Chapter Text
Jonathan was frozen in time. Panic crawled up is neck as the Cabreras open the container. It wasn’t possible, there was no way. The plane had been diverted. It simply couldn’t be. For a brief second a terrible thought crossed his mind: Teddy. Had he misjudged him? Had he trusted too carelessly, because he had wanted their connection to be true. Had he wanted it so badly? Had he dammed himself and this entire operation by trusting a coldblooded killer?
Slowly he turned towards Teddy. The man looked so young, like a child lost at the cereal Isle at a grocery store.
“Teddy”, Jonathan whispered, “what is it doing here?”
When Teddy looked at him the older man immediately wished he didn’t. There was no more light in his eyes only devastation and hopelessness.
Jonathan hated that look, he wanted nothing more than to break away from his guard and embrace Teddy, but his hands were still tied behind his back.
What hurt the most was the fact that Jonathan felt entirely helpless. Roper had played them, the both of them. And Jonathan had been to blind to see it, had promised Teddy to have faith in him. The same kind of faith that would now cost Teddys life.
He can’t allow that happen.
He had lost enough friends for a lifetime.
He had to do something. Cause a diversion. At least go down trying to save the other man. Because that was what was going to happen. Without the support of the Cabreras there was no way to come out of this alive.
Roper stepped closer now, a victorious glint in his eyes.
“Well, well Jonathan I must admit; I am deeply impressed. First my girlfriend and now my own son. I should have seen it coming, Teddy was always weak. Easy to manipulate, too dumb to see what I was really doing, and just as easy to lure into your bed I imagine.”, said the worst man alive with a mixture of admiration and distain in his voice.
Rage began to build up within Jonathan’s chest, disgust at the man in front of him who could talk like that about his own son. He forced himself to look into Ropers icy eyes, to force the unwanted feelings back down into the very back of his mind. Later he could rage, later when at least Teddy was out of this situation. Now he needed clarity, a calm and calculating mind. So, he stayed quiet and simply waited for Roper to continue with his victorious speech.
“I hate the mess you’ve made Jonathan, we will settle this later, for now”, he turned to wards Eduardo, “I will deal with this useless son of mine”.
Without a thought Jonathan moved and angeld himself between Teddy and his father.
A surprised look flew across Richards face. And then the realization seemed to kick in.
“Oh, oh, what a beauty you are Jonathan. All this time I thought you were just being convincing”, a cruel smile crept on his face,
“but it wasn’t just an act, was it Jonathan?”
The blonde looked away, closing his eyes, Roper had seen it. Had seen, what he hadn’t even fully admitted to himself, he couldn’t bear to look at Roper or Teddy.
“You care, you really do. Tsk, history repeating itself Andrew. But him though Jonathan, really? Jed I could understand but THIS?”
The way Roper looked at Teddy now had changed, a quick switch from disgust to interest.
“How did you do it? How did YOU manage to conquer his loyalty, hmm? I never thought you were capable of doing something like that. But here we are, too bad you chose a British intelligence agent to waste that talent on”, Roper said.
At that moment his phone chimed again. Reluctant he pulled it out of his pocket. A quick glance at the screen, an eye roll
“I fear I must take this call before we can settle this”, he turned, stepped away and answered the call
“Hello Mayra, lovely to hear from you”…
Jonathan immediately switched his attention to the men surrounding them. There were at least five of them, he could make out between the shadows. All armed with pistols or automatic guns, all aiming at the two of them. If he could break the ties on his wrists, he could jump the guard behind Teddy. If he got the element of surprise, he might be able to get his gun. Maybe Teddy could then try to run-
A shoulder brushed his softly, Jonathan flinched.
“Seems like this is the end, no?”,
Eduardo looked at him with so much sincerity that it almost hurt.
“No, we will find a way. When I say run you run, and you don’t look back.”, the spy tried.
A small smile spread across the lips of the young man,
“I’m not gonna find that very easy, and I wont leave you behind Jonathan”, he states repeating the words Jonathan had said a day before at the airport.
He exhaled, “That’s reckless, you know that right?”, Pine fully turned to him now.
Eyes scanning the face in font of him. The full lips, the sharp edges, the high cheekbones, the scars and these beautiful dark eyes, filled with guilt. God those eyes would be the death of him.
Teddy didn’t answer, “Hey I want you to know that you did nothing wrong. No matter what happenes tonight, you made the right decision okay?”, Jonathan tried again. Teddy tilted his head, searching for something in Jonathans expression,
“that sounds suspiciously like a goodbye carbón”,
Jonathan swallowed hard, because in the end that’s what this is, isn’t it? There is no way to survive this.
He had gambeled and he had lost, he had lost to fucking Richard Roper.
They were shoulder to shoulder now, Teddy could feel how Jonathan was shaking. He hated himself because of it, he knew that the brit wasn’t scared of death, dios mio he looked at death in the eye that night on the boat, and hadn’t flinched.
No Jonathan wasn’t scared of death, instead he was scared FOR Teddy – Feared what Roper would do to him.
Teddy would never understand why? His father was right, what did the blonde see in him? Why would he risk so much for him? Until their shared moment in the shed he had thought that Mathew and the interest that he seemed to have had in Teddy had all been purely tactical. The way an experienced agent uses an asset to gain information, the same way Teddy has been used all his life. He had still played along, what choice did he really have? He had known that his father would betray him so he had followed his gut and emotions and trusted Pine.
But in the shed, when he had cleaned the blood off Jonathan, what Jonathan had said to him, the way he had touched him, that had been fully sincere.
“I don’t regret any of it. Whatever this was, I would do it again.”, he said.
The man next to him gave him a sad smile for a moment he closes his eyes, by the time he opens them again the mask was gone,
“So would I”
“How lovely”, interjects Roper, Teddy flinched, “Seems like you two really found each other… But Jonathan you should know better by now, than offering me ways to hurt you so openly”.
“Don’t you dare to touch him”, Jonathan spits, fumbeling with the tape binding his wrists.
“Or what? There is nothing you can do boy. But keep it up I love to see the fear in your beautiful eyes”, Roper gaze flicks between the two men.
Teddy swallowed and looked like he was bracing himself. Ever so casually Roper pulled out his gun aiming it at Teddy, who seemed to be losing his nerve,
“If you are going to kill us just do it, don’t make a whole performance out of it”.
Ropers face is twisted in fury now,
“YOU scum have no say here, I forgive your immortal soul but not your mortal one”, with that he pulled the trigger.
“NO”,
a desperate scream rips through Pines throat.
Jonathan doesn’t think.
He moves on instinct.
To Protect.
He throws himself sideways
Crushing into Teddy just as the gun shot cracks through the clearing.
Pain exploded in his right shoulder, he feels warm liquid wetting his shirt. He grunts sharply, collapsing forward onto Teddy, who tries his bets to catch him with his hands still bound.
“Jonathan!”, the younger man shouts, pure panic ripping through him.
Roper simply laughs. Cold and cruel.
“Now that’s what I love to see. So much desper-“
A second gunshot is fired that night.
The Cabrera goes down, a bullet hole between his eyes.
Chaos errups, screams, hectic. More shots are being fired. In the dark it is impossible to tell from where and whom.
“MOVE NOW”, Jonathan snarls through clenched teeth at Teddy, already dragging the other man along, despite the pain. They manage to slip into the protective embrace of the darkness before the next shots are fired. Teddy is gripping tightly at Jothnathans wrist, so tight that his knuckles turn white. More shots are fired around them, they hear their persecutors come closer. All of a sudden Jonathan lets out a muffeled scream and slumps down.
“Fucking hell Cabron watch out where you step, come on!”, Teddy drags him up only to realize that a stray bullet just hit Jonathans thigh, “Oh fuck, come on we need to continue moving”. He pulled his arm over his shoulder trying to take off as much weight as possible.
When they reach the road, they collide with Tavo.
“Dios mio-“, Tavo starts the panic clearly visible on his face when he recognized Eduardo, his gaze drifts to the agent who can barely stand on his own by now, “You are hit”, he states.
“No shit sherlock, but he is not dead yet”, snarls Teddy, “Here take his arm help me to carry him”.
Jonathan would have laughed at the snappy reply if he didn’t feel like he was losing consciousness. He barely registers that they are moving. At some point they reach a red car. Martins car he registeres through the haze of tiredness that starts to overpower him. He probably lost a lot of blood he thinks. Soon he is squished between Tevo who seems to be pressing something onto his thigh in an attempt to stop the bleeding. All of a sudden there is Teddys hand on his cheek, forcing him to look into the dark brown eyes of the younger man. “Don’t you dare to die on me John”, there is a stubbornness to his voice that Jonathan simply can’t argue with.
The car comes to an abrupt halt,
“Get out! I can distract them. Run to the river, like we talked about.”
Tavo opens the door and Teddy places a hand on Martins shoulder, “Thank you”, he says. Jonathan catches one last look at Martin before he is pulled out of the car. Teddy still hesitates for a moment, eying the driver, while he has the british spy in his arms,
“RUN”
Now Martin screams at him and Teddy closes the car door.
Together they carry Jonathan down the hill, away from the loud camp, towards the fresh river. They stumble and fall and Teddy curses half of the time in Spanish, but Jonathans brain is too foggy to translate any of it. But he is pretty sure Teddy says Mathews long legs should be only half as long to avoid them dragged by plants all the time.
By the time they hear the water masses flowing they hear the shots. Clean, cutting through the night, promising dead and devastation. They don’t stop, they never do, they can’t, they carry on, they have to, stumbling through the dark.
Finally, they reach the extraction point. The small boat is there, waiting for them.
Carefully Teddy and Tavo help Jonathan getting into the boat, before pushing it deeper into the water and piling in. Theey don’t start the engine, too worried that it might attract their searching enemies. They can still see their lights, the torches an dhear their screams. But the current is strong and soon all surrounding them are the animals of the jungle and the Columbian sky full of starts above them.
Jonathan collapses against the side of the boat, knuckles white teeth bared against the pain. Teddy immediately checks the bandage on his leg, after making sure that its still secure in place he looks up at Jonathan, finally daring to speak again ,
“Hey stay with me”,
Jonathan chuckles, “You are terrible at first aid”.
“And you clearly have a savior complex”, counters the younger.
“But you are still alive”, he takes the blondes head and places a soft kiss on top, a soft smile starts to from on his lips.
He then carefully grips his hand,a dn hold onto it as if it would be the only thing that keeps Jonathan real.
“You jumped”, he paused to look at the beat up looking brit next to him, “You didn’t even hesitate”.
When Jonathan truns his head this time his expression is raw no mor mask just pain and exhaustion.
“Of course I did”, he answers as if it would be the easiest thing in the world.
As if it wouldn’t mean he was ready to die to give Teddy a few more minutes to live, “Don’t be stupid Eduardo”, he caresses the back of his hand with his thumb.
Tavo looks away giving them the illusion of a bit of privacy.
The boat carries them down them further current. Three men who were never supposed to make it out alive, who defied destiny were now heading towards the rising sun.
Behind them, somewhere on a hilltop in a military camp, Roper has won.
The world remains as cruel and ugly, but not entirely hopeless.
Teddy looks at the man next to him.
Jonathan is alive.
They are not alone.
They are in this together.
They will survive.
And for now that is enough.