Chapter Text
While Loid spoke with the doctor, Yor helped Anya to fill in the gaps of what the drugs had forced her to forget, and told her the story of how it all happened.
Anya could barely believe it. She knew that both of her parents were fighters, but what truly surprised her was that the whole time that she had been held captive, there was a shy and awkward boy fighting to find her, and pushing everyone around him to get to work. A boy who followed the Forgers into battle and took everything that was thrown at him - an incredible feat, if also because the Forgers themselves undoubtedly provoked some fear in him.
When she heard the story, something in Anya’s chest kindled.
So when Damian did eventually show up the next day, his face as red as the roses he carried, it didn’t take her by surprise. In fact, she had heard him coming long before he had even entered the ward. He hesitated at the door, clearly wondering if she wanted to see him.
“H-hey.”
Yor spotted his awkward glance towards her, and she understood instantly. “Come on, darling! Let’s go downstairs to the cafe for a little bit.”
“Huh?” Loid blinked, midway through a thought. “But-”
His words were stolen away by Yor yanking on his arm and pulling him physically from the room. On her way out, Yor gave Damian a conspiratorial wink, and he blushed even more.
The door closed behind him, and it was Damian and Anya alone.
Her medication had made her feel slightly dizzy, but she did manage a weak smile in Damian’s direction. “I heard you came to rescue me.”
“D-don’t think too much about it! I just owed you from when you rescued me first, that’s all!” Damian tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his face behind the flowers, but at least he did take that as his invitation to go over to her.
Her eyes crinkled in a soundless laugh, before she glimpsed the other package in his hands and she sat up with interest. “Are those for me?”
Damian wordlessly handed her the chocolate covered peanuts (her favourite brand), and while he busied himself with the flowers by her bedside, Anya tentatively opened the packet and inhaled their scent dreamily.
“Mmm,” she sighed and flashed a grin at Damian. “My hero!” she exclaimed and tore into the treats with relish.
Damian’s brain temporarily turned to static, secretly overjoyed that she loved his present enough to eat it in front of him. At least she didn’t feel too awkward around him.
But Damian was also painfully aware that this was the first time in a while that he and Anya were talking, alone, and he couldn’t put into words how strange it felt. All the adrenaline from the week buzzed in his blood, and found that he couldn’t sit or stand still. He leaned against the windowsill and shoved his hands in his pockets in an effort to hide how much they were shaking.
He cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. “How… uh… have you been?”
She lifted up the hand with the cannula that attached to her IV drip, and gave it a playful wiggle. “Whatever is in here is really doing the trick.” She beamed with a silly smile. “I feel great!”
“That’s… good.” Damian mumbled, and then inwardly cursed himself. He had tried so hard to forget that she could apparently read minds, but being in front of Anya brought all of that back up to the surface, and he found himself at a loss of how to act around her. How much of his mind was she reading right then?
What did Adrian say… That she might be able to ‘turn it on and off’ at will?
Anya’s eyes furrowed. “That reminds me - how did you know it was Adrian?”
“Uh,” said Damian, and thought back to his heist escapade with Bill and Becky, when they had sorted through the papers of the school office. “Reconnaissance.”
As he thought of what it took to get to Anya, an image then formed in his mind of Yor with her hand around Adrian’s neck, and Anya went white. “She did what??”
Damian froze. Having his thoughts being seen live was weird . Was this what it was like for her all the time? Was this how it was going to be from then on?
“Anya,” said Damian in a tight voice. “Can you please not read my mind right now?”
That was not a sentence he had ever imagined that he would say.
Anya bit her lip and dropped her head, suddenly shy at being called out. A wave of her hair fell in front of her face, hiding her withdrawn expression. “I’m sorry. It’s just second nature to me. It’s like…” she tried to think of something Damian would understand. “It’s like asking someone not to use their thumbs.”
Damian pictured trying to pick something up without using his thumbs, and he winced reflexively. It did look difficult.
Still, this was not how he expected his conversation with Anya to go, and the instant responses to something he didn’t even say out loud was much more disorienting than he imagined.
“Just for ten minutes?” Damian pleaded. “It’s just… a lot… right now.”
Anya sighed and twirled a lock of pink hair around her finger. “Normally I can turn it off, but it’s kind of hard to do right now. It’s so weird. Everything feels like it’s been turned up!” She threw her hands in the air for emphasis.
But the energy soon vanished from her when she glimpsed his pained face. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it,” she mumbled, and her gaze landed on his feet, away from his hesitant scrutiny.
“Turned up?” Damian squeaked. Just how much could she hear, exactly?
He felt the urge to jiggle his foot, but he crossed his ankles in a way to hold back. “What is it like right now?”
She grimaced. “It’s a lot. There are so many people in this hospital, and they are so loud . Everyone’s thinking different thoughts all at the same time, it’s like there’s a huge crowd in here.” Anya raised her emerald gaze to Damian. “But it’s okay talking with you just now. Saying things out loud is helping me focus.”
He softened his gaze on her. All of that sounded horrible. Even if he tried to think about what it would be like, his imagination just wouldn’t be accurate enough to understand.
Damian glanced at the cup of water next to her bed. Like not using thumbs, huh?
He moved towards the table, folded his thumb back in his grasp, and tried to curl his fingers around the cup. It tipped dangerously to the side, and Damian tried to adjust the angle as his fingers splayed awkwardly against it.
“What are you doing?” Anya said, and she burst into giggles.
The sound of her laugh jolted Damian, and he fumbled, knocked it over, and watched with distanced interest as the water spilled and trickled into a puddle on the floor.
Despite his discomfort, he managed a small laugh. She was right, it was a stupid idea.
“Sorry, I figured I would try and see what it’s like. I’ll go get you some more-”
Anya waved away the idea. “Don’t worry about it, my parents will bring something back from the cafe.”
“Ah, okay then,” said Damian as his arms hung limp by his sides.
He wasn’t quite sure what to do or say next. She had only been gone for less than a week, but somehow everything had changed, and suddenly in the space of just a week, it was like he was talking to a whole different person. This Anya was miles away from the Anya he thought he knew.
It occurred to Damian, then, that perhaps this entire encounter was as awkward for her as it was for him.
In fact, the more he looked at her, the more it made sense. The way she avoided eye contact with him, scratched at her neck, held her head in such a way that her hair hid parts of her redder-than-usual face. Her smile was too tight, her laughter too high.
She knew that he knew her secret, and she was trying to pretend that it was all okay. Otherwise, how could she accept it all so easily?
Damian let out a long, slow breath as realisation sank into him. Despite appearances, Anya was not okay at all.
Was she trying to pretend to be comfortable for his sake?
When he next raised his head towards Anya, his chest tightened at her expression: lips parted slightly in surprise, she looked at him like he had just said something profound.
Her voice wobbled as she spoke. “Sometimes I think that Sy-on can read minds too,” she exhaled in a hollow laugh. “You know me too well.”
Damian disagreed. He didn’t know her nearly as well as he wanted to. A secret this big gave him far more questions than answers - but Damian rightly sensed that this was not the time to ask about her powers, or her past.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” She tried to laugh again, but it came out too high, her smile too wide. Her eyes contained a manic quality. “How creepy is it that I can hear people’s thoughts? I’m like some kind of mutant.”
Damian wanted to interrupt, tell her it wasn’t like that, but the words quickly died away as he looked at her. Even when she had the panic attacks, he had never seen Anya look so haunted.
Anya’s smile slipped even further as her eyes became shinier. “You must think I’m a freak.”
“Ah-” It came out in a whisper. “Actually…” Pink tinged his cheeks. “I think it’s really cool.”
“You’re lying,” she spat and a tear fell down her cheek.
“You know I’m not,” he said as he held her gaze. “It explains a lot. Like how I always felt you could see through me. You understood me more than anyone else ever could. And how you were able to find me when I was…” he cleared his throat. “You’re like a superhero!”
Anya wiped at her eyes with the heel of her palm. “I… am?”
He nodded emphatically. “Are you kidding me? Of course you are! It’s just one more thing that makes you special.”
Her eyes shined at him, and Damian found himself looking away. He never knew how she could look so beautiful even when she cried.
He stilled, hoping that she didn’t hear that.
“Now that I think about it,” he started again, avoiding her gaze. “You being able to read minds has really helped out, hasn’t it? You’ve used it to save yourself and the people around you so many times. It really is like a superpower.”
The more he thought about it, the more he realised it must be true. If she could hear everything that was going on, then she knew who needed help, and knew how to help them. It was how she found him. It was how she got the guard to lower his gun. It was no doubt how she navigated her life, and kept herself and the others around her safe. He couldn’t even think how many times she might have saved him without him even knowing.
If only she could have read Adrian’s mind, and knew what he was planning, then she wouldn’t have been abducted.
The words he had said to Yor in a panic rose in his mind: What if she gets taken again? What if she disappears forever next time?
“Maybe…” he gulped. “Maybe knowing that you can read my mind wouldn’t be so bad.”
He heard Anya’s sharp intake of breath.
While Damian waited for Anya to say something, he kept glancing towards her. Would she think he was weird for suggesting it?
Anya’s eyebrows scrunched together in deep thought. She balled up the hospital sheet in her fist, before smoothing it out again with a deep sigh.
“Okay then,” she started, and Damian snapped his attention to her. “If you really don’t mind, could we… practice? Or something?”
He could have melted from how she looked up at him with those gorgeous, emerald eyes. God, she is so cute.
He flinched, and caught his thoughts before they revealed too much. Was this how it would be? He would pretend he didn’t think it, hope she didn’t hear it, and move on?
Damian released a steadying breath, and tilted his head back in thought. Even if it would be a good thing for them to use, losing his privacy completely would be a problem.
Unless…
Maybe we could use a code?
A code wouldn’t be so bad. It could be like Spy Wars , like they were communicating in their own secret language.
He couldn’t help the goofy grin that played on his face. It could be a secret that they shared together. It might even be fun.
They would have to have rules. He still found the idea of having his mind invaded uncomfortable, but how many times had they already been in a dangerous situation, where being able to secretly communicate would have really come in useful?
It would be cruel if he asked her to never read anyone’s mind again. She did say that ignoring it was like not having thumbs.
If he was going to let her read his mind sometimes, then they would need a signal so that she knew when it would be okay.
“I know!” he exclaimed, and gave her two thumbs-up. “Thumbs!”
Anya’s eyes fixed on Damian’s thumbs held out in front of her, and the moment held, before she burst into laughter.
“Are you serious?” she laughed even more. “Thumbs?”
Damian huffed. “Well if you don’t like it, you can think of one!” But then he met her eyes and cracked a smile. If he could still make her smile, then maybe there was hope after all.
“Okay then.” She smiled, and stared at the digits on her own hands. “Thumbs it is.”
Anya wasn’t joking, when she told Damian how overwhelming the sounds of the hospital were. People’s thoughts swarmed around her, and even when there was no one else in the room with her, it was like both the volume and the sheer amount of thoughts piled up.
She heard the nervous jittering thoughts of surgeons in theatre, the questioning thoughts of patients and family members, the stoic and calculating thoughts of the administrative staff of the hospital, the loud and worried thoughts of the A&E department on the other side, the screaming thoughts of the patients rushed into urgent care, the calm and idle thoughts of the pedestrians passing by outside.
And it wasn’t just words, either. Flashes of images, sensations, and memories assaulted her, and Anya feared that she would go insane from it all. It didn’t even stop when the sun went down, as the hospital was active at all hours.
It was incredible, in a way. It seemed like she could tune into the radius all around her at will. Everything was available to her.
The only trouble was that she seemed to have lost the ability to dial it back down again…
It helped that Damian was the only one in the room with her. When he spoke, suddenly the background noise faded away, and she could relax a bit. She was able to take deep breaths, and pay attention to him, even when the rabble still existed in her mind.
The smell of roses drifted to her, and Anya leaned into its scent, letting herself relax even more.
It dawned on her that until she actually saw Damian, she had no idea how terrified she really was. Then when he entered the room, and her parents left them both alone together, Anya’s heart rate skyrocketed.
Would he hate her? Would he think that she was a freak? Would her nightmares come to life?
It wasn’t exactly a conversation she had ever pictured having with him. She had often wondered what it would be like if others knew about her secret, if they would hate her or reject her, but she felt nothing like that coming from Damian. He seemed interested. Curious. Awed, even. And then he went and called her a superhero, and her breath caught.
He really thought she was… cool?
When her heart rate eventually calmed down, she was surprised by how normal she was able to feel around Damian - or as close to normal as possible, anyway. There was still a strange tension that lingered in the air, but Anya figured it was because they were firmly not talking about what had happened in the lab.
Instead, Damian told her a bit about what happened, told her what she had missed at school, and even brought up Bill and Becky.
“I think they’re dating,” he mused aloud. “But don’t tell Becky I said that.”
Anya thought back to when she had promised Becky that she would keep their relationship a secret. “I won’t say a thing,” she said with a wry smile.
It impressed her that Damian was so willing to rally their friends in the effort to find her, even going so far as to let down his guard with them. He had come to their friends for help - something that Lord Damian Desmond almost never did.
In the middle of the conversation, loud footsteps echoed around the corridor, and Becky burst through the door, shortly followed by Bill’s huge frame.
“Fucking hell-” Damian gasped in fright, but he stepped aside for the force of nature that was Becky Blackbell.
“Anyaaa!!” Becky squealed as she ran to Anya’s side and gave her a tight hug, while Bill hung back. “I was so worried about you! I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Anya winced reflexively at the tightness of Becky’s squeeze, before she smiled and returned her best friend’s hug. “It’s good to see you too.”
But Becky was more observant than Anya gave credit for. “Ah, sorry! Was that too tight? I didn’t mean to -”
She spotted the bandages on Anya’s arms.
“- hurt you…”
Anya self-consciously pulled the hospital blanket up around her. “Oh, this?” she squeaked, and although she tried to feign normalcy, it was obvious that her voice had taken on a slightly higher pitch. “It’s nothing to worry about, just a scrape from… the accident…”
Becky’s eyes widened a fraction, and she quickly glanced at Bill, who imperceptibly shook his head.
Becky righted herself. “Well - I’m super glad you’re okay! Really, you had us all worried there. So,” Becky sat up expectantly and grabbed Anya’s hands in hers. “What happened? Tell us!”
Anya’s chest tightened, and she shared a quick glance with Damian. She saw that he pictured himself wanting to rush to her defence, to try to come up with a believable story, but she beat him to it.
“It’s not a big deal, really!” Anya started, and hoped that Damian would sit back and let her do the talking. She wished she had more time to practise the excuse with her parents, but she would just have to attempt to lie as best she could.
“I just have a, uh, slight medical problem. What happened was I forgot my medication at home, so I tried to call Papa to bring it to me, but when I left the school grounds to make the call, I fainted! A stranger took me to hospital and I didn’t wake up for a while so they didn’t know who to call because they didn’t know who I was.”
Anya gave what she hoped was a convincing smile. “Sorry to worry you all and make you think I was missing. I’ve been here the whole time!”
Becky’s smile froze on her face. “I… see,” she said, and cleared her throat, trying to regain the sense of normalcy. “Well, I’m so happy you’re okay.”
Her eyes drifted over to where Damian stood by the hospital bed with his hands in his pockets, and her gaze hardened on him.
In an instant Becky’s smile turned into a glare in Damian’s direction. “No thanks to you! ”
Damian stepped back defensively. “What does that mean?”
Becky narrowed her eyes at Damian and prodded a gloved finger into his chest. “You know what it means, Desmond!”
He furrowed his brows in real confusion, before he exclaimed: “No - I don't!”
“Oh really?” she snarled. “Then let me spell it out for you. You lied to us all! You said we would save her together!”
“Becky-” Bill tried to reach out to stop her, but she batted him away.
“You brought our hopes up that we could actually do something instead of waiting around like sitting ducks! You even got us to do the dirty work with you, but then you just abandoned us! I was -” her breath hitched. “We were so worried about Anya - did you even care? Did you even know that we were waiting for you to tell us the next step?”
Damian stepped back in surprise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”
“No, you didn’t!” Becky said in an impassioned cry. “Because you used us, and then you left us behind! We could have helped!”
With all the words rushed out, it left Becky breathless, with just the stares of Bill, Damian and Anya.
Anya was speechless. It shamed her to admit it, but she had been so preoccupied with the reactions of Damian and her parents, that she had almost completely forgotten about Becky’s part in it all.
Becky, her best friend, and a true constant in her life. Becky, who always had Anya’s back no matter what, who truly wanted the best for her and would stop at nothing to achieve it.
A weight dropped in Anya’s stomach. She really was a bad friend.
Sensing the sudden silence, Becky turned back to Anya with a pained smile. “I'm sorry Anya, I didn’t mean to snap at your boyfriend like that.”
Damian flushed. “Hey! You promised -”
“Fine! Fine, I’ll be going now,” Becky said and stuck out her tongue at Damian.
Anya chuckled under her breath. If Professor Henderson saw them both then, he would definitely comment on Becky’s elegance (or lack of).
Then, Becky turned to Anya with a bright smile. “Sorry for interrupting you guys, this is for you,” said Becky authoritatively as she handed Anya what looked to be a bag of stylish clothes. “That hospital gown does absolutely nothing for you. These will be much better.”
“Oh!” said Anya in surprise as she took the bag from Becky. Her eyes stung unexpectedly and her throat tightened with something she couldn’t express.
As if Anya couldn't be even more surprised, Bill stepped forward too. “And this,” he said simply, and handed Anya another bag that contained a selection of boxed meals. “I bet hospital food hasn’t been great.”
Anya could already smell the food from the bag, and it made her mouth water.
“Thanks guys,” said Anya, on the edge of tearfulness. She tried to put as much gratitude into her words as she could. She really was so lucky to have them both as her friends.
Becky kept the smile on her face as she waved goodbye to Anya and Damian, and she closed the door gently on the way out. She kept her posture straight and her shoulders back, the picture of confidence, all the way up until she followed Bill into his family car, which was certainly large enough to accommodate his size.
She smoothed her long coat over her legs, trying to appear elegant, and waited for Bill’s chauffeur to start driving.
She opened her phone to the recent text chain with Damian.
Hey. I’m going over to visit her. I guess you could come too.
Omg yay!! OF COURSE I’ll be there! And don’t forget to bring her roses when you see her! x
…No. She wouldn’t be interested in them.
Bring. Her. Roses!!! I’ve sent some to your dorm to deliver x
I’ll get her peanuts. See you later
Becky clicked her teeth. Damn it. Since when did Damian know Anya so much better than she did? Since when did they keep secrets together?
As the car shifted and they started to move away from the grounds of the hospital, Bill gave Becky a sidelong glance. “Are you alright?”
She huffed. “I’m fine. I really thought I wouldn’t snap at him, but I guess I’ve been holding it in too long. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
She tried to lean back into the comfortable leather seats, but something still pricked at her mind.
She couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“That… was weird, right?”
“What do you mean?” Bill furrowed his brow at her, but he reached across to hold her hand in support. His hand dwarfed hers completely.
Becky gave a weak laugh, trying but failing to hide her discomfort. “Anya has always been such a bad liar. And that Desmond! I mean could he be any more obvious? I know they are both hiding something.”
Bill shrugged. “She did have a terrible nosebleed on the day that the fire alarm went off. She was in the nurse’s office for a while. It wouldn’t be impossible for her to have some kind of medical condition.”
“I know that, but still…” Becky hummed, not convinced. “Why wouldn’t she tell me?”
“She probably doesn't want to worry us,” Bill said decidedly, and he gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Maybe we should let her have her privacy.”
“Hmph. Fine,” Becky sighed, and tried to ignore the warmth of Bill’s hand near her face. She wanted nothing more than to lean in to him at that moment, but she held herself back.
Maybe Bill was right. Maybe she should leave it alone.
As the journey back to Becky’s manor progressed, she couldn’t ignore the feeling in her gut that there was something important going on. Whatever it was, Anya and Damian were in on it together.
Becky’s gut twisted with unease. Sure, Bill had asked her to leave them alone - so she would give them their privacy.
But he never asked her to forget.