ax_main | Billy and Goody/Billy and Pam: Yorkland Day 1

Billy Rocks, a faithless assassin, and Goodnight Robicheaux, spoiled rich boy, plan for the future. But Billy's past comes back around to complicate things.

Winter was not quite upon the city yet by the calendar's reckoning, but you wouldn't have known it from the temperatures. Especially those on the rooftops at night.

It was an effort for Billy to get Goodnight's window open again, cold and aching as his fingers were. And he could barely feel his feet. But finally, he managed, slipping almost soundlessly into the dark, comparatively warm room. He stripped down to his braies, set his knives on the bedside beside the candle, and burrowed under Goodnight's blankets, shamelessly warming his frozen feet and hands on his... ahem... patron's skin.

Goody startled out of his sleep cursing, but instead of pushing away the icy appendages, he threw his arm around the torso that belonged to them. "Goddammit, Billy, you been hunting in a cold cellar?" he mumbled, half asleep.

"Checking my patron's rooftops for vengeful assassins, young sir." Billy curled in close and stuck his chilled fingers into Goody's armpits. "Cold enough up there to be slippery, not cold enough to actually lose toes. So I went without boots."

"Ah!" But for all his squirming, Goody clamped down on Billy's freezing hands and held them close. He shivered. "Young sir pays dearly for his safety, times like these."

Billy grinned and nuzzled up against Goody's neck. "Sir should hire a bedwarmer," he murmured, that mocking formality tangled around a wicked smile.

Goosebumps broke out down Goody's side. "Mmm, I'm sure my Daddy would love that. And you'd love it even more. Bet you're the jealous type." He chuckled, waking up just fine now, and tried to shift his weight to put Billy beneath him.

Billy tensed beneath him, catching himself just before reflex would have had him putting his hands around Goodnight's throat. "Goody." Said firmly, all playfulness fled. "Let me up."

Ah, shit. Goody flung himself backward onto his pillow, hands in the air. Hard to say what would freak out a guy raised as Billy had been--a child-assassin. He got the sense he'd almost gotten shanked right there--and not in the euphemistic way.

Billy was out from under the blankets in a heartbeat, skin goose-pimpling. The room wasn't as warm as it had seemed a few minutes ago. He pulled on his clothes and moved to sit beside the embers of Goodnight's hearth instead. It wasn't in his mind that either of them had done anything wrong, it was just how things were. All the same, he muttered a quick, "Sorry," to let Goody know all was well.

Goody sat up, running both hands through his hair, and made his way to the foot of the bed. He faced Billy and the fireplace, but didn't try to move nearer. "You got nothing to apologize for. If I wasn't half-asleep, I never would've... I'm sorry, Billy."

They were both awake now; no use worrying over a little light. Billy rummaged in th firebox and lay tinder atop the embers, then kindling with a few splinters of pine knot to blaze it up faster.

"You can come closer. I'm not going to hurt you, Goody."

"I know it," Goody said quickly, and he did. Wholly apart from anything else, Billy really was the best bodyguard he'd ever had. He'd stab himself before Goody any day. He stood on bare feet, wearing nothing but a pair of clinging short-pants meant to guard his nethers, and grabbed a blanket on his way to sit by the hearth. "I was just trying to respect your space, was all."

Billy was under the blanket with him in a moment, one arm around Goody's shoulders. "Maybe you should get yourself proper bedwarmer. And just let me stick to killing people."

In faux indignation, Goody said, "You shut your damn mouth!" Then he kissed Billy on the cheek quickly. "You the only bed warmer I'm interested in, and you know it."

"Mmm." Billy leaned in to Goodnight again, running his fingertips over Goody's chin and jaw, stroking the the soft fuzz there that so desperately wanted to be a beard. "You might want to tell your father that there are rumors that someone wants Adolfo's old position." He spoke of the former head of the Assassin's Guild. His old teacher. The man he'd betrayed when he taken the risk of trusting Goodnight. "No names yet, but the guard might want to keep an eye out."

Goody nuzzled into the touch like a desperate kitten. He needed the reassurance even more than usual, after he fucked up like that. “I’ll let it be known. I’d like to let him know he has my excellent bodyguard and fully faithful Robicheaux servant Billy to thank for the information...” the trailing off was a request for permission.

Billy finally laughed and pressed a kiss to Goodnight's cheek. "If it pleases you, my sweet sir. And if you think hearing my name won't sour his morning."

“Well, that’s half the fun,” Goody’s smile was as much one of relief as pleasure. That was more like it. “I know he won’t never see the good in you, but I do love making him acknowledge your indispensability, darlin.”

Billy sobered a little. "He let you honor your word to me. That's not a small thing. I know he lets me stay to keep you happy, but he didn't need to. I can't say I love the man for it... but I owe your family something. Even aside from our deal."

“Shows your sense of honor that you want to give him credit.” But Goody was substantially less impressed. “You’re valuable to the whole family, not just me. And I hope you know, you don’t owe me a damn thing.” He cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm an assassin, Goody. Honor's not any part of my trade. And your father knows me for what I am in that respect." Billy twined his fingers with Goodnight's as they watched the flames take. "But I know when I have good thing in my grasp. A good man."

That wasn't true, of course, but Goody knew better than to try and shake Billy's faith in it. Anyhow, he didn't really want to. He liked being looked at, the way Billy looked at him when they were alone. Even if he always half-expected it to end sooner rather than later, when Billy finally saw him for what he was: a spoiled rich son of a spoiled rich family, stepping on the necks of serfs to maintain their edge. Hell, he'd half believed he'd deserved to get kidnapped, back when Billy had first come into his life and shifted his loyalty.

Didn't matter, though. Not tonight. Goody squeezed Billy's hand. "Honor's not in your trade, but you can't tell me you ain't got your own code. I know what I got, too."

"My code is 'Keep alive.' I don't know where you came from." Billy huffed a quiet laugh. "I'm not complaining, though."

Goody knew where he'd come from. He knew that code had its limits, and he'd found them himself. But he wasn't about to push the matter, now he finally had Billy relaxed and happy again. "Sure, sure. Long as you don't complain, I won't.

"Won't you come back to bed?"

Billy was quiet a few moments, staring at the tiny clutch of flame burning down to nothing. "Will you tell me again how we're going to run away? Before you have to get married?"

Goody smiled. As if he needed an excuse to tell a story. "Well, there will be this high-born debutante from down south, I'm sure, imported to Yorkland for her beauty. Just like a prize mare, and me the prize stud, so we can go about making prize calves for the eventual slaughter.

"But, we all know I ain't intended for farmyard life. I've had a clever plan for ages now, where I stash a little extra in places no other Robicheaux knows about. It was always my exit plan--half of it, anyhow. I didn't know what the other half was until..." His smile grew more knowing, like a secret between them. It was less than half of the story, but he wanted to gauge Billy's reaction, as usual.

Billy snorted. "Mares don't have calves." And they both knew that Goody had flubbed that detail just so Billy would scold him. He tucked up closer against Goody's side all the same, until his head was resting on his shoulder. "You didn't know until you went to bed in your room, and woke up in a cage. With me guarding the guild's new prize. And then you asked when I was bringing your breakfast. You almost got stabbed for that, you know."

"I always been the sort who can't resist poking at dangerous creatures." Goody chuckled and kissed Billy's hair, well pleased. "Not to mention beautiful ones. And you, of course, tried to resist my charms with that poker face, but eventually I melted right through the ice..."

"The price was right. So were the terms..." Billy closed his eyes. "I thought you'd stop trying to charm me once you had your bodyguard. You just got worse once you were out of that cage."

"By which, of course, you mean better," Goody allowed with another small laugh. "I knew the moment you came home with me that you were my missing piece. Wherever my life was meant to be--since it sure as hell wasn't gonna be spitting out children here--it was with you. I knew I'd do anything to make it so.

"And that's why, when the time comes, we're gonna grab up all those assets I been saving, you and me, silent as a cemetery. And then, we're gonna disappear."

Billy reached up to stroke Goodnight's face again. "I don't know how to be around you most of the time, Goody. I told you I don't dream. I never did. But you make me want all kinds of things."

"You're perfect, around me, and that's all." Goody was the one who flubbed things, making dumb ass choices like trying to pin an assassin to his bed while the only part of his body awake was his prick. Idiot. "And I got enough dreams for the both of us. Long as you want 'em too, we got everything we need."

Billy sighed and wrapped his arms around Goodnight. "I've got what I need. Let's get back into bed before we freeze."

Goody stole a quick kiss, then made to crawl back up into the bed and under the covers.

----------------------------

She'd followed Billy in the window, ghostlike, as invisible and intangible as always. She'd watched as the boy Billy'd abandoned them for nearly got himself killed through his own stupidity; had watched and listened as they curled up by the fire. Had she more substance than air, she would have frowned - this was the reason Billy'd thrown away everything, why he'd destroyed the only life she could remember, made everything she'd given up pointless, worthless?

She'd wanted to know, but now that she did...it was tempting - way, way too tempting - to solidify just enough to slip a knife between his "patron's" ribs. But doing that wouldn't bring back Adolfo, or the guild. And at the end of the day, she only had so much "solid" time to use. She wasn't going to waste it.

She just wished Billy would wake up and reopen the window so she could leave.

Even as she had the thought, Billy opened his eyes and looked... well, not at her, but at the space she was occupying.

"I wondered if that was you," he said, the words no more than murmur of breath. He slipped out of bed and approached, stopping a few steps away in the dark. "I can open the window, if you want. I won't try to trap you. But... did you come here to talk?"

Had she? Perhaps. She could have made her way out of the room beneath the door, or, for that matter, through the cracks in the wall, painstaking as that process would have been. Where air could go, so too could Adolfo's pet assassin, now. Part of it had been sheer laziness, part curiosity, but part...maybe she had come to talk. "I came here to see for myself what was you'd figured was worth everything," she replied honestly enough, her voice thin and ethereal. "I don't see it. I mean, hot? Yeah. But not worth throwing us all to the wolves."

Billy huffed a soft laugh despite himself.

"That wasn't part of the deal anyway. We didn't start sharing a bed until later." Billy sobered. "They weren't ever going to let me go, Pam. No matter how high I climbed, I'd never be free. Assuming I didn't get a knife in the back first." The other side of being one of Adolfo's favorites... jealousy from the lower ranks.

"Great, you're free. Congratulations." Pam concentrated and coalesced into something not solid, but vaguely visible. It felt strange, as if it had been even longer than she remembered since she'd last bothered. Maybe it had - she didn't really keep track.

She still had the knack of it, though. Ghost-like, she held out see-through arms to show the bracelets Adolfo had put on her wrists when he'd set the spell that had made her what she was. "'Freedom can't be stolen, only earned'," she quoted. "Who do you earn it back from when the person who took it is dead?"

Not, granted, that Adolfo would have ever let her go. But still, she'd sometimes pretended to believe he would. Now she couldn't even do that.

"You find someone with more power," Billy said quietly, stepping closer. "Stay here. Even if we can't find a way to help, you're not any worse off."

"Stay here and watch the two of you? No thanks." Watching, and wanting, hurt more than just doing what she was told. "Besides, sooner or later someone will take control. And while I doubt they'll have a clue how to undo this, they'll remember I have to come when called."

Billy glanced back toward Goodnight. "He'll help if I ask him to. He's not a wizard, but money and power go a long way toward making up where magic lacks."

"He's going to help an assassin he's not fucking?" Pam stared at Billy, incredulous, then laughed. "Right. And he and his family wiped out the guild out of the kindness of their hearts. Tell me another story, Billy, it's been a long time since I've heard a good one. Or better yet," she added as an idea occurred to her, "let's just go. You can tell everyone it was all a scheme so you could take over the guild. Most of them would respect that, and the rest?" She grinned. "You'd have me to watch your back. And to take out the opposition."

Billy's heart skipped two beats... not just from the offer, but from the danger inherent in it, for him and Goodnight. He didn't know how long Pam had been watching, but even if she'd seen everything, it was easy enough to take it as Billy using a smitten rich boy to buy his way into a better life. The less important Goodnight seemed to Billy personally, the safer he was. Which meant he couldn't just refuse Pam's offer.

"Let me think about it," he said quietly. "It's a tempting idea, but it might also be just one more kind of trap. Once we had that wolf by the ears, there would only be one way out... feet first." But they both knew power was its own kind of freedom, if you had the stomach to keep hold of it.

"And you know the nobles sent the guard after the guild because they crossed them," Billy added. "But Goodnight... he's got it bad for me. He'd probably help you just because I asked."

"Unless he decides you asking him for shit makes you more trouble than you're worth," Pam pointed out. "My way is better. I mean, if you still want him, you can always keep him around as a pet. No one would give a fuck." The more she thought about the idea, the better she liked it. Billy could hold Adolfo's spot - he was the best, and everyone knew it. Plus, if Billy was in charge, he'd find a way to free her - or if he couldn't, would at least make things as easy on her as he could. She really couldn't ask for more than that.

Billy snorted. "If he pulls that cack then I know for sure what he's keeping me around for, and we go with your plan."

"Because there's any doubt?" Pam stared at him incredulously, then paused and tilted her head. "You think he's keeping you around for more than that," she stated rather than asked, but the edge was gone from her voice. Because she had a sneaking suspicion it was possible that Billy not only thought that, but that he wanted it to be true.

"Of course he is." Billy gave her a reproachful look. "I'm useful around here, whether his father likes to admit it or not. Or did you think I'd become a kept pet myself?"

"I don't know what you're thinking these days," Pam pointed out. She would have never though Billy would leave the Guild like this, let alone stand by and watch it be taken out. "But either way, I believe you'd let him think he was keeping you as a pet while you figured out what to do next."

"Hm." Billy let that pass; going down that road risked giving away too much. "That's fair," he said. "But I'd still prefer to ask him first. See what we can get out of it without getting up to our knees in guild politics first."

"Fine, ask." Pam met his eyes with a pointed look. "Just don't take too long about it. Sooner or later, someone's going to take over the Guild, and you know as well as I do what the first thing they'll do is." After all, why have an invisible, intangible assassin at your beck and call if not to send her to kill the people who'd all but destroyed the Guild in the first place.

Billy nodded. He understood... but it wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Goodnight, even if they had to run with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

"In the morning, then. Come back tomorrow night? I want him to meet you. To know you're a real person, and not just a terrifying assassin."

"I haven't been a person in years," Pam disputed softly, but there wasn't any anger left in it. What was done was done; part of her had even wanted it, then. Now...if there was any chance of it being undone, she had to grasp at it. But she wasn't getting her hopes up.

She let herself dissipate, what passed for visibility slowly melting away. "Open the window, huh?"

Billy obeyed, standing in place as a warm breeze rushed out and the cold air seeped in. He shut the window when the night had gone still again, then slipped back into bed. He wrapped his arms around Goody again, mind racing. He'd already made his choice... but he'd do whatever he could to save them both.