Through the heart

Through the heart
Inspired by Blue bloods/ season 1, epidoe 17 - Silver Star.
Michael Oats/ James Phelps
Sort of AU. Wanted to write their back story and change the ending.



"I don't want any trouble…" he says, eyes downcast, dark hair hanging in his eyes.
The men laugh, emboldened by alcohol.
"Well looks like trouble found you, buddy" One of them says, voice dripping with sarcasm.
He stands his ground. He hadn't gone through what he'd been through to bow down to men like these.
"What's that you have there?"
He looks down and realises his dog tags were hanging loose around his neck. He clutches them with one hand.

"What would you do, eh? If I wasn't here?"

"I wouldn't be here, if you weren't"

"You know you shouldn't take what isn't yours. Who'd you steal that from then?" The man in the light coloured coat says, voice silky and smooth, like he's talking to a child.

"They're mine" he whispers.

The man laughs and reaches.

The man is on the ground before he could blink. He hasn't lost it yet. The men tense, realising they're facing more than a stoned homeless guy.

He is a marine. But he is outnumbered. And he hasn't eaten in three days. The fight ends up being less even than he hopes it to be.

"We're at the end of the world here, man. There is no turning back from this"

---

He only grunts when he feels a body slump down next to him, too focussed on his lunch. James laughs, intentionally elbowing him on the side. Gentler than he could have been.

"It's better than some shit you'd get at my uncle's takeout, no doubt"

He looks up to see James ripping apart his lunch.

"Can't say that everyday, Jem"

James looks at him, blue eyes bright in the eternal sunshine of this goddamn country.

"Watch me"

---

MIA.

That's what they tell him. James Phelps is officially missing in action. It doesn't process for a moment. The words just flow over his head and he just stands there, feeling time slowing to a trickle.

No.

He doesn't believe it.

He won't believe it.

He can't believe it.

They look at him with pity in their eyes when they tell him there's nothing to be done , that he should go home now that he'd been discharged.

They don't understand that it's impossible.

His home is now missing in action.

---

They're running so fast, Michael feels the wind ripping through his hair. James is running alongside him, laughing, long arms flying everywhere.

They're 18. They'd just enlisted with the marine corp.

They finally slow down when they get to the old train yard. He leans back against the old fence, trying to catch his breath. James crowds in to him, arms folding around his body, golden hair tickling his skin.

"Jem…"

He feels long fingers in his hair before they kiss. He grips his fingers in James's shirt that is two sizes too big for him and kisses the boy he'd been in love with since he was 12.

---

He wakes up. And he's dreaming. He watches the sunlight flickering through golden hair. He smiles. This is a good dream. He hasn't had a good dream in a long time.

"Michael?"

"I miss you" he whispers.

Jem's long fingers thread through his', blue eyes bright.

"I'm sorry. I'm here now"

Michael sighs and closes his eyes, even in his dream, his head hurts. He tightens his hold on James's fingers. He'd never let go again.

---

He clutches his rifle to his chest and takes a moment to breathe. The world is chaos around him. But James is right next to him, breathing harshly in his ear. And despite all the gunfire, and the explosions and the never ending screaming, he's okay. Because the center of his universe is right here. Still thinner than he should be, with those bright blue eyes and the strong beating heart that holds his own, knowing that Jem is next to him is all he needs to go on.

---

"It was in the newspaper, what happened to you. I've been looking all this time. Jess said you came out this way and I…"

"I thought… I lost you"

"I didn't know how to find you. I didn't know where you were. I came home three months ago"

"Three months?"

"Been looking for you all that time"

"I couldn't...normal life. I couldn't. Not without you"

---

Michael opens his eyes. He knows this is not a dream anymore. He knows. James had fallen asleep next to him, head resting on the bed next to his right hand. He flexes his fingers and they brush against James's hair that he's let grow out now that he's home.
He'd never given up. But this still feels so unreal. To have this again. And the relief he feels makes his heart clench painfully in his chest and he wants to cry with the force of it. He curls away from James and lets go, tears already wet on his face, shoulders shaking with the effort to not make any noise. Everything that had happened since they had first told him James was missing, finally catches up with him. He feels the weight on the bed before he feels James's arms wrap around him. They stay like that until Michael finally quieten and the tears run out and he turns in James's arms to look at him.
Jem kisses his forehead gently, fingers gentle on his face.

"I promised I'd catch you, didn't I?"

It's funny how only one person had ever promised him that. Only one person in his life loved him enough to say it. But that's okay. Because James is enough. He just needs this one person.

The End.