Title: Hunting High and Low

Fandom: The Watcher

Warnings: Slashy subtext, if you look at it a certain way. Just like the movie.

Spoilers: Hints for things that happen at the very beginning of The Watcher.

Author's Notes: If you've never seen the movie, all you really need to know is that David is a serial killer (played by Keanu Reeves) and Joel is an FBI profiler (played by James Spader).

He didn't know how much Joel mattered until he was gone.

Their game had been thrilling. Exciting. No one had ever gotten as close to him as Joel had. Close enough to make him worry... once or twice.

A part of him didn't want it to end. Didn't want to lose their connection. But no game could last forever. And theirs ended in a blaze of fire and screams.

Broken, Joel ran. And David thought he'd won.

But that's when the world started to fade. Suddenly, the air wasn't as crisp. The colors weren't as bright.

The blood wasn't as red.

Still, it wasn't until he woke one night, filled with an emptiness so deep it made him ache, that David realized how much he'd lost. Before that, he thought he was just bored. But cloaked in darkness, mind filled with dream echoes— sandy hair, intelligent eyes, a serious face— he knew it was more.

Joel wasn't hard to find. After all, he didn't know he needed to hide.

As David boarded the plane, heart racing as he imagined their reunion, a cheerful smile lit his handsome face.

Joel thought their game was over.

But David still wanted to play.

The End