Part Nineteen of the Inverted AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a fic series I wrote from December 2018 to August 2021. Jackie, determinedly fed-up with Marvin and Jameson's attempts to find Jack, starts enacting his own plan. Meanwhile, Jack tries to go out on a small trip for fun. Unfortunately, it takes a sharp turn.]
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Jackie was already regretting this idea. It seemed like a good plan two days ago when he came up with it. But now, standing in the bedroom doorway and making uncomfortable eye contact with Jameson standing on the other side, he was having second thoughts. But he couldn’t back away now. “Sorry for, uh, interrupting you,” Jackie said, shifting on his feet. “I just…wanted to talk to you.”

{Well, there’s nothing wrong with that,} Jameson said. {Please, come inside.} He moved out of the doorway so Jackie could get past him.

Jackie tried his best to trample his nerves as he stepped inside. The house had four bedrooms, so some of the boys had to double up. Jameson shared with Schneep, and Jackie had previously shared with Jack, leaving Chase and Marvin with their own. Jackie had been inside Jameson and Schneep’s joint room before, but never alone with Jameson. And because of that, he was SUPER on edge right now. His eyes kept unintentionally darting back towards the door, expecting it to close at any minute.

“So…I’ve been thinking about the situation with Jack.” Jackie was very proud of how steady his voice was.

Jameson didn’t say anything, merely raising an eyebrow. Wait, did that mean he was listening in on what Jackie was thinking? What if he was slowly changing his mind on what he had to say? What if he already knew about the plan?

Jackie shook himself internally to get rid of the paranoia. “And I’ve…decided that…maybe it would be a good idea to get him back.”

Jameson folded his arms and leaned against the nearest wall. {Well, that’s a sudden change of mind. Any particular reason?}

“Uh…a couple.” Thank god he’d come up with reasons beforehand. “I’m, uh, kind of tired of fighting you two. I’m honestly half-expecting Marvin to murder me in my sleep one day.”

{Don’t be ridiculous, he wouldn’t kill you in your sleep,} Jameson said casually. {If he ever gets to the point where he wants to get rid of you, he’d want you to know exactly what was happening.}

“…right. Well, thanks for that.” Jackie swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “Anyway, the other reason is that I’ve been thinking, and I really don’t want to get arrested. And Jack…Jack could tell the police any day. So…yeah…”

Silence for a while. Jackie continued to awkwardly shift on his feet while Jameson took out his phone and checked a text message. He started to type a reply, then said, {That never seemed to bother you before. Did something happen?}

Jackie felt a lurch in his stomach. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said simply, folding his arms and looking away. Then quickly he added, “Suffice to say that I had a close call last night.” All of this was utter bullshit. But hopefully if he said it with enough confidence, then Jameson wouldn’t get suspicious, and therefore wouldn’t see a need to look inside his mind.

Apparently it worked, because Jameson shrugged and replied, {Very well, that’s your own business. It would be very helpful to have your aid. You’ve said before that you’re able to hack with some skill, do you think you could apply those abilities to our search?}

He tried not to wilt in relief. “I mean, maybe. But I don’t know how much I could do against the bitch. I’m sure I can get information…somehow.”

Jameson smiled at him. {Well, either way, it’s always good to have more hands on deck. If you find anything, please come to me. I’ll not ask you to talk to Marvin.}

“Probably a good idea. Anyway, uh, thanks. That’s all I wanted to say.” Jackie turned around to leave and ran straight into Schneep.

“Ahk!” Schneep took a step back. “Jackie, you startled me. What are you doing inside my room?”

“I was talking to Jameson,” Jackie explained calmly. “Oh hey, by the way, are we still on for the coffee run later today? Or are you going to crash after an all-nighter again?”

Schneep chuckled. “I will be fine, I came home early last night. I wanted to take one of the naps, but you can wake me up when you are ready.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later, then.” Jackie sidled past and down the hall towards his own room, disappearing inside.

It seemed that so far the plan was going well. Assuming Jameson didn’t find out about it, he was sure he could carry it through.

Step one: convince Jameson and Marvin he agreed with their goal of getting Jack back. Step two: somehow convince Schneep that it would be better to let Jack go, thus bringing him over to his side. Step three: “help” the others get Jack, though maybe it would be a good idea to feed some misinformation. He was still considering that part. Step four: once they’ve managed to find Jack, get Schneep’s help to get him the hell away from these two, and maybe leave themselves as well. Actually, definitely leave themselves, and take Chase with him. Also try to find a way to wake him up.

It was a simple plan, or so Jackie thought. But it was made extra complicated with the addition of a telepath. He’d just have to make sure he wasn’t giving Jameson a reason to be suspicious, and hopefully that would be enough.
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A week had passed, and Jack was finally starting to calm down a bit. He didn’t lower his guard, but he stopped expecting the others to pop up at any minute. According to Anti, they’d been running a few online searches, but he blocked every attempt. Jack was half-convinced that they wouldn’t even get close anyway, but Anti was messing with them out of some sort of spiteful vindication. Which, Jack had to admit, was sort of justified.

With the gradual relaxation, Jack had started exploring more or the American city. Though he took Mark’s advice and only explored during the daytime; he wasn’t currently keen on seeing how “weird” the city got. He started with the tourist spots and as the week progressed he grew more familiar with the layout and locations. He wasn’t up to the level of the locals, but he was confident. Confident enough to begin to wonder about what was more on the outskirts of the town.

He decided to bring up the subject one night in the hotel room. He was sitting on the bed, skimming through one of the brochures the front desk kept when he said, “Anti…how do you feel about going out a little ways out of town?”

The television flickered red, green, and blue, and suddenly Anti was sitting across from him, cross-legged. “I don’t know, how do YOU feel?”

“I…want to go see,” Jack answered. “I think it would be fun. And probably helpful, if we ever needed to flee in the night like outlaws. But do you want to…come with me?” Anti had been coming with him on most of his explorations of the city, usually in a solid form, sometimes as bursts of static inside his phone. To make sure he was being safe. But occasionally he let Jack go out on his own—no, “let” wasn’t the right word. That implied that Anti had the final say, when it had always been Jack. Rather, he didn’t come with him on his explorations. And it was nice to be alone sometimes.

Anti shrugged. “Sure. Where were you thinking of going?”

“I…didn’t think that far,” Jack admitted. “I don’t know, maybe we could rent a car and go travel the roads.”

“Jack.” Anti raised an eyebrow. “You can’t drive.”

“Well, yeah, but I was kind of assuming you could.” Jack stared at him. “Can you?”

“Do I look like I know how to fucking drive?”

“I don’t know! You have like, the entire Internet at your fingertips, I bet there’s a ‘how to drive’ video on YouTube. There are ‘how to’ videos on YouTube for everything.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m automatically going to gain the experience needed to be a good driver. I’d probably crash the car in the parking lot.” Anti fuzzed out for a moment, glitching holographically. “There are a few bus routes that go beyond the city, we can take that.”

“Alright, that sounds like it could work.” Jack twisted where he was sitting and looked over to the room’s desk. “Hey Sam! Do you want to come?”

Sam peeked out from the nest they’d made from one of Jack’s hoodie. Their nerve-tail wagged as they said they really wanted to come, that sounded exciting!

Jack laughed. “Alright. Now let’s talk about these bus routes, find one that works.”
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It was about ten o’clock the next morning when Jack embarked on his next adventure. It may have seen a small thing, taking a bus and following it wherever it would go, but Jack hadn’t been able to wander aimlessly for a long time, so even this small thing was something he enjoyed. He liked planning his own schedule for the route, he liked looking out the window at the new landscape, he liked listening to the prerecorded voice on the bus calling out the stops. As if he knew this, Anti was quiet for pretty much the whole of the trip, only sometimes taking a solid form and preferring to remain electricity in the air. Sam had to stay hidden in his pocket, of course, but they peeked out every so often and swished their nerve-tail.

The landscape outside the bus windows changed from tall, modern skyscrapers to smaller clusters of shorter buildings, and from there as the bus traveled down long roads to what must’ve been the suburbs of the city. Jack didn’t even know Los Angeles had suburbs, but apparently it did. He then made a transfer to an outbound bus from the city, and watched as the buildings faded into long stretches of flat, dry land.

Jack got off the bus around two, and that was because he was starting to get hungry. The bus stop he chose to stop at was alone on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, except for a gas station and a convenience store. Was this really how things worked in this country? Seemed a bit odd to have something like this just by itself. But there was an intersection nearby, so maybe this was somehow a transfer point for buses. Not that there were a lot of those. Or many cars, even. Aside from a few in the attached parking lot, the road was empty.

With a slight buzz, Anti materialized next to him. “When were you thinking of heading back? Or are we just moving on entirely? Could’ve let me checked out first.”

“No, we’re going back. Probably soon.” Jack checked the time on his phone, coordinating it with the bus routes he’d looked up. Or trying to, at least. “God, the wifi here sucks.”

“T͠el͏l ̸me̴ ab̷out it,” Anti muttered.

Jack waited for the bus schedule to load up. “Okay, uh, the bus back should come in a half an hour, if it’s on time. Meanwhile, I’m going to go buy snacks. I know you don’t eat, but do you want me to get you anything else?”

“I’ll pass.” Anti turned to look around the small patch of asphalt. “I’m going to try and find a stronger signal anywhere. Just in case something happens.”

“Well, good luck,” Jack shrugged. “I’ll meet you back here. Or you can meet me in the store.”

“Mm-hmm.” Anti made an OK sign with his fingers before fizzling away.

Jack reached inside his hoodie pocket to check on Sam. At some point, the long, flat landscape must’ve bored them. They were currently resting. Once he was sure they were secure, he took a deep breath, and walked inside the store.

Turns out the store was air-conditioned, like ever other building in America. Jack took a moment to adjust to the sudden temperature change and look around. Fluorescent lights, aisles lined with various packaged foods and other small items for road trips, and coolers in the back. There was one bored-looking employee standing behind a counter and checking his phone, and one customer browsing the rows who glanced over at Jack as he entered, then looked away.

Jack headed over to the nearest aisle, looking over the snacks for sale. He didn’t have too much American cash on him, and didn’t want to risk using a card of any sort, regardless of Anti supposedly protecting his whereabouts from being tracked. How much could he get?

“Hi.”

Jack jumped, and looked over to see the customer from before had entered his aisle. She was smiling at him. “Hi,” he said.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just kinda bored. See, I’m supposed to meet my friends here, but they’re late.” The woman tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed.

“Oh, that sucks. I’m sorry.” Jack grabbed a bag of chips and continued down the aisle, looking to see if there was anything else. The woman followed him. He looked over at her. “You, uh, from around here?”

“Yes, we all are. We make this trip all the time, it’s practically our job now.” She laughed. “Anyway, YOU'RE not from around here, are you? I can tell by your accent. Are you Scottish?”

“Irish, actually. I get that a lot, though, so don’t worry.” She seemed friendly enough. But he was still a bit uneasy. She apparently didn’t recognize him, which was good, but you never know what might end up online.

“Oh cool! What brings you to the US?”

“I’m visiting a friend.” Jack picked up a pack of cookies and kept heading toward the back.

“Nice, we’re friend-meeting buddies. So, you’re going to visit this friend now? Or did they come with you?”

“Uh, no, he didn’t come with me. And I didn’t actually tell him I was…taking this trip.” Jack shrugged. “I mean, he knows I’m here, but I wanted to go on a bus ride, see the local sights, you know?”

“Got a bit carried away, if you’re all the way out here.” The woman laughed again.

“Yeah maybe, but it was nice.” By this point, Jack had picked up a soda to go with the cookies and chips. Not the healthiest treats, but what else were you going to find in a convenience store? “Well, I’m gonna…go buy this now.”

“Cool, cool. I should probably text my friends, see what’s keeping them. You have fun.”

“Thanks.”

As he was paying for the snacks, Jack couldn’t help but glance over at the woman a few times. She was…maybe a little too friendly, but she seemed harmless, fiddling with her phone. Hopefully she wouldn’t post this on Twitter or anything.

Outside, he took a seat on the bench by the bus stop, setting the snacks next to him. Anti still wasn’t back. Or maybe he was and was just staying in a more intangible form. The road was still empty. Jack checked the time. The bus should arrive in about twenty minutes. He sighed, looking down at the pavement.

“Excuse me.”

Jack looked up again to see a group of three approaching him. Two men and a woman. “Hi?”

“Hello!” The man in front smiled. “Sorry, I’m just wondering if you’ve seen my sister around? Long brown hair, brown eyes? She said she’d be wearing a purple top.”

“Oh…oh yeah, I saw her just inside the store.” Jack pointed. “She said she was waiting for friends, guess that’s you.”

“Great.” The man began digging around in his pocket. “Actually, I was wondering if you could do one more thing for me, that is, uh—” He pulled something out, and when he flipped it open Jack could feel his heart stop. “—if you’d just give me your wallet, that would be nice.”

Jack kept his eyes on the switchblade and slowly raised his hands, instinctively shrinking back and flattening against the back of the bench. “I—I don’t have a lot of American money,” he said slowly.

“Well, currency exchanges exist.” Jack didn’t like the way the man was still smiling. Or the way his two companions were edging around to the left and right. “And I’m sure you have credit cards or something you can hand over too.”

“You want my—I can’t give you my bank card!”

“No, I think you can.” The man walked closer. Jack leaned back further as the point of his blade drew near, as it pointed right at his throat. To the left and the right, the other two were pulling out items as well, but Jack was preoccupied with the imminent danger. “Because I have no problem just taking it from you and leaving a body for the cops to find.”

Given the choice between death or the possibility of the others finding him, Jack decided that death was the worse option. “Alright…fine…” he breathed. “I-I need to get it, it’s in my pocket.”

“Alright, stand up.” When Jack balked, the man gestured with the switchblade, the first hint of impatience. Jack slowly stood up from the bench, in the process getting even closer to the man and his knife. He started searching through his pocket one-handed. The blade point was inches from his throat. He was scared to move too much, scared to even breathe, in case that caused the blade to nick.

When he managed to pull out his wallet, the man snatched it away immediately, then backed off. Jack exhaled, but quickly tensed again as he realized there were still two others pointing deadly weapons at him. He glanced at them as the man in front flipped through his wallet. The woman to the left had another knife, a bigger one, and the man to the right had—he had a GUN. Jack’s eyes locked onto the barrel. Somewhere in the distance, he was hearing a deafening bang, feeling the kickback and the terrible mental fog that had suddenly caused everything to shut down—

“What’s in it?!”

It was the voice of the woman from before. Jack didn’t look away from the gun, but he heard her footsteps approaching and saw her walk up to the man with the blade out of the corner of his eye.

“Well, not a lot of dollar bills, but we have a couple of cards. No driver’s license.”

Laughter. “Europeans don’t DRIVE. Why do you think he took the bus?”

“Well, good point. Either way, still not a lot. What do you think? Should we take him?”

Jack’s head whipped around. “What?”

“I mean, might as well.” The woman shrugged. “Didn’t sound like anyone was expecting him back.”

“You—no, you can’t do that!” Jack nearly tripped over the bench in his haste to back away. The woman with the knife and the man with the gun closed in. His heart froze as his eyes flashed between the two of them.

“Well if that’s the case,” the man said idly, “you’re right, might as well.”

“No!” Jack darted toward a small gap in the group, only to be yanked backwards by the back of his hoodie. Still, he tried to pull away. But the man with the gun just wrapped one arm around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides, and pressing the gun barrel to the side of his head. Jack froze immediately. Tears were threatening to spill over, and he could barely get enough air from how quickly he was breathing. He couldn’t—he just got out of a situation like this, he couldn’t go back to one!

“Alright, back to the car!” The man said. “Bring him with us.”

Jack yanked his head away, doing his best to stomp on the man’s feet as he was dragged away. It was a few steps before he landed a hard enough hit to make the man yell and let go. Jack lunged forward, only to end up directly in front of the woman with the knife. He tried to push her out of the way, and the two of them struggled for a moment, until—

He thought he’d been punched at first. But then there was a sudden flare of pain as a spot on his stomach started to feel rather wet. It shocked him enough to stop fighting, just long enough for the man with the gun to grab him again.

“Oh my god, again?” The woman from before sighed. “This is the last time you use a knife, Catherine.”

“Sorry…” the woman with the knife mumbled.

“Whatever, it’s fine, we can fix it in the car,” the other sighed. “Let’s hurry, they might have fixed the security cam—”

She was cut off by a sudden electric screech. Like the sound of lightning striking a metal sheet and sheering it in two. The criminals froze, looking around. And that was all they had time to do.

The first man was thrown to the ground, dropping his switchblade and Jack’s wallet. The air shivered brokenly and the light seemed to turn a bit red. The black-green shadow of a man burst into existence, lunging at the woman with the knife. She shrieked, throwing up her blade to defend herself, but then it wasn’t in her hand, it was in the shadow’s, and there was a thin line of red dripping across her face. Even before she had finished stumbling back the knife was in the air again, barely able to be seen as a silver fan cut through the air and landed in the wrist of the man with the gun. He once again yelled and let go of Jack, who slid to the ground quietly. The first woman had barely processed the scene when the shadow of pixels was in her face, grabbing her by the shirt and pulling her close as it growled. Or, not growled. The sound came out as a series of static-laced electric bursts that could’ve been a growl, or could’ve been low, threatening laughter. The shadow threw her on top of the first man, and followed her over. The shadow’s hand fell apart into distortion, and then it plunged the hand right through the woman and man’s chests. They screamed simultaneously.

The shadow withdrew, crouching by the fallen Jack. It stared at the group, then reached up to its face and seemed to remove something for just a moment. There was a flash of green, and all the criminals watching felt icy terror run through their veins. They scrambled to stand up and sprinted away. A few minutes later, a single white car screeched away from the parking lot, leaving the smell of burning rubber behind.

Anti settled into a solid form, smiling. Maybe he went overboard with that, but he was on high guard, maybe even a little paranoid. Had been ever since they arrived in this city. Well, enough of that. Anti turned his attention to the man lying on the pavement. “Jack? Jack, are you alright?”

Jack didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at Anti. He was shaking slightly, eyes closed, arms pulled close to him. There was a small movement in his pocket, and Sam emerged. They flicked their nerve-tail, showing Anti the small nick in it that was leaking glowing green fluid. They then used it to point at a spot on Jack’s hoodie that hadn’t been that dark before.

“Fu̸c̨k̡!” Anti reached to turn Jack over so he could see the problem better, but Jack curled up tighter, shaking his head. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, tears travelling down his face. Alright, fine, Anti had seen enough of what happened to know what was happening. He should never have left.

“Sam?” The little eye jolted to attention, flying crookedly up to Anti’s eye level. They were having trouble keeping balance with the small injury. “What do we do?”

Sam hesitated, then flicked their tail nerve-three times. The symbol for ‘I don’t know.’

“Alright, alright.” Anti reached over and grabbed one of Jack’s hands. Jack clung to it, but he didn’t seem to be getting any calmer. “He’s having a panic attack, and he’s been stabbed. We need to get help, but we’re in the middle of nowhere.” Anti bit his lip as he thought. “I can’t glitch living organisms, so we can’t get there instantaneously. I can maybe open a shortcut. But there’s still a problem there. That being the longer the distance the shortcut covers, the more difficult it is to open.” He sighed. “But I guess we don’t have a choice, huh? I can open a shortcut to the hospital.”

“N-n-no!” Jack opened his eyes wide. “No, no no, no hospitals. No d-doctors. Please. Please? Please?”

“Okay, no doctors,” Anti promised. “But we have to do something! I can’t fix this!” The stain on Jack’s hoodie was spreading fast. Dangerously fast.

Sam perked up. They flew down, disappearing back inside Jack’s hoodie pocket for a second. They emerged holding a small card in their nerve-tail. They petered over to Anti and dropped the card in his lap. He hurriedly picked it up.

“This…this is the card that Jack’s friend gave him. Mark, right?” Anti read the address, coordinating it with the maps he’d found online of their location. “It is closer…but do you really think they can help?”

Sam flicked their nerve-tail once, decisively.

Anti narrowed his eye at them. “This is one of your ‘feelings,’ isn’t it? The ones that are usually right about what we should do?” Sam flicked it again. “Alright, it’s a plan.”

He glitched to a standing position, reaching up and pulling off his eye-patch. He needed full power for a shortcut. Then he bent over and carefully picked up Jack. He wasn’t usually fond of touching humans, with the way their bones creaked and their blood flowed. He didn’t know how they could stand it. But Jack clearly couldn’t walk on his own. Anti could feel his trembling even through his hoodie. “Close your eyes, Jack,” he said, shifting Jack in his arms so his eyes were facing away from the outside, just in case he didn’t. Sam settled down on Anti’s shoulder.

And Anti took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
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A few miles away, a little over a minute later, a man seemed to step out of nowhere and onto the front steps of a large house. Almost a manor. The man looked around, and suddenly there was a glitch in reality and the man was wearing an eye-patch. He looked down at the other man he was holding in his arms. His eyes were fluttering, and he seemed to be on the verge of unconsciousness. Though it was unclear if that was because of the blood loss on its own or if the panic attack had helped it along.

The House opened its front door, and the glitch on the steps tensed, static distortion running along his body. There was another man on the other side of the door. One with black hair, and electric blue eyes hidden behind glasses. He looked eerily similar to someone the glitch had seen before, someone who had identified himself as a friend. And he seemed totally unfazed by the strange sight before him.

The man inside said calmly, “Welcome to the House. We were notified of your arrival. How may I be of assistance?”

The glitch narrowed his eye. And silently, he gestured his head to the man in his arms.

The man’s electric blue eyes widened as he took in the situation, yet still his voice was calm. “That seems to be a problem. Please step inside.”

After a moment of hesitation, the glitch did so. And the House closed its door, waiting until it needed to be open once again.

Part Thirty of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is THE FINAL part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. Everyone wraps up unfinished business. Jameson, especially, has someone he needs to see. Meanwhile, Schneep has a very important visit.]
[It’s here: the final part of the PW Timeline. I'm amazed that I’m finishing my third AU series. PW started as a one-shot based on the idea of an outsider’s perspective on what the septics go through, but over time I got more and more ideas that I just had to expand on. In the beginning, it was a sort of mystery, wondering if Anti was even real, and then over time it became this sort of—I don’t know. Thriller? Crime drama? Both? Either way, I’m so happy how it turned out ^-^ I’ve loved writing it and I appreciate all of you guys for coming along with me on this ride <3]
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“Are we allowed to have this many people here at once?” Marvin glanced around the room, bouncing on his feet. “I mean, there’s got to be some sort of regulation for visitors, right?”

“I checked online,” Chase said. “And I asked Laurens. She says that there are some limits depending on, like, security or whatever, but Schneep is fine.” He finished signing his name on the check-in list and held it out to the others. “Who’s next?”

“I’ll do it.” Jackie stepped forward, taking the clipboard and a pen from the cup on the desk. “You know, I’m still not used to this place. Different than I expected. More like a hospital.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “Well, what were you expecting? It is a hospital, just not one for physical injuries.”

“I don’t know, I guess I was thinking, like…something like a retirement home or something?”

Laughter. Jack, sitting in one of the waiting chairs by the wall, leaned forward, grinning. “I don’t think Schneep would appreciate you comparing this place to a retirement home.”

“Hey, I know he’s technically the second youngest, but sometimes he really acts like an old man.” Jackie walked over to Jack and handed him the sign-in sheet and the pen. After he finished signing, he handed it back to Jackie, who passed it to Marvin.

“Oh, hey.” Chase turned back to the front desk, addressing the staff member behind it. “We have another person coming, but he’s going to be a bit later. Is that okay or do we need to, like, leave and come back?”

“That should be fine.” The staff member didn’t even bother to look away from her computer. “Have you been here before, sir?”

“Yeah, a lot,” Chase said.

“Great, then.” She gestured down the hall. “In that case, just return the sign-in board and head down there. You should remember the way.”

“Thanks.” Chase gave her a thumbs-up—which he regretted immediately afterwards for how awkward it felt—and turned around to face the others. “Alright, guys, we’re good to go.”

Marvin put the sign-in sheet back on the desk where it belonged. Jackie reached down and helped pull Jack to his feet. Once everyone was ready, Chase led the way, heading down the familiar route to the Silver Hills visitor’s room.

About ten minutes passed, with the group of four waiting patiently. “Damn, they need to get better reading material,” Marvin muttered, flipping through one of the provided magazines.

“What’re all these crayons and stuff for?” Jack asked, looking over one of the crayons in question.

“Oh, that’s for if kids come visit,” Chase explained. “I brought Sophie and Nick last month, they loved them.”

“Marvin, if you’re so bored by the magazines, just use your phone like a normal person,” Jackie said.

“Hey I can look at whatever I want to,” Marvin said defensively.

Before the banter could escalate into a mild argument, the other door to the visitor’s room opened. Chase stood up, anticipating what was about to come.

“Ah, my friends!” No sooner had Chase got to his feet than he was wrapped in a tight, squeezing hug. “It is so good to see you!”

“Oof! H-hey Schneep, good to see you too,” Chase laughed, returning the hug before pulling away. “Yeah, the gang’s all here.”

Schneep stepped back, looking at the others. “Ah, yes, the entire ‘gang.’ Hello, Jackie! And, ah…Marvin, Jack. How are you two? I have not seen you since…well, you know.”

“Hi, Schneep.” Marvin waved from where he was sitting on the sofa. “I’m fine. Changed all my locks, got one for the side door, uh…that sort of stuff. But I’m fine.”

“Hmm.” Schneep pursed his lips. “Well, if you are ever…not-so-fine, then I am sure there are people who—”

“Yeah, we all need therapy, I know.” Marvin rolled his eyes, but his tone wasn’t hostile. He leaned to the side, noticing someone else lingering in the doorway. “Hey, Laurens, do you have any suggestions?”

“Oh. Um.” Dr. Laurens clearly hadn’t been expecting that question—or to be acknowledged at all. “Well, I know a few agencies. If you’re really asking, you can talk to me afterwards.” She stepped into the room, closed the door behind her, and took a seat in the farthest chair from the group. “Don’t mind me, I-I’m just here because it’s a requirement. This is for you guys.”

“Aww, how could we forget you, Rya?” Jackie grinned. “You’we ouw fwiend!”

Laurens laughed. “Thank you. But really, I don’t want to interrupt. I’ll just be over here.” She was holding a clipboard as well as a paperback book, and put the clipboard down on the nearby table in favor of opening up the book. Soon, she was completely immersed.

Schneep sighed, smiling a bit. “Well in that case.” He sat down in a nearby armchair, leaving Chase to sit on the sofa next to Marvin. Now, all the friends were in a circle. “I cannot help but notice there is one of the ‘gang’ missing. Is Jameson…alright?”

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Chase assured him, noticing the anxious edge in his voice. “He just had…something to do today. He’ll be late, but he’ll be here.” He hesitated, then blurted out, “So did you hear about the trial?”

Schneep froze. Marvin turned and gave Chase a sharp look. Jackie shifted awkwardly.

“I-I mean…you don’t…have to talk about it, I just…thought you should…know. If you didn’t…already…” Chase trailed off.

“I…was told about it,” Schneep said slowly. “I was asked to write a statement, and—a-and I tried my best. It sounds as though…it worked.”

Jackie nodded slowly. “I had to do that, too,” he mumbled. “I’m surprised they didn’t ask us to…show up.”

“I think when there was that much evidence, they didn’t really need it?” Marvin speculated. “The prosecutor must’ve had a real open-and-shut case.”

For a moment, everyone was quiet. The tension in the room was almost a physical force.

“Let’s stop talking about this,” Jack finally said, speaking up for the first time in a while. “It’s just depressing everyone. And god, we’ve had enough of that.” He turned to Schneep and smiled. “Sorry, you asked me earlier how I was doing and I didn’t answer. I’m pretty good. I’ve finally taken my channel back.”

“Hey, I took good care of it!” Chase protested.

“I know you did.” Jack leaned over and patted Chase’s hand. “And thanks for that. Can’t imagine running two at the same time, let alone while keeping up with my old upload schedule.”

“Old schedule?” Jackie asked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you know, I’ve been thinking a lot about health recently,” Jack said. “For obvious reasons.” He still had to use a cane while walking; It was possible no amount of physical therapy would fix that. “And I really need to take better care of myself. I don’t think uploading twice a day would be the best move anymore.”

Chase laughed. “Honestly, I can’t blame you. I don’t know how the fuck you did it in the first place.”

“Neither do I, really.” Jack chuckled. He glanced back at Schneep again. “Hey. You okay, man?”

“I…” Schneep coughed awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Jack. “I…Jack, have I said sorry yet? Be-because I am, I am truly, deeply sorry, I-I never should have—I should have recognized the signs and never—it is all because of me that—”

“Henrik.” Jack’s tone shifted to one more serious. “It’s alright. I promise you. I know there was more to it. It’s forgiven. I mean, you’re never going to be my doctor again—”

“I am probably never going to be ANYONE’S doctor again,” Schneep muttered.

“No. Stop that,” Jack said firmly. “You’re the most capable person I know.”

“Even though I—”

“Even though you put me in a coma.” Jack nodded.

“That was my fault,” Schneep said weakly. “You lost an entire year.”

“It was. And I did. But like I said, I know there was more to it. I don’t…blame you,” Jack said carefully. “I know you were responsible, but I don’t blame you. That’s a different thing. And…you’re still my friend, Schneep. Despite it all, I still care about you. So…don’t put it all on you, okay? It happened. It was a terrible, awful mistake with horrible consequences. But don’t blame yourself. Cause none of us do.”

Schneep blinked rapidly. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater, but that didn’t stop a few tears from trickling free. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Don’t worry,” Jack whispered back. Then he cleared his throat and looked at the others, who were trying to pretend they weren’t paying attention. “Wow, I thought I JUST said we shouldn’t talk about depressing stuff anymore.”

Everyone laughed. “Well, you know,” Jackie said. “It’s got to be a sign of a good friendship, if we can talk about depressing things together. Means we trust each other. Or some other corny shit like that.”

Before anyone could reply, there was a knocking sound. Laurens stood up and instinctively walked towards the door at the back of the visitor’s room—the one she and Schneep came through—before realizing it came from the door at the front. She quickly crossed the room and opened it. “Oh! Hello,” she said, opening it wide.

JJ leaned into the room, eyes quickly scanning it and taking in the others. He waved. 'Sorry I’m late,' he signed.

“It’s fine, bro,” Chase said. “Honestly you’re earlier than I thought you would be.” He paused. “Did the, uh…thing…go well?”

Jameson walked in. Laurens quickly closed the door behind him and returned to her chair at the edge of the room. Meanwhile, JJ took the final spot on the sofa, sandwiching Chase in between him and Marvin. It went well, yes, he said with a slight smile. Thank you for asking.

“Sooo…” Marvin cleared his throat. “It’s all taken care of? And, like…over?”

'Yes, it’s all over,' Jameson said.

“Good. Great.” Marvin let out a long breath. He muttered something under his breath—something that sounded suspiciously like “fucker deserved it”—and then moved on. “Okay, so I was thinking. We need to try again with the party.”

“Really?” Schneep asked, surprised.

“Hell yeah, second time’s the charm.”

“Third time,” Chase corrected.

Marvin nudged him. “I KNOW, but that ruins it.”

“I’d be down for another party,” Jackie said. “I went to all the trouble of bringing all the Spider-Man movies and I never even got to take them out of my bag.”

“Oh my god.” Marvin groaned. “I am not going to spend the whole night listening to you drooling over Andrew Garfield.”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Jackie said defensively. “Emma Stone is also very cute and cool in those movies, I give both of them equal attention!”

Jack chuckled. “Well if we’re going to do it, we need a good day. I’d rather have it sooner instead of later, but I have more movement therapy stuff tomorrow and on Thursday this week.”

“Well I can’t do Wednesday,” Chase said. “I have an, uh, appointment.”

'Friday, then?' Jameson suggested. 'I’m pretty sure we’re all free.'

Schneep shook his head. “No, unfortunately. I have an outing on Friday.”

“You do?” Marvin asked. He whistled. “I’m impressed, a man out on the town once more.”

Schneep chuckled and looked away. A small blush bloomed on his face. “Well, i-it is not a big deal. I am just…Mina wanted me to come visit…her. A-and I still can go leave with supervision, so Laurens and I will head out.” Over by the edge, Laurens briefly raised her head from her book to nod, confirming Schneep’s words.

“Oh that’s so cool, man!” Jackie leaned over and gave Schneep a playful shove. “Hey, good luck with that. Really.”

“Th-thank you.” Schneep’s face was growing steadily more red. “I-I am nervous about it, really. About meeting…her.”

“You’ll do great, doc,” Chase reassured him. “She’ll love you.”

“Hmm.” Schneep was fidgeting, playing with his fingers. “If you say so. I-I think you would know.”

“Wait, I’m confused.” Marvin looked around at everyone else. “Isn’t ‘her’ just…Mina? Why are you all saying it so significantly?”

'We’ll tell you about it when you’re older, Marvin,' JJ joked. 'You see, when two people love each other very much—'

“Ohhhh!” Marvin’s eyes widened, and he laughed. “Right, I forgot about that part. Yeah, you’ll do great, Schneep. Trust us.”

Schneep smiled softly. “Well, it is good to hear you all say that.”

“Yeah, bro.” Chase nodded. “Anyway, on a related note, I can’t do anything this weekend cause I have the kids over. What about Monday or Tuesday?”

The group continued planning. But JJ went quiet, the others’ voices fading into chatter. They weren’t talking about why he was late. Which he was relieved about. But noticing the absence of questions…it just made him think about it. About where he’d been all day.
.............................................................................................

It had been a long bus ride to get there. Jameson got up early in the morning just to make sure he had enough time. Not that he would need that much. Ideally, this would all be over in less than five minutes.

The bus didn’t drop him off right outside. He had to walk for another fifteen minutes. It was inconvenient, but it made sense. Putting a bus stop right outside a maximum security prison seemed like a major security risk. Luckily, the weather was good.

Actually getting inside the building proved to be the most time-consuming part of the visit. Once Jameson arrived at the central building—it probably had a proper name, but he wasn’t aware of it, since there were no signs—he quickly explained who he was, writing it down on a notepad he’d brought. Luckily, he’d emailed in to schedule his visit beforehand, because most of the guards and other workers were suspicious of him. Again, understandably so. He would be suspicious, too. It was only three days since the transfer, who would visit a killer so soon afterwards?

Jameson would. He wanted this done as soon as possible.

The security checks were thorough, and surprisingly boring. There was a lot of waiting in between procedures, and Jameson couldn’t even browse his phone to pass the time because he wasn’t allowed to bring it past a certain point. Eventually, it was over, and a guard appeared to escort Jameson to the visiting room.

Given all the precautions, Jameson wasn’t surprised to see the visiting room was entirely empty. Just a concrete box with a wall of bulletproof glass dividing it in half. The guard explained that there was an intercom system connecting the two halves so the visitor and the prisoner could communicate. Jameson wanted to comment that they should just leave it off for this particular occasion, but the guard didn’t understand sign and it wasn’t worth writing it down.

Even though everything up to this point had taken much longer, the wait dragged on the most. Jameson stood there, fidgeting, eyes fixed on the door on the other side of the glass, as his stomach slowly tied itself in knots. Was this a mistake? Maybe he should have just left it alone. But when he thought about turning and leaving, something wouldn’t let him.

When the door opened, there was no sound through the glass, but Jameson could practically hear the heavy ka-chunk it no doubt made. Another guard stepped inside first, followed closely by a familiar figure in a gray jumpsuit, then another guard.

Anti’s eye instantly locked onto Jameson. He grinned, and almost too quickly to follow, he darted up to the glass, pressing his hands against it. Jameson automatically took a step backwards. “It’s you!” Anti laughed. “I can’t believe it’s—”

The two guards were there in a split second, pulling Anti away from the glass. He glanced back at them and scowled, but didn’t resist. Anti looked the same as he always had. Mostly. For some reason, he was missing his glass eye, leaving only a dark socket on the right side of his face. The scars hadn’t changed, but they…stood out more, somehow. Probably because there was no makeup to soften their appearance in prison.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” Anti repeated. His voice sounded tinny and artificial through the intercom. “But I should’ve known you would come. I really appreciate it, Jamie. What—”

'Don’t get excited,' Jameson interrupted, carefully keeping his expression neutral despite the way his heart was jumping in his chest. 'I just wanted to make sure it was real.'

“Real? Who are you, Henrik?” Anti laughed again. “Of course it’s real. Let me tell you, it is shockingly boring in here. I can’t do anything to keep busy! And I haven’t really seen anyone,, either, I think I’m not allowed in common areas yet. Anyway. What have you been up to?”

'Nothing,' Jameson said shortly.

Anti tilted his head. “Nothing? Oh, come on.”

'Nothing that you need to know about,' Jameson said firmly.

He’d actually been rather busy lately. Even though he’d decided not to move out of his apartment, he’d still packed up a lot of his stuff, and had to spend time unpacking everything. That started a week of organization, getting rid of things he didn’t want anymore. And that was in between his normal work schedule, not to mention therapy. But he wasn’t going to tell Anti about all that. He didn’t deserve that—or anything else from him.

“Well if you don’t want to talk about anything, then why are you here?” Anti asked, folding his arms. He sighed, pretending to be disappointed. “Can I ask you a question, then? What did they do with all my stuff? I know they probably confiscated a lot of it, but not everything I own is illegal. They can’t possibly have taken all my clothes and shit.”

'I don’t know,' Jameson lied. 'Probably auctioned it off.'

“Really?” Anti looked sad, but he might’ve been faking it. “I thought they would’ve given it to you.”

In truth, the police had offered some of Anti’s stuff to him—after it had all been thoroughly inspected. Jameson had turned down most of it…except for one item. The old, broken pocket watch on the rusted chain. The one Anti had worn around his neck. He wasn’t sure why he took it, or what he was going to do with it. Eventually, he might just throw it away. But…it felt right to take it, at least for a little bit. After all, it had been JJ’s first. Anti had bought it for him, but it was his. He’d always meant to take it with him the night he ran away, but paranoia had taken hold that night and he left it behind, in case Anti could use it to find him. Right now, it was sitting in a box under his bed. He might leave it there.

Jameson shook his head. 'I don’t know what happened. Don’t ask me.'

“Hmm.” Anti narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?”

'Of course.' Jameson didn’t back down from that glare.

“Well, shit, then.” Anti sighed. “I was going to ask you about that old pocket watch. I don’t know if they’ll let me receive packages, but maybe you could have brought it the next time you visited. Just so I could see it.”

'There’s not going to be a next time.'

Anti froze. His eyes widened, pure disbelief on his face. “What did you say?”

'I’m not coming back.' Jameson kept an eye on his hands as he signed, making sure they weren’t shaking.

“…what?” Anti whispered harshly. “What do you mean?”

'I just said what I mean. I’m not coming back.' He could feel his pulse in his neck.

“…Heh. Very funny, Jamie.” Anti smiled. Not out of happiness. Muscles clenched in his jaw. “What would be the point of coming once if you’re not coming again?”

'I had to see you here,' Jameson simply said. He hadn’t been sure about the visit at first. But after spending a whole session talking with his therapist about it, he made up his mind. She’d said it would probably help with closure, but reminded him to be safe. He promised her he would be, and said he would only be going once. Just to finish things off.

“Ha. Haha.” Anti began to laugh again, forcing it out. “You’re so funny, Jameson. Pretending like—like it doesn’t matter to you.”

Jameson shook his head. 'It doesn’t matter to me.'

“Don’t be fucking ridiculous!” Anti snapped. “Of course it does! Because you care! Don’t shake your head again, I know you do! If you didn’t, then why the fuck did you bother with the seizure? You could have ran as soon as I dropped the gun, but you went right up to me. You helped! Why did you do that if you don’t care?!”

'Because I’m not a terrible person.' Jameson almost added ‘like you,’ but he thought better of it. 'If someone collapses in front of me, I’m going to help. I wouldn’t want them to be hurt.'

“Right, right.” Anti’s fists were clenched. “Because you’re all soft and sweet. But it’s different when it’s me. You know what I’ve done to you and your friends, and you helped anyway! You—you could only have done that if you care!”

Jameson raised his eyebrow at the indirect confession buried in there. ‘What I’ve done to you.’ So. He admitted it. 'I care very much about people,' he said slowly. 'But you’re not special. You stopped being special a long time ago. I keep telling you, we’re not family anymore.'

“Don’t you fucking say that,” Anti hissed. “You know nothing will change. You know it! You—you—What are you doing?!”

Jameson had turned around. He looked at the guard, and held up his notepad. Written on the page was ‘I would like to leave now.’ The guard nodded, and opened the door to the visiting room.

“What are you doing?!” Anti shouted.

Not looking back at him, Jameson began walking, heading out of the room.

“Jameson! You can’t just leave! Jameson!” THUD! Anti punched the glass wall.

Jameson flinched. Immediately, shame pooled in his stomach at that. But he pushed it away. It was okay that he did that. It was normal to flinch at a sudden loud noise and a scream. Especially in this situation. Nothing to be ashamed about. He took a deep breath and kept walking.

“JAMESON!” Anti screamed.

The door was still open. The guard gave him a sympathetic look as he walked through it, leaving the room behind. A wordless scream echoed from the intercom. As Jameson turned to head down the hall, he naturally caught a glimpse of the room one more time. The two guards were trying again to pull Anti back, but Anti was fighting against them this time, trying to stay as close to the glass wall as possible. His expression was inhuman in its anger.

'Goodbye, Aneirin,' Jameson signed. It was too small for Anti to see from this distance, especially as the guard was closing the door. But it wasn’t for Anti. It wasn’t for him at all.
.............................................................................................

“Hey.” Something nudged him.

JJ blinked, and looked over to see Marvin, who had reached around and behind Chase to nudge Jameson, staring at him. 'Are you okay?' he signed.

'I’m fine,' JJ replied, smiling faintly. 'I think I’m just overwhelmed.'

'Well, you’ve been busy,' Marvin said. 'Emotionally, physically. It makes sense. Is there anything you need?'

JJ shook his head. 'No. But…thank you.'

Marvin smiled. 'No problem. Just tell me if you do need something, okay? Or any of these guys.' He gestured to the rest of the room.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Jackie looked over at the sofa and narrowed his eyes. “Are you two having a secret sign language conversation? Without us?! How dare you.”

“Yes, it is a secret exclusively from you, Jackie,” Marvin said, turning to face him. “Everyone else has got it.”

“Ha ha, very funny.” Jackie rolled his eyes.

“Oh, wait a minute,” Chase said. “You guys were talking about the thing, right?”

“Yes, the thing,” Marvin said. “Are you still in?”

“Of course I am!” Chase had no idea what was going on, but he jumped in ready to commit anyway. “I’ll bring the smoothies.”

“Wait, what?” Jackie looked back and forth between them, confused. “What’s going on?”

“Ah, right, you don’t know,” Jack said, also jumping in. “Well, we can’t tell you now. You have to figure it out for yourself.”

“This isn’t actually a thing, is it?” Jackie asked, uncertain. “You’re just messing with me and Schneep, right?”

“Ah, I am sorry, Jackie,” Schneep said. “But you have not watched the video, so you will not understand what we are talking about anyway.”

“What video?!” Jackie cried. “I thought you weren’t allowed to watch YouTube in here!”

“Ah, no, see, I showed him cause it wasn’t fair for him to have to find it,” Marvin sighed. “He’s the one exception, you are not.”

“This is a terrible prank! You’re all awful people!” Jackie looked at JJ. “This is a bit, right? You guys were talking about something different.”

JJ said nothing for a while. Until he raised his hands and signed, 'I’m sorry, Jackie, but it’s no fun if you don’t find the video yourself. Then you can get a smoothie with us.'

“Oh come on!” Jackie threw his hands in the air.

At that point, it was too much for the others, and they all burst out laughing in unison. Jackie folded his arms, glaring at them until they all stopped. “God. Sorry, Jackie, it was just too good to stop,” Marvin said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eyes. “We should’ve kept going with it, guys.”

“You’re all stupid,” Jackie said grumpily. “That was so dumb.”

“Hey. Jackie. Bro.” Chase pointed a finger gun at him. “Kettle pot black.”

“Yeah, don’t pretend like you wouldn’t do the same thing,” Jack chuckled.

“Well…alright, you got me.” Jackie looked at Schneep and JJ. “I can’t believe you two did it, too. I thought you were the serious ones.”

“Yes, I am totally serious, one hundred percent,” Schneep said, completely dead-pan. “I am serious man. I think only of serious things like paperwork and dictionaries.”

Jackie made a snrk sound as he kept himself from laugh. “When—when you said dictionaries, I-I thought you were going to say something else, I-I thought you were gonna stop after the first sylla—”

'Oh my, Jackie!' JJ pressed a hand to his chest and pretended to look scandalized. 'I can’t believe you’d say that in front of someone so much younger than you! I’ll be complaining about you on social media.'

“Hey, you’re only one year younger than us and you don’t have anything online!” Jackie protested.

“Also you were smiling,” Marvin pointed out. “You were expecting the same thing, weren’t you?”

'I deny everything,' JJ said firmly.

“Oh my god, you two,” Chase snickered. “I can’t believe I was the mature one here.”

“How’s it feel, Chase?” Jack asked.

“Oh, it’s so strange and new, bro. I kinda…I kinda hate it.”

And again, everyone burst into laughter. There was no real reason. It wasn’t an incredibly funny comment. But it was that sort of mood, the sort where the slightest thing could set off a burst of giggles. The sort that only happens when you are around friends you share everything with, people who you know well, who you understand and who understand you in turn.

And in that moment, everyone was truly, fully happy.
.............................................................................................

The townhouse was unassuming, one in a line of identical houses with the same two-story design and the same brown-brick walls. Laurens double-checked the address to make sure they didn’t knock on the wrong door. Number 14. Good, the bus had dropped them off right outside. “This is it,” she said out loud. “How are you doing?”

“Laurens, please, I am fine.” Despite saying that confidently, Schneep kept fidgeting nervously. “There is nothing to worry about.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Laurens gave him a reassuring smile. “But let me know if you need anything. Do you want to knock or should I?”

“I’ll knock.”

The two of them walked up the two steps to the front door. Schneep took a deep breath, then reached forward and knocked solidly. Hardly ten seconds passed before the door opened, revealing Mina inside. “You are here! Right on time.” She smiled. Her dark hair was pulled back in a bun and she wore her brown jacket. “Come in, come in. Both of you.”

The two of them stepped inside and Mina closed the door behind them. “Hi, Mina,” Laurens said, looking around the small front hall. “Uh…nice place.”

“It is fine,” Mina said neutrally.

“This is different, yes?” Schneep said. “I could have sworn you lived somewhere that did not share walls with the neighbors.”

Mina chuckled. “Well, my lease expired with that place, so we are here now. It is not so bad.”

“You did not sound so happy just a few seconds ago,” Schneep teased.

“Ah, you caught me.” Mina laughed again. “Trust me, this will be just temporary. I am saving up for someone bigger, out on the edge of town. Hopefully with a yard of some kind, though I doubt something like that will be available.” She stepped to the side, opening the nearest door. “Anyway, this is the living room. Come on. Both of you.” And she disappeared into the other room.

Schneep hesitated. He glanced at Laurens, who gave him a quick thumbs up, and then looked away again. Taking a few deep, even breaths, he stepped through the door. Laurens followed, slightly behind.

The living room was much nicer than the tiny entrance hall. Maybe the yellow wallpaper lended it a warm look, or maybe the window framed by pink curtains let in just enough sunlight, but whatever it was, it made the room feel cozy. There was a single sofa and an armchair, as well as two end tables and a floor lamp in the corner, but Schneep was not looking around at the furniture. His attention was fixed on the wooden cradle in the center of the room.

“Here she is, der kleine Schatz.” Mina leaned over and picked up a small bundle in pastel pink blankets. She kissed the small round head peeking out of the blankets, then turned to Schneep and smiled. “You look scared.”

“I am not scared,” Schneep reflexively denied. “It is just…she is so much smaller than I thought.”

“She is a tiny baby,” Mina agreed, adjusting her hold. “But the doctors say it is not a problem. She is much bigger than she was when she was born. And now she could stand if she wanted to. But she likes being held more, doesn’t she?” She cooed at the baby for a moment, then looked up at Schneep. “Well? If you are not scared, why are you standing all the way over there?”

Schneep straightened the hem of his sweater, then slowly walked over until he was standing next to Mina. He leaned down to look at the baby. “Hello, Elise,” he whispered, his voice already full of fondness. “It is good to see you finally.”

“You should hold her,” Mina said.

“I—I have never held a baby before,” Schneep admitted.

“Really? Never?”

“Well maybe when I was younger, but not in years.”

“It is alright. Here, I will help.” Mina slowly pushed Elise towards Schneep, who hesitated before taking her. “She is older, but you still must support the head—put your hand here. Yes. Now adjust your arms like this.”

Laurens stayed in her spot by the doorway, watching. She knew that she had to be here, but it felt like this was a private moment, so she chose not to go any farther into the room.

“Oh. Oh, you woke her up,” Schneep gasped softly. “Hello, there. You really are der kleine Schatz, ja?”

“She is going to stare at you with bug eyes for a little bit,” Mina said. “But that is okay, she just does not know you yet. Let her get used to you.”

“Is it alright to bounce?”

“A little, yes.”

Despite asking that, Schneep paused for a moment before beginning to slowly bounce the baby, being very careful. “Hello, Elise.” He smiled gently. “I am your papa. I-I am sorry we did not meet sooner. But…at least I am here now. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag. Happy birthday.”

“Alles Gute zum Geburtstag,” Mina repeated. “Oh, watch this.” She held up her hand near Elise. After a moment, the baby managed to get her own hand out from the blankets and clumsily slapped her mother’s palm. “She does high-fives.”

“Oh! You are a very talented little girl, aren’t you?” Schneep laughed.

Elise grabbed onto one of Mina’s fingers. “Mama,” she gurgled.

“Mama,” Mina repeated happily. She reached out and gently angled Elise’s head to look ast Schneep. “And this is Papa. Say ‘Papa.’ Papa?”

“Puh-puh,” Elise said.

“Oh, not quite,” Mina grinned. “But you are close. Isn’t she, Mr. Papa?”

“I…” Schneep blinked furiously, but a single tear still slipped out. “Ja. Papa.”

“Pa-puh,” Elise said again.

“I think we should sit down,” Mina suggested. “You can put her on the sofa and she will sit.”

“I-I remember, you showed me pictures.” Schneep smiled down at Elise. “Come on, kleine süße. We can sit and play.”

As the two of them sat down on the sofa, Laurens slowly backed out of the room. She was confident that nothing was going to happen while she was gone. And at this point, she just felt bad for intruding. Besides, she could still hear what was going on.

Laurens went over to the front door and opened it, letting in a cold breeze. The townhouse was a bit stuffy, so it felt good. She closed her eyes, feeling the snap of the cold February air. Then she opened them again to stare at the cotton clouds drifting across the sky.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a turquoise notebook. Her notebook, the one that had gone missing months ago. Somehow, that monster of a man had gotten hold of it, and the police had returned it to her once they realized it was her property. Idly, she opened it up, scanning her early notes. Reading her old thoughts caused her to wince. She had been mistaken about a lot. Schneep was not the threat everyone had thought he was—including her. It had all been someone else.

And yet…Laurens was also proud as she read. Proud of Schneep, of Henrik. As the sounds of quiet talking and baby babble drifted from the living room, she reflected how much had changed. She was glad he was better now. It wouldn’t be long before he didn’t need her anymore. And though that made her strangely sad, the feeling was overwhelmed by the happiness and relief she felt as well.

Laurens shut the old notebook and put it back into her bag. She watched the clouds for a moment more, then finally closed the door.

Part Twenty-Nine of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. Everyone gets together to celebrate everyone being out of the hospital! Or at least allowed out of the hospital with supervision. Unfortunately, an unexpected guest decides to crash their party. Warning for guns and also a bomb threat.]
.............................................................................................

Knock, knock, knock. The sound seemed unusually loud in the empty neighborhood. Chase stepped back, glancing at JJ standing beside him, who gave him a small smile in return. The two of them waited for a few minutes on the doorstep. “Do you think I should knock again, or...?” Chase asked.

At that moment, the door opened, revealing Marvin. “Sorry!” he said. “Luna was at the door, had to get her away.” In his arms he held his other cat, Ragamuffin, who was not nearly as excited about the door opening as Luna usually was. “Anyway, hey! Come on in!” He stepped to the side.

“Hi, Marv,” Chase said, waving a bit as he walked inside. “Good to see you again.”

JJ, following Chase, glanced around the living room. 'Ah, you’ve finally put away all the boxes. Good job. It’s only been several months.'

“Haha, you’re very funny.” Marvin closed the door behind them. “You know what they say: nothing like having several people over at your house to get you to tidy things.”

JJ laughed. 'Hey, did you get a haircut? It looks shorter.'

“No, that’s just ‘cause of the style.” Marvin’s hair was in a braid instead of its usual ponytail. “Where’s Jackie? I thought you were picking him up.”

“I did too,” Chase said. “But right before we got to his place he called and said he was going to be late. Something about a sudden meeting with his landlord.”

“Ugh.” Marvin shook his head. “I’m so glad I was able to buy my own house.”

Chase shrugged. “Jackie’s building isn’t too bad, yknow. I mean, they kept his apartment open even though he was missing for like a year. Not many places would do that.”

“True, true.” Marvin nodded. “Anyway, you guys can make yourselves at home. I got drinks and food in the kitchen, and if you guys want to set up a movie or game go ahead. I’m going to put this guy—” He scratched behind Ragamuffin’s ears. “—in my room with Luna so the two of them don’t get underfoot. I moved the terrarium there, too, which took FOREVER.” He groaned. “Be right back.” With that, he disappeared down the hallway.

Chase walked over to the television, setting down the bag he’d brought. “Hey, Jay, did you want to do anything in particular first?” He rummaged through the bag’s contents. “Stacy let me borrow the family Switch for the weekend, so I can hook it up here.”

JJ shook his head. 'I don’t have anything in mind. But I think we should wait for everyone else to arrive first.' He turned around and opened the front door again. 'I’m going to go get the cookies from the car.'

“Ohhh right, you go ahead and do that.”

Jameson made an OK sign with his hands and left. He returned only a minute later with a plate of store bought sugar cookies. Heading down the hall, he arrived in the kitchen and put the plate down next to all the other food Marvin had bought for that evening. Snack foods, mostly: chips, pretzels, bowls of fun-sized candy bars, some 2-liter bottles of soda with accompanying red plastic cups. Marvin had offered to provide alcohol as well, but Chase requested that they leave that off the plan.

Marvin, walking by the kitchen doorway, stopped and leaned in. “Oh sweet, cookies!” He grinned. “You know you guys didn’t have to bring anything.”

'I know, I know,' JJ signed. 'But it’s the least I could do after you offered to do basically everything.'

“Still.” Marvin’s grin faded a bit. Now he looked a bit anxious. “You, um...you think this is going to go well? I mean, Schneep is going to have doctors with him and everything, they’re not gonna shut this down or anything, are they?”

'If they had any objections, I’m sure they would have brought them up when you and Chase asked if he could come,' JJ said.

“Right, right.” Marvin took a deep breath, in and out. “And...Jack won’t have any problems with it, will he?”

“It’ll be fine, Marvin.” Chase, walking down the hall to join the two others, had just barely caught Marvin’s concerns. “I cleared everything with both hospitals, there’s no problem with anything. The only thing we have to worry about is that Jackie’s allergic to peanuts, and I can tell you’ve got everything there sorted out.” He gestured to the counter of snacks. Most of them were nut-free and the ones that weren’t had been carefully separated from the rest.

“Right,” Marvin said again, nervously playing with the hem of his shirt.

Chase checked the time on his phone. “Okay, it’s just about time to pick up Jack. Maybe Jackie will be done with his thing by then and I can swing by his place, too. I’ll be back in like twenty minutes.”

'See you later, Chase,' JJ said, smiling. 'Thanks again for the ride. You didn’t have to.'

“Heh. No problem, really.” Chase made a finger gun, which he then slowly lowered in slight embarrassment. “See you guys later.”
.............................................................................................

Only five minutes after Chase left, there was another knock at the front door. Marvin, who had been sitting on the sofa with JJ and talking, stood up and quickly walked over to open it.

“Marvin!” Instantly, Marvin was enveloped in a tight hug. “Oh!” The hug disappeared. “I should have asked first, sorry.”

“Hey, Schneep!” Marvin laughed. “No, it’s fine. Bring it in.”

Schneep smiled wide, and the two friends embraced. In just the two weeks since Marvin had last seen him, he’d already changed a lot. He looked almost like his old self again. Sure his hair was a bit longer, and the medical bracelet on his wrist wasn’t going away anytime soon, but he was wearing one of his old favorite sweaters and wasn’t nearly as pale as he used to be. “How’s it feel to be out of there for a little bit?” Marvin asked.

“Well, I now understand what they mean when they say something is a breath of fresh air.” Schneep took a step back. “Because it is literal for me.” He looked around the living room. “Your house has not changed that much.”

“Nope. Which is weird, considering I left it for a few months there.”

'He only recently unpacked everything again,' JJ signed from the sofa.

“Hey, I saw that!” Marvin said.

“Um...” A voice coughed awkwardly. “Is it alright if we come inside?”

“Oh!” Marvin had been so concerned with Schneep that he hadn’t noticed the two others with him. “Yeah, of course. Uh, hi, by the way! Mina, Dr. Laurens.”

“Hello again,” Mina said, stepping inside. “I hope you do not mind, but I brought a drink.” She held up a two-liter bottle of pink lemonade. “I have to drive home so I did not want anything—you know.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we don’t have any here,” Marvin assured her. “Did you guys all...drive together?”

Laurens smiled faintly. “No, Mina just happened to pull up to your house at the same time we did.” She indicated Schneep and herself.

“Oh, okay.” Marvin closed the door once everyone was inside, then turned to Mina. “Well, you can put that in the kitchen with all the rest of the drinks. It’s down the hall, there.”

“Got it.” Mina nodded, heading off in the direction he pointed.

“Jamie! Hello!” Schneep headed over to the sofa. JJ stood up, and the two of them hugged quickly. “I feel as though it has been forever. You do not visit that often, is everything okay?”

'It’s all fine, don’t worry,' JJ hurried to say. 'Nothing to do with you. It’s just I’ve been busy with personal stuff lately. You know...considering everything.'

“Ah.” For a moment, Schneep’s expression fell. He glanced back at Laurens, who gave him an encouraging thumbs up. “Well, yes, I was busy with that sort of stuff, too.” He sighed. “But...let us not talk about that here. This is a celebration, yes?”

Jameson nodded, straightening and putting on a smile. 'You’re right. Your friend Jack has worked very hard to get out of the hospital, it deserves celebrating!'

“‘Your’ friend? Ha, do not tell me Jack has not taken you into his friend fold yet, I know what that man is like.” Schneep chuckled.

JJ laughed a bit as well. 'No, you’re right. We’ve only met a few times, but he’s very insistent.'

While the two of them talked, Marvin leaned over to Laurens and asked, “So is it just you?”

“As supervision? Yes.” Laurens nodded. “Normally it would have been an orderly, but I asked for special permission from Dr. Fells. Just this once. I thought it would, um...‘kill the vibe’ if there was one random stranger in this group of friends. At least you guys know me.”

“Y’know, I think we can be considered friendly by now,” Marvin said, smiling.

“Oh.” Laurens didn’t hide her surprise. “Really? I mean, we only got together a few times. And isn’t it a little weird? With my job and anything.”

“I don’t think it’s weird. And a few times is enough for some people. I’m sure Chase would go out of his way to assure you more, but uh, I’m not all that good at that sort of stuff.” Marvin shrugged. “But you’re cool with me.”

“Well...thank you,” Laurens said. Her voice was soft, but full of feeling.

At that moment, Mina returned from the kitchen, carrying a stack of red plastic cups and a permanent marker. “Alright everyone!” she announced. “I am establishing a rule now! If you grab a cup, you must write your name on it so there is no confusing! Alright?”

JJ frowned. 'I don’t think there’s enough of us to cause confusion.'

“Well, we do it to be sure, then,” Mina insisted. “Just in case there are germs and such.”

Schneep nudged Jameson. “Yes, germs and such. I agree. As a doctor.”

JJ raised an eyebrow. 'Are you sure you’re not just taking your girlfriend’s side?'

“What? Noooo. No, girlfriend? I—what do you mean?” Schneep stammered. “We are still being just friends.”

“Um, yes! Exactly!” Mina added. “That’s all.” Her face was turning a bit red.

Jameson nodded. 'Right. Just friends.' He looked across the room, briefly locking eyes with Laurens and Marvin. They all exchanged identical expressions. 'Well, should we bring the drinks out here, then?'
.............................................................................................

About fifteen minutes later, Jackie finally arrived, knocking on the door like the others before him. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, walking in as soon as Marvin opened the door. “It was totally the bus’s fault, I swear, they were totally behind schedule—”

“It’s fine, Jackie,” Marvin said. “You’re not even the last to arrive.”

“Really?” Jackie scanned the room. “Oh, you’re right. Well, I feel a bit better now.”

“Jackie!” Schneep waved at him from across the room. “It is good to see you!”

“Schneep!” Jackie hurried over to him. As soon as he was within range, Schneep threw his arms around him. “Whoa! Little tight there.”

“Ah, sorry.” Schneep backed up, still smiling. “It just feels like so long. You got a haircut!”

“Yeah, I did.” Jackie ran a hand along his new, short length of hair. “I thought it was time, you know?”

'I think it looks good on you,' JJ said, appearing at Jackie’s other side.

“Oh hey JJ!” Jackie leaned over and gave Jameson a quick, tight hug. “How have you been?”

'Pretty good, actually. I’ll be honest, I’m still on edge.' Jameson’s signs were a bit smaller as he said that. 'But I’m being optimistic. Not going to let any of this keep me down.'

“That’s the spirit!” Jackie grinned.

“Oh hey, Jackie,” Marvin called from over by the front door. “Are you gonna put your backpack down?”

“Nah, I think I’ll hold onto it for a bit,” Jackie said.

Marvin narrowed his eyes. “Did you pack it full of superhero movies? All the Spider-Mans again?”

“Mmmm I’m not telling.” Jackie tried to smother his smile.

“Godamnit Jackie, if I have to spend another two hours with you gushing over Andrew Garfield I am kicking you out of my house!” Marvin shook his head. “Anyway, there’s food in the kitchen, drinks on the coffee table. Make sure to write your name on your cup so it doesn’t get confused with anyone else’s. Laurens and Mina are in the kitchen, too, if you want to say hi.”

“Got it.” Jackie nodded, then headed over to the coffee table, grabbing a red plastic cup and the marker.

Knock, knock, knock. Someone was at the front door for the fourth time that night. Marvin brightened up. “Guys, it’s them!” he said, hurrying over to open the door.

“I’m back!” Chase announced, stepping into the house as soon as the door was open. “And guess who’s with me?” He then stepped to the side, revealing—

“Hey guys.” Jack smiled, a bit shyly, and waved.

“Jack!” everyone shouted in joyful unison.

Immediately, Jack was surrounded by friends, chattering and buzzing over each other for a solid thirty seconds. That came to an end when Marvin shouted, “Alright, alright! He needs space! You all back the fuck up!”

“Ah, sorry, Jack.” Jackie gave a little laugh. “It’s just so surprising to see you out, you know?”

“It’s surprising to be out, I can say that much.” For the first time in months, Jack was wearing normal street clothes—a black hoodie and jeans—and not hospital garb. That alone made him look much more lively, but he still wasn’t quite as lively as he might have been. The cane he was holding tight to was a clear enough indication. “Man, Marv, your house really hasn’t changed at all, has it?”

“Why are you the second person to say that?” Marvin groaned.

'Is everything okay, Jack?' JJ asked. 'How’s it gone so far?'

“Been alright. I’m still gonna need some physical therapy, but I can walk, and they said that’s an important step forward. Literally.” Jack laughed at his own joke. Then, he spotted someone lingering at the edge of the group. “Schneep?” he said. “Is that you?”

“I...yes, it’s me,” Schneep said, shifting awkwardly on his feet.

“Wow. I almost didn’t recognize you—which is amazing, considering how we’re all clones,” Jack joked. “It’s like forgetting my own face.”

Schneep chuckled a bit, but still looked on edge. He hesitated, then stepped forward. “I—Jack, I—I know this is all my fault, but—but it is very good to see you.”

Jack tilted his head. “Hey. It’s alright.”

“But I am the one who—”

“Yeah, you are.” Jack reached out and grabbed Schneep’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “And I won’t lie, that...wasn’t good,” he said delicately. “And I do think we need to talk about that some time. But not right now. It’s really alright, Schneep. I promise.”

Schneep stared at him for a moment more. Then he let out a deep breath, blinking back sudden tears in his eyes. “Are we...still friends?” he asked, almost too quiet to be heard.

“I...I think we are, yeah,” Jack said.

“I...good. Good.” Schneep put on a smile. “I am glad you are okay.”

“Me too.” Jack returned the smile. “Now.” He looked around at everyone else, standing awkwardly nearby and trying to seem like they weren’t listening. “This is supposed to be a party, right? Let’s get it started!”
.............................................................................................

Soon, everyone relaxed into the friendly atmosphere. Chase quickly asserted control over the TV and game systems, which led to a couple arguments with Marvin as he insisted on telling Chase how to set everything up. Mina and Laurens reappeared from the kitchen, greeting the others who had shown up in their absence. Jack sat down in one of the armchairs and, surprisingly, struck up a conversation with Jameson, the two of them getting to know each other a bit more.

After a while, Laurens left Mina talking with Schneep and looked around the room. She wasn’t usually the sociable type at parties, but then again, she didn’t really consider this a party. It was just a bunch of friends getting together, celebrating the fact that ‘getting together’ was possible for the first time in a long while. She couldn’t help but smile to herself.

By now, Chase, Marvin, Jack, and Jameson were all busy debating whether they should put on a movie or play a video game. The sides were evenly split into two vs. two, and Laurens didn’t really feel like becoming a tiebreaker for that matter. Mina and Schneep were talking in German, with Mina showing Schneep several pictures on her phone—probably of their daughter Elise. Jackie was the only person on his own, leaning against a wall and swirling a drink in a red plastic cup. Laurens made her way over to him. “Are you daydreaming again?” she asked.

“Hmm?” Jackie looked over at her, a bit startled. “Oh, uh, hi. Sorry. Was it that obvious?”

Laurens shrugged. “Not unless you’re looking for it. How have things been?”

Now it was Jackie’s turn to shrug. “Fine, I guess. Things are different now, and it’s just...even though a lot of bad stuff happened, it’s hard to get used to a difference, you know?”

“Well that’s completely normal,” Laurens reassured him. “Our brains tend to establish baselines, and when all we’re used to is terribleness, the lack of terribleness seems strange, simply because it’s not the baseline anymore.”

Jackie laughed. “You really are a psychiatrist, aren’t you, Laurens?”

“I—um, what did you call me?” Laurens asked, confused.

“What?” Jackie grinned. “Did I have your name wrong all this time?”

“No, it’s just...you’ve never called me by my last name,” Laurens said slowly. Even though everyone else here tended to use her surname, Jackie was the one exception, the one who had called her Rya from the start.

“Oh. Sorry. I thought it would be like—a funny thing. Um. Anyway.” Jackie quickly drained the remaining drink in his cup. “I’m gonna...go to the bathroom. Be right back.” He pushed away from the wall, heading to the hallway. As he passed the coffee table, he put his cup down. Not too carefully, as it tipped over the moment he let go. But he didn’t care to right it, disappearing down the hall. Laurens watched him, puzzled.

“Whoa.” Jack, sitting in his chair by the coffee table, leaned forward and picked up Jackie’s cup. “Hey, Jackie, be more careful, man!” he called after him. “That could’ve spilled!” He sighed, and happened to look down at the cup in his hands. It was a quick glance, but something seemed off, and he looked at the cup more closely.

Knock, knock.

The conversation lulled a bit. Marvin, sitting at the sofa, stood up. “It’s probably a solicitor,” he said to the room at large. “I’ll make sure they leave.” And he hurried to the front door.

“Hey Chase?” Jack said, leaning closer to where Chase was crouching on the floor, looking through the movies and games they’d all brought.

“Yeah?” Chase turned towards Jack. “What’s up?”

“This is going to sound weird, but...” Jack paused. “Did...Jackie’s handwriting get...messier? While I was in the hospital?” He held out the cup for Chase to look at, with Jackie’s name written in black on the red plastic.

Marvin opened the front door. “Hi, sorry, I can’t listen to some sales pitch right...now...” His voice trailed off, and he took a step backwards, his eyes wide in confused surprise.

Chase grabbed the cup from Jack’s hand to get a better look. “What the—” He shook his head. “That’s not Jackie’s handwriting.”

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late.”

Everyone looked up at the sound of the voice. Jackie was stepping past Marvin and into the house. “That whole thing took way longer than it should have,” he said, rolling his eyes and closing the front door behind him. “Did you know there’s construction on Center Street? I didn’t, because they apparently decided to let the bus routes run right through it.” He stopped, noticing the stares and dead silence he’d walked into. “What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“...Jackie,” Schneep said slowly. “Did you...change your clothes? And...your hair?”

“What?” Jackie’s brows drew together. “I mean, I got a haircut, but what do you mean by changing my clothes?”

Most everyone glanced around at each other, too confused to move. But Jameson gasped, eyes widening in realization. He immediately shot to his feet and—

Click. “Please don’t do anything stupid, Jamie.”

There was a man standing in the hallway entrance. A man wearing the same kind of clothes Jackie wore, a man who looked quite a lot like Jackie, but whose stiff posture and cold expression told everyone he was not Jackie. One hand held a black handgun, loaded and pointed forward. The other hand reached up and used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe away the makeup covering half his face, revealing the scars underneath.

For a split second, everything was frozen.

Then there was a scream, and everyone burst into motion. Chase scrambled to his feet, stepping in front of Jack—who tried to stand but couldn’t get up. Jackie gasped and spun back towards the door, and Marvin did the same. Mina grabbed Schneep, who was still in shock, and shoved him behind her. Laurens dropped the cup she was holding and ran to duck behind the nearest chair. The only one who stayed still was Jameson.

“Everyone freeze!” Anti pointed the gun towards the front door. “You two step away from the door. Don’t think I won’t shoot you.”

Marvin, his hand on the front door’s handle, instinctively stopped. Jackie tried to discreetly gesture for him to keep going, but Marvin’s eyes were locked on the gun.

“Oh come on, Jackie, you’re smarter than that,” Anti said, grinning. “How far will you get with a bullet in your leg? Not to mention all the rest of these lovely people who weren’t lucky enough to be standing by an entrance. Do you want them to feel the consequences of your actions?”

Jackie hesitated. Then, slowly, he backed away from the front door, grabbing Marvin and pulling him back as well. He turned to the others in the room with an apologetic expression on his face.

“Good. Now.” Anti then pointed the gun towards Schneep and Mina. “Drop that phone, Ms. Pfieffer.”

Mina gasped, her phone falling from her hands. The number pad was visible on the screen, with a single 9 dialed.

Anti’s eyes darted around the room, landing on each person. “In fact, all of you. Take your phones out. Take them out and kick them away from you.”

“You—you can’t shoot all of us,” Chase said weakly.

“I can,” Anti replied calmly. “Do you think there’s too many of you? Well, I’m sorry, but you’re mistaken. My trigger finger is faster than any of you can run. Drop your phones. No sudden movements.”

Not everyone moved at once, but they all did as he said. First Mina, then Jackie, Chase, Jack, Laurens, Jameson, and finally Marvin. Anti glanced down at the pile of smartphones in the center of the living room floor, counting them. “Seven,” he muttered, and looked back up and counted the people in the room. “Eight.”

“I-I-I’m sorry, I—” Schneep stammered. “I do not have—I was not—”

Anti laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, Henrik, I know. I’m not stupid.”

Schneep relaxed, but only slightly. He was shaking visibly. Mina reached back and grabbed his hand, squeezing tightly.

“What do you—” Laurens swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “What do you want, Anti?”

“Oh, not much,” Anti said casually. “Just for one of you to come with me. Can you guess who?”

Silence. Anti noticed the eyes darting about, almost everyone looking back and forth between two people. With some exceptions. Schneep inhaled sharply, but then blinked. His eyes locked on Jameson. And Jameson...he didn’t look at anyone. His eyes were locked on Anti, his posture stiff with his hands behind his back. Anti laughed. “You were always smart, Jamie.”

“Jamie?” Marvin repeated, confused for a moment before realizing what the nickname was short for. His head snapped towards Jameson. “JJ, no, you can’t—”

“He certainly can,” Anti interrupted. “Especially with the alternative.”

Jameson said nothing. His expression was unreadable.

“...why?” Jack whispered. “Why...Jameson?”

“Hmm.” Anti glanced at him. “I forget, you’re out of the loop. Though apparently not as out of the loop as you should be. That’s my fault, really. I didn’t expect you to remember what I said while you were a vegetable.”

Jack paled, shrinking back into the chair as he attempted to make himself as small as possible.

“But it’s quite simple, actually,” Anti continued, now pointing the gun towards the center of the room, where it could easily aim at anyone. “I have to leave this city. Fucking sucks, really, giving up everything I built, but what can you do when the coppers are onto you? And, well, now that I know my brother is alive...” He laughed. “I’m not letting him leave again.”

'You really shouldn’t care this much, Anti,' Jameson finally spoke, taking his hand out from behind his back to sign. 'We haven’t seen each other in years.'

“And whose fault is that?!” Anti suddenly screamed, and Jameson’s carefully guarded expression broke into instinctive fear as he flinched. “Who made me think you’d killed yourself?!”

'I never intended to—' Jameson started.

“Oh, so—so the note wasn’t meant to sound like that, was it?” Anti growled. “It was—The goodbye wasn’t supposed to sound so final, was it?” He shifted, pointing the gun directly at Jameson. “And your jacket in the river—th-that was just an accident, wasn’t it? Wasn't it? Not meant to look like you’d jumped? You weren’t expecting—weren’t planning on me running all through town, trying to find you, being so, so afraid of what you were planning, only to find that—that bit of cloth in th-the water, the rapid water, caught on a t-tr-tree? You didn’t think about what I’d assume?”

Jameson took a slow step back. The others in the room were silent, statues holding their breaths afraid to interrupt this outburst.

“You didn’t think—” Anti laughed hysterically. The gun trembled in his shaking hands. “You didn’t think about how I’d be—how I’d sit by the river crying for an hour? You didn’t t-think about what it would mean, when my o-only family left me like that? The only thing that kept me g-going, growing up in those shit towns with those motherFUCKERS who w-wanted the—who pocketed the foster money and left the k-kids to kill each other in gangs—the only thing that kept me going in those hells, kn-knowing that when I was old enough, I had real family that I h-had to look after. You were the only FUCKING thing I had! And you fucking left me alone! You let me bleed, you let me DIE! You made me try to follow you! And now...” He stopped, breathing heavily for a moment. “Now...you pretend like none of it mattered. The least you could do...is come with me.”

Jameson couldn’t say anything, left completely speechless by Anti’s rant. He stared at him, gaping, for a solid few seconds. Then, slowly, his expression became stone again, and he put his hands behind his back once more.

“Refusing to say anything?” Anti laughed. “You never...would have done that...before.” Suddenly, his spun and pointed the gun in a different direction. “You don’t f-f-fucking move.”

Laurens, who was slowly standing back up after crouching behind a chair, stopped mid-movement, awkwardly bent over. “Anti,” she said slowly. “I’m sorry you went through all that. But you can’t...you can’t make one person into this beacon of everything you need. That’s not...fair. To him. O-or to yourself. You’re making yourself dependent on something that doesn’t exist.”

“If I wanted a shrink, I would have—I-I-I would have—” Anti stopped, panting. “Just fuck off. I didn’t ask you.”

Then, Schneep, whose eyes had remained locked on Jameson, finally looked at Anti and spoke. “If there is anything—a-anything we can do, in exchange for you—leaving Jameson alone—”

“Henrik, no,” Chase said softly, looking back at him. “You’ve been through enough.”

“I appreciate the o-offer, Schneep,” Anti said, grinning mockingly. “But as fun as you were, i-it’s too much trouble to t-take more than one person with me.”

“H-how are you expecting this to work?” Schneep asked, his voice shaking yet refusing to look away from Anti. Mina inched further in front of him, but he leaned around her. “If Jameson leaves with you, you must know it will not be long before the police are after you. Or—or what if we try to follow you?”

“So d-desparate,” Anti sighed. “But I should expe-ect as much from you. Did you think I wouldn’t h-have a plan...for that?” He reached up and took off the backpack he was wearing—the one he had refused to take off while he’d pretended to be Jackie. While still pointing the gun at the room, he clumsily unzipped it, then unceremoniously dropped it on the floor. With a swift kick, he pushed the backpack into the center of the room, right near the pile of phones. The inside of the backpack was filled with wires and electronic parts. An LED screen poked out from the mess, reading “ARMED” in big red letters.

Jackie inhaled sharply. “Is that a fucking bomb?!”

“C-can’t tell you how long it...it took to put it together,” Anti laughed. “But I-I’ll say it’s not nearly as long as you—as you think.”

“What the fuck were you thinking?!” Marvin cried. “What if it went off while you were still here?!”

“Idiot,” Anti snapped. “I-I’m not stupid enough to mess with ex-explo-explos—with bombs that I don’t u-understand. Now listen up. This is how i-it’s going to w-work. Jamie and I are going to leave here. All of y-you are going to stay. If I see a-any of you come out of the house after us, I’ll t-trigger the bomb. Look at it closer for a moment. S-see the lens?” He gestured at the bomb, indicating a round glass lens amidst the wires. “Th-that’s a camera, it’s linked up to my phone. Even after I l-leave, I’ll be watching you. If any of you move from where y-you’re standing within the next...hour, then I’ll trigger i-it. Understa-and?”

Nobody said anything, but their expressions and tense posture was answer enough.

“Good.” Anti nodded. His hands were shaking, but his aim held steady. “Now. Jamie? The ch-choice is yours.”

Jameson stared at Anti. His stone expression had given way to pure fear, but he didn’t move.

“Leave him alone.” Schneep stepped forward. Anti immediately aimed the gun at him. He stopped, but didn’t back up. “You—you say the choice is his, but it is not really a choice, is it? You do not give people choices, you just pretend you do. When the alternative is to stand by and let people you care about be hurt, there is no real choice to be made.”

“You shut your—” Anti snarled.

“Nnno.”

Several gasps went around the room as Jameson spoke. Even Anti was surprised, looking back at Jameson with wide eyes.

'Henrik is right,' Jameson said. 'There was never a choice with you. There were only threats and lies. Your only desire is control, Aneirin. Control through any means possible. And I can understand why you want that, but you took it way too far too many years ago, and now you can’t stand when even the smallest thing refuses to go according to your desires.'

“Jamie,” Anti said softly. “I—”

'You can’t justify it,' Jameson continued. 'You can’t say you just want to protect me. That went out of the window when you fucking kidnapped me all those months ago. In fact, it was out of the question from the moment you asked me to help hide a body. From the moment you said I had to stay, or else the police would catch me. Though, would you have minded if they did? It seems like a prison is just protection to you.'

“I’m sorry—” Anti started.

'No you’re not.' Jameson shook his head. 'If you were, you wouldn’t continue to do it. You wouldn’t BE here if you were sorry, let alone bring a bomb with you. You’ve never given me any choice, Aneirin. And that’s why I had to leave. That’s why I had to be dead to you. I didn’t want it to look like a suicide. I thought it would seem like I fell into the river while running away. But the only way I could escape you is if you thought I couldn’t be reached. And the only way I couldn’t be reached—in your eyes, at least—was in death.' Jameson stared directly at Anti, two pairs of blue eyes locked across a room. 'I’d ask you if you understand, but I don’t think you can anymore. It’s not an option for you. And because of that, we are no longer family. We haven’t been for years.'

Anti’s chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. His hand was shaking significantly now, the muzzle of the gun pointing at anyone and everyone. “J-Ja-Jameson.” His voice was strangled. “You—you—y-you c-c-can’t—” Then his eyes shot wide open. He gasped. And like a puppet with its strings cut, he suddenly collapsed.

It was so sudden that most of the room remained where they were, confused and shocked. But two people burst into action. Jameson ran across the room, kneeling at Anti’s side. Quickly, he took the gun from his shaking hand, tossing it across the room and almost hitting Laurens, who instinctively ducked. Meanwhile, Schneep darted to the center of the room and gingerly grabbed the straps of the backpack with the bomb in it. He looked at Jameson. “Are you sure?” he asked.

Jameson gestured towards the front door. Schneep nodded, and broke into a run. He threw open the front door and dashed out to the street, carefully but swiftly dropping the backpack on the sidewalk before running back to the house. By the time he returned, some of the others had recovered. Jackie grabbed his phone from the pile and immediately dialed the police. Mina ran around Jameson and Anti and blocked off the hallway with her body, preventing Anti from escaping down that way. Chase walked over to where the gun had fallen and picked it up. He turned it over in his hands, eyes widening as he recognized it.

“What—what just happened?” Marvin asked.

Jameson glanced back at him. 'Seizure,' he signed, fast enough for the sign to be almost unrecognizable. Then he turned back to Anti, who was noticeably shaking, his arms and legs jerking. Jameson hesitated, assessing the situation, then looked at Chase. Give me your jacket, he said.

“Uh—what?—I mean, yeah.” Chase stammered, confused, but took his jacket off and handed it to him.

Jameson didn’t say thank you, merely balling up the jacket and putting it underneath Anti’s head.

“Wh...why is he seizing?” Laurens asked, inching closer.

'He has them sometimes,' Jameson explained. 'We were in a car accident as children, it did damage to both of us. The seizures used to be a lot more common, though.' He stared down at Anti and sighed. 'Unlucky.'

“I’d argue it’s extremely lucky,” Marvin muttered. “For us, I mean. I-I don’t know how we were...” He trailed off.

“You should not wish a seizing on someone,” Schneep said. “Shame on you.” Though his words rang a bit hollow, as he stared down at Anti and didn’t move.

'This is a bad one, but it should be over in a minute or two,' Jameson said. He glanced back at everyone else. 'So...what should we do?'

Silence. Until Jack cleared his throat. “I mean, we shouldn’t—shouldn’t ignore it, but...we need to make sure he can’t...do anything. Maybe—maybe we can lock him in the closet?”

“Closet doesn’t have a lock,” Marvin said. “But we can move a chair in front.”

Meanwhile, Jackie was still on the phone. “I-I don’t know, we moved it outside,” he was saying. “Now the guy is having a seizure. I don’t—No, he seems alright. So far. What should we do?” He paused. Then he looked at the others. “Do we have handcuffs or something?”

“Jackie, really, this is my house,” Marvin said. “But—I can grab a scarf from my room or something. Oh, Mina, actually, you’re closer. It’s the last door down the hall, can you—?”

“On it,” Mina said, and turned to run down the hall.

“Yeah, we can do that,” Jackie said, returning to the phone conversation. “How close are you?” He paused. “Okay. Okay. Should I stay on the line?” Another pause. “Okay, I will, then.”

Anti had stopped shaking. Now the only movement was the rise and fall of his chest. Jameson reached over and rolled him onto his side. Anti still didn’t move. His eyes—one real, one glass—drifted upwards, landing on Jameson’s face. Jameson didn’t say anything. But he didn’t look away.
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It was a while before everything calmed down. As soon as Jameson said it was okay to move him, Mina and Marvin grabbed Anti and put him in the closet, tying his wrists behind his back with a scarf and shoving a chair in front of the door. They also took away his phone, recalling what he said about it linking up to the bomb.

The police arrived soon after that, with the bomb squad in tow. They quickly escorted Anti to a squad car and instructed everyone else to stay in the house, far away from the bomb. The whole group watched from the front windows, on edge and waiting for the sudden explosion. Luckily, a few minutes later, the police officer working on the bomb stepped back, it having been properly defused. They then took the bomb away, and a couple officers approached the house to ask what happened. It was a long story, but ended with the group telling the police to contact Detective Nix for more information, as this was related to a case he was working on.

After it all, everyone found themselves alone, sprawled on the floor and furniture of the living room. Nobody said anything for a long, long time.

Until someone started laughing.

“Who the fuck...?” Chase lifted his head, looking around. “Marvin?”

“Why d’you go to me?” Marvin grumbled.

“Because it’s a guy, but Jackie and Schneep are out of it and that’s not Jack’s laugh,” Chase said. “Oh...that really only...leaves one other, though.”

Everyone looked towards the corner. Sure enough, Jameson was laughing. Sitting on the floor, laughing hard enough that tears were coming from his eyes. Then those tears increased. The laughter turned uneven, and soon he was crying.

Schneep shook his head, returning to reality. He stood up from the chair he was sitting in, only to drop down to the floor next to Jameson. “Is everything okay?” he asked quietly.

Jameson nodded, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

“Do you...need anything?” Schneep asked.

Jameson didn’t know how to answer that, so he just shrugged.

“Hmm.” Schneep scooted closer. After a moment, Jameson leaned against him, drained but still crying softly. “We will just be quiet then, yes? Unless you want to listen to voices speaking.”

'I’m fine, thank you,' Jameson signed shakily. He closed his eyes, utterly exhausted. One word echoed in his mind.

‘Finally.’

Chapter Four of Fantasy Masks
A JSE Fanfic
[This is the first part of an ongoing fic series I started in June 2021. As Chase gets more familiar with the Masked Phantoms and warms up to Jackie and Henrik, they soon give him his first mission as a member of the group. But something...strange...happens.]
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By the time the sun set and everyone started to head towards the cooking fires for dinner, Chase’s arms were aching from the effort of shooting a bow for hours. They felt less like part of him and more like useless things hanging from his shoulders. He was glad the day was over. The whole thing had been a lot to take in, and that training at the end had just made him exhausted physically as well as mentally.

Just like the previous night, Chase lingered around the edges of the cooking fires, instead of actually doing much mingling. It looked like almost all of the Phantoms were here, either getting food or doing the cooking themselves. Most had taken their masks off and had them in their hands or around their necks as they chattered in groups with each other. Chase, however, just waited for more people to clear up so he could feel comfortable getting food. He headed over towards the dragon leg bones that were in the area and sat down near the end, on one of the smaller bones that could serve as a bench. Some time passed, and more and more people arrived.

“Are you actually going to get something, or just sit and stare?”

Chase yelped, and twisted around to see Henrik standing behind him. “Oh. Hello.” He’d almost forgotten that Henrik had said he’d meet up with him at dinner. “How are you doing?”

“I am alright.” Henrik sat down next to him. “I would ask you the same, but I think I can tell everything by the expression on your face.”

“Do I look that bad?” Chase groaned.

“No, not bad. Just tired.” Henrik paused. “Am I right?”

“You’re right.” Chase rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m still…trying to understand everything. All this about medicine and magic and everything else. And having to prepare for combat, you know? I may be a hunter, but I’ve never fought a person. Unless you count getting into squabbles when I was a kid, and even then, it never came to blows.”

“Oh.” Henrik looked away. “Maybe I should not have insisted you do everything at once. I’m sorry. I thought it would help you to be part of the group, if you knew what you needed sooner, instead of later.”

“No, it’s fine, it’s not you,” Chase hurried to say. “It’s the whole situation. I just need time.”

“Right.” Henrik hesitated, looking like he wanted to say more. But then he shook his head a little, and said nothing.

“What? What is it?” Chase asked.

“Nevermind, if you are feeling overwhelmed, I do not want to add to it—”

“No, please, if there’s anything else, say it now. You’re right, I’d rather have everything laid out at once.”

Henrik sighed. “Well…you see, now that you are all caught up, we usually have you choose where you want to fit in. We have these—here.” His mask was hanging off his belt, and he reached down and picked it up. “You’ve noticed the symbols on the forehead by now, yes? That tells everyone what you do. It’s a helpful shortcut, since we all have different skills.”

“Ah.” Chase nods, recalling the different symbols he’d seen. There was the straight line with the curved lines wrapped around it, the circle with two dots, the X with two dots, and the card suits. “There are four, right?”

“Five, actually,” Henrik corrected. “You probably haven’t seen the fifth up close, ah…” He turned towards everyone else gathered around the cooking fires. “See, look, over there. It’s on Ana’s mask.” And he gestured towards a nearby redheaded woman, wearing a mask in the shape of a floppy-eared dog. The symbol on her forehead was a five-pointed star.

“Alright, five,” Chase nodded. “What do they mean?”

“The one I have here means medicine,” Henrik said, tapping his mask. “Or otherwise, support. We are also all birds so that we can be picked out easily in an emergency. Then the circle and cross are for combat, those are the types who go out on missions.”

“Why are there two?” Chase asked, raising an eyebrow.

Henrik shrugged. “Different skill sets. I’m not sure on the specifics, that is Jackie’s area of expertise. But circles are more direct, I believe. Like warriors. Then the star is for organization, things like records and messengers. And the card symbols mean you are a magic-wielder.”

“And why use the card suits for magic?” Chase pressed. “To my knowledge, card games aren’t magical.”

“Ah—well—w-we didn’t choose that particular symbol,” Henrik said, and then quickly moved on. “Of course, you do not have to choose now. We can put this on the shelf and you can think it over. Oh, but I should tell you now, you cannot have your own mask just yet, with your own chosen animal. You will have to use one of our extras until we get some plaster.”

“That’s fine. I don’t know what animal I’d want to be, anyway.” Chase fell silent for a minute, watching the others gathered around the fires. Someone had started playing an instrument, and the sound of strumming was soon joined in by a few people singing along. Many of them were clearly missing the notes, but they made up for that with the joy in their voices. “Yea, I’ll think about it.”

Henrik nodded, and said nothing, joining him in on watching the others. After a moment, he took a small flask out of a pouch on his belt and drank.

“That can’t hold that much ale,” Chase said. “You wouldn’t get anything out of that.”

At that remark, Henrik spluttered, and almost choked before managing to swallow the mouthful of liquid he’d just taken. “It’s not ale,” he said, voice a bit hoarse. “I-I do not—drink anything of that sort.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Chase said, embarrassed. “I was going to joke about having some, but, um, sounds like it’s…just water, then?”

“No, no.” Henrik capped the flask and put it back in the pouch. “Is medicine, actually. You would not want any.”

“Oh,” Chase repeated. He could tell that Henrik didn’t want the issue pressed any further. And who could blame him, really? Something like that was fairly personal. “Hmm…you know, I was thinking, and…I don’t actually know that much about you, do I?”

“I assure you, you know more than anyone here except Jackie,” Henrik said drily. “Most of the Phantoms know I am a doctor, but not that I travel.”

“I don’t just mean your occupation, I mean a lot more than that. Like, for example, how old are you? Do you have any family? Are you courting anyone? Things like that.”

Henrik started to smile a bit. “I am twenty-nine years old.”

“You’re a year younger than me?!” Chase gasped.

“Hey, I don’t look THAT old, do I?” Henrik nudged his shoulder.

“No, you don’t, really. I just…guess you SEEM it,” Chase said slowly. “You sound and act like you have a lot of experience.”

“Well, thank you,” Henrik said, flattered. “As for family, my parents still live in Alterde. I used to write to them, but not anymore.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Hmm.” Henrik pursed his lips. “It is a long story. What about your family?”

Chase shook his head. “Mam and Dad are gone, have been for years now. I don’t have any siblings. Stacia had a sister, but she went down into the flatlands to become a merchant. So, really, it’s only been me, Stacia, and the kids.” His heart was starting to sink the more he talked, so he quickly moved on. “Can’t help but notice you changed the subject just before you answered my last question.”

“Hmm? And what was that?” Henrik asked, clearly feigning ignorance.

“Ohhhh, I see.” A wide grin spread across Chase’s face. “So, you’re not actively courting anyone, but you’re PINING. Is that it?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Henrik said, not looking him in the eye.

At that moment, someone approached the pair from the side, recognizable even from a distance because of that red cloak. “I’m missing some context, but I think I can figure out what’s going on here,” Jackie said. “Come on, Henrik, everyone knows. I thought Chase needed to be on page with everyone, riiiiight?”

“I—not like—this is—” Henrik stammered for a while, then tried to change the subject again. “What are you holding?”

“Well I saw you two being lonely out here on the edge, so I thought I’d bring you some food.” Jackie was awkwardly holding three plates, two in one hand and one in the other. “Here.” He set two of the plates down on the bone next to each of them. “I hope you like venison, Chase.”

Chase scoffed a bit. “You remember you’re talking to a hunter, right? I was raised on venison.” He picked up the nearby plate, noting the fork balanced on top of the meat. “Elders, you guys must have a lot of dishes.”

“Oh you have no idea,” Jackie muttered. “We rotate cooking and cleaning every week, so remember to check the chore notice by storage to see if it’s your turn to wash them all.”

“I’m already dreading it,” Chase assured him. “Also, I can’t help but notice Henrik still hasn’t answered my question about if he’s courting anyone.”

“Shush,” Henrik said, face slowly growing red.

Jackie chuckled. “Nothing official. He just happens to like a certain someone. But he’s not at this camp, so Schneep’s just been waiting, and I’m sure the moment they’re reunited he’s going to run right at him and profess all his feelings in a poetic—”

“Schwestern verdammit, Jackie!” Henrik threw his fork at Jackie, who just laughed and let it hit him. “Can you not do this?!”

Jackie couldn’t speak, he was too busy laughing. The best he could do was hand him his fork again.

“Well, then,” Chase muttered. “I guess that’s an answer.”

Henrik sighed. “Do not—tell anyone. I suppose everyone…knows already, but please don’t. I am not sure if he’ll…feel the same. And I want to be more sure before he finds out through rumors.”

“Alright, Henrik,” Chase said cheerfully, shrugging. “I understand. Besides, I don’t even know who you’re referring to, so I wouldn’t even know who to talk about.”

“…thank you.” Henrik let out a breath, and glared at Jackie.

“Aw, you love me,” Jackie grinned. He pushed his wolf mask off, and turned to Chase. “And if you’re going to ask me that question, the answer is no, I’m not courting anyone. Don’t have my eye on anyone either, but I don’t have a preference, so I’m sure I’ll find someone eventually. Maybe once things are less busy.”

“Good luck on that, then,” Chase nodded.

Jackie smiled wider. This was the first time Chase had seen him without the mask covering the upper half of his face. There was a small scar next to his right eye, short but straight, probably caused by a blade. And he looked…younger than Chase expected. Much like Henrik, he thought Jackie would be older than him, but he seemed to be the same age as him, if not younger. For a moment, Chase wondered how these two got mixed up in this whole rebellion situation. Were they affected by the King’s actions like he was? Or in some other way? Or something else he couldn’t come up with? And why were their masks the only ones that had color?

Before he could ask any of these questions, Henrik decided it was once again time to change the subject. “Ah, Chase, I have been meaning to ask you.” He cleared his throat. “Would you like to…learn how to read better?”

“Huh?” It took Chase a moment to return to the present. “Well, I guess. It would be helpful to know more. Why, do you want to teach me?”

“A-ah, I don’t know if I would be a good teacher,” Henrik mumbled.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you were pretty good at teaching me,” Jackie said. “And that was while you yourself were still learning the language!”

“You know most of that wasn’t me, it was—” Henrik suddenly stopped, glanced at Chase, and abruptly moved on. “There is more to teaching than just knowing the language.”

“I know, and you were pretty good at it.”

“I was going to say that we would find someone who would have more time on their hands, we are busy—”

“Not as much now that you’re not travelling anymore. Besides, I think it would work best with you two together, you already sort of know each other, and you’re getting along well. It’d just be complicated to shove Chase at someone new, he already met enough new people today.”

Henrik tried to argue further, but Jackie just looked at him, his expression a strange mix of pleading and stubbornness. So, Henrik just sighed, and turned to Chase. “Would you want me to teach you?”

After a moment, Chase nodded. “Yea. Jackie’s right, w-we already know each other, it’ll be easiest.”

Henrik looked up to the sky. “Alright, then. I will find some time, Sisters willing.”

“Great!” Jackie gave Henrik a quick one-armed hug. “Now you two should actually eat the food I brought you. It’ll get cold fast.” And with that, he disappeared back into the rest of the crowd.

Chase watched him go. “He’s…something, isn’t he?”

Henrik laughed quietly. “You are right.” Then he looked at Chase. “So, is that it, then?”

“Reading. Yea.” Chase paused. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Of course it is not. It’s my schedule that is the trouble.” Henrik shook his head. “Now, please. We should eat.”

They ate quietly, and afterwards, Chase went back to his tent. The moment he laid down, he was asleep, too tired to do anything else.
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Time passed. Days, at first, and then weeks. Frost started to linger on the ground, and people started wearing two jackets or cloaks to block out the cold. Personally, Chase was content with his one jacket and hat. Maybe he was more used to the cold than the other members of the Masked Phantoms. Or maybe he was just too busy to feel the chill.

It took him a few more days than expected to decide where he’d fit in. Obviously, he didn’t have any magic, so he couldn’t help with any magic-related tasks. And after thinking about it, he didn’t really have the mind for medicine. There was just so much to remember, not just about medicine itself, but also how the body worked, and he’d have to look after so many people. Sure, he might know a bit about simple injuries and common illnesses, but just the extent to which Henrik and Nemet and all the other doctors had to remember and learn…he didn’t think he was cut out for it. It was a similar case for the more administrative tasks. He’d never been very organized. It didn’t seem like a good fit.

So, instead, he turned his attention to his skills. He was a hunter. So, on some level, combat made sense. It was also the one that involved the most action. Groups and individuals were frequently leaving and returning to camp, many of them wearing masks with the circles or crosses that indicated they were fighters. That was what Chase wanted to do. Direct action. But not too direct. He wasn’t a warrior, after all. And Henrik had described the circles as being like warriors…given the process of elimination, the result was obvious.

But he figured that out quickly. The reason he hesitated to commit to that particular branch of the Phantoms…was because of Lukas. Chase picked up that Lukas and Holly were in charge of the two combat-based branches, with Lukass leading the crosses and Holly leading the circles. And Lukas continued to show a deep mistrust of him that was honestly unnerving. He brought it up with Jackie and Henrik, but they each reassured him that Lukas would learn to get along with him. But…that didn’t seem to be happening. In fact, Chase felt like Lukas was going out of his way to keep an eye on him. Every time Chase went out to the combat fields, Lukas was there, insisting that he show off his bow skills. And sometimes, Chase even thought he could see the fox-masked man following him around camp. But that last part might just be paranoia and mistaken identity. After all, there were many different animal masks at Wyvernlair.

Eventually, Chase realized he might be taking too long to decide, so he gritted his teeth, and told Jackie about his choice the next time he saw him. Jackie was excited, as he usually seemed to be, and took him to storage to pick up one of the spare masks. There were three spares marked with the crosses: a wolf, a mouse, and a hedgehog. Chase didn’t want to choose the same wolf theme as Jackie, so he went for the hedgehog. Stacia had always thought those were cute.

Of course, it turned out that his anticipation of difficulties with Lukas…was entirely correct. He seemed a bit surprised to hear that Chase had decided to join the branch he was in charge of, but he quickly got over that feeling and doubled down on his obvious distrust. Every day, he’d meet Chase at the combat fields, and give him a target range to shoot at…over and over and over. And they got more difficult each day. He said he was trying to improve Chase’s mediocre shooting ability, but Chase got the impression he wanted him to fail.

On the bright side, once he got a mask of his own, even if it was only a spare, everyone else quickly accepted that he was part of the Phantoms. And once that happened, it was easy to get to know everyone. Nemet was already familiar with him, so she’d stop by every so often to check on him, and to insist that he keep his tent in order. Holly regularly intervened when Lukas started to go a bit too far in his ‘archery practice,’ and every so often, gave Chase short lessons in self-defense. Tripp, the sorcerer, kept popping out of nowhere to strike up a conversation about some random topic before disappearing. And of course, Jackie and Henrik were always around.

Somehow, the fact that Chase was getting to know all these people seemed to upset Lukas, making him even more suspicious.

Though, there was something strange that Chase was noticing. As he became familiar with other Phantoms, he got the distinct impression that…something was missing. He wasn’t sure how else to describe it. When he talked to people, they’d sometimes start to say something, then change the subject. How’d they manage to find these dragon bones? Who came up with the idea to make the masks animals? Are there quite a lot of magic-wielders in the group? Questions like that got glossed over, and soon, Chase began to realize there was an empty hole in the Phantoms that nobody wanted to talk about. An empty hole…where a person might fit.

This realization only made him more curious about whoever-this-was who was missing. But if nobody was giving him the answers to the small questions, he doubted they’d say anything if he just bluntly asked about this person. But the thought just wouldn’t go away. Maybe…he could ask Henrik? He seemed the most likely to give him some sort of answer. Perhaps he could bring it up during one of their reading lessons.

The lessons weren’t too bad, really. Chase already knew a fair amount, so they weren’t starting from scratch. He already knew how to put together sentences and could read most commonly-used words. But oftentimes the lessons were short, as Henrik got called away to do something or other really quickly. This meant that progress was still slow, even with Chase practicing on his own.

Where he struggled most was with the new words. He recognized every one so far from speech, but his mind couldn’t match up the spelling with the sounds. Mostly because they were, in his opinion, not spelled how they sounded at all.

In one lesson, he threw the chalk he was using away and exclaimed “Why do they combine the letters?! It would be so much easier to have one letter for every sound!”

“Oh, I do not disagree with you there,” Henrik said, standing up to retrieve the chalk. They’d taken to holding the lessons on the edge of camp, where the trees of the forest once again started to appear. The chalk had hit one of said trees, and Henrik found it quickly. He walked back to his spot next to Chase, sat on the ground next to him, and handed him the chalk

Chase grumbled and pressed the chalk hard into the board they were using. Copying the letters and words was easy, even if his handwriting was a bit crooked and looked like a ramshackle hut next to Henrik’s solidly built houses of letters. But recognizing the words? “Why don’t they change it so it makes more sense?”

Henrik shrugged. “Alphabets do not just change automatically. It is something that happens slowly, over time. From what I understand, the one that most nations use today is put together by combining symbols from many different places. Of course, many nations that are farther away use their own. And even some close by are stubborn to keep their own letters.”

“We should’ve kept our own letters,” Chase muttered.

“Hmm?” Henrik’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing. That doesn’t even make sense. I’m just frustrated.” Honestly, Chase wondered if Glasúil ever had its own alphabet. The single kingdom was once home to several different clans, each with their own customs. They probably each had an alphabet, and when the kingdom was united, decided it was too much trouble to pick one or combine them, so they brought in an alphabet from beyond the island.

“Ah, I see. Well, I think you’re doing very well.” Henrik looked up towards the sky. “But unfortunately, I will have to leave soon.”

“Aw.” Chase erased the words on the board with his jacket sleeve. “Tooooo bad.”

Henrik scoffed. “Well, remember you have to practice words with those combined letters—”

“Yea, I got it, Henrik. Ancient elders, you can be a stick in the ground sometimes.”

Despite Chase’s tone, Henrik smiled briefly. “Before I go, I have to tell you something. Or, well, I should ask first. Are you ready to go on your first mission?”

Chase perked up. In the weeks he’d spent here, he hadn’t gone on one mission to help the Phantoms. The timing was perfect; he was starting to get restless. “Of course. What is it? What do I have to do?”

“Nothing too risky, not for your first time. But recently, we heard that there were…unusual visitors in the surviving mountain villages. The ones more…downhill. Farther from the Greatwoods. It may be nothing, but we should go see. Since you are familiar with the mountains, it seemed a good idea to ask you go to along.”

“It’s a group?” That made sense. If they didn’t want too much risk on his first mission, there would be safety in numbers. “Who else is going?”

“Jackie—”

“Jackie’s going? He could’ve asked me himself.”

Henrik huffed. “He was going to tell you, but he got sidetracked by business, so he asked me to tell you, since I would be seeing you first. Elin is also going, she is a sorcerer. And Kenneth, who is a doctor.”

“Four people.” Chase nodded. “Maybe you should come, too, round it up to five for luck.”

“I am delighted that you’d want my company, but…well, must I really repeat my scheduling problems?” Henrik sighed. “Besides, if Jackie is gone, someone has to be here to make sure everything goes well. I assure you, Kenneth is a wonderful doctor.”

“I’m sure,” Chase nodded. Though he was a bit sad Henrik wouldn’t be coming, he knew it would’ve been difficult. At least Jackie would be there. “When are we leaving? Did Jackie tell you?”

“Two days from now,” Henrik said.

“Oh. That’s sooner than I expected,” Chase admitted.

“You have to account for travel time,” Henrik explained. “I understand the village is three days from here, if you go straight. Possibly four.” He once again glanced up at the sky, and stood up. “Alright, I really must go now. Remember to practice.”

“Yea, I hear you. Be seeing you.” Chase waved Henrik off as he headed back towards the main body of Wyvernlair, passing in between the distant—but still large even this far away—bones of the dragon, and disappearing from sight.

Two days, huh? Chase supposed that was enough time to prepare. Sighing, he stood up, grabbing the board and chalk. And maybe enough time to finally get a hang of some of these letter combinations. He might as well get started now. Once he left for this mission, it would be a few days before he’d see Henrik again for another lesson.
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Two days later, Chase met up with Jackie and the two others, and they set off before the morning frost started to melt. The journey itself wasn’t too exciting. Just a lot of traveling through the woods. The other two people on the mission, Elin and Kenneth—a pair of siblings wearing near-identical goat masks—weren’t very talkative, so Jackie filled most of the silence. The most surprising thing was the number of animals Chase was seeing. The area of the woods around his town had been so empty, even for late fall. But as they moved farther from camp, he saw all kinds of woodland creatures, even a few deer. That was strange.

Something that wasn’t strange, but took some getting used to, was that everyone was carrying weapons. Chase was used to having a bow on his back and a quiver by his side, but it was strange to look at his companions and see them armed as well. Elin had a pair of daggers dangling from her belt, while Kenneth had a single, broad-bladed sword that he carried on his back. Jackie had two swords, one on his back and one on his hip. Chase found that odd, but he was sure Jackie knew what he was doing. Jackie had insisted Chase carry a knife as well as he bow, just in case. So one of the swords must’ve been a spare, ‘just in case.’

But the journey passed surprisingly quickly, and the next thing Chase knew, three days had gone by, and Jackie was gathering the three of them to talk about their approach to the mountain village, called Skytown.

“Alright, we’re going to circle around so we’re approaching from the east, that way it’ll look like we just came from downhill instead of the forest. That won’t be unusual, I understand this village gets a lot of visitors from farther down. Everyone alright with that?”

Everyone nodded slowly. “We would blend in more as visitors if we had horses,” Elin muttered. The few times she’d spoken up on the journey had all been talking about horses.

“Damn it, Elin,” Kenneth sighed. “Do we have to talk about the unsuitable terrain AGAIN?”

“No, no, I was just pointing it out.” Elin paused. “But I still don’t understand why people bring horses up into the north mountains, but not here. They’re both mountains. And the Northavens are much rockier.”

“It’s not about rocks, it’s about sudden ups and downs and the steepness of the slope. People can climb, horses can’t.”

“Alright, you two, break it off,” Jackie said. “Chase, are you on board with us?”

Chase nodded. “Um…can I say something, though?”

“What?” Jackie asked.

“I think I should stay back. If you’re planning to pretend to be visitors from the flatlands, that is.”

“Hmm?” Jackie tilted his head. “Interesting. Why?”

“Well, something I’ve noticed is that all of you from the flatlands talk differently than me,” Chase said. “Not too much, but it’s noticeable. See, just the fact that I call the rest of the kingdom ‘the flatlands’ would give away that I’m actually from the mountains. So, if you’re going to pretend to be visitors, I should stay back, because I’d give it away.”

“You could just not talk,” Elin suggested.

Chase considered this. “I guess that could work…but it might be hard.”

“Let’s talk about it again when we’re out of the forest,” Jackie said. “C’mon, get moving everyone. We’re almost there.”

By now, the colorful autumn foliage of the trees had mostly fallen off, making a carpet of brown leaves on the forest floor and leaving the branches above bare in many places. And Chase had noticed that the trees were starting to spread out, less close together like they were deeper in the forest. Jackie was right; they were almost to the edge of the forest. Though the area itself was unfamiliar to Chase, it felt similar to home.

While looking around these surroundings, he saw something move. He almost missed it, on the very edge of his vision. Chase stopped, turning to look. Was that…a deer?

“Chase! Keep up!” Jackie called.

“Sorry!” Chase looked away for a moment, hurrying to catch up with the others. When he glanced back, the deer-shaped thing was gone.

Soon, the trees thinned out, and the four of them stood on the edge of the forest, overlooking the mountain village Skytown. It was quite a bit bigger than the Hilltown Chase called home. All the buildings were solid stone, large enough for at least four rooms, with thatched roofs that hadn’t been present back in Hilltown. People still bustled about, but their clothes were a bit nicer, with less patches. Was this because Skytown was downhill, closer to the rest of the kingdom?

“Nothing looks strange from up here,” Kenneth said, shielding his eyes against the sun. “What would these unusual people look like?”

“The reports said they were dressed nicely, almost nobly,” Jackie said. “And there was at least one of them wearing the royal crest.”

Elin raised an eyebrow. “I see.”

“Alright. Chase.” Jackie turned to look at him. “Do you still want to stay behind?”

“Um…” Chase hesitated. Stalling for time, he once again looked around the forested surroundings. Back home, the trees almost curved around Hilltown, leaving only one side that was open. Here, it was the opposite. Most of the area around Skytown was open, covered in grass and rocks, and the forest was only to the west. It felt a bit strange, seeing all that wide, clear space.

Idly, Chase looked over his shoulder. And froze. There was a deer there. Some ways away, blending in with the brown forest, mostly hidden by the trunks of the trees. But its antlers…they drew his eyes. Gilded. Golden. And from there, he noticed that the deer was looking right at him.

His heart stopped.

“Chase? Is everything okay?” Jackie asked, concerned.

“Y-yes.” Chase turned back around. “I…think I’ll stay back here. I’ll be the cavalry. If something happens, just send me a sign, I’ll come running.”

“Are you sure?” Jackie asked. “You don’t want to get closer, at least?”

“No, this is the only place nearby with cover,” Chase insisted.

Jackie looked unsure, but he nodded. “Alright. We’ll send you a sign, somehow.”

“I could do that,” Elin said, wiggling her fingers.

“We won’t be long, though. Be on the lookout.” Jackie turned to the others. “Alright, masks off and hidden. We want to look normal. If there’s an emergency, put them on first before anything else.” The other two nodded, and he looked back at Chase. “We’ll be back soon.”

Chase nodded, taking a step back into the forest. “Good luck.”

He watched as they hid their masks behind their cloaks, then headed out, circling around the village, eventually shrinking into the distance. The moment they were gone, he turned back around.

The deer was still there.

In fact, it was closer.

What was he supposed to do? “Is this…is this because I almost shot you that night?” he finally asked, voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t know it was you. Had I known, I never would’ve taken aim.”

The deer’s ear flicked. Its head moved side to side, as if shaking ‘no’ in response to his question.

“Then…what? What is it?” Chase waited, but didn’t get another response. He blinked. And suddenly, the deer was even closer. “I-if I’ve done something to wrong you, or any of the Elders, I-I sincerely apologize, and assure you it was done in ignorance, not malice.”

Another shake of the deer’s head. He blinked again, and suddenly it was right in front of him, close enough that he felt hot breath on his face. It was an unusually large deer. Most of the ones he’d encountered had their head reach his chest, not counting the antlers. But this…the deer’s eyes were level with his, large and unfathomably dark.

His head started to spin. The ground tilted beneath his feet, but he didn’t fall. For a moment, everything was alive. The forest floor was breathing, the rocks were mumbling, the trees were staring at him, the sky above was filled with a foreign presence. The world was vast, it was living, and he could reach out and touch the soul of everything.

Then the deer blinked. And Chase gasped, staggering backwards, losing his balance and landing hard on his back. Groaning, he sat up again. Wait a minute…had the sun changed position? He could’ve sworn it was closer to the eastern horizon a few seconds ago. The difference wasn’t large, but it was noticeable. Confused, he looked back at the deer.

It blinked again, slowly. Then it looked away from him, towards something behind him. Its head moved up…and down. Like a nod. Chase, turned around.

There was a plume of smoke rising into the sky from the village.

Chase gasped, and scrambled to his feet. He glanced back over his shoulder, but the deer was gone. What had that all been about? No, this wasn’t the time. If anything was a sign, that was it. He made sure that he still had his bow and quiver with him—of course he did—and pulled the hedgehog mask onto his face. Then, he ran.

The town wasn’t quite in chaos yet, but it was getting close. The townsfolk were shouting and pointing, but not fleeing in panic. He got more than a few baffled looks as he passed through, but he ignored them, and headed towards the fire, near the village center. And the closer her got, the more people he ran past who were, in fact, fleeing in panic.

By the time he reached the center, the air was filled with smoke. He skidded to a halt, taking a moment to breathe through it.

The center was taken up by a wide square, with a well in the middle. It was the buildings around this square that were on fire, their thatched roofs aflame…as well as the stone walls. Chase was taken aback by the familiar, strange sight. But then he turned his attention to the few people in the square.

A fight had broken out. Or, more accurately, three separate fights, one for each of his masked companions. Nearest to him, Kenneth had pulled out his sword and was dueling with a man. A man wearing a black tunic with the royal crest on the back. And it looked like this man considerably outmatched Kenneth in skill, because he kept forcing him to back up. Across the square, Jackie was also in a battle of swords, but his battle was very different. Three people—two men and a woman—were attacking him, but he was easily holding his own, dancing around them in a whirl of scarlet cloak. And he was using both swords. Chase had never seen or heard of anything like it, but the way Jackie was moving, you’d think there’d never been any other way to use a sword, other than in pairs.

The strangest fight was happening in the middle of the square, around the well. Strange because there were no weapons being used. Instead, this was a battle of magic. Elin and another woman were circling each other, with the well in the center. The strange woman had something in her hand, something glowing, and she’d pull some of that glowing light away from the object and hurl it towards Elin. The moment the glow left her hands it became a raging ball of fire, but Elin was expertly drawing water from the well in fluid streams, shaping it to shield her. She kept glancing back at the burning buildings, but when she tried to send water that way, the strange woman would throw another fireball that she had to deflect.

Nobody had noticed Chase yet. Taking advantage of that fact, he quickly pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it on his bow. He got ready to loose the arrow, but hesitated. He’d never shot at a person before.

At that moment, Elin glanced back at the fire again, and her shield of water wavered. The strange woman threw another fireball, hot enough to fly through the weak shield without disappearing. Elin screamed as it hit her shoulder.

And Chase snapped to action, shooting his arrow towards the strange woman. It landed in her back, and she screamed as well.

The man in the black tunic stopped his duel with Kenneth, spinning around. “Lady Tinechroí!” he shouted. And the moment he was distracted, Kenneth turned and fled. He ran towards Elin, who had fallen to the ground, clutching her shoulder.

The other three strangers attacking Jackie also stopped to turn, and in that moment, Jackie brought one of his swords down on one of the two men, wounding him in a splash of red. The other two cried out, and Chase nocked another arrow, shooting towards the other man. That arrow hit him in the leg, causing him to bend over, and Jackie hit him in the back of the head with the hilt of his other sword. Then he turned quickly to block an attack from the woman, the last attacker.

“YOU.”

The single word was filled with venom, and Chase immediately knew it was directed at him. He turned to look. The strange woman, the one he’d shot in the back, was now leaning against the well for support. In that moment, Chase managed to take in a few details about her. Pale blonde hair, pulled back in a braid. Unnaturally bright blue eyes. Wearing a purple tunic and trousers that were embroidered with gold, looking very fine. In her hand, she held a silver brooch with a red gem in the center. And then the gem started to glow. In a split second, that glow ran up the woman’s arm and into her body. She glowed bright white, and pointed her other hand at him.

Chase immediately turned and leaped behind the nearest building. A bright white bolt hit the corner near where he’d been standing, breaking off the stone, showering him in pieces of broken wall. “Shit!” he shouted, covering his face just in time to block a fist-sized stone piece.

“We need to get out of here!” Jackie yelled. Chase peeked around the broken corner at the sound of it. The man in the black tunic and the woman who’d been fighting Jackie were now helping the other, strange woman stand, supporting her. A similar situation was happening with his own companions. Jackie and Kenneth were helping Elin up, as she weakly directed streams of water from the well onto the burning buildings nearby: not fully putting them out, but making the flames smaller.

Jackie saw Chase peeking around the corner. He pointed to the left. Chase nodded, and ran, heading away from the burning.

Townfolk were also running, but they were heading towards the burning, many of them carrying buckets. Chase noted them briefly, scanning the area for Jackie and the others. He spotted them a few minutes later, heading towards the three of them as Jackie and Kenneth carried Elin between them. The moment he was within earshot, he shouted, “What happened?!”

“Later,” Jackie said, tilting his head towards the edge of town.

“Oh. Yes.” Chase glanced back towards the blaze, uncertain. The townsfolk could handle that, right? They seemed prepared. And it wasn’t that big a fire, comparatively. But still, he felt uneasy as the four of them turned away.

They reached the edge of the forest and kept going. And going. Once the town was out of sight and the trees were close together once again, they relaxed a bit. Kenneth started digging through his bag, pulling out small bottles of salves. Elin sat by one of the trees, wincing at the burn that covered most of her shoulder. Jackie sheathed the sword he still had out and breathed a sigh of relief. “That was bad.”

“What was all that about?” Chase asked once again. “You were in town for one minute and suddenly there was fire!”

Jackie gave him an odd look. “Um…we were in there for much longer than one minute.”

Really? It hadn’t seemed like it. “Well, still, what happened?”

Jackie’s expression darkened. “They knew we were coming. I’m not sure how, but they did. Maybe they saw some of our scouts a while ago? Either way, we went into town and started searching. We looked over the whole place a couple times, but didn’t go inside anywhere. Then, out of nowhere, they burst out of one of the houses and attacked us. That wizard started throwing fire everywhere, it was a disaster.”

“A wizard, huh?” Chase whistled. “Wow. Who was she? They called her Lady—”

“Tinechroí,” Jackie muttered, bitterness lining his expression and voice.

“Um…well, yes. So she’s a noble.”

“That’s not surprising, the King has many of them in his pocket.” Jackie sighed. “Thank the elders you decided to stay in the forest. Though it must’ve gotten boring, being out there for that long by yourself.”

“…no, it wasn’t, not really,” Chase said uncertainly. “To be honest, I…lost track of time. How long were you in town?”

“Not sure. An hour, maybe.”

“Ah.” That…didn’t make sense. Chase could’ve sworn he was only waiting for a minute. But…in that minute, the deer had done something strange to him. Was it possible that more time had passed, and he just didn’t realize? “Well, thank the elders.” Quite literally, perhaps.

Jackie nodded. “We should start heading back now. I think Elin is stable now, but we should get her back to Wyvernlair quickly, just in case.”

“Yea. Let’s go.”

As they headed back, Chase remained quiet, thinking about his encounter with the deer. This was the second time he’d seen it, and the first time had been the night Hilltown burned. What did the deer want? What was its goal?

He stayed silent for the entirety of the three day journey back to camp.