Cut and Run 3 - Fish and Chips

looked at Ty, and he distantly admitted to himself that he was scared out of his mind.
    Ty waited a few heartbeats; then he slid off the railing, crossed the ten feet between them, and took Zane’s hand. He didn’t pull at him, though. “Come on, Zane. There’s no other way. Please.”
    Zane had to force the words out as he gripped Ty’s hand like the lifeline it was and stared at his lover. “I can’t,” he breathed. He would have backed away like he had at the cliffs, but he could hear the pounding footsteps approaching.
    Ty’s eyes darted to look over Zane’s shoulder, and Zane knew what he was seeing without having to turn. They didn’t have much time. Those hazel eyes he was so familiar with turned back to him, pleading and anxious. “Please, baby. I don’t want to die up here with you,” he said with a weak laugh.
    “No,” Zane said painfully. The thought of him being the cause of Ty’s death was too much to handle, and he balked. He pried his shaking hand loose from Ty’s and pushed at him gently. “Go jump. Now.”
    “Fuck you, Garrett. I’m not leaving you up here,” Ty growled as he took Zane’s hand again. This time he did pull at him. Despite Zane’s size, Ty’s strength was hard to fight, and Ty got him to move three jerky steps to the railing. “If I have to push you over I will, but then you won’t be able to aim and you’ll break a leg and I’ll never hear the end of it,” Ty grumbled at him almost under his breath as he looked behind them at the three-story drop.
    Zane wrapped his free hand around the railing in a death grip. “I’m sorry, Ty,” he whispered as he met Ty’s worried gaze. Visions of falling warred with the sight of Ty nearly begging him to jump, and for a moment Zane thought he might be sick right then and there.
    The first ill-advised shot sent through a decorative grating rang out, pinging off the awning above their heads. Ty ducked instinctively, but he didn’t take his eyes off Zane. Ty’s eyes had always been easy for Zane to read, and now Ty was desperate and scared and not trying to hide it. He put one hand on Zane’s cheek, squeezing Zane’s fingers with the other. “Zane,” he whispered brokenly. He hesitated, his mouth working but no sound coming out. Another shot, this one closer and slightly more accurate, had them ducking together as sparks from the metal railing showered them. Their pursuers were moving cautiously in case their quarry was armed, but time was running out.
    “Zane,” Ty repeated desperately as he stood and pulled Zane closer to the edge before climbing over the rail again. “I love you,” he blurted, grip tightening on Zane’s hand in case he tried to pull away. “Please trust me.”
    Zane didn’t think it was possible to be shocked out of mind-numbing fear. But Ty’s words shook him enough that he allowed Ty to pull and guide him, and Zane found himself climbing up to throw one leg over and straddle the railing next to his partner in a sort of fog. “I trust you,” he said in a shaking voice that revealed all too much of his fear.
    Ty’s fingers were like a vise grip on Zane’s hand. “On three,” he said softly.
    Behind them the men finally rounded the corner, came out into the open, and fired several quick, poorly aimed shots — though one pinged off the railing between them, causing Zane to flinch and wobble enough that he grabbed at the railing desperately, the fright blooming in his chest and blanking his mind.
    “Three!” Ty shouted. He wrapped his arm around Zane’s shoulder and leaned sideways, kicking off the railing at the last minute and sending them both plummeting over the edge.
    The fall passed much more quickly than Zane expected. Dazed by Ty’s declaration, he barely got in two breaths before suddenly the cushions were there and he slammed into the water, plunging below the surface. Despite the cushions helping to break his fall, Zane felt like all the air was knocked out of him. He gasped before he could stop himself and took in a mouthful of saline water as the momentum took him to the bottom of the pool.
    He instinctively launched himself right back up, gasping and coughing as he surfaced, and he flailed helplessly for several seconds. Trying to breathe and tread water and open his eyes all at the same time was too much to accomplish when his pulse was racing and his heart was practically pounding out of his chest.
    A firm grip tugged on his shoulder then just as quickly