Lion’s gasp of surprise filled the warehouse. The horrible groan, the twisting of aged metal, the shriek of the catwalk as it crumbled and warped, cut through Jack’s brain.

Luna screamed in response. She looked away, clearly not wanting to see the horrible massacre, the broken body of the man below.

Jack couldn’t look away. He expected the worst but somehow, because Lion was a survivor, because he had always beaten the odds, he hung on. His one hand clasped the twisted rail, his other hand scrabbled for a foothold as his body swung uselessly below.

It was a good twenty feet down to the hard concrete floor below. Lion would never survive the fall.

Jack’s eyes swivelled to what remained of the catwalk. It was twisted, caving in, screeching and groaning as the seconds ticked by. He knew it would never support his weight. There was no chance…

And yet, before his brain even registered what was happening, his feet were moving. Luna’s screams echoed through his ears. Her pleas and sobs echoed loudly through the warehouse, though in reality her voice was probably little more than a whisper.

He moved, faster and with more surety than any man probably going up to his death had a right to move. His hands grasped the cool metal. The rust slicked off on his palm, staining his skin orange.

He deftly mounted the steps and made his way to the catwalk. He was careful, dropping to his belly when the thing swayed dangerously below him, groaning and screeching its high-pitched wail of destructive protest.

Lion was only ten feet away but those ten feet, crawling like a worm in the dust, were the longest of Jack’s life.

Luna’s voice was silent below. He couldn’t think of her. He had to block her from his mind. He couldn’t dangle over this catwalk, inch forward, closer and closer to what could be his own death, if he so much as thought of Luna.

He wanted to. Dear god, he wanted to dream of her. To picture her beautiful face, like an angel of mercy. He wanted to survive and be there for her. To make her believe that he cared for her. That he’d always cared even though he didn’t truly know what that meant.

“Grab my hand!” Jack pushed all other thoughts except reaching Lion from his mind. He crawled closer, over the cool metal. His t-shirt hitched up and the metal chafed and bit into his flesh. He didn’t even feel it. He felt nothing. Not the fear, not the discomfort, the cold, the pain, the ache in his chest.

It was like he’d gone back in time. Back to being a youth. When his sick bastard of a foster father used to beat him, wail on him, pummel him with massive fists, Jack went somewhere else. He just checked out of his body. Went to a place where he couldn’t feel it.

It was the same when he stole cars. He didn’t think about anything but slipping that lock. Fusing wires. Screeching tires. Delivering the vehicle. There was no other outcome. The sirens, the chance he took in being busted or discovered… that never registered with him until long after.

Like the beatings. When he finally crashed back down to earth, came back into his body, he felt it. The pain. The split lips, black eyes, bloodied nose. The ache and the humiliation and the betrayal.

Warm fingers closed over Jack’s, solid and real. His muscles screamed at the contact, at the fresh weight of Lion’s body latching onto his.

“Come on! Reach!” Jack extended his other hand, brought it over Lion’s. He had to pry the other man’s fingers away from the rusty metal. He braced himself with his feet, hooking them into the gaps in the rail. “Swing yourself up! Come on Lion! You have to help me!”

Lion glanced up at Jack, his large eyes round and dark. But no fear. Still no fear. Just what emotion Lion felt then wasn’t clear. Jack couldn’t think on it. Every muscle he had groaned in protest, screamed with the high wails of warped, aged metal.

Lion swung. Kicked his legs. Used that massive strength he’d always seemed to possess to help Jack. Jack inched backwards, tearing his skin on the cold metal, bruising his body, slowly, achingly slowly.

Lion worked with him. For once, the guy actually acted like a team. The catwalk shook and swung wildly. Always, always the wrenching sound of metal boomed through Jack’s brain. He knew at any second the thing could go down. That would be it for them. For them both. They would die like that. In front of Luna’s eyes, her tied to that pillar, unable to get help, unable to escape.

Would anyone find her? Rescue her? Save her?

That thought alone spurred Jack on. He crawled slowly backwards, pulling, his muscles nearly giving in from the strain of Lion’s weight.

Until finally, finally, at last, he pulled Lion over the edge and up onto safety.

Lion had the street smarts of ten men. He didn’t move. Didn’t make any sudden motions that would send them both down.

Instead he crawled slowly forward as Jack made his way back. Back towards the safer, sturdier part of the catwalk, where the stairs were anchored to the floor.

Jack reached the steadier part first. The stairs felt like a lifeline. As soon as he felt that solid weight below him he scrambled down to safety. He could have wept with relief as soon as the soles of his shoes hit the hard, dusty concrete floor.

He waited, waited until Lion was down beside him. Those large, dark eyes bore right through, seeing into Jack’s soul.

He knew then that Lion was right. The guy really was his brother. He didn’t believe in the lifestyle Lion lived. Didn’t believe that what Lion did or thought was right. That the man himself was right, but he wasn’t beyond redemption. Jack couldn’t believe that. He was willing to risk his life to save Lion’s. Not because Lion had once saved his, but because Lion was human. He was a man who had never known a kind word or a gentle touch. Not once in his entire existence.

“You saved me…” Lion panted. His chest heaved in and out, as though he too was still feeling the shock or adrenaline of what could have just happened. His eyes slowly swiveled to the broken part of the catwalk and down to the floor below. Was he imagining himself, splayed out, bloody and broken below?

“Yes,” Jack whispered. “Of course. You are my brother. Despite everything, you always were. That just can’t mean what it used to. You need help, Lion. Really.”

“Help,” Lion spat bitterly. His face reflected his disbelief on hearing that word. “Help.”

Jack nodded in affirmation. “Yes. Help. You need to go some place where you can learn to live in the world. I mean, really live, not just survive. I have money. People can help you. They can help you come back from wherever you are now. They can help you find your way. I’ll do what it takes to give you a fighting chance, like you once gave me. Just say the word, Lion. You don’t have to live this way, fighting for existence. You don’t have to be alone.”

Lion’s mouth opened incredulously. His eyes locked on Jack’s, and for just a second, an instant that was so fleeting it was probably imagined, Jack thought he saw something there. Something close to the one emotion he thought Lion could never feel. Love. Love between two people who had survived together. Who were each other’s family. Who stood against the odds and somehow made it through to the other side.

He slowly shook his head and Jack’s heart sunk. He knew it was irrational. Lion wasn’t the kind of man who accepted help. Not so easily.

“I’ll be fine. Take her. Take the woman and leave. A life for a life. Mine for yours. You didn’t have to save me. You could have let me die today. I don’t know why you did it, but I release you from that oath. You’re right. We are brothers. Always will be. We mixed our blood once but it’s deeper than that. Deeper than blood. I know you think I have no honour. Maybe I don’t, but I know what you risked today. Go, and on my oath, a new oath, I promise you will never see me again. You can live your life in peace. As you choose.”

“Find me.” Jack shocked them both. “Find me if you change your mind.” He glanced towards Luna, who had somehow pushed into sitting. She stared at them both, an unreadable expression, infinite sadness mixed with utter relief, suffusing her features. “If there’s anything I’ve learned, anything at all, it’s that no one is beyond saving.”

Lion laughed that familiar, bitter laugh. “If only I could believe that.” He had never been one for words. He’d spoken more today than Jack had probably ever heard him speak at once.

Just like that, like none of it ever happened, Lion turned and disappeared into the shadows. It wasn’t long before his footfalls faded away entirely, like a dream, like a nightmare, that was at long last, finally over.

Jack turned and finally, finally let himself truly look at Luna. Look at the woman who had been his hope and salvation. In such a short time, she taught him that anything was possible. All the things he never thought he could feel or hope for, she’d given to him.

And he in turn had brought her this. He didn’t imagine she could ever forgive him for this. He damn well knew he could never forgive himself.