We Are Bulletproof

"I probably could slip out the door or through a window or something," Mik mused to himself as he glanced at Rip. He smiled, softly. "But I'm not going to. I'm staying right here because I have different orders from you, Rip."

And his orders were orders that couldn't be disobeyed—not even if he tried. Mik slid his free hand over his chest, his heart. "This is telling me I need to be with you. So I'm going to see this thing out."

With the hand in Rip's, he tugged gently. "Stop worrying about me and let me worry about you, dummy. Come here, lay down."

"Like... it grew." Mik couldn't tell if Rip's soul was growing or not but others apparently could. He wondered what it looked like, how they could tell at a glance. Was it a spell? Or a unique set of skills? What he did know, however, was that the guy out there had been rude about it, grilling him about why and how Rip's soul grew. Hell if Mik knew! He was just a human!

Maybe he was thinking aloud, that other guy outside. He seemed slightly taken aback by it, if Mik had to be honest, like he didn't expect it to happen. "He said it shouldn't have been possible without Brayden, but... apparently it happened. I didn't tell him anything though. I did not appreciate his tone."

Rude.

"I don't know what he wants though." Obviously Mik didn't—it wasn't like that guy was whispering his secret evil villain plans into his ear out of Rip's sight. All he knew was the guy made a replica of his face, grilled him about Rip's soul and then sent him back here to this weird bedroom.

"Oh it definitely won't work," Mik snorted angrily as he laid there flat as a starfish, staring at the ceiling. "I mean can you imagine that guy trying to be me? I am Mik. I am a human. Observe me being human. Nothing to be suspicious of, humans."

His impression of that guy was spot on, he thought, and probably very insulting. Robotic, stiff, emotionless, that guy was about as far from Mik as anyone could be. He had no personality of his own! How the hell was he going to mimic someone with all the flair and passion and stubbornness of Mik?!

"We'll be rescued in no time once Lieve and Cori realize that's not me. I bet we could even hold him hostage! Hah! That'd show him not to mess with us!" Mik allowed himself a pleased, if still angry, grin. "Oh um. He said... your soul grew though. Like he was rude about it, but he said that."

"You know how we were going to spy on him?" Mik's tone was low, a whisper, but a dark whisper. "I bet he's thinking of doing the same thing. Those guys don't know me so... if a fake me walked in, they wouldn't be able to tell that it's a fake. And I'm human so maybe they wouldn't be wary of me."

See, that was some movie supervillain type shit right there. And stupid. Because Lieve and Cori were there and they knew Mik better than anybody in the entire world, with the exception of his Aunt Shelby! So that guy out there was fucked if he thought he could waltz in and pretend he was Mik!

But that was only a guess at best. Mik didn't really know what imprinting meant. He didn't know shit about magic either; he was only a human. And being only human it wasn't like he had anyone to talk to who could teach him things about the magical world. Everything he knew in his limited knowledge came from Lieve and a bunch of others—mostly shifters.

"I do not like that man!" Snapped Mik savagely as he was picked up and helped to the bed, where he flopped heavily onto the cheap mattress and scratchy blanket. "I do not like that man one bit!" He glared up at the ceiling for a hot minute, hissing a stream of curses that would have made his Aunt Shel grab him and wash his mouth out with literal soap.

"He did some weird thing around my face. I thought he was going to rape me or something." Finally he felt the feeling come back to his arms and the first thing he did was reach over and grasp onto Rip's hand. It was comforting, a familiar touch.

Mik was really trying not to lose it. He didn't know what that man did but it felt like a giant invasion of privacy and he didn't like it. He felt violated even though nobody put anything in him. His identity had been stolen though. His face.

"He made a mask of my face, Rip. It was like this magic... thing he made. What's he going to do with it? Is he going to pretend to be me and—try to trick the other guys? Is that his plan?"

"What have you done to Ripper?"

"Nothing!" Mik found himself forced to sit on the couch like—literally his limbs wouldn't listen to him. He struggled fiercely but he ended up on the couch anyway, with that creep manipulating his legs to walk over, bend and his ass to hit the cushion. Magic. Cop-out bullshit.

"His soul has grown." The man stood before him and for a chilling moment Mik thought he was going to unzip his pants so he could force Mik to blow him. Well he was going to get a big CHOMP if he tried! Mik would bite his dick off without a second thought!

Instead, the man only traced the outline of his face. His hands glowed softly green as he did so, seeming to map out Mik's features. "It could not have happened after what happened to Brayden Smith."

"You know...?" Helpless to resist, Mik glared up at him. And his stupid perfect hair.

"Yes. I was there with Keith. He did not know it, of course. His hatred blinds him."

"...fucking asshole. Both of you. What are you even doing to me? Let me go!"

"I will, after I finish imprinting you. Did you grow Ripper's soul? He appears protective of you. A very... human trait." The man paused; his hands glowed gold now.

"Whatever." Mik shut his mouth. He wasn't telling this asshole anything! But to his dismay, a sort of glowing magical mask began to form in the air right in front of his face, like the guy was weaving it out of magic. "What's that? What're you doing?"

"Imprinting," the idiot said again infuriatingly. He plucked the mask delicately out of the air and studied it. "This will do. You may join Ripper."

And again against his will, Mik was forced to march down the hall and into some random room where Rip was pacing around. "Rip?" He collapsed as the control of his limbs was restored to him, but for a second he lost all strength in his arms and legs and folded at the door.

Who even was this guy? How much product did he put into his hair? It was almost too perfectly coiffed and done up, in a way that made Mik want to dunk his head in a tub full of water. He snorted at the man's unimpressed response and slightly stepped to the side to try and screen Rip from him. Nobody was putting their hands on his goddamn man. Not today, not ever.

"I will not hurt him. You will please leave." His words sounded robotic and not like the way a human would speak. So formal. So stiff.

Mik turned to Rip with a tight smile. "It's okay. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself." He knew where to kick to make it hurt! Mik took self-defense classes after that older guy tried to stalk him before, so he was fairly confident that he would at least not go down without a fight. "I'll be okay." His gaze softened even if his expression couldn't relax.

"All I want is your imprint." The man approached. "Then you may join Ripper."

"Excuse me, you're not touching me," Mik snapped back. Imprint? His imprint? What the hell did that mean?!

"I will not need to touch you."

What could he say? He lived dangerously.

No, he didn't. Mik literally lived the typical American teenager life—hanging out with his best buddies, helping his Aunt Shel at the shelter, going to class at the local community college and having a good time overall. He never hated his life even though he met and shook hands with tragedy early on in his childhood. He never thought of himself as that poor little orphan boy who had no mommy and daddy, boo hoo hoo. Self-pity wasn't a word in Mik's vocabulary.

He was also bolder than most others and more willing to put himself out there. In a way, having experienced that pain before made all other painful moments bearable. How could it get worse than losing a parent? How could anything be more gut-wrenching than realizing that he was alone in the world? Before Aunt Shel came to claim him, Mik spent a bit of time in the foster system and that really opened his eyes to what pain really was.

So here he was. He was walking into a trap and he knew it, and he still did it. Beside him, Rip was nervous and anxious and unhappy and Mik felt that. He hung on to Rip's hand tightly, all the way up in the elevator, all the way up to the door with the faded numbers on it. "He doesn't know what he's getting himself into," was all he muttered. If that guy thought Mik was going down without a fight, he was dead wrong.

At the door, he steeled himself and as it opened he took in a sharp breath. Nobody was inside, apparently. Oh—wait. A tall, dark-haired man walked into view and gazed at them. He seemed surprised to see Mik standing there but he beckoned for them to enter as he remained where he was. Mik was the first to take a step inside, trying to keep his expression frosty and aloof—even though he was shivering inside, and his hand in Rip's felt clammy and sweaty.

"Ripper." The man nodded. "You have done well. Leave the human here, you may retire to your room."

Mik's nostrils flared. "The human has a name, you know."

"...hm," was all the man said, though his brows lifted. "Indeed."

Mik felt horrible about what they were doing but at the same time, he was trying to protect everyone. Even Rip. Especially Rip. Eventually they lost their pursuers, after a series of twists and turns that left Mik dizzy. To his surprise, they rounded up on Greenwood and Mik—oh wait. Wait. Wasn't Cori kidnapped and kept here? Made sense that those guys would still be here...

But that also meant Lieve and Cori would know where they were. Hopefully. Lieve was smart; he would definitely piece it all together! Mik had the utmost confidence in his friends. He squeezed Rip's hand as Rip turned back to him but he didn't say anything, not until they were at the elevator.

"I'm not leaving." Mik pressed the button to call it down. "Maybe this is a good chance to find out what those creeps are up to. We could bring that information back to the others once we find out enough."

Yeah... if they treated this like a spying mission instead of like them walking into the arms of death... Nah it didn't help. Mik was scared, sure. He was scared all over—but he also loved Rip and he loved Rip more than he was scared of whoever was up there.

"Oh shit! Yeah!" Mik grabbed his hand and ran for it again but this time--with Rip. He didn't know why the hell Rip wanted to get away and he didn't know where they were going, but he knew that he was going there with Rip. To protect him. To keep him safe, as much as a barefoot human wearing a short man's robe could.

"Where are we going?!" Home? It was in the opposite direction though. This way led to some less opulent apartments and towards the slightly seedier side of town. Mik panted as he ran, throwing glances over his shoulder at the others who were chasing them but slowly, steadily lagging. Good thing they had such long legs!

"I don't care!" Mik was hugging him again, around the waist, grappling with him and wrestling with him as he writhed desperately, trying to get away. "If you get hurt... I get hurt! We're in this... TOGETHER!"

What the hell was Rip not understanding about this?! Mik was sticking by him! Through thick and thin! End of discussion! He would rather be there with Rip in the worst moments than sit around waiting for him to solve everything magically, so he could only be present when it was all sunshine, rainbows and kittens.

"If you leave I'll get hurt anyway!" He would--his heart would be broken. He would be devastated not knowing where Rip was or what he was doing. Or what people were doing to him. That was worse than being there and suffering, he thought.

Okay so

Rip just ran out the door

Mik was too stunned for a moment to do anything, but then he bolted out too, wrestling with the handle viciously. "HEY! WHAT'D I SAY ABOUT RUNNING?!" He shouted breathlessly as he ran, literally sprinting across the courtyard barefoot in that too-short robe that belonged to Brayden Smith. It was a hideous barf-worthy tan color, almost beige.

The door to Jack's apartment flew open and Raphael's face appeared, looking stunned. "R-Rip and Mik are running away!" He shouted back to the people inside, urgently.

"Rip's running away!" Mik yelled as he tried to lunge at Rip. "Stop him!"

"Really? You didn't hear that?"

Mik rubbed his temple, which was beginning to throb. Geez. All this arguing was driving him up a wall. He probably imagined the voice then, because he was so stressed out about Rip leaving and everything. Mik thought he was doing so well... Then everything went to shit fast, which left him reeling.

Bring him. Now.

There it was again? Mik actually turned bodily but there was nobody in the freaking room! "I think I need to sit down," he muttered faintly, and staggered over to the bed. He definitely heard it that time! But apparently he was the only one, while Rip looked totally weirded out by him. And scared. Right? That was fear on his face?

"I'm really stressed," he said unnecessarily, defensively.

"If you leave, I'm leaving with you. I'm not letting you go anywhere alone." Mik's expression was grim, lips set in a thin line. A determined line. "If you're going to get in trouble, I'm going to get in trouble with you."

And if he was going to get himself deactivated, well, Mik might have to get deactivated too. He didn't know. It was possible. He was nothing but a dumb human, with dumb human emotions and dumb human traits: persistence, stubbornness, loyalty. Mik wasn't the type of person to run away from a difficult choice, no way, no how. Otherwise he wouldn't be out there saving all those animals, and fostering so many more.

Slowly he moved back from Rip. No, he wasn't giving Rip a choice here. That wasn't his choice to make anymore because Mik was taking his own fate into his own hands. His Aunt Shel would probably freak out if she knew... but he knew deep down that this was something he just had to do for himself. "So. Leave. If you want. I'll be right behind you."

Bring the human.

Mik frowned. "What?" He looked at Rip but Rip's lips hadn't moved. Right? Rip didn't speak just now but he heard a man's voice in his head. "Did... you hear that?" He looked all around but they were alone in the bedroom. Totally alone.

"I know it hurts. I know." He hugged Rip tightly again but this time, a real hug and not one born out of desperation and fear of Rip bolting from the apartment. Brayden's apartment was filled with so many curious things, faded and worn things that nonetheless contributed to the overall warm atmosphere. It struck Mik almost immediately when he walked inside, that this was a place where love lived. And it was kind of poetic that in here, his love was helping to save a life.

"It would hurt Brayden all over again, though, if you didn't try your damned hardest to carry out his last wishes. You'd feel a hell of a lot worse if you didn't live every day for Brayden, if you didn't do everything in your power to make him proud of you. Right?

Don't you want to be able to say to everyone out there that... this life Brayden saved didn't go to waste? And if Cori does bring him back, don't you want to be able to look him in the eyes and tell him that you did your best for him, like he did his best for you?"

Briefly he closed his eyes. Having to acknowledge that he—Mik—wasn't good enough to give Rip the motivation he needed to live was a sharp dagger to the heart. It really was. He loved Rip and Rip loved him but they weren't on the same level. Yet. Maybe some day... But if acknowledging that Brayden Smith was the best thing for Rip right now and if that would keep him from doing something dumb, then so be it.

Love was a bitch that way though, wasn't it?