add raised his fist and then, very slowly, lowered it. The only thing stopping him from decking his partner was the knowledge that the guards were watching. Of course if he murdered Byrne purely with his glare of unbearable rage nobody would be able to prove a thing.
"Is this whole thing a joke to you?" he snarled. "You think I haven't had enough shit thrown at me over the last week that I can deal with seeing someone make a threat against your life again? I've been doing this to protect you! I--"
Words failed him. Badd waved his hands at Byrne, unable to conjure up the proper expletives necessary to describe the levels of depravity his partner had sunk to.
Idiot. Idiot. Would get his foolish thief's fingers cut off and he'd deserve it for constantly sticking his hand where it didn't belong. After all Badd had done in his name, lying and stealing and putting a gun to the high prosecutor's back, this was how he was repayed. Childish pranks.
"I'd die for you," he hissed. "I'd do anything for you. But I won't stand for you screwing around with me like I'm a defense attorney in a courtroom."
Aaand the jackass smile was gone in a flash. But unlike their last argument, Byrne would not lose control and get angry right back at his partner, nor would he treat him like a senile old man with anger issues. (Even if Badd was literally just about to punch him and was now glaring at him with the intensity of a thousand angry suns - not that he blamed him, honestly, he kind of deserved it.) There was just...not exactly pity, but a sort of...something that he couldn't describe, deep down. Something that made him want to magically absorb all of Badd's negative feelings like a sponge so he wouldn't have to carry so much of them anymore. If that were even possible.
But alas, he was a prosecutor, not a magician. He would have to solve this the only way he knew how: with words. "Then maybe you should ask yourself why I did it," he replied slowly, casually, "Maybe actually consider the feelings of the asshole who wanted to see you again so bad he struck a few low blows to trick you into seeing him."
Byrne smiled again - a genuine, heartfelt smile this time. "I can't make it here without you, Tyrell, and I'm damn sure the same goes for you. So cut the crap and stop thinking that deserting me is helping me, because it isn't, not when I'm constantly worrying about where you are, and whether or not you're getting into trouble, and--and if I need you and if they might kidnap you again, and--...!"
...Oh, to hell with words. Byrne swallowed hard, took another step forward and then threw his arms around his best friend, pressing his face into the taller man's shoulder, squeezing tight enough to let him know you freaking idiot, can't you see I need you as much as you need me?
"Byrne..." He wasn't the prosecutor. He wasn't good with words. He knew exactly what needed to be said, he needed to convince Byrne that he should stop being so selfish and short-sighted. Byrne needed to live. If it even slightly increased the chances of Byrne's survival they needed to stay apart. And even if it didn't, did he deserve to be around Byrne, after what he'd done? After he'd shown what kind of a man he really was?
Then Byrne tackled him and Badd froze up. He'd expected a blow or a barb but not this. He opened his mouth to tell Byrne off. For god's sake, you're a grown man--
For god's sake, you old idiot. You have him back, and who knows for how long. Stop wasting it.
Badd's powerful arm slowly came up and slipped around Byrne's shoulders. He gripped his partner tightly, chin resting against his temple. He was facing away from the room, but he was sure people were staring.
At that moment, there wasn't anyone alive in the world to Byrne but Tyrell Badd. And at that moment, it was suddenly getting harder and harder to keep a week's worth of stress inside. He'd felt perfectly fine just a few minutes ago. Why was he suddenly shaking like the morning after his torture session all over again...?
But he would keep a smile on his face, for his friend's sake if nothing else. If he broke down now, Badd would never believe that their being together was a good thing for the both of them. He'd make up some lame excuse, like look you're sad so obviously I have to keep avoiding you so you won't be sad. No, Byrne wasn't sad, he was happy, and he needed to prove absolutely positively that he was perfectly okay and that they were perfectly okay and nothing was wrong and goddamnit stop stinging, eyes, we're not doing this crying thing now, not now, not in front of fucking stop it, please please please...
......breathe......breathe.
It would be okay. They would be okay.
They would make it out of here. They would see Kay again, make it home again, and no one would stop them, not Calisto, not Landel, no one. Not when they had each other. What made this place any different from the crooked corporations they tackled night after night as the Yatagarasu? Nothing... It would be okay... They...
"...The two of us," Byrne muttered, voice noticeably weaker than before despite his best efforts to sound calm, "we can do anything, yeah?"
Badd could hear the shaking in Byrne's voice, how close the powerful prosecutor was to breaking down. He held him as strongly as he had the night he'd realized Byrne had returned to him, desperate not to let him fall.
"No," he murmured into Byrne's ear. "We're not superheroes. We get beat, a lot. But we can get through it. They can't break us."
They very nearly had. Badd had been on the brink as it was, willing to sacrifice himself for Byrne not out of loyalty but so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. A few more days of this torture and who knows what he would have done to itself.
"They can't break us," Byrne repeated slowly, softly. He liked those words better; they spoke truer. As long as they stuck together and had each other's back, they stood a fighting chance against all of the blows Landel and Aguilar hurled at them. Their evil could never hold this raven down forever...one of these days, they'd break out and take flight, and they would spread the awful truth about this place, and...
... Oh, to hell with raven metaphors right now. Badd was here, that was what mattered. And Byrne was going to make damn sure that he wouldn't decide to abandon him ever again.
He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, he sounded much calmer. "Promise me you won't run off like an idiot again, okay?"
"Is this whole thing a joke to you?" he snarled. "You think I haven't had enough shit thrown at me over the last week that I can deal with seeing someone make a threat against your life again? I've been doing this to protect you! I--"
Words failed him. Badd waved his hands at Byrne, unable to conjure up the proper expletives necessary to describe the levels of depravity his partner had sunk to.
Idiot. Idiot. Would get his foolish thief's fingers cut off and he'd deserve it for constantly sticking his hand where it didn't belong. After all Badd had done in his name, lying and stealing and putting a gun to the high prosecutor's back, this was how he was repayed. Childish pranks.
"I'd die for you," he hissed. "I'd do anything for you. But I won't stand for you screwing around with me like I'm a defense attorney in a courtroom."
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But alas, he was a prosecutor, not a magician. He would have to solve this the only way he knew how: with words. "Then maybe you should ask yourself why I did it," he replied slowly, casually, "Maybe actually consider the feelings of the asshole who wanted to see you again so bad he struck a few low blows to trick you into seeing him."
Byrne smiled again - a genuine, heartfelt smile this time. "I can't make it here without you, Tyrell, and I'm damn sure the same goes for you. So cut the crap and stop thinking that deserting me is helping me, because it isn't, not when I'm constantly worrying about where you are, and whether or not you're getting into trouble, and--and if I need you and if they might kidnap you again, and--...!"
...Oh, to hell with words. Byrne swallowed hard, took another step forward and then threw his arms around his best friend, pressing his face into the taller man's shoulder, squeezing tight enough to let him know you freaking idiot, can't you see I need you as much as you need me?
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Then Byrne tackled him and Badd froze up. He'd expected a blow or a barb but not this. He opened his mouth to tell Byrne off. For god's sake, you're a grown man--
For god's sake, you old idiot. You have him back, and who knows for how long. Stop wasting it.
Badd's powerful arm slowly came up and slipped around Byrne's shoulders. He gripped his partner tightly, chin resting against his temple. He was facing away from the room, but he was sure people were staring.
Let 'em.
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But he would keep a smile on his face, for his friend's sake if nothing else. If he broke down now, Badd would never believe that their being together was a good thing for the both of them. He'd make up some lame excuse, like look you're sad so obviously I have to keep avoiding you so you won't be sad. No, Byrne wasn't sad, he was happy, and he needed to prove absolutely positively that he was perfectly okay and that they were perfectly okay and nothing was wrong and goddamnit stop stinging, eyes, we're not doing this crying thing now, not now, not in front of fucking stop it, please please please...
......breathe......breathe.
It would be okay. They would be okay.
They would make it out of here. They would see Kay again, make it home again, and no one would stop them, not Calisto, not Landel, no one. Not when they had each other. What made this place any different from the crooked corporations they tackled night after night as the Yatagarasu? Nothing... It would be okay... They...
"...The two of us," Byrne muttered, voice noticeably weaker than before despite his best efforts to sound calm, "we can do anything, yeah?"
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"No," he murmured into Byrne's ear. "We're not superheroes. We get beat, a lot. But we can get through it. They can't break us."
They very nearly had. Badd had been on the brink as it was, willing to sacrifice himself for Byrne not out of loyalty but so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. A few more days of this torture and who knows what he would have done to itself.
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... Oh, to hell with raven metaphors right now. Badd was here, that was what mattered. And Byrne was going to make damn sure that he wouldn't decide to abandon him ever again.
He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, he sounded much calmer. "Promise me you won't run off like an idiot again, okay?"
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