When Ivan did pull up into the driveway it was twenty-five minutes after two in the afternoon. He was three hours earlier than he normally would be coming home. But the paperwork could wait and he'd found himself rather idle, not being able to concentrate on the goddamn paperwork that remained anyway. 

He sighed thinking about what Sam had told him as he walked in the door. "Cory, baby, I'm home!" he called from the doorway. Juno came running to greet him, not having heard him enter. "Hey, girl. Where's Daddy, huh?" He knelt down petting the dog. "Corbin?" Ivan called standing and walking toward the bedroom, not seeing him in the living room or kitchen. "Corbin?" The energy in the room was heavy and Ivan felt it as if a weight was being pushed against his chest. He found Corbin in the corner between the bed and the wall. He was curled up with his knees against his chest, his arms wrapped around them, his head resting atop his knees. "Cory, baby." Ivan came closer, sitting down on the floor a few feet from him. "My love, can you hear me?"

Ivan observed Corbin closely. His fists were balled, his shoulders tense, arms flexed as he held himself as tightly as he could. His shoulders were shaking. "Cory, come on, love, look at me." Ivan slid the slightest bit closer, still gently talking to and trying to coax Corbin to look up. Soon Ivan was directly in front of him, only inches apart. "Corbin, baby." He lightly touched his elbow. He didn't know what to expect. A violent outburst at the sudden contact. A scream of fear and back peddling away. There was none of that. Ivan could hear him crying before and at the contact his near silent lamenting increased. This told Ivan something important. Corbin was aware of his presence. When he did not try to escape, Ivan spoke again. "Come on, love. Let's get up off the floor, huh? Can we do that?" Corbin unballed the slightest bit. Ivan smiled. The bed and wall were far enough apart from each other that Ivan was able to slide himself next to him. 

He looped his left arm around Corbin's lower back and right arm under his knees. Before standing he said, "Alright, baby, I'm gonna lift you up, okay." He got no reply and didn't expect one, stood with his precious cargo and sat on the bed; Corbin in his lap. As held him he remembered a time he'd held him just like this, not too long after they'd gotten together. 

They'd been official four months, and in that four months they'd had a couple ups and downs. Corbin was still something Ivan was putting together. He'd notice the little boy lost look in his eyes, as if he were in a different and much darker place than their couch and in that moment. On one of these such days Ivan had come home from work on a whim that something was amiss, though he couldn't quite place it. He did know however, in his gut that he shouldn't ignore this instinct. When he arrived home he found him in a corner in the living room next to the entertainment center. He spoke to him softly, coaxing Corbin to respond. When he did finally look up, Corbin crawled to Ivan's arms, balled up between his legs and reveled in the new-found safety he had within Ivan. 

He wouldn't speak to tell Ivan what was the matter; and for many reasons. He couldn't tell him out of the fear this new lifestyle would vanish as quickly as it appeared. And selfishly he'd grown rather fond of it. He'd grown rather fond of Ivan, of learning not to be afraid when Ivan reached for him. Of learning that Ivan was gentle in bed, both during sex and at night when he just held him. Corbin found it strange that he didn't demand sex every night. He never demanded sex at all. He found it stranger that Ivan seemed to notice when he was out of sorts; when touch scared him. It both feared him greatly and moved him deeply when, in those moments, Ivan was that much gentler. He didn't ask questions, though often reminded him he could talk about it should he need. Corbin gripped onto him tighter as sobs came in hitching breaths. 

"I've got you, Corbin," he told him softly. 

"I've got you, Corbin," Ivan said as he'd said that day and many days after. "What is it, baby?" Corbin tightened his grip, fear still clutching his heart as he tried to breathe. "Sh, sh, my love. You're safe now. I've got you, Cory."

"Don't leave me, Ivan." Corbin pulled and clutched and gripped in a manic frenzy. 

"I've got you. I've got you. Corbin, baby, I've got you. I'm right here."

"Don't let him get me anymore, Ivan. Don't let him get me anymore. I can't keep doing this. I can't, I'm going crazy. I can't, I can't, I can't. Ivan, make them leave me alone."

"They can't hurt you now, Cory. They can't hurt you anymore." Ivan's voice cracked as he spoke, though no tears presented themselves. Corbin simply cried in Ivan's arms until he could no longer produce tears, still he didn't move from Ivan's embrace. 

It was several hours later that the silence that had befallen them was broken. Not long after Corbin calmed they lay supine in the bed, holding each other close as emotions still ran high. 

"How long am I going to be scared, Ivan? I'm so sick of being scared all the time every day. I'm almost twenty-seven years old and I don't think there's ever been a day...just one single day...that I wasn't scared of something for some reason."

Ivan looked his love in the eye before kissing him gently. "It's something we need to work through, Cory. You need to talk about it, baby. To work it all out, to realize that that part of your life is over now...you can't keep it all locked away inside." Corbin's eyes watered again and he sucked in and bit down upon his bottom lip. The look adorning his beautiful features broke Ivan's heart and nearly his resolve. Ivan thumbed away fresh tears. 

Corbin broke eye contact, capturing Ivan's hand with his arms, wrapping them around Ivan's hand and forearm, trapping. Ivan felt Corbin's whole body tense at his words, his grip tightening around his arm. 

"With you?" Corbin finally asked still not looking at him. 

Ivan combed his fingers through Corbin's hair until finally he felt him begin to relax. "If you ever want to, baby, I'll always listen. If you'd rather I can find a professional you can talk to. They can help you learn coping skills and such things I can only guess at. I'm not going to pressure you into it...but I think you should consider talking to someone."

Corbin nodded into Ivan's chest. "I'll think about it."

Ivan kissed his hairline. "Thank you. What happened today, my love?"

A million thoughts ran through Corbin's mind at Ivan's question. Gripping tighter to Ivan, Corbin burrowed further into him. "I was gonna take a shower and I lifted my shirt...I saw...my brand..." He turned his face into Ivan's chest. "And it isn't like I don't see that mark every day...I don't know why I freaked out about it now. But I saw it...and I remembered..."

Sean screamed as his father and two other men held him down. A man he didn't know held a strange object in his hand. The object turned on and a feeling of dread flowed through his veins. As the needle touched his skin his throat produced the most horrific sound of pain as a child could make. 

His brother and sister sat in a corner on the far side of the room, far from their father's main line of vision and away from his attentions. 

"When it was done Father took me into his room and..." He couldn't finish. He couldn't say that word. "And I just...felt him all over. His hands...other things. And...I heard him...in my head I heard him...from this last time...from back then..."

Ivan's guilt intensified as his chest constricted. "I'm sorry, Cory," he said, his voice a mere whisper. 

Corbin frowned at the pain shining in his eyes. "For what? You didn't do anything."

Ivan laughed bitterly. "Yeah, that's the problem. I didn't..." He stopped, clasping his hands into tight fists. 

Corbin placed his hands gently over Ivan's. He noticed but didn't feel afraid right then on how Ivan's fists clenched. It did not frighten him as it would have even the year previous. He smoothed his thumbs over Ivan's knuckles. "Ivan, look at me please." He did. "If you want me to talk...to open up...it needs to be a two way street. Getting through this together means getting through it together. It can't be one sided. Please, Ivan, talk to me." Ivan let out the breath he'd been holding and with the rush of air came silent tears. "This affected you, too. In a different way, sure, but nonetheless important or real. Please, Ivan. Talk to me." Corbin placed his palm against Ivan's cheek, brushing away a stray tear that was making its decent. 

Ivan squeezed his eyes shut, leaning into Corbin's touch. "I...failed you. I failed you in the worst way."

Corbin's heart broke at the intense guilt and pain he saw in his eyes. "What? Love, no. Why would you think that?"

"God Corbin, how can you not think that? How can you not think I failed you?"

"Baby, how do you think you failed me?" Corbin asked gently. Why hadn't he seen this brewing before now? 

"I swore to you I'd protect you. That no one would get to you. That no one would hurt you. And they...they fucking..." Ivan found he couldn't say the word either. "They hurt you anyway. And if I'd have just..." He shook his head and closed his eyes. 

"Just what?" Corbin urged him gently. 

"Done something. I don't know. I should have been faster. I should have followed sooner. But I didn't. I didn't and they...hurt you in every way I swore you'd never be hurt again." Ivan blinked and tears fell onto his laced fingers, leaking down to slide against his palms. 

"Ivan...you didn't fail me. Yes, my father and Anthony r..." Corbin pursed his lips together and took a deep breath. "Do you know what they were about to do? What they were going to do once they had their fun with me?" Ivan shook his head, though he didn't look up. "They were going to sell me. I heard my father talking to him on the phone. So while it did get bad at that house, Ivan, it was about to get so much worse. I'd have never seen you again. And...well, the assault did a number on me, I was so fucking scared of what was to come. I remember who he was talking to, Ivan. I was always his favorite toy as a child. And I was always so scared of him." Ivan looked up at him at the whispered confession. "You saved me from so much worse than my father and the men at that house. Please, Ivan, understand that. Understand that what was waiting for me was so much worse." Corbin's chest constricted and he found it hard to breathe. 

"I'm sorry I couldn't save Devon, Cory. I tried...he just...pulled the trigger." Ivan glanced at him before looking back at his hands. 

"She defied him. She tried to stop him from hurting me." Corbin let out a slow breath. "She wasn't a bad person, Iv...just lost and scared and brainwashed. When we ran away, I tried to get her to come with us. But she wouldn't go."

"Devon, come with us. Come with me, please. I need you. I don't want to be alone out there."

Devon sat with her back against the wall, knees drawn up. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. "I can't. And besides, you'll have Marc."

"No, I won't. Devon, please. You're all I've ever really had. Come with me." Sean didn't bother acknowledging the tears that matched his sister's upon his own cheeks. 

"Go, Sean. Go before he finds you. I'll keep him at bay from you as long as I can. I love you, little brother."

"I love you, too, Dev." With one last look he stood, wiped his eyes and left the room. He met Marc in the hall. 

"Is she coming?" Marc asked glancing up and down the hallway.

"No, we're on our own. Let's go."

Corbin wiped his face. "She kept her promise for a long time. She knew where I was for a long time. She knew I was with you. She knew everything. And she never said anything until she had no choice..."

They weren't far from their destination when Devon broke the silence that had gathered. "I'm sorry, Sean. I really did keep you safe for as long as I could. He's had me looking for you for years. I've known where you are for three years. I found you by mistake. I saw you and him. You were walking down the road holding hands and laughing. I stayed out of sight, but I think you knew I was there anyway. There was a moment where you looked around and shook it off. But the way you looked at him...they way you smiled at him...you looked happy. We...we were never happy growing up and I just...walked away. I...Sean, I didn't tell him where you were. Anthony and Elija saw you and reported back to Father. He...made me go get you. He knew you'd come with me. I didn't want to do it, Sean." Her teary eyes pleaded with him. "Please, forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive. You were always the one person who looked out for me the most. As best you could given the circumstances. Thank you for giving me that much happiness. He did make me happy. He taught me what real love is." Corbin kissed her cheek as they pulled into the driveway. "I love you, Devon. Thank you for always loving me."

"She did love me," Corbin whispered. He turned his face into Ivan's chest, his shirt soaking up Corbin's tears. 

"I'm sure she did," Ivan told him. Ivan touched his fingertips to Corbin's cheek, causing Corbin to meet his eyes. "I love you, Corbin."

Corbin leaned into Ivan's touch, his tears leaking between the gap in their contact. "I love you. I love you so much. I need you."

Ivan brushed his thumb along Corbin's cheek, collecting fallen tears as he did. "I'm right here, my love. You've got me. You've always had me."

"Really?"

Ivan smiled, a small chuckle escaping him before he kissed Corbin gently. "What, you think I bring home everyone I meet that's in distress? There is something about you that drew me to you. It still draws me to you."

"What?"

"I don't know, I can't really describe it. When I brought you home after we ate...you were so scared...I wanted to protect you. I wanted to show you that not everyone would hurt you." He kissed him again, softer this time. "But more than that I just felt a pull toward you. I didn't question it."

"Why? I'm so broken. I'm nothing."

Ivan shook his head. "No, baby. You're everything. To me you're everything. And believe it or not, I wasn't in a good place when we met. And you helped me smile again. You've done more for me than you know, too, Cory."

"What have I done, Ivan? Please...I need to know my whole life hasn't been for nothing."

"I had had a bad breakup with this guy I had been with for a few years..."