A Touch of Memory and Revenge

6. A warm shower

Johan groaned as he woke up. He had a serious headache that was threatening to open up his brain and his entire body ached with pain. He rolled to his side feeling that he was lying down on a soft bed not the ground he had collapsed in. Lucas probably had brought him home after that mishap. 

He whined at the light that was coming into the room through the opened window. It was too early for this. If he had slept through the rest of the previous day and through the night, it means that he had drained the last ounce of energy during the reading.

During reading, he tried as much as possible not to go overboard but sometimes his inquisitive nature would push him towards the edge.

Johan turned to the other side of the bed,  opening his eyes once again and this time seeing the wall that told him that it was his room. He was relieved that he was lying down in his room and on his bed. He rose up and dragged himself out of bed making his way to the bathroom. Even moving his body was tiring.

Johan splashed water from the running tap, washing his face. He sighed as he lifted his eyes to look at his reflection on the mirror. The person that looked back at him was a mess. He looked like those zombies from the walking dead.

Johan blinked at his reflection, “You look like a mess Johan… “, he said to himself.

He heard a voice behind him, “I agree with that Johan, you look like a mess. Actually, you’re a mess”, Erik commented resting his body on the door frame with his hands in his pocket.

Johan looked at his brother’s reflection through his mirror and one thing was obvious, he was not happy. He growled as he turned around to face Erik slightly resting on the door frame as he crossed his arms in front of him.

Johan feigned a smile, “…good morning to you Erik. How was your night?”. He asked hoping that he would be free from the nagging that was yet to come.

Erik snorted at him, “You mean the night I spent taking care of your sick dumb ass or the one where I was answering your stupid questions?”, he blurted out.

Johan winced, if he was mumbling words in his sleep or running a fever, then last night had been one hell of a night. Funny thing was that when he had one of those nights, he forgot about it totally the next day. Sometimes Erik would tell him and sometimes he wouldn’t. 

He hoped last night was not one of those nights when he would cling to Erik. When they were younger, he would wake up in Erik’s arms. As they grew up, Erik started slipping out of the room before Johan woke up in the morning. He had caught his brother one time when he woke up before Erik and had pretended to be asleep until his brother woke up and left the room.

“Was it that bad?”, Johan whispered.

Erik’s gaze softened, “ It was that bad…”, he replied. “You know how it is when you go into a fire crime scene Johan and yet you keep doing it. I’m tired of receiving these call. You’ve had your fun, I think it’s time to move on”. He said.

Johan frowned, “they called you when I collapsed?”, he asked surprised.

He had thought that someone had carried him out of the scene after he collapsed, maybe Lucas or one of the forensic guys. He should have known that it was Erik. Whenever he had one of his breakdowns, he made sure that nobody touches him. Only Erik was able to come near him and touch him.

Erik pinched his nose, “Yes, Lucas called me when you had stayed in there for almost an hour. He was scared that going in could spook you. Imagine if I was in court Johan. Can we please stop this?”, he stated.

Johan shook his head, “ I will try to be careful next time Erik, I promise. And I told him not to call you. I don’t know why he keeps doing it”, he said pouting his lips.

Erik had been begging him to stop for a while now and he couldn’t imagine himself stopping. He had the abilities and if he could help someone out, then he was going to use it.

He had discovered that he could use his power to help people when he was nine years old and was still learning how to control his powers. An elderly woman had walked up to him holding his arm and begging if he had seen her bag. Before Erik could run from where he was to pull him out of the woman’s grip, he had seen her memories and told her where she had left it.

Erik shook his head turning around and walking into the bedroom with Johan behind him. He went to the window and stood in front of it peering at the ground below. 

“ that was the same promise you made to me the last time. And yet it still happened again. I don’t like this anymore. I know that you want to help and all but it’s…”, he stopped biting his lips.

Johan couldn’t see his brother’s face but he knew the expression the face held. He knew that it hurt Erik to see him hurt every single time and it hurts him to know that he was making his brother feel that way. The only thing he could do was promise to be careful. He couldn’t stop. He had this abilities for a reason.

Erik released a bated breath turning around to face him, “I know that you wouldn’t want to stop, so how about you go in with a partner, huh?”, Erik suggested.

Johan scoffed, every body knew that he worked alone. A partner would mean someone who would know about his abilities and in as much as he trusted Lucas to protect his secret, he didn’t trust anyone else to have his back.

Erik had pulled strings to get him that position in the force without having to go through all the various processes. Letting someone close to him was not an option.

He sighed, “I work well alone, I don’t need a distraction while I’m doing a reading Erik”, Johan told his brother.

Erik moved closer to him covering the distance between them as he circled his arms around Johan’s waist. “I know, the person would stay far away from you but close enough to keep an eye on you”, he said with a crook smile.

Johan knew what Erik was trying to do and as much as he knew it, he still let himself be held that way. Only Erik could touch him without having memories flood into his mind. Maybe because he had become so familiar with the guy’s memories that his brain was cancelling it out every time. He was deprived of touch and would gladly welcome it anytime.

Johan smirked  closing his arms around Erik’s neck, “what if this person is clumsy and keeps making noisy sounds?”, he asked rolling his head to the side.

“This person will be skillful in the act and stealth”, Erik told him.

The way Erik was talking, it was as if he already had someone who was going to be his partner.

Johan pursed his lips, “don’t tell me!... you already have someone in mind Right?”, he asked eyeing his brother.

Erik looked taken aback by the insult, “Seriously!, how well do you know me…”, he muttered.

Johan sighed releasing Erik and walking over to flop on his bed. He felt relieved as his body touched the soft bed. “I could stay here all day…”, he moaned into his pillow.

Erik Chuckled, “I wished you would. Dad is already complaining about your job. I told him that you’re just interning and would be rounding up next month”, he said. 

Johan raised half of his body up from the bed, “You told him what?, i'm not interning Erik…”, he hissed.

Erik shrugged making his way to the door, “either chose to have a partner or stop next month, your choice baby brother”, he said before leaving the room.

Johan groaned burying his face inside his pillow. He was going to kill Lucas for calling Erik to the crime scene.

His phone beeped and he was half tempted to ignore the device but when it beeped again, he picked it up from his nightstand to check the message. Talk about the devil and he shows up.

It was from Lucas and as usual very brief, 'meet in the café across the street in an hour'. Johan let his head fall back on the pillow, work was calling so he had to get up and get ready.

He took a deep breath. For now, he was going to assume that the conversation between him and his brother didn’t take place. If Erik brought it up again then he was serious about it.

He striped and stepped into his bathroom stall. A warm shower later and he was ready to face the day. He opened his drawer and took out his pain relief pills, he swallowed one and grabbed the bottle of water on the table, drinking a little before he left his room.