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Leo is alive, and Jason is alive . Because this time it stuck
And it continued to stick, for years
And Leo tried his best not to take it for granted, he would take Jason in any way he could. He loved him, he knew he did, he loved him back to life over and over again in his fool's errand. Leo didn't question why Jason did it back, he didn't really care as long as this time it just continued to stick
It was like an orbit, for years. Two asteroids in space, flying through the darkness around each other, unwilling to let go of their shared gravitational field because they were finally there together. It didn't matter if Piper was going to disown him from the pining, as long as it continued to stick. If all he could have was the orbit then Leo would take what he could get
Leo's anxiety spiked when he didn't know where Jason was. He knew he felt the same by the look in his eyes when he arrived back home to the Way Station. They shared a room, but not a bed. Jason always wanted to be touching him in some way. It became natural, the everyday norm, but Leo was too scared to jinx it by confessing. To tempt this hair's breadth of an opportunity that maybe this time the fates would just let him have him
He knew it wasn't healthy, he couldn't help it
They orbited for ages, but gravity kept pulling them closer with each rotation. It took them three years for their flight paths to finally crash into each other
It was close in time to when Jason died for the first time, when Leo was gone warning Camp Jupiter and the other man was on his quest. Jason is at Camp Jupiter and Leo had held the stress of it in his jaw all week, trying to distract himself through the sleepless nights. When Jason finally made it back to him it was with a rough landing
Leo was the only one awake, sometime around four or five am. He heard Jason hit the roof, and the Way Station tumbled the blond into the main room without much fanfare. The larger man lies on the ground outside the workstation with a groan
“Jesus Christ dude you good?” Leo asks, pulling his welding mask up and turning off the torch. Jason just rolls over onto his back to starfish on the ground and groans again
Leo takes a moment to get off his welding gloves and shut down the station, the last thing they need is a fire. It also gives him a beat to collect himself, he knows he's been a sleepless wreck. By the time he's done and turns back around Jason is watching him with lightning focus
“What?” he asks, whipping welding grime and sweat off his arms and face. Jason licks his lips
“Come ‘mer” he calls, and makes a grabby hands at him
“Did you hit your head again” Leo teases, but he goes to him anyway “What the hell was that landing?”
“It's like five AM” Jason mumbles, reaching for Leo and pulling him down onto the floor with him “I've been up since six AM yesterday , cut me some slack”
“Why are you flying if you've been awake forty-seven hours?” Leo asks concerned as he kneels down next to the blond “That can't be safe”
“I didn't want you to be alone tomorrow,” he says, rolling towards Leo like a flower following the sun “I didn't want to be without you”
Tomorrow, the anniversary of Jason's first real death.
Leo feels his heart clench in his chest, the tension in his jaw makes it pop. The date he's been trying not to think about, that he was trying to overwork himself through. It's been six years and neither of them has ever handled it with much grace. And here Jason is, flying stupid from California to make sure they were together for it. To make sure Leo knows where he is
“Come on man,” Leo says instead of what he wants to say, pulling Jason into a sitting position by his arms “Let's get you to bed”
“Come with me,” Jason begs, he looks a bit loopy from fatigue
“Jase-”
“I was talking to Piper, about us,” Jason presses on, pulling Leo closer from where their arms are connected
“What about us?” Leo lets himself go to him, ever in orbit, even as the hot lump of dread settles in his gut
“It's been years,” Jason pulls him onto his lap on the floor, Leo’s scrawny legs on either side of Jason's muscular thighs “We’re not going anywhere”
“How do you know that?” Leo hisses, worried that even talking about it could set the cycle in motion again. Because he knows in his bones if the world decides they still have to play prophecy, if it goes back to storm or fire, Leo would do it all again. He would keep trying, chasing instead of running for the first time in his life
Jason trails his hands up from where they interlock, resting on Leo's upper arms cool and firm. He's studying Leo's face, that look of devotion back in his eyes. Because as much as Leo denies it, as much as he pretends it's not there; Jason speaks best through action, and his actions have been telling Leo that he loves him back for a long time.
It scares Leo, more than a little bit.
“I don't,” Jason confesses “I don't know that. But we're here now?”
“Is that what Piper was saying?”
“No,” he grins, that one that shows a single canine and makes his scar pull attractively “She's back to cussing us out in frustration”
“So same old?”
“Same old,” Jason licks his lips again “But she mentioned something, about three being the lucky number. It got me thinking”
“About us?”
“About us”
Six years since the first death, three years since the last one.
“What about us?” Leo presses, voice quiet like maybe this time something larger than them won't hear
“That it's been so long,” Jason's gaze is intense on his face “That we’re still here. That we can have, more”
“More?”
“Leo” his hands are on his shoulders, solid and sure, he's getting lost in the possibility of those blue eyes “I want more, more of us”
It's the first time they've spoken about it, out loud. It almost blows Leo over.
It might be the last excuse needed, or the late sleepless hour, or his crumbling resolve. Leo can't help it, he takes Jason by the face and kisses him. Two asteroids in the same gravitational field, slamming into each other and becoming something new. A planet, a moon or star, it didn't matter as long as they were together
Jason clutches at Leo like he can't believe he's real, like that time when Leo had just gotten him back for good. His grip was tight and rough, first clutching at his upper arms, then pulling him in impossibly tighter by the waist until one hand sneeks up to the nape of Leo's neck to hold on. Leo opens wider, his hold on the other man's jaw pulling him closer as Jason groans
When they reluctantly separate for oxygen, faces close and breathing the same air, Leo can feel himself trembling
“Leo,” Jason breaths “Leo, Leo Leo”
“M’ right here” he breaths back, voice soft like it would pop the bubble their in, tell the fates they broke spades, and Jason brings him into the next kiss as desperate as the first
They kiss like that for a while, trying to merge the shattered remains of their collision into their new celestial body together. Bruising grips on each other, mouths only separating to grasp for air. Leo feels drunk on the other man, the feel of him and the smell of heat lightning, the pattern of his heartbeat against his own. Alive and whole, safe in his arms.
Leo eventually has to pull away as he overheats. He brings his face as far away as he can to pant out into the open air, the temperature of his breath is visible and fire licking up his face and into his hair. Jason isn't detoured, pressing his face into Leo's neck. He licks a long stripe against the artery, nips under his jaw, and then presses his nose hard against his pulse point.
Leo’s being reeled back in my strong arms before he's done venting out the heat. He can feel how his internal temperature is scalding, but Jason acts like he's desperate to get broiled alive. He has one arm around Leo's waist and the other snaking up his shirt, hand splayed between his wing bones holding him as close as he can. Leo turns his face away to continue to try and pant out the heat, sucking the cooler night air into his lungs and letting his breath steam out of him. That just gives Jason more access to his neck, and Leo can't stifle the low moan that's forced out of him when the blond clamps his teeth around where his collarbone dips from his shoulder and sucks.
“Jace,” he pants out, he's going to catch fire at this point “Jace, Jason please”
Jason whines again, one of the feral noises he does high and desperate, and goes back to nipping. Leo has to grab the other man by the hair to pull him back so he can let his face catch fire again, the only part of his body not flush with him. Jason doesn't look afraid, pupils blown wide and expression filled with awe. A few sparks of static dance between the strands of his blond hair, one inside his open and panting mouth. As soon as Leo stops smoking Jason is back to kissing him
“I'm gonna burn you” Leo whines into his mouth
“No you won't,” Jason says back just as close, the blind trust and longing make Leo moan into him
“You won't” Jason continues, kissing back down Leo's neck and towards his chest. Leo takes the opportunity to throw his head back and try and vent more heat “You won't, I'm always safe with you”
“Fuck, Jace”
“Gods, you're here,” Jason pleads, his forehead pushing hard above Leo's heart. He can probably feel his rabbiting pulse against his face, he's still trying to pull Leo closer “You're really here like this , I'm not dreaming “
Leos folds himself over the curl of Jason's body, hand moving over his hair and neck and back, energy trapped in their dwindling momentum
“I'm here” he pants “You're here too”
“I'm here,” Jason says back looking up to meet Leo's eyes but not taking his face off his heart. His cheek is pressed in against Leo's chest, eyes gazing up and pleading. Leo smooths his hands through Jason's hair and then down the side of his jaw and back up again. The blond lets out a sigh and folds back into Leo's chest. His face pressed above his heart, breathing him in through his nose.
They stay like that for a while, curled and clutched close. Leo's hand in Jason's hair and Jason's face in Leo's chest, until Leo folds down to rest his forehead against the top of Jason's head, breathing him in in return
A single celestial body orbiting a gravitational pull. Together in the new planet of their own making