2Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations the characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for reading my works and giving me feedback on my storylines and characters. It's muchly appreciated and I do read every review you send me!
Totally Not His Fault
When Nicky would related the story later he would deliberately omit the fact that it was a stunning bubble butt-which he would learn later was a result of regular ice skating-and deliciously intriguing full arm tattoos that led to him getting hit by a car and then later being talked into entering a tattoo parlor. Instead Nicky would begin by explaining that he'd gone out that morning to stretch his legs and get a sense of the neighborhood he and his team would be residing in for the next couple of weeks. A perfectly innocent reason as well as true, for that matter. No one-aka Joe-needed to know that he had caught sight of Jai Trevors on his way to work and so had decided to walk up a street longer than originally intended so that he could enjoy watching the way the man's jeans molded to his ass and put that work of art on perfect display for Nicky's viewing pleasure.
And it wasn't like it would have made Jai nervous or upset if he'd noticed Nicky's admiration at the time. He hadn't-being lost in the contents of his phone like most young people his age-but had he been paying more attention to his surroundings Jai would have been quite pleased and happy to show off both his ass and his arms to Nicky. Without clothes on. A sight Nicky had sadly had to decline when suggested, instead contenting himself with what he'd seen due to the jeans and Jai's sleeveless top meant to combat the already humid air surrounding them.
Luckily for Jai and the woman who would almost run the young man over with her car-coincidentally she was also talking on the phone though at least in her case her phone was connected through her car so her hands were on the wheel-Nicky knew how to both ogle someone discreetly AND pay attention to his surroundings. Which meant that he noticed when a car traveling faster than it should have came barreling down the road to the east of them. Just as he noted that the woman driving it was hardly paying attention to where she was going and didn't seem to notice Jai, who was walking quickly and would be passing by the entrance to the parking lot she appeared to be heading for at about the same time.
Shit.
Picking up speed Nicky didn't bother to shout out to the man to look out. At the time he didn't know the man's name, Jai had had earbuds in that likely meant he wouldn't hear him anyway, and finally in Nicky's experience people tended to freeze when you called out a warning rather than process the warning and do as ordered. Ergo he might as well save his breath.
So instead he judged distance, timing, and speed in those few seconds allotted him and then Nicky slammed into Jai from behind, grabbing on and doing his best to arrange their bodies in midair so that his took the brunt of any impact.
He almost avoided the car-but not quite.
Which is how Nicky ended up with a broken collarbone, dislocated shoulder, possibly a mild concussion, a very sore ribcage, and multiple bruises paired with road rash. Technically.
)
In a lot of pain and with the breath very much knocked out of him-the driver had tried to put on the brakes at the last minute and that had thrown his fucking timing off, God dammit-Nicky let his arms drop away from the much younger man with a groan and then he rolled a little to put himself fully on his back while his body started to heal up. His damsel in previous distress meanwhile was now lying half on, half off Nicky in stunned shock, the weight of him not helping things in the slightest.
Thankfully it was less than a minute before the other man recovered enough to realize that now was not the time to be lying around and after a bit of flailing around the tattooed boy got off of Nicky and immediately started to ask him if he was okay, yammering away about being First Aid trained and how he was going to be okay and saying things one usually says in this sort of situation.
The sound of a car door slamming shut drew Nicky's attention over in the direction of the car that had hit him, Nicky watching as the young woman came stumbling out and over towards them. The visibly pregnant young woman who took another shaky step towards them and then collapsed onto her knees with a cry, arms wrapping around her stomach.
"She's pregnant. Help her." Nicky ordered, swatting the man's hand away from where it was poking at his shoulder. "I'll live, but she needs your care right now."
Glancing over the tattooed young man paled, said the name 'Jen', and then began to look back and forth between Nicky and the woman, visibly torn as to what to do and who to see to. He had a handsome face-Nicky's money was on the man being a mix of Caucasian and Indian-but right now was not the time to be admiring the honey skin, silky black hair, and excellent bone structure. He needed the man to leave his side while Nicky's healing abilities did their thing.
"GO HELP HER."
"I'll be right back. Don't move!"
Rolling his eyes over that Nicky decided to count his blessing that the boy had yet to realize that calling an ambulance would normally be in order right about now. One less thing he needed to worry about-unless the woman needed the ambulance. Please God, let that not be the case.
Also apologies for taking your name in vain earlier, Nicky silently added with a look upwards.
And ignoring the man's order to stay put Nicky carefully sat up as soon as his 'medic's' back was turned and reaching over Nicky grabbed his upper arm and jerked his injured shoulder back into place. Ahhh. Much better.
That done Nicky got to his feet and took a mental inventory of his injuries, pressing fingers into his healing collarbone with a hiss. At least there wasn't bone poking out anywhere. That would be hard to explain away. In that he spoke from experience.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE!"
Ignoring that Nicky asked if the woman was all right.
Which inspired the woman with the badly dyed blonde hair to begin hysterically crying again while sobbing out words Nicky couldn't begin to translate. Only her accent and ethnicity indicated it was probably English. She was clearly projecting remorse and fear though, so Nicky did his best to shoot her reassuring looks he wasn't even sure she could see through her tears.
Sigh. "Go and take her somewhere she can sit and calm down. I need to return to my hotel and clean up."
"Wait-what?! You need a hospital!"
"No. I don't. My injuries are minor."
"I heard bones break!"
He had? Dammit!
"You misheard. I'm fine. Now do you know where she belongs?" A distraction was needed.
"I didn't-I could have-she works at the coffee shop there." Extreme frustration and indecision were written all over his face as the young man pointed to the two-story building beside the parking lot. "Look, let's go in there. The other staff can look at her and I can patch you up and see if you DO need the hospital. Because you totally do. Do you have double vision? Nausea? Headache?"
"Get her on her feet and I will follow." For now. "I'm a soldier. I've had much worse."
That at least seemed to ease some of the strain on the man's face-though he went back to strained as he stated Nicky really needed a doctor. All that blood.
Looking down at the side of him that had hit and slid on the pavement Nicky would admit there was blood, but a lot? Not really.
Of course it was very hard to think at all with the hysterical woman's crying. Right.
Heading in the direction of the coffee shop Nicky could hear them following after him, Nicky holding the front door open for them and then following after since it seemed he would need to tend to her as well. Or not, as two employees immediately came over to see what was wrong and ushered the woman named Jen over to a booth to sit down. Good.
Taking advantage of the fact that the other man was busy explaining to the woman's shocked coworkers what had happened Nicky slipped into the short hallway he'd noticed on entry and let himself into the men's washroom. Single occupancy. Excellent.
Locking the door with a smile Nicky breathed out a sigh of relief and then slid his backpack off and crouched down to start removing the various items he would need to get cleaned up and then fake medical treatment of his 'wounds'. And to think he'd almost left the pack at the hotel, thinking he wouldn't need it for a quick scouting. Thank God some habits die hard. Especially for people who constantly lived out of backpacks.
Stripping down to the waist and opting to use his ruined shirt as a wash cloth Nicky was interrupted while getting it wet by loud pounding at the door and demands to know if he was all right.
Rolling his eyes Nicky called out that he was cleaning himself up and would come out when he was done.
"But you need help!"
"No. I don't. Stop distracting me."
Indistinct grumbling through the door for a good two minutes.
"I'm timing you. Every two minutes you need to let me know you aren't passed out on the floor!"
"Fine."
And so Nicky concentrated on cleaning away all the blood from his body and then took out the mini First Aid kit from the bag and proceeded to wrap gauze around the arm that would have been injured and then slapped on some Band-aids randomly for added affect.
That done he shrugged on a thin, long sleeve shirt meant to be worn to hide a lack of injury, and then stuffed his ruined shirt into a plastic bag, tied it off, and then stuffed the ruined shirt back into the backpack. He would have shouldered the backpack then, but given his 'injuries' Nicky figured he should carry it by its strap instead with his 'good arm'.
Unlocking the door Nicky wasn't at all surprised to see that he still had company. When the man hadn't been calling out to check on him Nicky had heard him pacing and swearing a lot in the small, confined space.
Shock and relief was written all over the man's face as he looked Nicky over from head to toe. "Hey! You...you do not look like you just got hit by a car."
"The majority of the damage was done on the landing. And I told you I was fine."
"You...are a fucking badass, you know that? I'm Jai, by the way. I-are you sure I shouldn't look at anything? I mean you might have missed something unless you're a contortionist, too."
Lips twitching a little Nicky assured him that he had been able to reach everything.
A frown. "It's not cause I'm gay, is it? I mean seriously, it's not like I'm going to grope you or anything."
Opening his mouth to point out that he'd had no way of knowing Jai was gay Nicky belatedly noticed that Jai's shirt featured the slogan 'Keep Calm and Pride On'. In rainbow colors. Ah. Though how he was supposed to have noticed that earlier-should he have? He had just been hit by a car but perhaps he wasn't being vigilant enough.
Shaking off that thought Nicky smiled at the now wary looking young man. "I am gay myself so no, it does not bother me."
The shocked look that earned him...well Nicky honestly wasn't sure whether to be insulted by it or not. Either way it occurred to him to take advantage of the young man's stunned silence to make his escape, Nicky giving the man a wink so he wouldn't be too insulted when Nicky walked past him and over to the door leading back to the lobby.
Opening and stepping out Nicky had hardly taken two steps when Jai caught up with him, asking him what his name was at the same time someone else said it.
"Nicky?"
Looking over towards the shop's front counter Nicky's surprised gaze met that of an equally surprised Nile, his new family member holding one of those cardboard trays with four drinks in it. In her other hand was a white bag Nicky assumed held some sort of treats.
"Is one of those for me?" He could do with a shot of caffeine right about now.
"Your name is Nicky?" Came Jai's voice behind him, the words slightly overlapping Nile's confirmation that yes, one of the drinks was Nicky's.
"Yes." Nicky confirmed before asking Nile what she'd got him.
"If you're a friend of his he should go to the hospital. He was just hit by a car!"
"It was a glancing blow."
"You got hit by a car? Seriously?"
"It was nothing and-"
"And you should go to the hospital." Nile told him, giving him a look that said to play along. "I have the rental right outside. Come on before I call Joe to make you."
Understanding that she was providing him with an out Nicky sighed in exaggeration. "Fine. Let's go."
"We should exchange numbers. I mean if you have to press charges or-"
"No need. And my husband would strongly object to me taking another man's number." Lifting a hand in goodbye Nicky smiled one last time at Jai and then beat a hasty retreat with Nile, who was giving him looks that said she was really, really looking forward to teasing him about this.
Sigh.
)
Two Weeks Later
He and Andy were almost finished with their ice-cream cones and Nicky was pretty sure that the treat had done its job and put their fearless leader into a better mood. Himself as well. The human and drug traffickers they had come to find were proving to be very wily indeed. Or at least their upper ranks were. They could have caused significant damage to the operation already, but there was little point in taking out a bunch of minions and soldiers while leaving the lieutenants and leader alive and forewarned. They would simply start up again elsewhere and minions, aka easily done away with cannon fodder, were never hard to find. So they had no choice but to remain and continue to investigate and learn more about their quarry instead of already being packed up and on their way out.
At least there was ice-cream. He and Andy shared a weakness for it.
"NICKY!"
He was not unused to hearing a man yell his name out-Joe did it with some regularity when they were alone-but this was not Joe's voice and it startled Nicky into whirling around, not even that surprised to see who it was after the initial shock.
"And who's this? Your damsel from a couple weeks ago?" Andy murmured as she joined Nicky in watching Jai run towards them from about a block away.
"Yes."
"Very nice."
Agreeing with that Nicky raised a hand in greeting when Jai was close enough for Nicky not to have to yell to be heard. "Good afternoon, Jai. I hope you are well."
"Hope I'M well?! BRO! You were the one who-I figured-I called ALL the hospitals in the area and none of them had heard of you!" Gesturing wildly with his hands-Nicky wasn't sure if Jai was gesturing towards Nicky's body or trying not to make strangle motions-Jai finally took a deep breath to calm himself down and then demanded to know if Nicky had gone to the hospital.
Thinking fast Nicky stated he'd gone to a private doctor recommended by a friend. He had been thoroughly examined. He promised.
Examined by Joe, Nicky silently amended in his head. Joe loved playing doctor in the right circumstances.
"Did he really?" Jai asked Andy, apparently not trusting Nicky's word at all.
Andy's lips twitched for a moment in amusement. "He's all healed up, promise. Joe would have him on bedrest if he wasn't."
"Good." Jai breathed out a genuine sigh of relief, which made Nicky feel bad for constantly sidestepping the boy's attempts to help him. "I'm Jai, by the way."
"Andy. Nice to meet you."
Feeling he should say something Nicky tried to offer some excuse for before. "I appreciated all the concern and care you attempted to show me before. I-I get irritable and grumpy when I am injured. It was not personal."
"Well it was the least I could-FUCK! I STILL HAVEN'T THANKED YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE!"
"The not yelling would be a start." His eardrums would repair themselves, obviously, but it still hurt.
"Sorry! But I felt like shit before, when I realized I was so focused on the other stuff that I didn't even thank you for what you did. I mean I'm no Superman; I would have totally ended up in the ER in a body cast or something. Thank you!"
Finding the boy's heartfelt thanks adorable Nicky reached out and ruffled Jai's hair. "You are welcome, Little One. I was glad to help you."
The way that made Jai blush had Andy snickering while Nicky sent her a quelling look before turning his attention back to Jai, changing the subject to spare them all.
"So you live around here?"
"Not in this neighborhood, no. I work near here. HEY! Want to come see? My best friend owns it and he would totally let me give you a free tattoo for saving my life. You said you were a soldier, but I didn't see any. Isn't there like a rule you have to have at least one?"
"A tattoo?" Nicky repeated, not having expected this turn of events.
"Yeah. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."
