The sirens had stopped.
The lab was dark now—just quiet metal walls, the occasional flicker of dying lights, and the distant echo of police sirens coming closer.
Leo sat on the edge of the loading bay steps, fingers curled loosely around a water bottle. His shirt was torn at the shoulder, smudged with soot and blood. He didn't notice. His eyes were fixed on the floor, breathing deep and steady, like he was trying to ground himself after everything.
Footsteps approached from behind.
He didn't turn. He didn't have to.
"You good?" Kieran asked, voice low.
Leo gave a dry chuckle. "Define 'good.'"
Kieran dropped beside him, exhaling slowly as he sat. His knuckles were bruised. There was a thin cut on his jaw. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
For a moment, neither said anything.
Just silence—and the weight of everything that had just happened.
Then Leo broke it. "We saved her."
Kieran nodded. "Yeah."
"Rael's alive," Leo muttered. "We should've finished it."
Kieran shook his head. "No. He'll rot behind bars. Public, legal, visible. That's worse for guys like him."
Leo's jaw tightened, but he didn't argue.
They sat like that for another minute—side by side, letting the adrenaline fade.
Then Kieran leaned back, hands bracing on the concrete behind him, gazing up at the sky.
"I thought I lost you," he murmured.
Leo turned slightly. "Huh?"
Kieran's eyes were unreadable, but his voice was quiet. "When the gas hit... and you stopped answering. I thought—" He paused. "I thought Rael got you. And I didn't even say anything before we split."
Leo stared at him. "You didn't have to. We trust each other. Always have."
Kieran met his gaze, and something shifted between them. Not the sharpness of battle. Not the brotherhood of teammates.
Something deeper.
Something they had both buried for too long.
"I was scared," Kieran admitted.
Leo's throat felt tight. "Me too."
Kieran's hand brushed against Leo's—barely a touch—but Leo didn't move. Didn't pull away. The warmth of it burned through the chill still clinging to his skin.
"We're alive," Leo said softly. "That has to count for something."
Kieran looked at him—really looked—and his voice dropped. "You almost died back there."
Leo gave a crooked grin. "Almost isn't dead."
"Still…" Kieran shifted closer. His shoulder bumped Leo's. "Next time… we stay together."
Leo's heart thudded hard. He turned his head, their faces now inches apart. "Kieran—"
Kieran leaned in.
And kissed him.
It wasn't rough like their fights or casual like some careless dare—it was deep, raw, and full of everything they'd kept bottled up. Fear. Anger. Longing. Survival. A thousand unspoken things pressed between their lips.
When they finally broke apart, Leo breathed, "Took you long enough."
Kieran laughed softly, forehead pressed to Leo's. "Yeah. I know."
They sat there like that—breathing in each other, bodies still humming with heat from the fight, the kiss anchoring them in something real. Something safe.
And for once, there were no threats, no enemies, no plans.
Just them.
Two boys beneath a ruined sky, wrapped in silence, scarred but victorious—closer than ever.