Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hercules had his heart in the right place as he worried about whether or not Amadeus has any male friends that were his age. He mostly hung out with the Champions, almost all of which were younger than him by quite a few years. It wasn’t really his fault after all he spent a good chunk of his life following Hercules around then trying to find his sister, but now he was paying for it. Hercules knew the importance of brothers-in-arms. Men that you could spend time with, drink with, men that you could go to battle with.
“I worry for him. He is young, but he has no friends his age,” Hercules admitted to his Champions.
“Wait, how old are the other Champions?” Bobby asked.
Hercules shook his head. “Alas, they are younger than him,” he said. “They are children compared to the man that Amadeus has become.”
Warren shook his head. “He’s 19,” he said. “He’s barely a man.”
“Robbie’s about his age,” Johnny said behind his drink, “and I don’t think he has many friends his age either. I asked him about it, and he said he had this friend that was a girl, but he wouldn’t tell me anything else about her.”
If a lightbulb could have gone off above Hercule’s head it would have. He hit his fist to his hand. “We should set them up,” he said. Bobby’s brows raised for a moment admittedly taking what he said wrong. “Surely they would get along. Amadeus knows much of having a monster inside of him, even before the Hulk he had a darkness my sister spoke of quite often, and Robbie would do good to have a friend as loyal as Amadeus.”
“Do they have anything in common?” Bobby asked leaning on his hand.
Hercules and Johnny glanced at each other momentarily admitting that they didn’t know much about their young friends’ interests. “He loves his little brother a lot,” Johnny said shrugging.
“Amadeus moved heaven and earth for his sister,” Hercules said.
Despite the nervous glancing between Warren and Bobby, Hercules and Johnny made plans for Amadeus and Robbie to meet.

Amadeus checked his phone knowing that he was early but checking anyways because maybe he wasn’t as early as he thought he was. He took a booth and sat where he could see the door. A waitress asked him what he wanted, and he politely told her that he was waiting for someone. He checked his phone again. Hercules sent him a message that said, “RUNNING LATE, FRIENDS JOINING.”
Amadeus smiled slightly and sent him a text back telling him “ok,” then he slipped his phone in his pocket. As soon as he looked up he saw Robbie Reyes enter the diner looking around for Johnny. He looked over and saw Amadeus, and his face fell.
“Fuck,” Amadeus said leaning down and covering his face as if that would do anything to disguise him considering he was just under seven foot and green all over.
“What’re you doing here?” Robbie asked sliding into the booth with him, “and why do you look like that?”
Amadeus looked up at Robbie embarrassed. If he could turn red he would, thank god he couldn’t. “I’m having dinner with a friend,” he said, “and new diet.” Re-using a joke, nice Amadeus… It’s fine, he hadn’t heard it.
“This friend Hercules?” Robbie asked raising an eyebrow. Obviously whoever his friend was was better at texting than Herc was. Amadeus was going to kill Herc the next time he saw him.
“Yeah,” he said, “Are you one of the friends he said was joining us?”
“Just my luck,” Robbie said crossing his arms. “I’m killing Johnny Blaze.”
“Is he running late too?” Amadeus asked. Robbie nodded his head. “We might as well order. Hercules isn’t gonna be here for another hour at least.“ Amadeus gestured for one of the waitressed to come over. She was cute, but not really his type.
“I hired a babysitter to hang out with you,” Robbie grumbled.
“I’m not too thrilled about spending time with you either,” Amadeus said just as the waitress walked up clasping menus to her chest. Amadeus was sort of famous, he got why she was star struck. He flashed her a big smiled as she handed him his menu.
They ordered drinks… then they got their drinks… then they ordered their food… then they got their food… then they ate their food…
“I had a really terrible thought,” Amadeus said before eating a fry. He was trying to make the mood a little less ‘I don’t want to talk to you’ and more ‘okay maybe you’re sometimes funny I guess’.
“What?”
“What if they were setting us up on a date?”
He was joking of course, but Robbie looked over at Amadeus with real panic in his eyes. “Is that why Johnny was asking me about girls?”
Amadeus stared for a moment his mouth suddenly very dry. “Fuck, do you think they would do that?” He stopped for a moment covering his eyes with his hands and leaning back in the booth wanting to scream. Who was he kidding? “Hercules would definitely do it.”
“Does he do this a lot?”
Amadeus shrugged. “One time he didn’t rescue me from the Amazons quickly because he was under the misguided impression that I was going to get laid. I was sixteen at this point,” he said. “At least then it was women. I don’t get how he knew that I…” Amadeus’s face fell as he realized what he said. “Shit, I talk too much, and you didn’t hear that.” Amadeus was freaking out and saying way too much. He didn’t want to come out quite yet, but here he was saying everything that entered his head in front of an almost stranger who was so hot. God, why was he so hot?
Robbie leaned onto the palm of his hand. “You sure you’re smart?”
“Says the guy who made a deal with the devil,” Amadeus grumbled. Nervous Amadeus was stupid. So stupid...
“It wasn’t the devil,” Robbie said and he added maybe to be funny, Amadeus couldn’t tell, “Also he wants me to kill you right now.”
“Sexy,” Once again he didn’t mean to say it. It just slipped out, and he couldn’t put it back in. He didn’t cower in embarrassment after this one though, he might as well roll with it.
Robbie smirked slightly as if he heard something that Amadeus couldn’t. “He really didn’t like that.”
“How mad would he be if we made out?” Amadeus asked shooting his shot. He didn’t quite understand what it would be like to have a demon on the inside, but he did have a Hulk in his consciousness up until a few months ago when he assimilated that part of his personality into himself so maybe he had an idea what that would be like.
“Probably disgusted,” Robbie mumbled. He smiled a little wider than said, “Very disgusted, and pissed. You should hear the kind of stuff he’s saying.”
“We should kiss,” Amadeus said, completely joking. Okay, maybe not completely joking. Robbie was hot, so hot, “for science.”
“You think you’re hot stuff,” Robbie said.
Amadeus smirked. This one was too easy. “I know I’m hot stuff,” he said. “I’m totally awesome, remember?”
“You’re obnoxious.”
“But I am hot,” Amadeus said winking. God, he was obnoxious…
“Has this ever worked with anyone?” Robbie asked.
“Yeah, once or twice. Being a superhero usually did it before,” Amadeus said.
“You don’t get laid much do you?”
“Ouch, you really think that of me. I’ll have you know that I get laid semi-regularly. What about you? You’re hot in bad boy has a secret soft side kind of way, bet that gets you loads of girls.”
Robbie’s eyes were so easy to get lost in. “No girlfriend remember.”
“Really? And you haven’t tried the superhero card. Girls love that. I bet guys would too. I really need to come out. How did Hercules know? I don’t think I look gay.”
“If I kiss you will you shut up?”
“I can try.”
Robbie leaned over the booth table and kissed Amadeus. Unnoticed by Amadeus, mainly because he was making out with his dream boy, Hercules and Johnny walked into the diner only to see their protege’s kissing. Hercules smiled and hit Johnny on the low of his back knocking him forward. Amadeus saw them walking towards them and sunk down into his seat hiding his eyes with his hands. God, he wanted to scream.
“I’m so fuckin’ stupid,” he groaned.
Robbie turned around and saw Johnny. He didn’t make any signs of shame, maybe he was braver than Amadeus. Hercules was practically Amadeus’s father, and he walked in on him kissing Robbie. It was embarrassing, to say the least.
“So,” Johnny said sitting next to Robbie, “what have you two been up to?”
Hercules crammed himself into the booth next to Amadeus which was not only uncomfortable because he was huge, but also uncomfortable because of what Hercules just saw.
“Have you something to tell me, Amadeus?” Hercules asked.
“I’m the dumbest man alive,” Amadeus said avoiding eye contact with everyone.
Amadeus pulled out his phone and saw that he had messages from Hercules which he checked because how much worse could his life get at this point?
“STILL LATE, APOLLO’S GEEZ.”
“THE GLORY OF THIS BATTLE WILL BE SUNG ABOUT FOR YEARS TO COME,” and attached was a picture of Hercules beaming above a defeated monster and in the background, Johnny was walking towards Herc.
“I think I’m gonna go kill myself,” Amadeus mumbled looking out the window.
“I texted Robbie too,” Johnny said, “and I used real words.”
Robbie didn’t say anything. He also didn’t check his phone either.
“We’ve already eaten,” Amadeus said still wishing he could disappear. That would be more useful than smashing right now. He wished something would come to attack them, but he didn’t have such luck.
“You’ve had a whole date while we were fighting monsters,” Johnny said glancing over at Robbie again.
“It’s my fault. I was joking and said what if y’all set us up…” Amadeus admitted.
“He wouldn’t shut up,” Robbie said.
“You know how I never shut up, Herc,” Amadeus said, “especially around hot people.”
“You are relentless,” Hercules said nodding his head knowingly.
“To shut him up your first instinct was to make out with him?”
“It was to piss Eli off,” Robbie said, and he waited a beat before saying, “and he’s not bad looking.”
Hercules punched Amadeus’s shoulder at the compliment. Amadeus rubbed his shoulder and smiled slightly at Robbie as Johnny started to chew him out for being irresponsible and purposely provoking Eli. Robbie looked over at Amadeus and rolled his eyes. Maybe he got this a lot or maybe he didn’t care. God, he was hot.
“Am I a good kisser?” Amadeus asked interrupting Johnny because no one was listening to him.
Robbie smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“If you don’t tell me I'm gonna assume it was the best kiss you've had,” Amadeus said.
“It's his only kiss,” Johnny said glaring over at Robbie. Robbie rolled his eyes, but there was something more performative about this eye roll.
Amadeus would have felt bad for Robbie if he was so happy that he was his first kiss. “Then by default, I'm your best kiss,” Amadeus said grinning.
“Doesn’t mean it was good,” Robbie grumbled.
“If you want to try again…”
“Does he ever turn off?” Johnny asked.
“For as long as I have known Amadeus he has never known silence unless to brood,” Hercules said.
“In other words, I don’t shut up,” Amadeus said.
Johnny and Hercules ordered food, and Amadeus ordered more food. He shut up when he could eat. Robbie watched them eat for a while. He ordered a kid’s meal to go, presumably for his little brother. The awkwardness of Hercules and Johnny walking in on them making out didn’t quite disappear. Amadeus talked a lot, god why did he never shut up. When it was finally time to leave Amadeus went to his car (which wasn’t just a car).
“How far are you going?” Robbie asked standing by the Hell Charger which was parked next to Amadeus’s green 1959 Dodge Coronet.
“I’m going back to Austin,” Amadeus replied.
“That’s a long trip,” Robbie said shaking his head. “You’re coming home with me for the night.”
Amadeus didn’t have the heart to tell Robbie that it would take about an hour to get home in his car because then he would have to admit that nothing about it was original which was the greatest sin he could commit in the presence of a car guy. He just agreed and got in the Hell Charger.
“We’ll come back to get your car tomorrow,” Robbie said. “It won’t get towed in that time.”
Amadeus probably looked like a lovestruck idiot as he watched Robbie drive his car down the road with ease. He kept his eyes on the road and seemed to know the car so well shifting effortlessly and weaving in and out of traffic. God, he was hot.
“Finally decided to shut up,” Robbie said glancing over a smile playing on his lips.
Amadeus looked away maybe more than a little embarrassed. “You get this good at driving cuz of the whole Ghost Rider thing or some other reason?”
“I was a good driver before,” Robbie said hitting the gas and blazing passed more cars.
“That’s hot.”
Robbie started to slow down as he reached a residential area. Amadeus stared out the window.
“Is what’s going on here what I think is going on or am I just projecting?” Amadeus asked finally looking over at Robbie.
“What do you think is going on?”
“Was that kiss a one-time thing?”
Robbie parked the Hell Charger and turned to look at Amadeus. God, he was hot. He leaned over and kissed Amadeus again. This time it was more deliberate and longer. Robbie’s thumb brushed against Amadeus’s chin, and it drove him wild.
“It’s a two-time thing now,” Robbie said getting out of the car with the to-go bag clasped in his hand. Amadeus got out of the car trying to get Robbie to give him some kind of explanation on what was going on, but Robbie was already going into the house.
“I’m back!” Robbie said opening the door, “and I brought a friend.”
Amadeus ducked in after Robbie. Gabe’s eyes widened. “It’s the Hulk!” he exclaimed.
“Just Brawn right now,” Amadeus said smiling at the kid’s excitement, “or Amadeus since we’re friends.”
“How in the world did you two meet?” Lisa asked looking away from the board game she and Gabe were playing on the living room floor.
“He has exceptional taste in muscle cars,” Amadeus said, “I met him a while ago when a friend of mine needed her car fixed.” That wasn’t a lie. Well, he wasn’t sure he would consider Laura a friend; all he did was hit on her the whole time they were together.
Robbie handed Gabe his dinner, and Gabe cheered. “You’re the best, Robbie!”
“I’m gonna take Lisa home. You and Amadeus should hang out.”
Amadeus sat next to Gabe and stuck out his hand to him. “Howdy,” he said jokingly.
“What are the Champions like?” The kid didn’t waste time, but honestly, Amadeus loved talking about the Champions he was so proud of them.
“Oh, they’re great,” Amadeus said. “I bet I could get you in to meet them if your big brother lets you.”
Gabe cheered. He convinced Amadeus to play with his toys with him. They both laid on their stomachs and had mock battles with the Avengers. Amadeus had the Hulk obviously. Gabe had Ironman, and Amadeus let Gabe win in their beat down even though the Hulk was much stronger than Ironman.
“What kind of wheelchair do you have?” Amadeus asked rolling slightly to look at it.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Gabe said. “Why?”
Amadeus grinned. “I want to give you an upgrade,” he said.
Gabe smiled. “Whoa, how?”
Amadeus winked. “I like building things,” he said. He clicked a button on his watch and wait for his car to get there. There was a loud noise as his car landed. “Here it is.” He jumped up and got some things from the trunk of his car.
“How did you do that?” Gabe asked reaching for Amadeus’s arm to look at his watch as he set out all the things he got out of his car on the ground.
“My car is remote, and it can fly,” Amadeus said smiling.
Gabe gasped. “That’s so cool!”
Amadeus grinned and put a pair of safety glasses on Gabe then started to work on Gabe’s wheelchair.
“So, Lisa’s Robbie’s friend?” Smooth Amadeus.
“Yeah, she’s got a crush on Robbie though,” Gabe said.
“Does she now,” Amadeus said biting his tongue slightly and laying back so he could see what he was working on. He may not have green eyes, but he sure was feeling like the green-eyed monster right now. Robbie wasn’t his boyfriend, but if he was playing with Amadeus’s heart…
“I thought he had a crush on her too, but he hasn’t started dating her yet. She’s sad about that,” Gabe said.
“That’s go-” Amadeus corrected himself, “interesting.” God, he was a jerk, wasn’t he…
“I like Lisa hanging out with us, but I just want Robbie to be happy,” Gabe said.
Amadeus smiled. “Can you hand me the blue tool?”
Robbie got back a few minutes later. “How did-”
“His car is remote, and it can fly!” Gabe exclaimed handing Amadeus one of his tools.
“What are you doing?” Robbie asked squatting down to be on the same level as Amadeus and Gabe.
“Giving Gabe’s wheelchair an upgrade,” Amadeus replied. “Right now I’m extending the battery life, but I could build a really cool one if you want. Maybe I’ll make one that can fly.”
“Do it!” Gabe exclaimed.
Amadeus smiled and reached out for another tool. He worked on the wheelchair for a few hours until Gabe started to get sleepy. Robbie picked him up and took him to bed then tucked him in.
“How’s long this gonna take?” Robbie asked sitting down next to Amadeus.
“I’m almost…” Amadeus had his tongue between his teeth. He finished one last thing then dropped his tools and wiped his forehead. “Done.”
“And the battery life will last longer?” Robbie said inspecting Amadeus’s work.
“It shouldn’t ever die,” Amadeus replied.
Robbie stared at it mouth open. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
“I think this deserves a kiss,” Amadeus joked sitting up.
Robbie kissed him suddenly falling on top of him. Amadeus didn’t quite know what to do with his hands so he placed them on Robbie’s hips. Robbie rolled off him staring at the ceiling.
“That was nice,” Amadeus said reaching out for Robbie’s hand.
“You are a good kisser, by the way,” Robbie said rolling onto his side to look at Amadeus.
“Damn straight I am,” Amadeus said.
Robbie smiled then inched closer to lay his head on Amadeus’s chest. Amadeus wrapped his arms around Robbie and drew him closer.
“So, I know we’ve only made-out a few times, but what are we?” Amadeus asked.
“Oof, movin’ fast are we?”
“It’s a habit, sorry,” Amadeus said. It wasn’t really his fault. In the superhero business, he had to move fast otherwise you’d never get anywhere with anyone.
“Give me a little time. I’m new to this whole making out with other superheroes thing.”
“Was I your first kiss?” Amadeus asked sincerely curious after what Johnny said to him.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Chapter Text

Amadeus woke up early to the sun coming through Robbie’s window. Robbie laid on Amadeus’s chest sleeping quietly. Amadeus didn’t dare move. God, he was hot.

“You can stop holding your breath. I’m up,” Robbie said opening his green eye.

“I was breathing,” Amadeus said.

Robbie nodded his head and sat up. “You don’t go to church do you?” he asked.

Amadeus shook his head. He hadn’t been to church since his parents died. It just felt wrong to go without them.

“You want breakfast?”

“Yeah, but I eat too much for you to feed me,” Amadeus said, “I can take you and Gabe out to eat if you want.”

“Gabe’ll like that,” Robbie said.

“I have to piss,” Amadeus said patting Robbie’s shoulder to warn him he was about to move him if he didn’t move. Robbie let him shove him off of him mainly because he liked how strong Amadeus was.

Amadeus went to the bathroom. His mind was on going to church with his parents and Maddy. He missed them, especially Maddy. Maybe it was because he could go see her but felt that she didn’t want to see him that made it so tough. It didn’t matter anyway, she made it clear she didn’t want to see him. He only made things worse.

He splashed his face with water after washing his hands then looked up in the mirror. He almost fell back into Robbie’s bathtub in shock at what he saw. Instead of his reflection, there was a shadowy figure made of flames and darkness. It spoke.

“Do not scream quiet, a moment or you will wake, his little brother,” it said and somehow Amadeus’s tongue was held.

“What are you?” Amadeus asked.

“You lost everything, when your house blew up. There was,” it hissed, “Something there you want.”

“Shut up,” Amadeus said covering his ears instinctively.

“I could let you get,” it hissed through his hands. “Something you could even choose. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Amadeus looked up his mind flicking to a million things he would have taken from the house including his parents. “Fine, what do I have to do?” he asked.

“This is a free taste. The next part will be a price,” it hissed.

Amadeus narrowed his eyes, but he agreed. He would do anything to see his parents again. Suddenly he felt like he was sinking through the floor. He squeezed his eyes shut and the world swam around him until he landed hard on the floor. He opened his eyes seeing familiar walls and pictures. His heart stopped as he looked up. His mother was in the kitchen finishing dinner. He stood up and went to her reaching out to hug her, but he couldn’t reach her like she was always out of reach.

“You can not touch her.”

“Umma,” Amadeus said letting out a sob wishing that he could hug her again, but he couldn’t all he could do was look at her.

“Tic Toc, your time is, running out to pick something. You better hurry”

Amadeus finally tore his eyes off of his mother and started searching the house for something that meant something to him. There were so many things that he almost reached for but didn’t grab. He passed through the hall into the living room and his father was sitting on the couch reading. His chest tightened.

“Appa,” Amadeus said strangling out a sob.

“Hurry up. You just, have four more minutes until, this place goes to smoke.”

Amadeus looked around the room until he saw on his father’s desk a beaten copy of the family bible. It was in Korean and had his parents and his and Maddy’s names written in the front inside cover. His hand drifted to it gently turning the pages as memories of his mother reading it to him out loud resurfaced. He remembered sitting in his dad’s lap and reading from it very badly as his father urged him on. He clasped the book to his chest and closed his eyes as hot tears ran down his face. God, he missed them. He missed them more than anything.

“Amadeus, are you okay in there?”

Amadeus opened his eyes and saw that he was back in Robbie’s bathroom clutching the bible to his chest as tears streamed down his face. “I’m fine,” he said his voice shaking unintentionally.

“Are you done? Gabe has to go to the bathroom,” Robbie said.

“Yeah, give me one minute,” Amadeus said wiping his face down and hugging the bible to his chest. He looked in the mirror once more and the shadowy figure smiled at him.

“We’ll talk again,” it said then it disappeared.

Amadeus slipped out of the bathroom hiding the book behind him. Robbie stared at him with furrowed brows. He wondered if he knew.

“Eli was going crazy. What happened in there?” Robbie asked.

“I thought about my parents and had to cry for a bit,” Amadeus said only lying a little bit.

Robbie stared at him for a moment and reach towards him pulling his head down to kiss him gently. “I understand,” he said pulling away.

Amadeus stared at him for a moment wanting to press him into the wall and kiss him until they were both gasping for breath, but Gabe was in the bathroom and he was still hiding the bible behind his back. Amadeus smiled and pecked him on the nose. “You’re hot when you care,” he said.

Robbie smiled and slipped his hands around Amadeus’s waist. “What’re you hiding behind you back?” he asked.

“I’m stealing one of your jackets,” Amadeus lied.

Robbie stared at him for a moment. “You’re way bigger than me,” he said.

“You think that’ll stop me,” he said leaning down to kiss Robbie, but Robbie put his fingers on his lips.

“Gabe's gonna be out in a moment,” he said.

“So, Gabe's not gonna know about us?” Amadeus asked.

“Not yet,” Robbie said, “not until I know.”

Amadeus almost asked him what he needed to know, but Gabe got out of the restroom before he could. He slipped out to his car to put the bible in the trunk then grabbed a change of clothes he had in there as well. He stared into the back of his car thinking about how close he was to his family, his mom and dad were within his reach. He could have grabbed them. He could have held them again. He slammed the trunk and walked around to the front seeing the dark figure instead of his reflection in the windows.

Gabe was in the living room when he walked in. “Robbie said you're taking us to breakfast,” he said smiling.

“Yeah, where’s Robbie?” he asked.

“Bathroom,” Gabe replied.

Amadeus nodded his head and went to change in Robbie's bedroom. He was putting his pants on when Robbie came in. He looked him up and down and smiled. “Where'd you get all that?” he asked.

“I told you, I have an active sex life,” Amadeus said, “and I ruined a lot of clothes in fights.”

“I don't know why I'm surprised how cut you are,” Robbie said.

Amadeus smiled. “Thanks, I got it from absorbing gamma radiation,” he said laughing.

“That easy,” Robbie said laughing and sitting on the bed next to him.

“The only problem is I can’t turn back,” Amadeus said turning so that he was closer to Robbie.

“That's a problem?” Robbie asked staring into Amadeus's eyes. God, Robbie’s eyes were beautiful.

“Not really,” Amadeus said slowly rolling on top of Robbie so that he was under his weight never breaking eye contact. Robbie ran his hands up Amadeus’s chest as he leaned down to kiss him. He placed his hands on either side of Robbie’s ears.

“Fuck,” Robbie said when Amadeus finally came up for air.

Amadeus smiled and played with his hair gently running his fingers through his streak for a few seconds before remembering that he needed to get dressed. He just finished pulling on his shirt when Robbie tackled him, kissing him hot and heavy. Amadeus tried to think of anything other than how much he wanted to fuck Robbie right now. He did calculations as Robbie sucked on his neck seemingly doing his best to make him think of only him.

“Fuck, stop, please,” Amadeus said pushing Robbie away. He was calculating the force he used to push Robbie away as well as numerous other equations to get his mind off of how hard he was.

Robbie smiled pleased with himself. “Come on, let's get breakfast,” he said laughing at Amadeus's inner turmoil over willing away his erection.

“I hate you,” Amadeus said running his fingers through his hair trying to cool down.

“No, you don’t,” Robbie said kissing him on the cheek.

“No, I don’t,” Amadeus said kissing Robbie’s nose.

Robbie walked out of his bedroom to get Gabe, and Amadeus lingered for a moment just to think of anything other than Robbie's lips. He rubbed his face with his hand and joined Gabe and Robbie in the living room.

“Okay, what are we getting for breakfast?” Amadeus asked.

“Pancakes!” Gabe exclaimed.

“Sounds good,” Robbie said grabbing for his keys.

“Can we go in your car?” Gabe asked Amadeus. “Can we fly there?”

Amadeus laughed. “Sure,” he said clicking the screen on his watch.

Robbie’s brow furrowed. “I’d love to look under the hood of your car sometime,” he said.

Amadeus puffed out his cheeks. “Yeah, definitely,” he said reluctantly. God, he did not want to hear the grief he would get when Robbie finally had a chance to look inside.

Amadeus helped Gabe into the car and put his wheelchair into the back. His eyes caught sight of the family bible in the back, and he reached down to touch it for a second. He sighed and got into the driver’s seat.

Gabe leaned as far forward as he could hitting Robbie’s shoulder. “We’re gonna fly!” he exclaimed.

Amadeus smiled and clicked a button. “Make sure you’re buckled up,” he said as the engine hummed quietly. He pulled back on the steering wheel, and the car lifted off of the ground and into the sky. Gabe pressed his fingers to the window and exclaimed in delight.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Robbie asked smiling for a moment.

“Tell me a place that serves pancakes and we’ll go there,” Amadeus said, “or if you aren’t quick we’re going to IHOP.”

“IHOP!” Gabe exclaimed.

Amadeus laughed and glanced over at Robbie. Robbie shrugged, and Amadeus clicked a button on the screen where the radio would be had it been an original 1959 Dodge Coronet. He asked for the nearest IHOP then got directions to it (which just pointed him in the right direction since the car flew).

The arrival of a flying car caused quite the scene at the IHOP. People recorded Amadeus landing it gently in a parking spot (which took quite a bit of dexterity since it was much harder than parking regularly). Amadeus got out and got Gabe’s wheelchair out of the trunk and helped Gabe into it listening to Gabe’s excited chatter. They went inside and ordered way too many pancakes and ate until they were full. Amadeus couldn’t help but smile at Robbie and Gabe’s relationship. It made him miss Maddy.

Robbie caught Amadeus staring at him. “What?” he asked jokingly aggressive.

“It’s nice how you two act around each other,” Amadeus said.

“Are you an only child or something?” Robbie asked.

“What? No. I have a little sister,” Amadeus said. “Her name’s Maddy, and she won’t talk to me right now.”

“Why not?” Gabe asked taking a huge bite out of his pancakes.

Amadeus shrugged. “I let the Hulk control me and because of that I pushed her away,” he said.

Robbie’s face softened. “I know what that’s like,” he said quietly. Amadeus wished he knew what he was thinking.

“I’d do anything for her, and right now I have to leave her alone,” Amadeus said, “which sucks.”

Silence stretched between them for a short time, but Gabe happily filled it with chatter. He had a million questions about the Champions, the old Hulk, Hercules, what Iron Man was like (Amadeus lied through his teeth and sung his praises)... It was strangely comforting to hang out with Robbie and Gabe, but it also reminded him how desperately he missed his own family.

When they finally went home after eating as many pancakes as they could, Robbie pulled Amadeus to the side where Gabe couldn’t see him. He kissed him slowly, softly then drew away. “I think, I might be okay with dating you,” Robbie said.

Amadeus smiled widely and kissed Robbie, but he was much more fierce. “Do you mean it?” he asked finally pulling away.

“Yeah,” Robbie said, “you get along with Gabe, and that’s the most important thing to me.”

Amadeus’s brow furrowed, and he took a step back to give Robbie room. “I don’t want you to just settle for me,” he said, “I want you to be completely and totally certain that you want to be with me before you decide. I can wait.”

Robbie smiled and kissed Amadeus again. “I thought you rushed into things,” he said.

“No, I don’t,” Amadeus said.

“Yes, you do.”

Chapter Text

“I’ve got a test to study for,” Robbie grumbled as Amadeus tried his best to convince him to go to a party with him.
“You’ve been studying for it all week!” Amadeus exclaimed, “I’m only in L.A. for today!”
“The test is tomorrow.”
“Studies show that cramming before the test is the least effective study method!” Amadeus exclaimed.
Robbie sighed. “If I go with you will you shut up?” he asked finally.
“Yeah, but kiss me just to make certain.”
Robbie set aside his textbook and gestured for Amadeus to lean down to him. He kissed Amadeus softly then got up to change into clothing he could go to a party in. “We have to get home before eleven,” he said.
Amadeus gritted his teeth but he agreed. After Robbie was changed Amadeus hired a babysitter, Lisa who he was now pretty good friends with after showing up at Robbie’s multiple times while she was there to hang out, and they got in the Hell Charger and drove to the party.
Robbie had no idea what this party was going to be like. What was going to a party with Amadeus supposed to be like? Even without being a hero he was a CEO at one point, his sister was now according to Amadeus. It could be anything from a fancy business party, though Robbie doubted it because neither of them was dressed well enough for that, or a rave, Robbie doubted that too because Amadeus would have worn less clothing.
Robbie shouldn't be surprised that it was just a regular party at a club, but he was. The music was headache inducingly loud, and the bass was boosted way too high making his heart want to burst out of his chest. Robbie hit Amadeus's shoulder before they were let in. “Neither of us can drink,” he whispered into his ear trying his best to be louder than the music.
“I don’t drink,” Amadeus said flashing two fake IDs at the bouncer.
Of course, he didn’t. He was somewhere between a stickler for the rules and consequences be damned, and he never seemed to make up his mind on which he was. Apparently, Amadeus tried to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. once, but he worked with them when they met, so he wasn't consistent at all.
“You can drink if you want. I made these for a reason,” Amadeus said handing Robbie the fake ID, but Robbie shook his head.
“Hate to think what Eli would do if I was drunk,” Robbie said sticking close to Amadeus.
“Eh, I can take him,” Amadeus said pulling Robbie closer.
Robbie scoffed and pushed Amadeus away. “What do you do at a club you don’t drink at?” he asked.
Amadeus rolled his eyes. “You dance,” he said dragging Robbie onto the dancefloor.
Robbie tried to ignore the number of people that were on the floor or how suffocating it felt. He did a pretty good job too when he paid attention to just Amadeus, but the music was too loud, and he had to slip out into an alleyway and sat down on a milk crate. He tried to ignore how loud Eli was, and he sunk his head in his hands trying to calm down.
“You okay?”
Robbie looked up, and Amadeus was hovering over him concern hanging like a cloud. “Yeah… It was just too noisy. I needed some air,” he said.
“When’d you get the gum?” Amadeus asked brushing his cheek gently with his fingertips.
When did he get the gum? It was minty and masking the taste of bile in his throat. “I don’t know,” he admitted.
“Hey, check your pockets for some. My mouth tastes gross I tried one of their virgin drinks, and I think it was actually a slut,” Amadeus said squatting down next to Robbie.
Robbie checked his pockets, and they were empty except for his wallet and keys. He shrugged. Amadeus stared at him for a moment and there was obviously something going on in his mind, he had that look. He leaned forward and kissed Robbie long and hard. His mouth did taste like alcohol. It would have been kinda gross if Amadeus wasn’t so damn hot. He liked how Amadeus’s hand ran through his hair, sometimes tugging on it.
When Amadeus finally drew away he was chewing the gum Robbie had before their kiss. “Wow,” Robbie mumbled then he realized why Amadeus kissed him. “Did you do that for the gum?”
Amadeus laughed. “Yeah, well not totally, but yeah that was the goal.”
“You’re a jerk.”
“You don’t even know where you got it,” Amadeus protested, “Do you want it back?”
“No,” Robbie grumbled, “Wish you would just make out with me because you want to make out with me.”
“I always want to make out with you. Sometimes I just find an excuse,” Amadeus exclaimed.
Robbie grabbed Amadeus’s head and drew him closer. “You don't need an excuse to make out with me,” he said before pressing his lips against Amadeus's.
Amadeus lifted Robbie up in his arm and pressed him against the dirty concrete of the club. Robbie let out a groan as Amadeus kissed his neck.
“Marks or no marks?” Amadeus asked.
“No hickeys. How am I supposed to explain those to Gabe?”
“What if I put them where he won't see them?” Amadeus asked starting to lift part of Robbie’s shirt.
“Hell Charger,” Robbie whispered, “now.”
Amadeus followed after Robbie as he dragged him to the car. Amadeus’s lips tasted like mint and alcohol, the gum doing very little to mask the drink he accidentally had. Robbie started the Hell Charger and raced and weaving through the roads until they were found someplace private. Robbie climbed in Amadeus’s lap and planted long kisses on his face then down his throat. Amadeus stuck his hand under Robbie’s shirt then Robbie tossed his shirt off, and Amadeus stopped. “Wait, what are we doing?” he asked.
Robbie stared for a moment as he tried to decide what he was doing. “Making out,” he said finally.
Amadeus nodded his head before planting a gentle kiss on Robbie's lips. Robbie melted into him running his hands through Amadeus's hair. Amadeus pulled away suddenly his eyes wide and his face paling. Eli was loud. Something was wrong, and Robbie looked around to see what was making Amadeus freak out.
“What's wrong?” Robbie asked.
Amadeus was covering his face with his hands. “I thought if I just distracted myself…”
“You’re not making sense,” Robbie said putting his hand on Amadeus's cheek.
Amadeus leaned his head on Robbie's shoulder. “Today's the day my parents died…”
Robbie grabbed his shoulders and held him close as he started crying. That didn't explain why Eli was so loud. There was nothing here as far as he could tell, just him and Amadeus.
“I'm gonna call Maddy…” Amadeus said pulling out his phone, “I’m sorry I had a breakdown…”
“Hey, don’t say sorry,” Robbie said ignoring Eli screaming in his mind.
Amadeus stepped out of the Hell Charger for a moment before things started to turn weird. The world seemed to melt around Robbie and colors swarm until he was in complete darkness. He stayed in darkness until he opened his eyes and found himself laying in bed. Everything was quiet and that's how he knew something was wrong.

Amadeus needed a distraction. He called Maddy, she didn’t pick up. He visited Robbie giving some lame excuse why he was there only for the day. Robbie didn’t need to know why he was there, just that he was. He laid on the floor next to Robbie as Robbie studied like he had every night before even while they facetimed.
It was the silence that was driving him crazy. He needed to do something, left alone to his thoughts they always went back to Maddy, back to his parents, back to the fact that it was his fault that they were dead. He wished he never went to that stupid soap competition, he wished he did more research about the competition, he wished that Athena never came into his life and fucked everything up.
Amadeus scrolled through his phone seeing that there was a club that just opened. He rolled over sick of doing nothing. He needed to move. He needed to get his mind off of his parents. “Let’s go to a party,” Amadeus said sitting up.
Robbie gave Amadeus an annoyed look. “On a school night?”
“Yeah, have you never done that before?”
Eventually, Robbie agreed. Amadeus gave him directions to the club glued to his phone the entire time, not thinking, never thinking. Amadeus flashed fake IDs at the door, and they were let inside no questions asked. The fact that Amadeus was a hulk probably helped some too, even if it was pretty widely known that he was still younger than twenty-one. It wasn’t like he was going to drink anything. He still heeded his mother’s warning of no drinking before he turned 21 even if it had been 5 years since she died, even if she would probably forgive him tonight. So he and Robbie danced. He loved the crowd, and he loved how Robbie pressed against him. He loved the loud music and the way his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest with the obnoxiously loud beat of the bass. Robbie slipped out for some air as Amadeus searched out a nonalcoholic beverage.
Amadeus took a long sip of some drink he ordered and gagged at the burn of alcohol in the back of his throat. He left it on the bar and went to find Robbie. He found him sitting on a milk crate in the alleyway outside the club. He had his hands covering his face. Amadeus was worried, but the way Robbie’s hair tumbled over his hands was beautiful and it took all of Amadeus’s will not to lean down and plant a kiss on his hair.
“You okay?” Amadeus asked.
Robbie mumbled something about the music being loud, needing air. He was quiet. He was also chewing gum. Amadeus only noticed because he was staring at his lips and his tongue would dart out between chewing to lick his lips. God, Amadeus wanted to kiss him.
Amadeus filled the silence with stupid questions. He always did that, if it wasn’t questions it was stupid chatter. He hated silence; he especially hated it tonight. He kept looking at Robbie’s lips. He kept wanting to kiss him hard and long until Robbie couldn’t breathe. So Amadeus kissed him, long and hot and deliberate. He ran his fingers through Robbie’s hair tugging his hair softly sometimes to draw Robbie into the moment.
When Amadeus pulled away he had the gum, and he was chewing it. Robbie mocked outrage, but Amadeus was only thinking about how much he wanted to press Robbie to the concrete wall of the club and make out with him. So he picked him up because he could and pressed him against the concrete. He kissed his mouth and all over his face then journeyed down to his neck.
“Marks or no marks?” he asked not stepping over that boundary without permission.
“No hickeys. How am I supposed to explain those to Gabe?”
“What if I put them where he won't see them?” Amadeus wanted to leave bites and hickeys all over Robbie's chest and stomach and lower if Robbie let him. He wanted there to be physical reminders that he was falling in love with Robbie Reyes. He wanted Robbie to think of him when he looked in the mirror. He wanted...
“Hell Charger, now.”
As Robbie drove Amadeus watched him wondering what he was thinking. He calculated how fast they were going by moving telephone poles until they stopped. It was dark. Robbie was on top of him. Amadeus was kissing him where he could, exploring his body with his hands. Then Robbie's shirt was off and he realized how far this might go.
“Wait. What’re we doing?” Amadeus asked scared he was pressuring Robbie. He always went to fast, and maybe looking for a distraction from his life could make him go too far too quickly.
There was a long pause. “Making out,” Robbie finally replied.
Amadeus kissed Robbie like he'd seen his father kiss his mother. That stupid in love kind of way. Soft. Everything he ever saw of them was soft. They were so in love. He felt like he was being watched so he opened one eye only to see that damned dark figure again.
He pulled away as memories suddenly flooded in. Too many memories. How much he missed his parents. Then it slipped out and he started talking about it. He lied and said he was going to call Maddy when he had no intention of calling her.
He was out of the car looking into the side-view mirror. The was a sick feeling in his stomach. “I want them back. I don’t care about the cost.”
The black figure smiled and wordlessly the world melted around him like a horror movie. Echoing in his ears was screeching like nails on a chalkboard. Everything was dark until the world started rebuilding itself before his eyes. It was silent and cold.

Chapter Text

Robbie raced into Gabe's room checking to see if he was alright. Gabe was sleeping soundly and didn't stir despite Robbie abruptly throwing open the door. He pulled out his phone to call Amadeus for some explanation, but Amadeus's number wasn't on his phone. He called it from memory, but a recording told him that the number wasn't set up.

Then suddenly from the deepest reaches of his soul, he heard a voice eerie, and worse than Eli’s had ever been before. “Your little boyfriend changed the timeline,” Eli said. His words echoed through Robbie’s head over and over again. He paced the floor trying to figure out what he needed to do to fix this, but there wasn’t anything he could do. He had no idea where Amadeus was…

His sister! Robbie thought suddenly. He pulled out his phone and typed in Maddy Cho and Olympus Corp. It was easy enough to find an address, but he didn’t know how to explain why he just up and left to Gabe.

Robbie sat down on Gabe’s bed and shook him gently. Gabe opened his eyes, wiping them with the back of his hand. “Yeah?” he asked, yawning.

“I have to do something really important. I’m going to text Lisa and tell her that you’re home alone…”

“Does this have something to do with Mr. Panther man?” Gabe asked.

“No, it’s about this big green dude,” Robbie said, running his fingers through Gabe’s hair, “Something’s really wrong and I have to find him.”

There was a loud knock on the door, and Robbie jumped up. Eli was screaming, but he wasn’t saying anything. Robbie hushed Gabe and went to the front door. He opened it slowly, and the door was heavy like something, or someone, was leaning on it. When it was wide enough a person fell inside, landing hard on their arm. They were limp like they were unconscious.

Robbie knelt down and shoved their shoulder gently. He rolled them over and realized it was Amadeus in his human form. “Shit…” he mumbled.

“I fucked up,” Amadeus mumbled when Robbie knelt down and rolled him over.

“What’s wrong?” Robbie asked, lifting his head onto his lap.

“I’m really hungry, and I had to walk here on foot. Also, I think I’m suffering from Gamma withdrawals, if those are even a thing,” Amadeus said.

“What did you do?” Robbie asked.

Amadeus puffed his cheeks and couldn’t look Robbie in the eyes.

“What did you do?” Robbie repeated.

“I brought my parents back,” Amadeus mumbled.

“How?”

“I don’t really know. There was this black figure that was following me. I guess I made a deal.”

“How could you be so stupid?” Robbie asked, holding Amadeus’s head gently.

“It’s been five years,” Amadeus mumbled, “to the day.”

Robbie ran his fingers through Amadeus’s hair. “Why didn’t you say something?” he asked.

“It wasn’t easy to talk about,” Amadeus replied.

“What do we do to make things right?” Robbie asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t think. I need junk food,” Amadeus mumbled.

Robbie helped Amadeus to the kitchen and grabbed a package of chips. Amadeus ate them then leaned back in the seat. He had his eyes closed and it looked like he was sleeping, but his eyes were darting back behind his lids as he made calculations. Finally, he opened his eyes again.

“I need to find Athena,” he said.

“What?”

“She manipulated everything in my life so if anyone knows what changed she will,” Amadeus said.

“What about your parents?” Robbie asked, “You did all this for them back. You should at least go and see them.”

“All the way in Tucson?” Amadeus choked out.

“Yeah, I’ll go get Gabe and we’ll…”

“Who knows how different this world is?” Amadeus said.

“You just want to fix it?” Robbie asked.

“Of course not. I want to see my parents, but I shouldn’t have made this deal. I messed up the very fabric of time and who knows what the consequences are? I just need to right things. I got over my parents' death years ago.”

“You obviously didn’t or you wouldn’t have made a deal with the devil,” Robbie said.

“You’re one to talk,” Amadeus snapped.

“I died, Amadeus.”

Amadeus shuddered and laid his head on the table. “I died that day too. Or I should have. I would do anything for all of this to be alright. For this to be the real timeline. That I died and they lived, but I can’t be selfish.”

“How do you know you died?”

Amadeus shrugged. “I just do.”

Robbie frowned.

“I don’t know what all this means, but I need to fix things. Athena will know what to do. She sees the bigger picture.”

The inside of the house shook and for a moment, like a flash of lightning, it was dark then brighter than eyes could see then back to the normal lighting of the dinky kitchen. In the middle of Amadeus and Robbie, a tall regal woman stood.

“You don’t have to look far, little boy.”

Amadeus stared up at her. He wanted to throw up. “Athena…”

“Do you understand how many plans you ruined? Do you understand how badly you tattered the time…”

“Fuck you,” Amadeus shouted, suddenly bold, “If you never created him then they would never be dead and I wouldn’t be hurting like this! Don’t blame this all on me!”

“I created you by choosing them to raise you! If you were never born then no one stops him! No one saves Hercules! No one gives Hercules the push to defeat the Skrull gods! No one defeats Amatsu-Mikaboshi! The universe is destroyed, Amadeus, we are only in a bubble universe, some of the last survivors of a destroyed and empty world!”

“Wait a minute, what?”

Athena whipped around to look at Robbie. “Who are you?”

“I’m the new Ghost Rider,” he replied.

“Ghost Rider? Hell was destroyed with the old world. There is no way you can be Ghost Rider,” Athena said.

“I’m from the real world not whatever the fuck this is,” Robbie replied.

Athena frowned then looked at Amadeus. “You and some ghost are not going to be able to fix this. You’ve deeply destroyed the timeline and now our universe no longer exists. It is all on you and you will have no help from me.”

“Why did it all have to be me? You could have replaced me with anyone! I’m not significant! I’m just dust!”

“If you truly think you’re insignificant then why would the darkness target you?” Then Athena was gone in the same flash of light she came.

Amadeus sagged down onto the table and covered his eyes. “Fuck. Fuck…”

“What can we do to fix this?” Robbie asked.

“Shit, I don’t know.”

Robbie shoved Amadeus’s shoulder. “Think.”

“I need to figure out who the guy who did this was.”

“Amatsu-Mikaboshi,” Robbie replied, “or at least that’s what Eli thinks.”

Amadeus frowned. “No, couldn’t be. We sealed him away. There’s no way-” His face fell. Shit. “How did I miss the patterns? He spoke weird and I didn’t even think about it. It has to be Amatsu-Mikaboshi. No one else talked like him.”

“How’d you defeat Amatsu-Mikaboshi the first time?” Robbie asked. “Let’s kill him then rebuild things.”

“I had Herc do it as a full god with omnipotence and everything.”

“So, let’s go get Herc.”

“He’s dead.”

“Has that ever stopped anyone?”

So they loaded up in the hell charger and headed for New Jersey, the only entrance to Hades Amadeus knew.

Chapter Text

Amadeus leaned his head in his hands in the passenger seat of the hell charger. "Shit, I destroyed the world. I really was always meant to be a supervillain."

Robbie turned to look at him. He frowned and reached out to touch Amadeus's face. "Look, you're trying to fix it. We'll fix it."

Amadeus's eyes filled with tears and he jerked his face away from Robbie. Robbie realized how small he looked when he wasn't Brawn. Robbie pulled the Hell Charger over and reached for Amadeus's face to force him to look at him.

"This is Athena's fault."

“You’ve read the Odyssey in school right?” Amadeus asked.

Robbie nodded his head wondering where Amadeus was going with this change of subject.

“I always wondered if I was Telemachus. All I ever do is try and save Hercules so that he can clean up the big messes. My function is to get news of Odysseus back home and to help him kill the suitors, and when Odysseus returns he’s in charge and no one ever heard of Telemachus because he’s just a kid cuz he can’t ever do anything on his own.”

“You’re not Telemachus. You’re Brawn,” Robbie replied. “Maybe at first when you were a kid you were Telemachus, but now you’re a hero on your own. You’re your own story.”

“But am I really?” Amadeus asked, “I’m once again looking for someone to clean up a mess. Sometimes it’s Herc, sometimes it’s Bruce. It sucks.”

“You know what. We don’t need Herc. You can save the day all on your own, you just need to think,” Robbie said, “What is it that we need to do?”

Amadeus hesitated for a moment. “We need to know what the parameters of this deal were. Do we have to kill Amatsu-Mikaboshi or do we have to turn back time or is there something I need to do to fix things?” Amadeus explained suddenly in his groove. The chips must have kicked in because his brain was working in overdrive.

“What was the first thing that happened?” Robbie asked, “Did he appear to you in the car or…”

“No, he appeared at your house first while I was in the bathroom.”

Robbie frowned. “That explains Eli.”

"Yeah sorry for not telling you," Amadeus said.

"Would have been nice."

"We need a prophet or an Oracle to tell us how to fix this… Where do you find one of those these days?” Amadeus said.

“On the subway walls like that song?" Robbie asked.

Amadeus looked over at him, his brows raised. "Oh, not bad! Are there subways in Los Angeles?"

“Yeah,” Robbie said, turning a corner so that they headed towards the closest subway station.

They sat in silence for a while as they drove toward the subway. Robbie sped past another car.

“Barely any cars,” Robbie commented.

Amadeus shuddered. “Because the world ended. There’s not that many people left,” he said.

“Finally solved LA traffic,” Robbie said as they came to a stop.

They walked the rest of the way to the subway. It was completely abandoned, and none of the trains were running. They hopped the barriers and ventured into the darkness. Robbie turned to Ghost Rider, and his flames lit their way. Old graffiti covered the walls.

“What are we looking for?” Amadeus mumbled, dragging his hands along the walls, “These are sort of pathetic compared to the subway system in New York.”

Robbie gave him a dirty look somehow, even though he was a metal skull. Amadeus stopped suddenly.

“Haiku,” he said, crossing his arms, “Return the given, I will come to you and a, deal can be formed.”

Amadeus walked down the subway a little longer to check for more prophecies. Robbie stayed close to him. In the darkness, there was rustling like long tree branches scraping on a bedroom window. Amadeus stopped at another mural. His blood ran cold and his heart beat into his throat.

“Look out behind you…”

Amadeus turned and there was a shadow on the wall reaching for him. He yelled, and Robbie threw his chain at the shadow and dragged Amadeus out of its reach by his arm.

“We are watching we will win, get there first or death…”

More shadows came out of the walls and corners. Robbie’s whole body was consumed in fire. The tunnel began to shake like something huge was coming, and barreling down the tunnels was a subway car, wrapped in fire. It stopped by Robbie and Amadeus and they got inside before the shadows could grab them with their long fingers. Amadeus collapsed in Robbie’s arms.

“We have to get to Tucson,” Amadeus said, “I have to get to the family bible.”

The subway car melted away into the interior of the Hell Charger then they sped off towards Arizona. Amadeus held his head in his hands as he tried to stop his heart from beating out of his chest and to finally catch his breath. Amadeus beat his hand on the dash of the Hell Charger. “Fuck.” Robbie’s hand wrapped around his, and he brought it to his chest.

“Keep your cool,” Robbie said, and his thumb rubbed gentle circles on the back of Amadeus’s hand.

“What if I watch them die again?” Amadeus asked.

“You won’t watch them die,” Robbie said.

“What if I do?”

“We’ll deal with that when we deal with it,” Robbie replied.

“They’ll be there first,” Amadeus said.

“We’ll deal with that when we deal with it,” Robbie repeated, “Get some rest.”

Despite the Hell Charger moving faster than any natural car, it still took hours to get to Arizona.  Amadeus nodded off in the passenger seat, restlessly groaning in his sleep like he was having nightmares. Robbie wanted to wake him up, but he knew that often people got prophecies in their dreams so he let the night terror run its course in case something important was revealed in his dreams. Amadeus woke with a start and looked around to see where he was. When he realized it wasn’t a nightmare he wept quietly. Robbie reached over and rubbed Amadeus’s back in silence as they got into the city limits of Tucson, Arizona.

“Turn here,” Amadeus said.

Robbie turned down the road Amadeus pointed to and pulled up in the driveway of Amadeus’s childhood home. Amadeus hesitated in the car. His stomach hurt.

“I should go,” Amadeus said, “It should be me…”

Robbie leaned over and ran his fingers through Amadeus’s hair. “Breathe.”

Amadeus nodded his head and opened the car door. He walked up the driveway and to the door. He hesitated again then knocked. He stared at the door for a long while until it opened. It was his mother. 

“Umma?”

Helen stared at him like she saw a ghost. “Amadeus?”

Amadeus hugged her because that was all he could think to do. She wrapped her arms around him, and for a moment everything felt right then he remembered why he was there.

“Umma, where’s the bible? I need the family bible.”

“Amadeus, you died.”

“Umma, I don’t have time to explain. I messed up, and I need the family bible to fix things.”

Amadeus’s father walked up behind Helen holding a newspaper in his hand. When he got closer he saw Amadeus past his mother’s shoulder. He dropped the paper and drew nearer.

“Son?”

“Appa, I don’t have-”

Two black fingers curled over Philip’s shoulder. Amadeus pushed passed his parents and into the house. “Amatsu-Mikaboshi!” Amadeus shouted, “You know I’m close! Just give up!”

Amadeus rooted through the house for the bible until he found it resting on the arm of his father’s chair. “Amatsu-Mikaboshi!” Amadeus shouted, “Let’s make a deal!”