Oh hello there

That part was a given, though it was unlikely he would change his opinions any time soon. He would however be changing his approach. Ratchet couldn't have found his balls at a worse time. He wasn't ready for a major fight.

Nevertheless, it could be a learning moment.

"Shut up, old hag." Nobody would complain if he was being rude to a hallucination. He needed Russell to go to sleep already.

Left alone with his thoughts, Five decided he would be able to reflect on his next move better if he lit himself another cigarette. He took a long drag, then glanced at his cane, still embedded in the wall.

"Let's see where that moron went."

He was sure Ratchet would enjoy what he had in mind.

"I know it's good to keep our guards up. I just didn't miss it." Rook grumbled.

"It isn't ideal." Willow agreed, "I suppose it looks impressive. I simply had to find a way around the evening rush."

"Yeah, don't try that at home!" Erica said, before her voice turned to static.

While Erica took a stroll in the shadows, it seemed Willow had reached her stop. The construction site just by the railway allowed her to jump off and take a shortcut through the residential area that was closest to the facility. As she made her way up the crane, a swarm of drones rose from within the facility. Most would panic at the sight of the massive security drones. Willow, on the other hand, jumped right at them, snatching her portal device from the group leader and continuing her fall into oblivion.

Rook would have remarked that was exactly why they never rushed Willow, hadn't she been busy driving. She parked the motorbike out of the way, quietly checking their surroundings while Lucien climbed off. He decided he didn't have much to add to the conversation and immediately started looking around for clues.

"I'm surprised it hasn't been stolen yet." Rook mused, "Do you guys smell anything interesting?"

Right at that moment, there was a flash a little further down the alleyway. Willow made her way over, hands in the pockets of her summer coat.

"I may be able to help with that." Willow said, taking just an instant to recover from the transfer, before pointing in the direction of the phone, "It's over there. I wasn't able to get changed on the way here. I don't have my gloves and I'd rather not get grime on my hands."

"You shut up, you gullible little shit!" Cassandra shouted back at Five.

Cassandra had gone into another angry tirade about how he had made yet another person, saying how he won't wake up if she had anything to do about it. Russell could feel her hands starting to wrap around his throat as his consciousness was forced away.

Even though his breathing was steady, most likely thanks to the cocktail of poisons in his system keeping him from moving around too much, the movement of his eyes beneath the lids betrayed that his dreams were most likely extremely intense.

But he wasn't going to wake up, not anytime soon in any case.

"I don't think any of us did," Bill said, "But if we have to kick that guy's ass again, then we'll do it together. Besides, even if he's woken up and recovered, he'll still most likely be dealing with some aftereffects from that last battle."

He seemed fairly confident about that.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Leofric advised, "If it is him, he most likely would have learned from our past encounters."

"Shame he didn't learn to leave you all alone," Simon snarked.

"And here I was thinking of trying it at home," Travis joked, "Thank you, Erica."

"If Russell was hiding, or trying to hide when it got broken, it's possible that no one noticed or thougbt to look," Leofric said, "I have tracked a scent, I believe it is down this alleyway."

Antonio came sauntering over then. His feline traits were already on display for all to see, most likely in case he needed to use magic or other enhanced abilities.

"I did smell traces of Russell having being here, and..." Leofric stopped himself when he realised that Willow had come to meet them, so he could listen to what she had to say.

"Good to have that confirmed," Leofric said.

"Allow me," Antonio said. With that, he held up a hand, and a green glow danced between his fingers.

The phone itself was revealed as it floated up from behind the dumpster, wrapped in that same light. It had indeed been stomped on rather harshly, and the screen was cracked and with no display on it at all. But there was something in that still worked, or else Simon wouldn't have been able to track it.

"My, you're even more preachy when you're berating yourself." Five scoffed, leaning with his hand on one knee, "Abusive parents don't need a reason to brutalize their children. It's common knowledge you should have embraced by now."

This was ridiculous. Now he was the one dispensing wisdom. Perhaps he should test his next mix on Ratchet, seeing how much he loved playing with his toxins.

Five ran his hands through his hair for a moment, before he looked over again.

"You walked away." That didn't make sense at all and yet, he could tell it described it perfectly. "...But you don't know who used me like a guinea pig while I was unconscious. Of course."

It would have been too inconvenient to find out by asking a simple question. Five looked back at the explanation.

"What a charming choice." He loathed that woman more with each passing moment, "Well, it's time to sort this mess."

Five stood once again, a streak of hair already taking on a blue shade.

"I can't undo this. I don't know how to remove that infernal device, so you will have to find a way in your own. Afterwards, you'll simply have to wait for the toxins to wear off. I'm sure your regenerative ability will help with that." Five said as he moved to press two fingers on the side of Russell's neck, "Now sleep. And remind the other freaks at your earliest convenience that I still plan to thank them for the long nap and the chronic pain."

That part still sucked. Five then stepped back to go gather his things. Now he had to think of some way to return Russell without getting hunted down himself.

"I know Russell would forgive me. I'm just trying not to be too paranoid." Rook explained, "We'll be there in a few minutes. I'll keep the call open so Simon and Travis can keep up."

"I'm on my way as well." Willow stated, "Feel free to check on the live feed."

Lucien rolled his eyes at the live stream of Willow seemingly riding on the top of a train. "Is this really the right time?"

"It's Subway Surfers, Lucien. It's better than sitting around waiting for us to say something." Rook told him as she revved up her bike, "Now, hold on and keep your head down."

"It, it's still some-something I, I struggle with," Russell said. Why couldn't he stop saying these things?! They were meant to stay buried deep within him and never reach the light of day, "That, that some, some just, just do that for, for no reason... like, like people hurting those just, just minding their, their own business, just, just be-because of, of who they, they are..."

It seemed that his original point was still there. No one else deserved to be treated horribly. But if it happened to him, than he must have done something wrong.

This really did feel entirely bizarre.

"I can't fucking believe it. You tricked another one," Cassandra said, "Are you happy with yourself, you sneaky little shit? I'm the only one who sees right through you."

"I, I know..." Russell said to the figure only he could see, before nodding at Five, "Yeah, I, I left and, and it, it changed every-everything. N-no. I, I didn't, I didn't even know any-anything like that had, happened."

The only time he had ever gone into the hospital was to leave a small vase of flowers, along with a little card saying 'be better'. Maybe he could ask Simon about that, if he even remembered any of this later. Russell swallowed a new lump that had formed in his throat. Sure, he couldn't stay dead anymore, but that didn't mean he liked dying by any means. That's what he thought Five had really meant.

But then he saw his hair take on that familiar hue. He knew it all too well, from that time that he had to escape. Five's hair had turned that colour right before he had made a run for it and eventually passed out. Despite that though, Russell's hands still gripped the arms of the chair as tight as they could, the knuckles turning white from the effort. To see that now put another new terror in him.

"Hopefully you won't come back. It would be better for everyone," was Cassandra's own comment, "And you'll be in hell where you deserve to be for dragging all these people down with you over these years."

"M-maybe..." Russell only replied, his heartbeat quickening as Five continued. But he managed one single slow nod. If there was one thing he could agree with, everyone else needed to know that Five was back. He had been trying to warn them of Ratchet before all of this.

He still flinched as the fingers made contact with his neck, gritting his teeth for more pain to add to the mental and physical anguish he was already going through. But instead, his vision swam, his head lolled to the side, and blackness came up to claim him once more.

It was quiet in the room now, with only Russell's steady breathing in the air.

"Sometimes it pays to be paranoid," Antonio said.

"Better safe than sorry," Leofric agreed, "We'll find him, Travis. We can assure you of that."

"Well, I can't deny that running on the trains is pretty badass," Simon said, "And it's definitely quicker than waiting for it and riding on it."

And time was of the essence.

"I appreciate that," Travis said, "And if I do have to come down and kick some ass in person again, I will."

Leofric had arrived swiftly at the location Simon had shown them. He seemed to have already gotten a scent, because he was walking towards an alleyway, his brown gaze filled with focus.

However, he stopped and turned when he heard the motorbike approaching. It was then that Bill arrived, carrying an umbrella above his head. He would be able to put it away soon enough.

"Well, if Russell was here, he isn't now," was Bill's observation.

He had shown himself to be quite the sadist when he wanted to. Yet, something about hearing of the pain someone else had caused didn't quite sit right with him. Some humans could be cruel and despite not being a regular human anymore, Five felt bad for the damage Russell had to live with for possibly the rest of eternity.

But he didn't have time to unpack all of that. He had to deal with the extremely successful torture attempt before him. He just was getting no enjoyment out of this.

"I find that unlikely." Even he could recognize between the two of them he was the only real bastard. "You have no fault for being born into a horrible family."

There was a brief moment where Five seemed to zone out as he silently consulted his mark. That would have been a terrible time to have an audience, though the thought was quickly cast aside as his gaze fell on the burn marks behind Russell's ear, made more visible in his disheveled state. A closer look revealed more scars, the missing pinky tip even another scan on his wrist somewhat hidden by a tattoo. Five couldn't quite put his thoughts on that realization into words. So he simply pulled a hash tray closer and put out his cigarette.

"This was a major fuck up." he grumbled, "I wanted to know how you became an undying and who the hell broke in my room while I was under, but you're useless in this state. I should just put you out of your misery."

"I sure hope that's the case." Rook replied, "I'd be happy to apologize to Russell for spying on his phone for no reason."

Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. There was no trace of Russell at his place and his phone was acting up.

"I feel we're going to need your nose more than anything, Leofric." Rook said, gathering her things, "I'll need you too, Willow. We must find that phone before other sticky hands do."

"Let's get going." Lucien was already out of the door and wearing his bike helmet. It didn't seem like he cared to hide his cuffs at all this time.

"Yes, I'm coming. Watch out, guys. We don't know if Five has found himself new friends. Don't get yourself shot." Rook said, following Lucien downstairs.

There was some vague buzzing coming from Fae's end. "Tails, can you give me a ride?"

This whole situation was growing more and more like some bizarre dream, or nightmare with each passing moment. Five didn't even seem to be enjoying this, despite what their previous encounter had shown him; how smug he had been over Russell's fear, how he had been so gleeful at the idea of forcing information out of him. At least until Russell had taken a bat to his knees.

"And now you've done the same to this man too!" Cassandra screamed into Russell's ear, "When will it fucking end?! STOP FUCKING CRYING!!"

"I, I must have, must have done, done some-something to, to des-deserve it," Russell said, "Why, why would, why would any-anyone do, do those things other-otherwise?"

And now he was being a complete burden and talking about things he would never dream of sharing with anyone, let alone someone who could use this against him. There was a brief surge of energy in his scar as Five checked his marks, but he felt disconnected from it.

At least it's stuff that he could use against me and not anyone else I know... I guess that's something, right?

"I, I don't even, I don't even know how, how it all happened," Russell said, "I, I don't, I don't fully under-understand it. Just, just that, that it's rare. I, I walked away during the, the scripted event and, and now I'm, I'm locked out of, out of progression..."

That was how he always described it. But he did look confused about the idea of someone breaking into FIve's hospital room. It seemed that he honestly knew nothing about it.

"You're always useless, not just right now. You're so useless, you couldn't even die right," Cassandra snarled. Russell sniffled a little bit, "I said stop that!"

"I, I suppose it, it would work for a, a moment," Russell only said sadly, in response to Five's comment about putting him out of his misery, "I'm, I'm sorry..."

He had no idea why he was apologising, or who he was even apologising to anymore. Maybe this really all was just some horrible nightmare. As much as he wanted to believe that, Russell knew he couldn't.

"She, she always called me a, a cockroach, and, and now just like one, I, I keep on going."

"He'd understand," Bill said, "If anything, he'd be glad we checked up on him and made sure he was doing all right."

"We'll find him," Leofric said, looking over the screenshot again, "I'll meet you there, and I won't take long."

With that, he was quick to leave the call. It seemed that he decided preparing and getting on his way needed to happen sooner rather than later.

"Be careful," Simon said then, "I'll keep track of you all, but I don't know what you might encounter."

"Just say the word and I'll come down to help, like I did before," Travis offered, "Please just let Russell be okay... I know they can't kill him, but from what I've seen, there are worse things they can do."

"Try not to think about it too much," Simon only said.

"See you in a minute," Antonio said, "We'll be careful."

There was the sound of Bill opening his door, followed by unfurling an umbrella.

He certainly was getting more than something. He was perhaps getting a little too much now. That was getting kinda awkward.

Five looked Russell over as he failed to answer Ratchet's question. He was getting overly emotional and not making and kinda rambling now, which prompted him to look behind his shoulder. There was of course nothing there, except for Ratchet quietly sneaking out of the room. The door slummed itself shut before his creepy subordinate could come up with an excuse on why he looked so guilty all of a sudden.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, Ratchet?" Five asked, turning to face his loathed errand boy.

"Uh… No! I was— I was just leaving like you told me." Ratchet replied, grabbing the door handle that was indeed stuck in place, "I don't want to bother you, boss. You're better at interrogating and all that."

The door refused to bulge. Strange. The lights seemed to tilt towards him, as if he was the one being questioned now.

"Ratchet, what exactly did you put on those needles?" Five asked calmly as he stood.

"Nothing too weird…just some stuff from your stash." Ratchet answered weakly, "It's really great that they're color coded. We got him right where we wanted him–"

Ratchet froze as Five's cane zoomed past him and lodged itself into the wall a few inches away from his face.

"You fucking moron! How dare you go through my things like that?" he pointed to Russell, "Look at this shit. You ruined everything! Now we won't get shit out of this!"

Somewhere through the shouting, Ratchet finally managed to escape the room, leaving Five to pick up the pieces. Five figured he'd make another attempt while he tried to think of a way to get rid of Russell now that he was essentially useless and try again at another time.

"Listen to me, Russell. Your mother isn't what you should be worried about right now. None of that matters right now, do you understand?"

Indeed, he would be in a very different line of work if he knew how to take care of other people.

The chat was lively as ever but there was still no trace of Russell. Rook was starting to grow a little impatient herself as she began to wonder whether Lucien's fae senses were actually tingling. Her marks were silent, though she knew they could be wrong at times.

"Maybe he's taking a rare nap." Rook said. Lucien promptly showed her the camera feed. It looked like Misty was also waiting on Russell along with the rest of them.

"It has been a few months, Rook. Do you really think we should brush this off?"

"Don't get sarcastic. I'm getting on it." Rook got back on her feet as she started a group call, "Can you help me out, Willow?"

"Naturally." Willow's voice came in clearly, as if she was really there speaking in person, "Simon, would you mind tracking the latest location of Russell's phone?"

It didn't stop the figure of Cassandra from looming over him or that hateful gaze from burning into his blue. Some part of him deep inside knew that this wasn't real. It was just whatever Ratchet and Five had done to him really messing him up. But it didn't stop it from feeling real.

His hands gripped the arms of the chair tighter when Five started to shout. Cassandra's voice melded into his, merging with it as Five yelled at Ratchet and she continued with her insults that were hued by his insecurities.

"How dare you manipulate all these people into thinking you're some sweet little lamb?! You're just a horrible little bastard who has fooled everyone! You should just join me; free everyone else from your presence! Just look at you now!"

An old ashtray had appeared in her hand and she threw it just as Five threw his cane.

"Your so-called friends will risk their lives coming to save their lovely friend, the cockroach, and then burden themselves trying to help you after you got yourself in that situation. You happy about that?! Is that what you want, you useless little bastard!"

Five's voice cut through hers as he came back. It was unfortunately true. He needed to worry about Five, even if this apparition did feel so horribly real, even if was right. Casandra had always been right about him. His eyes did manage to shift to meet Five's, showing some awareness at least.

“She’ll, she’ll always be there…” Russell only said, sadly, “Even though, even though she’s gone, I’ll never be, I’ll never be really free of, of what she did or, or how fucked up I, I really am. I, I deserved some- most, most of it, but, but it, it still hurts. More, more than, than any so, so-called, so-called monster..."

"That could be it," Travis replied, although he didn't sound certain at all anymore. It definitely appeared that he was trying to reassure himself that Russell was perfectly fine.

However, he would soon have to face the fact that maybe Russell was in some kind of peril.

"I'm with you, Lucien," Simon said, "Yeah, that's the best idea."

"Best case scenario, Russell is fine and we can tell him to get home so he can join in with Stardew Valley shenanigans," Bill said, "Worst case, we've got some hunter ass to kick."

If it was Five in any case.

"I have a feeling that it won't be as straightforward as that," Leofric warned, "I'm going to get some concoctions... and my sword, just in case."

"That bad, huh?" Bill asked, "In that case, I'll get dressed and be right with you."

"I'll get ready as well," Antonio said.

Simon tracked the phone, frowning.

The fussing didn't do much to dissuade Five as he unleashed more of his toxins. A generous dose was in order, Russell's spirit was tougher than he looked. He did let go when he was done, oblivious to the true effects of his poisonous touch and to Ratchet rubbing his hands together like the annoying fly he was behind him.

Most people would have started blurting out all their secrets at this point, the words coming out no matter how hard they tried to keep their mouths shut. Though a massive dose would have made the answers a bit garbled, unrelated details were to be expected. Five simply nodded as he sat back and lit himself a cigarette.

"Your family rejected you so you latched onto them and they obviously didn't turn down the opportunity. That's really unfortunate."

Of course they would prey on the most vulnerable. Keeping Russell around could have even persuaded Rook to be clement at first and now he was tainted too.

Though he was still willing to show some respect. But Ratchet had to remind everyone once again of how unnecessary his presence truly was by kicking the chair.

"Why don't we move past the sob story of how you became a human cockroach and talk about how we can stop that fucking cat asshole's powers instead? What's his weakness? Do we need wooden stakes?"

"Why don't you go for a walk, Christopher? Your presence isn't necessary here." Five glared before Ratchet could utter a single protest.

The group chat was always a delight. Rook smiled as Travis' selfie came in, followed by Simon's little shell friends and Antonio's latest baking endeavour.

"Looks like I'm paying a visit to the big bro later. Maybe I'll bring some tomatoes from the garden." Rook mused. She was trying to stay positive but Leofric's text turned her small smile into a frown, "Oh no."

"Are you going to take me seriously now?" Lucien grumbled, before his ears started ringing again "It's doing it again."

At least it didn't look like there was anybody shady waiting outside his apartment. Lucien retrieved his phone to keep up with the chat while Rook replied to Bill's message with a good morning of her own. He scrolled through, then simply said he was with Rook at the moment, before backing out of the chat to go through his other apps.

In the meantime, texts from across the veil were already coming in. Erica provided a picture of Smokey having a great time with a pile of springs while Fae sent a selfie from her loft's pool. Willow sent a picture of a bowl of ramen, before complimenting Simon for tending with so much care to his little companions.

"No... I met them as... as... as they were first," Russell said, "People, just, just like you or, or me or, or any, any other av-average joe you, you meet. Knowing who, who they really were ne-never, never changed that."

The shadow of his Gramps was still staring disdainfully from over Five's shoulder, just shaking his head in disapproval. He then started to step forward, his hands going to his waist in order to take off his belt. Russell shrunk back, bracing himself.

"Don't, don't hit me..." his voice was small as the shade came close, but then it became replaced by an even worse shade when Ratchet spoke that horrible nickname, "It, it won't change what, what I, what I said..."

Cockroach.

It seemed to melt and writhe, before it formed a foggy figure of Cassandra. The hatred in those eyes blazed. Her hand reached to grab at his hair, yanking his head back so she could get into face.

"I always said you were a little cockroach. You so useless, you can't even die and save everyone else the trouble, you just have to keep coming back again and again and again, just like some kind of cancer," she spat at him, "Now you surround yourself with monsters because humans are too good for you. They always were. Why did Lewis have to die? Why couldn't it have been you?"

Russell didn't realise that tears had started to run down his face at the sight, and the way her words cut into him like a blade. Even after years of trying to heal from her abuse, she was able to bring him right back to that helpless state all over again.

"I'm, I'm sorry, mom..." Russell only stammered out, his voice a squeaky little whimper. Despite all the poisons in his system, he was still trembling in complete terror, "I, I ask myself that too. He, he should, should have gotten to, to live. I'm, I'm so, I'm so sorry... please, please don't, don't talk, talk about them that, that way. They, they don't, they don't deserve it. I, I do!"

Something was wrong.

At the moment, apart from Leofric, everyone appeared blissfully unaware that something was amiss.

It seemed that Simon was already aware that Russell didn't seem to be around either. He had typed another message asking if Russell was around at the moment. But there was no response.

Travis had also typed, "Little bro, we're talking to you." He had added a laughing face to indicate he was being light-hearted though.

When Lucien checked Misty's pet app, he would find that she was eating from the automatic feeder. She didn't seem to know that something was wrong either. There was no sign of Russell though. The television was still playing the channel he left on for Misty when he wasn't home, and his workbag wasn't by the door. No empty plates or coffee cups to indicate he had just left the room for a minute. No sounds from the bathroom and none of the lights had been put on it yet. The apartment was still just as he left it.

"Maybe he just got delayed by something," Travis typed in them, "Had to take another route."

Of course, he also had to stay focused. Russell was trying to get under his skin like the sneaky little prick he was. He just had to stay calm and focus on the current conversation.

"...That's unlikely." The tone was calm, but Five's eyes betrayed his anger. "That concoction was designed to systemically damage the target's internal organs and rescind the connection with their power. The most you'll get out of this is an upset bowel, if that'll even last long enough."

"Don't worry, boss." Ratchet reassured, "That cuff isn't coming off anytime soon and if he tries to pry it off, it'll just dig deeper right to the bone!"

Ratchet looked extremely content with himself for a moment up until Russell uttered his name. That didn't sound like a honest mistake to him, but just another way to disrespect him.

"I'll relieve you of a few more parts too, funny guy." he hissed, "Or maybe I should reserve that to that fae bastard you like so much."

"Calm down, Christopher." Five was absolutely mocking him there. "He's just trying to buy himself more time but there is no way out. But that won't help you this time, Russell. Your friends don't know you're gone and you aren't in the condition to fight. Now, let's just loosen your tongue a little."

Finally, they were getting things going. There was visible anticipation in the way Ratchet watched over Five as he lowered the lamp above the chair before reaching for Russell's face. Five carefully tilted his head up before pressing his fingertips just under his ears. Something was definitely happening. It was hard to miss the tips of his Five's hair started were taking on a pink shade.

"Now, let's start over." he commanded, "Tell me everything you know about those freaks you surrounded yourself with."

It was a really unfortunate time of year to be a florist. Few people felt like doing much gardening and those who did shouldn't have even been trusted with a can of beans. Lucien was thus enjoying a day off and Rook's company.

Alas, the armony that playing Stardew Valley allowed was disturbed when Lucien's ears began ringing. He looked up from his screen at Rook sitting across from him on the floor.

"I think your mother is calling for you."

"Nah. She said she was going to watch my nephew for a few hours. She's well out of range." Rook replied, "Now get to fishing already. I need all the money we can scrounge together for coffee beans."

"Rook, I can't suffer from tinnitus. Something's off."

Rook decided to check her phone for any missed calls. "Do you want me to ask everyone to sound off?"

"Yes, please." Lucien replied, peering kit out the windows.

But maybe I... can just... buy time...

He was going to have to. No one knew he was here, but the longer he could keep his friends and their information safe, the better. An upset bowel though. That could explain the horrible nausea he was experiencing. As much as the idea of throwing up on Five might have been appealing, Russell had to hold on to some dignity, and he also hadn't eaten since breakfast today. There would be nothing.

Russell's eyes went down to the cuff. The information wasn't helpful. Not right now. But maybe he could try and remember if he somehow got out of this. He needed to get out of this.

He briefly wanted to say to Ratchet to leave Lucien out of this, but he ultimately decided not to. That was exactly what Ratchet wanted, and he had to save his words. All he could hope now was that he had sounded some kind of alarm, especially with Five repeating the name to mock him.

"No, don't, don't, don't touch me..." Russell tried to move backwards, tried to turn his head, anything to desperately avoid being touched directly and succumb to whatever effect was using. But it was all useless. He just couldn't move, only beg, "Stop... get, get off..."

But it was too late. The new toxin worked its way into his system, to mix with the rest that were constantly being pumped into him. The edges of the world seemed to be blurring, and he actually felt kind of light, floaty. It actually felt nice but also terrible at the same time, like being suspended but at the risk of falling at any second.

Freaks, Cassandra. Boy's surrounded himself with freaks and now he's one himself. You're better of without him.

Gramps' voice floated into his brain at the same. He was almost certain he could see a familiar figure of the man behind Five, watching this whole thing with cold blue eyes. Russell's heart was pounding, and he swallowed. The truth wanted to come out. No, it had to come out.

"I'm honoured to be with them… they're like family to me. They all treat me better than my mom ever did… than gramps ever did…" was how Russell started off.

It didn't take too long for replies from the group chat to start coming through. Travis was first. It seemed that he had gladly decided to take the opportunity to post a gym selfie, and pose with his water bottle that looked like a bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup.

Simon posted a short video of feeding his pet Hermit Crabs. It appeared that he was doing all right.

Antonio posted a picture of the freshly baked biscotti that he had just made.

Leofric didn't post any pictures or videos. But he did send a message just to say 'I am doing fine, but I have a bad feeling'. It seemed that his ability to sense something wrong had kicked in, and he was working out what to do.

Bill only sent a 'Mor' at first. But then he posted another message. 'Sorry, dropped my phone on my nose. Morning. Well, afternoon.'

"Would you look at that." The blood seemed to be fading already. It made sense, considering how quickly Russell had jumped back after getting a mouthful of his deadliest cocktail yet. The wound meanwhile wasn't being allowed to close. He was already learning quite a lot already.

He still didn't enjoy Ratchet pulling this without consulting him first.

"You're not so tough now, uh?" Ratchet taunted Russell as he helped Five throw him in the back of Five's new car.

"Restrain him properly this time, then let's get out of here." Five instructed, "The walls have eyes, you know."

"Don't worry, boss! He's not gonna move unless someone shoves an arm up his ass."

Five didn't dignify that with a response and simply started the engine. Ratchet lingered just a moment longer to find Russell's phone and stomp on it, before getting in as well.

It seemed they had spent some time renovating things after their operations had been greatly downsized. The Twins, Crosshair and Frosty had shown no interest in rejoining the group and wouldn't get to enjoy their new and improved hideout, as well as Five's new interrogation chair. After much pondering, he had decided to stay true to the crazy dentist aesthetic and had found himself a replacement with better back support and of a nice vaguely brown shade.

That chair was great for reading. Five couldn't wait for it to be vacant again so he could enjoy the latest ancient tome he had gotten his stinky hands on. The arguing had essentially been going on since they had gotten in the car so Russell's fumbling was a very welcome change of pace. Every moment spent hearing Ratchet's voice made him miss being in a coma.

"I advise you don't trash around too much. I've been told the needles in your arm are loaded with enough sedatives to knock out a minotaur." Five said, moving to sit before Russell, "I could spare you some pain. This is something I would be able to counter. However, it's going to cost you."

"Yes! We want to know everything you know about your freak friends!" Ratchet chimed in, all but jumping on the chair right then. Five gently shoved him back with his cane.

"It's a fair exchange." Five added, "But you must decide quickly. This offer is limited time only."

Five was indeed here too, and Russell was right in his clutches. His and Ratchet's. He had to try and get out of here, poisoned or not. This time, he was heavily disadvantaged, and it was most likely that no one knew he was here.

Unless...

A thought had occurred, and it was desperately trying to claw through the heavy fog that cloaked his brain. Lucien had told him something about the name taking. What was it? It was so hard to think.

It took Russell all of his effort to concentrate on what Five was saying once he realised the man was talking again, and to fully process it. He had to admit that the offer was rather tempting. It was actually quite kind of Five. A moment to dull the pain would be rather nice right about...

WHAT THE FUCK?! No! Why did I think that? I need to protect my friends! Come on, Russell! Don't fail them now!

Russell forced himself to shake his head, which caused more nausea to swirl around his nerves. The room spun briefly.

"N-no..." Russell forced out then, "I, I don't, I don't want it. This, this is, this is nothing compared to, to when you killed me.”

Russell knew he wasn't necessarily mundane anymore, but from what he had been told, his first death had almost completely psyched Five out. Maybe it would give him pause, and Russell could think of some kind of plan in turn, of what Lucien to do. The name thing. Stolen names. Knowing when they were spoken somehow.

The word 'freak' sent a buzz through his brain. The harsh voice of his gramps briefly broke through the mist, and how he described Truman when he first came out as gay before running away from home. It was disturbing how memories seemed to be trying to merge with this present day, this moment.

Wait, that's it! Lucien can sense from a stolen name is said... and my gramps has the same name...I can blame the poison as well...

“What-whatever you, you did, you did to, to me, Christopher- Ratchet, I’ll, I’ll get through it…” Russell slurred out, before wincing, "Ugh, got, got confused, you, you sounded like my, my gramps for, for a moment."

Creepy behaviour aside, they certainly seemed to have a similar penchant for prejudice towards groups they didn't even know. Maybe that was why that memory cropped up like it did.

It wasn't just how cold it looked, any water would have worked.

It was the way it smelled. So clean. Contaminants didn't matter much to someone with yōkai blood in them, but it did affect the taste. Silent as the placement was, the suddenness of it all sobered Inuyasha up from the heat. It was really nice in here as it was, he was away from the beating sun, and now he was being given such clean water, when someone could have thrown together anything.

Especially in these modern times. They had the weirdest things people drank.

"Thanks for that." Claws clinked lightly against the glass. For just a moment, Inuyasha allowed the chill to seep into his palm. Then he threw it back, downing the entire thing in one go, and setting it down with only soft force. Nothing loud, even as the man was left gasping for a few seconds to catch his breath.

"I'm fine now." It was true, the hydration had been the final healing factor he needed. Not that he'd be particularly safe if he went back out into that heat. "It was just a misjudgement. Didn't realize these steel buildings reflected so much heat in summer." Ears swiveled, studying any sounds around him, leaving no hope for the illusion that they were fake.

"I'll have to find somewhere I can lie low until the sun goes down. Keh, how people live in steel villages like this where it gets hotter than the sun is somethin' I don't think I'll ever get."

"You're, you're welcome," Russell said, "Just, just, just doing it be-because I, I can."

Even if someone hadn't been suffering badly from the heat, he wouldn't have been able to refuse them a glass of water if they wanted some. It didn't feel right to.

"Glad to, to help," Russell said, "And, and it's good to, to know you're, you're doing better."

He didn't seem very surprised or perplexed to see Inuyasha's ears moving like that. The movement briefly caught his eye, like a bee flying by might have done, but then his gaze went back to Inuyasha's face.

"Y-yeah, they, they can do, es-especially dur-during a, a heatwave," Russell said, "The, the inside of, of most of them are, are air conditioned though."

But then he looked curious about that statement. Russell thought welcoming Inuyasha in and offering him some water was enough to say that he could stay, but perhaps there needed to be a verbal assurance too.

˙⋆✮ Saying "no worries!" to someone who just genuinely hurt them

˙⋆✮ Replaying a conversation from three years ago at 2am with full emotional clarity

˙⋆✮ Sending a text and then dreading the response before it even comes

˙⋆✮ Over-explaining to the point where the apology needs its own apology

˙⋆✮ Asking if everything is okay so many times it becomes the problem

˙⋆✮ Interpreting a slow reply as the end of an entire relationship

˙⋆✮ Preparing for worst case scenarios so thoroughly they almost will them into existence

˙⋆✮ The need to fix the tension in a room even when they didn't cause it

˙⋆✮ Canceling plans with relief and then feeling guilty about the relief

˙⋆✮ Catastrophizing in total silence while appearing completely fine

˙⋆✮ Being so afraid of being a burden they become one in a different way

˙⋆✮ Rehearsing phone calls before making them including possible tangents

˙⋆✮ Saying yes to things weeks away and panicking as they approach

˙⋆✮ Needing reassurance and then not believing it when it comes

˙⋆✮ The spiral that starts with one small thing and ends somewhere completely unrelated

˙⋆✮ Apologizing for apologizing too much and meaning both sincerely

˙⋆✮ Reading tone into texts that have no tone because text has no tone

˙⋆✮ Being exhausted by their own brain and having nowhere to put that

˙⋆✮ The performance of calm so convincing even they almost believe it