(no subject)

[macabre-whimsy.insanejournal.com]

WHO: Wil Grimm, Jacob Grimm and Leanan sidhe
WHAT: Jacob being a manipulative bitch
WHEN: Friday evening
WHERE: Grimm house
WARNINGS: Uh...swearing? I dunno.

>

Jacob didn't remember being so tired in his life.

He hardly ever left Wil's side even for a moment. He sat and nursed Wil through everything and he made sure Wil ate and took his medication. When Wil was too sick to keep food down, he dutifully cleaned everything up and said soothing things. He refused to let Wil leave the house just in case Wil tried to see Leanne, though it was unlikely Wil would be well enough to leave anyway.

He had sent Hans for groceries and more medication. And in the moments when Wil was asleep, Jacob did what he could to take care of himself. And when he couldn't do anything else, he smoked some opium and slept in a chair beside Wil's bed.

He hadn't confiscated Wil's phone, however, and while he was in the kitchen making some soup, he heard the phone beep. Someone was texting Wil. Leaving the soup there, Jacob stuck his head into Wil's room. "Talking to someone?"

Wil twisted the sheet around his fists, trying to catch his breath around a coughing fit that wracked his body. He groaned and screwed up his face. His phone was vibrating next to him. He reached for it, managing to knock it to the floor, and moaned as he scrabbled for it.

Call me back, darling. Where are you?

He jumped guiltily when Jacob appeared, half hiding the phone under the pillow. "No one. I mean, I'm not," he said, his voice gravelly with illness. "I was just... checking. I want it-" He rolled over to bury his face in the pillow and moan pitifully.

Jacob raised his eyebrows at the half-hidden phone. "You don't have to hide it, it's not like I think you made that noise. Is she talking to you?"

Jacob was exhausted and his patience was wearing thin. He was worried about his brother and Wil was so sick. If Leanne was texting Wil, Jacob might just stab her in the face.

"Maybe," Wil mumbled into his pillow. It had been easy enough at the beginning, saying he was breaking free. He'd felt good enough then. But with every day that passed and he felt weaker and sicker, it was difficult to stay resolved to be free of it. He could hardly walk to the bathroom without having to have a nap afterwards, and he was sick of the taste of blood in the back of his mouth every time he coughed, which was often. He didn't know how Jacob could sleep in the same room as him. He peeked up at Jacob, pouting.

"Please, can I just- a little bit, just a touch, just to get me going again-"

"No!" Jacob roared at his brother and then his expression softened and he went over to the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry. I know it's hard but seeing her will only make it worse. You'll have to start all over again. Give me the phone." Jacob held his hand out for it.

Wil flinched at the shout, eyes round, shrinking back a little as Jacob bent in close. He drew the phone in close to his chest. "No, I need it."

Jacob clenched his jaw and he had to fight not to scream at his brother again. "No you don't!" he said, holding his hand out again. "Hand it over or I am going to tie you to the bed and take it by force."

Wil curled in on himself and frowned at Jacob. Any other day... He knew he was being childish but his lungs rasped with every breath and his head was stuffed with cotton wool that seemed to absorb any kind of creativity. "No. It's mine. You can't have it." He turned his back on Jacob and started dialing Leanne's number, half just to be perverse, half because he really did want her to heal him.

"Goddammit, Wil!" Jacob jumped onto the bed and as carefully as he could, he straddled his brother's wasted form and he pinned the other man's arms. He tried not to hurt Wil but in his desperation he may well have. "You cannot fucking do this to me."

"Owww get oooff!" Wil could hardly fight back, being so thin and miserable, and he burst out coughing at the slightest provocation. "No, please, I want it, I feel so ill, please please help me!"

"I am helping you," Jacob grunted, keeping his brother pinned to the bed. "I know you feel sick but I can't let you go to her. You'll make it worse!"

Wil stopped struggling and thumped his head back on the pillow, moaning pathetically. "I wanna get better! Let me get better!"

Jacob grabbed the phone from Wil's hand and he moved away from hovering over Wil. "I know, Wil," he said sadly. He took the battery out of the phone, pocketed it, and returned the phone to Wil. "Seeing her again isn't how to get better."

He had been researching Leanan Sidhe and he had seen with horror that usually the fairy's spell didn't end until the subject had fallen in love with someone else. That wasn't going to happen any time soon. Jacob had to hope that Leanne's power was weakened to the point that just choosing someone over her would break her spell.

And on that very idea, he had built a plan. He wasn't naive enough to think that Leanne wouldn't show up at the house eventually, looking for Wil. When she did show up, Jacob had a plan.

As Jacob stood, the doorbell rang and Jacob ignored it. Leanne waited outside, stretching out her allure and reaching for Wil so he would come to her.

Wil lifted his head at the sound. Something felt... oh it had to be her. It had to! He ignored the dead phone and got up, tugging his pyjama pants up properly and walking around Jacob, heading to the front door. "Leanne?" he called, breaking into a jog through the kitchen and struggling with shaking fingers with the lock on the door. "I'm coming-" He finally managed to get the lock open and pulled open the door.

Jacob was right behind Wil, though he ducked into the kitchen to grab butcher knife. When he caught up with his brother he pulled Wil back and inserted himself between Wil and Leanne.

"You get out!" he growled at the fairy.

Leanne raised her pale eyebrows at Jacob. "Are you keeping him from me? My poor Wil, you must be so sick."

"You are going to touch him over my dead body." Jacob held up the knife. "Leave him alone."

"Jacob!" Wil stumbled as his brother pushed between them. He grabbed hold of Jacob's wrist, the one holding the knife. "Please don't, please, I need her, put down the knife!"

"Wil, stop!" Jacob yelled at his brother. It wasn't exactly his plan, but in reaching to stop Wil, Jacob needed to drop the knife. It clattered to the floor and as Jacob tried to pull Wil away from Leanne, he didn't notice the fairy picking it up.

"I don't want anyone getting hurt," Wil said, letting go once the knife was dropped. "Please, just let me have a little, just a kiss-"

"No!" Jacob growled, trying to shove himself inbetween Wil and Leanne again.

And then, right in front of their eyes, Leanne changed from the delicate-looking female into her male form, the tall and broad Leon. The knife was in his hand and he raised it, staring straight at Jacob.

"Step aside," Leon barked at Jacob. "Wilhelm and I belong together, get out of the way!"

Jacob, startled, dropped his hold on Wil. It was now or never. The fairy was in front of him and he had to break the spell somehow or Wil would run off with Leanne and Jacob would never get him back.

Instead of trying to separate Wil from the situation which is what he normall would have done, Jacob tried to advance on Leon. He wanted to provoke the fairy into doing something horrible to him. Then Wil would see how much this entire situation was hurting Jacob. He would have some sort of physical wound to show how fucked up he felt on the inside.

"You want him!? You come through me!" Jacob screamed. "Come on, I'm right here, fucking fairy bastard!" He stepped forward, trying to push Leon backwards. "I don't let you hurt him any more!"

The knife caught Jacob in arm, opening a deep wound in his skin and spilling hot blood across the floor.

To say Wil was startled by the abrupt change was an understatement. He stared at the fairy, unsure, until Jacob intervened. "Stop! What are you doing!" He looked between them, confused, scared, as Leon split Jacob's arm open with the knife. "Don't! Don't hurt him!" he cried, fear for Jacob filling him, beginning to overcrowd the need for the rush of inspiration.

Jacob yelped and he slapped his free hand over the wound. "Get out!" he groaned, and even then Leon didn't leave.

"Wil, come here," Leon commanded.

Jacob glanced over at Wil and then he shook his head. "No! I said get OUT!" Jacob rushed forward again and Leon raised the knife, slashing a wound in the other arm.

"No that's enough!" Wil grabbed hold of Leon's hand. The desire was stir there, and Leon could easily overpower him him if he tried, but the fear that Jacob would keep throwing himself at Leon until he seriously hurt himself was fighting with that need. "You can't hurt him. I can't keep doing this. Stop it, please!"

It was enough, just like Jacob was hoping.

Leon dropped the knife and changed back into Leanne in front of their faces. She looked hurt and horrified at the same time. "Wil?" she asked, her eyes wide and scared. "Wil, don't leave me."

The blood from Jacob's wounds made the tiled floor beneath his feet slippery. Jacob fell with a grunt of pain as he connected with the tiles. He couldn't stand in between them any more but he hoped the need to do so was fading. "Wil," he gritted out. "Ergh. Help."

Wil hurriedly snatched up the knife, holding it close to his chest so nobody else would take it. "You can't hurt my brother. He's all I've got." He looked back at Jacob, worried, and then coughed into his hand, shoulders hunching with the effort of getting his breath back. He paused a second, then looked up at Leanne, showing her his clean palm. "No blood. For the first time in... ages. So if was you who made me sick."

"No!" Leanne cried. "No, I inspire you! He is making you sick my keeping you from me!"

"I would die before I hurt my brother," Jacob said, weakly. "Wil, please. Leave her."

"Why does being apart from you make me ill?" Wil said, shaking his head. "I can't- you hurt him. I have to call an ambulance or something. Please- don't. You should go." He spoke quickly, then closed his eyes and turned away to put the knife back in the block where it came from, then bent to help Jacob. "I'm sorry," he murmured, cringing at the look of the wounds.

It looked like those words caused Leanne physical pain and the truth was it probably did. She had no words left to say to him. Wil had chosen Jacob over her. She turned to leave.

Jacob reached out for his brother, clinging slightly to Wil's arm. "I'll be okay. I just need to wrap them up. Wil you did it. She's leaving."

Wil looked up at Leanne, watching her go, still feeling a little torn. But he couldn't just leave Jacob like that. He and Jacob were two halves of the same coin. The were The Brothers Grimm. You can't split up a team like that. "Are you sure you don't need stitches or anything?" Will asked, going to fetch a clean towel to wrap around Jacob's arms.

"I'll be fine," Jacob breathed, sucking in his breath as the towel touched his injured arms. He was in pain, but it was worth it. "If you're okay, I'm okay. Should we get you back to bed? Are you alright?" He gave Wil a concerned look even as he sat in a pool of his own blood.

"I'm ok," Will said quietly. He got up and went to the door, looking out at Leanne on the street. He didn't have anything to say, just wanted to see her go. He shut the door and locked it, then let out a soft sigh. It was the right thing to do. It was what he wanted. He turned back to Jacob and bent to help him get up. "First aid stuff is in the bathroom. Come on."

Jacob got to his feet, willing himself not to faint. He was a bit of a baby about injuries and now that Wil wasn't in direct danger he was realising how much of his own blood he had just seen.

"I should be taking care of you. How sick you do feel?" he asked, still following Wil like a puppy. "Should I get you anything?"

"Oh shut up and sit down," Wil said with a sigh, feeling better than he had in days. He still felt weak and tired, but a few weeks of a decent diet would fix that. He sat Jacob on the edge of the bathtub and rummaged for the bandages. "Lets just fix this and then go to bed."

Jacob rubbed his eye and then he held his arms out so Wil could clean and bandage them. "Are you propositioning me, Wilhelm Grimm? I might be in shock, it's hard to tell."

Wil rolled his eyes. "Yes of course that's what I'm doing, physical activity for the injured and the ill. You can't be in shock, you don't have a blanket." He washed away the blood, then used gauze and bandage to wrap around both his arms.

Jacob hadn't dared to sleep with Wil while he was struggling through Leanne withdrawal. It had been a very long time since he had been with his brotherlike that at all. Hearing Wil say it- He needed that.

When his wounds were bandaged, Jacob reached out for Wil's sleeve. "Wil. Please. Don't ever do anything like this to me again."

"I didn't do it to you, I did it to me," Wil said, but he knew what Jacob meant. His brother was always stressing when Wil got ill. "She seemed to give up easily. Do you think she'll be back?"

Jacob had no response to that. He didn't want to tell Wil how torn up inside he had been since finding out his brother had been hiding this from him. He didn't feel the need to bring up how much he had been dong to take care of Wil. He didn't want Wil to feel guilty. Instead he just leaned his head against his brother's shoulder. He wanted to take Wil to his bedroom and forget everything he had been through in the past weeks.

"I don't think so. You refused her. I think that means she can't come back." Jacob breathed out heavily. "I love you, you know. Even when you're really very stupid."

"I love you too," Wil said, helping Jacob to his feet. He wanted to take them both into Jacob's room to sleep until he could air his own room out. "And don't think I haven't noticed you smoking again. I'm not the only one making poor decisions."

Jacob wrinkled up his face but he didn't deny it. "Touche." He took Wil's hand in his own. "I'll stop. I just needed to...dull some pain. And you can lecture me all you want tomorrow."

"I don't think I'm really in a position to be lecturing anyone," Wil replied with a shrug, sitting them both down on the edge of Jacob's bed. "I'm exhausted. Do you think you should take some painkillers before you try to sleep? That must hurt."

Jacob shook his head. "I'll be fine. All I care about is you. I'm exhausted too. Let's just sleep." He wanted to curl up beside Wil and take comfort in his brother, something he hadn't done in a long time.

Wil sighed and held his hand out to Jacob. "I'm sorry for everything," he said, pulling back the covers with his other hand to tuck them in. "I'm sure we'll feel better when we've had some rest."

Jacob immediately wrapped his arms around Wil, injured or no. He curled up against his brother's warm body. "You know I forgive you," he whispered. What mattered most was that he had his brother back. He couldn't even be angry at Wil for fucking up now that that was true.

For the first time in weeks, Wil slept without waking to bone-shaking coughs and wheezes. It was like the symptoms had just left him as Leanne walked away, gliding out the door into the night. Having Jacob by his side comforted him, though he was mindful of his brother's injuries. He would make it up to him later.