Bonds of Love

in for aSlurpee. I’m not the one you should be after.”
Too late, the cop realized her mistake. “No one’s‘after’ you, Mr. Braunson—”
“Then can I go?” Vic asked. Sensing an end to theconversation, Matt took a step away from the cop but Vic held hisground. “Because some of us have to work tomorrow.”
She seemed determined to detain him, but after a longmoment, she nodded once, curt. “Fine. That’s all for now, Mr.Braunson. But if we have anything further—”
“I’m sure you know where I live.”
This time when Matt tugged at his waist, Vic let hislover lead him to the front of the store. The cop watched them maketheir way through the other officers, but she didn’t stop them. Vicsuspected she had a file on him down at the precinct, and for allhe knew, the police probably drove past his apartment on a routinebasis, just to check up on him. The fact that she knew his namewhen he hadn’t bothered to give it to her unnerved him, as did thatSuperman comment—even if she only thought it. No one besides Mattknew about the powers, and Vic wanted to keep it that way if hecould. If anyone else knew or even suspected…
He shook his head as if to clear that thought away.No one else needed to know.
* * * *
With Matt’s help, Vic managed to shove through thecrowd of reporters to the car. A few cameras flashed, but Vic kepthis head down. In the darkness, the flashing lights from the policecars only added to the confusion; in the midst of it, Vic backedout of the parking lot and drove away. He got as far as third gearbefore Matt grabbed his hand off the gear shaft to hold it in hislap. Even when the transmission groaned, Matt refused to let go.They drove the rest of the way home in silence, the car crawlingalong empty streets at just over thirty-five miles an hour.
In front of the building where they shared anapartment, Vic pulled to a stop. As the engine ticked into thenight, cooling down, they sat on opposite sides of the car, eachlost in his own thoughts. Twice Vic turned to Matt, wanting to saysomething, anything, to disperse the solitude embracing them. Bothtimes he turned away, unable to find any words that might makethings better between them.
Finally, Vic gave Matt’s hand a slight squeeze. Intothe night around them, he murmured, “I love you, Matty.”
One glistening tear coursed down his lover’s duskycheek. When Vic reached over to brush it away, Matt shoved thepassenger side door open and stumbled out onto the sidewalk.“Don’t,” he warned.
Vic hurried from the car to follow Matt upstairs. Hislover stayed ahead of him, just out of reach. At the top of thestairs inside their building Matt sped up, taking the last fewsteps two at a time to widen the space between them. By the timeVic reached the landing, Matt was already inside their apartment,the door not quite shut in his wake.
When Vic closed the door behind him quietly, Mattstormed out of the kitchen, eyes wild with anger and fear. “Justwhat the fuck were you thinking back there?” hedemanded.
Here it was then, Matt’s concern masked in that pissyattitude that he got whenever the powers put Vic in danger. Gently,Vic started, “Matty, look—”
But Matt was more scared than Vic had ever seen himbefore—hell, he was terrified, and Vic couldn’t say he blamed him.“Don’t pull this shit,” Matt said, shaking Vic’s argument away.“You deliberately confronted that punk. What, did you think hewouldn’t shoot? Didn’t you think the gun was loaded? Did youknow you were…what, bulletproof?”
When Vic reached for him, Matt turned away.::Don’t be like this,:: Vic chided.
Even in his mind, Matt held him off. Instead of areply, Vic got an image of himself seen through Matt’s eyes as thebullets hit him, one by one. His arms jerked with the impact ofeach bullet, then his body fell to the floor like nothing more thana slab of meat. He heard the sound his head made when it crackedagainst the tiled floor. Fear stabbed through him, Matt’s fear,ripping through him in a breathless, anxious cry that tore from histhroat to escape into the night. Before Vic could say anything, thescene replayed itself, again and again. “Matt,” he sighed, suddenlyexhausted. This time when he reached out, his lover didn’t moveaway and Vic wrapped his arms around Matt’s shoulders to hug himclose. Against the back of his neck, Vic murmured, “I’m sosorry.”
“Did you know?” Matt choked out. Covering his facewith one hand, he sighed, a shaky sound that made Vic’s knees weakto hear it. “That you were…that he—”
Vic kissed the soft skin just below Matt’s curls.“No.”
With an anguished sob, Matt wanted to know, “Thenwhy?”
Holding him close, Vic opened his mind so Matt wouldfeel the emotions behind his response, the love that had forced himto stand tall when everyone else fell to the floor. “You droppedthose cups,” Vic reminded him, “and he pulled the gun. All I couldthink was that he’d aim for you first. Because you were movingaround, trying to pick up those damn cups. If he shot you oversomething as stupid as that…”
Vic’s voice trailed off, but into Matt’s mind, hewhispered, ::I couldn’t bear to lose you.::
“What about me?” Matt struggled to hold back tears;one escaped to trickle down his cheek and dampen Vic’s shoulder.“How would I live without you, Vic? Tell me that. How thehell would I go on after watching you gunned down?”
Vic had no answer. Nuzzling his lover’s neck, headmitted, “I thought he wouldn’t have the guts to shoot. I wantedto distract him until I got close enough to grab the gun, maybeknock him over the head or something, sit on him until the policecame. I would’ve crushed him if he hadn’t pulled the trigger, andyou know it.”
Matt’s humorless laugh told Vic that he was close toletting his anger go. Speaking low, the words barely audible, hemused, “Fucking bulletproof.”
“Fucking something,” Vic agreed, half kidding. “Maybeit doesn’t stop there. Maybe this time you made me invincible.Bullets bounce off me, knives can’t break my skin…” He trailed off,leaving the possibilities