Work Text
“Anomaly?”
Anomaly froze in his tracks.
No. No it
couldn’t
be. But it
was
. Anomaly knew that voice anywhere, he knew exactly who that was. He has no idea how he found him. He was
sure
he left no trace of a trail. He moved around often (especially right after he got out of the Navy), no paperwork; false names and addresses when he had to leave them at all. He used his own name now, but Plo was very good about keeping that information out of the public records.
Anomaly turned around slowly to face his past.
-------
NJ walked into the main room at the club he found. It was his last hope, every other minor lead dried up before it even started. This was honestly a hail mary, but it was the best he had in awhile.
There. A flash of silver. NJ knew that hair anywhere. He quickly caught up.
“Anomaly?”
Gods, he turned so slowly, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but his face was almost completely neutral when he fully faced NJ. Except there was something in the eyes; fear, hope; some mixture of the two. NJ wasn’t the only one who noticed. He saw Anomaly give a small shake of his head to one of the big kilted bouncers, the one with the cybernetic eye; who frowned but stayed back.
Anomaly searched NJ’s face, and must have seen something that convinced him, because he said softly before turning, “Come to the back, we need to talk.”
Anomaly lead NJ to one of the small private rooms and shut the door when they were inside. He took a deep breath like he was stealing himself to say something. What he said didn’t really surprise NJ, but
how
he said it did. He sounded so
torn
. Like he was both overjoyed to see NJ, but devastated that he had been found. They had been extremely close back in their military days, practically inseparable, and then Anomaly had the accident.
“
Why
?” Hearing Anomaly’s voice crack broke NJ’s heart. “Why did you come looking for me?” He hadn’t brought himself to turn around.
“Because you
almost died
.” Anomaly must have heard the hurt in his voice because he finally turned to face NJ. “You almost died, and I wasn’t there. I wasn’t at your wing like I should have been. The last I heard you had been in this terrible crash, and by the time I had been able to get to you, you were just
gone
. As soon as you were discharged from the Navy you just fucking vanished into thin air. I had no real idea of what had happened, or how you were, except for rumors.” Anomaly had finally stepped close, close enough to touch, so NJ reached out to hold his hand. His metal hand happened to be closer, that didn’t matter to him. Anomaly was Anomaly, metal and flesh alike.
“I
needed
to see you, I needed to
know
what happened. Gods, An’ika, I
missed
you, so fucking much.” NJ’s own voice cracked, tears, as of yet unshed, clinging to his eyelashes, making it difficult to see. Which meant NJ was surprised when he felt Anomaly abruptly wrap his arms around him. NJ hugged him back just as fiercely.
NJ had no idea how long they stayed that way, but they eventually separated, and sat down. Anomaly was holding his hand again, and reached up with his metal one to brush the tears from NJ’s cheek. NJ leaned into the touch, he couldn’t even begin to express how much he missed this, how much he missed
him
.
-------
Anomaly couldn’t bring himself to face NJ when he shut the door to the private room. He was in complete turmoil. NJ was just as beautiful as he ever was, dark golden hair loose around his shoulders, what looked like an extension of his old tattoos peeking out from under his sleeves and collar, those light golden eyes that could pierce Anomaly to his very core. Just seeing him was shaking something loose in Anomaly’s chest that he thought he lost a long time ago.
Anomaly hated how his traitor voice broke when he asked NJ why he came looking for him.
“Because you
almost died
.” Anomaly finally faced NJ at that. The hurt, the absolute anguish in his voice. NJ had been genuinely distraught over what had happened, he genuinely missed and cared about him. There was no way to fake that kind of emotion, especially not NJ. He had always been earnest, and honest.
It was almost painful to listen to NJ explain, but Anomaly couldn’t help but step closer as he talked. Anomaly’s breath caught when NJ reached out to take hold of his hand,
his metal hand
, like it was nothing. Just like he would have done when they were younger, when Anomaly was still whole.
Seeing NJ on the verge of tears, voice cracking, was too much for Anomaly to resist; he wrapped his arms around NJ and held him close. They stayed that way for quite some time. When Anomaly reached up to brush NJ’s tears away, he realized belatedly that it was with his metal hand. Rather than flinching away, like Anomaly had expected to (he was used to it due to how many clients shied away from his prosthesis), NJ had leaned into his touch. Something about the way he closed his eyes, and
trusted
Anomaly. Even after all this time, and all he had done, he still
cared
for him. Whatever had come loose in his chest, cracked open, allowing Anomaly to feel, and couldn’t stop the tears, as he apologized to NJ over and over again.
“I’m sorry, Jay’ika. I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t stay. I was
broken
, beyond repair. I couldn’t let you see me like that.” NJ hushed him gently, holding him close.
“It’s okay. I’m here now. I can stay as long as you want me to.” NJ ran his hand through Anomaly’s hair, and it felt as good as it always used to. Maybe he could let past back into his life, at least this part of it.