Showdown, Round One
Who: St. George, St. Sebastian, Opium Where: Opium's shop. When: Friday night. What: Getting Sebastian back. Or trying, anyway. Warnings: Violence
The words flickered through his head with every step he took, the familiar scrawl of Sebastian's handwriting just making it worse. He'd say he was seeing red, but he was actually well past that.
'You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.'
It was Opium, of course. There was no one else it could be, and the fact that he was sending George messages meant that he at least suspected they were looking for Sebastian. George knew he was rushing in without a plan, into what could very possibly be an ambush. But he couldn't stand it any longer, couldn't stand the thought of Sebastian being gone another instant, being in Opium's hand while the Drug did God knew what to him.
So he was getting Sebastian back tonight if he had to kill someone to do it.
Opium's shop was on the edge of Chinatown, and George stalked past the corner where he'd parked his car more or less every day while he and Joan monitored Opium. No more waiting, he thought. His hands were nearly shaking with rage as he pushed open the heavy wood door, but he kept control of himself long to look around and get some kind of idea of his environment. The place looked like an old tobacco shop, something George hadn't seen in a few decades at least. The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air, like incense, and it made the whole place seem dark and smoky, like the lights were permanently dimmed.
A man sat at the counter, and the sight of him threw George so badly for a loop that he froze in midstep, stumbling into one of the heavy wooden tables. His hip throbbed in protest, but it was barely noticeable compared to George's absolute amazement. Sitting at the counter, leaning back and relaxed as a housecat in the sun, was Sebastian. He was apparently engrossed in a book (Antinous and Other Poems. If George had possessed the attention to spare, that probably would have warranted some narrowed eyes.) and only looked up at the sound of George crashing into a table.
"What the actual fuck, man?" George asked the minute Sebastian's eyes met his.