago did it happen?" Julian asked sharply, immediately seeing
unconscious Desmond on the couch. The ex-assassin was wearing the same
expression as he did when Julian saw him on Saturday morning, and it matched
Raven's expression perfectly.

   "Twenty minutes ago," Gabriel gritted his teeth. "Give or take. You...?"

   "Same," Julian answered tightly. "Bloody hell...! What happened?"

   "I don't know," Gabriel said in the same tight manner. "I was making
food, he kept talking... Then he fell silent and wouldn't answer... I came
out of the kitchen and found him like this. What about Raven?"

   "He started yawning," the blond said through his clenched teeth. "And
then he simply passed out. Bloody hell," he hissed again.

   "Wait," Gabriel frowned. "I thought you were in the air already!"

   "We stopped for coffee," Julian answered shortly without elaborating any
further. He lowered Raven next to Desmond on the couch and straightened up,
rubbing his forehead. "All right, all right..." he muttered feverishly. "Let
me try something; it didn't work before but maybe this time..."

   A long, somewhat puzzled moan interrupted him, and a second later,
Desmond stirred on the couch and slowly peeled his eyes open, looking very
confused.

   "What..." he started saying when he saw the blond, and then he realized
that Raven was lying next to him. "Oh, bloody hell on wheels..." he said
desperately and squeezed his eyes shut.

   Julian bit his lip hard, staring at Raven without blinking, silently
cursing that damn serenity on his face, which never changed, even though
Specter came back to consciousness. A minute later, Raven coughed, shook his
head, and opened his eyes. He sat up, and when he saw Desmond, he was mute
for a minute or so.

   "Are you kidding me?" he asked finally.

   "Wait..." Julian said slowly, and he looked like he just received a very
nasty revelation. "Wait a minute... Does it mean that they have to be close
to each other in order to stay conscious...?"

   Other three men stared at him without blinking or speaking.

   "Are you kidding me?" Raven said again, except this time, it was much
weaker.



****



   "Call my number the minute something changes," Julian shoved a piece of
paper into gloomy Gabriel's hand and looked at Raven. "Let's go," he sighed,
and the brunet muttered something under his breath and followed him outside,
his shoulders stooped.

   Neither one of them wanted to believe that Julian's theory was correct;
therefore, the blond gritted his teeth and said that Raven and he would get
out of the house and leave yet again. If nothing happens this time, then
whatever just hit both – Specter and Raven – of them was nothing but some
strange aftermath. However, if something *did *happen... Here Julian gritted
his teeth again and reached for his phone.

   "Take my car," Rayhe said sharply. "Because if something *does *happen, I
want you to be able to get back here fast! I am not going to count on your
driver... If everything is fine, then drive back, call your driver, and get
out!"

   Salamander threw him a dark, heavy look but didn't argue and took the
keys. They walked outside and Raven threw his body into the front seat, his
jaw locked tightly. Julian slid into the driver's seat and shoved the keys
into the ignition, his expression darker than ever.

   "Should've just killed him when I had a chance..." he muttered under his
breath and angrily threw the car in gear, forcing it to leap forward with
angry growl.

   ...They drove for ten minutes or so, and everything seemed to be okay.
Julian let his shoulders to relax just a little after he threw a quick
glance at Raven and saw that the brunet was just fine. He looked irritated
and tired, but he didn't seem sleepy in the slightest. Julian looked at the
odometer; they were almost six miles away from Rayhe's house.

   Julian lit a cigarette and rolled down the window, glancing at Raven once
again.

   "I think it was just a onetime occurrence," he said, and Raven looked at
him, his expression less irritated than a couple of minutes ago.

   "Yeah," he grinned. "Thank God...! All right..." he glanced at the
odometer as well. "Turn around at that intersection," he pointed towards the
upcoming traffic light. "Let's go return this car, call your driver, and
let's go home already!"

   "I could just go straight to the airport," the blond said with a small
smile, and Raven laughed at that.

   "Let's just go back," he shook his head. "Plus..." he frowned and dug in
his pockets for a minute or so. "Yeah," he sighed finally. "I left my
lighter in there; I like that lighter!" he nodded, and Julian rolled his
eyes.

   "Fine," he said mildly. "We'll go back..." He brought the car to a smooth
stop when the light blinked red. "By the way, the merger is almost finished
finally, so when we get back, I will be able to take a couple of days off."

   He expected to hear something that Raven would usually say when he heard
news like that, and frowned when there was nothing. He shifted his gaze away
from the blinking red light and looked at the brunet. He became mute for
several long seconds, and then he burst into a string of unintelligible
obscenities. Raven's head fell against the closed window, and he was in a
state of deep sleep, it seemed.

   Suddenly, Julian's phone let out a shrill, unexpected shriek, and the
blond yanked it out of his pocket, flipped it open, pressed it against his
ear, and barked:

   "I know!"

   With that, he snapped the phone shut and threw it onto the dashboard.
Then he cursed again and stepped hard on the gas pedal, caring less about
the light, which turned green the minute the car leapt forward. He made a
screeching U-turn and raced back to that blasted house.



   ...Julian felt like the ticking of the goddamn clock was going to make
his head explode. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

   "How far were you?" Gabriel asked unemotionally.

   "Six miles," the blond answered without opening his eyes. "It happened
the minute we got to the traffic light."

   "What was the name of the street?" Gabriel asked in the same emotion-free
voice.

   "Emerald Court," Julian answered, his eyes still closed.

   Gabriel sighed; yes, that street was exactly six miles away from their
house.

   "How far is the nearest hotel from here?" Salamander still wouldn't open
his eyes.

   "Eight miles," Gabriel sighed again, and this time, Julian's eyes flew
wide open.

   He stared at Rayhe silently for almost two minutes.

   "I am not sleeping in the car," he said finally, and Gabriel produced yet
another sigh – this one was deeper than the previous ones.

   "That's fine," he said very evenly. "We have a spare room; you can stay
here."

   "Wh-wh-wh..." Desmond, who was eerily silent up to this point, shook his
head rather quickly and looked up. "Wait... Did you just say, `Stay here'?
As in `this house'...?"

   "Des," Gabriel looked at him steadily, his voice firm and lacking any
hope whatsoever. "It's either him staying here or you slipping into coma
again," he nodded without shifting his gaze or even blinking.

   Desmond stared at him for a long minute, and then he closed his eyes and
muttered something under his breath. The only word Gabriel got out of that
was `hell.' Finally, Desmond opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he
glanced at Raven and frowned. Julian followed his gaze and frowned as well –
Raven's eyes were closed, and his expression was not quite serene, but it
was rather empty.

   "Raven!" the blond called sharply, ignoring the flash of hope in
Specter's eyes.

   "I am awake," Raven said evenly, and Desmond gritted his teeth. "My eyes
are just closed, that's all..."

   "I see," Julian sighed and killed his cigarette in the ashtray.

   "Dammit," Desmond grumbled. "I have to go to work...! The school is seven
miles from here..." he gritted his teeth. "I am *not *dragging him with me!"

   "It's the end of June," Gabriel said and lit another cigarette. "You
don't have to go back to school until the last week of August. I am hoping
that we will resolve this by then!" he made a wild, jerky gesture in the air
with his cigarette-free hand.

   Raven finally opened his eyes.

   "You do have to go to work, however," he said with a small frown, looking
at Julian. "You already missed several days, and with that merger..."

   "It's almost finished," the blond sighed again. "I can work from here;
I'll just need a good computer... I'll get one in the morning," he nodded.

   "I am going to bed," Desmond said sharply and got up.

   "I'll be there shortly," Gabriel let out another desperate, defeated
sigh.

   "Uh huh," Desmond muttered gloomily and walked away.

   Gabriel looked at Julian and silent Raven.

   "Let me show you to your room..." he got up as well.

   He walked down the hallway and pushed open the door, which led to a
decent size room.

   "It used to be Sam's room," Gabriel glanced at Julian. "I hope your
conscience doesn't keep you awake during the night," he added poisonously.

   "I will be fine," the blond said with a small smile – he didn't even
flinch.

   "Of course, you will be..." Gabriel muttered darkly. "There should be a
clean towel in the bathroom..." He frowned slightly. "Let me get you another
one," he sighed in defeat and went away.

   "By the way," Desmond appeared in the hallway, and he looked determined.
"When this ordeal is finished and before you leave, you are going to buy a
new set of sheets, because I am *not *using those sheets again...! Ever," he
nodded.

   "That's fine," Julian said melancholically and took the towel, which
Gabriel handed him silently. "Good night," he stepped into the room and
closed the door.

****

A  little of shameless self-advertising: you can find all my stories,
including The Dreamtrap here<http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3895328>