Cut and Run 1 - Cut and Run

if that should have been obvious from all the begging to nap he'd been doing.
    "Fine. You've eaten enough if you want to lie down,” Zane said in a long-suffering tone. He dropped his bag of chips on the table and stood up. “Your cake will just have to wait until later."
    Ty put his half-eaten fry down and glared across the table at him. “Why?” he asked as another shiver ran through him.
    Zane frowned. “You said you were tired. Eat your cake now, if you want. I figured once I finally let up on you, you'd be in that bed in a shot. The doctor said an hour or two, and...” he looked at his watch. “It's two-ten now. So, bed. Or I could resume where I left off,” he said, eyes flaring with heat as he smirked.
    Ty glared at him for another moment before pushing out of his seat unsteadily. “I'm going to bed,” he mumbled.
    Zane hovered close by as Ty walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed, and then he turned off the lights, throwing the room into quiet and shadow.
    "You're going to stay, right?” Ty asked softly, peering at Zane through the dim.
    Zane sat down next to him on the bed. “Of course I am,” he said quietly, smoothing Ty's short hair back from his face.
    Ty fought the light-headed heaviness that he was unaccustomed to, and he turned his head slowly to narrow his eyes at Zane. He had Zane pegged as the type who would be out the door to do something dangerous the moment he was asleep, just to prove that he could. But just then, there was nothing Ty could do about it and he was fucking tired. He rubbed his eyes and turned away, crawling slowly up the bed and sliding under the covers as he laid his head carefully on the pillow.
    Zane pulled up the sheet, face turning stony. He knew well and good that Ty would have an absolute shit fit when he figured out what Zane had done. But he'd done what he felt was right. With that kind of knock on the head, Ty absolutely had to rest, and Zane felt that he wouldn't until he absolutely collapsed no matter how much he begged to sleep. Zane couldn't have that—not after today. They both needed to be at the top of their game, because the stakes had just gotten a lot higher. He could trust Ty to stay in bed for at least a few hours now, and he could go and retrieve their things while the man slept.
    "Don't you leave,” Ty murmured in warning as he fought back the sleep.
    Zane sighed, reconsidering. He could wait to go back to the Holiday Inn. Or he could go now, an action that would surely incense his partner beyond any hope of them even being civil to each other again. “Why are you so worried?” he asked spur of the moment. “I can handle myself."
    "Because he's on us,” Ty slurred in answer. “He's ahead of us."
    Zane nodded seriously, though his voice was light. “And here I thought you hated me."
    "I do,” Ty murmured as his eyes closed involuntarily. Zane stared down at him for a long time before making his decision. He stood up, gave Ty one last glance, and left the bedroom.
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Chapter Nine
    The low whir of the air conditioner was the only sound in the well-soundproofed room. There were no crying babies or shouting couples to be heard. The lights had all been turned out, and the drapes were closed against the morning sunlight, allowing only the faintest light to appear around the corners of the heavy fabric. Two bodies sprawled on the king-size bed.
    Ty groaned softly and rolled over, burying his head under his pillow to drown out the filtered light. He jerked and pulled his head back with a gasp of pain as the pillow hit the throbbing knot on the back of his head. Suddenly hyper-alert, he pushed up onto his elbows and looked around the room in a near panic, trying to remember where he was.
    Eyes blinking open as the bed tossed, Zane pushed himself up slightly. “Ty, it's okay,” he said sleepily. “We're at the hotel."
    "Fuck,” Ty groaned as his head whirled unpleasantly. He pushed up onto his hands and knees and closed his eyes, then began crawling clumsily to the edge of the bed.
    Zane sat up to watch him move. He hoped the other man didn't fall off the edge of the bed and hit his head again. Zane winced at the thought. But Ty made it off the bed cleanly and staggered into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before he was retching violently.
    Zane sighed and rubbed his face. He was screwed. With the concussion, Ty might have been sick like that. But in Zane's experience it didn't hit you so suddenly.