Page 8 of Escape into the Night

“Hello?” Taz’ voice was wary.

“Howdy, hey.” Connor pulled the device from his ear and hit the button to turn it on speakerphone. “Teddy, talk.”

“Taz, get the fuck back here ASAP.” Theo’s hands never stopped moving. Connor marveled at his adept ability to multitask.

“Theo?” Taz still sounded baffled.

“Taz, we’ve been breached! I'm dumping the mainframe onto deck nine before I sever the system. Code Red. I need your kill keys!”

“Fuck. Fuck!” Taz’ strained voice was full of panic and Connor heard a loud thump before the man continued rambling. “Lemme know when you're ready, Angel.”

Connor bristled at the old pet name, the briefest flare of old, unfounded jealousy there and gone in a flash. He held the phone closer and watched Theo work. Connor had no clue what he was was actually doing, but it seemed like this was a big fucking deal.

“And… go!” Theo’s hands paused for a microsecond, hovering over the nearest keyboard with a noticeable tremble.

“Alpha-niner-India-four-six-eight. Victor-seven-Oscar-two-nine-five. Kilo-four-Zulu-three-seven-seven.” The words were spoken in precise, deliberate enunciation and Connor briefly boggled over Taz’ proficiency with the phonetic alphabet.

There was a pregnant pause where the room went deadly silent but for the whirr of the many computers. A split second later, the room was utterly silent as the white noise ceased completely and every single monitor went black while they all held their breath. Theo released a gusty sigh and braced his palms on the desk, his head hanging between his shoulders in what Connor could only describe as defeat.

“Fuck me sideways!” Taz’ shout rang out over the phone and startled them both. “We’re five minutes out.”

With the call coming to an abrupt end, Connor quietly returned it to his pocket and took a tentative step toward Theo. He made a soft sound before lifting his hand to rest a palm between the hunched shoulder blades and began rubbing a small circle when his lover exhaled again.

“Teddy, what the hell was that?”

“Someone broke into the company's servers. They were exfiltrating files left and right. Knowing what is on these systems, it’s…” Theo choked on his words before continuing in a quieter voice. “It's not good, Con.”

“Did I—”

Theo pushed off the desk and pivoted, his head shaking a vehement no. “Not at all your fault. I need to talk to Taz to see what he has been up to before we start figuring out what they managed to grab before I killed it. And trying to figure out who they were. Hopefully.”

Connor was apprehensive, the air thick with crackling tension that erupted into a feeling not unlike static electricity as the pounding of footsteps clattered overhead before tumbling down the stairs. Taz all but fell into the basement, his fists clenched and his eyes spitting fire.

“What the fuck did you do?!” He crossed the distance in a flash, so fast Connor’s response was delayed by a fraction of a second, just enough time for Taz to advance and plant his palms against Theo’s chest with a forceful shove. “What did you do?!”

“Hey!” Connor bellowed, reaching out to grab the back of Taz’ sweatshirt before hauling him away from Theo’s stunned form. As soon as he did so, Theo sparked to life, livid in a way Connor hadn't ever seen before. He sprang forward and returned the push with one of his own. Connor swiftly adjusted stance to position himself between the two black cats ready to go toe-to-toe.

“Quit, both a’ye!”

“That’s enough!” Luke arrived as backup, immediately scanning the situation and sliding in to help Connor keep the two grumpy little shits from ripping one another's hair out.

Unable to vent their frustrations through shoving like pissed off school kids, they resorted to screaming. Shouting at one another devolved into yelling over one another. Connor wasn't surprised by Taz’ temper, but he'd definitely never seen Theo reach this level of anger this fast.

Luke lifted his hand, positioning his middle finger and thumb between his lips to unleash an ear splitting whistle that finallybroke the spell. Taz and Theo stilled, their chests heaving, fists clenched, and eyes glaring.

“One at a fucking time, understood? Theo, go.” Luke dipped his chin, his gaze perpetually bouncing between the two men to stay alert to another possible eruption.

“I didn't do shit but save your ass! I'd just walked in to do my fucking job and found your computers still patched into a fucking forum, asshole!” Theo flung a dramatic hand toward where Connor had been sitting with the laptop in the adjacent room. “As soon as Connor logged into the system, it all popped off.”

“What—oh fuck. Fuck, no.” Taz went from feral to forlorn in a millisecond. The fight drained from his body as the blood drained from his face just moments before he physically folded in on himself, bending over to brace his hands on his knees. Connor had seen enough of Theo’s panic attacks to recognize the signs—Taz began hyperventilating, his body became wracked with tremors, and he damn near choked on his own tongue before sinking to his knees with a strangled sob.

“That’s what I thought.” Theo’s smug, indignant words didn't match the meek tone used to voice them as he, too, shrank where he stood, his palms blanketing his face with a noticeable shake. Connor and Luke exchanged glances before easing closer to soothe their respective partners' frayed nerves.

“Y’all having a fight club you didn’t tell us about—” Liam, one of Luke’s younger brothers, only made it halfway down the stairs before Luke halted him in his tracks with merely a glance. Recognition alighted on the guy's face as he glanced at the tense scene and literally backtracked up the stairs, backwards. Connor shook his head, still baffled and reeling.

“Reckon someone wants to tell me what we do next?” Connor tugged Theo even closer, encircling him in a tight embrace to lend his support where he could.

“Theo… m'sorry.” Taz, for all his typical defensiveness, sounded insecure and uncertain, like a scolded child.

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