The Stroke of Immanent Blues - Tiger and Bunny K/B I/K (R)

[winnettfics]

Title: The Stroke of Immanent Blues
Author: winnett
Gift For: megyal
Pairing: Kotetsu/Barnaby, Ivan/Keith
Rating: R
Summary: After sticking his nose into other people's boxes, Kotetsu breaks a scientific heirloom that zaps his body into that of an eighteen-year-old.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based on the world and characters produced by Sunrise. They aren't mine and I make no money from them.
Author's notes: Written for megyal for our Holiday Fic Exchange. megyal, I hope you enjoy this story. Happy Christmas! I had so much fun writing it, and though I was sad to lose you as a beta, I had two great people step up and help with this fic. Thank you to saladbats and aozora_skies for the betaing!
Word count: Approximately 10,700

Barnaby entered the hero office all windswept hair and gallant stride. From his own desk, cluttered by a pile of Destruction Denial forms, Kotetsu wondered exactly how his partner looked good all tumbled about like that. His own reflection in the mirrored frame around a photo of Kaede, eight years old and riding her bike, revealed a bit of gray in his beard. Kotetsu scratched at his chin.


Barnaby set a box down on his desk.

"Hey, Bunny. What you got there?"

Barnaby didn't even look at Kotetsu, but continued onto the gymnasium. "I'm not sure. Don't touch it, old man."

Frowning, Kotetsu watched Barnaby walk away, eyes switching from his partner-who'd obviously woken up on the wrong side of the bed, and that would explain the tousled look-to the box. With a shrug, he returned his attention to the next form and began meticulously filling out the questionnaire.

Name: Wild Tiger
Item Destroyed: Some statue of some old Roman guy
Estimated Worth: Couple hundred?
Explanation for Actions that Lead to Destruction of Public/Private Property: I was saving people. What is more important, the lives of Sternbild citizens, or some chiseled rock?

Kotetsu grumbled and chewed on the end of his pen. Why was all this paperwork required, anyway? He'd saved three people: a couple and their baby. Wasn't that what was important?

The box on Barnaby's desk clicked.

Kotetsu jumped to standing, as quick as a Jack-in-the-Box, and practically materialized next to the suspicious box, packaged within nondescript brown paper, no address, just Barnaby written in black marker over the top.

"Bunny?" he called out without taking his eyes from the box. "Your box made a noise."

Barnaby didn't reply. It must be too loud in the gym.

The box ticked again. Was it a bomb? Did Kotetsu need to evacuate the building? Take the box and throw it into the bay?

No. No. He just needed to make sure it wasn't dangerous. That was all. Barnaby himself admitted he didn't know what it was.

Kotetsu opened the box, slowly, with the utmost care. The paper proved no resistance. Neither did the box. First one flap of cardboard, then the other. Inside was bundled an ornate clock in a newspaper nest.

It looked antique, and though Kotetsu was loath to handle it, he had to at least give it a good look over to assure it wasn't a bomb in disguise as a clock. He reached in, picked up the timepiece and examined it. It had three clock faces; only the center one had 12 markers. Another one had ten, and the third had so many he couldn't count them in a glance. A moon dial showed the moon was just coming out of new. He flipped it over and opened the back, nothing but gears and weights. Something bonged; he righted it. A hand on the uncountable clock face began to spin.

Something inside of Kotetsu cramped, wrung tight like a washcloth. From the newly formed knot, pain radiated through his chest, then the rest of his torso, until spiders of agony crawled out to the extreme points of each limb. He couldn't breathe. No breath and no voice, and then all of his muscles went limp and he dropped the clock to the floor. The clang of metal on tile faded as his own world was reduced to a tiny pinprick before his eyes. And then, that too blinked out of existence.

~~~

Sometimes, on days like this, Barnaby thought, with a distinct lack of compassion, that he'd been cursed by being saddled with Kotetsu.

“So, what exactly should we do with him?” Pao-Lin asked, nudging the prone body with her foot.

“I could stay here, watch over him,” Karina offered, her tone stiff.

“Perhaps he should come home with me,” Nathan practically purred.

Barnaby remained silent, staring down at Kotetsu, a heap on the floor. A smaller, younger heap. How he'd managed to activate the clock, Barnaby had no idea. All he knew was that his parents had left him a key to a safe deposit box with a note explaining this was their crowning achievement.

A clock.

That apparently held the fountain of youth within.

Kotetsu, sprawled out with not an ounce of dignity, looked to be in his late teens, not quite twenty. His facial hair had disappeared; his solid build had slimmed. The lines across his face-from worry for the world, and his daughter, and probably his bank account if the pile of his Destruction Denial forms measured anything-had been smoothed away.

“He comes with me.” Everyone looked up at Barnaby-the amount of shock there annoyed him, though he didn't want them to know. “It was my parent's clock that did this. If I fix it, I want him near to turn him-" he waved in Kotetsu's direction, “-back.”

At that moment, the oaf groaned. Everyone took a step back. Young Kotetsu rolled over onto his side, groaned again and said, “Oi, must have had a hell of a bender last night.”

He looked up at the group and blinked his eyes, those lashes long and thick. Barnaby frowned.

“Hey,” Kotetsu said, pushing the palm of his hand against the side of his head. “Where am I? And- who are you guys?”

~~~

“I think we need to go over there, too,” Karina said, fists planted on her hips. “Wild Tiger is what, seventeen, sixteen? We can't leave him with Barnaby.”

“Twenty?” Ivan suggested. He hadn’t looked that much younger than himself.

“Why, honey? Do you think Handsome is going to do something to him?” Nathan asked. He clapped his hands once and squealed.

Karina's pale skin grew even paler. “Rock Bison, what do you think? You've known Wild Tiger the longest. Aren't you worried about him?”

Antonio scratched his head. “I don't think Barnaby would put Tiger in any danger, and he did have a point about his parents giving him that clock.”

“Sky High, you must be worried.”

Ivan sighed. She was going round the entire group of heroes.

“They are partners. They've almost died for each other. They are like a man and his dog, full of dedication.”

Ivan sighed again. Then Keith smiled, and Ivan looked away.

“So, sweetie, who's the dog?” Nathan asked.

“Fine,” Ivan said. “Let's go. All of us.” He snapped his jaw closed. Damn his impulse control. He didn't have time for this; he had his blog to update and ninja school to get to. His shuriken wrist action needed some work.

“If you say so,” Keith said. “But John needs his walk, so I can't stay much past sunset.”

Ivan stared at Keith, their eyes catching, and Keith smiled his dashing, hero smile at him. Ivan's heart tumbled within his chest. Then Keith was no longer looking at him, but at Karina who was saying something that Ivan couldn’t quite focus on. With a scowl, he followed the others to Barnaby Brooks' apartment.

~~~

The door opened and young Kotetsu filled the space, smiling, seeming more carefree and happier than old Kotetsu ever had.

“Oh, it's Barney's friends. Come in. Can I take your coats?”

Nobody moved.

“Kotetsu, do not just open the door to people with whom you are not acquainted.” Barnaby came into view, his usual tense features when dealing with Kotetsu even more pinched. “What are you doing here? Go home.”

“Oh, but Handsome, we're just here to see how little Kotetsu is doing.” Nathan bent forward and pinched Kotetsu's cheek. “You're a cute one, aren't you?”

“He's not a toddler,” Barnaby said.

“Barney thinks I'm about eighteen. So, do you all know me?" Kotetsu scratched his chin as he studied each of them. "I don't remember any of you.”

Karina gasped. “That’s so not fair.”

Barnaby muttered, "It's Barnaby,” then sighed. “Fine. Come in. But make yourselves useful and fill him in on his life.”

“We will help you, Kotetsu. We are always helpful. We're heroes!” Keith announced.

Antonio plunked a bag of liquor on the kitchen counter. “Kaede is going to love this.”

“Kaede?” Kotetsu asked.

“Your daughter,” Pao-Lin said, settling into the comfortable chair.

“I-I have a daughter?”

“Yes. She’s a NEXT, too.” Pao-Lin popped open a soda can as Antonio passed bottles around to the others.

Kotetsu’s face paled. “Am I--?”

His discomfort confused Ivan. Nobody said anything as Kotetsu struggled to find his next words, but Keith saved him.

“You are a splendid father, Mr. Wild Tiger. She’s a bright girl and happy, and nobody could be more dedicated to that happiness than you.”

Barnaby rolled his eyes. Ivan seemed to remember stories about Kaede snubbing her father because of his lack of attention.

But Kotetsu perked up anyway. “Thank you, Mr. Goodman.”

Barnaby frowned. “Why is he Mr. Goodman and I’m Barney?”

Ivan gulped from his bottle and Antonio coughed.

“So,” Keith said. “Shall we tell you about your life! You are a great Hero, Mr. Wild Tiger!”

Hours later, and a few bottles of ouzo sacrificed to the cause, the only ones left were Ivan, Keith and Nathan. Kotetsu's questions were excitable and endless. Ivan needed to get home to update his blog, but even Keith hung around to reeducate Kotetsu, every so often muttering worries about his dog. If Keith stuck around, Ivan would too. It was only fair.

Kotetsu yawned. Ivan checked his watch. Ninja school was out of the question.

“It's late. Go home,” Barnaby said.

Keith got up, followed by Ivan and Nathan.

“We'll see you again soon, little Kotetsu,” Nathan cooed.

“I'm coming to the gymnasium tomorrow,” Kotetsu said with youthful exuberance.

“No,” Barnaby said.

Kotetsu turned on Barnaby. “I am.”

They left, the argument still going full force as only those with the Hundred Power could maintain.

~~~

Barnaby watched as a young, tired Kotetsu wandered aimlessly around his apartment. Following the descent of the masses upon his house and everyone making a huge deal out of nothing, Barnaby hoped to figure out how to put things back to sorts. But no, obnoxious Kotetsu wanted to talk, or bond, or something.

"You have so many friends, why do you live alone?" Kotetsu asked, fiddling with the robot toy his parents had given him the Christmas they were killed.

"I like to live alone."

"Are you sure you're not lonely?" Kotetsu said.

"It's peaceful." He sipped some liquor from the glass.

With a suggestive waggle to his eyebrows, Kotetsu asked, "Do you have a giiirrrrlfriend?"

Barnaby set his drink down. He'd need all of his wits about him to defend against precocious Kotetsu.

"No. Stop playing with that.” He pushed himself to standing. “I'll get you blankets. You'll be staying on the couch." Barnaby went to gather bedding. The closet held an extra set of sheets and a thin, knit blanket. Barnaby searched around for a pillow.

From the living room Kotetsu continued, "…or a boooyfriend?"

Barnaby dropped the pillow. He wondered how to play this off. Go over the top and suggest he had a horde of admirers that he serviced each night, and he, Kotetsu, was cramping his style? Deny everything; tell the kid it wasn't his business? Or give him just a bit of information to appease him, but not enough to damn himself?

"I have neither." Simple truth, he'd stick with that.

He came back into the living room. Kotetsu was lounging back in the couch, Barnaby's abandoned drink in his hand. Kotetsu, for all his youth, was glancing at Barnaby over the lip of the glass, his eyes piercing Barnaby with an intensity that undermined his will to walk.

Barnaby grimaced. That look. He'd wanted that look for so long and here it was, delivered with the audacity of a teenager.

"Kotetsu, I would like to remind you about your wife and daughter." Barnaby's throat had gone dry.

"Dead wife," Kotetsu said. "That I am sure I loved dearly."

"You did."

Kotetsu sipped his drink, his lips lingering on the edge. Barnaby threw the blankets at Kotetsu's head, turned around and walked into his room, forcing himself into a slow, steady pace when all he wanted to do was run away. He closed the door, and leaned against it, chin resting on his chest. Tomorrow he'd contact Saito and have him look at that clock. It had only been a day, but he couldn't deal with a young, far too aware Kotetsu much longer.

~~~

He was drifting on a pre-waking cloud, a deep-seated contentment warming him from the inside out. In minute increments he floated into waking, noting the soft sheets, the warm breath against the back of his neck, the arm over his waist. He'd never allowed any of his bedmates to stay the night, but that didn't initially register. The very first thing that did register was the squeeze of that arm-tugging him to slow wakefulness-and the gentle tilt of hips resulting in the brush of something his bedmates had never had before.

Full comprehension was instantaneous after that.

“Kotetsu, why are you in my bed.”

The arm tightened again, and a nose brushed along the back of Barnaby's neck sending a shiver along his body.

“...nuruhh... warm...”

With a jab to his elbow, Barnaby separated their bodies.

“Oi, what was that for?” The young man, no, teenager, practically a baby, yawned, stretching his arms high in the air, letting the blanket fall off his bare chest. Definitely not the bare chest of anything but a man.

Barnaby shuffled off the bed, intensely aware of his own topless state and half-erect cock. “You're naked?” Barnaby asked in a tone that sounded two octaves higher than was natural. He pinched the bridge of his nose. What was going on?

“Good morning, Barney,” Kotetsu said, perky even for the time and the elbow to his gut. “Shall I make breakfast?” He threw back his blankets, and though Barnaby did not look, he could see that Kotetsu had worn pants to bed. Thank God.

"Please do not climb into my bed and do not touch me. Ever."

Kotetsu leveled a disbelieving look at Barnaby that slowly crawled down his body.

"Barney, you really don't appear to have minded."

"Do not call me Barney. My name is Barnaby. Mr. Brooks to you. And you're under age-" Barnaby had one of those out of body experiences where he knew he was babbling but just couldn't stop, "-and I am not interested in young boys."

Kotetsu snorted through his nose. "Not interested in young boys? Glad to know." He climbed out of the bed, his movements slow, deliberate. Barnaby struggled to not watch, mesmerized by this stalking tiger. When had Kotetsu ever been graceful?

In your dreams, his mind insisted. Always in your dreams.

"But I'm no young boy. I'm a man. I'm certainly of age, and if you worry about legalities, according to my driver's license I'm 37."

They stood chest to chest, Kotetsu a few inches shorter than his adult self.

The young man leaned forward and Barnaby struggled to keep his ground. He would not let this upstart kid dominate this encounter. But when Kotetsu lifted his chin, Barnaby's gaze was trapped on those lips. With a swiftness Barnaby was unprepared for, Kotetsu kissed him.

It was fast, and it was dry, and it sent liquid lightening through his nerves.

Kotetsu studied Barnaby's face, licked his lips, and finished with, "Mr. Brooks." Then he left the room, leaving Barnaby in an inappropriate state.

He needed a cold shower.

~~~

“Do you think Wild Tiger is back to normal?” Nathan asked, dabbing at his brow with a pink towel. Ivan was still doing squats, unintentionally matching Keith's bench press pace a few machines away. “He's so cute, all young and fresh.”

“I hope you don't think all young and fresh people are cute, Fire Emblem,” Pao-Lin said. Everybody learned not to mention the flowery hairclip she wore. It just wasn't done.

“Of course not, dear,” Nathan said, reaching out to pinch her cheek, which she easily dodged. “You are ferocious to the core.”

The door banged open and Ivan stopped his workout, mid-squat. Kotetsu-young Kotetsu-strode through the door like a mafia king. “Oh, Wild Tiger,” Nathan squealed, almost dancing in place with delight. “Still a brawny, delightful youth, I see.”

“Fire Emblem.” Kotetsu said the name as if his speaking it was a treat to the name-bearer. Ivan glanced over at Keith, wondering exactly how Kotetsu had done that. Wondering if he could learn how. "Everyone. How is your workout today? Are you ready to charge through the great city of Sternbild, wash away the stain on our glittering streets!" He planted his feet on the ground and pumped his fist in the air.

There was a pregnant silence that was pierced by Keith jumping to his feet and clapping.

"You bring inspiration to us all, Mr. Wild Tiger! Without a doubt, you are an inspiration bringer." Keith's faint dimples highlighted his cheeks as he smiled and Ivan had to look away.

"Thanks, Sky High. What do you say we go patrol-"

The door banged open again and Barnaby walked through, hair in disarray and a definite harried look about him.

"No patrolling for you," he said, glaring so hard at Kotetsu, Ivan was ready for the man to turn to stone. "I agreed to let you come to the gymnasium to get some exercise, not for you to bully Sky High into patrolling with him, after I already told you no."

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Kotetsu's wild grin slumped into a sullen pout.

"But I can be useful." Then he perked up, almost like Keith's dog, John, when he knew there was a treat for him. "Hey, I'll prove it. I'll show you my fabulous moves."

Kotetsu stuck his hands out karate style, striking another pose. Ivan had to admit, he had a knack for it.

Beep Beep Beep.

Everyone glanced down at their wristbands. Kotetsu darted his gaze from one arm to the next, his own wrist naked.

"Is it crime? Is there some crime we must stop?" He turned to Barnaby. "Barney, why don't I have one of those blinking bracelets?"

"I told you, you are not-"

"Hold on there, heroes." Agnes glided into the room, the heels of her shoes striking a staccato equal to her determination. "Sending young Mr. Tiger would do great things for our ratings. We must please the crowds.” Agnes threw her head back and laughed. “I can see the ratings soar.” She sobered, thrust her finger out at Barnaby and said, “You will take our young Tiger out and you will assure he has some heroic moments for us to catch on film. Do you understand?

“But--” Barnaby looked around the room for help. Ivan didn't meet his eyes. “We don't even know if he has his Hundred Power.”

“I do!” Kotetsu said with a dashing grin no one that young should have perfected. Ivan vowed he'd practice a bit more in his bathroom mirror. “No sense in my wasting it now. There is a criminal threatening the innocent. Let's go, heroes!”

Ivan found himself cheering, and realized he wasn't alone. Keith, and then Nathan and Karina's voices added to his own, and then the rest. Keith looked at him and grinned, twice as dashing as Kotetsu's, and Ivan returned it without even a second thought.

Barnaby remained, apparently stunned, as they all passed him to ready themselves for the streets. His face was dazed, and Ivan waved a hand before his eyes.

“You okay, Barnaby?”

“But, he doesn't even fit his suit,” the man mumbled.

~~~

Barnaby was right, the suit didn't fit. But Saito was a genius and soon modifications were made and a smaller version was fitted around Kotetsu's rejuvenated body. Barnaby couldn't believe the things Agnes would do for ratings, and he worried about Kotetsu getting hurt. Though it was his partner's own bumbling that got him into this mess, he felt slightly responsible. It was his parents' clock.

“You think you can reverse the effects?” he asked Saito, handing over the clock.

Saito whispered something too quiet to be heard, but there was a definite nod of affirmation so Barnaby had strong hopes.

Barnaby's plan, if he could call it anything so lofty as a plan, was to keep Kotetsu distracted from chasing down true criminals by finding some small fry to set the young old man on. Barnaby pressed his fingertips to his temple. His own ratings were going to drop, but he was sure it wouldn't be a permanent setback.

The heroes hit the street in their various ways; Barnaby and Kotetsu jumped on the bike and took off-in the opposite direction as everyone else.

“Hey, Barney, you get your license out of a vending machine? We're going to the wrong way.”

Barnaby lifted his nose. “While you were struggling with your suit, I got a tip on the criminal. He was heading this way.”

Kotetsu gave him a look, so Kotetsu, but so alien on the smooth, hairless face. A mix of curiosity, a little skepticism, but mostly it was all trust.

“You've got people on the ground then, texting you with tips? Popular guy, aren't you Barney?” Then Kotetsu said something very un-Kotetsu like. “I can see why, with an ass like yours.”

Barnaby almost spun out the bike.

~~~

They'd been driving around for thirty minutes through a low-rent, rundown section of the city, seedy enough to keep Kotetsu's interest with a history of petty crime, when his armband blinked again.

“Barnaby, Wild Tiger, be prepared, the criminal is heading your direction. Look for a red --”

“There!” Kotetsu said, pointing at a red cargo van barreling down at them at five times the legal speed on those narrow, neighborhood streets.

“--van. He seems to be able to accelerate himself.”

“Crap,” Barnaby muttered as the van zoomed by. He engaged the brake and spun the bike around to chase the escaping vehicle.

“Woohoo!” Kotetsu yelled as Barnaby popped the bike into turbo and blasted off. They gained on the van, his helmet visor giving him precise readings of his speed and the distance to the getaway vehicle.

“Barney, I'm going to make a leap for the van.”

His breath caught. Not taking his eyes from the road, Barnaby said, “No.”

“But according to what everyone was telling me, it's a perfect Wild Tiger move!” Kotetsu had risen into a half crouch in the sidecar. "Origami Cyclone stressed the need for dashing action."

“You've no experience with this.” Why was the little brat insisting on sticking his neck out to get chopped? Stupid, brash, thoughtless fool. “He's a thief, not a killer; don't risk yourself for some stuff.”

Kotetsu settled back down into the car. “Good point, Barney.”

Though he hadn't known he was holding it, Barnaby released a breath.

Then Kotetsu released a soft, low chuckle. “But I do think that my body knows a lot of things that I, myself, have never experienced.”

That voice, though not as rough as the Kotetsu he knew, was deep and suggestive and Barnaby felt his heart rate lurch into a sprint. Damn if his mind didn't sidestep into the realm of Never Going To Happen, of daydreams and what ifs and late night imaginings that he'd promised would never see the light of day.

This damned kid, with one tongue flick, a few suggestive lines-saying his name like that-had knocked down the carefully constructed partition of what was real and what could only be fantasy. Damn it if the younger version wasn't more astute than the old man was.

Barnaby cleared his throat as the van cruised down one of the elevated highways. “Better be careful what you do with it. When you are restored, I'm sure the older you wouldn't have wanted you to do anything untoward with it.”

The red van inched closer. Barnaby checked his fuel gauge. Turbo wasn't the most efficient stage for long distance travel.

“Oh, I'm sure old-me and now-me are of one mind-” Kotetsu paused, forcing Barnaby to glance over at him, “--Mr. Brooks.”

Fuck.

“I'm going!” Kotetsu suddenly announced, then leapt from the side car through the air, a cry of wild abandon screaming through their communicators as he soared through space. A blue halo erupted around Kotetsu and, with the force of a man with his Hundred Power activated, landed like a cannon ball onto the back of the van.

Or landed into it. Kotetsu vanished through the roof and Barnaby cursed under his breath as he continued to trail the now swerving van.

The van fishtailed, its tail-end arc ever expanding until it fell into a spin. Barnaby caught a flash of glowing blue in the windshield before the vision twirled beyond sight. The front bumper snagged the guardrail and bounced the van across the street into the opposite guardrail. The crunch of metal against metal sent a little earthquake of fear through Barnaby's body. The van flipped, tumbled end over end, and Barnaby slammed on his breaks as he watched it tear through the guardrail's metal and plummet to the water below.

Power engaged, Barnaby sprang from the bike and raced to the edge, throwing himself over in a graceful dive. A HeroTV helicopter hovered nearby, but Barnaby didn't care if it caught his heroic move. His only thoughts were of Kotetsu. Could the kid get himself out of this? The brat was as miserable a danger hound as his adult self was.

Even taking on a perfect diving form, Barnaby still couldn't catch up to the van before it smacked into the hard surface of the ocean. Barnaby pulled out of his dive, holding his arms and legs out to slow his descent and landed on the van, dunking it into the cold water. Bubbles of escaping air boiled around the doomed vehicle.

"Kotetsu!" he called through their communicators. "Answer me. Old man!" Barnaby balanced on the snout of the van, the only portion remaining above water

Barnaby could barely hear Kotetsu through the shorting communicator. "… worry. Got 'em…" Crackle. "…water is ris--…" Crackle. "…good run. Thanks, Bu-" Crackle. Then nothing.

Bunny.

Liquid ice filled his veins. Had Kotetsu remembered? Had he aged suddenly, and lost his power? Then the ice flashed away as determination and spitfire set him aflame. He plunged his hand into the ocean and gripped the edge of the windshield, digging his fingers in and tearing the glass away, causing the interior to flood with water.

"Kotetsu! Talk to me."

Blood pounding in his ears. The chopper's hum overhead. The gush of water swirling around the drowning vehicle. His voice barely breached these things, yet he swore he heard his name. He heard "Bunny", faint and weak, in Kotetsu's voice. He inhaled a lungful, then dove in, his blue glow offering scant light in the darkening interior. Spotlights from the helicopter danced across the surface of the water as Barnaby pushed himself past the seats, but barely pierced the deepening gloom.

In the back of the van, filled with the floating detritus of upturned boxes, were Kotetsu in his modified suit, and a tall, fat man, struggling with the latches on the van's cargo doors. Kotetsu, still glowing with power, slammed his heel into the doors, then again, forcing them open. He grabbed the man's arm and pushed him through the opening, up to the surface. Barnaby swam up to Kotetsu just as his glow faded away.

Barnaby grabbed Kotetsu and spun him around; Kotetsu's face was lit by interior illumination distorted by water filling the mask. A seam where the suit had been modified must have torn, releasing the precious little air that would have been available in the suit. Kotetsu's lashes feathered out in the water. He blinked them once, and smiled. It was a sad smile, a smile full of unspoken words. Full of good-byes.

Barnaby growled, wrapped his arm around Kotetsu's waist-smaller that he'd imagined-and kicked hard off the van's bumper, propelling them surfaceward toward light and air. On their ascent Barnaby grabbed the arm of the thief and hauled him along. In a fountain of water, they burst through the surface of the bay, spotlight from the HeroTV helicopter targeting them like the center ring of a circus. The lights washed out the almost-evening pink into the organic color of puke. He gasped for breath, happy to see that sickly shade of orange-red. Happy to be breathing. Happy to have his best friend right by his side.

"And the capture goes to Barnaby Brooks, Jr.! Way to go, hero!"

Happy to be up on even more points that season.

~~~

They were airlifted to the motorcycle and sidecar, dripping wet and still breathing hard.

Kotetsu sat on the road, leaning against the bike. He had his helmet off, his sopping hair clinging to his temples, curling up like the laurel crown of old Roman kings. Barnaby kneeled before him, wishing Kotetsu had listened to him and agreed to go to the hospital.

"You called me Bunny." Barnaby swallowed, but not before the words escaped. He hadn't intended to say that.

Kotetsu coughed up some water, then chuckled. "I know. I remembered something. I remembered how you would always tell me to call you Barnaby. 'It's not Bunny. It's Barnaby,' you'd say."

"You never listened," Barnaby said.

"I did this time, Mr. Brooks." It wasn't spoken with the same teasing seduction the young man had used earlier, but with a camaraderie that was so totally Kotetsu, Barnaby felt immediately at home. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against that of the young facsimile of his partner. And if he were to be honest, his closest friend.

"You know," Kotetsu said, voice rough, "I have this distinct impression we've never been like this before."

Barnaby closed his eyes, but did not pull away. "What would this be, Kotetsu?"

Kotetsu didn't say anything for a long time, but then he said, "I want to kiss you again."

Barnaby forced a chuckle. "You're a kid."

"I'm 37."

“You really don’t want this. My partner, old you, didn’t want this.”

“Lies.”

In the distance the roar of an engine announced Nathan's approach and Barnaby rocked back on his heels.

"You're a kid," he said with finality.

Kotetsu pouted, then smiled, and finally laughed. "I won't always be. And then, Mr. Brooks, you'll have nothing to keep yourself in denial."

And Barnaby remembered that one, simple kiss, remembered Kotetsu's arm around his waist in bed, remembered the warmth and the fire and the want in that one moment of reality that seemed so clear, so perfect. Nobody had ever struck a chord within him like that. He shut his eyes, willing his body to forget the heat and the kiss and that perfect vibration that Kotetsu strummed within him.

At least, until they fixed this time-reversal on Kotetsu, and then Barnaby would just have to hope that the old man felt the same way as the young one did.

~~~

Ivan missed the capture again. He kicked at a paper cup littering the ground, letting it skid across the sidewalk. Then he sighed and picked it up, carrying it to the closest trash can. He hadn't caught a criminal in over a month.

The park he strolled through was well lit at night, with a beautiful center fountain illuminated by underwater lights that made the water shimmer as it sprayed into the air. Ivan wondered if he'd ever earn the limelight. If the others would ever clap him on the back and bury him under congratulations. Not that he wanted to take away anyone else's achievements; he just wished he could be at the right place at the right time. He just wished he was better.

A dog barked and pulled his attention out of his self-pity. John bounded up to him, tail wagging.

Ivan squatted down and ruffled the dog's neck. "You a good dog, John?" he said, his voice playful and high. "Such a good boy. You watching out for Keith?"

"Of course he is," Keith said. Ivan looked up and smiled at his fellow hero. "What brings you out here tonight, Ivan?"

I wanted to see you. To see your smile. To have you tell me that I'm not a loser.

"Just needed a walk," he said as he stood. "Get some fresh air."

"Oh yes. Fresh air feeds the soul of a man. And you look like your soul needs feeding."

Ivan squinted at that, then looked down at himself. "I do?" He looked back up at Keith, who nodded, a soft smile on his lips. Ivan felt trapped, eyes locked onto Keith’s face, then he tore his gaze away. He found that lately he had to look away a lot.

"Would you like to walk with me and John?" Keith asked.

"Sure." He joined the man and his dog in a quiet stroll. He had to force himself silent, because there were a million things he wanted to say and ask and confess, but he was sure Keith wouldn't understand any of them, or accept them, or-worst of all-would just nod and smile and pretend Ivan hadn't said any of it at all.

I think I like you. I think I'd like to kiss you. I feel worthless some days; I'm really no hero. I wish I had a better power. I wish I wasn't alone.

"Do you want to come over for dinner? I've made meatloaf. Meatloaf is full of protein and flavor. It's a meal made to share with friends, and John shouldn't have too much human food. I spoil him so." Keith patted the dog and waited for Ivan's answer.

Ivan nodded, afraid he'd squeak if he tried to speak since his heart was blocking his throat.

~~~

Kotetsu shared his bed with him that night under a tacit agreement that there would be nothing happening. Kotetsu kept to the right side of the bed, and Barnaby kept to the left. Until he teetered on slumber’s edge and felt the almost imperceptible movement of Kotetsu scooting closer to him. Barnaby feigned sleep as the arm snaked across his middle, and didn't say a word when Kotetsu touched the tip of his nose to Barnaby's shoulder, soft puffs of breath ghosting across the fine hairs there.

Barnaby kept his eyes closed and his breathing steady and felt unnaturally content for so awkward a situation.

When he woke it was to his arms wrapped around Kotetsu, the warm heat of Kotetsu's body reminding Barnaby that he hadn't had sex in over six-months. He had a half formed erection that he struggled not to grind up against the other man's backside.

Instead, Kotetsu ground back into him.

For an instant, Barnaby lost it. He groaned and pushed his body against Kotetsu's. Back to front, ass to groin, legs locked together. His tongue ran across the bare skin of Kotetsu's shoulder, tasting his heat. He wanted to suck on that skin. Mark it. Lick every inch of the body in his grasp. Then his brain engaged and he leapt from the bed, blood pounding, mind barely dominating his racing hormones.

"I'm … shower," he said, and fled the room, leaving behind a half-naked Kotetsu and his shredded dignity.

The water was cold and goose bumps sprouted all over his pale skin, but his erection didn't die until he took it in hand and stroked, thoughts ghosting over Kotetsu's body, his firm ass grinding against him, the half-lidded look he'd given Barnaby from the bed.

"Fuck," he cursed to nobody in particular. Maybe he was damning his parents and their crazy contraptions. Maybe he was damning his own desire.

After his shower, he couldn't look at Kotetsu over the breakfast his partner had made. Eggs, toast, bacon. He ate it mechanically, one mouthful at a time, remembering the unfulfilling orgasm he'd had in the shower, the evidence of his perversion dripping down the tile wall.

“I'm taking you to the gymnasium today.”

Kotetsu sipped his tea, his eyebrows lifted high on his forehead. “Where are you going to be?”

Barnaby rolled his eyes. Old or young, he had stupid, endless questions.

“My own business. Maybe some of the other heroes will give you instruction on new techniques.”

Kotetsu brightened. “Yeah, that sounds fun.” Then his brows furrowed. “You're not ditching me, are you? You won't leave me, right Barney?”

“No,” Barnaby said sharply. “Come on, let's go.”

Though his car could hit one-twenty in the blink of his eye, Barnaby drove the speed limit in quiet contemplation. Sure, their age difference was not that huge; Barnaby was only twenty-five. Maybe he wasn't a complete creep-or so he tried to convince himself. And he'd always felt something for Kotetsu, even if he'd refused to really let that monster out of the back corner of his mind. Ever since that time he'd though he'd lost the old man, when Kotetsu's body had lain limply in his arms...

A shudder shimmied through his body. He didn't even like to think back to that moment.

But really, what if old Kotetsu didn’t want this. What if Barnaby let something happen and Kotetsu returned to normal and--it would have all been a mistake.

The gymnasium was quiet, with only Nathan and Pao-Lin using the machines.

"Hey!" Kotetsu said. "Where's everyone at?"

"Oh, hello, darling," Nathan said, abandoning the chest press machine and gliding up to Kotetsu. "Out with their normal lives, I guess. I see you're still young and fresh."

Kotetsu smiled. "I am. And I'm hoping you and Dragon Kid will spar with me." He punched the air, boxer style, hopping back and forth on his spread feet. "Teach me a thing or two."

Nathan ran his fingers through Kotetsu's bush of black hair. "Hmm, I'm sure I can think of a thing or two I can teach you."

A shock of adrenalin hit Barnaby's system and he insinuated himself between the two men, clearing his throat politely to indicate Nathan was acting inappropriately.

Nathan took a step back. “Oooh, Handsome, did you just snarl?”

Barnaby blinked. "Of course I didn't. I've got business, so I expect that you'll treat Wild Tiger with the utmost dignity."

"Certainly." Nathan winked. "When would I ever treat our little Tiger with anything less?"

Before Barnaby left to talk with Saito, he gave Pao-Lin fifty bucks to call him if Nathan got handsy.

~~~

“What if you cannot turn him back?” Saito asked through his speakers. “What will you do then?” The clock, a menagerie of cogs and springs, lay partially dismantled on a chrome laboratory table. Saito studied it through thick magnifying goggles, poking at pieces with a metal probe.

“I don't have to worry about such impossibilities, Mr. Saito. I have faith that you will learn the clock's secret and return it, and Wild Tiger, back to normal.” Though he spoke with confidence, he studied the tiny pieces in dismay.

“He's certainly of an age to care for himself,” Saito said, picking up a tightly wound spring with a pair of tweezers.

Barnaby snorted. “As an adult of thirty-seven he wasn't of an age to care for himself. No, I'll watch out for him. For a while anyway.” For as long as Kotetsu needed him.

“Oh,” Saito said in delight. “I think I've got something here. Now shoo. I can't work with a hovering worrier nearby.”

“I'm not hovering,” Barnaby said. He waited a little while longer, but under Saito's intense disregard he finally left for the gymnasium.

Antonio's rich laugh, mingled with the joyful bark of Kotetsu, hurried Barnaby's steps as he neared the gymnasium. At least it wasn't Nathan who sounded a little too happy. When he entered the gymnasium, he saw Antonio leaning against the free weight stack, arms crossed with Keith, Nathan and Kotetsu surrounding him. Pao-Linn shrugged at Barnaby and then proceeded to perform a triple back flip.

“Oh! Barney, get over here. Rock is telling some great stories.”

Barnaby looked over at Antonio and was shocked to see the man's face fall from laughter into something he didn't recognize. Antonio dropped his arms to his sides, a feigned look of a casual nature.

“No. I've got some paperwork to do at my desk. I'll come get you when I'm done.”

Kotetsu stuck his tongue out. “Paperwork. Sounds miserable.”

Keith laughed. “Now, that's something we'd expect from Wild Tiger.”

“Really?” Kotetsu said joyfully.

“Yes. It seems Wild Tiger of any age hates paperwork. 'Paperwork is a trial of boredom' you'd once said.”

Barnaby left the gymnasium, feeling a heated gaze on his back. A few minutes after he'd set himself at his desk and succeeded in getting absolutely nothing accomplished, Antonio approached him.

“How you doing, Barnaby?” he asked, hands stuffed in the pockets of his workout pants.

“Fine, Rock Bison. And yourself?”

Antonio shrugged. Then he crossed his arms and sighed. “I keep wondering when you and Origami will get a clue.”

Barnaby tensed. “Clue?”

“Oh, don't get all riled up. It's obvious to me you both got little to worry about.”

Though he fought its formation, Barnaby knew he was scowling. He pushed his glasses up his forehead and rubbed at his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Antonio made an unhappy whining noise and scratched at his hair. “Ah, don't be so dense, Barnaby. It's obvious you're... into Kotetsu. All's I'm saying is I've known him for a long time, and though it's a bit shocking considering... Well, anyway, he's into you too.”

Barnaby felt his face heat up, but he refused to look away. He also refused to give into the desire to ask for specifics. “Anything else,” he said instead of, “Give me details. All of them. Now.”

“No. Just, you don't have to glare at everyone who talks to him. It's drawing attention.”

Barnaby said nothing as Antonio returned to the gymnasium, leaving him with busy work and no focus to get an ounce of it done.

~~~

“Barney, why are you on the couch?”

Barnaby's couch was large, but not that comfortable, so he couldn't even pretend sleep when Kotetsu came out of the bedroom, pajama bottoms low on his hips, chest bare, hair tousled in a just-shagged look.

“You hog the bed,” Barnaby said, not even taking his eyes from Kotetsu's body. Hell, he'd had the emotional fortitude to get out of that bed and relocate to the couch, he had nothing left in him to look away.

“You should stop worrying and just--” Kotetsu shrugged, “--go with it. You like me, I like you--”

“No,” Barnaby blurted, yanking a pillow over his head to block the view.

“Okay. If that's how you want it. I guess I get it. But, Barney, I just want to make sure that you know that I like you. Though you can be grouchy, and grumbly, and kind of elitist, you are a loyal friend and even if you try to hide it, you're actually nice. Plus, you make my body want to explode,” he chuckled to himself, “like nobody else I've encountered. Ever.”

Barnaby's breathing had turned into a near-pant. He wanted to look at Kotetsu, tell him, “I like you too. I've liked you. I've wanted you,” but now, after Kotetsu's own confession, so much more mature than either Barnaby or old Kotetsu could ever have done, he felt it would be feeble and flat.

“Barney, you make me want to be a better person, one that you can respect. I've a general idea that I'm a bit of a dork at my normal age,” he laughed again, “but it seems we're close anyway. I wonder why we never did come together.” Kotetsu sighed. “Ah, Barney, I wish you would look at me. It's like talking to a wall.”

Barnaby pulled the pillow off his head and saw that Kotetsu had moved a few steps closer, his face serious, the expression in his eyes weighed heavy with honesty and earnestness.

“Promise me. When I'm old again, the me you're familiar with, that you won't let this go. That you will do something about it. I'm not sure what I'll remember. I'm nearly pissed you're denying me this--” he waved his hand in the air between them, “--when I know I may never feel like this again.” He clamped his jaw shut and swallowed. “So, promise me.”

Barnaby nodded, first a slow jerk to his head, then a nod as steady as a bobble-head. “I promise,” he said once he trusted himself to speak.

“Now, come to bed.”

“I-- I can't.” Barnaby felt ashamed.

“Oh, come on, old man,” Kotetsu said with a wink. “I won't let you do anything to my young, innocent body.” Then he sobered up, all amusement gone. “I just want to be near you.” He reached out and after some internal deliberation, Barnaby took his hand.

~~~

Ivan turned off his computer. It was 2:30 in the morning and he had a 7:00 am training session at ninja school. He'd been typing out different scenarios as to how Keith would react to various methods of confession. It wasn't going well.

“Keith, I like you.”

“Ivan. I like you too. Like I like all my friends. Friends are likable.”

Or.

“Keith, I've been thinking about things and I'm wondering if you'd maybe enjoy going to dinner with me.”

“Dinner sounds wonderful. A man has to eat, and why not eat dinner.”

Or.

“I've no idea if you're interested in guys or not, but I was wondering...”

“Men are manly. Manly is good!”

He'd come up with other scenarios that always ended with Keith misunderstanding him. Really, did he think the man was that dense? How could he want to be with someone that dense?

Then Ivan smiled to himself. Honestly, it was part of Keith's charm.

Dinner the other night has been amazing. The food was hearty-Keith was an amazing cook-and they even had wine. Wine and meatloaf. Who drank wine with meatloaf? But it was good, and it warmed his body, though he only had one glass because he didn't need to go babbling about things he wasn't ready to address yet. They'd talked for forever. About everything. Dogs, and heroing, and their favorite books. They'd been on the couch together, nearly touching. All Ivan wanted to do was come up with excuses to press his arm up against Keith's. He bumped him once, in a joking gesture, and Keith bumped him back. Ivan couldn't stop his smile after that. He'd left with a smile. Thinking about it now had him smiling again.

Damn, he was silly. Damn. He was in love.

~~~

“I think a Burmese Mountain Dog is a great beast. They can travel miles in chest high snow. Their strength is equal to none.” Keith pushed up from another squat and counted “seventeen” under his breath.

“But aren't they really big? It sounds big. I think I'd rather have a smaller dog, like a terrier,” Ivan said, bench-pressing his number seventeen.

“High activity dogs, those terriers. John likes his runs; terriers like a run and a ball throw and maybe a little ratting. Very active dogs.”

“But they'd be fun. And I hear they're super smart.”

“Yes, very smart.” Keith did a few more squats and Ivan wondered if their conversation was over. Karina and Kotetsu were on the far side jogging on treadmills and talking about something that seemed to bounce Karina between annoyed and amused. But with her conversations with Kotetsu, that seemed normal.

“I wonder were Barnaby is,” he said to himself.

“It is a wonder that he would leave young Wild Tiger alone with Blue Rose of all people,” Keith said on his number twenty-four.

“Why do you say that about Blue Rose?” Ivan pressed two more counts before Keith's silence forced him to continue. “I mean, if anyone teasing Wild Tiger bugged Barnaby, it was Fire Emblem.”

Keith laughed, then stopped his bench-pressing to sit up and watch Kotetsu and Karina. “Fire Emblem likes to admire and boast and tease. He's got no real investment in Wild Tiger. Blue Rose, though...”

Ivan's eyebrows jumped up his forehead and he stared at the two heroes. He couldn't tell much through the other machines and the distance. He couldn't hear what they spoke about, or the timber of their laughter.

“You think Blue Rose is interested in Wild Tiger and that Barnaby Brooks thinks he must protect him from her?” He almost laughed. Karina and Kotetsu? How could Keith even imagine that? “Are you suggesting...?”

“Yes. Love is love's reward.”

Ivan looked at Keith. “Huh?”

Keith wiped his face with his hand towel and then looked over at Ivan. Ivan refused to look away from those intense eyes this time. “Blue Rose loves Wild Tiger. You can tell in how she gets shy at times, and stumbles her words. Or jumps to offer to help him. Or scold him. The old and the young version,” Keith explained. He sucked down some water from his bottle. “And Barnaby has realized that he loves Wild Tiger also and isn't quite sure how to deal with that. He's protective and gets angry easily when he thinks Wild Tiger is getting... mistreated. Barnaby hates anyone mistreating Wild Tiger other than himself.”

Keith had figured all of this out just by watching them? Ivan looked over to the far side of the gymnasium again. Antonio and Barnaby had joined them and Barnaby put himself in between Kotetsu and Karina, angling his body so he faced Karina and Kotetsu was a little behind him. Kotetsu was grinning at Barnaby, truly beaming, and Karina was fiddling with the controls of her machine.

Kotetsu said something, and Barnaby turned to face him, his expression all Barnaby: disapproving, stiff, haughty. But then Kotetsu said something else, and Barnaby smiled. Not a smile for the cameras, that really big, flirty, I'm-really-amazing-don't-doubt-it smile, but truly smiled. It wasn't big or showy; it was actually warm.

“Wow,” Ivan said. “You're totally right.”

“Glad you can see it now,” Keith said. He stood and walked over to Ivan's machine. He leaned against it, and still watching the scene across the room asked, “So, Ivan, care for dinner again tonight? I'm making burritos.” Then he looked down at Ivan, and in the soft edges of his amused eyes and the gentle upturn of his lips, Ivan read the same emotion he'd just seen on Barnaby's face.

His heart skipped, stalled a bit, then beat one strong beat, then another, and another until it shot blood through his veins.

“Yes. I would love that. And tomorrow, if you'd like, I can make perogies.”

Keith's smile exploded into a full on grin. “I get to eat your cooking? I've been wanting to try Russian food for a long time. It will be the best Russian cooking I’ve ever eaten, your perogies. I make a mean pancake, too, if you’d like to try those.”

Eyes wide and jaw dropped open, Ivan nodded, then licked his suddenly dry lips and said, “Yeh-yes, I’d love to.”

~~~

He'd been lying in bed for the last twenty minutes-he'd been watching the clock. The bed was warm, and Kotetsu was curled up against his right side, and he kept thinking about what would happen once Kotetsu was himself again. Would he remember his feelings? Would he forget everything? Would Barnaby be able to stuff his feelings away, back into a box shuffled to the lowest level of his mind, never to see the light of active thought again if he didn't?

Could he?

Barnaby took in a deep breath, and let it out. Kotetsu burrowed closer into his side, squeezed him and relaxed back into sleep.

No, he couldn't. He'd never be able to forget this. He didn't want to. After an entire lifetime of existing for revenge and never allowing himself simple living, he couldn't turn his back on this after just one taste. He was doomed.

He closed his eyes and felt his bedmate's warmth, the steady cadence of his breath. He'd make the normal Kotetsu see how good this could be. Somehow, he'd win the old man over.

A few minutes passed and Barnaby's wristband blinked, pulling him out of his increasingly circular logic. It wasn't an emergency. Kotetsu stirred and looked up, eyes blurry, hair smashed to one side of his head. Stubble was sprouting on his chin. Barnaby wanted to run his fingers over it, feel the rough texture, taste it with his tongue, but answered his wristband instead.

“This is Saito. I think I've got it figured out. Bring Wild Tiger to the lab as soon as you can.”

“We'll be there,” Barnaby said, and clicked the communicator off. Kotetsu's eyes filled his face. “Ready?” he asked the young man.

Kotetsu nodded. “So, you'll--” he gestured between himself and Barnaby, “--once I'm back to my old self?” Then, that seductive smirk slipped over his lips. “You'll let me throw you against the wall and kiss you? Everywhere?” He'd dropped his voice low, into that deep, smooth timber that seemed to reach every nook and cranny of Barnaby's body. “Taste you and prove how much I want you and no one else?”

Barnaby cleared his throat. “Yes, well…” He had to clear his throat again. “We'll see once you're back to your old self. Get dressed.”

~~~

The clock had been set on the edge of the chrome table, no unused pieces scattered around the timepiece.

“It's a very special machine. Your parents were brilliant. Not only does it tell time and moon phase, it-as you know-can turn back time. Not to be used without more forethought, though.” Saito stared at Kotetsu. Kotetsu muttered about not remembering fiddling with it. “It can have unexpected results. It can also send a person back in time, but I would really advise against such usage of the clock, since the algorithm your parents used is untested in the scientific community.”

Barnaby crossed his arms over his chest. “But you've fixed it, and you can put the old man back to sorts?”

“Oh yes. I've fixed the spring that had been dislodged and knocked a cog out of alignment. And I know how to manipulate the dials to put Wild Tiger back to his normal age.”

“Great. Let's do it,” Barnaby said, nervous and anxious.

“Are you ready, Wild Tiger?” Saito asked. “Not wanting to start everything all over from where you are now?”

Kotetsu looked from Barnaby to Saito and shook his head. “I think I've lived a pretty good life and I don't want to forget any of it. I'm ready to be me again.” Kotetsu reached out for Barnaby, then casually pulled his hand back and stuffed it into his pocket. Saito watched them and Barnaby felt his skin heat.

Everybody knew. God, they were like the center ring's dancing bears.

“Okay,” Saito said, his voice quiet even with the speakers. “I've set it all up to age you to your proper thirty-seven years. You just pull this knob and turn this dial clock-wise. Understood?” Both men nodded. “I shall leave you to it then.”

When Saito left them alone in the laboratory, that wad of anxiety tossed and turned in Barnaby's gut. He wasn't one to fall into this kind of worry and he didn't like it. “Are you sure you're ready for this?” he asked, though who the question was directed at he wasn't sure.

Without answering, Kotetsu pulled the knob and turned the dial. When he finished, he stepped back and stared at the clock. It began to tick, a dial on one of the faces slowly turning until it began to pick up speed, spinning and spinning around the clockface that began to glow a pale yellow.

But that soon lost Barnaby's interest as he watched the changes coming over his friend. As though he was frozen in a block of ice, Kotetsu stood stoically as his features began to age, slowly at first, but the process sped up as the hand of the clock gained momentum. Years began painting themselves on Kotetsu's features: his facial hair filled out, and weight added layers to the shell of the slim man. Like a tree growing in fast motion film, Barnaby watched as the man sprouted until he reached his own height. But the largest differences were the lines that spread across his face. Lines of experiences, of laughter, of living. As the years passed over Kotetsu's features, Barnaby could read the moment he'd met his wife, the marriage, the birth of Kaede, the death of Tomoe. Life and love and pain and death all scribbled out line by line like a biography. And even though Barnaby only knew of these events as facts from the past, he could now see their effect on Kotetsu and something inside of him seemed to understand the old man better.

Then the clock chimed and Barnaby held his breath as movement returned to Kotetsu's limbs. He stumbled, pressing his fingers to his temple. Barnaby reached out and caught him before the old man dropped to the floor.

“Kotetsu? Old man?”

“Bunny, I'm not that old,” Kotetsu whined. He looked up into Barnaby's eyes, and for a minute Kotetsu looked confused. His eyes narrowed and her searched Barnaby's face.

“I was young?” he asked.

Barnaby nodded, a pit spreading in his belly as he realized Kotetsu didn't remember everything.

“And you kept me at your house, right Bunny?”

Bunny. He'd called him Bunny. And Barnaby's psyche began warring, one half happy that Kotetsu was himself, the other half desperate to not have lost this chance, this man that he realized he wanted so much.

“I did.”

Barnaby still held Kotetsu in his arms, and the other man relaxed into his grip, dropped his forehead against Barnaby's shoulder. “Thanks. You're always looking out for me.”

“Somebody's got to,” Barnaby said, struggling to keep his voice steady, evacuating the sorrow that threatened to invade.

“You know, Mr. Brooks, when you hold me like this, it's hard for me to keep a clear head.”

Barnaby stiffened, his entire body on alert and sizzling because Kotetsu had said his name, in that tone, and somehow he strummed that tightly drawn tension with just those two words into something ready to break.

Barnaby cleared his throat. “You remember?”

Kotetsu raised his head and looked into Barnaby's eyes. Fire and amusement and daring danced at the edges, played on the curve of his lips.

“Everything.”

Then Kotetsu pushed him back and slammed him against the white washed wall of the sterile laboratory. Of their own volition, Barnaby's fingers wound themselves tight into Kotetsu's hair, now salted with gray, dignified, a testament to his experience. Barnaby was shaking, but didn't care, the press of Kotetsu's body against his was the only thing that mattered. They kissed with the fever of long lost lovers, lips in constant contact, unable to pull apart, desperate to taste and swallow down each tiny noise, each moan, the very breath of the other. Barnaby was trapped, locked between the unforgiving wall and Kotetsu's body, a furnace of heat and muscle. He gripped the edge of Kotetsu's shirt and pushed it up, pressing skin against skin.

He wanted to whine. He wanted to beg. He wanted to give everything to Kotetsu. It was a power only Kotetsu had, a power over Barnaby.

Kotetsu growled, the sound hitting something feral within Barnaby, something intrinsic, punching into his very center. All of those demons that had been chasing on his heels from childhood to now dropped away, the empty husks of cicada shells.

“I love you,” he found himself saying through cracks between kisses. “I love you, Kotetsu.” It felt like a confession. It felt like a relief to set those words free.

“Ah, Bunny. I've loved you,” Kotetsu said, breath hot against Barnaby's ear. “I don't remember how long.” It was a long speech, and then Kotetsu kissed him again and Barnaby didn't bother talking anymore.

~~~

“Yes, Mr. Bernard, set the meeting for tomorrow. Thank you.” Nathan clicked his phone shut and thought about Mr. Bernard's butt in those suit trousers and couldn't wait until the business meeting. As he daydreamed a bit, the door to the laboratory popped open. He'd taken the business call in the hallway for the quiet and hadn't expected anyone to be in that section of the Hero complex. Handsome stepped through, tugging his jacket down and running his fingers through his hair to give it that just wind-blown look Nathan fully appreciated.

Then came Kotetsu, fully his own self again, with a grin the size of Sternbild and a gaze firmly glued on Handsome's ass.

Nathan's eyebrows shot up. “I see,” he said to himself.

Kotetsu reached out and brushed his hand along Handsome's shoulder, letting it slide down the length of the man's arm. Handsome turned around with a glare of mock severity.

Nathan almost had to dance from one foot to the other to keep quiet.

“Not out here, Kotetsu.”

“But Bunny...”

“What, you want to announce to the group that you're old and have a thing for a much younger man.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Nathan chanted in his mind.

Kotetsu shrugged, then his shy smile played across his lips. “Or we could just tell everyone we're together and leave it at that.”

Nathan couldn't contain it anymore. “Oh yes! I just want to kiss you both! You've joined me in the true knowledge of the love of a man.” He waggled his eyebrows at Kotetsu-amused-and Handsome-totally mortified-as he strolled up to them, adding more swagger than usual for this lovely turn of events.

“Tiger, I see you've won your man!”

Kotetsu looked shyly away. “Yeah, well... he's finally accepted my repeated advances.”

“You weren't yourself,” Handsome protested.

“What's going on out here?” Pao-Lin asked as the rest of the heroes flooded the hallway.

Nathan squealed. “Wild Tiger and Handsome have finally consummated their love!”

“Consummated--? I'm leaving. I'm too young for this.”

Pao-Lin turned away as Karina looked upon the two men, standing a safe distance apart, her own heartache bright in her shimmering eyes.

“What?” she whined. Obviously she hadn't been that observant at all.

“I'm so sorry, sister. It is hard to take, but we can't step between the fire in these beautiful men's loins, now can we?” He growled a little and sized up Handsome. “Though, I know I'd like to try.”

Keith strode up, Ivan close on his heels, and shook Barnaby's hand, then Kotetsu's. Both men looked confused. “Congratulations! I'm so happy that love found its way. Love is always strong and will win in the end.” Keith stepped back next to Ivan, elbows nearly bumping, and Ivan nodded to the two men, studying them carefully.

Nathan watched it all, his grin monumental.

Nathan thought about his assistant, Mr. Bernard, and smiled even more. The air was fertile with potential; all these men finding each other proved the vitality of the moment. It was a train he’d like to ride himself. Perhaps the meeting tomorrow would be more fruitful than anticipated.

Nathan squealed again as Kotetsu took Barnaby’s hand, and Barnaby yanked it away.

What a day for masculine love.

The End