TITLE: A Guy Like Me and A Guy Like You

CHAPTER: 7, Resolution

AN: I noticed in my stats that folks are still reading this story. Which is super great, but causes me anxiety because with so many changes in the show (not all of them good, IMHO) this story isn't finished. Okay, this is really it. The end. The prologue. Thank you to those of you who stopped by to read this story and left a review or a follow.

"Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do." ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

The rain does nothing to cool the rage, an insatiable agony boiling inside. I'm soaked to the skin. Like the water that rises off the hot pavement in tendrils of steam, I am nothing, not anymore. The man named Ward is gone. I don't grieve for him. This is my hell and I have certainly earned it. I stand here in front of my Carriage house. My home. A home I shared with Leo. I loved this place, decorated and did the interior restoration myself. Until Leo, it wasn't a home. He made it complete. His presence calmed and graced me with thoughts that I could be a different kind of man. A good man.

I know…I knew months ago that a state grace was never mine to achieve. Just as Leo's love was never mine to hold. I tried, though, didn't I? I tried.

God, it hurts. This hunger lashes me, forcing me forward. They call to me. Pulling me home. When I'm with Hy… No, I cannot even say the word. But it's where I belong now. It's the only place I can be now. With a manic shine in their eyes, they welcomed me with the promise of supremacy and unlimited power. They help me stay in control. Unlimited power is mine. I have only to raise my hands for the Hydra minions to do my bidding. After Coulson killed me and left me to rot to dust, what happened after changed me forever.

My hand rests on the brick wall of my house. They're inside I can hear them talking. My Leo loves her. He's always loved her. For a short while, he loved me, but he belongs to her. Funny, the pain of that loss still resides in my heart. It's the only real emotion I have left. I don't blame him, and I won't seek revenge. I have the power to make sure he is safe. They will not touch him. The others I cannot vouch for, but Leo, my Leo, is safe, and he will never want for anything.

The door opened at my touch, and I see them, standing in the kitchen. The way her hands gesture I can tell she's angry with him. She hides her love for him behind a wall of intellect and science. What she doesn't understand is that my Leo has changed. He's no longer shy of her. See the way he stands before her looking her in the eye? She doesn't realize it yet, but he's smiling at her. When she's finished with her anger, she'll see it. Once, he looked at me that way.

I wonder if he's thinking about the night we made love on the spot where they now stand? We had just finished dinner, and I was prowling around the kitchen looking for something sweet. Leo backed me against the counter, pinned me with his body and kneeled at me feet. Afterward, my legs weak and shaking, my head spinning and my heart full of love I followed him down to the floor.

We kissed, and I tasted myself on his tongue. When his own need left him shivering we pushed off my clothes, and he took me right there, on the floor where they stand. That night, it might have been the full moon, I don't know. But we were insatiable. When he finished with me and lay draped over my back panting, tears stung my eyes as my heart hammered against my ribs. I didn't have words for it then. But later, when I carried him into the bedroom and cleaned us up it all fell into place. At that moment, I knew it. There was no need to hide. It was useless to try. I stretched myself over him and framed his face with my forearms. Without warning, words poured from my lips.

"Leo, stay with me. Don't go home. Stay, because I'm in love with you." Then I kissed the stray tear away, while he answered me by spreading his legs to allow me to slid inside his body. Time forgot us, while we stayed that way, kissing with the heat of his erection trapped between us, throbbing against my hip. Buried inside him, my own desire beating in time with his. I know that sounds nonsensical, but that night it was true. We made promises to each other. Promises we meant to keep. Vows meant to last a lifetime. But that was not to be.

Gemma gasped when she saw me standing inside the door. The flush of fear climbed into her cheeks. Leo stepped in front of her without hesitation. He is so brave, my Leo.I held out my hands.

"I'm not here to not hurt you. Listen to me, Leo. This place and all that I have belong to you now. I have nothing left of the material world. Except for the memories of a man with intense blue eyes who once loved me. But I won't let them take that away from me."

Leo started toward me, emotion pouring from his eyes. I cannot bear it.

"Stay back! I'm no longer the man you knew. I am a monster. A creature for Hydra to use. I will shield you from them for as long as I can. But, Leo, someday I may ask you to let me go, to release me from this world. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

My eyes closed with relief. His one word, spoken in trust of what we had is all I need to know. Someday I will ask him to kill me, and I know he will do that one last thing for me.

"Gemma? Love him. He's worthy of all the love you have for him. Don't hide it from him as I did. Don't waste any more time wondering or worrying. Love him, Gemma. Promise me!"

She linked her arm through his. "I promise. Ward, stay let us find a way to help you."

"NO!"

They stepped back suddenly afraid. They should be afraid. I forced my voice into calming tones. The need for violence burns from within, but I must hold on a moment longer. "That cannot be again, Gemma. I can't be fixed. Even by you. I am sorr… Take everything, Leo. It's all in your name now. Don't throw it or her away."

Before I could fall under Gemma's spell of "things will be alright." I fled the house. By nightfall, I was back among my kind. The monsters who spread violence, and feed off the world and give nothing in return. My hunger grows, gnawing at me for release. I'm done with the world that included love and companionship. I willingly enter this world with the knowledge that my beautiful Leo is safe and loved.

They look to me now with their eyes shining in the darkness. They wait. They are not patient.