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So it had come to this, Zane mused, flipping the pills in his wrinkled hand. His other, equally wrinkled, arm was holding Ty close against his chest. He was sat partly on his lap, and they were on the porch of Ty's parental home in West Virginia. There was no one else around, just like Ty had wanted. Zane stared out at the mountains, collecting his thoughts, and simply waiting. He'd already known what he was going to do, soon as Ty made his request that Zane move him here when it was time. His husband had fallen sick a couple of months ago, and was quickly wasting away with the disease ravaging his body. The doctors (and Zane had consulted a LOT of them) hadn't been able to find a cure, it was something the medical world wasn't much aware of. Something so obscure, that only two doctors had ever even heard of it. And neither of them had known how to help Ty. They could only make him comfortable, they'd told Zane.
They were old now, both well into their sixties, Zane was hitting seventy next month. And Ty had filled about thirty of those years. Filled them with his love, his laughter, his craziness. Zane fondly smiled remembering their life together, which eased his current pain. It had been a full life, after they'd both retired from the FBI. The flower shop had been a solid success, right until Ty's illness had mysteriously begun.
****
They shared the workload in the shop seamlessly, with Ty doing most of the physical yard work and charming the shoppers into buying their stuff. Zane was doing the books and ran their inventory, and he made sure the shop actually made money instead of losing it, which, if he'd let Ty loose, was probably going to happen. Something for which he blamed Ty's squirrel mind.
After some research, and a few failed tries, Zane knew which suppliers had the cheapest and best plant and flower seeds, and he had learned how to actually grow them. Not that he needed to get them cheap, but it was the principle of the thing. They had a nice long back yard where they grew everything they needed.
The shop was situated in a similar row house as the one that they lived in, and in the same block, too. In fact, the back shed bordered with the other row house's plot of land. Which had been the sole reason they'd bought the other place.
Ty had also renovated half of the back shed of their shop into a shelter for rescued strays. These strays could be anything. Most were kitties, though he'd also rescued dogs and even rabbits on occasion. Zane had been very indulgent with him from the start, there was just something about his tough as nails husband playing mother to the tiniest of pets, nurturing them back to health. These animals just 'happened' to him, drawn to Ty by something Ty had that Zane had never figured out. The kitty whisperer, Zane had started to call him. Ty had simply rolled his eyes at the new nickname, but had continued to take care of pets. He kept about five of them around at all times, and the others were given to carefully picked new owners. Ty always seemed to know who wanted which kitty, before they knew it themselves.
****
Ty stirred in his arms, sighing softly. His breath came out ragged, and Zane could feel his pulse stutter in their joined hands. Not long now.
Barely conscious, Ty rubbed Zane's hand that was holding him, lacking the strength to lift them to his lips for a kiss.
Zane caught on to him, and brought their joined hands to Ty's lips. He only managed a soft touch, nothing more than a brush of his lips against Zane's hand. A tear ran down Zane's cheek and he swallowed hard, a tiny spark of fear ran through him. But he was sure of this, this needed to happen. It was the only way.
He dry swallowed the pills the moment he felt the love of his life truly slipping away. Zane went into cardiac arrest a few minutes later.
****
"Honey, I'm home!" Zane called out as he opened the front door to their row house in Baltimore. The whole house seemed to be enveloped in this soft, weird golden light. Barely noticeable, but it got stronger the more you looked at it, as if it was struggling to keep all of this solid. It didn't catch Zane's attention at first. Not until he heard Ty's sardonic voice in response. Which was another weird thing. Zane usually noticed everything immediately.
"About damn time."
Zane's breath caught, following that very familiar sound to its source. There he sat, on the couch, as young and strong and sexy as when Zane had first met him. Nothing remotely like the wasted body he had held in his arms only moments ago. It didn't even strike him as odd that he would meet with Ty like this, as if nothing had happened.
Ty smiled, and stood to meet Zane. He cupped Zane's equally young-again face, and gently kissed him, deepening it and letting it go on for a long time. "I love you, Zane." Ty murmured when the kiss finished and they looked at each other, both smiling warmly.
Zane softly bumped their foreheads together, nuzzling Ty's cheek. "I love you too, Ty."
"Come on," Ty then said, taking Zane's hand and squeezing it tightly.
Raising a brow, Zane looked at him. Suddenly his stomach twisted with fear.
Ty looked back at him with confidence, still holding Zane's hand. "Trust me on this, Zane. It was meant to be."
Zane nodded, simply trusting Ty on his word. By now he had realized where he was exactly and he was no longer afraid, because Ty was there, too. They were together, like they had always known they would be. Never letting go of Ty's hand, and with his mind and heart now both at peace, Zane followed him up the slowly dissolving stairs.