Three's Not a Crowd

Revelations outtake:

Broken legs stuck in Sidestep ending. A while in, when Sidestep is on crutches. The premise is the beginning poly between Sidestep, Chen and Ortega. This single path is Chen and Sidestep having a thing, and Sidestep and Ortega having a thing, and eventually everyone is talking about it. All male in this path, part of it will path off into more V shaped polys with Julia or a female Sidestep. Right now no choices, just a single path through. Just some softness to take my mind off things. This will be slotted into a demo and expanded into choices eventually.

Until then, thank you for your patience and enjoy.

...

Chen's apartment, Spoon is asleep in a corner,You're sitting on the couch, legs up, crutches resting close by. Ortega and Chen are facing each other in the two chairs. It's quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Why? Because Chen finally came out.

Literally.

"Are you serious? You're gay?" Ortega's eyes are wide, but you're not sure if it's from surprise. "I had no idea."

"Don't be absurd." Chen doesn't buy it. You're not sure you do either.

"I'm not." There's a look of carefully constructed patience on Ortega's face, but both you and Chen can see through it. "I happen to be perfectly calm right now. Grounded even."

"You're not plugged in," you say with your most deadpan expression, causing Ortega to snort and Chen to give you the kind of long-suffering look that's betrayed by the chuckle of amusement you can feel he's suppressing. Probably not best to point out the futility of pretending that a telepath is not funny. It's unlikely to win you any favors, even if you're doing this for him. No. For you both.

"That aside," Ortega continues, "I'm being serious here. You remember how many times I tried to set you up with women? I had no idea." $!{he} looks back and forth between the pair of you as if ${he} suspected this was some form of elaborate joke with ${him} as the punchline.

"That doesn't surprise me I suppose." Chen rubs his forehead, trying to plan a conversation both of you know will be derailed in minutes. "I did my best to make sure you wouldn't."

"But why though?" Ortega's confusion sounds genuine, as does ${his} frustration. "Why pretend you didn't like men?"

"Ricardo." Chen sighs. "Think about it for two seconds. You're not unique here. You're not the first time I've had a crush on a straight friend, I—"

"—I'm not, though," Ortega interrupts. "Straight." Somehow ${he} misses the use of the word crush. Or ignores it.

"And I was supposed to know that, how? I think you spent about a week between girlfriends for the first couple of years of our friendship."

"I happen to be an attractive catch," ${he} says, only a little bit defensively. "And what was that about having a crush on me?"

"You heard me the first time." Chen doesn't look down. But you can feel he wants to.

"Ortega probably didn't catch on because ${he} assumes everyone has a crush on ${him}," you say before you can stop yourself. To the rescue. Well, this is partly your fault.

"First of all, how dare you." Ortega sucks in a breath, preparing to go on a rant before deflating on ${his} own accord.

"How dare I be right?" you suggest, because it looks like finally things are sinking in.

"Yeah." The admission is small and quiet. "Really, Chen?"

"Like I said, you're not unique there. I've had unrequited crushes before. And it's not like I have been pining over you for nearly twenty years."

"But maybe a year or two?" A teasing wink.

"Is this really the time to get your ego massaged?" You can't help yourself, trust Ortega to be... well, Ortega.

"My fortieth birthday is coming up, I'm fragile." $!{he} does sound a bit defensive.

"I was over you," Chen clarifies. "We're friends. Until someone decided it was worth the trouble to stir the pot."

"Lie to yourself if you want," you say, trying your best not to sound smug. "You could have told me to drop it. You didn't. And considering you're not shy about telling me how I am supposed to live my life in every other way..."

"Wait." Ortega holds up ${his} hand as if ${he} hadn't made the connection before. "You're to blame here, ${nickname}? I thought we..."

"You're not a telepath!" You can't help but raise your voice. "You have any idea how awkward it is being in the middle of this and nobody is talking about it?"

"What ${name} is trying to say is that, like it or not, we three are connected. And it was becoming increasingly awkward to try to leave things as they were." Trust Chen to try to take the logical route.

"Wait, wait," Ortega repeats, looking over at you. "You and Chen?"

"What about it?" Your answer is a challenge.

"I thought it was a big step when you finally could talk without arguing. And now you're telling me you have a thing?" The look on Ortega's face was a bit like a cartoon character walking out on thin air and suddenly realizing the drop beneath their feet.

"And that is different to us, how?" Your smile is thin, but you can't keep it up. Not right now. "Look. I'm not an easy person to get along with. And yet here we are."

"So let me make sure I've understood this correctly." Ortega was still falling, but from the look of things ${he}'d land on ${his} feet again. Too much like a cat. "You have been playing hard to get with me—"

"Not more than usual," you protest.

"—While at the same time you've been making kissy faces at Chen." $!{he} looks between the two of you, making some sort of internal calculation. "Kisses? Yes. Actual kisses. And at the same time, Chen has been harboring a twenty-year old crush on me."

"Not twenty years," Chen sighs.

"Dammit Wei, your crush is at least old enough to join the army. Don't you think it might have been a good time telling me about this a bit earlier?" Real heat there, though Ortega still hadn't moved from ${his} relaxed position.

"I had no idea you liked men, and by the time I suspected, there was already someone else in your line of sight."

"Someone who you were already suspicious of. I'm surprised you didn't..." Ortega gives you a look and you both reach the conclusion at the same time. "Was that why you couldn't stand ${name}? Was it that petty?"

"No," Chen protests with a heat that feels like truth. "Me and ${name} has been over this. I thought ${che} ${sv was|were} deeply suspicious, and I was concerned that we were being infiltrated."

"I wasn't infiltrating." You stop yourself from admitting that if you had, he never would have suspected a thing. Not unlike your current situation, is it? "$!{he}," you point at Ortega, "wouldn't leave me alone!"

"Why do I get the feeling you're trying to make this my fault?" Ortega is innocence personified. "I'm not the emotionally unavailable one here, seriously Wei, I didn't know you wanted a relationship, period. Especially considering how many times you lectured me on my unprofessionality."

"All my points still stand." Chen sighs. "As do, unfortunately, ${name}'s."

"So what now?" Ortega straightened slightly, both feet on the floor now, reassessing the situation. "Spell it out for an old man." $!{he} looks straight at you.

"You said it, not me." You can't help but feel slightly annoyed, like you have played into Ortega's hands. Why does that keep happening?

You only started this discussion because you needed to distract Chen from subjects far more dangerous to your safety. Nothing like derailing suspicion by throwing emotions in the mix. If only you weren't as vulnerable to that as everyone else. What had you planned here? Really? Having a relationship with one Ranger was risky enough, but two? Could you trust the two of them to distract each other enough to stay out of your business? Or are they more likely to join forces against you? How can you be sure?

$!{swear}.

What were you thinking. Chen knows you're ${villain_name}. Ortega does not. Would he expect you to share that secret too? Would Ortega be more likely to not do anything about it if the Marshal is already keeping your identity secret? The crash revealed to the Rangers what you are, but not who. How much sharing is too much? Part of you wants to say everything. No sharing. Keep everything in its place. Can't afford leaks. But... looking at your situation, what choice do you have? Isn't it worth the risk to have more people in your corner? A tactical choice?

Tactical. The word tastes sour in your mouth. Is that what this is? An attempt to manipulate people into caring about you in order to protect you? Logical. Smart. If so why are you feeling bad thinking about it that way? Like a transaction? Isn't that all that caring is? Love me and I'll love you back? $!{swear}. Not that word. You can't afford that word. Not now.

"I don't..." you hesitate, suddenly unsure. Tongue-tied. Better that than words slipping out that can't be unsaid.

"What ${name} means is that we've come to a point where we needed to talk about this." Chen to the rescue, and this time you are grateful for his interference. "For all my protests, I do care about you Ricardo. And I care about ${name}. And it feels like things could go further than they are now, but not unless we're all on the same page."

"You're leaving one thing out," Ortega replies smugly, and right now Chen is the target. Not you. You'll take it.

"What do you want me to say?" Chen's voice cracks there, real emotion overriding caution. "You're the only one that can answer that, and you know it. What do you feel?" The 'about me' is left unsaid.

"That came off worse than I planned to," Ortega says, quickly backtracking. "Dammit, I didn't mean it like that. Of course you're not a dealbreaker." Another pause short enough to be an accident. "No, wait. That came off wrong too."

"Try taking a deep breath," you offer helpfully.

"This is somehow your fault," Ortega gives you a fond glare. "I'm sure of it. But fine. Wei." $!{he} looks directly at Chen. "You are attractive, you know that, right?"

"No he doesn't," you add before Chen has the time to protest.

"Not making it better," Ortega hisses.

"Just kiss him," you hiss back.

"I can't just do that," Ortega protests.

"Why not? You kissed me." You can't help sounding incredulous. "You can't seriously worry more about what Chen would do than me. I punched you!"

"Not after kissing you!"

"I am sure that was factored in somewhere later," you grumble. "And you are waffling."

"I am?" Ortega looks around, but nobody is coming to ${his} defense. Even Spoon is still asleep on his bed.

"If it helps," Chen says with that slow, confident smile you've grown so used to. "I have been thinking about kissing you for years."

"That sounds like a challenge." Ortega's smirk is back, trying to get on top of the situation. Then ${he} pauses, looking over at you. As do Chen.

"I'm on crutches," you say, making a joke because that's your final line of defense. "I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to."

"But do you?" Ortega's voice is soft. "Want to?"

"No. I brought this up for a reason. My life is complicated enough already. Getting this out in the air would be... nice." To your surprise. that feels true. Another secret revealed. No need to pretend. A thrill, like falling freely. You could get used to revealing things.

You better not.

Ortega heaves ${him}self out of the chair with all the grace of a coiled spring Has ${he} been thinking about this to? You don't know, but Chen imagines that it might have happened. A fold little thought you won't betray by revealing you. This is too personal. You're not even sure you should be here. Which is stupid. You've seen Ortega kissing others before. A lot. Why would it matter this time? Does it?

The kiss is soft. The thought is Chen's, unguarded, slipping through your shields. You don't want to listen in, but maybe he wants you to? No. This is private. You look away, to a distant spot on the wall, trying to ignore everything but a spot on the wall. There are dozens of minds in this building, why can't you focus on them instead? On anything but the feeling that either you made a big mistake or this is the best decision in years. You wish you knew. Chen wishes he knew.

"Wow," he admits, as Ortega pulls back, returning to his chair with the most satisfied of smiles.

"Worth waiting for?" A wink.

"Not now Ricardo. Give me a moment." Chen runs a hand over his face, fingers lingering on his lips. Like he was trying to fix this moment in time.

It's strange to see them both so vulnerable. In so different ways. Part of you want to break in with a joke, something to break the fragile moment. Something to make it less real. Less likely to cut you all if it breaks. And, who are you kidding here? You are likely to be the one that breaks it. Breaks them. With your secrets. With your plans. With your past.

You're not sure how long you can keep this up, and you have hardly started.