Code Red

by Emrys Apollo

  “So are you and Jonas on a break again?” Hank says sarcastically while eyeing up Oscar in a not so subtle way.

  “Oh, yeah, but that's not why I'm here,” Dustin says awkwardly. This seemed like a great idea in his head, there's no way anyone could connect him and Hank anymore and he's got all the equipment he needs to make the bank documents public. But he didn't think Hank would still be mad at him.

  “If you're looking for a threesome, I'm taken,” Hank says in a monotone voice. Dustin laughs and Oscar tries to avoid making eye contact with anyone. Oscar's not sure how Dustin thought this would help but the longer they stand here the greater the chance that someone might spot them.

  “Can we come in?” Oscar asks in his politest voice, since Dustin only seems to be irritating Hank.

  “Fine,” Hank says huffily before standing aside to let them in.

  Dustin and Oscar shuffle into the shop, once they're inside Dustin darts for Hank's laptop, he's bypassed the password before Hank can even ask him what the fuck he thinks he's doing?

  Hank just rolls his eyes at Dustin, there's no stopping him once he's connected to the matrix.

  “I'm Hank,” he says since Dustin's not even bothered to introduce them.

  “Oscar,” he says putting out a hand but Hank just drags him into a hug. “So how do you know Dustin?” he asks but he could slap himself in the face for asking since he'd already guessed that they're exes.

  Two coffees and twenty minutes of nodding and furious agreeing later Oscar's been told the entire story of Hank and Dustin and he's got a sneaking suspicion that he's just another Hank…

  “How'd you know Dustin?” Hank asks with a smirk, he knows that the only reason that Dustin would show up here is if things have gone badly wrong.

  Oscar thinks about explaining everything but he's not sure how much he wants to incriminate himself so he simply says, “it's a long story.”

  Hank laughs manically. “It always is with Dustin,” he adds, shaking his head. “He leaves a trail of nothing but chaos and broken hearts,” Hank adds but there's no malice in his voice.

  “He's the reason I'm unemployed…” Oscar shrugs. It wasn't a good job but at least they paid him. He chats to Hank a bit about his job situation but it only depresses him so Oscar changes the subject.

  Oscar asks Hank about who he's seeing and is being shown lots of photos and videos of him and a ridiculously cheery Australian messing about in various cities around the world.

  “You two seem perfect together,” Oscar says sincerely although he's a little bit envious.

  Dustin abruptly stands up and grabs his hoodie from the back of the seat. He walks over to Oscar and leads him to the back entrance of the shop without a 'thank you' or a 'goodbye'.

  “Nice to see you again! It was fun catching up! Drop by anytime!” Hank yells sarcastically as Oscar is dragged out of the building. He only just hears Oscar saying 'it was nice to meet you' as Dustin carries on, oblivious to all that's going on around him.

  They're standing on a small street when a car pulls up next to them and it's being driven by a guy in a police uniform. Oscar wants to run but Dustin isn't moving so he just stays still, praying that Dustin knows what he's doing.

  “Get in,” Jonas yells. Oscar looks confused but Dustin shoves him into the car before sliding in behind him. They take off at full speed but they're not heading into town towards the police station. Oscar starts to worry that they're going to end up dead in a field somewhere but the way Dustin's absently stroking his hand and sitting calmly means this must be okay. Before he can think about it too much they're pulling into a small car park.

  There are several cars parked but none of them are police cars so they're definitely not at a police station. Dustin leads Oscar out of the car and the three of them walk up to a third floor flat. Oscar's just trying to stop his mind panicking about how maybe he's going to end up dead and no-one would even care when he's lead into a quite nice studio flat.

  Dustin gestures for him to take a seat which he does obediently. When he looks up Jonas is stripping off his police uniform. Oscar tries not to stare but fails; instead he takes off his glasses and cleans them so that he can't watch anymore. Jonas pulls on some jeans and a sweatshirt, he looks completely ordinary now. Was the police uniform a fake? Oscar wonders.

  “I'm sorry, you were right,” Jonas says. Oscar rushes to put his glasses back on, only to see that Jonas is looking at Dustin in a way that is just pure love. Jonas pulls Dustin into a messy kiss, Oscar can see tongues poking out and there's a lot of moaning. Was he in on it all along? Oscar thinks but he's not entirely sure that he understands what's going on. In fact he's pretty sure that ever since he's been held 'hostage' - although he's in far too deep to be anything other than an accomplice now - his assumptions about the situation have been completely wrong.

  Oscar considers just walking out and going to the nearest police station but he's not even sure how he would tell the story. Instead he coughs so that Dustin and the other guy don't end up having sex in front of him.

  “Sorry,” Dustin says and considering how rude he was to Hank, Oscar feels he should be grateful that he bothered to apologize.

  “So are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Oscar says and he feels proud for actually taking a stand even if they're Hank's words coming out of his mouth.

  Jonas just stares at Dustin, he'd also like an explanation as to why he still has a hostage. And why he was holding his hand.

  Dustin wanders off to get some clothes from the wardrobe and then heads to the shower. Leaving Jonas and Oscar just to stare at each other blankly.

  “PC Jonas Warner,” he says and finds his police ID to show Oscar. He's not really sure what he's hoping to achieve. Jonas is still hoping that Oscar's in on all of this and is just playing dumb as a cover in case they get caught by the police. However from what he's seen that's probably not the case but he also doesn't look like he's an unwilling hostage which means one less criminal charge against Dustin.

  “Oscar Heston,” he says. He has no idea that Jonas knows who he is but he's put together all the pieces and worked out that he's Dustin's boyfriend. And although Dustin said to Hank earlier that they had broken up, it doesn't look like that to him.

  “Tell me everything that happened from the second you met Dustin,” Jonas asks in his best interrogation voice. The voice that says it would be best if you tell me everything rather than make me ask for it.

  Jonas' tone of voice is very convincing and Oscar tells him everything . He's too ashamed to look at Jonas when he tells him about the blow job Dustin gave him, but from what Hank told him this is not the first time they've broken up and Dustin's found comfort in the nearest human with a pulse.

  By the time Oscar's finished telling Jonas his version of events, Dustin reappears in a fluffy dressing gown.

  “If you want to press charges for kidnapping, I'll take you down to the station and we can get this sorted properly,” Jonas says and he means every word of it. He's not really sure how else to fix this mess.

  “It's cool,” Dustin says, “he offered to help,” he says with a shrug. There's not even a hint of remorse at what he's done.

  “I wasn't involved,” Oscar says quickly, “but I just wanted a little bit of excitement.”

  “So that solves one problem,” Jonas says but he's no idea how to put any of this right so that they don't all end up in jail.

  Jonas looks much less happy with Dustin than he did an hour ago. “Tell me what happened,” he says to Dustin and there's no trace of PC Warner here; unsurprisingly he sounds like a jealous boyfriend.

  “So I went to Hank's and uploaded the bank's files to some interested parties including many law enforcement agencies around the world,” Dustin says smugly as though that's everything fixed.

  “You're still wanted by the police!” Jonas says incredulously. He can't believe how Dustin's acting, as though this is just a game.

  “You always want me,”
Dustin smirks and Jonas looks like he would put him in handcuffs and drag him down to the station himself just to wipe the smirk off his face.

  “I'm just going to go home,” Oscar says quietly, hoping he can get out before their argument gets nasty.

  “We're trying to get a warrant to search your flat,” Jonas says calmly, “so you should stay here until we get this figured out”. From what he's been told there's not really enough to charge Dustin with kidnapping, which is a relief, but they'll never believe that Oscar had nothing to do with Dustin's crimes. He either has to be a victim or a criminal, there's no grey areas in the law when it comes to these things.

  Oscar's not really got anywhere to go so it's not a big inconvenience for him. Jonas gets him some towels and offers to wash his clothes which Oscar graciously accepts. As Oscar gets into the shower he can hear Dustin whining about getting some sleep and Jonas ranting at him about how he's only had one hour of sleep in three days because of him.

  The shower feels so good and combined with unburdening his soul to Jonas, Oscar feels like he might actually be happy for the first time in a long while. Just as long as he doesn't think about the fact that he's unemployed and wanted by the police…

  When he steps out of the shower the flat is eerily quiet and he finds Dustin and Jonas fast asleep in each other's arms. He starts to wander back to the seats but a quiet voice calls to him.

  “There's room for you too,” Jonas says sleepily, patting the bed next to them. Oscar slides in behind Dustin and is surprised how quickly he falls asleep, arms wrapped around Dustin as he softly snores.

  CHAPTER 4

  The sound of Jonas' phone ringing wakes Dustin with a jolt and for the second time in as many days he wonders where he is. It's sad that the place he thought of as home for so long is unfamiliar to him after just a couple of months away.

  “Warner,” Jonas says quietly while tiptoeing to the other end of the flat, “I'll be there as soon as I can”.

  Jonas finds a clean uniform from the wardrobe and stops to kiss Dustin gently before leaving a note that says:

  Had to go into work, on my day off, because of you!

  Don't leave the flat and don't cheat on me with your hostage!

  Dustin will know he's joking although he's still amazed at the amount of drama he seems to leave in his wake.

  Oscar wakes up when the door clicks closed and he tries to get out of bed so as not to wake Dustin but it doesn't work. Dustin has a laugh when he sees the note but Oscar's not so amused.

  “I would never have done that if I knew you had a boyfriend,” Oscar blurts.

  “He's not mad at you,” Dustin says softly. He's mad at me .

  ***

  “You'll never believe what's happened,” Sergeant Coving smirks as Jonas walks into the station.

  “Have we caught the hacker?” Jonas asks, although he knows they can't have. Not unless they raided his flat in the fifteen minutes it took him to get here, which is unlikely.

  “No. Now the bank's claiming there was no break in. Even though we have it on video. They're saying it was just a scheduled test from their security firm and someone got their wires crossed. And it's completely unrelated to all the charges being filed against them in various countries for all sorts of dodgy dealings.”

  Jonas makes a 'huh' sound as he's actually no idea what to say. “And the hostage?” he asks reluctantly.

  “Handed over to missing persons,” Sergeant Coving adds, “it's a strange one,” he says shaking his head. On the one hand they're happy to have a potentially messy case closed so easily but there's still a lot of unanswered questions that he doesn't want coming back to bite them later.

  “Am I needed for anything else?” Jonas asks, and he's told that he needs to finish up his report on the kidnapping for missing persons.

  Jonas is desperately thinking as he types up his report. He's not sure how to tell everyone that Oscar's fine without getting Dustin into trouble. As he sends the report over he remembers a lawyer that he did a favor for once, if nothing else he might be able to give a little bit of free advice.

  ***

  He drives as fast as he can without breaking any laws. Jonas just needs to get home and tell Dustin the good news. Then they can figure out what to do about Oscar. Hopefully his lawyer friend will be able to help.

  Jonas arrives home to find three people in the flat; Dustin, Oscar and Prince the lawyer. They're all chatting away and munching toast like it's brunch with friends and not a meeting with a lawyer on how to avoid jail time for all three of them.

  They quickly come up with a plan for Oscar. To go to the police, with Prince, and tell them that he was taken hostage but that he never saw his attacker. That they ran off as soon as they were inside the restaurant. The video shows him leaving with someone but it's so fuzzy that no-one could say definitely in court that it's Dustin. Oscar will tell them that he's fine, he was sick of his job anyway and that was the final straw and he didn't realize people were looking for him until now. Prince will tell them that Oscar doesn't want to press charges, which will help make sure there are no loose ends for people to investigate. He'll also make sure that the missing persons case is closed and that will be the end of this crazy adventure.

  Prince stands and puts a hand out for Oscar. “Are you ready to do this?” Oscar nods, there's something calming about the soft accent that reassures him.

  ***

  “I forgive you,” Jonas says. It's just the two of them and all he wants is for everything to go back to the way it was before Dustin decided to take the law into his own hands.

  “For what?” Dustin says, genuinely confused. He'd assumed that now everything is sorted that it would all just go back to the way it was before he went to play vigilante.

  “For committing forty-one separate crimes including kidnapping, for making me commit a crime to protect you, for cheating on me with Oscar, need I go on?” Jonas sighs.

  “Uh, I'm not sorry about exposing a corrupt bank and making sure justice prevails!” Dustin says cheerily, but the smile fades quickly as he thinks about Oscar. “How did you know?” Dustin asks and Jonas just shakes his head.

  “I asked Oscar to tell me everything and he did. Are you telling me he's a liar?”

  “No,” says Dustin quietly and before he can even get the words out there's tears gathering, ready to run rivers down his face to show Jonas how sorry he is. “I'm so sorry, I love you, I want to be with you,” is all he can manage before he's crying in Jonas' arms.

  “I love you too,” Jonas whispers softly until the tears stop. He carries Dustin back to bed and curls up with him in his arms. Everything is back to the way it was. To the way it should be.

  ***

  “You did really well in there,” Prince says soothingly. They're back in the car and he's giving Oscar a lift back to his place. Prince's made sure that not only is Oscar no longer missing but also the outstanding search warrants have been stopped.

  “Thanks,” Oscar says. He should feel relieved that it's all over but now reality is coming back to him with a vengeance. He's jobless, soon to be homeless and worst of all loveless.

  Oscar's got no idea how he'll ever repay Jonas or Prince for helping him get out of this mess. He knows how he wants to repay Dustin though, by punching him hard in the face, for getting him into this mess in the first place.

  He offers Prince a coffee just because the number of times he's said 'thank you' is starting to verge on ridiculous.

  As they walk up to the flat it feels like a strange reminder of a life that no longer exists. It's like he's ended up in a parallel universe where everything looks the same and everyone else is the same but he's a completely different person.

  Oscar's leafing through the mail that has piled up over the last two days while wandering back from the kitchen after he'd put the kettle on. Prince's still standing in the hall waiting for him when Oscar sees a familiar logo on one of the envelopes. He frantically tears the letter open to see the mag
ic words that he's been waiting for. A job offer. For him. Here in the city. He's so excited that he runs over to Prince and hugs him.

  “Good news?” Prince asks, he's happy to hug Oscar; it's been a while since he's been close to anyone, and even though he hasn't really got a chance to get to know Oscar he feels like they've known each other for a long while.

  “I've got a job, a job that I want,” Oscar says with a big grin. They're still holding hands as Oscar tells Prince all about his new job and Prince listens with an intensity that Oscar finds surprising. He's used to being the guy that no-one listens to.

  When Oscar's finished talking Prince pulls him back into a hug. This time Oscar knows it's not the beer or the adrenaline or even those big blue eyes persuading him but something deeper and he moves in for a kiss.

  He's not sure how they ended up in bed, it was just a gentle kiss that gradually got more insistent, more confident, until Oscar was pinned against the wall with Prince pressing against him. Arching his body slowly against Oscar's until he's begging for more. Prince's suit is flung off to far reaches of the flat with Oscar's clothes following suit.

  They're naked but it feels completely natural, perfection in fact, as is the way it tingles when skin touches skin. It's slow and then fast, soft and then passionate but it's all perfect. Every stroke, lick and kiss timed to perfection until Oscar's filling Prince with his cock.

  The feeling of intimacy. Perfect. The way they fit together. Perfect. The way Prince bites his lip as he comes. Perfect. The way Prince holds him as he's falling asleep. Perfect.

  ***

  Oscar thought it would be nice to get everyone together to celebrate his new job. He's not sure how he ended up friends with Dustin but it just seemed like too much effort to keep being mad at him. And Jonas is a really nice guy, so he can put up with Dustin if it means getting to have a friend like Jonas.

  Hank's boyfriend Dan is coming. They've all become good friends after Hank hired Oscar to work at his repair shop come internet café and gamer hangout. It's a fun place to work and there are always lots of nice people, geeky people, hanging around.