"So how are we going to get out of here?" Thomas said with a groan as he began to sit up. He paused a few inches up when his body felt as if it were going to snap. Letting out a painful cry, he fell back against the bed.

"Don't move!" Alex exclaimed in a commanding voice as he rushed back to Thomas's side. "You were almost dead, and frozen no less. You need time to recover!" Kneeling down beside Thomas, Alex put his hand on Thomas's shoulder and squeezed affectionately. "Take all the time you need to recover. I swear I will protect you, with my very life should the need arise!"

Looking away suddenly, Thomas began to blush. "There you go saying romantic stuff again. Where do you get off on being so noble? I can manage on my own you know!" 

"I know you can, but that doesn't mean I won't try and protect you regardless." Alex replied, squeezing Thomas's shoulder tighter. "You are the most important person in my life Thomas. Is it really so bad that I want to protect you?"

"It is when I know you only want to get into my pants." 

Letting go suddenly, Alex took a step back leaving Thomas's shoulder cold and empty. "You know, believe it or not Thomas, I want more from you than just your body." He paused for a second, his voice beginning to quiver. "I am always thinking about you, night and day I desire you, and not just in a sexual way. I just don't know how to express my longing for you. I want you, and only you. We may have not known each other very long, but I know that you are the one for me. As such, I am going to do everything that I can to protect you. Not just for my sexual desires, but because I have a genuine desire for you, and nothing you say or do is going to change that..."

"Alex..." Thomas whispered as he turned around to look at him. His eyes were quivering, and Thomas suddenly felt vulnerable. Laying in bed, with his teacher standing guard over him. He couldn't help but feel guilty for assuming Alex's desires were merely sexual. "Look I'm sorry okay? All you seem to do is push for my body. How was I supposed to know that you wanted to become my partner? All you do is try and touch me and flirt." He paused as the sound of a golem smashed something nearby echoed into the room. 

"That's what people who care about you do." Alex replied as he looked over towards the door with an anxious glance. "They tease you, and desire your company. It's just natural to want that with somebody, isn't it? Haven't you ever been in a relationship before?" Falling silent, Thomas lay there uncomfortably as Alex looked at him. "Really, you've never been in a relationship? How is that even possible? You're like the perfect partner! You're versatile, tactical, emotional, and we both know you should be proud of what's between your legs! How could you have never been in a relationship before?" 

Blushing furiously, Thomas tried to change the subject. "Let's focus on how to get out of here okay? We can talk about your pervert tendencies when we are safe from these golems."

"Is that a promise?" 

Thomas's mouth dropped in shock. "You really know how to kill a mood man, I saw you as a decent human being for like two seconds, and now you're going back to your perverted self. Why am I not surprised." Attempting to sit up again, he managed to get halfway up before collapsing. "Look, I don't think I am going to be able to walk any time soon."

"Then I'll carry you!" Alex suggested, "I'm super strong, and you can rest easy! Perfect plan, let's do this!" 

"Wait!" Thomas practically shrieked out in pain as Alex pushed his hands under Thomas. Stopping as his hands slid under Thomas's legs and shoulders. "What about the golems? How are we going to make it past them? It's not like we have an invisibility cloak or something to get past them. What happens if one of them spots us?"

"Well then we take care of it when it happens!" Alex replied, lifting Thomas gingerly into his arms. "Besides, if you get scared you should be able to use your magic right? Until then, just trust that I will protect you, and we will be fine!" 

"How can you be so sure you can protect us? I haven't seen you do anything but mess around with swords, and something tells me that those golems won't be impressed by you swinging a small hunk of metal around."

"Just close your eyes and trust me." Alex stated with a small hiss of annoyance. "I told you I'll protect you and I will. Have a little faith in me will you?"

Letting out a dramatic sigh, Thomas nodded his head in agreement. "I trust you...' He whispered to himself more than anybody else before closing his eyes. "But if this goes bad and we die, I'll be pissed!"

A small chuckle echoed through the darkness around him before he felt a warm pair of lips connect with his for but the briefest of moments. "If we die lover, then you won't be able to be pissed, you will be dead! So it won't be a problem!" 

Feeling the warmth of Alex's lips reminded him just how cold he felt. His body temperature was well below normal levels. Then suddenly he began to miss the warmth. "What about my armor? I need to get it before we go!"

"Aww, does the crab miss his shell? Well unfortunately that is going to have to wait. You can hardly sit up, let alone run, and I can't carry the armor and carry you!" Alex replied as he started towards the door. "Besides you don't really need the armor, you just use it as a shell! It's not like crabs don't molt. Let me be your new armor Thomas. I promise, you will feel safer with me than you ever did in that clunky old suit."

"Well I can't leave without the suit! It's the only thing I own!" Thomas felt a shiver go down his spine. "It's important to me..."

"If it's any consolation, I am losing the home I have lived in for longer than you have been alive, multiplied by in the hundreds. All the stuff here has sentimental value, including the book, but we can't get that either." Alex said in a low whisper as they started out into the hallway.

"The book is at the entrance to the bunker in your safe, how can we not get it? It's literally on the way out!" Thomas questioned in a low tone. 

"Because we aren't going out through the entrance. We're going through the emergency exit. I hoped I would never have to use it, but this seems like the best course of action. 

"And where is this mystery exit that I never heard of?"

"It's in the alchemy room. That tripwire is a twofold trap. If you hit it without prior knowledge, the floor opens up, and spikes await you. What you don't know is It also opens a secondary door behind the ingredient table that leads to the hill we had our first date on."

"D-Date?" Thomas stuttered out, his cheeks burning bright. "I wouldn't call it a date, we just had dinner in a nice place under a tree while watching the sunset. I wouldn't call that a date per se."

Turning down a hallway, Alex began to chuckle. "Then what would you call it? Better yet, what would you call a date? If that wasn't a date, I have no idea what is." 

"How would I know? I've never been on a date before remember!" Thomas spat back, somewhat flustered. "Dates are things where you go and have a good time with somebody you like, or care about, and then you go off and do your own thing after it ends." The events of that dinner flashed through his head making a mental check of each item that he had listed. "Okay, so maybe it was a date, but doesn't make us a couple or anything!"

"Well that can be fixed now can't it!" Alex replied with a quick grin, but it was short lived as the sound of a large object was ripped from the ground and flung towards them. "We've been spotted, hold on tight!" In that very second the scent of earth washed over Thomas. 

Opening his eyes, Thomas saw a light brown golem yanking up another piece of rock from the ground below. "Look out!" He cried when the golem hurled the boulder at them. As the rock flew towards them a bright light flashed across the boulder sending it flying in the opposite direction. "What was that?" He wondered as the golem bent over to begin ripping up another boulder. 

"Hold on baby, we're about to go on a bumpy ride!" Alex exclaimed as he began sprinting towards the golem. As it looked up to take aim, Alex jumped up and began climbing up the golems side. Jumping off the other side with a laugh, he turned another corner at a full sprint. The cave air smelled like turned earth, and a large smashing sound followed as the rock hit the wall they had just been running towards. Dashing down the final corridor, the alchemy room came into sight. The small wire had been yanked from its place, and a large hole in the ground was holding a very unhappy golem who was pounding on the edge like an angry toddler in a crib. 

"It looks like we might make it after all!" Thomas exclaimed as Alex hopped over the hole with ease. "Now all we need to do is get out of the tunnel and we are home free!"

"That's the plan," Alex replied with a cocky grin. "Just hope that nothing sinister has gone in there and set up shop since its construction!" 

"Where are we going to go after this? The bunker isn't safe anymore. Where are we going to hide from the Flara now? I'm guessing you don't have another base like this one hidden away somewhere."

"As nice as that would be, no. I don't have another bunker." Alex sighed as he started through the dark cave. "I do however know a place where we will be safe for the night. We can rest there and gather some supply's before we start on our journey."

"Where is that? is it nearby?"  

"I was thinking we could spend a night in that inn that I found you in. I'm sure the stuff there hasn't been pillaged completely yet. As the Flara will be so focused on destroying my home we should be able to make a clean getaway!" Alex explained with a hint of bitterness.

"I'm sorry about your house. I know the place meant a lot to you." Thomas mumbled, "If I had been stronger, maybe we could have been able to fight them off-"

"Don't blame yourself." Alex interrupted quickly, "I knew the risks of saving you when I went for that book. There was nothing we could have done about it. The Cantorian's have power that we can't even begin to understand. The fact we got out of the hideout and into this tunnel is by sheer luck alone." A small chuckle emanated from Alex regardless of his somber tone. "You know, I just traded everything in that house for you. I think even now that I'm the one getting the better deal! The Cantorian's get to let some monsters loose, that's nice and all, but I get to hold you in my arms, and you are not even complaining about it! Talk about progress! I might even get to kiss for real before this is all over!"

"Don't get your hopes up pervert!" Thomas replied while playfully swatting at Alex's cheek. "The only reason I am letting you carry me is because I can't use my legs to run myself. This is a one time thing, you hear me?" 

"Whatever you say baby," Alex replied with a grin as they rushed through the dark hallway towards freedom. 

"Anyways," Thomas grumbled trying to change the subject again. "I feel like this is kinda dumb in hindsight, but why did you keep a jar of golems around? Do they have some kind of alchemical property to them?" 

  "Nope," Alex replied, his voice beginning to sound ragged as he carried down the path. "I was hoping to use them as a defense mechanism in case somehow something got into the house. It was an end game defensive measure. I knew if somehow the Cantorian's would be willing to work together, then they could easily get into the bunker. They were supposed to be my smoke screen." 

"Manage to work together? I thought they would all naturally want to work together, being as they are all powerful?" Thomas said as Alex came to a halt near the edge of the tunnel. 

"Oh no, they hate each other!" A violent cough racked through Alex's body as he gently put Thomas down. "Those five will only work together if their master commands. Otherwise they keep as far away from each other as possible! They all think they are better than each other. For omnipotent beings, you would think they would understand their powers were all from the same source and they were all equal. It's a good thing for us. That means we will be able to pick them off one at a time." The moonlight flooded the tunnel and Thomas saw Alex's sweat glistening off his head. 

"I think I can walk now, if you help me up." Thomas offered, 

"You sure? I was really enjoying the contact between the two of us." Alex panted back, trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah, I'm sure now. Help me up, and I'll walk." Thomas grumbled as he tried to stand on his own. "Actually, I think I can make it on my own!" 

"Don't push yourself! I want you to heal, not injure yourself worse!" 

"I can do it! Don't worry about me!" Growled Thomas as he managed to weakly rise to his feet. "I just need to make it up the ladder and I'll be good to go!" Taking a wobbled step forward, then another, he reached for the ladder and took his foot to the first rung with a tentative step. "See, I got it!" 

"I knew you could do it!" Alex replied with a weak breath, watching as Thomas started up the ladder. Waiting for Thomas to make it to the top, Thomas started after him. When they both made it up, they looked over the hillside to see thousands of stars in the sky. "It's beautiful here. I really am going to miss this view." Looking over to Thomas, he noticed that his legs were shaking. Then without warning, Thomas's legs gave out beneath him. He let out a yelp as he began to fall, but Alex caught him and held him steady. Looking at him carefully, it seemed as if the stars were reflecting in his eyes. The moment was perfect, and he knew what he had to do. "I'm sorry, but I can't hold back another second." He said with longing etched into his face. Not even a second later, their lips were pressed against one another, and Alex was shocked. Thomas had leaned up to kiss him before he had the chance.

Pulling away quickly, Thomas stood back up and looked away, his cheeks burning hot. "Thank you for saving me..." He managed to say before starting a few steps away.

"Hell, if carrying you around gets me more kisses, I'll make a saddle for you!" Alex gushed out before starting after him. Thomas turned around and glared at him, then continued forward with a determined force. "You really are a confusing guy Thomas, you know that?" 

"Yeah, yeah, don't read into it. I'm just emotional from almost freezing to death or something. It wasn't because I like you or anything." 

Alex froze in surprise as Thomas shambled quickly forward. "Well I guess I'll just have to keep bothering you until you do!" 

"Whatever..." Thomas replied as Alex started after him. "Just don't try and get all perverted with me. You're my new armor right? I can't be making out with my guardian every few seconds, it's not tactical."

"Hey, you were the one who kissed me, twice now! If anything I should be the one pushing you away!" Alex claimed with a laugh as the two started towards the old inn where they had first met.

------------------------------

Well that's another section down! I hope you enjoyed it! :) It took me a lot longer to write this one because hurrah, I have a fever. X_X I hope I get over this quickly because it took me almost double the time it took to write the last one and it was shorter than this one was! 

-Asted!