Some men were just bad and evil to the core.
Then there were men like the ones in his living room, who were sent to eliminate that evil.
“Splendid young man you have here, Mr. Hayes. I’ll take good care of him for you.” The man in black said, his voice frigid as he stood staring down at the groveling piece of shit at his feet.
Meridian brought the gun up and aimed it at his father’s forehead.
“No!” his mother screamed, right before he pulled the trigger without a second thought.
BANG!
Meridian lurched hard as if the sound was right there in the shower with him. He jerked his right hand out and gripped the forty-five he had stashed on the shelf beneath the towels. With his piece aimed at the floor, his biceps bulged, while he flexed his hands around the familiar weapon. He slowed his breathing, calming his mind from a memory he never tried to relive. It just happened.
He cut off the steaming water, his skin sensitive from the overstimulation and followed a billow of steam when he opened the glass door. After drying off halfway he tied the thick towel around his waist. He groomed himself quickly, preferring to keep his stubble to a minimum or else it became irritating. When he was done, he left the bathroom and walked past Ex’s door, not bothering to stop to listen to what he was doing no matter how badly it pulled at him to do just that.
Since Meridian had been a kid on the streets he’d been called a natural-born killer—the youngest in their gang of vigilantes to stand up to the mistreatment of members of their community.
From the moment he’d put a bullet in his father’s head, Meridian had been in training—learning to master the long game well before he was recruited into the government’s experimental program. He’d been taught to take his time and study his enemy and learn their weaknesses. Was taught how to extract information from the most stubborn mouths. To know when it was time to bring a man to his knees and when it was time to break him. But when he’d met his true partner, Ex... that was when he’d realized when a mere bullet was not justice enough.
The program had put them together for a solid three years while they’d trained them to be weapons for the government, paired together by an algorithm constructed by scientists to be the most effective when combined. They hadn’t separated for a moment during that time, learning each other in every way, inside and out. Surprisingly, it’d been easy. He’d taken to Ex’s confidence and his determination to be the fucking best at everything. And he was. Years after they’d been activated they’d been allowed to gain a bit of independence from each other, but by then it had felt almost painful to separate, especially for long periods of time.
Meridian packed his few belongings and his weapons case, doing busy work to bring himself down enough to rest. It was after three in the morning and sleep evaded him as he lay propped against the headboard listening to Ex toss and grunt in his sleep on the other side of the wall. His room was dark, except for the sliver of moonlight coming through the parting in the heavy drapes. Ex’s yells got louder, his grunts defensive as if he was fighting. His partner’s distress was enough to have Meridian on his feet with a Smith and Wesson in his hand.
He opened Ex’s door silently and went to where he lay thrashing in the center of the bed, entangled in the heavy sheets. Meridian was careful not to jostle the bed too much when he leaned in to free Ex from the covers.
“No! Don’t,” Ex barked.
Meridian pulled his head back just in time to dodge Ex’s left fist. “Easy. Calm yourself. Listen to my voice and calm yourself down, Ex.”
Without touching him and startling him awake, Meridian got Ex’s right leg extracted next, then the fitted sheet from around his waist. It looked impossible, but he knew just how Ex had gotten himself so twisted around. Meridian had had his fair share of nightmares that Ex had been forced to listen to as well. It wasn’t uncommon for men like them to have their demons come for them during the only time they were vulnerable, touchable. When they slept.
“I’m right here, Ex. I’m right beside you.” Meridian said gently. Ex’s breathing began to even out as the frown creasing his forehead faded and his face softened. Meridian hoped it was his words, his voice, that was soothing his partner and not something or someone else in his dream. Ex sighed and shifted towards him.
“Shhhh.” Meridian bent and put his lips close to Ex’s ear as his body seemed to relax into the mattress. As if he felt safe enough to let go, to give up the fight. “I’m here.”