Archive of Our Own ^beta

He walks the streets of Lono at nights like a shadow on a wall, silently in motion, following a destiny he can never escape or detach himself from. Never will he be a lost boy of Neverland again, able to roam the world free and youthful. His masters have shortened his leash after the delay of his last mission, and has to make due with the work he can find on this cursed planet. Hopefully, he tells himself, if he behaves well enough they might give him more room to move.

He arrives at his destination, an old unused factory in the industrial district, surrounded by a tall fence. He takes out a military grade plasma cutter and cuts the chains locking the gate of the fence. Usually, he would be more careful when entering a property like this one, but this is much quicker and people will notice the cut chains only when he is long gone. 

His creditors told him that he would need to be here tomorrow night for a reason that is unknown to him. It might be to receive a package for his next job, but one can never be too careful when working with sharks, so he arrives a full 24 hours early to case the place, noting his entry and exit points, possible cameras that could still be functional, and more.

He sighs as he looks down at his comms to double check the address, then back up at the entrance of the site. This place reminds him of a job he did years ago, one on Mars where he had to similarly meet up with an old employer after failing to retrieve…

Peter Nureyev shakes his head before proceeding inside of the factory. According to his previous research, this once was a military factory where blasters and ammunition would be manufactured en mass. Since the end of the war, it has seen a decrease in demand, the Solar government has put the industry in the ground by restricting Lono’s weaponry.

Therefore, it is an excellent place for a clandestine meetup, or for retrieving something you don’t want the authorities to know about.

As he walks through the corridors and makes a picture of the floor plan in his head, the air surrounding him is quiet. Well, mostly quiet. He rolls his eyes as he hears an almost imperceptible set of footsteps far behind him. He’s noticed someone following him for a while. He has to admit that they are good, but not good enough to trick him.

Being tailed is part of the life of a thief. He stops in his tracks to open a door on his left. It was purely random, and he thinks he ends up in what used to be the factory’s cafeteria. He steps inside and asserts his surroundings. 

The room is spacious, giving him enough room to properly defend himself without being put in a corner. A few windows line one wall, which gives him some light from the two moons outside, but metal bars are blocking them. This will prevent anyone from entering this way, and him from using it as an escape route. There are still a few tables and chairs still around, mostly broken or piled up on one side of the room, but that is not an immediate issue for Nureyev. Finally, he notes two exit routes, the door he just entered from, and another one on the other side of the room, which gives him a few options in terms of escape.

Standing in the middle of the room he takes out his dagger from its sheath by his thigh, ready for any eventuality. He turns around and says in a tone bordering on boredom, ‘’I know you are there. Would you mind coming out? That will be much easier for the both of us.’’

For a moment, nothing answers his call. He almost chalks it up to his mind playing tricks on him and his paranoia. But then, a silhouette appears in the door frame. The details are hidden by the shadows, but he can make out the form with ease. They are on the shorter side, with wide shoulders and a soft center. He can’t make out much of their face, but their hair is buzz cut short. They fit well into those shadows, especially with the trench coat they are wearing.

He grips the handle of his blade harder, waiting for his opponent to make the first move. It comes, not with a punch or a bang of a blaster, but with words that freeze his blood the moment the other speaks.

‘’Hey, you. It’s been a while.’’

It couldn’t be. This was not part of Peter Nureyev’s plan. He wasn’t supposed to be here. But as if to spite him, the shadow steps into the room.

The light of the moons illuminates his face, and it’s exactly how he remembers it from his memories and dreams. A hard jaw built from years of frowns and concentration, a scar running the expanse of his nose, and an eyepatch as black as a starless night. His eye gleams with longing, but also with a burning determination.

Instinctively, he puts away his dagger at the appearance of Juno Steel, private eye. He can feel his heart beating faster. ‘’What are you doing here? You are not supposed to be here.’’

Juno lets out a snort, one that makes his heart sink further inside his chest. ‘’Really? After all the crap you gave me with the journal, did you really believe that I wouldn’t try to find you again?’’

‘’Unbelievable.’’ He sighs exasperatedly. ‘’You are infuriating at the worst possible moments, you know that?’’

‘’What can I say, I’m good at not listening to what people tell me to do.’’

Nureyev should be angry at him. He is angry, but for some reason he cannot feel more than frustration with Juno. He has only himself to blame. He should have predicted this outcome, that Juno wouldn’t do what’s good for him and instead follow him into enemy territory. But he hoped that his growth as a person would make him reconsider, that going after someone who refuses to change is not worth it.

‘’How did you even find me?’’ He asks, ‘’It is an incredible feat to do.’’

‘’Heh, not really.’’ Juno shrugs. ‘’The Ruby7 had your last coordinate, something about being able to sense where someone familiar is by their electronics, like your work comms. After we arrived, it was just good ole’ detective work to find where you would be next.’’

If he was being honest, Nureyev would have to say that might be his worst nightmare. Knowing now that the Ruby7 can locate him at any moment is quite upsetting. Still, he puts this new information in a file ‘for future consideration’, with a note reminding him to change his comms soon.

It seems that he hadn’t said a word in a moment, because Juno continues with, ‘’But you know, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t run away from us.’’

‘’Juno…’’ He frowns. ‘’You know why I had to leave. You have all the answers in the book I gave you.’’

‘’Oh right, the journal . Yeah, that makes complete sense, you were right for leaving.’’ He says sarcastically. ‘’Is that what you want me to say?’’

Nureyev pinches the bridge of his nose. ‘’You shouldn’t have followed me. Things are already complicated as it is. I can’t have you in the way.’’

‘’Can’t have or don’t want?’’

Juno crosses his arms, waiting for him to answer. Even if he wants to explain himself, make Juno understand that what he’s stepping into is not safe for him, he has a feeling he won’t listen to him even if he tells him everything.

Nureyev sighs and asks, ‘’Why are you here, Juno?’’

He’s a bit taken aback when Juno tenses, pressing his lips together with uncertainty. He is usually so impulsive, but this time Juno seems to be choosing his words carefully.

‘’Look, there are obviously things that we need to talk about, but I’m not comfortable talking about them in this creepy factory. Can we go somewhere private?’’

Nureyev wishes things could be different. Maybe in an alternative reality he would have agreed to go with him, to talk things out and make everything better. Maybe there’s even a world where he’s never been in debt, a world where he is someone worthy of Juno Steel. But that is not the case in this reality.

His face is devoid of emotions—he has to distance himself from Peter Nureyev, or else he risks never being able to leave his love’s side again—as he says, ‘’I’m sorry, Juno, but I can’t entertain you further. I have to leave.’’

I need to protect you , he doesn’t say, I have already compromised you by speaking to you just now.

As he turns around to face the second door, Juno calls out, ‘’You can’t run away from me, not like this!’’

A shiver runs through his spine as an echo of a young fool rings into his head, the memory of a son moments before killing his father.

‘’Good bye, Juno Steel.’’ his voice cut through the silence. ‘’And do not try to find me again.’’

He barely made two steps forward before the door in front of him flew open with a bang.

‘’Police, hands in the air!’’ A gruff voice reverberates across the room as a man steps inside, his blaster whining and ready to shoot. ‘’Now please, disclose any heart condition you might have before I stun you!’’

The man in front of him is about this same build as Juno, perhaps a bit shorter than the detective. He’s on the older side of the age scale, with his dark brown hair striped with gray and his olive skin wrinkled with seniority. He wears a suit that screams authority, and possesses an impressive mustache.

Something dangles from his hip by a strap, something shining in the moonlight, like a badge; a police officer. And a high ranking one judging the badges and medals sewn to his suit, possibly a captain

This causes a problem for Nureyev, his two exits are now inaccessible as the police officer is blocking the second door of the cafeteria, and Juno is still standing in front of his original entrance.

‘’What is the meaning of this?’’ Nureyev questions as his hand is inching closer to his blade, and he hears Juno groan behind him.

‘’What the hell are you doing, Captain Khan?’’

‘’What does it look like I’m doing, Steel? I’m making an arrest. You’re welcome.’’

Juno sighs deeply. ‘’I never said you could come out, things were fine. You’re here as backup in case shit hits the fan.’’

‘’You said that you expected Mr. thief over here to come with you without a peep.’’ The cop—Khan—waves his blaster in Nureyev’s direction. ‘’But he didn’t and was about to leave, which means things didn’t go to plan. So yes, the metaphorical pasta bolognese hit the fan!’’

There’s a pang in Peter Nureyev’s chest at his words. He scoffs, ’’My, Juno, is that what’s left of your respect towards me?’’ his voice bites like the maw of a wild Brahman horse, carnivorous and viscous. ‘’If I don’t run with you into the sunset, I get arrested, is that it? I thought you would at least have the decency of letting me go and forgetting about me.’’

Juno’s eye goes wide. ‘’What? Of course I’m not arresting you!’’

‘’You’re not?’’ Khan squints his eyes.

‘’You always do this.’’ Nureyev ignores the captain and turns to Juno, who raises an eyebrow.

‘’ I always do this?’’

‘’It’s just like you to distrust everything I do so easily. I thought we had plenty of time to work on that issue in the past.’’

‘’My issue? You’re the one who’s been secretive all this time!’’

‘’But I didn’t stay secretive, I gave you everything you could possibly want to know. Everything , and still it isn’t enough for you to trust my words!’’

‘’Is that supposed to make me feel better? Giving me the story of your life in a book is not what I call being truthful and open. You can’t even elaborate if I have questions!’’

Before Nureyev could answer back, he hears the captain growl behind him, he turns to see the older man rubbing his temple as he mutters under his breath.

‘’No, no, no, hell no. Steel, you know this guy?’’

‘’I, yeah, he’s the thief that I’ve told you I’m trying to catch, remember?’’ Juno replies and it’s clear he’s unsure of his own answer.

‘’No, I just listened to the two of you talk, this is more than just catching a thief. You know that man personally.’’

Captain Khan glares at Juno as if to challenge him, and the detective is losing before anything even starts. ‘’Well, I technically didn’t lie to you about that, I just… didn’t think it would be relevant.’’

‘’Damnit Steel! I knew I smelled bull in all this baloney! At first, I thought ‘Hey, for once Steel is asking for help with something and not just charging in head down. Maybe it’s not that bad.’ But you tricked me! Again!’’

Nureyev hums, ‘’You seem to know about detective Steel’s habits, don’t you?’’

‘’I sure do!’’ Khan exclaims, ‘’I worked at a martian police district in Hyperion before I was transferred to Lono, and I had a few run-ins with this weasel of a PI. This guy is full of tricks. This is just like him to have friends in the worst places. He did the same thing with this guy Valles Vicky, and the Kanagawas, and that strange mayor O’Flaherty, and that Buddy Aurinko and whoever else is on that list!’’

‘’Look, Khan.’’ Juno sighs. ‘’I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole story, okay? But I swear this is different, I’m not pulling a Vicky or a Pilot again.’’

‘’You better not be, that’s why you’re going to explain to me what is going on here.’’ Khan sniffs and crosses his arms as he waits for Juno to answer.

Juno says, ‘’I mean, it’s not that I don’t like you or trust you, but it’s not really of your business.’’ 

But Khan doesn’t look convinced at all. ‘’I think it’s my business now since you dragged me into this mess.’’

Nureyev looks between the two for a while as they bicker back and forth. He can see there’s a lack of understanding between them, something he can use to his advantage if he plays his cards right.

He clears his throat to get both of their attention before turning his gaze toward Captain Khan. ‘’Mr.Khan, there are obviously things that you do not know regarding to this affair, but I can assure you that the less you know the better it is for you. In fact, the longer you two stay in my company, the more danger you’ll be in.’’

Taken aback, Khan frowns deeply at him. ‘’Are you trying to threaten a police officer, young man? Because that sounds like a threat.’’

Nureyev barely schools the twitch at the corner of his lips. ‘’Not yet. But here’s a thing that you can know.’’ He adds, ‘’Juno never had the intention of arresting me in the first place, despite what he might have previously told you. I suspect his plan wasn’t to ‘catch me’ as it was to pester me with questions I already gave him the answers to.’’

‘’What?’’ He says before glancing sideways at Juno. ‘’Steel!’’

Juno raises his hand in front of him at the accusatory glare. ‘’Khan, it’s not what you think this is.’’

Captain Khan walks towards Juno and trusts a finger into the other’s chest. ‘’I don’t even know what any of this means, Steel, but I sure heard your perp say that you’ve already interrogated him and that you’ve wasted my time!’’

‘’I never interrogated him!’’ his voice pitches higher at the end, like when he’s particularly embarrassed about something but tries to deny it. Although, in this instance what he’s saying is true. ‘’If you can just give me one minute—’’

But Khan doesn’t give him a minute before berating him. Nureyev looks at them for a moment, the detective trying to get a word in edgewise while the police captain calls him all sorts of weird names that sound close to insults. He then turns toward the now liberated exit—where Khan no longer blocks the way of since he moved near Juno—and starts walking as the dispute continues on behind him.

This hidden blessing doesn’t last long, however, because it seems that the detective has noticed his attempted escape. ‘’Hey, what are you doing?’’

Nureyev stops in his tracks for a moment, but doesn’t look back to look at him. ‘’I’m taking my leave, Juno. There’s nothing left for me to say at this point.’’ 

‘’No, you can’t leave just yet. We need to talk!’’ There’s a hint of desperation in his voice, and Khan hiss a ‘’Steel.’’ in warning. But Nureyev doesn’t look back, and keeps walking toward the door.

There’s loud footsteps behind him, and before he knows it Juno grabs him by the wrist. The motion makes him look behind him for a moment, and there’s this veil of anger in Juno’s clenched jaw, but also… sadness in his eye.

‘’Please.’’ He whispers. ‘’Don’t go.’’

His heart wants him to stay, but Nureyev’s mind, ever logical, reminds him of the risks. How this soft voice could turn into screams of pain the moment he makes a misstep. He cannot drift away from the path, he tells himself, no matter how much it hurts.

He rips his hand away from Juno’s without a word and keeps walking, this time faster. He’s almost at the door, his hand hovering over the handle, but Juno has one more trick up his sleeve.

‘’I know you feel like you have to do this alone, Peter, but you don’t have to do this on your own!’’

He freezes in his tracks, his muscles tensing as he registers what the detective has just said. ‘’What did you just call me?’’ he seethes as he turns back. Whether or not anger was the result Juno was looking for, he’d managed to make him stop.

‘’I’m calling you whatever I need to call you to make you listen.’’ Juno says as he approaches him, this time Nureyev doesn’t move away.

‘’Have you any idea of what you’ve just done?’’ He whispers so that Captain Khan can’t hear him. His body is shaking with barely contained rage. ‘’You just called me by that name in front of someone else.’’

‘’ Part of a name. One that you had for an entire year, mind you.’’ Juno persists. ‘’It’s not the end of the world. You know, Peter is actually a very common name on Earth.’’

‘’That does not particularly make me feel better.’’

‘’What’s this now?’’ Khan grunts behind Juno. ‘’I thought that the thief was some sort of nameless conman.’’

Juno turns his head slightly toward him, but he still keeps an eye on Nureyev as he says, ‘’He has a lot of names, okay? This is one of them.’’

‘’That’s not a great justification to me. There’s something that tells me that you know his name, and Peter seems to be part of it. So spill it up already.’’

Juno sighs. ‘’Sorry to disappoint you, Khan, but I’m not telling you anything.’’

‘’Oh, but please Juno. Go ahead, I insist!’’ Nureyev says sarcastically, his eyebrows furrow. ‘’It’s not like keeping the one gift I gave to you a secret matters to you anymore!’’

Nureyev sees Juno's nostrils flare up as he quickly turns back to him. ‘’Of course, your name matters.’’ he grunts. ‘’That’s why I didn’t call you by your last name like I used to.’’

Nureyev grits his teeth. ‘’Why, thank you for this small mercy.’’

His tone only deepens Juno’s frown. ‘’You know what? I’m sick of that attitude. For an entire year, I did everything to accommodate you into my life. I knew something was up, something that you didn’t want to tell me. But I wanted to do the decent thing, I decided to tone down the detectiving, I wanted to trust you and respect your privacy because that’s what you deserve. I thought maybe one day, you’d be comfortable enough to talk to me about it, I thought we had time. Every time you needed it, I supported you. Every time a member of our crew had a suspicion on you, I defended you. All of this only for you to disappear at the first sign of trouble without saying anything!’’

‘’But I did warn you. I told you everything you needed to know. These people are dangerous, Juno, more than you can imagine.’’

That is not completely true. Things have changed since he last saw Juno, and what he had written to him no longer reflects the reality he finds himself in, but it’s better if Juno doesn’t know the whole truth. If he did, Juno would have wanted to go looking for him even more. It’s safer this way.

‘’I expected an actual conversation, N-Peter. Not a journal where you can dump everything on me and not have any way of talking about it.’’ Juno says. ‘’Do you know how much you hurt me doing this? For an entire month, I was stuck on that last riddle, not knowing where you were or what you were doing. Then another month later and I learn that you're not coming back and that it’s over?’’

‘’Oh please, you did the exact same thing to me two years ago.’’ Nureyev knew from the moment he opened his mouth that he had made a mistake. Those words had been said out of pure frustration, but seeing Juno flinch afterwards is what does it for him.

‘’That’s not fair, and you know it.’’ Juno’s shoulders slumps as a part of the fight within him leaves his body. ‘’The night of the gala, we promised we would try to make this work. Did you only forgive me for my mistake because you knew you would do the same to me?’’

His heart hurts at the sight of Juno’s pain, he almost reached a hand forward to give him some reassurance. Almost.

‘’No, of course not, dear.’’ Nureyev’s voice softens. ‘’That was never my intention. I’ve always planned to come back for you.’’

‘’Then what changed?’’

It's like a ball lodges itself into his throat, making him breathless. Why did the universe have to test him this way? 

‘’Everything.’’ Is all he is able to say. However, that answer doesn’t seem to satisfy Juno.

‘’See? That’s your problem right there.’’ The detective's voice gets louder and his shoulders tenses once more with frustration.

‘’My problem?’’ Nureyev’s eyebrows lowers.

‘’Yeah! You’re always vague about things when they’re super important! The Oasis, Miasma, that dumb monster from the legend, and now this.’’ Juno counts on his fingers. ‘’Not only that, but you always plan around the assumption of what people will think of you without even giving them a chance to make their own opinions or having their own feelings. You’re doing the same thing to me right now!’’

‘’That’s because it for the best, Juno!’’ Nureyev’s tone matches Juno’s desperate one. ‘’Whatever feelings you have left for me are not worth it. I’m not worth putting your life on the line. You made so much progress with getting better since we first met, and I implore you to not waste this chance to walk away now!’’

Juno shakes his head. ‘’To hell with that! What about me being worried about you? As long as I’m clueless, I’ll never be able to stop worrying. And it wouldn’t matter if I respected your wishes to stay away or not, I would continue to feel this way and it will eat me from the inside out.’’

‘’But you are better than this, I know you are! I know it hurts now, but you have to let me go. You can forget about me and move on with your life.’’

‘’I’m only human, Peter!’’ Juno screams, and it’s all Nureyev can hear beside the beating of his own heart in his ears. ‘’I can’t file emotions away like they were never there to begin with, it’s not healthy, for me or for you!’’

‘’Well, I’m telling you that you have to!’’

‘’Why!?’’

‘’Because I can’t lose you too!’’ Finally, it dawns on him that the two of them were actually screaming at each other. Much quieter, he says, ‘’Not again.’’

Juno’s mouth gaps open silently, the whole room falls quiet. The only thing Nureyev can hear is their breathing and his own heartbeat. It’s like they are the only people in this entire universe, standing at the edge of time.

Unfortunately for them, this is not the case.

‘’Oh, I see what’s going on here.’’ Khan says. ‘’You know, I once promised that secretary of yours that the day a PI and a thief fall in love with each other just like in the stream she had sent to my work comms would be the day I shave my mustache. Now I kind of regret making that deal because I never intended to get rid of it anytime soon.’’

Nureyev feels his cheeks turn red, and he thinks he can see Juno blush too as they turn around towards the older man. He cannot believe he forgot that the police captain was there the whole time, and heard everything they said to each other.

‘’Sorry, Khan. We kind of forgot you were there.’’ Juno sheepishly says.

‘’Yeah, I could see that. The world could be ending and the two of you wouldn’t have noticed with how loud your lover’s spat was.’’

Juno sighs and massages the bridge of his nose. ‘’Well thank you for pointing that out. Can you step out for a few minutes? I’m not done talking to him.’’

‘’Oh no, I told you earlier that I want you to explain what’s going on to me. I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.’’

‘’I told you, it’s really none of your business.’’

‘’And I became part of this business the moment you dragged me into your love life's problem, Steel!’’ Khan points a finger at Juno. ‘’Look, there’s clearly a misunderstanding of sorts between the two of you, or some deep rooted issue going on that needs to be addressed. Neither of you will be able to have closure on whatever this thing about leaving one another is.’’

Juno rolls his eye. ‘’What, did you become a therapist all of a sudden?’’

‘’No, but I worked on communication techniques with my wife for years, so I know how it goes.’’

‘’Khan, my relationship problems are not like yours and your wife’s.’’ Juno sighs, the exhaustion creeping into his voice. ‘’It’s not gonna be fixed by one couples therapy session.’’

For the first time tonight, the grumpy police captain lets out an amused laugh. Nureyev thinks it might also be the last with how quickly this man seems to get angry.

‘’It would be a perfect world if you could solve problems overnight, Steel, but that’s not the case. You’re right, relationships take time and patience, but you can learn a lot about yourself and your partner with one session, and that’s the first step towards understanding one another. And I can help with that.’’

‘’Excuse me, if I may ask.’’ Nureyev tilts his head. ‘’But how do you plan on helping us? As Juno demonstrated, our problems are much more complicated than you think.’’

‘’Simple. The both of you are going to explain to me what is going on and how your situation makes you feel. I’m going to act as an objective judge and mediate this session, and the two of you will talk until you either get to a compromise or until you have a better understanding of each other’s situation.’’

‘’Oh, you gotta be kidding me.’’ Juno groans. ‘’When I asked if you were a therapist, I didn’t mean literally.’’

‘’I’m still not a therapist, but I’m tired of being in the dark and you two need a way to communicate that isn’t screaming at each other!’’

Juno crosses his arms and scowls. ‘’Well, one thing is for sure, I’m not doing that.’’ He may have grown a lot in the past year, but he’s still stubborn in some areas, and he’s not going to accept relationship advice from someone that isn’t Buddy or Vespa.

Nureyev feels similarly the same. ‘’I have to agree with Juno here, this isn’t going to work. These things take time, and I don’t have much of that at the moment. Not to mention the fact that each second spent in my company puts the two of you in more danger. It’s best if we all go our separate way and forget this ever happen.’’

‘’Now, hold on.’’ Juno narrows his eye at him. ‘’I never said I was done talking to you. I said I wasn’t going to pour my heart out in front of Captain Khan.’’

‘’Oh, quit whining, the both of you! My kids are better at this than you two, and my youngest is still learning her alphabet.’’ Khan rolls his eyes and Nureyev’s ears grow hotter at the mere thought of being compared to a toddler. ‘’There’s no one other than the three of us here, I’m off duty and I have all night to listen to your sob stories. So, we are all gonna take a chair and sit for this, and if I see any of you try to get away from it, I’ll stun you. Got it?’’

There’s a moment where Nureyev and Juno’s eyes meet as he says that, wondering who is going to speak first. Then, Juno throws his head back and says, ‘’Fine, whatever. We’ll do your stupid couple counseling thing, but I have one condition.’’

‘’What is it?’’

‘’We get to keep to ourselves whatever details we want to keep.’’ When Khan squints at him, Juno sighs. ‘’Look, I know it would be better if we didn’t hide anything, but keeping Peter’s identity a secret is my priority. A few things are related to his past and he’s explicitly expressed to me that it’s important that I never reveal anything to anyone, ever. So, you have to respect our decision to keep anything we don’t want to talk about or want to elaborate on to ourselves.’’

Seeing Juno so adamant about Khan respecting his privacy, Nureyev can’t help but feel his heart melt. It surprises him every time how loyal Juno can be. He could hate him and still take his name to the grave. 

Khan lowers his head and strokes his chin, and after a moment of debating he nods. ‘’Alright, I can do that. You can just give me the highlights, then.’’ He then turns his attention toward the thief and asks, ‘’What about you, Peter the Nameless? Anything you’d like to add?’’

He suppresses a shiver when Khan says his name. Peter . A name someone usually calls him when they want to be his parent. In this case, it’s the only name the other man has to call him, but it is still strange to hear it.

Khan is still waiting for an answer, so he says, ‘’I also have a condition if we are to do this ‘session’.’’ Nureyev then turns to Juno and says, ‘’I want you to promise me that you’ll reconsider everything after this. I want you to think about everything you could lose if you keep on finding me and ask yourself if it’s worth it.’’

‘’What?!’’ the detective predictably gets on his defensive at his words. He’s not the kind of lady to do as he is told, after all. Khan glares at him again and hisses under his breath ‘’Steel, reconsidering doesn’t mean you have to change your mind.’’

And for a moment, Nureyev thinks he is going to refuse. It wouldn’t bother him if he did, as both situations suit him. He’d much prefer that Juno refuses his condition so that he can slip away into the night and not talk about his feelings in front of the police officer turned one-time therapist, but at least he has the chance to save Juno if he does accept.

After a while, Juno slumps and mutters, ‘’Alright. I’ll… I promise I’ll think about it.’’

‘’Thank you.’’ Nureyev says as tenderly as a sigh and his eyes soften for his lady.

A few minutes later, they are sitting in a circle on chairs they’d found in the pile of abandoned furniture. It was difficult to find anything that wasn’t broken or something strong enough to support their weight. Even Juno’s chair didn’t look very comfortable, with legs that weren’t exactly the same length—possibly a manufactured defect rather than a piece rusted by time—which makes him sit unsteadily on it and causes him to keep rocking back and forth.

‘’So, who wants to go first?’’ Khan grunts and crosses his arms as he looks at the both of them. Nureyev could see Juno rubbing his neck, avoiding the older’s glare. He is inclined to do the same as he bites the inside of his cheeks. Khan sighs, ‘’I’m not psychic, you know? This won’t work unless you actually talk.’’

Still, Nureyev keeps to himself. This isn’t like anything he’d done before. Well, he had when it was only him and Juno, when they would talk for hours about anything. But he’s never been asked to show vulnerability like this, to a stranger nonetheless. Now that he thinks about it, he’s never been asked to be this vulnerable with Juno either, has he?

After a while, Juno breaks the silence. ‘’It’s kind of a long story.’’

‘’Like I said before, I have all night for you two. None of us are getting out of here until I get to the bottom of this.’’ the police captain says. ‘’Just give me something, anything to get this conversation started.’’

Juno rests his chin on his hand, likely thinking about what he could say. Knowing him, he will start to go on a tangent about a subject, then he’ll deviate to another that will have nothing to do with the matter at hand. Nureyev knows too well how the detective can get carried away in his own story.

‘’Well, the faster we get this over with, the better.’’ Nureyev says, ‘’You see, Captain Khan, the main issue at hand all started with an interactive journal that I wrote, which was full of riddles for him to solve, and at the end I gave him something that all detectives crave.’’

‘’A good massage?’’ Khan raises an eyebrow.

‘’I- what? No, of course not!’’

‘’I mean,’’ Juno interjects. ‘’PI work is not just to find clues and chase after criminals. Most of the time it’s either paperwork or long hours of observing a person or a place from a rooftop or your car. Actually your back can get pretty messed up after that so he’s right about the massage thing.’’

‘’It wasn’t a massage.’’ Nureyev pinches his nose. ‘’I was going to say ‘the truth’. There’s been… things that have caught up to me and I have to take care of them. I didn’t want to leave Juno completely in the dark while I was away, so I explained my situation to him in this journal. He knows what I’m connected to and how dangerous it would be to try and find me.’’

Khan hums, ‘’Makes sense. You two previously mentioned this journal and I was wondering what all that was about. Steel, is what he’s saying true?’’

‘’Well, what he said is technically true. I guess the journal is part of the issue I have with him.’’ Juno says, and Nureyev sees him make a strange face. The kind that says that he’s trying very hard not to burst into a rant, and failing. ‘’But that’s not all there is to it! I think you need more context on this situation, because this thing we’re having isn’t new.’’

Nureyev closes his eyes and sighs, ‘’I don’t believe what happened in the past is relevant enough to-’’

‘’Not so fast, Peter the Nameless.’’ Khan cuts him off with a hand gesture. ‘’I can sense you want to be done with this quickly, but this isn’t a Martian race. This is a place where we can all express our feelings freely. And Steel is free to tell me about what happened before the journal, if there were other instances in the past where you two had a similar problem to this, it might be connected to the core of your problem as well.’’

‘’ Thank you! ’’ Juno exclaims. ‘’You know, I never thought I’d be happy to hear some cheesy therapy nonsense like this.’’

‘’It’s not nonsense, it’s part of the communication process. Now do you want to talk about your feelings or not?’’ Khan grunts at him with a glare.

Juno’s mouth is agape for a moment before he turns to Nureyev. His eye is soft like he’s searching for confirmation to move forward. He looks at Juno for a moment before giving him a slight dismissive gesture to go ahead. He will never admit directly that he is secretly glad that Juno checks in with him for these kinds of things.

Juno lowers his head slightly, but nods before turning his attention back to Khan. ‘’The long story short then. Remember when that string of thefts around Ancient Martian artifacts that I was going after?’’

‘’Yeah, I remember clearly.’’ the Captain frowns deeply. ‘’It’s around the time we first met, when you looked over police documents without permission and handcuffed me to my own car.’’

Juno snorts. ‘’Oh right, I forgot I did that. But yeah, that’s also when I first met this guy.’’ He points at Nureyev. ‘’He impersonated a Dark Matters agent named Rex Glass and he was trying to steal the Mask of Grimpoteuthis. Things kinda got out of hand, he kissed me, I arrested him, but thanks to Hyperion’s finest , he got away.’’

‘’Hey, don’t call McCrory and Zambi out like that! That was a very traumatic experience for them.’’ Khan says, but he quickly raises his eyebrows. ‘’Wait, that was him ?! And you said he kissed you? Is that why you became so obsessed with Martian artifacts?’’

‘’Uh, kind of. I had a feeling he was involved in other stuff like that, but it was purely professional… at first.’’ Juno catches himself before Khan can call out on his bullshit. ‘’It was clear he wasn’t the head of that operation. It was actually a mad xenoanthropologist named Miasma and she hired him for a while.’’

Captain Khan nods. ‘’Go on.’’

‘’After some time, my trail went cold and I needed a new lead. That’s why I went to Vicky for a favor. I’m pretty sure you know what happened at that gala.’’

‘’Don’t remind me. I still have nightmares about that PR disaster.’’

‘’Yeah, well after the gala, I went back to my apartment, and guess who was waiting for me there? It was as if he just appeared on a beam of starlight to ask for my help.’’

‘’Excuse me, but that’s not how it went.’’ Nureyev cuts in. ‘’I’m one of Vicky’s contacts as well, and at the time I was trying to prepare for an impossible one man job when she reached out to me and said that a certain detective was in need of help and was looking for someone with expertise in ancient artifacts. The call was more convenient to me than him.’’

‘’Anyway.’’ Juno continues. ‘’After that, he brought me into the desert and didn’t tell me for hours what he planned to do until he got his dramatic moment with the train.’’

‘’It made more sense if I showed you what we planned to steal from.’’

‘’You could have told me at any time what you wanted to do! And you did the same thing when we were with Engstrom too! You didn’t explain the plan other than you were going to play a game of Rangian Street Poker with him and I was your pretend wife. I mean, how was I supposed to know I had to find evidence of him cheating? You didn’t even tell me what I was suppose to do halfway into the game!’’

‘’Oh, come on!’’ Nureyev pouts. ‘’I thought that all of that was behind us.’’

‘’I thought so too, but it’s still frustrating to remember! Hey, I don’t even think we talked about what happened that day either.’’

‘’Well, dear detective, that might be because there were more pressing things to focus on at the time.’’

‘’There’s always something more important than my own feelings, apparently.’’ Juno looks away, arms crossed, and there’s a painful stabbing in Nureyev’s heart from the way Juno had muttered those last words.

‘’I can’t believe I just heard you confess to stealing from the fastest vault in the Solar system.’’ Khan gestures to them to slow down. ‘’Let’s recap. Peter, you said you needed Steel’s help to steal from what I assume is the Utgard Express. What did you steal?’’

It takes a moment of hesitation before Nureyev responds, ‘’The Egg of Purus. It’s been said in literature that it was the bomb that wiped out the Martians. When I got tasked to retrieve it for my… previous employer, I knew that such a powerful weapon shouldn't be placed into the hands of someone like her. So, I decided to steal it before she realized I left her employ and dismantle it somewhere safe.’’

‘’I see, and that plan was to play a game of cards with this Engstrom guy?’’

‘’Yes, Brock Engstrom had the coordinates we needed, so I played Rangian Street Poker in order to gain them.’’

‘’And you knew he cheated?’’

‘’Yes, I’d heard rumors from sore losers about how Engstrom seemed to have an unfair advantage every time, but they were never confirmed.’’

‘’Wait a second.’’ Juno petulantly interjects. ‘’You never said there were rumors!’’

‘’I—Well-’’

‘’Peter.’’ Khan gives him a glare. ‘’Did you have time before that game to explain to Juno what your plan was?’’

‘’...Yes.’’ Nureyev knows where this line of question is going.

‘’So, you had time to explain everything he needed to know about the job and his part in it, but you just decided not to. Am I wrong?’’

‘’If I may,’’ Nureyev tries to take over the flow of the conversation. ‘’I’ve been told that—I mean, I find that even a good plan can slow down the rhythm of a heist when I have to work with others. I’ve learned that it takes both planning and improvisation to pull off a flawless job, and that’s just how I prefer to work.’’

Even when he explains himself, Khan doesn’t look impressed at all. ‘’Maybe for you it works, but it’s not everyone’s cup of chai. Some people prefer to know what the plan is in advance instead of being thrown in the heart of the action.’’

‘’I get what you are saying, Captain Khan, but I thought Juno was like me as well. I’ve seen him in action, and he works best with improvisation rather than a well curated plan.’’ At that, Juno gives him a glare.

‘’I can agree with you that Steel is pretty impulsive.’’ Juno lets out an indignant ‘Hey!’ at that, but Khan continues, ‘’But that’s because his improvisation is created from what he knows of the situation. You actively hid crucial information from him that prevented him from working at his best, and he knew that. He didn’t know the guy was rumored to be a cheater beforehand, didn’t know that he had to find evidence of it or what to look for. All that is on you for not communicating that.’’

‘’I—’’ Nureyev tries to say something, anything, but nothing gets out of his mouth. He looks back at Juno for a moment, and the detective doesn’t look at him. Nureyev slumps his shoulder and bites his lips. He doesn’t want to add more salt to the wound at this point.

Khan looks between the two of them and sighs. ‘’Let’s change subjects. Steel, what happened next?’’

‘’Hm? Oh, uh, I got the evidence in the end. He gave us coordinates, but they ended up being bogus. Later, we got woken up by an assassin, we end up stealing Engstrom’s car—which had the actual coordinates in it—Got onto the train, but not before Engstrom and his henchwoman got there we got stuck with them on the train.’’

‘’Why does it always have to be like this with you?’’ Khan asks.’’ Assassins and car theft?’’

‘’Yeah, I’m trying to condense this as much as possible.’’

‘’I see. Did you get the bomb in the end?’’

‘’We did, but Miasma found us right after. I’m not going to go into huge details because it’s not a great experience, but she locked us underground and did messed up experiments on us. Ended up losing an eye because of it.’’

Turn a card.

Blue square.

Turn a card.

Red triangle.

Nureyev shakes the shiver that courses through his body like electricity. If Khan notices anything, he doesn’t add on it.

‘’But we stopped her in the end. Her plan backfired on her and we got the bomb disassembled. We returned to Hyperion after that, and…’’

There’s a clear hesitation in Juno’s voice at this. Nureyev remembers that same voice when they spoke about what happened that first night on the Carte Blanche. It was hard even for Juno to say, it still is now after all this time.

‘’And?’’ Khan prompts him.

‘’...We got to the hospital for my eye, but there was nothing they could do. After that, we just crashed at a hotel and spent the night.’’ His face blossoms red as he says that, and this time Captain Khan says something when he notices.

‘’I don’t need to know the details, Steel. I’m not that interested in your love life.’’ Juno choked on his own breath at that, it was slightly painful to watch. ‘’Then what happened after that?’’

They both knew it was going to be difficult to explain. Nureyev has never shown to anyone how much things that hurt him truly affect him. In fact, he’d never said a thing to the other members of the crew about how embarrassing their last interaction was before the start of their journey towards the cure mother prime. He doesn’t know if Juno talked about any of this with them. Maybe Rita does know, but other than her, he is uncertain if the others ever knew.

Finally, Juno takes his courage in hand and dives straight into it. ‘’After that, we made promises to each other… promises that I think we weren’t in the right mindset to make.’’ Juno pauses to take a deep breath. ‘’I promised I would travel the galaxy with him, but I was too much of a coward. So, I left the hotel and didn’t say anything.’’

Nureyev lets out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. It’s strange how it still affects him in such a way, even after filing it away so many times. Khan seems to have a similar reaction, feeling the weight of Juno’s words for the first time.

‘’That, hmm, that doesn’t sound really good Steel.’’

‘’Yeah.’’ Juno says. ‘’At first, I thought I was doing him a service. I couldn’t possibly think of a world where I could make someone happy like that. But in the end, I was more selfish than anything, and I let him fall.’’

Nureyev doesn’t look up from his hands as Juno’s words wash over him like waves—when did he lower his head? The detective is not the only one at fault in this, he is just as much responsible. He should have known from his reluctance to go to Olympus Mons hospital and his preference in staying at the hotel instead of his own apartment that he was not in a state to make rational decisions. For gods’ sake, he locked himself into a room with a bomb in the hope of being the only collateral damage of this tragedy. He was just as much of a coward as he was, if not more.

‘’I had almost a year to think about what I did.’’ Juno continues. ‘’And in that time, I made many more mistakes. My work took a hit with the missing eye. I got into politics, it did not go great.’’

‘’You can say that again.’’ Khan mutters.

‘’Anyway, a lot of things happened and I realized that I needed to do more than just… survive. For once, I wanted to be better. And I did just that, and a few months later I accepted a job that would let me make more of a good impact on the world than just trudging along as a PI in Hyperion.’’

‘’Yeah, that business with Buddy Aurinko, you told me about it.’’

‘’Hold on.’’ Nureyev tilts his head. ‘’You knew he worked with Miss. Aurinko?’’

‘’Of course I did! I don’t live under a rock!’’ Khan turns to him. ‘’Everyone saw that special Dark Matters stream broadcasted across the universe with his face plastered everywhere.’’

He feels a blush creep up to his ears. Yes, of course, the transmission from Aurinko’s penitentiary. How could he have possibly forgotten. This is another part of why he wishes for Juno to stay away. Everyone knows his love’s face now, including them .

‘’Yeah, that’s hard to forget.’’ Juno groans. ‘’But yeah, that’s also when we met again. It turns out he accepted the same job offer as me.’’

Khan nods. ‘’That’s one hell of a coincidence. And how did that go?’’

‘’Obviously not great at first. But after a few days, I met with him and we talked. I apologized for my mistakes, and we made a new promise: that we’ll try to make this work, to make us work. I… think that’s pretty much all of it. We had a few disputes here and there, but nothing that we couldn’t fix in a day or two, and definitely nothing like we’re having now.’’

‘’Alright.’’ Khan readjusted his sitting position, the effects of the old chair making itself known to all. ‘’And how long have you been together?’’

‘’Exactly a year if you don’t count the three months where he disappeared.’’ Nureyev’s face winces slightly at how quick Juno said this. There's an edge in his voice too, almost imperceptible but clearly directed at him.

‘’Good, finally I’m brought to speed. That was all insightful, but you could have cut at some places.’’

Juno gasps. ‘’Wha- I cut so many things! I could have told you what I did in that year between Miasma and the whole Newtown ordeal!’’ 

‘’Yeah, I don’t need to know that either. I’m aware of most of the shit you did in that time.’’ Khan shakes his head. Then, he turns back to Nureyev, which is enough to make the thief’s hands feel sweaty. ‘’You’ve been really quiet for a while. Do you have anything else you want to add to what Steel said?’’

‘’What else is there to say?’’ He replies. ‘’He told you everything that he felt was relevant to our issue, but none of this is pertinent to us in my opinion. So no, I have nothing to add.’’ He can feel Juno’s eye roll even when he isn’t looking at him.

‘’Alright, if you say so.’’ He is about to move on to the next topic, but then Khan blinks a few times before he says, ‘’You know what? I think I have a few questions for you as well. I need some clarification on something.’’

Internally, Nureyev is shuffling feelings by the dozen into filing cabinets and barely succeeding. On the outside, he gives Captain Khan a tight smile and says, ‘’If you insist.’’

Khan glares at him for a second before he continues. ‘’You two mentioned something while you were arguing. You said you didn’t have any intention back then of leaving Steel and your crew after your big job was done, was that true or did you only say that because you felt you had to? Now, you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want, but this is a discussion to find the core of your couple’s problem, and anything can help.’’

Oh, how tempting it is to just lie about this. Of course that’s true, I never meant to leave the crew. I took this mission very seriously. First rule of thieving, never refuse to answer, it’s admission of guilt. But as Captain Khan’s eyes are scrutinizing him from head to toe, he doubts he’ll be able to deceive him this easily. The same goes for Juno as he turns to him, his wide eye waiting for an answer. Juno might be the person that knows him best in the entire universe, and has lived with him long enough to learn his lying tics. He’ll never be able to fool them both at the same time.

He looks down at his thighs for a moment before he sighs. ‘’No.’’ He can almost feel Juno flinch beside him. ‘’When I first came into contact with Buddy Aurinko, I didn’t even plan to stay longer than a heist, even before I knew Juno would be part of the crew as well. I was only in it for the money at first.’’ Nureyev looks up into Juno’s eye and continues. ‘’But then I saw him. I saw how much he had changed and wanted to improve. At that moment, there was nothing else I wanted to do more than to stay.’’

And for a flicker of a second, he can see a small smile on Juno Steel’s lips and his glance softens. He never wants to lie to Juno about this. His love for him is one of the few things that he is sure of.

‘’But what made you change your mind after that?’’ Khan interrupts. ‘’What made you want to run out on him a year later?’’

Nureyev winces as he turns his attention back to the cop. ‘’Well, like I said, I never meant to leave Juno like that.’’

‘’That sounds more like an excuse than a reason to me.’’ Khan’s eyebrows furrow, piercing through his attempt at evading the question. Nureyev bites his lips as he looks straight into the older man’s eyes. There’s no way around this one. Hopefully, what he will tell him next will be enough to appease him.

‘’Well, without going into personal details, I have… a very large debt to my name. A debt to dangerous people that I need to clear out.’’ He says carefully, fidgeting mindlessly with his hands as his face holds a neutral expression. ‘’Earlier in life, my… previous partner and I had a run-in with a corporation and they caught us in a lie. Then my partner needed their services, and since he wasn’t in a position to pay them at the time I decided to sign a contract for those services and pay the debt to them.’’

‘’Oh, that’s complete bullshit!’’ Juno groans, throwing his head backward. ‘’There’s a lot of things he isn’t saying, you’re missing a lot of context here!’’

‘’Shut up, Steel. It’s not your turn to talk.’’ Khan grunts.

‘’What, can’t I add precision to my own boyfriend’s story? You let him do that earlier.’’

‘’Because this is different, damnit!’’ Khan turns to Juno, red faced. ‘’Before that, it was information pertaining to both of your lives. This is about a part of his life only . He has more right to tell his story the way he wants to than you do. And weren’t you the one who requested that any of you could withhold details from me if you so wished? Are you saying your boyfriend doesn’t have the right to his privacy?’’

He would much prefer not to answer anything at all, but Nureyev knows that the police captain would have lingering suspicions of him if he stays silent. This is not ideal, but it’s better if he wants to go free without being on Khan’s radar the moment he’s on duty again. So he plays this careful game of verbal twister, where he has to contort his words to only say enough to not bring out Khan’s anger, but not too much as to not reopen old wounds of his mind.

Juno and Khan look at each other in a staring contest, seeing who will crack under pressure. But Khan is quickly the winner of this battle as the detective looks away from him. He doesn’t say a word as he pouts, but he grumbles loudly, making his displeasure known.

‘’That’s what I thought.’’ He scoffs before looking back at Nureyev. ‘’And did Steel know any of that before you left? Did he had any time to mentally prepare for your departure?’’

Nureyev can feel these questions are pointed in a certain direction, and he’s hesitant to follow that road. He’s almost tempted to not say anything on this one, but he can see Juno crossing his arms from the corner of his vision and stare at him in that pointed way.

‘’No, I didn’t have time to discuss this with him, as my limit date to make the next payment was very near, but that’s why I made the journal in the first place.’’

‘’I see.’’ Captain Khan nods. ‘’And you said earlier that it’s with that journal that it all started. Did you really think that the book you gave to him would make him feel better about your departure?’’

‘’Captain Khan, I can assure you right now that the plan wasn’t supposed to be permanent. I meant to come back eventually.’’ Nureyev says before he sighs. ‘’For an entire year, I saw Juno grow into the person that he is now, more confident, more trusting, and just becoming a better version of himself. And I realized in that year that contrary to him, I did not change at all. He deserves a better partner than I am right now. I knew I needed to free myself from the baggage I’ve been carrying for years, I wanted to be able to grow with him too. But that journey was too dangerous for him to come with me, so I had to do it alone.’’

Khan’s eyes soften at his words. He might have overdone the dramatics a little bit, but he’s sure that it was enough to touch the old man’s heart just a little. Still, it’s not quite enough, because Khan asks ‘’So, what changed?’’ 

Everything , he’d said earlier to Juno, but that’s an understatement at best. There’s just been so much change in the past months that he doesn’t know where to start. He remembers when Khan shut Juno down when he got more sparse with his details, which makes him believe that Khan will indeed be more inclined to respect his choice to keep some things to himself. If he played his cards right, he might not have to elaborate further on this situation.

‘’I… don’t feel comfortable answering that.’’ Nureyev says with a frown. ‘’All I can tell you is that between the first and second entry of the journal, I received new information that makes things ten times more difficult and dangerous. Which is why I had to change my plans.’’

‘’Hold up, second entry? What is that about?’’ Khan tilts his head. Nureyev is only half relieved that he’s focused on that rather than his refusal to answer his question.

Juno jumps back into the conversation before he can explain it himself. ‘’You know how he said the journal was full of riddles? Well, it turns out that solving them only unlocked the first part of his story. The second entry was locked behind a ‘test of patience’ as he called it, where he could unlock it at any time of his choosing, which is stupid if you ask me.’’

Nureyev shakes his head. ‘’I knew you wouldn’t like that trial, that’s why I chose it.’’

‘’Yeah? Well if I had known sooner that a good part of it would be you talking about your ex- boyfriend and your dates together, I wouldn’t have read it.’’

‘’Very mature, Juno.’’ He scoffs. He knows that Juno is lashing out because he’s frustrated with him, but he can’t help but roll his eyes.

‘’So the situation changed between those two entries, right?’’ Khan asks and Juno nods.

‘’Yep, he wrote in the first entry that he’d come back but not to wait on him to continue my life, and at the end of the second entry he made a complete 180 and said to not look for him.’’

‘’Which you clearly didn’t read with enough attention, it seems.’’ Juno glares at Nureyev for that, but the thief allowed himself this little moment of bitterness

‘’And why couldn’t your ex pay for their own services? Did he persuade you to take on that debt?’’ Khan immediately comes back into questioning Nureyev, and that question makes him taste bile for a second.

‘’It’s for medical reasons.’’ He quickly says. For a moment he thinks Khan is going to press on it, but after a minute of silence, the Captain nods and sits back straight in his seat.

‘’Alright, I think I have a good enough idea of what is going on here.’’ Captain Khan points at Juno but keeps eye contact with Nureyev as he says, ‘’Steel here has been worried sick for your well being for a while, worry that isn’t completely unwarranted.’’

Nureyev laughs nervously. ‘’I’m not sure what you mean by that.’’

This makes Khan massage his temple. ‘’You have a habit of either not telling important pieces of information until it becomes extremely relevant, or you wait until you are far away to tell Juno about your little life story so you don’t have to deal with the aftermath of your actions. Am I correct to assume that you often run away from your problems because you don’t know how to deal with their consequences?’’

Nureyev feels himself sweat under his collar. This feels scarily close to one of those streamed reality shows around therapy that Rita would sometimes watch on the ship. ‘’That is an interesting theory.’’ He says as he rubs the back of his neck.

The cop crosses his arms before he continues. ‘’That’s what I thought. In this instance, one of the consequences you are running from is taking accountability for the fact that you’ve cultivated this distrust for your words in Juno with how often you’ve withheld important details, and you’ve hurt him by leaving. Not only that, but you are wrongfully assuming what he wants to do with his life. You have to remember that he is a person who has wants and feelings that are his own, things you can't assume because you chose to not talk to him properly. He has a right to follow you to Lono to get the answers he deserves and make sure you are okay.’’

The moment those last words comes out of Khan’s mouth, Juno puts his hands on his hips and turns to him to say ‘’Ha!’’ There is that insufferable triumphant smile on his face, the same one he has when he knows he is winning an argument.

But just as quickly as he drills into Nureyev with those revelations, Khan turns to Juno with an irritated stare. ‘’I’m not done yet!’’ He exclaims. ‘’You, Steel, you forget that Peter also has a right to not go back home with you.’’

‘’What?!’’ Juno’s eye goes wide. ‘’Haven’t you heard what he said? He said that his situation is dangerous. Apparently enough to justify not telling me shit about it for months!’’

‘’I get that, Steel, but he knows his situation better than you do. I think he is able to make choices based on that.’’ He says before he slumps forward with tired eyes. ‘’You can be upset all you want, but he doesn’t have to tell you anything if he thinks that’s gonna put you in danger too. You have to respect his choices too, even if they are bad ones.’’

‘’No…’’ His voice is much softer than before, more vulnerable and fragile. ‘’That can’t be the end of it…’’

Khan shrugs, ‘’I’m sorry, Juno, but I can’t do more than that. I don’t have the power to make your boyfriend’s situation better. He still signed a contract, and is legally bound to it. There's just going to be more consequences for him if he stops honoring it. I can only help in mediating your feelings about it.’’

Juno leans back into his chair and lets out a shaky breath. His shoulders slump and he looks at the ground completely lost. It dawns on Nureyev that his love must have figured this out a long time ago, but is unwilling to let him go just yet, in the hope that he might be able to save him.

Nureyev's eyes soften and he reaches to hold Juno’s hand, who immediately looks up at him. ’’I’m sorry things had to come to this, love. I swear that I thought of every other possibility and their outcomes before making my final decision. If there was any other way I could go back to you safely, I would have found it by now. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. I understand your concern and I wish nothing more than to appease you, but understand that I’ll never be able to keep you happy or safe if you stay with me right now. I’m afraid I will never get out of this debt. That’s why I asked you to move on. I want you to find happiness without me, it’s the only thing that would make me truly happy.’’

Juno doesn’t say anything at first. He isn’t able to keep eye contact with him and he swallows hard enough to make Nureyev think that he, too, is having difficulty finding the right words.

‘’...You know, I thought about it on the way to this planet.’’ He says, his voice rough and close to tears. ‘’That maybe you would never want to get out of that horrible situation you’re in. I know that it would only be cruel for me to run after you, I know that. But I don’t want to give you up. I-I don’t want to break up.’’

Juno’s voice cracks at the end, and it’s enough to create a gaping, painful hole inside of Nureyev’s heart. But he knew that was how it was meant to end. Still, better ending it in tears than in bloodshed.

‘’We can’t win every battle, Juno,’’ He says softly. ‘’but at least you tried, and despite how I may have acted earlier, I appreciate your effort to get me back.’’

Khan sighs as he looks down at his comms. ‘’It’s been about an hour, I think we can tie this up. Steel, do you have anything else you want to say before we go? Maybe a moment alone?’’

Juno looks utterly defeated. Nureyev doesn’t think he has anything else to add to this. He sighs, he can’t help but feel disappointed. Juno would always try to find a way to turn the situation in his favor, he won’t let himself lose hope like that. But this is not like when they were living on the Carte Blanche. There will be no happily ever after like in Rita’s streams, no traveling the stars like he once promised.

But then, Juno’s head quickly looks back up, eye wide and eyebrows raised. ‘’I do have something to say, actually.’’ He says casually, and oh, how that dramatic change in tone makes the thief’s heart beat faster.

Khan squints at him and says, ‘’You look awfully sure about yourself.’’

‘’Yeah, well, I just remembered something. It’s kind of a big reason why I wanted to find Peter in the first place, and I think you might change your mind on this whole situation we are in.’’

‘’I doubt that.’’ Khan grunts. ‘’But, it’s important to share your emotions and I did agree to help mediate them.’’

‘’Oh no, it has nothing to do with feelings.’’ Juno tucks his chin slightly and smiles. ‘’It’s more about the legality of his contract that I’m worried about.’’

Nureyev remembers what that smug smile means, and he starts to get increasingly more worried. He knows that what Juno has to say means nothing good, for him at least. It’s both something he loves and hates about Juno Steel, how quickly he can link clues and change the tide of a conversation with only one sentence. And the worst part of this is that he has no clue what he is up to.

Khan grits his teeth. ‘’Steel, I swear this is better not be another one of your stupid stunts.’’

‘’Don’t worry, nothing stupid in what I’m about to say.’’ Juno slowly turns his head toward Nureyev, and as their eyes meet, he knows he’s not going to get out of this one as easily as before. ‘’Peter? Tell Khan how old you were when you signed that contract.’’

Khan is immediately taken aback. ‘’What do you mean how old he was when he signed the contract?’’ He turns to Nureyev with wide eyes, and his attitude changes from grumpy therapist to grumpier dad-cop. ‘’Peter the Nameless, how old were you when you signed that contract?’’

‘’I don’t have the first clue of what you’re talking about.’’ Nureyev says quickly. He is sweating and lying through his teeth now.

‘’Don’t play that game with me. You better tell me right now, or I’ll… I’ll arrest you!’’

‘’You’ll arrest me?’’ Nureyev raises an eyebrow.

‘’He’s not gonna arrest you.’’ Juno says, ‘’I won’t let him do that. But it’s more likely that he’ll just keep us here until morning so you should tell him now.’’

He’s right, and even if Juno can’t stop Khan from arresting him, he wouldn’t be locked up for long. Still, the prospect of being held hostage by an angry cop for longer than he wishes for is not ideal. He can’t afford to put Juno in further danger like that just because he was uncooperative.

He swallows as he looks into Khan’s eyes, and he mumbles, ‘’...Sixteen.’’

‘’WHAT!?’’ Captain Khan’s voice booms throughout the room, it almost deafens Nureyev in the process. ‘’You were sixteen!?’’

‘’I may have been a year older, I’m not sure.’’

‘’That’s not much better! Why didn’t you say that sooner?’’

The thief tenses at the questions. ‘’I did not think this would be relevant information to this ‘therapy’ session.’’

‘’Oh I think it’s very relevant right about now.’’ Khan says pointedly.

‘’Well, have you thought that maybe I wanted to keep this to myself? What happened to privacy? I thought that was part of the deal.’’ He snaps back.

‘’Screw privacy right now!’’ Khan says incredulously. ‘’What those creditors of yours did is illegal!’’

Seeing as his previous attempt to dissuade Khan to let go of that fact, he decides to change tactics again and go a more rational route. ‘’I understand why you are angry, it’s a shock to hear this, but I can assure you that it was done in complete legality. The contract has been signed in the Arcturus system, and I’m sure you know that corporation laws are not the same in the Outer Rim as in Solar territory, even today, years after the war ended.’’

Granted, he has to twist the truth a little bit in order to make it pass, but most people would usually have to agree with him as the Outer Rim does have different laws surrounding their corporations than those of the Solar system.

Not Captain Khan, it seems, as he narrows his eyes at him. ‘’Corporation laws are for regulating corporations. What you’re talking about is a contract law, and those haven’t changed much since Earth sent the first colonists to Mars. It’s the same whether you’re from the Outer Rim or Sol: a minor cannot under any circumstances sign a contract without the presence of their parents or their guardians.’’  

‘’I…’’ Nureyev’s cheeks turn beet red. ‘’That is to say, I believe that-’’

‘’Did you have a parent with you?’’

‘’I’m sorry, what?’’ He’s taken by surprise by the man’s sudden question.

‘’I said did you have a parent with you! A guardian! Anyone!’’ Khan explodes in anger in a way a parent would scold a child for going too close to an adult sewer rabbit. It comes from a place of concern and worry, but for the ones who are witnessing it, it comes with the same surprise and fear of having a firework exploding right next to you.

Quickly, Nureyev says the first thing he can think of in order to calm the cop. ‘’I’m an orphan?’’ Which is not what he meant to say, and the colors of his face drains quickly.

‘’So you signed it alone?’’ Khan continues to drill questions as he raises his eyebrows.

‘’Yes, but-’’

‘’Why didn’t your ex stop you?!’’ Khan cuts him. ‘’Did he know what you were signing for?’’

His body tenses further at Khan’s questions. He wishes he could explain himself better than this, he wants to lead the exchange, manipulate from behind the scenes like he would do with a mark, to guide them into a false sense of security long enough to extract information before disappearing in the night.

Instead, his jaw feels like it’s wired shut, making him unable to speak. He lost his hold on the conversation a long time ago, which was entirely his own mistake. He looks down at the floor again, avoiding Khan and Juno’s stare at the same time.

Nureyev can hear the older man sigh, ‘’What else do you know?’’ He knows he’s talking to Juno now, as Khan realizes he's not getting anything from him this way.

For a moment, he’s almost certain that Juno will just… answer him. How could he not? With everything that his action had done to him, there’s not a chance that he has the same amount of trust in him as he did before.

But then, a few squeaky sounds later, a hand falls gently on his back and he turns his head towards the love of his life. He notices how their chairs are now so close to one another. Juno gives him a reassuring smile as he softly says, ‘’Hey, if you don’t want me to say more than that, that’s okay. But I trust Khan… and I’ve been worried about you, honey. You don’t have to do this alone.’’

He looks down into the other’s deep brown eye, and wonders how he got so lucky to have crossed paths with someone like Juno Steel. Even now, he continues to make sure it’s safe to proceed. He might be feeling bad for the abrupt questioning he’s been subjected to previously. He can also see that this is a call for something. Sincerity? Vulnerability? Perhaps. If he wasn’t feeling so lost, he would tell himself that it’s foolish to trust this, even if Juno keeps his word on the trustworthiness of Captain Khan. He supposes he’s always been a fool in love.

Nureyev gives Juno a nod, and the other brings him closer until the thief’s head is nestled on the detective’s shoulder.

‘’Okay, I’m not going into too much detail again because I want to keep Peter’s anonymity right now.’’ Juno says as he looks back at Khan. ‘’But basically, his ex was his childhood friend and this genius chemist kid who was planning to make this drug without any addictive side effects, the kind of thing that would have tanked the black market and any profit driven company if it was ever introduced to it.’’

‘’A drug with no side effects? Is that even possible?’’ Khan crinkles his nose.

‘’Apparently it is. Anyway, he needed information to make it, so he met with the executives of this pharmacorp behind Peter’s back. Well, one day Peter found out where he was going and due to, uh, past trust issues, he convinced his ex to let him accompany him to a dumb game of Rangian Street Poker.’’

He suppress a shiver again as the memory of a red room and red hands re-emerge. He doesn’t know why it’s happening now, it’s been years since the last time he thought of that terrible day. He tries to file his thoughts away from the conversation, which is only partially successful as it leaves him with a cold and numb feeling in his chest.

‘’They ended up getting the information they needed in the end, but not before his ex had to lie about Peter’s name, which was really dangerous for them to do.’’

‘’Was it really that bad?’’ Khan asks, slightly unimpressed. ‘’Other than hearing a few stories of people beating up cheaters, I’m not really sure what’s dangerous about a lie. It’s normal to bluff in card games from time to time.’’

Juno glares at Captain Khan. ‘’In that game of cards, if you lie the opponent has the right to kill you.’’

Khan’s eye turns comically big at the revelation. ‘’Ah… Well, the more you know.’’

‘’So, days later, the guy successfully produced that drug, everything was good and the two went out to celebrate. When they came back, they wanted to test it to see if it worked.’’

‘’Um, don’t you need to do more tests to see if it’s safe on humans?’’

‘’They were teen orphans, Khan, they couldn't afford a billion dollar lab. Now, can you stop interrupting me?’’ Juno lets out an exhale before he continues. ‘’Anyway, they took it, but noticed too late that someone got into their room and, you know…’’

laced the pill he means to say, but he doesn’t need to say a word, his voice conveys the idea perfectly to the other two.

‘’I see.’’ Khan says slowly. ‘’Continue.’’

Juno bites his lips and nods. ‘’After that, those executives brought them both to their facility and decided to, well, torture Peter’s real name out of him through hallucinations, and they brought him back with a detox. They got proof that his ex lied, but they couldn’t do much with it because he got put in a coma from the effects of… well, that.’’

‘’Figures.’’ Khan says. ‘’There are only so many medical reasons why someone can’t pay their own debt.’’

‘’That’s not even the most fucked up part.’’ Nureyev looks down as Juno says that, and he can see the detective’s fist clenching until his knuckles turn white. ‘’They said to him that there might be a chance to bring back his friend through experimental tech, and because he felt guilty for the way things ended up he signed the contract and now he has this enormous debt that just keeps growing to keep his friend alive.’’

When Juno is finally done, Khan slumps his shoulder impossibly low. He closes his eyes for a moment before he says, ‘’So, what I’m hearing is that not only did they make you sign a contract underage without a guardian’s supervision, but they also made you sign a contract minutes after being under the influence of a hallucinogenic while under duress. Yep, gotta agree with Steel here, that’s pretty fucked up.’’

Nureyev sighs, ‘’I know it’s not fair, and it never was in the first place. But both of you have to understand that I made a mistake back then and this is how I choose to repent for it.’’

‘’What kind of mistake do you have to make to beat yourself up about it for years?’’ Khan asks.

‘’I didn’t trust him soon enough.’’ Nureyev says at the same time as Juno saying, ‘’He didn’t do anything wrong.’’ They blink at each other for a moment.

Khan raises an eyebrow but continues, ‘’Didn’t Steel say you had past issues regarding trust? Isn’t that a good enough reason to be suspicious of someone when they hide something from you.’’

‘’It’s those trust issues that cost him his life.’’ Nureyev says grimly. ‘’I should have trusted him from the start instead of letting my paranoia get the better of me. If I hadn’t insisted on coming to that card game, he wouldn’t have had to lie about me. I should have known better.’’

Khan looks down for a second before he leans forward and says softly. ‘’Look, son, everyone has a moment in their lives where they wish they had done things differently after everything is said and done. Heck, as a police officer, I know how you feel.’’ Nureyev can’t help but let out a little condescending scoff. ‘’Hey, don’t laugh, it’s true. On the job, losing civilian life is always a part of the job.’’

‘’It’s true.’’ Juno adds as he looks into Nureyev’s eyes. ‘’Sometimes, we answer a call, we try our best to control the situation, and still someone loses their life. It can be a civilian, it can be someone on your own team. It’s usually not our fault when it happens, but it feels like it. You wonder ‘What if I was faster back then? What if I’d arrived sooner? Maybe he wouldn’t have died if I’d known earlier.’’’

As Juno tells him this, he feels like his love is talking about something very specific. He’s not sure who that person might be to him, but it sounds like they meant a lot to him.

‘’Exactly what Steel said, there are things that aren’t our fault even if it feels like it is. You were fine to be worried for your friend and your distrust at the time wasn’t your fault, you acted with the information you had at the time and made a choice based on that. Sometimes, bad stuff happens, it’s not a reason to beat yourself up for decades. And who knows, maybe the outcome would have stayed the same whether or not you were there because those greedy corporations think it’s ok to make a profit out of someone else’s trauma and guilt! If it wasn’t you stuck in debt, it would have been your friend instead.’’

Nureyev looks back at Khan and sighs. It seems like the weight of all the years of running without taking a break suddenly pushes down on him as his shoulders sag. ‘’Even so, I can’t get out of this now. I need to pay this debt.’’

‘’No, what you need is a good lawyer.’’ Captain Khan says as he straightens his back. ‘’Look, I understand you feel guilty, it’s not something that goes away easily when those people have been drilling that into your head for years, but this situation is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Any decent lawyer worth their two cents will jump on the opportunity to defend you!’’

Nureyev has never thought of it before. Everything happened so fast back then that he never weighed his options, unsure of what the laws on contracts were. Going to court with this has never been much of an option, even now.

He shakes his head and says, ‘’They would have catalogs of all my previous crimes, they would certainly try to disclose those information and probably countersue if I’m not immediately arrested then.’’

‘’Yeah, that’s a possibility.’’ Khan scratches his chin. ‘’But you know, there are always loopholes that can be found for that. Um, Steel’s secretary, Rita, she might be able to find a copy of your contract and find evidence in favor of your case.’’

‘’Wow Khan,’’ Juno says with a shit eating grin, ‘’Are you proposing we hack them and break the law? I didn’t know you had it in you.’’

‘’What? No! I mean, it’s a possibility. But I wouldn’t know because I’m a cop! You better not talk about that when I’m on duty, and you better not spread that around, capiche?!’’ Khan flusters as he tries to catch himself up.

Juno laughs, ‘’I won’t, I won’t. I would be a very bad criminal if I did.’’

‘’Well, good!’’ Khan huffs. ‘’I’m too old to deal with this kind of mess anyway.’’

Nureyev swallows thickly before he turns to Juno. ‘’Do you truly think there’s a chance I could win? If I sue them that is.’’ He says softly and with uncertainty.

Juno looks into his eyes with the fondest of glance and brings him even closer. ‘’I believe we can, if we do this together.’’

Nureyev bites the inside of his cheek. ‘’Who would want to represent a criminal like me?’’

‘’You know what? I have someone in mind who might be happy to defend someone who’s been dealt a bad hand.’’ Juno says, ‘’And even if she’s not available, we’re gonna find someone who will.’’

Nureyev feels like he could look into his lover’s eye for the rest of his existence. His smile is like a glimpse of sunlight over a flower who hasn’t seen natural light in a long time. In that instant, he can forget about the weight he’s carried on his shoulders for so long. He can forget his lingering debt, and the sleepless nights, and the days hunched over blueprints or spent at another’s socialite’s boring party. All because his love said ‘Everything will be okay.’

Khan stands up from his chair and stretches his back after staying in a sitting position for so long. ‘’Alright, lovebirds, I think it’s time to go. It’s almost been two hours and I need to get back home. The family is going the Nesdey world amusement park 2000 tomorrow and I don’t want to drive there exhausted because of the two of you.’’

‘’Oh, right.’’ Nureyev says before standing up. Juno does much the same, massaging his shoulder before saying, ‘’Hey woah, slow down. I’m not ready to go yet, we haven’t made a plan yet!’’

‘’Steel, I accompanied you today because you needed backup, I never said I was gonna help you commit a crime. I’m still a cop, remember? I can’t afford to dirty my record now, the kids need their father out of jail.’’

‘’If I may.’’ Nureyev interrupts. ‘’I’m free to meet in a week from now. I can’t do anything any sooner than that. I can’t let my creditor know anything is amiss.’’

‘’See? You have a moment to talk later.’’ Captain Khan starts to walk back toward one of the doors and doesn’t turn around until he reaches it and says, ‘’Steel, I’m going back to your weird car. You’ve got 15 minutes.’’

‘’What? But-’’

‘’15 minutes! Or else I’m making a call to tow your car!’’

Khan looks at Nureyev for a second before giving a meaningful glare to Juno. They stand like this for a silent moment before the detective sighs, ‘’Fine, 15 minutes… Thanks Khan.’’

The older man only gives a nod, and in the next moment he opens the door and disappears out of sight.

The two soulmates are alone yet again, the room even more quiet than before. For a minute, they stand there in silence, not knowing what to say to one another. Nureyev clears his throat and tries to fill the room for the next few minutes they have with each other. ‘’It has been a while, hasn’t it?’’

Juno looks up at him, and he almost expects him to quip something witty back. What he says instead takes him by surprise.

‘’Can I have a hug?’’ Juno says so softly that it’s almost lost to the sound of the wind blowing outside.

His heart melts in his chest like chocolate on a sunny day. ‘’Of course, love.’’ He doesn’t have a second to breathe before his detective brings him into his arms. Juno squeezes his middle and lays his head gently on his shoulder, almost worried that if he lets go Nureyev will disappear in a puff of smoke again.

Luckily for him, his thief loops his arms around his shoulders and doesn’t let him go for what feels like hours.

‘’I missed you so much.’’ Juno mumbles in the other’s shirt. ‘’Godamnit, I was so scared I would never see you again.’’

‘’Love.’’ Nureyev sighs, but a smile appears at the corner of his lips. ‘’I never thought I would be blessed by your presence again. You lived in my every thought and followed me even into my dreams. I’m glad you went against my warnings, deep down.’’

‘’Gods, I even missed your sappy romantic self.’’ 

He chuckles, ‘’And I missed your whining and pouting as well.’’

‘’Hey!’’ Juno pouts and slaps him lightly on the arm. This time, Nureyev throws his head back and lets out a laugh.

‘’Oh don’t worry, dear. I love this part of you. It’s very cute.’’

‘’’M not cute.’’ Juno groans back, but doesn’t move away from him. In fact, he tries to get impossibly closer to him.

‘’Of course you’re not. You’re a brave and beautiful detective,’’ He says as he rests his forehead on Juno’s. ‘’who’s going to save the day.’’

They are quiet for another minute before Juno asks, ‘’Is it okay?’’

‘’Hm?’’

‘’Meeting again next week.’’ He says softly. ‘’I know you’re the one who proposed it, but… I don’t know, it’s stupid.’’

‘’I’m sure it’s not.’’ Nureyev tilts his head to see his face better. ‘’What is it?’’

‘’...I’m just tired of running after you.’’ Juno frowns. ‘’I’m scared that if I let you go now, you’re going to disappear again, and that I’m not going to be able to find you again.’’

‘’Juno…’’

‘’Just promise me.’’ Juno says as he looks up at him. ‘’Promise we are going to try to make this work, for real this time.’’

‘’Oh Juno.’’ Nureyev breathes out as he puts a hand on Juno’s cheek. ‘’I think there’s nothing that I'd love to do more than to spend the rest of my life with you.’’

He is the first to lean down and capture the lips of his dear detective. A lovely warmth surrounds them as they kiss after many months apart, as a promise to one day return to one another. They part away to breathe, and before Juno can protest he kisses him on the forehead.

‘’It’s time.’’ Nureyev whispers, ‘’Let’s not make the police captain wait more than he has to.’’

‘’Hmm, he can wait for a little bit longer.’’

Nureyev chuckles before pulling back to look down at his love. ‘’Where should we meet next time we cross path?’’ 

Juno hum contemplatively before he says, ‘’Why don’t you choose the next meeting point and I join you there? The Ruby7 can find you again like that.’’

‘’To be frank, I still don’t understand how the Ruby was able to find me. I did not think that it could that was one of its features.’’

Juno snorts and his eye shines with a mischievous gleam, as if he knows something that Nureyev doesn’t. ‘’Yeah, let’s just say it has a lot of secrets you don’t know about.’’

There’s a curious streak flaring up inside of him, but before he can address it he says, ‘’And I thought you said you were tired of running after me. Are you sure you don’t want to choose the location?’’

‘’Nah, I need to practice my detective skills anyway. It’ll be good for me.’’ He says casually.

‘’Very well. I’ll make sure to give you a good challenge.’’ 

They part a little bit further from the embrace, but they are still holding each other’s hands. Juno squeezes his hands, as he puts into memory every moment of it. ‘’Just… be careful, okay?’’

‘’I will, love.’’ There’s not a hint of hesitation in Nureyev’s voice and he squeezes the other’s back.

They stay like this for another moment, and Nureyev almost believes that Juno will never let him go. But he does, eventually, slowly loosening his grasp on him before taking a step backward. The detective turns around and walks toward the same open door Khan exited from. He stops before he goes past the threshold to look back at Nureyev and smiles.

‘’Hey, Nureyev.’’ The thief blinks as his name is spoken for the first time since their reunion. ‘’I love you.’’ And with that, Juno closes the door behind him, and he is gone.

He is alone again in this dreadful room, but the air around him has changed. What was once a restless feeling fidgeting in his chest is now laying down and resting. For a second, he cherishes this moment of peace.

He hears a whistle in the distance, which makes him turn his head towards the boarded up windows. He approaches them quickly and peaks an eye out. He can see a familiar green car at the entrance of the building, with Juno entering it through the driver’s door. The headlights of the Ruby7 flash dimly into the night and slowly it starts to fly away.

Nureyev watches it go until it disappears into the horizon, and maybe some more after that. It’s hard to believe that things can get better when nothing seems to change, but just for a moment, Peter Nureyev lets himself dream as a sliver of hope might be all that it takes for the world to change for the better.