Stand by me.

Rook was starting to black out. "Immallergictaassperin" Rook slurred lightly before he passed out, slumped in the front seat. He never got a chance to tell Ajax that he was terrified of needles.

Ajax started the car and it roared to life. As he sped out of the driveway and to his good friend's house, he tried his best not to think of the bleeding boy in his passenger seat. He tried not to think of anything but keeping the car between the lines on the road. Nothing but the familiar route to the small, quaint church on the outskirts of town.

Before he knew it, he was pulling into Aurelius' driveway. His thoughts instantly returned to poor Rook, and he scooped the boy up in his arms again and ran inside with him. He knew Aurelius would be there. Somehow, he always knew when Ajax was coming to see him, and he was always prepared for whatever occasioned the visit. He was right, of course. Aurey was coming down the stairs as Ajax, lacking a free hand, roughly kicked the front door open.

"Bring him to the living room," he said, without asking a single question. He didn't need to know what had caused the accident, or even who the boy was. All that he needed to know was that someone was in need.

Ajax gently laid Rook down on the sofa, his still-bleeding hand hanging off the side so as to not get blood all over Aurey's nice, white furniture. He knelt at Rook's side and gave a desperate glance upward to the fair, gentle-looking blonde. "I didn't know where else to turn. He wouldn't have made it to the hospital. There's just too much blood..."

Aurey's smile was gentle and kind as he knelt on the floor to examine the boy's hand. "You did well to bring him to me Ajax. I'll make sure that he's okay. If the Heavenly Father intended for the boy to die today, he wouldn't have made it to me. You have nothing to worry about, my friend." He cast a sideways glance to Ajax, a knowing look in his eyes. "I know how hard this must be for you."

Ajax looked away sharply, ashamed. He realized, of course, that Aurelius was aware of his bloodlust, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing. It was a thing that he would gladly forget himself, if he were given the chance. His lust for human blood was an eternal shame for him. Of course, the last thing he would ever want to do would be to hurt poor Rook (he is such a sweet, helpful boy) but with all of that blood everywhere (On me. It's on me.) it was hard to suppress his more animalistic urges. Aurey was right. It was terribly hard; and it pained him to know that Aurelius knew just how hard it was.

Aurey took Rook's injured hand between his own small, delicate ones and closed his eyes. The wound was deep. The boy had already lost a lot of blood, and several of the bones were broken. This would be a difficult heal, he knew, and there could be some pain, or even slight scarring, left when it was finished, but the boy could be saved. He wouldn't bleed to death. He would simply need some tender, loving care for a while afterward.

Aurelius' body relaxed and began to glow softly; it wasn't so much a glow that you could see as it was one that you could feel. He seemed, for the moment, to radiate strength, protection, and simple goodness. For just a second, the space behind him was lit by a multitude of beautiful, glowing, golden-feathered wings, and then they disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared. The warm glow that had filled Aurey's body transferred itself into the wound on Rook's hand, and the muscle fibers began to knit back together, the bones aligning themselves and re-fusing into a solid, sturdy mass.

His work done, Aurey released Rook's hand and let it fall limply at the side of the couch. He got to his feet, dusting off his white pants, and extended a hand to help Ajax up as well. "Let me fix you a cup of coffee while he recuperates."

Rook woke slowly. Even though the boy had an I.Q. of over two hundred, the first thing out of his mouth when he sat up was: "Where's my shirt?"

As the events came back to him, Rook looked at his hand (after a quick assessment of his surroundings of course).

There was a nice thick scar around his entire hand where it had been slammed in the hood of the car. It looked weeks old rather than hours and he wasn't quite sure how it got that way. "Weird... this doesn't look like May's place..." He muttered to himself.

He stood up, looking around his surroundings once again. It definitely wasn't May's house, she had old worn furniture. And it wasn't 'Sho's house either, the decorations tied in with each other too well. He could still be at Ajax's cathedral, he didn't remember seeing much of the house besides the garage and where Ronnie showed him.

He recalled Ajax saying that a lot of people stayed at the cathedral. That was a good way to check, he could call for someone. He nodded to himself. Yeah, that was a good idea.

"Hello?" He called out after taking a deep breath. "Anybody here?"

Ajax heard Rook's voice calling from the room, and instantly rushed to his feet, knocking his coffee cup off of the table in the process. He cursed under his breath as the hot beverage spilled on his leg, but he wasn't really concerned with it. He hurried to go to Rook and reassure him that he wasn't, in fact, alone in a strange place.

"Rook!" he cried in delight upon seeing the boy on his feet. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He reflexively wrapped his arms around the boy in a tight, friendly hug, suddenly overcome by his mother-hen-like tendencies.

Aurey followed his from the kitchen, not worried at all about the mess Ajax had made, and stood in the doorway to watch the pair. He smiled to himself, glad for both the fact that Rook was feeling alright and that Ajax hadn't changed in the least bit since they'd last seen each other. He was surprised that Ajax didn't have more people at the Cathedral than he did. Ajax just seemed the type to take in any stray that he found, no matter what their species was.

"Did I forget to mention that I'm prone to excessive bleeding?" Rook asked sheepishly with a small blush. "I have low blood pressure and thin blood, so this isn't all that unusual. What I really hope is that Ronnie can clean the blood off the car..."

Rook suddenly noticed Aurey. "Oh, Hello there" He smiled warmly, or rather as warmly as possible when you're standing half naked and covered in sweat mixed with your own blood in places. "I'm Rook. I fix things" He shifted nervously. "Is this your house?" He asked, trying to ease the awkwardness he suddenly felt. "If it is, I'm sorry but I think I got blood on your couch... I, um, I'm not sure if that'll come out..."

Aurey smiled kindly at the poor, nervous boy. "Don't worry about it, dear. I'm just glad that you're alright. How does your hand feel?" He wasn't at all worried about the blood on the couch. Vinegar would take that right out, as would baking soda. He could get any stain out of anything. That was a valuable skill when you were a healer.

Ajax gave Rook another comforting squeeze. "Rook, this is Aurelius Vindicinte. He's the one who fixed your hand." He beamed happily at Aurey. It was good to have such a wonderfully reliable friend. It was a right shame that most of his visits had negative connotations. He could never seem to find the time to come and visit Aurey unless it was an emergency, and that was a sad thing. The two of them had been close for years.

"Oh, nice to meet you Aurey." Rook smiled a little brighter. "You wouldn't happen to have any bandages would you? My hand's still a little tender and I want to wrap it so I can get back to work. See, Ajax hired me to fix his vintage cars and I promised I'd have them done by dinner..." He looked thoughtful "Actually, if you have anything that needs fixed around here I can do it to repay you. I'm good with technology, a technopath if you will"

Aurey chuckled, an infectiously joyful sound, and flashed Rook a beaming smile. "A technopath! What an interesting ability! Ajax, are you going to keep this one, too?"

Ajax smiled sheepishly in response. "If he wants to stay at the Cathedral, he's certainly more than welcome. But I wouldn't say that I plan to keep him. I didn't know that he was anything more than an exceptionally talented human, until now." He turned suddenly to look at Rook. "I'm surprised I couldn't tell when I met you.... Usually I can pick non-humans and humans with special abilities out of a crowd with no problem at all. I would never have suspected..."

"Really? I could tell when you brought him in, and he wasn't even conscious." Aurey said in surprise. "You really didn't know? You must have been distracted by something."

Rook blinked at him stupidly. Normally he would have understood right away, but he was suffering from minor blood loss. A look of realization finally cam over him a moment later. "O~h! You mean you're like the 'Sho-ster!" He grinned "You can tell which of us in the world are 'gifted' like me and Mays. Okay I get it." He nodded. "Cool, I can tell Nosho about you and stuff." He paused "But um... Before I try to absorb anything else... Is my shirt here?"

Aurey chuckled a little and nodded. "Yes. It's in the laundry right now. It was just a little bloodstained." Ajax raised an eyebrow at him as if to say 'just a little?'

Ajax headed over to Aurey's refrigerator and opened the door, peering inside, "Rook, you need to eat something sweet after losing so much blood."

"Um..." Rook shifted where he stood "Okay... Usually I just have a glass of orange juice. That's high in sugar right?" He asked. His pants were starting to slide down his hips, letting the very top of a tattoo show at the waistline of his jeans.

Ajax gave him a stern look. "It is, but you need something more than that right now. Rook, you lost a lot of blood. I'm not going to be responsible for you passing out. So come over here and find yourself a snack."

"Okay" Rook mumbled. He walked over, next to Ajax, before pulling his pants up and crouching down to look in the fridge. There was a large sun tattoo on his back right shoulder blade. "Leafy greens are supposed to be good for the production of red blood cells." He stated as his eyes scanned the contents of the fridge. He finally decided on a pudding cup. "How's this?" He asked

Ajax nodded and smiled warmly. "It'll do. Do you want to lay down for a while after you eat?"

"Not really." Rook shrugged. "I feel fine."

Ajax frowned, unsure of whether to push Rook to rest or just leave him be. "Well, if you're sure..." he said. "Do you want me to drive you home, Rook? I can bring you your tools later tonight. Or you're certainly more than welcome to come home with me and join us for dinner."

"I still have to finish your cars" Rook stated. "I can't go home. I promised to get it done today. I can't go back on my word, it discredits me as a businessman."

"Are you sure, Rook?" Ajax asked, a concerned look on his face. "I mean, certainly under the circumstances you could hold off until tomorrow, couldn't you? It would give you some time to rest..."

Aurey put a hand gently on Ajax's shoulder and smiled at him knowingly. "From the sound of things, my friend, I don't think you're going to be able to sway him on this. He seems like the type who, once he's made a decision, sticks to it. Kind of like you, you know?"

"Well... In that case... I suppose I'll let you get to your work. But only if you'll stay and have dinner with us tonight. Deal?"

"Okay" Rook chirped happily. "I never turn down a free meal, plus this gives me a chance to get to know you better. Nosho always says its good to know those you trust, and Right about now I'm pretty sure I can trust you." He held up his hand as if to prove his point.

Ajax smiled, pleased, and put an arm around Rook's shoulders. "I'm pleased to hear that, Rook. If you're ready, we can leave now."

Rook smiled and nodded, bending his knees so it was easier for the shorter male to have his arm around him. "Sure thing, I just need my shirt." He looked to Aurey with a big smile. "Thanks for the pudding cup. If anything ever needs fixed around here, just drop my shop a call." He fished a business card out of his pocket and handed it to him. "First repair's always on the house." he grinned

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Rook toiled away at the open back to the radio that Ajax had asked him to fix. He was seated on the floor with the thing in his lap (his legs were going numb) and was bent over it with thick glasses on and tweezers and a saudering gun in his hands. He was having trouble concentrating though, his mind more on the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Ajax walked over to stand behind Rook, looking down over his shoulder to the innards of the radio. "If it's too difficult to fix, Rook, you don't have to. It's not really necessary; I've just had it for a while and would like to see it working again..." He bit his lip and looked thoughtful, wondering if maybe he was asking too much of the boy. After all, he'd already done so much for him.

"Its not too hard, its just time consuming. All the little connections have worn out inside and I have to re-sauder them all." Rook stated. He sighed and set his tools aside and moved the radio out of his lap to take a small break; he'd been at it for nearly two hours. "And it doesn't help that I'm distracted" he added as he took his thick magnifier glasses off. "I think that's why I've been taking so long to get things done the past week or so."

"Distracted?" he asked, frowning. "Distracted by what? Girlfriend trouble?" He tried not to sound hopeful about that; if Rook had a girlfriend, it would go a long way to relieve some of the guilt and distress he'd been feeling as of late. He was really very fond of Rook, and he was starting to get very attached; too attached, in fact. And bad things tended to happen to the people that he was attached to. The last thing he wanted was for something unfortunate to happen to someone as sweet and innocent as Rook.

"Girlfriend trou-Nah" Rook chuckled. "Single as an amoeba. Fleur and I agreed we were better off as just friends a long time ago." He smiled up at Ajax and rubbed his stomach absently. "Nah, what's distracting me lately is just a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, not unpleasant, just... Distracting. It always seems to get stronger when you ask me to fix something." He frowned slightly. "Do you know what's wrong with me?"