Rating:

Not Rated

Archive Warning:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category:

M/M

Fandoms:

Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid

Relationship:

Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov

Characters:

Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov

Additional Tags:

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fantasy, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teleportation, Episode: s01e06 The Cottage (Heated Rivalry), Post-Episode: s01e06 The Cottage (Heated Rivalry), Shane Hollander Loves Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Romance, Family Secrets, Secret Superpower

Language:

English

Series:

Part 2 of Alternate Universe

Stats:

Published: 2026-06-17 Words: 5,978 Chapters: 1/1

wish that you were here

Summary

Then the question came.

“And your dad is what, boring? Is that where you get your boring from?”

It was just Ilya teasing him. But Shane had froze. It’s not that he could say it outright. Oh, Ilya funny that you might mention that! Actually, what I got from my dad was the ability to teleport. Haha, how funny is that?

or

Shane has the ability to teleport. But how and when exactly do you tell your fuckbuddy/boyfriend of eight years that little fact?

Notes

To my utmost disappointment there were no fics yet where either Shane or Ilya could teleport. And since this is a superpower that I think would be very useful for their little arrangement, I decided to write it myself.

***

Shane knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for much longer. But he hadn’t thought it would come up so fast. They had only been at the cottage for a few days and hadn’t even relaxed that much. Then the question came.

“And your dad is what, boring? Is that where you get your boring from?”

It was just Ilya teasing him. But Shane had froze. It’s not that he could say it outright. Oh, Ilya funny that you might mention that! Actually, what I got from my dad was the ability to teleport. Haha, how funny is that?

No, of course he didn’t say that. Instead, he walked away, muttering some excuse about doing the dishes. He had seen the resigned look on Ilya’s face. The look of someone just trying to show that he cared, and Shane had shut him down. He felt bad about it, but who would blame him if they knew? How are you supposed to tell your… whatever they were that you can teleport?

Shane could barely even believe it himself. It seemed like this weird alternate reality, and of course Shane had to have been born in the only family with an ability like that. As far as they knew of course.

He had been 10 years old when it first happened. His parents hadn’t told him about it, hoping that it would somehow skip over his generation. But Shane had the blood of the Hollander line in him.

He had been at school, hiding out close to the pick-up spot where his mom would come get him soon. Shane was used to hiding. He had to, considering the popular kids in his class liked to wait him out and bully him for whatever reason they came up with.

But that day had been particularly bad. The kids had been making fun of him for his looks, which wasn’t unusual, but it hadn’t stopped there. They started to talk about all his habits and how particular he was. Shane knew he wasn’t completely normal, but he just liked to do things a certain way. His pencils were sorted through the color of the rainbow. His eraser was tight in the corner of the table, and every now and then Shane would glance over to make sure it hadn’t moved. He just liked to know where everything was exactly. What was wrong with that?

But they had thought it was weird.

It had started in the classroom, the bigger boys purposely knocking things off his table, which he then had to pick up and sort the right way again. Then they did it again. Shane didn’t make a fuss and just let it happen. The teacher didn’t say anything.

At the end of the day, he was so done and could barely keep his tears at bay.

He slipped out of the classroom as soon as he could and waited behind the school for his mom. Did it always take this long for her to come get him? He furiously wiped at his eyes, refusing to let the tears fall. He wished he was home, in his bedroom under the covers, so that he could finally let go.

Suddenly his head had started to feel light, needing to grab onto the wall to make sure he didn’t faint. The next thing he knew, he was in his bed, shoes on and his backpack still around his shoulders. Surely it must be a dream. He squeezed his eyes and opened them again, fully expecting to be leaning against the wall at school. It didn’t work.

He quickly walked downstairs, finding his dad in the kitchen.

“Hey, dad?”

His dad looked up from the stove. “Hey kid, you’re already back? I thought your mom had just left! I must have forgotten the time.”

Shane fumbled with his shirt. “Uhm, dad. I have to tell you something.”

His dad frowned, a worried look on his face. “Sure kid, come sit. Where is your mom?”

He pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down. Shane joined him, sitting on the edge of his seat.

Nervously, he started talking. “She’s not here. Uhm. I was at school? And then I thought about being home, and now I am here? I know it sounds weird, but I swear it happened and I don’t know how, and I tried to go back but it’s not working—” His voice broke.

“No, no, Shane, I believe you.” His dad rested his hand on Shane’s arm, assuring him.

“You do?” Shane asked, his voice small and looking at his dad through his tears.

“Yes.” His dad nodded.

And that was how the whole story came out. His mom had come back from his school, walking through the door, panicking and telling his dad how she couldn’t find Shane, when she saw him sitting at the table. Her lips formed a silent ‘o’, and she sat down next to him, pulling him into a hug. They told him about the Hollander gift, how they didn’t know how it came to be but knew it had been passed through generations of his dad’s family.

Shane had scoffed at the word ‘gift’. It seemed more like a curse. As far as he was concerned, it was just another thing that made him a freak.

Maybe that’s why he had walked away from Ilya. He knew that Ilya liked him. He would have to, if he came all the way to the cottage to spend his summer here. But after Shane told him this part of himself? He wasn’t so sure anymore. And if there is one thing he wouldn’t be able to handle, it was Ilya looking at him like he was a freak. He had had enough of that look for a lifetime, he didn’t want to see it in the eyes of the man he loved.

Because that was it, right? He loved Ilya, and he could only hope that Ilya would love him back and love him so much that he would overlook even the weirdest parts of him. So, he would tell him. Just not now. When the time was right. He didn’t expect the chance to be taken out of his hands.

***

Ilya had thought it was a bit weird, the way Shane had shut down when they were talking about his parents. But he had shrugged it off, thinking Shane was nervous about his parents finding out that he was gay, or even worse, that he was fucking him. So, yes, he had ignored it in favor of enjoying the time together that they finally had. And they did enjoy it, even finally confessing their love for each other. Ilya was over the moon.

Then David had walked in on them and that feeling had come back. The way Shane hesitated to talk about his parents. Especially with how he was freaking out right now. So, Ilya had been a bit hesitant too, almost afraid to ask it, but he still did.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

He held his breath, nervously awaiting Shane’s response.

“Would you?” Shane asked.

Ilya nodded, “Of course.”

And it had gone okay. It had been weird at first, walking behind Shane into his parent’s house. Ilya had taken in everything around him, trying to commit it to memory in case he never got the chance to be here again. In case Shane’s parents absolutely hated him for their son. But they had been surprisingly supportive. Sure, David had asked if there hadn’t been any nice men in Montreal, but Ilya couldn’t blame him for that. Also, he had great pasta in front of him, Shane next to him, and people in front of him who knew about them now. Truly Ilya was giddy.

Then Yuna had gone outside, Shane following her nervously. Ilya had squeezed his hand before he stood up, assuring him that it would be okay. It wasn’t until Shane was completely out of sight that Ilya realized he was now alone with David. What would they even talk about? Maybe the good Russian vodka that David apparently just had laying around.

Luckily David started the conversation.

“You and Shane, huh?”

Ilya nodded. “Yes.”

He didn’t know what David wanted him to say. They had been through this already. No, not at the All-Stars game, before that. Rookie season even. It had always been them.

David hummed, seemingly lost in his thoughts. “You are not freaked out then?”

Ilya frowned. “Freaked out by what?”

“The Hollander gift,” David said, like it was factual.

Ilya chuckled. “The Hollander gift of being boring? No, I like that about Shane.”

He wanted to eat the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, especially when he saw the frown on David’s face. Great. He had not even been here and hour and he already insulted his… Shane’s dad. He was about to apologize when David spoke up again.

“I take it he hasn’t told you?”

Now it was Ilya’s turn to frown. “Told me what?”

“Oh. I think you should discuss this with Shane,” David said.

Ilya was about to ask him to elaborate, when Shane and Yuna came back inside. He could see Shane’s eyes, glossy and red-rimmed and he forgot about the conversation completely. When Shane plopped next to him again, his hands had found Shane’s thigh, grounding him. Shane had shot him a small smile, which felt like victory to Ilya. He assumed the conversation outside had gone well.

The rest of dinner had gone by fine, with Shane only having a small panic attack, which could luckily be stopped by Ilya before it became something worse. They were officially boyfriends, and Shane had even let him place a soft kiss on his lips in front of his parents. It might have been one of the best days of Ilya’s life. He was going to remember this forever.

He only remembered what he and David talked about when they were in Shane’s car, driving back to the cottage.

***

Shane had noticed that Ilya had gone quiet in the car. Did Ilya not like his parents? Or maybe he was overwhelmed? Shane himself was overwhelmed. He had wanted Ilya to meet his parents for so long, and now it had finally happened. Part of him was still stressed, not knowing how these worlds could collide with each other. But mostly he was relieved. Except now Ilya was ignoring him, safe for the hand clasped in his own. At least, Shane was pretty sure Ilya was ignoring him. He lifted their hands, placing a small kiss on the back of Ilya’s hand, earning him a small smile.

Content that Ilya was still good with interacting with him, he decided to just ask. “Are you okay? Did you like my parents?”

“Yes,” Ilya smiled. “They are very nice.”

Oh. Good. But then why was he being weird? This is not what he was used to from Ilya.

“Did something happen?” Shane glanced over to the passenger seat.

Ilya grimaced. “No, is okay. I just… It is fine. I will ask later, okay?”

Now Shane’s curiosity had officially been peaked. Or it might have been more wariness than curiosity.

“Is something bothering you?” He asked.

Ilya’s thumb brushed over his hand in the slightest of motions. “Your dad mentioned something.”

Oh no.

“He said something about Hollander gift? At first, I thought he was talking about all of you being boring…” Ilya shot him a smile. “But then he said something about you not telling me something.”

“Oh,” Shane breathed. Of course he couldn’t get one thing. He had a plan. They would enjoy a few more days at the cottage, and then he would break it to Ilya. And if he decided to leave, at least they had had that. But his dad had to blab his mouth. And now Ilya knew he was hiding something.

But before he could say anything, Ilya spoke. “Is okay if you do not want to tell me things. I understand.”

Which to any other person would have sounded great. Only Shane could hear what was beneath it. As if Ilya somehow didn’t deserve to know everything. Which was not true. If there was any person in the world that Shane would want to tell everything to, it would be Ilya.

“Ilya—”

“It is okay, Shane,” Ilya smiled.

“No.” Shane said firmly. “I do have to tell you something. But can we wait until we get to the cottage?”

Ilya smiled back, only this time it looked a bit more sad. He nodded, now pursing his lips together, turning his head away to stare out the window.

Shane thought they were good, avoiding the talk for now. They could just talk at the cottage and it would be fine. But then Ilya’s hand slipped out of his, now coming to rest in his own lap. Oh. Ilya thought it was something bad. Something to do with him. Shane leaned over, as far as the seat belt would let him, to grab Ilya’s hand again.

Ilya whipped his head around, now showing his eyes filled with tears.

Oh, no. It was even worse than Shane thought. He spluttered to get the words out. “It’s nothing bad! I’m not going to break up with you or something!”

“No?” Ilya asked, his voice small.

Shane shook his head fervently. “No. Never.”

“Okay.” A smile slowly crept back on Ilya’s face.

Shane smiled back. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

And Shane hoped with all his heart that that wasn’t the last time he would get to hear those words.

***

His hands were sweaty and he was very aware of Ilya’s expectant eyes following him as he paced around the living room. They hadn’t really said anything else on the drive back and Shane had not been able to enjoy the silence. Not while there was palpable tension in the air between them. He could tell that Ilya was not sure about what Shane had to tell him. He had almost blurted it out right there and then. Except this was a conversation Ilya probably needed to sit down for.

When they got to the cottage, Shane immediately made his way to the living room, Ilya trailing behind him. And now here they were.

Shane was desperately trying to find the words that would explain this insane situation to Ilya. But there was nothing he could say that would soften the blow.

He pressed his palms to his face, breathing in deeply. Then he turned to Ilya, and asked, “Okay. What exactly did my dad tell you?”

Ilya shrugged. “Not much. Something about the Hollander gift.”

“Which you thought meant being boring.”

“Is true, no?” Ilya grinned.

Shane couldn’t help but chuckle. From everything Ilya could have assumed, his mind of course went to them both being boring. It didn’t feel like that long ago when Ilya had told him his boring must be genetic.

He took a deep breath. “It’s not so much a gift as it is a superpower.”

Ilya frowned. “Superpower?”

Yeah, okay, he couldn’t keep standing for this. If he didn’t sit down now, he was going to faint. He walked over to the other side of the couch and dropped down, carefully leaving a safe distance between him and Ilya. He glanced over at him, and saw Ilya patiently waiting for him to elaborate.

He should probably start by saying that he isn’t the first person who can do it. That his dad can do it too. And some of his aunts and uncles. And his grandfather. And that it’s really not that weird. It might be hard for Ilya to wrap his head around it, but eventually he could come to terms with it. He could say all this before actually saying—

“I can teleport,” he blurted out.

Fuck. He hadn’t meant to say it like this. How would Ilya react? What is he thinking? Shane doesn’t want to look him in the eyes, because what if Ilya is really looking at him like he’s a freak?

He kept his head down, looking at his hands in his lap. Whatever Ilya was going to say, he would have to deal with it. Then the sound came. It was glorious and loud. And…

Ilya was laughing. Not quietly. No, full-on laughing. He threw his head back, grabbing onto his stomach to keep any kind of composure.

Shane stared at him. From every reaction he could have imagined, this was not one of them.

“You...” Ilya was wheezing now. “Can teleport?”

“Yes? Is that so hard to believe?!” Shane was relieved that Ilya wasn’t angry, but now he felt himself getting offended.

Suddenly Ilya stopped laughing. His brows shot up and his mouth fell open. “Shane, you are not lying?”

“No!” Shane said outraged. “Why would I lie about something like this!”

“I do not know! I thought it was weird!” Ilya threw his hands up, before placing them on his thighs. “You can really teleport?”

“Yes,” Shane nodded. “Is this weird? Does it weird you out?”

Ilya shook his head. “Now I understand why David thought I would be freaked out.”

“He said that?” Shane said, his voice pitched high.

“Yes. But is okay, I am not freaked out.”

Ilya shifted on the couch, moving closer and putting his hand on Shane’s cheek. Shane could feel himself leaning into the touch.

“You can go anywhere, anytime?” Ilya’s thumb brushed over the freckles splattered across Shane’s nose.

Shane hummed. “Yes. But only places I have been before.”

“Show me,” Ilya said.

Shane went still. “What?”

“Show me. I want to see it,” Ilya repeated, pressing a quick kiss to Shane’s forehead.

Shane moved back. “Wait- You don’t believe me, do you?”

Ilya frowned. “I believe that you believe it.”

Shane stood up fast. No, no, no. This wasn’t even in his realm of possibilities. He prepared for everything. He prepared for Ilya leaving him because he was weirded out. But him not believing it? How would he ever prove it?

“I can't do it in front of people.”

Ilya chuckled. “Convenient.”

Now Shane was getting angry. “Fuck you. I’ll have you know that I was really fucking nervous to tell you this, and now you don’t even believe me?”

“Shane,” Ilya said, exasperated. “You are telling me you have a superpower. In a world where that does not exist. How can I believe you without proof?”

“Because I’m telling you to!” Shane yelled. “You can't even believe your boyfriend?”

Ilya flinched like he had been hit. It was a low blow, using the label that only had been established about two hours ago. But Shane didn’t care. He didn’t know how else to make Ilya believe him.

“Shane—” Ilya tried.

“No. You know what?” Shane continued, trying to keep his voice down. He didn’t want to keep yelling at Ilya. “I will prove it to you.” He pointed at Ilya on the couch. “Stay here.”

“Fine,” Ilya said, his hands up in defeat.

Shane stalked away, halfway to the kitchen when he realized he hadn’t told Ilya his plan. Resigned, he walked back, Ilya indeed still waiting for him.

“I’m going to walk into my bedroom over there,” Shane pointed at the other side of the house. “And then I am going to walk back into here through this door.” Now he was pointing at the door opening up to the dock outside.

“Okay,” Ilya nodded, lips curving up slightly.

Shane sent one last angry glare his way. “Be ready to eat your words, mister.”

Then he turned on his feet, quickly making his way to his bedroom. He knew how to teleport, he had been doing it since he was ten. Explaining it was a completely different story. It kind of just happened to him. He had control over it, obviously, or he would be jumping from place to place all the time. But there wasn’t a specific line he had to say, or a certain way he had to think about a place, it was more a feeling. Like if he really wanted to go somewhere, he could.

He put his hand to the wall, bracing himself for the tingling sensation in his head. He wished he was on the dock.

Immediately he started to get light-headed, so he closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was standing on the dock. He smirked. Would you look at that.

He walked over to the door and could already see Ilya staring at him with wide eyes.

“Believe me now?” Shane said smugly, crossing the room and dropping on the couch again.

Ilya stared at him in disbelief, not saying anything.

Oh. This was the part where Ilya would be getting angry. The smug feeling Shane had just a second ago completely disappeared. He started to pick at his nails, a nervous habit that he was trying to unlearn, but Ilya not saying anything wasn’t helping.

“Shane…” Ilya’s voice was shaky. “You are telling me I could have had you in my bed all these years?”

Shane’s head whipped up. “What?”

Ilya was searching his face, brows still up. “You… You can teleport. You could have teleported to me?”

What? “What? How is this what you get out of it!” Shane spluttered. “Also, I hadn’t even been to your real house until 2016, so it wouldn’t even have been possible before then!”

Ilya rested his head against the back of the couch. “You can teleport.”

“Are you okay, uhm…” Shane murmured. “Are you okay with that?”

Ilya glanced at him. Shane almost crumbled under the intense eye contact.

Ilya’s voice was hoarse when he spoke. “You can come to my house whenever you want.” It was a statement, but Shane could hear the question beneath it.

He nodded. “Basically, yes.”

Ilya’s face lit up. “You can come to my house whenever you want.” That was definitely a statement.

“Yes.” Shane couldn’t help but giggle.

Ilya beamed back at him, and before Shane knew it he was being tackled on the couch with Ilya’s face pressing into his chest, moving up to his neck, leaving kisses all over. Until finally they were face to face again, Ilya hovering closely above him. Shane could feel his breath on his lips, as Ilya said, “I love you.”

And wasn’t that the sweetest thing he ever heard.

***

First, Ilya had thought it was a bit weird. The whole teleporting thing. It didn’t make him love Shane any less, if anything he maybe loved him more, now sharing one very important secret with him. But he had never seen it happen. He knew it was true, since he had sort of seen it, but he didn’t know how it worked.

And why would the Hollander family have this ability of all people? Were there more people just walking around with superpowers that never told people? Were they just lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to seize the world? Okay, maybe he was getting ahead of himself. He was no conspiracy theorist by any means, but this ‘thing’ made him wonder about things.

Shane was clearly happier. A weight had been lifted off his shoulders, one that Ilya was sad that he hadn’t even noticed before that. Shane had always been wary, although less around Ilya, but he had thought that was just one of his things. He was careful and Ilya liked that. But the rest of their time at the cottage, he had been freer.

And he had talked Ilya’s ear off about all the weird teleportation stories from his childhood. The one about how he found out, which resulted in a way more serious conversation about the bullying he had to endure at school, but Shane had a dozen stories. Each crazier than the last. Ilya could still not entirely wrap his head around it being true, even though he fully believed Shane, but he loved listening to his boyfriend talk and talk.

Later that week, they had gone to dinner again with Shane’s parents. They were relieved to find out Shane had told Ilya, and even more relieved to find out that Ilya had decided to stick around. Ilya had frowned, not able to imagine a world where he would actually decide to leave Shane over something like this, but apparently this had been a valid fear with all of the Hollanders.

He quickly assured them that that would never be the case and that had been that. Shane had snuggled up to him on the couch, not caring about what his parents would think, and Ilya happily accepted it. There was no place he would rather be.

But that had been summer. And the season was coming up again. They hadn’t really spoken about how they would go into this season. Ilya assumed, mostly hoped, that they would see each other more. Now that they were boyfriends. But Shane hadn’t said anything about it, so Ilya also left the topic alone. He also didn’t bring up the first thing he said after Shane proved he could teleport again. You can come to my house whenever you want. It was true. Foolishly he hoped Shane had remembered and would do it without Ilya having to remind him.

But Shane would probably want to focus on hockey. And he definitely wouldn’t want to be bothered by Ilya telling him he missed him or wanted him to come over. Ilya would just have to settle for that.

***

The first time it happened Ilya had been caught completely off guard. He had been calling Shane most nights since the cottage, but they both had very busy schedules. Most of the time one of them left a text for the other, confirming they would be able to call. Which meant Ilya was not surprised when he came home from practice and found a text waiting for him on his phone.  

Jane: Are you home alone?

Ilya smiled, typing out a quick ‘Yes’ before walking to the kitchen, making sure he had something to eat, since they probably would be talking for hours. What he wasn’t prepared for was the soft “Hi,” coming from behind him.

He spun around as fast as he could, coming face to face with his boyfriend.

Shane smiled at him shyly. “Is this okay? I mean you said you were home alone and I didn’t want to assume, but I just missed you and—”

Shane yelped as Ilya threw his hands around him and picked him up to spin him around.

“This,” Ilya grinned. “Is more than okay.”

He carried Shane over to his bedroom, his food in the kitchen completely forgotten and instead replaced with kisses and getting tangled up in the sheets.

After both of them were completely satisfied, Ilya finally came down from his initial shock. Instead it had been replaced with curiosity.

Shane’s head was on his chest, and he pressed a quick kiss to his hair, before asking, “So. You just squeeze your ass, think about someplace else and you will be there?”

Shane chuckled, and the vibration of it went right through Ilya’s body. He truly couldn’t believe his luck. His boyfriend missed him so much that he actually teleported to see him. Teleported.

“Basically, yeah,” Shane hummed.

This had Ilya sitting up.

Shane groaned at being ripped from his comfortable position. But Ilya had different things to worry about.

“Shane, you squeeze your ass during sex,” he said matter of factly.

Shane looked up at him, raising a brow.

“If you squeeze your ass during sex, are you going to disappear on me?”

It was a genuine concern. That would be weird. Also, Shane would be waking up in a different place completely naked. What if there were people around? What if he would be having his orgasm in a different place, and then Ilya wouldn’t be able to see it and he would just be left with his dick out, thrusting forward into nothingness. Now that he thought about it, he was even more stressed.

Shane started to laugh.

“Why are you laughing?” Ilya gasped. “This is a very genuine concern for me!”

“Ilya, no… I just can’t believe,” Shane laughed breathlessly, but still propping himself up on his elbow so he could fix his gaze on Ilya. His laughing died out and his hand came up to cup Ilya’s cheek.

Ilya shivered at the touch. They had been boyfriends for more than a month, but he didn’t think he would ever get used to Shane touching him like this.

Shane brushed his thumb over Ilya’s bottom lip and smiled softly. “Why would I think about being anywhere else if I was with you?”

And if that wasn’t something else. Ilya tried his best to stay calm, but with Shane saying things like that as if they were the easiest thing in the world, he didn’t know how he was supposed to. And his boyfriend was still talking.

“And I have told you before, it doesn’t work if there’s someone in the room with me. So, it would never happen while we were having sex or doing something else together.”

Yeah, yeah. Ilya didn’t care about that when he had that confession still pounding into his head. Instead, he climbed on top of Shane again, smothering him in kisses to shut him up.

***

The second time it happened Ilya was a little more prepared. They had talked about it more, how they missed each other and wanted to be together as much as they could. Naturally, the topic of teleportation came up again. Ilya wanted Shane to be with him at all times, but Shane was scared of someone noticing him being gone, or someone being at Ilya’s house when he showed up.

Eventually they settled on shared calendars, with Ilya promising Shane with a hand on his heart that he would put any and every appointment in there.

But since then, Ilya had been staring at that same calendar, focusing on every free hour they both had as if it were something holy. He loved that he could have his boyfriend around more, but it still was all in Shane’s hands. Ilya couldn’t go to him. Which meant he had to patiently wait for Shane to show up. But Ilya felt that when it came to Shane all his patience went out of the window.

That night he had gone to bed a little disappointed. He had seen in the calendar that Shane had a busy night, but he had hoped that he would come by for a quick goodnight at least. Ilya moved through his nighttime routine, getting a bit slack with his movements, but he wanted to get in bed as fast as he could. Then he could sleep it off, maybe wake up more refreshed.

He had just settled and closed his eyes, when he heard the front door open. He smiled, knowing there was only one person who had the code to open it. After a minute a shadow walked into his room, slipping in bed next to him.

“Hi,” Shane whispered.

Ilya didn’t say anything. He rolled over, throwing his arm around Shane and tugged him tightly into his chest. His nose was in Shane’s hair, and he breathed in deeply, the familiar scent of his boyfriend calming his brain.

Shane hummed contently, wiggling a little to get comfortable in Ilya’s embrace.

“I have the day off tomorrow, so I just thought I would come and sleep with you,” Shane whispered again.

Ilya pressed a kiss to the back of Shane’s head, willing himself to stay awake to enjoy this moment a little while longer.

“I love you,” he murmured into Shane’s hair. “I am glad you are here.”

“Me too,” Shane yawned. “I love you too.”

***

After that one time it became a bit of a routine. Whenever Ilya was in Boston and Shane had time, he would teleport and they would sleep together. Which also meant they had a lot of sex, but Ilya admittedly liked the feeling of waking up in Shane’s arms even more.

That meant that one morning when he woke up and found the other side of the bed empty, he was confused. He was pretty sure that Shane was here yesterday, unless he had hallucinated that. He picked up his phone, about to ask Shane, when he saw that he had a million missed calls and texts.

He called Shane immediately.

“Moya lyubov’, what is wrong?” Ilya asked, even more worried when Shane picked up the phone after the first ring.

“It’s not working!” Came Shane’s desperate voice from the other end of the line.

“What?” Ilya stood up, pacing around his room.

“I don’t know,” Shane stammered. “I was with you one second and then I was back in my hotel room, I don’t know what happened and I tried to go back, but it’s not working.”

There was nothing calm about Ilya’s thoughts when he heard Shane stumble through his words like that. But he knew Shane was expecting him to be the reasonable person here. Which meant he had to come up with something fast.

“Maybe you ran out?” Ilya offered up.

“What?” Shane’s confusion was clear even over the phone. “How would that even make sense?”

It had been a joke. But now that Ilya thought about it more, it actually started to make sense. So, he followed up. “Maybe you have been using your powers too many times, you ran out.”

Shane sniffled. “That has never happened before.”

Ilya chuckled and hoped that Shane didn’t hear how shaky the sound was when it came out. “You also have not teleported to see your boyfriend every night before.”

He wished he was there to see the blush that was certainly flooding Shane’s neck and cheeks, but he would settle for the huff that Shane let out.

“Ask your dad, he will know, yes?” Ilya said.

“Yeah…” Shane breathed. “Okay. I will do that.”

“Shane?”

“Yes?”

“I was sad not to wake up with you this morning,” Ilya confessed.

“Me too,” Shane sighed. “I love you.”

“I love you more. Now call your dad.”

Ilya was more freaked about this than he would ever admit to Shane. They truly didn’t know anything about how all of this worked, and they had, or Shane had been using his powers recklessly, not knowing if there was a limit. Maybe there was a price to pay. What if Shane could never teleport again?

These questions kept torturing him throughout the rest of the day. It was a few hours later when he finally got a text.

Jane: Apparently, I did actually run out.

Jane: I need to charge up for a few days and then we’re good to go.

Ilya: Good

Ilya: I will miss you in my bed :(

Jane: Not as much as I will miss being in it :)

***

After that they were a little more careful with how often Shane came over. They also talked to David and researched anything they could about the powers that ran through the Hollander bloodline. Eventually they settled on a rhythm that would make sure they wouldn’t get any unwanted surprises of Shane suddenly being gone and waking up in a completely different place.

It worked. Ilya missed Shane desperately the few nights that they weren't together, and he wondered when he got so used to the luxury of always having him around. He didn’t know how he had gone without it so many years. Without Shane.

And Ilya certainly couldn’t wait for the day when Shane would never have to use his teleportation powers ever again.