The door clicked shut behind Ty with a soft, final sound.
The room was dim, lit only by a single low lamp in the corner and the faint red glow of emergency strips along the floor. It looked lived-in and messy—maps half-rolled on the desk, a tactical vest draped over a chair, the large bed unmade.
The air smelled like metal, sweat, and something sharper, almost electric.
Noah stood near the far wall, half in shadow.
Ty froze.
Noah's eyes glowed faintly in the dark, the red flecks burning brighter than usual.
His skin looked wrong—paler in some places, darker and stretched in others. Thick black veins pulsed violently across his neck, shoulders, and down his arms, rising and falling like they were trying to tear free.
Every few seconds his jaw clenched and his shoulders jerked, as if the mutation was clawing at him from the inside. He looked like he was in real, constant pain.
Ty's heart kicked hard against his ribs. "Jesus… Noah?"
Noah stepped forward slowly.
The movement was stiff. The black spikes under his skin flared brighter with the motion.
Ty stayed by the door, hands slightly raised, voice careful. "There's a problem. I overheard two men tonight near the locked door. They're planning something. A takeover. They called it a rebellion. Someone inside is the rat. They're waiting for a signal to move on you."
Noah didn't speak at first. He just stared, the glowing eyes fixed on Ty's face. The veins kept pulsing, angry and relentless.
Ty swallowed. "You look like you're in a lot of pain. Are you okay?"
Noah's voice came out rough, almost shredded. "Yes. I'm in pain." He took another step closer. "I'm in pain because you refuse to talk to me. Because you keep running. Because the only thing that quiets this—" he gestured sharply at the writhing black veins "—is you. Your body. Your scent. Your presence. And you've been avoiding me for weeks."
Ty's stomach twisted. The old anger flared, but underneath it was something messier—worry, memory, unwanted want.
He forced the words out. "I'm not some man-whore you can just use whenever the mutation acts up. And I know you had something to do with Kara disappearing."
Noah's glowing eyes didn't flinch. "Yes. I killed her. She was in the way. She made you look at someone else. Before you, the only way I could calm the veins was to kill. Now I know there's another way. I don't have to keep losing my own men."
A cold chill ran down Ty's spine. He stared at the man who used to be his best friend—the boy who once shared his last protein bar, who had laughed with him on rooftops before the world ended.
That boy was gone.
What remained was this fractured, powerful, suffering creature who still somehow made Ty's chest ache.
Ty's voice came out quieter. "You're crazy."
"I know," Noah said. The black veins spiked harder, and a low sound of pain escaped him.
He swayed slightly. "It hurts constantly. Every hour. The only time it stops is when you're close. When I can touch you. When you're under me."
Ty's pulse hammered in his throat.
He should leave.
He should walk out, go find Rafe, tell someone else about the rat. Instead he stayed rooted, watching the way Noah's body trembled with the effort of holding himself together.
"I hate what you've become," Ty said, the words rough. "I hate that you killed her. I hate that you look at me like I'm the only thing that works. But…" He dragged a hand through his hair, frustrated and conflicted. "I still can't stand seeing you like this. And I still… fuck. I still feel something. Even after everything."
Noah's glowing eyes searched his face. The silence stretched.
Ty exhaled hard. "If I stay… if I let you do this... will you be able to trust me?"
Noah's voice was low, strained. "Yes."
Ty stepped closer. His heart was racing, but the decision had already settled. "Then come here. Before it gets worse."
Noah closed the distance in two strides. His hands came up, hovering for a second as if waiting for final permission. Ty gave a short, sharp nod.
That was all it took.
Noah's mouth crashed against his—hungry, desperate, almost relieved. Ty kissed back hard, tasting metal and heat.
The black veins under Noah's skin began to slow their frantic pulsing the moment their bodies pressed together. Noah groaned into the kiss like the pain was finally loosening its grip.
They stumbled toward the bed. Clothes came off in rough, hurried pulls—Ty's baggy pants shoved down, Noah's already half-open.
When Noah pushed him onto the mattress, Ty went willingly, pulling him down with him. Noah settled between his thighs, the heavy weight of him familiar and overwhelming.
"don't tell me to stop," Noah rasped against his neck, even as his hands mapped Ty's body with urgent need.
"I won't," Ty answered, voice rough. "Just… don't be gentle. If you're gentle, i'll be able to think and I don't want that rigjt now."
Noah made a low, broken sound of agreement.
He kissed down Ty's chest, then lower, taking him into his mouth with wet, focused heat. Ty's head fell back, a moan tearing free.
The mutation continued to calm—black veins fading, the unnatural color of Noah's skin slowly evening out.
The more they touched, the more human he looked.
When Noah finally pushed inside him, it was with care at first, then with the same fierce intensity Ty had asked for. Ty locked his legs around Noah's waist and pulled him deeper, meeting every thrust. The bed creaked. Their breathing turned ragged.
Noah's forehead pressed to Ty's, eyes no longer glowing, only dark with need and something almost like gratitude.
"I guess," Noah whispered. "We were something special."
Ty didn't answer with words. He kissed him instead, hard and open-mouthed, while Noah drove into him in deep, relentless strokes.
The pain in Noah's body kept receding. The black veins disappeared almost completely.
For the first time in weeks, Noah looked almost like the boy Ty used to know—still powerful, still dangerous, but no longer tortured from the inside.
Ty came first, clutching at Noah's shoulders, pleasure sharp and overwhelming.
Noah followed soon after, burying himself deep with a low, relieved groan as he finished inside him.
They stayed locked together afterward, breathing hard.
Noah's body was calm. The veins were gone. His skin felt warm and human again under Ty's hands.
Ty stared up at the ceiling.