Leo came in through the back door of the dojo. He was in a bit of a daze. He wasn’t really entirely certain how he’d managed to make it back unscathed. He was pretty sure he’d nearly walked into traffic a couple of times there.

He supposed he had his training to thank for that. His reflexes and passive awareness of his environment made it pretty much impossible to get run over despite his current state. He’d gotten pretty close, though.

Leo kept thinking back to what had just happened with Yuri. It hadn’t hit him until he was halfway out of the student residences that he’d just gotten fucked. Supposed straight guy that he was, he’d just had a guy’s dick up his asshole, and he’d enjoyed it.

For someone that had been pretty confident in his heterosexuality up until just a few days ago, it was a pretty big step. He’d always been vaguely aware of how it would work with two guys. He’d seen anal sex—in straight porn. He’d just never really thought it applied to him.

Never, in a hundred years, would Leo have imagined that he would one day get his cherry popped. He hadn’t even been strictly aware that he had a cherry to pop.

He touched his ass. He still remembered how it felt to have Yuri’s hips slamming into his. His hole was even still tender, the inside of his thighs sticky and damp with the cum that had been leaking out of him.

It was strange. Leo didn’t feel the slightest bit regretful. If anything, he was looking forward to the repeat that Yuri had promised. And there was a part of him that wanted to do the same thing with McInnes.

If he was supposed to be a straight guy, he was doing a pretty awful job acting like it. The only thing was, he was finding more and more that he didn’t care.

It was funny. Leo had always dismissed the occasional story he came across of “gay awakenings”. He never imagined those were real, that the guys in those stories must have had some inkling that they were different before they had their big realization. Here he was, living out his own “gay awakening” and suddenly, those stories seemed a lot more plausible.

He saw out of the corner of his eye that Derek was at the front, probably teaching a class. Although, come to think of it, it was the wrong day for Derek to be having a class at this hour. Usually it would be a bunch of guys around Leo’s age—the advanced class—but they weren’t supposed to be in until tomorrow.

Leo crept closer to the door and peered through the window. It seemed Derek was teaching a special session. There were a bunch of grown men in there. He hadn’t been aware that Derek was taking on an adult class.

The weird thing was that Derek was shirtless. His muscular body was glistening in the light.

From his vantage point, Leo could see Derek’s shirt. It was on the mat next to Derek. It seemed pretty damp, which he supposed was a decent enough reason to take it off. Teaching a class while shirtless just didn’t seem like a very Derek thing to do.

Not that Leo was complaining, though. He’d never really paid close attention before, but Derek was fucking hot.

His cock ached. It took him getting halfway from the university to the dojo before his dick went down, and it didn’t even go soft all the way. Now, he was as stiff as a steel rod again, and all because of his brother’s hot, sweaty torso.

It took all of Leo’s willpower to stifle the moan that threatened to spill from him. Derek’s arms were huge. He couldn’t help but imagine those meaty hands pinning his wrists above his head, that muscular hunk of a man having his way with him.

His heart raced as he reached between his legs to rub his erection through his pants. He fantasized about having Derek’s bulk pinning him against the wall.

Leo had seen Derek naked. Not hard, but he could imagine. Big as Derek was, he imagined Derek could fuck him harder than Yuri could. Hell, Derek could probably fuck harder than Bart.

He chewed on his lower lip. He knew Derek was probably the tender sort of lover. His brother was huge, but more of a teddy bear deep down than anything else.

There was just that thought of “What if?” in Leo’s head. What if Derek wasn’t gentle with him? Gods. His hole would probably end up very sore the next day. He would probably be hoping that his pelvis didn’t snap in half every time Derek’s dick slammed into him.

Leo swallowed his moan. The last thing he wanted was for Derek to notice him. His cheeks were hot. His ears were burning. They might not have been related by blood, but it was still wrong. And yet, he couldn’t help himself.

It was difficult to imagine how Derek might react if he discovered Leo in this state. He would probably be very angry. He would probably subject Leo to a legendary dressing down.

And then a naughty little thought crossed Leo’s traitorous mind and he very nearly lost his composure. He couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, Derek would be so incensed about being perved on by his brother that he would throw Leo against the wall and fuck him nice and hard to teach him a lesson.

Leo chewed on the knuckles of his free hand. It was all he could do not to let out a delirious moan. Maybe Bart had been right about him being a pervert. If he’d seen anyone doing what he was, he’d have called them a pervert too.

He shook his head. He had to get a grip. But then again, it seemed like he wasn’t the only one admiring Derek’s hard physique.

All those adult students were being weird with Derek. They were getting really handsy, touching all over his arms, chest, and stomach. Leo couldn’t properly see from where he was standing but he was pretty sure one of the guys had a hand on Derek’s ass.

Leo’s eyes widened. He couldn’t understand why Derek wasn’t fighting back. This was far from appropriate behavior. Derek was supposed to be a damned stickler for the rules and yet he wasn’t saying a word to the men getting really familiar with him.

He could just about make out what was being said through the door. The students were ribbing Derek, asking if he had a girlfriend—or maybe a boyfriend, even. They questioned his routine, how he worked out, how often he went to the gym, and what he ate. It was as if they were more interested in Derek’s body than they were the lesson.

Derek, for his part, was uncharacteristically amicable to the way these guys were acting. It was almost as if he enjoyed the way they were all but toying with him.

The more that Leo watched, the more he realized that Derek was actually telling them off but Derek was being half-hearted about it, at best. It was weird and not at all like the brother that he knew. It made him feel like a voyeur.

He turned away from the door and went up the stairs to their residence above the dojo. He couldn’t bear to watch any longer. His imagination was running wild and he was so horny he was fit to burst.

“I’m home!” Leo called out as soon as he got upstairs. No one answered, so they must have all been out or too busy to respond.

He made for his bedroom, just in case. He needed some peace and quiet in his own space to process everything that had just happened. That, and he needed to jerk off before he exploded.

It was as he was walking past the living room that Leo finally realized why VNM sounded so familiar. Marcus had mentioned it offhand. He couldn’t remember the details, exactly, only that Marcus had gone undercover at a local club to investigate it.

If anyone knew what the stuff did, it was Marcus. He needed to check in case Marcus was home. Jerking off will have to wait but not for very long, hopefully. As much as he was desperate to get his rocks off, he needed to make sure that Yuri wasn’t getting himself in any major trouble.

As he approached Marcus’ room, he heard the strains of what was probably club music. The bass-line was so deep he could feel it in his bones. Their rooms were supposed to be pretty soundproof, though, so either Marcus was playing the music really loud, or Marcus hadn’t closed the door properly.

Leo noticed it was the latter. The door was most of the way closed, but Marcus hadn’t latched it. Not wanting to disturb whatever Marcus was up to, he crept up to the door and peeked in through the crack.

He had to bite down another moan when he saw Marcus doing a strip show in front of his laptop. He’d come at just the right time to see Marcus peel off a vest.

Leo groaned under his breath. The music was loud, but there was no guarantee Marcus wouldn’t hear him, so he tried to keep as quiet as he could.

Marcus had always been a lot more liberal about sex than the rest of them. If anyone was going to be a cam boy, it wasn’t much of a surprise that it was Marcus. Although, since he couldn’t see the screen, Leo couldn’t be sure that Marcus was broadcasting.

Maybe Marcus was just recording for practice. Leo didn’t know. He hadn’t really looked into the club that Marcus took a job at to work undercover. He supposed it made sense, though. Marcus definitely had the build and the looks to pass as a go-go boy or stripper.

Leo couldn’t look away. He watched Marcus’ hips gyrate as if he were spellbound. He hadn’t known that Marcus owned such a sparkly pair of briefs, though then again, he’d never made his brothers’ underwear any of his business.

Marcus turned around and raised his arms above his head. He was throwing it back to the beat of the music and the pouch in the front jiggled and danced as he shook his hips.

If Leo had been horny before, Marcus’ little show had just dialed it up to 11. He couldn’t tear himself away. He was just lucky the music was so loud because Marcus would have definitely heard his heavy breathing if it weren’t.

He’d never thought of his brothers in a sexual way before, but it was as if he’d suddenly had his eyes opened to just how fucking hot they were. Derek was built like a brick shithouse. Marcus wasn’t as huge but his body was still delicious, with all those hard muscles and sexy angles.

Leo didn’t manage to tear himself away from Marcus’ door until Marcus had hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his sequined briefs. The teasing reveal of the top of Marcus’ ass crack nearly sent Leo into a frenzy. He couldn’t take any more of it.

Reluctantly, he backed away and sprinted to his room. He closed the door behind him, his heart hammering in his chest. Forget about asking for VNM. What he needed was relief.

Leo was already rubbing himself through his pants before he’d even worked the button open. He cursed through his teeth at how clumsy he suddenly felt. He needed to get to his cock and he needed to get his pants out of the way.

Frustrated that his fingers weren’t working the way he wanted them to, he used his powers to repel the button away from his body with as much force as he could muster. It flew off and plinked against the concrete wall, much to his blessed relief.

Leo shed his backpack and shirt as quickly as he could, stumbling over his own feet as he stripped out of his pants while making his way to the bed. He jumped onto the mattress, landing naked on top of the sheets.

The mattress hadn’t even settled under him and his hand was already flying up and down his shaft. Gods help him. He was surrounded by such hot men.

Leo hadn’t even noticed how hot they were until recently. He didn’t know how he was going to be able to stand it. “Fuck, Sir,” he moaned, eyes scrunched shut as he fantasized about McInnes keeping him behind after class just to bend him over the front row of desks and rail him.

---

It took Leo a while to get a handle on his libido and by the time that he did, his room smelled like a gym locker. He didn’t think he’d ever come so many times in quick succession before. He was pretty sure he was supposed to have a refractory period.

He’d made a huge mess. It was going to be such a hassle to clean up. And just because he’d gotten a handle on it, it didn’t mean that his horniness was gone. His cock stayed half-hard.

Leo stumbled out of his room. It was properly dark outside, now. Marcus had probably already gone off to work. Tristan might have been home, but he wasn’t sure. Derek was probably doing some administrative work in Trevor’s office.

The only person out and about was Trevor. He must have come home at some point while Leo was frantically beating his meat.

Trevor was in the living room. He was sitting on the couch, legs crossed. He was holding the remote in one hand, which he had hanging off his knee. His other arm was draped over the back of the couch.

“Hey. How was your nap?” said Trevor, giving Leo a small smile when he noticed him come in.

A tinge of pink crept into Leo’s cheeks. “I-it was good,” he said as he walked over. He tried not to be so obvious as he looked his dad up and down.

Trevor’s build was similar to Derek’s, just considerably bigger. Right now, he was wearing a stringer tank top that showed off his firm pecs very well. He was also wearing running shorts—the kind that were so short they could barely cover a regular guy’s cheeks, much less Trevor’s toned ass. The kind with a slit on the side because they just weren’t slutty enough.

“Do you like it?” said Trevor. He jerked his head toward the TV before patting the space on the couch next to him.

Leo reluctantly took a seat, taking care to cover the slight tent his half-hard cock made in his briefs. He’d been staring so intently at Trevor that for a moment he thought that Trevor was asking about the show that was on the TV. It took him another few moments to process that their old TV had been replaced.

Mounted on the wall was a huge, incredibly vivid display the likes of which he’d only ever seen in electronics stores and movies. He was amazed. Not just at the TV but at the fact that he hadn’t heard a thing while it was being installed.

Leo turned to Trevor. “That looks amazing, Dad,” he said. “But where did it come from? Did you win it in a raffle or something?”

Trevor laughed. “I bought it,” he said.

“Bought it?” Leo’s eyes were wide. “With what money, Dad?”

Trevor put a hand on Leo’s shoulder and chuckled. “We don’t have to worry about that, now. My new job is paying really well. We can afford some luxuries now. We can eat well every day, if we want to.”

Leo’s heart skipped a beat. Trevor certainly knew what buttons to push. He was a lot more food-motivated than his brothers. Perks of being a growing boy, he supposed.

“I dunno if I’m ready for that, Dad,” he said solemnly, before cracking a grin and adding, “I don’t want to get fat.”

Trevor squeezed Leo’s shoulder and laughed. “It’d be a good excuse for me to run you twice as ragged in training, then,” he said.

Gods, what a ghastly prospect, Leo thought to himself as a comfortable but still somewhat tense silence descended between the two of them.

Trevor turned his gaze away from the TV to look at Leo. A small smile tugged on his lips as he said, “So, how are you doing at school?”

The faint blush on Leo’s cheeks returned. “Um. Pretty well, I guess. I’m keeping up. Made a few friends. It’s been a pretty good experience, all in all.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” said Trevor while quirking an eyebrow.

The tinge of pink turned into a darker shade of red. “I-it’s nothing, Dad, really. It’s personal. I-I’ll deal with it. It’s nothing big.”

Trevor moved his hand down from Leo’s should, his fingers trailing lightly along the length of Leo’s arm. He placed it on Leo’s thigh and squeezed. “Well, I’m here to talk if you need me. You can tell me about anything. Anything at all.”

Leo couldn’t even respond. He could only stare at Trevor’s hand. He told himself it was just an innocent, accidental thing but his body didn’t seem to care.

His cock rapidly stiffened as Trevor lightly rubbed his thigh. “I-it’s really not a big deal, Dad,” he said, his voice strained as he fought down his arousal and the urge to moan.

Trevor wasn’t helping. His hand slid further up Leo’s thigh, his fingers all but grazing Leo’s sack. The way he was squeezing wasn’t helping the problem, either.

Leo closed his eyes. He took a breath. He had to redirect, and he supposed there was something that he needed to get advice on: McInnes.

If anyone was going to give Leo a straight answer, it was Trevor. His adoptive father had always been an upstanding guy in Leo’s eyes. Trevor would probably tell him that he has to make his own choices, but also remind him of what the right thing to do would be.

“A-actually… I was hoping you might be able to give me some advice, Dad,” said Leo, gulping audibly.

Trevor beamed at Leo. “I’d be happy to,” he said. His voice dropped lower, taking on an earthier, huskier character that sounded almost seductive. “Anything my son needs, I’ll give him,” he said as his hand slid even higher, all but rubbing up against Leo’s groin.

Leo struggled with what he was about to say. His mouth was suddenly dry. But he fought through it, desperately ignoring the pulsing need between his legs. “W-what should I do if I get interested in someone that I probably, strictly, technically, am not supposed to get involved with?”

Trevor raised an eyebrow. His voice was low and husky still. “Is it a professor?” he said. He sounded more intrigued than anything else when he asked the question. “You know, I’ve heard it’s pretty normal for college guys to get infatuated with hot, busty professors and TAs.”

Leo hung his head. Fuck. Trevor was getting him so fucking horny. “I-it is, Dad,” he said. “A-and this instructor isn’t busty… It’s a guy.”

He glanced over at Trevor’s practically exposed and certainly well endowed chest. “W-well, he might be a little… Maybe a decent bit busty.”

McInnes did wear form-fitting clothes. Sure, it was hard to tell sometimes under all the layers, but he was pretty sure McInnes was pretty swole under it all.

Trevor chuckled. “I don’t care if it’s a guy, buddy. I love you anyway. You know that. You think I care that Marcus probably gets railed regularly?”

He stopped squeezing Leo’s leg. Instead, he used his fingernail to trace large circles on Leo’s thigh. Right next to the bulge in Leo’s briefs. “A crush isn’t a bad thing, you know,” his voice once again dropping to that lower register that sent shivers down Leo’s spine. “It’s pretty harmless.”

“B-but isn’t it wrong for a student to date an instructor, Dad?” Leo said. “I-it’s”—he sucked in a sharp breath as Trevor’s finger lightly brushed against his bulge—“It’s gotta be at least a bit unethical. Balance of power and all of that.”

“Is he interested?” said Trevor.

“I-I don’t know, Dad,” said Leo. “I-I think there’s something there, but I don’t know for certain that he likes me back. I want to go for it so badly. But I’m not sure if I should.”

Trevor shrugged. “You only live once, Leo. Do you want to wait and give someone else the chance to come along and take the chance you didn’t?”

Leo was stunned. He was sure that Trevor would try to dissuade him. Trevor had always been about what was right and what was proper.

“Nothing wrong with shooting your shot. Worst he can say is no. And if it works out, so what if it comes with some perks? The world isn’t fair. You take what advantages you can get,” said Trevor with a laugh.

“Look.” Trevor took a more serious tone of voice as he continued. “As long as you’re not using this guy to get your grades up, it’s fine. Who cares if your relationship makes him grade you a bit more leniently than everyone else? That’s just the benefit of having the man.”

This really wasn’t the advice that Leo had expected from Trevor. He’d hoped that maybe Trevor would tell him no, that trying to get in the instructor’s pants was a bad idea. He’d have been able to put the whole McInnes thing to rest, then, knowing that his dad supported his decision.

Now that Trevor had all but given his blessing for Leo to pursue McInnes, though, it threw everything into whack. The pining he’d been feeling returned at full force.

“T-thanks, Dad,” Leo murmured. “I have a lot to think about now.”

He’d have loved to sit and ruminate over what Trevor had just told him but just then, he heard a distinctive chirp. He glanced at his communicator and saw that he had an alert. It was from McInnes.

“Shit.” Leo jumped up off the couch, knocking Trevor’s hand off his leg. “Sorry, Dad, but I have to go.”

Trevor chuckled. “No rest for the wicked,” he said, shaking his head. “Go.”

---

Leo managed to track McInnes down after some effort but the location being reported was weird. The GPS put McInnes in the woods bordering the Refuge Point Perimeter Highway.

The place was close to the university but he couldn’t think of any reason that McInnes would be out there. He hadn’t pegged McInnes for the type to go on hikes. And besides, he doubted he’d have gotten a distress signal if that was all that it had been.

Leo was fast but he wasn’t a speedster. He made his way over as quickly as he could, following a service road near the spot where McInnes was supposed to be.

One thing that he immediately noticed was McInnes’ car. It had run off the road, but besides the strange location, there was no sign of foul play that Leo could see.

Leo stuck to the shadows and crept around the car to get a better look. He was surprised to see that McInnes was still inside. McInnes was clutching the disc Leo gave him in one hand while futilely pulling at the door handle with the other.

Just as Leo was about to break his cover to try and help McInnes out of the car, a pickup rumbled down the service road. McInnes noticed it too, and honked his horn as soon as he saw the pickup, only to abruptly stop when he realized that the truck didn’t have plates.

Leo had to admire the intuition. He didn’t have a good feeling about the truck, either.

McInnes visibly took a deep breath. He faced forward in his seat, closed his eyes, and pushed the button on the metal disc that Leo had given him.

Gravel crunched as the truck stopped. The doors opened. Given the late hour, the only light in the woods came from the truck’s headlights and the interior lights in McInnes’ car.

Three guys dismounted from the truck. Even though it was dark, Leo could see well enough that he saw them grab baseball bats from the truck.

Leo frowned. The silhouettes matched Bart and his goons but the lot should have still been indisposed. He hadn’t killed them, but he’d injured them pretty badly. Not to mention, they should have been under lock and key if McInnes had done as he’d asked.

Yuri might have been right. The police might not have wanted to touch Bart and the goons, which meant that at this point, only indisputable evidence could take them down.

As much as he hated leaving McInnes in the lurch, however temporarily, Leo started recording the scene. He was banking on Bart and the goons incriminating themselves. Luckily, his bet paid off.

Bart came up to McInnes’ car and tapped the window with his baseball bat. The light from inside illuminated his face perfectly. “Didn’t I tell you that we’d make you pay if you don’t pass my friends and me?” he said with a vicious grin. “I’m here to collect the debt.”

McInnes looked nervous but he wisely held his tongue. He said nothing. He kept his gaze forward and his hands on the wheel. The window remained rolled up, and the door firmly shut.

Bart grabbed the car door handle and laughed. “Did you really think your ugly old beater could keep my friends and me out?” he said. He pulled on the lever and suddenly, the sound of the door unlocking echoed in the silence of the woods.

Leo and McInnes both had the same reaction. Their eyes widened in shock. To his credit, McInnes reacted fast. He immediately grabbed the door handle on his side and tried to keep it shut.

Unfortunately for McInnes, Bart was bigger and stronger. It wasn’t to the point that the car door suddenly flew open, but enough that Bart was making steady progress.

“Last chance to commit, Sir,” said Bart, saying the last thing with such insincerity it sounded disrespectful. “You have until I rip this door open all the way to decide whether you’re gonna pass us.”

McInnes reached over to place Leo’s metal disc on his dashboard. He used both hands to hold the door shut, his arms bulging and straining as he fought against the sheer, raw power that Bart was displaying.

Leo had had enough. He stopped recording. Right now, he had to save McInnes, and he had his doubts that Bart and the goons were going to be very receptive to talking.

Sticking to the shadows, Leo sneaked up behind one of the goons and stuck a disc to the back of the guy’s neck. With the press of a button, the guy crumpled into a heap.

Bart’s other goon noticed. “Bro! Trav just went down!”

“Don’t use our fucking names, idiot!” Bart barked. “Fuck. There’s someone else here. He should have been alone!”

Bart gave up on the door. He picked up his bat and backed up against the car, holding the bat in front of him. “You’re lucky you’ve got a guardian angel, Professor, but you’re not going to be lucky forever!”

Before he stepped out into the beam of light coming from the truck, Leo discreetly stuck one of his taser discs to the leg of goon #2. “He isn’t lucky. He’s innocent. And as long as I’m around, I’m not going to let bullies like you get away with threatening a man’s life.”

Bart rolled his eyes. “Take him down,” he said, giving goon #2 a pointed look before jerking his head in Leo’s direction.

As soon as goon #2 took a single step toward Leo, his whole body went rigid. He fell onto his face on top of the service road, convulsing from the electricity shooting through him.

Bart shook his head. “Gotta do it yourself if you gotta do it properly,” he muttered angrily.

“You can’t do anything to me,” said Leo. “You might think you’re such a big man but you’re not really all that. You’re just a spoiled little brat that’s never been told ‘No’ in his life!”

“I’m gonna break your fucking face. Then we’ll see who’s not ‘all that,’” said Bart. He wound up a swing and then sprinted toward Leo, ready to snap his arms forward to bash Leo’s face in.

Leo caught the bat.

The shock on Bart’s face said it all.

Leo wasn’t the strongest in the family. Far from it. But he was angry. He may have also cheated a bit, using his powers to repel the bat from his palm.

With a grin, Leo crushed the end of Bart’s metal bat with his bare hand. It crumpled like a tin can. “You were saying?” he said.

Before Bart could respond, Leo surged forward. He wasn’t an expert like Marcus was, but he’d picked up a few things over the years. Marcus taught him, after all. His speed made him really effective at it.

Leo struck Bart’s pressure points in quick succession, fully expecting to send Bart to the ground. Bart didn’t fall. He stumbled, eventually slamming his back into the chassis of McInnes’ car. Instead of hurting him, the impact only woke him up.

Roaring, Bart lunged at Leo again, swinging wildly.

Once again, Leo’s greatest asset was his speed. He’d wanted to save these since they were a pain and single-use, but he had no other choice.

He flung a couple of those taser discs at Bart while backing away. As soon as he saw that they had all made contact, he activated them. Moments later, Bart locked up and went down, shaking on the ground.

Leo took only a moment to check that Bart was still alive. Once he was sure, he turned to McInnes. Gently, he opened the door and offered a hand to help McInnes get out. “Are you okay?”

McInnes took the proffered hand and pushed himself out of the car. “Shaken but okay,” he said. “You should see the other guys.”

Leo couldn’t help but smile a bit. That little bit of levity helped cut through the gravity of the situation.

“I can’t express how glad I am to see you,” said McInnes. “There was a moment there that I thought this was it for me.”

A tinge of pink crept into Leo’s cheeks. “I’m glad I got here on time. I don’t know what I’d do if McInnes ended up being hurt… Are you sure you’re okay?”

McInnes nodded. “It wasn’t really a crash,” he said. “The car just kind of… drove off the road.”

Now that Leo had the opportunity to survey the scene, it was weird that there wasn’t any damage to the car. Besides maybe a dent on the bumper, most of it was superficial scratches. “What exactly happened?”

McInnes shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “I was just driving home. Then, with no warning, the car just started driving itself. Took a turn here and then slowly drove itself into a tree.”

Leo nodded thoughtfully. “I’m gonna guess the car locked itself, too?”

McInnes nodded. “I’d have gotten out, otherwise.”

Leo frowned. Someone wanted to keep McInnes here. Bart was the obvious and easy target for blame, but he didn’t think the guy was capable of such an elaborate strategy.

McInnes drove an electric. Internal Combustion cars were basically fossils, these days. The car was decently old, but that was worse from security standpoint.

Leo closed his eyes and took a breath. He extended his senses and immediately spotted the problem. He reached into the wheel well and pulled the culprit off the metal: a small, hexagonal chip. “There’s your problem.”

McInnes squinted at the chip. “What is it?”

He’d not seen this particular model before, but he was familiar. “It’s a backdoor to your car’s systems,” said Leo. “It lets someone remotely take control of your car.”

“That’s possible?” McInnes said. He looked aghast.

Leo nodded. “This tech’s difficult to get a hold of, though. Bart’s rich but not that rich. This means he’s got support from someone else.”

“What?” McInnes seemed genuinely spooked. “Who? Why me? It’s not like I’m anything special. I’m just a doctoral candidate. I’m not even particularly well-off!”

Leo gave in to his impulses just this once. He grabbed McInnes’ hand. “Don’t talk down about yourself like that,” he said. “You’re doing important work and you’re good at what you do. Anyone else would have given in to Bart and his goons just to avoid the trouble. But you’ve stood by your principles. You didn’t even let the threat of violence sway you.”

McInnes gave Leo a small smile that made his heart skip a beat. “I was this close to breaking,” he said. “But I’m just doing my job. And trying to do it well.”

“That’s all anyone can ask for,” said Leo. “And the fact you’re doing it with integrity speaks volumes about your character.”

He scratched the side of his face. “I see how far you go for your students and I admire it. It would be so easy to be like the others who just don’t care but you’re not like them. You care. You care a lot. And you might not know it but that makes all the difference for some of your students.”

McInnes chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you were one of them,” he said.

“O-of course not!” Leo sputtered. He’d come as White Tiger, after all. “I-I don’t study at the university. Totally not one of your kinesiology students. Just happened to be there that night. A-and Leo’s very impressed by you.”

“Leo?” McInnes chuckled. “I didn’t think you two were on a first-name basis.”

“W-we aren’t!” Leo wanted to bury his face in his hands. This was all going so very wrong. “I-I just got the sense that he thought very highly of you. W-when I gave him that communicator.”

“Right. Of course,” said McInnes. He shook his head and squeezed Leo’s hand. "It was a stroke of luck that I met you. I never believed in heroes or fairytales but you’re proving me wrong.

“I never expected that someone would come all this way to save me. But you did. You were my knight in shining armor tonight.”

Leo’s heart was racing. He felt like it might explode at the slightest provocation. “I’ll protect you,” he said. “If there’s ever any trouble in your future, all you’ll have to do is call and I’ll be there.”

It was McInnes’ turn to blush. The pink tinge on his cheeks was barely visible in the dim light, but it was unmistakeable. “I don’t know what I did right to deserve this,” he said. “And I know it’s probably silly but hearing you say those things… It makes me happy.”

Their eyes met. Their faces were so close to each other. Neither of them could resist the pull. They closed their eyes, drawing closer together until they could each feel the other’s breath on their lips.

The sound of slow clapping echoed in the silent woods.

Leo and McInnes all but jumped apart. Leo looked around, his eyes darting, trying to find the source of the noise. His heart was racing. He was so close to kissing McInnes. But instinct overrode the disappointment he was feeling; he had to deal with the threat before they could get back to what they were doing.

A figure stepped out from among the trees. He was wearing a suit that blended in so well with the darkness. The light glinted off the smooth, glossy visor of his helmet, purple circuit lines glowing along the sides.

Leo recognized the man. It was Chimera. His blood ran cold. Chimera had taken him and his brothers down with ease. Without backup, his only option was to try and buy enough time for McInnes to get away.

That little spark of hope was quickly crushed. Chimera wasn’t alone. They were surrounded. Leo knew then that the whole thing hadn’t been about McInnes at all. McInnes was just the bait.

“A knight in shining armor. A damsel in distress. Tender moments in a darkened forest. Two kindred souls drawing inexorably closer together, each practically humming with anticipation for that most sweet reward: a kiss. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more romantic,” said Chimera, his laugh echoing in the tense silence.

“Don’t you agree, boys? It was picture-perfect. These two lovebirds standing in a crashed car’s headlights, pulling closer and closer together. Man. I wish I had my camera.”

“What do you want?” said Leo. He put himself between McInnes and Chimera. “Stay close to me,” he said as he held one arm out behind him to protect McInnes. Turning back to Chimera, he said, “I won’t let you hurt him.”

Chimera chuckled. “I only have a passing interest in him. My target is you. And you were so kind to deliver yourself to me. Your beau is just a bonus. The cherry on top, so to speak.”

“No one touches him!” Leo growled, the truck Bart and the goons had come in creaking as he tried to influence it with his powers.

“I’m more interested in touching you, White Tiger. Touching you in ways you will never forget,” said Chimera with a laugh as he raised his arm. Purple lines glowed along his bracer as a forearm-mounted dart gun emerged from his suit.

Leo managed to catch the dart that came right at his face. “You’re going to have to do better than that,” he said.

“I got what I wanted,” said Chimera with a smirk.

Leo felt McInnes slump against him. He looked behind him in shock and noticed a second, smaller dart sticking out of the side of McInnes’ neck. He tried to grab it but Chimera clicked his tongue.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Chimera. “It’s barbed, you see. You’ll only cause more damage if you try to rip it out. I can take it out but I don’t quite feel like doing that right now.”

The metal in the truck’s chassis squealed as it began to buckle. The tires crunched as the entire vehicle shifted. Leo had never tried to move whole cars before, but he was just so angry, he could feel his powers working harder than ever.

Chimera’s henchmen shuffled nervously but Chimera himself didn’t seem all that perturbed. Suddenly, Leo felt a sharp pain in his neck. He’d been so focused on trying to use the truck as a weapon that he’d failed to notice someone was lining up a shot on him.

Before Leo could circulate his inner energy to expel the toxins flooding into his bloodstream, a wave of intense, overwhelming sleepiness washed over him. He reached out in vain, pushing himself harder than he had ever pushed himself before, hoping to ram the truck into Chimera.

The pickup shifted an inch before Leo’s grip on it broke. The last thing he saw before the world went dark was Chimera crouching next to him and looking down at his face. He swore he saw a smirk through the tinted polyglass.