He hurt. Even lying still pain came from everywhere. He tried to move and let out curses. He forced his eyes open and even that hurt. He caught motion out of the corner of his eye but couldn’t move to reach for a knife.

Emil came next to the bed. “Tristan said to take these when you woke up.” The child had two pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

Will more effort than he should take Alex managed to get himself to a sitting position, bitting back more curses. “Sorry for the bad words.” 

Emil shrugged and offered the pills.

Alex didn’t even hesitate, he popped them in his mouth and then drank the whole glass. It would take a few minutes for them to start working. He wished he could get painkillers in injection form, but the lifespan on those things was calculated in months, instead of decades, and with all the traveling he’d done, he couldn’t afford to replace them each time he came out of cryo. Pills worked just as well, he just had to be patient.

“How long was I out?” He noticed Emil had taken a few steps back. 

“Three days.”

Alex looked at himself and realized he was only wearing shorts. He was covered with sealed cuts. He was happy he didn’t remember that fight, or very little of it. It would haunt him in his dreams, they always did. He’d be forced to remember how much he’d enjoyed it. He shuddered and forced himself to think about something else. Three days. Had Tristan let him heal slowly out of spite? No, he was out of heal shot.

“I helped patch you up.” Emil’s smile was tentative.

“Thank you.” Had he been there when Tristan undressed him? Probably. The Samalian didn’t care for niceties like not exposing a child to nudity. He shivered and looked around for his clothes. He tried to get off the bed, but the painkillers hadn’t taken effect yet.

Emil moved to him and then quickly stepped away. Alex caught the flash of fear in his eyes. Had Tristan told him what that he’d attacked the Samalian? He searched the child’s face and Emil looked away.

“I saw you fight. You were scary.”

Alex sighed. And here he’d been afraid Tristan would be the one to traumatize him. “I’m sorry. I can be when I get like that. How’s Tristan?”

“He’s okay? I helped with his wounds too. The guy who attacked him got in a few good cuts, but he would hurt anyone anymore.” Emil took folded clothes off the desk and brought them to Alex.

“I didn’t—” wait. “Who attacked him?” Those were his. From his pack. He started dressing.

“Don’t you remember? It’s when he went to help you. He sent me here because he thinks I shouldn’t see that kind of violence, he told me what happened when he carried you in.”

Alex shook his head. Tristan had kept the fact Alex had attacked him from Emil? Why? What was the point of continuing the charade that they were partners? The job was done, wasn’t it? By reflex his hand patted his pocket to feel the earpiece in it.

“Maybe it happened after you were unconscious?”

Alex forced a smile as he pulled he shirt over his head. “Must have. I’m sorry I scared you. I try not to lose control like that, but sometimes…”

“I know you won’t hurt me, I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.”

Alex nodded. He couldn’t let Tristan hurt him. After everything Emil had gone through, he deserved an actual life, a long one. He wished he could believe that he could fight for the child’s life, but he now knew he couldn’t best Tristan in a fight. Tristan had won the fight even while Alex was lost in it.

Zeph had said that it was whoever wanted to live the most that won fights. Tristan had shown he wanted that more than Alex. When the Samalian had mentioned the universe wanted him dead Alex had thought he as being figurative, but now, maybe not. Someone had to be pretty damned determined to win against him in such a fight.

Emil looked at him strangely and Alex shook his head, realizing after the fact that it wasn’t a good idea, but that the pain wasn’t as strong has it could have been. The painkillers were taking effect finally. “Sorry, got lost in my head for a moment. Where are we?”

“In space. As soon as he put you on the bed he took us off. I did my best to help him, but I don’t really know anything about helping fly a ship. We stayed close to the ground for a while and he told me to keep an eye on a bunch of dots on the screen and tell him if any of them followed us, but they were all moving away. Then we went up and after a while he stopped the ship. Only then did he let me help patch him up and we did you after that.”

“So we’re space worthy, that’s good.” It made sense that Tristan would have seen to that first.

“He’s gone out in space a few times since. He said we’re not ready for a long journey yet.”

Alex nodded. Their landing had done a lot of damage. He stood, then cautiously stretched. There was still pain, but it wasn’t incapacitating anymore. “I think it’s time I give you back your room. Do you mind staying in for a while? I need to talk with Tristan.” Alex headed for the door.

“You’re angry at each other, aren’t you?”

Alex froze. He turned. “What do you mean?”

“Tristan is better at hiding it then you are, but I saw it while we were covering your wounds. You’ve been angry with him longer. Almost as long as I’ve been here.”

Alex didn’t know what to say. That Emil had picked up on the tension baffled him. He had never been that observant when he was eight. He sighed. “We… yeah we do have problems.”

Emil wrapped his arms around himself and seemed to shrink in. “Because of me?”

Alex was crouched before him, shoving the pain away and pulled him close. “No. No Emil, not because of you. Our problems predate you meeting us. They’re mostly my fault. I sort of forced this partnership on—” he shook his head. “It’s complicated, but we’re working through it.” He was still alive, that had to mean something, hadn’t it?

Emil seemed to brightened. “I hope you fix it. I like you both.” He hugged Alex, and after a slight hesitation Alex hugged him back, finding that he needed the comfort himself. Emil couldn’t die. He had to find a way to convince Tristan to let him live. There had to be a way.

After a moment Alex loosened his hold and Emil pulled away. “So you’re going to stay in your room?”

Emil nodded.

“It shouldn’t be long.”

“Take your time.” The child smiled. “I have plenty of reading material.” He went to the desk and began reading.

Alex watched him and the craziest thought crossed his head. They could keep him. He was smart, worked hard, he was devoted to Tristan. Maybe he could convince him to…? To what? Convince Tristan to keep a mask on for his entire life? Even he couldn’t do that. And Tristan didn’t really like Emil, he was just another thing to use to accomplish a goal. He left the room trying to come up with something that could save Emil’s life.

Once the door closed behind him he looked at Tristan’s back. The Samalian lifted his head and his reflected eyes on the screen met Alex’s they were cold, as always. How as he going to handle this? He wasn’t going to grovel, that was for sure. He might have lost that fight, but he’d held his own far better than in any other sparring match they’d had. He’d actually hurt the Samalian, and not just a minor cut here and there.

He took a step toward the cockpit and Tristan turned to face him. He nodded to the door.

“I told Emil to stay in his room. Unless you yell at me. He shouldn’t hear us.”

The smile the Samalian gave him wasn’t pleasant. Yeah, if someone was going to scream, it wasn’t him, it would be Alex, screaming in pain.

“All I need us to do is talk.” The tone was full of menace. Alex wondered just how long he’d live once Emil was gone.

Tristan stood. “First thing.” He extended his hand. “Give me your earpiece.”

Alex’s hand covered the pocket. “I can’t, I need—”

“Don’t make me come there and take it, Alex. I will rip your leg off in the process.”

Alex pulled it out. “Why did you leave it? Why didn’t you take it while I was unconscious?”

Tristan nodded to his open hand and Alex walked to him. “Because I need you to understand the severity of what you did. Did you think I wouldn’t notice what you did to my computer? That I wouldn’t see how you could lock me out of—”

“I’d never do that.”

Tristan’s voice dropped, making him sound even more menacing. “Your access superseded mine. You could have locked me out with one word. Now give.”

“I’m sorry. Please, I need it. I didn’t do it to take the computer from you I just—I need to have control over something and computers are my thing. I wouldn’t have—”

Tristan growled.

With a shaking hand, he placed the earpiece in his hand. Tristan closed a fist over it and Alex had to look away.

“I’ve killed people for lesser things than trying to usurp control of my computer. If you need control that badly, how come you didn’t take control of the one in my home?”

“It’s not the same. It’s just a house computer, it can’t do much.” He indicated the space around them. “Here it’s the only thing keeping us alive. Having controlled of a ship's computer has saved my life more often than I care to remember.”

“All right, I can understand your need to have an edge over others, but if you ever do it to one of my computers again, you will die. No warning, no chance to fight back. I will simply snap your fragile neck. Is this clear enough for you?”

Alex nodded, then looked at the fist.

“No, you’re not getting this back. I don’t trust you.”

“I understand.” He had no idea what Tristan expected him to be able to do without it. Maybe he’d hand it over only when he needed him to do some work.

“Good. Second thing. I never want to see you holding back when we fight.”

“Don’t.”

“You are a killer, Alex. I want that man when I train, not a shadow of him.”

“I Don’t!” he shut his mouth and looked at the closed door. “I told you, that isn’t who I want to be.”

“I don’t care what you want Alex. You stayed. You chose to be mine. And I’m going to use you as I see fit. I’m not going to have you die on me in the middle of a fight just because you’re afraid you might kill someone.”

“I don’t know if I can do that on command. I need to be pushed pretty far to reach that state.”

Tristan grinned. “Don’t worry, I’m going to push you far past your breaking point.”

Those previous sparring match hadn’t been Tristan pushing him? He’d been holding himself back?

“Now, sit down and give me a rundown of what the information we spread has caused.”

Alex eyed the fist again, but Tristan didn’t offer the earpiece back. He didn’t need it, this was just information gathering, he’d be looking at public nodes, not hidden ones. Still hearing the voice of the net, all those systems talking to each other was background noise that helped him work. He’d never worked deaf before.

It went slower than he would like, but Tristan didn’t push him. “SpaceGov has opened an investigation into Thomas Masters for inappropriate use of funds and resources. He’s already been removed from his position and a bounty had been put on his head. Nothing much, they just want him back so they can try him. They might have to raise it though, if they want him alive. There’s a dozen bounty on the boards for his head. He pissed off a lot of mercs and they aren’t looking to take care of him through the legal process. His assets have already been frozen. If he made it off the planet, he isn’t going to have anything to use.”

“He made it off.” Tristan split the screen and brought of the passive scans. “This is from while we were still on the planet. You were busy killing those mercs.” On the screen Alex watched as the energy from flying ships registered and headed away, all of them following a similar path. “I happened to see the ship their’s following take off.” He indicated a black space on the screen. “It’s right there.”

“There’s nothing.”

“I saw it. That means it’s equipped with some form of energy camouflage years beyond anything I’ve ever heard of. That’s why you never saw him land.”

“If that’s true, then is he gains enough distance on his pursuers and they lose visual contact, they won’t be able to follow him.”

“Yep.”

Alex eyed Tristan. He actually sounded pleased. “Don’t you want him dead?”

“He’s going to die, eventually. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel what it’s like to be hunted to the edge of the universe. I don’t care how many identities he has. Mercs aren’t going to rest until he has paid.”

Alex thought about Tristan’s file. Even after all these years he still knew it by heart. He looked at the chronology of events, added some things the Samalian had said to him. “Retribution.”

“Someone comes after me? I go after them in kind. The deaths I cause are necessary.”

Alex wasn’t quite certain of that, but he wasn’t going to argue the point with him. “Why did you come after Luminex? I never found anything about that.”

“The company president set things in motions so I’d be caught by a bounty hunted and delivered to a prison. I was there for ten years before I escaped.”

“The Sayatoga. That’s where your file said you were during the attack.”

“They don’t like advertising that a prisoner escaped.”

“Why didn’t you destroy the company? Or at least the building. That would match your usual method.”

“I was planning to, but then I found out the person my brother stole the company from wanted it back, so we came to an arrangement. He got it back and I made my brother pay.”

“Emerill was that man. That explains why he took an interest in me.”

Tristan raised an eyebrow, but Alex waved that aside.

“And I’m guessing you found a way to have the Sayatoga think your brother was you, because they still say you’re their prisoner.”

“I did. And since they keep their prisoner in cryo, he isn’t going to be able to talk his way out of that one. And since we're on that subject, how about the bounty on my head?”

Alex looked through the bounty boards. “It’s been removed. You are no longer worth as much as a small planet to the enterprising merc who manages to capture you.”

“He had to use SpaceGov money to be able to afford to pay it and SpaceGov wouldn’t want to be associated with something like that, especially not after it’s been revealed to be a scam.”

“I’d think SpaceGov would want mercs removed. We do cause them nothing but headaches.”

“They might not like us, but they need us. If you dig deep enough, you find that a majority of the jobs on merc boards, come from them.” Tristan turned, and walked toward the back. “Good job Alex. I’m heading outside to get more repairs done. In a few days we should be good to leave this place and take care of the last piece of this job.” He went down to the hold and closed the hatch. Alex heard it seal.

Last piece? He looked at the door. He could only mean Emil. And then his own life would be… wait, Tristan said he wanted to train with him again. That meant he wasn’t planning on killing him. Why not? Alex looked at the hatch. He’d said he would use him as he saw fit, again, implying he was going to let him live.

Alex rested his head in his hands. Couldn’t The damn Samalian be consistent? Not that Alex wanted to die, but Tristan had said it himself. He’d kill people for lesser offenses than what Alex had done. And hadn’t there been an implication that not only he wasn’t going to kill him, but he wanted him to live? Didn’t Tristan hate him? As is Alex wasn’t already enough of an emotional mess, Tristan had to send yet more mixed signals.

He pushed that out of his mind and focused on something important, ensuring Emil’s survival.