The Lucky One

[Kenneth Branagh]

"I--" could go with you, he wanted to say. He wanted to make sure that the broken wrist was set properly. Otherwise, it might grow in wrong and hamper Niall for life. It could become his disability later on. He didn't say that, though, because his hand said something else for him as it reached out and latched onto Niall's uninjured hand. Just for a moment, for a fleeting second.

Ken was aware of Jem and the others watching them, but he no longer cared. He didn't care to care. If they cast him out for this, then they were the ones losing out on a damned good hunter, and Ken knew that they needed him more than they needed to justify their prejudice and ignorance. If he'd had this kind of confidence ten years ago, things might have been different. Niall might not have fled and Ken... he might have lived a happier life, too.

"Wait for me. At the clinic." The meeting would be quick; it was just so Jem could debrief him on their progress up to this point. The young lad that had been silent thus far had sidled up, and when Ken dropped his hand, the lad's replaced it.

[Niall Gallagher]

I...? Niall leaned forward. I what? I'm sorry? I love you? I missed you? I couldn't find a soul like you and I never will~ The racing thoughts grew wilder by the second, although some of them were a little less amusing and a little more messed up. Like I regret everything with you. And I hate you. He didn't think that was actually where Ken was going, though, because his hand met Niall's uninjured hand like he was trying to say something supportive without saying it aloud.

Typical. God, it hurt not to be able to just be open about things. Niall hated having to hide everything. Skulking around like he was ashamed of who he was. God hated him, God hated faggots and wanted them dead and burning in hell but there was no way that kind of happiness was a creation of the devil. And if he didn't believe in one, it was hard to believe in the other. Maybe he did still believe. It felt like hellfire was always right on his backside, reminding him of where he was going after all this.

"Righto. At the clinic. Can't miss it. It's the one with the big clinic sign."

He turned his gaze toward Jem and the others, whom were all settled in for their Big Meeting. Niall winked and blew a kiss in Jem's direction.

"Try not to miss me too much, big boy."

The look that crossed Jem's face was priceless. And Jem was across the room in his seat, squished between two of his guys so he couldn't come at Niall now. Tugging on Cain's hand, Niall moved past Ken and he didn't know why but he winked at him before leaving, making a kissing motion with his lips. If Ken wanted to pretend there was nothing between them, he could do it until the end of time but Niall wasn't afraid of the repercussions of being queer anymore.

"Tata, losers!" He waved as he passed the scary guy behind the counter with Cain in tow. "Have fun finding your supes without an insider."

And with that, he floated on out the door with Cain, feeling quite a bit more triumphant than he did a short time ago. But as soon as they were out of earshot of the others, he said to Cain, "It's so exhausting being me, you have no idea."

[Kenneth Branagh]

It wasn't that his thoughts were too gay to expose. They were too private. Ken wasn't... flamboyant. He had overcome a lot of his upbringing but he couldn't not still be himself, and he just wasn't the type to stand on rooftops shouting it out loud. He was more the type to wait for a quiet moment, when they were all alone, to say the words that came straight from the heart. Nothing fancy about him, no grandstanding or showy displays.

Niall, though, was all flamboyance, to the point of it being almost overdone. Like he wanted to leave no one in doubt as to his sexuality, after being repressed for the better part of his teenage years. Ken didn't say anything to his parting shots and he didn't smile when Niall winked at him and kissed the air in his direction. It felt like a bit of a mockery, if he had to be honest. Or maybe a reminder of what they used to be, and how he denied it towards the end, now thrown right back in his face.

But somehow, Ken didn't think that the gesture was completely friendly.

He slowly turned back to Jem, who looked fit to burst. He saw the lad raising his innocent, pale face to Niall and saying something to him, their hands clasped. It reminded him of the way Lorcan used to hold on to Niall. At least he had somebody here, Ken thought with a pang in his chest.

"Tell me about the hunter hunters." His tone was back to being all business again as he brushed off the unsettling encounter. He sat down opposite of Jem with his steely gaze--no less intense than Gregg's could be. "How many of ours did they get? What manner of creatures are they?"

[Jem Wilson]

Jem crossed his arms and sat back, a lazy smirk drawn across his face. He hadn't missed that--what Niall just did to Ken. It was a copy of what he'd done to Jem.

"Cold reception, huh?"

It seemed like Niall didn't like Ken, either. Well, good. For a few moments, Jem thought there was something weird coming from Ken's direction toward Niall, like that odd hand touching and wanting to check up on him. It was probably just past concern. If he recalled, Ken and Niall used to be friends at one point. No wonder Niall gave him such a chilly reception, then. Friends to nothing. He probably hated Ken more than he hated Jem. Haha!

Good. That made him and Ken friends, as Jem saw it.

The smirk disappeared as work was brought to he forefront. Of course. After waiting for him for so long, Ken was finally here and he was going to want to get down to business. Jem didn't remember him being quite this serious--he could have given Gregg a run for his money. But at least he still had a sense of humor. Jem couldn't even remember the last time Gregg so much as smiled, let alone made a joke. He was like a big coatrack in the corner but he got his work done. Until he disappeared. Hadn't seen much of him lately and they really could have used him.

"At least eight that we know of for sure," Jem said, now all seriousness. It was not amusing to him, finding those bodies. Those eight were all very obviously murdered by supernatural means. "Three others that we're not sure about but we have our suspicions. And Kyle here narrowly escaped some kind of death hex a few weeks ago. We've got eyes on at least two of them, but it's tough to suss out the rest of them. So we're thinking of nabbing somebody close to one of them and... extracting the information we need."

[Kenneth Branagh]

It was so much easier to focus on business and not on Niall when Niall wasn't in the room. Ken always had that ability to compartmentalize, but the shock of seeing Niall here had really thrown him for a loop. He preferred to keep his private and professional lives separate, but... people like Niall didn't always play by the rules. They didn't play fair, either.

Ken ignored Jem's remarks, but flashed him a tight smile. Sure. What someone like Jem thought didn't matter to him—unless it had to do with work. He listened intently, eyes on Jem, gaze flickering only to look at Kyle who survived a hex. Ken nodded slowly.

"The witch might be easiest to track. If he or she cast the hex, then we can follow the magic trails. How long ago did it happen, Kyle?" Ken turned his attention onto the hunter, who shrugged.

"Three weeks back, round about the old motel outside town. Was following up a lead on some weres."

"That area's not heavily trafficked?"

"Nah. Deserted mostly. Weird shit happened there 'round Halloween last year, locals too spooked to go near the place."

Ken nodded again. He reached into the bag sitting on the bench next to him and pulled out a delicate, blue glass sphere. Currently, it was cloudy. "This picks up magic trails. If we can get it to pick up that witch's magic signature, we might be able to follow him back to his home."

[Jem Wilson]

"Sounds like we're going to need bait, then." Jem appraised Kyle. "We know they know Kyle's a hunter, so he's likely going to be a target. Not sure yet if they've figured out who the rest of us are. We try not to hang around together in town if we can help it."

It was like painting a target on their backs. If it weren't for Rolf up front, they would have a hell of a time even meeting up in town. They all had abilities and tools for tracking supers but it was the first time Jem saw something like Ken's fancy crystal.

"Now that'll come in handy," he said. "What does it look like when magic's around?"

At the moment, it was cloudy, which he assumed meant a whole lot of nothing. Made sense. As far as Jem knew, none of them were casting any spells and none of them had any spells on them. There were various ways to tell--marks, for one thing. Magic tended to leave a mark on its target. There were also items on a person that might hold the spell, some little bag of shit or whatever.

The crystal, though, it looked like a good way of detecting the magic before it had a chance to take hold.

[Kenneth Branagh]

"It forms an arrow that points to where the witch is. I have to calibrate it to the witch's signature first, which is why that area can't be saturated with magic." But by the sounds of it, that wouldn't be an issue. Ken tucked the sphere away with his mind somewhat more at ease now that they had formed a plan of attack. He wasn't above using the witch's loved ones to get to him or her.

Given half the chance, those supers would do the same to them. Eye for an eye, as they say. There was something in the bible about turning the other cheek, but Ken didn't think that applied to demons and devils when half the old testament was ranting and railing against the evils of Beelzebub. 

"Is there a place in town I can stay? I made up some story about visiting a cousin here on the way in, on the bus. They won't suspect me."

[Jem Wilson]

"Good."

Jem liked that they had something so useful on their side. He knew calling in somebody from the old homestead would have its uses. He called on Paddy, too, but he was currently on another job with his family. When they were done, though, he promised to come swing by. He was intrigued by the idea of supers hunting hunters--they hadn't seen it back home. Jem thought it was interesting, too, until their numbers started dwindling one by one.

For now, they'd wait it out until Kyle was targeted again. Satisfied that they had a plan as well, he leaned back and looked at the others, trying to decide whom was safest for Ken to stay with. Who would look like a cousin? A couple of them could do the trick, coming from about the same place, same accent. But it was also dangerous, attaching the new guy in town to any of them when they weren't yet sure which of them had been found out.

"Actually," Jem said, struck with an idea as he sat up again. "Why not our old friend Niall?"

Kyle let out a snort and one of the others laughed but Jem put up a hand.

"It's not a joke, idiots. We don't know how much these supers know about any of us. For all we know, we could all have targets on our back. No point in painting one on Ken's back, too. Niall's useless but there's real history there. And Niall's not a hunter."

"You can say that again," Sean said.

"Exactly. He's not a hunter." Jem reached out and patted Ken on the shoulder regretfully. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you, mate, but it's temporary. You're going to meet him later anyway, right? He's a pushover. Just tell him what's what and you're staying and what's he going to do about it?"

[Kenneth Branagh]

Are you fucking me?

Ken couldn't believe his ears. Jem wanted him to stay with Niall? After that display back there, he wanted Ken to march right up and tell Niall that he was being forced into having a roommate? Much less one who used to be his lover?

If he didn't think that God was humorless, he would have thought that this was a cosmic joke on all of them. His expression must have given him away, because Jem patted his shoulder consolingly and spoke some bullshit about taking one for the team. That was what it amounted to--taking it for the team. And Ken was more than happy to do that, but he didn't want or need Jem pitying him for having to associate with a queer. He had experienced enough of that homophobia and it was distasteful.

Slowly, Ken rose and hefted his bag over one shoulder. "I'll ask him. If he refuses, I'll take a room at the hotel in town."

He wasn't commanding Niall to clear a spare room for him and he wasn't strong-arming his way into someone's life. Ken wasn't heavy-handed like that, though he could see that Jem was. One of the others snorted and muttered something to his companion--something that sounded suspiciously like "This guy's a fucking pussy."

Then he faltered at the Look that Ken trained on him.

"I'll be in touch."

The clinic was a few doors down. Ken stood outside and peered in through the glass. The young lad was there alone, swinging his legs as he flicked through a children's book. After a few beats, Ken entered and approached him. "Where's Niall?"

"He's... in there." The lad jerked a thumb in the direction of a closed room, where presumably a doctor was looking at Niall's wrist. Sighing, Ken sat down beside him to wait. He felt the young man's gaze on him, but he didn't look back at him.

"...I think you can save him."

"What?" Ken did look at him now, frowning.

"You can save him," the lad repeated patiently. "He's a lost lamb, but you... you haven't lost your way. You can help him."

[Niall Gallagher]

"--and then he just grabbed my arm and twisted! I heard it crack and the pain just shot all the way up to my elbow! He was so mean! I just wanted to help the little boy," Niall said tearfully as the doctor tested his arm's movement.

The doctor was an older man of Asian descent with kind dark eyes and a wisp of hair sticking up on his head. He listened to Niall's story calmly and brought his arm back down and then turned it over. After Niall bit back a pitiful whimper, the doctor nodded and gently lowered Niall's arm. Niall immediately held it against his chest and watched the doctor. If he played it up enough, he might even get the good drugs.

"It's definitely broken," the doctor said. "Come with me so we can take some x-rays."

Niall nodded and leapt down off the exam table. The doctor opened the door and Niall followed him, turning to flash Cain a big smile and a thumbs up with his good hand. Then he realized that Cain wasn't alone and he frowned. What? What was he doing here?

"Mr. Gallagher?"

The doctor's voice brought him back and Niall turned back toward him and he scuttled after him to get his x-rays. But of course, now his mind was on what Cain and Ken were talking about out there, the whole time the machine worked and the whole time the doctor showed him the pictures of his broken wrist. It was a clean break, the doctor said, he heard that part. Then it was time to get it all wrapped up.

Even the doctor noticed his silence at this point and asked him if the pain was getting to him, did he feel sick? Niall blinked. Then remembering he was playing it up, he nodded sadly. Once the cast was on and ready, the doctor handed him a prescription and told him not to play any tennis. Niall laughed too hard at that. Hahahaha! The doctor gave him a funny look and then gently took his elbow and brought him out into the waiting room to be checked out. The girl behind the counter smiled at him as he awkwardly signed his paperwork with the wrong hand.

"I'm glad your cousin came to pick you up. I was worried it was just you and the boy and you're in no condition to be driving."

Niall stared at her.

"My... what?"

"Your cousin? That's who he says he is," the girl said, pointing with a pen at Ken. Niall turned to look at him, too. Oh right. His cousin. Of course he was his cousin. Niall rolled his eyes and then smiled quickly at the girl when she looked at him again.

"That's him. My stupid cousin." He pushed the paperwork toward the girl and his smile vanished the second he turned around and started toward Cain and Ken. "Well, let's go, cousin. Chop, chop. I need some rest and relaxation!"

[Kenneth Branagh]

Mid-way through what Ken could only describe as the most disturbing conversation of his life, the receptionist asked him who he was and he gave her his cockamamie story about being Niall's cousin, in town to visit. She took him at his word, presumably because he played up the Irish brogue and--as these Americans were wont to--she assumed that since they sounded the same, they must be related.

He came back to Cain's unnerving stare, as though the lad could see straight through him. Ken couldn't understand how this young boy could speak like that. Like he thought he was some kind of prophet of God, put down here to save souls. Those were his words, too--he was here to save their souls and bring them back to God.

Ken didn't respond much to him but he seemed to have his own line of thinking. Once that was exhausted, they fell into uneasy silence. Ken thought hard about Niall being a 'lost lamb' and... really it was quite true. Niall had lost his way. He gave up hunting, started dressing like a charlatan--as his father would have put it--and he appeared to whole-heartedly resent Ken's presence in Hazleton.

That was made obvious when he came out to the reception area and saw them. Ken stood, and so did Cain, but while Can ran forward to see how he was, Ken stood back. He let Niall sweep by him, gave the girl behind the desk a tight smile, and went out the door with them. Outside, he touched Niall's elbow lightly to gain his attention--not necessary, but... he wanted to.

"Is it broken?"

[Niall Gallagher]

"Hey, hey, relax kiddo, I'm going to be just fine, the doctor says so and he even gave me all kinds of pretty little pills to make the pain go away~!" he told Cain when he came rushing over to check on him. Poor little kid. Really, Niall felt a rush of affection for the kid despite having known him for all of an hour or so. He wasn't exactly like Lor. Definitely didn't look like him and Lor definitely didn't talk so much about god but he was around that age when Lor died and he couldn't help seeing Lor in him.

Plus, it wasn't just anybody that Niall would have stood up for. He was mostly a coward. He didn't even want to live his own life, choosing instead to let monsters have their way with him or the prystal to put an artificial smile on his face. But that didn't mean he wanted creeps beating up on kids. Which... it turned out they weren't doing but still. Freaking Jem. Ugh. Just remembering his stupid face brought a sour expression to his face.

A hand on his elbow brought him back to the present. It wasn't Cain this time. Ken's words sounded concerned but there was almost a robotic intonation to his voice, like he'd practiced leeching out every emotion in his voice. It was surprising; the Ken that Niall knew was certainly not like that. Sure, he wasn't always true to himself in public but he hadn't been emotionless. Now it seemed like he was guarding himself from giving away any thoughts he might have. Niall, realizing he'd been studying him for a long moment instead of answering, looked down at his new cast.

"Yep. I get to wear this fancy bracelet for two months, courtesy of your best friend, Jem. He likes to go hard, doesn't he? Guess not much has changed."

[Kenneth Branagh]

What went on in that head of his? What was the staring for? Ken bore up to his scrutiny but even he felt the prickle of heat in the back of his neck when the silence stretched on for far too long. Cain was quiet, holding on to Niall—a little shepherd guarding his lost lamb.

Once Niall did speak, it was all sarcasm and dry remarks. Ken frowned. "Jem's not my best friend." Never was, never would be. He was a colleague, a hunter with similar goals towards eliminating the supernatural threat. Beyond that, he was a closed-minded homophobe.

Slowly, Ken's hand slid over Niall's elbow and onto his forearm. His voice softened and he suddenly had a hard time looking at him. "...you were."

[Niall Gallagher]

"Right," he said with a derisive laugh. Ken and Jem weren't best pals. They weren't butt buddies. Personally, Niall thought Jem doth protest too much--he was probably the most homo that ever homoed because he was downright foot stampy about how NOT GAY he was. Whoooo! Hands in the air. They had a bad ass over here, watch out, he wasn't HOMO.

The sarcasm in his race car of a mind came reeling to a screeching halt as Ken's hand moved upward and not away from the slimy homo. Weird. Not expected. Niall fully expected Ken to act just like Jem with the macho straightness. The emotion was back, no more robot. Niall almost didn't even make out what Ken said and when he did, he blinked in pure and honest shock. What? What did he just say? His brow furrowed together for a moment.

"Excuse me?"

They were best friends, that was true. He didn't know if they ever said as much but it kinda went without saying, at least from Niall's end. Since he was the lost black sheep of the family, he was generally not to be bothered with. Not that everybody was as rude as Jem and Paddy but they also weren't friendly, either. He remembered a few regretful smiles from kids who had been told not to play with him that might have otherwise. Ken had friends, though. Niall wasn't the only one. Still...

He lifted a hand to his ear.

"Say again?"

[Kenneth Branagh]

"He said you were his best friend," Cain supplied quietly by Niall's side.

Ken looked down at him and smiled softly. What a strange little old young man, with his wise eyes and his fascination with God and saving people. Cain was looking up at him too, with a mixture of understanding and pride. It was... odd. Very odd.

But if he stared at Cain, he couldn't stare at Niall. His hand was still on Niall's arm, he was painfully aware of this fact. Ken wasn't fidgety, so he didn't clear his throat or cough or make some inane remark to offset his sudden declaration. It was the truth. Ken had never felt as close to anyone as he did to Niall, then and now—especially now, when he kept himself to himself and went about his work like a machine.