bootson | BBB ;; Void & Null [Epilogue]

Part Five

[EPILOGUE]

“Brendon!” Frank yelled from where he was probably still harassing Greta and her catering staff in the kitchen. “You guys better come see this!”

Spencer groaned and rolled over on the lounge sofa to bury his face against Bob’s thigh. “I’m not helping make anymore decisions about icing color or what-the-hell-ever.”

“Whatever, Spence,” Brendon scoffed. “You insisted that the cake’s layers be different and match the decorations.”

Bob chuckled. “As long as Gerard doesn’t make me hang any more fucking streamers. This place is going to burn to the ground when they light the chandelier.”

“Brendon!”

Spencer sat bolt upright. He turned to stare at Brendon with furrowed eyebrows. That was a voice Spencer didn’t recognize. It was too early for any of the guests to be arriving, and Spencer had met all of them enough times at this point to know their voices, anyway.

“That’s Tom.” Brendon was completely frozen, staring somewhere between Bob’s shoulder and the door.

Bob squeezed Spencer’s arm and started to stand. “Maybe it’s news. We’ll go see.”

Spencer was about to ask just what the hell was going on when he heard someone he hadn’t talked to since before the traveling sales house bought them.

“Urie! Smith!” Nate was yelling, but his voice sounded closer. “Where the fuck are you guys?” The words were clipped, and when Spencer heard heavy footfalls against the floor, he realized Nate must be running.

He was on his feet and in the doorway when Nate barreled right into him. He was kind of tiny, so Spencer didn’t have any trouble catching him. “What the hell?”

“Smith!” Nate regained his footing but pulled Spencer into a quick hug before Spencer backed out of the way. “How’ve you been? It’s fucking good to see you, man. Hold on a second.” He turned to yell down the hall. “Conrad! Lounge! Hurry the fuck up!”

Apparently, a herd of cattle was making its way through the house. Spencer stumbled back a step when that herd turned out to be every fucking person who lived at or was currently visiting Santi Manor. Pete was in the front, tugging some blond guy Spencer had never seen with him.

“Tom Conrad, Spencer Smith,” Nate explained. He moved around to stand with the group and look imploringly at Tom.

“Uh. Hi?”

“Tom!” Brendon spoke over him. He’d pushed his way up to stand beside Spencer; Spencer didn’t have to turn to know Bob was at his back, looking over his shoulder. “What’s going on?”

Tom took a few deep breaths, batting at his trousers to knock off some of the dirt. He looked like he’d fallen into a dirt pile trying to get off his horse.

“We found them.” Tom was looking at Brendon when he said it, but he turned to Spencer to repeat it. “We found Jon. And Ryan.”

All of Spencer’s breath left him in a rush. Blood was pounding in his ears and his feet just wanted to move, to run to whereever Ryan and Jon were. He turned to look at Brendon instead, because this was... it couldn’t be real.

Brendon was as white as a sheet, practically vibrating right out of his skin. Spencer reached for his hand just as Bob slid a hand to his waist and the other to Spencer’s. The contact seemed to give Brendon some sort of courage.

He cleared his throat but still sounded rough when he asked, “Where? Are they okay? What do you know?”

“Not much,” Tom shook his head. “I know someone who knows someone who works for a magistrate across the gulf to the west. She thought the descriptions sounded familiar, and she snuck a look at some paperwork.” He took a deep breath, but Nate didn’t let him finish.

“Magistrate Berg’s gifts to his daughter for her birthday last year were one Jonathon Jacob Walker and one George Ryan Ross III. It’s got to be them.”

Spencer slumped back a little, let Bob take his weight. “For real? Are you fucking with me right now? Nate - “

“No,” Nate promised. “I saw her letter. Tom never gave her names, just descriptions and dates. It’s legit.”

Brendon was laughing, giggling so hard he sounded like he was sobbing. Spencer found his footing and grabbed at him, pulling Brendon into the tightest hug he could manage.

“They did it. They fucking found them, Spencer. They...” Brendon broke off, gasping.

Spencer buried a hand in his hair and turned his head to look at the motley crew filling the hallway. “What do we do? When can we leave?”

“Spence,” Bob whispered from a few feet away. “You can’t go.”

Blood running cold, Spencer let go of Brendon to round on Bob. Had he somehow missed how badly Spencer and Brendon needed to find Ryan and Jon? Had he failed to notice what a mess they were sometimes over their two missing friends?

“Your papers,” Bob pointed out, reluctant and scowling. “You’re not free yet. I’m sorry.” When he reached out, Spencer stepped back against the doorframe. It wasn’t safe for a slave to travel any significant distance without their owner as an escort. No Papers of Permissions would hold up under any type of scrutiny once outside Bill’s district.

“I can transfer them,” Bill yelled from somewhere in the middle of their audience. “It takes about twenty minutes. Brendon could have your papers; no one would say anything.”

“No.” Brendon sounded fierce in a way he normally didn’t bother with. “I’m not owning Spencer. Not even. Not on a fucking technicality, not happening. We’ll think of something else. We’re not. I’m not.” He grabbed Spencer, grip tight enough to cut off circulation to Spencer’s fingers. “We can wait. I can’t do that. It wouldn’t...”

Spencer nodded, feeling just as frantic as Brendon sounded. “I know. I know. Shh. It’s okay.”

“It’ll be fine.” Bob grabbed both of them, careful with them as he pulled them back into the room and over to the chaise. As soon as he had Spencer and Brendon settled on it, made sure they had each other, he knelt down in front of them. “We don’t know our way around, anyway. We’ll wait for your papers and we’ll get some maps or some shit. We’ll go get them.”

“I know a guy.” Pete always did; Spencer nearly laughed. “Name’s Hall. He’s from out that way. I could pay him enough to have him drop his gig at the pub.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Gabe corrected. “Whatever he wants, tell him it’s his.”

Spencer looked up for the first time in a while. Almost everyone he knew in the world was crowding close to the door, staring and looking hopeful. They just wanted to help, wanted to know what they could do to make it easier for Spencer and Brendon to find what they’d lost. They wanted to make it right and fix the things they could. Biting his lip to hide the smile he felt blooming across his face, Spencer spared a glance for Brendon, then met Bob’s eyes.

Bob reached out, brushing a piece of hair out of Spencer’s eyes then pressing a kiss to Brendon’s knee.

“We’ll figure it out.”

Brendon was holding onto him, and Bob was watching with concern written all over his usually stoic face. Everyone else was talking over top of one another, making plans for the party that night and the trip they knew wasn’t more than a month away. In that moment, Spencer knew he was right. They were going to figure it out and fix the parts that still felt a little broken.

They’d fix it.
[End]

Void & Null Masterpost

Bonus Content:
Fanart
Fanmix 1
Fanmix 2