Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Their contract ended a few hours after DeadEye, DUSK, and Mirage left the Twin Fox Dominion. They were told to return to Hastings, and that's what they did. Curiously, Messenger Assault was still at large, at least the last two members of that Dominion. Mirage had no leader, Reagan had been killed by Lucian.

SMii7y, who hummed and found amusement in the situation, smiled as he swung his arms, holding the hand of his companion. They were walking to the car they stashed a few weeks ago, it hadn't moved since.

He was surprised Lucian didn't order them to hunt down Evan and Brian for their traitorous actions against the rest of the Dominions. However, they had been in Lucian's presence, and he could've killed them if he really wanted to. Not that he would, he knew what it meant to go up against Hastings, and that would be really bad.

"What do you think will happen once we return to Hastings?" SMii7y asked.

Kryoz ran a hand through his light brown hair, shrugging his shoulders, and looking absolutely bored. "We might end up signing a contract for Lucian's death for the mess he created. He'll figure it out and make a scene."

Lucian is far too clever, he can get under anyone's skin, and the paranoia kept him alive for so long. It was too bad he murdered his best friend, Reagan. SMii7y was sure that Lucian won't be able to get anyone's help for some time after what happened, but at least he managed to manipulate Brian to help him ease the local gangs from retaliating. His resources are dwindling, and soon, Lucian will be easy pickings for anyone.

By the time they return, SMii7y won't be surprised if Lucian's reported dead. And since he's a Dominion leader, an assassin will be sent out to kill the one who murdered Lucian, which will possibly be another assassin from another Dominion. Either way, this will remain quiet and no one will have to overthink the circumstances simply because Lucian is dead.

"Does he have an heir?" SMii7y asked.

Kryoz rolled his eyes and smiled at him. "Oh, are you thinking about his death already?"

"I'm thinking ahead in case we're the ones given the assignment to kill him," said SMii7y. He wasn't sure if they would, but he didn't mind knowing what was on their schedule for the day before they escaped to some place more extravagant. He'd like to taste some expensive wine, and sleep his day away in a lovely hotel room.

Kryoz shook his head. "I don't think he has an heir, and even if he did, they'd be killed next for associating themselves with Lucian."

Well, that only meant this was a continuous mistake, and maybe SMii7y was right about leaving. He was going to ignore the text message he was receiving. He'd rather get out of this place before they're….apprehended.

Kryoz's hand tightened and stopped SMii7y. He swore under his breath at the sight of a familiar man standing not too far away. He stood in the shadows, humming softly under his breath, a phone sat in his hand.

"Ignoring my texts is against the rules," the man said, a smirk on his lips.

"Great, what is a Handler doing here," Kryoz asked, letting go of SMii7y's hand.

SMii7y was curious why they'd need someone to watch over them, it's not like they were staying in the city any longer. This was ruled by Twin Fox, and SMii7y had little care for it anymore.

"Are you here to give us a new assignment concerning what is currently happening?" SMii7y asked. "We're not interested. We did what we were supposed to do. We're done."

He smiled. "You're not finished. A new assignment has garnered interest with Hastings'."

SMii7y frowned deeply at the man. If only they could have left earlier, but surely there was someone watching their every move. When did this even begin, nothing has gone out yet. No new information, and nothing on the current ones. 

"What is it?" Kryoz asked, crossing his arms. "We've already finished our mission, why don't you bring in more people?"

"There are other Hastings' agents in the city, but since you two were in the center of it amongst the main players, we figured it'd be easier to keep you where you are," the Handler said with a smile.

Great. So much for their vacation.

"What do you want us to do then?" SMii7y asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, we do have a particularly interesting mission that has nothing to do with Lucian and Twin Fox," the Handler said, grinning.

"And what would that be exactly?" SMii7y asked, tucking his hands into his pocket, feeling for his knife.

The Handler smiled wide at him. "A moving target that sits close to another Hastings agent. If this Hastings agents decide not to remove themselves from the target, you are authorized to kill them."

"Get to the gist of it," Kryoz said, glaring impatiently.

"Ezekiel from DUSK is in the hands of Luke Patterson," the Handler told them. "Kill Ezekiel for he is the last of the three Lucian hired, and if Luke persists, neutralize him too."

Well, that was a lot, and they had seen Jonathan not too long ago. He must be with Luke, but where they had gone, SMii7y had no idea.

"Is there a time limit?" Kryoz asked. His shoulders slumped, and he was taking his phone from his pocket.

"No," the Handler responded. "However, this is a delicate mission for the two of you. Ezekiel may stand beside Luke Patterson, but he is also with Jonathan, a member of Messenger Assault, and Evan Fong, who once was part of Spectre."

Interesting. "Why are you bringing them up?" SMii7y asked. There was only one target, why bother? It's not like they were going out of their way to kill Jonathan and Evan.

"Jonathan may not be touched, and Evan will be contacted soon by the same people who he has tried to run away from. Hastings has plans for the two of them, but right now, Ezekiel Roland is your target."

SMii7y and Kryoz watched as their Handler walked away in his mysterious black coat. He disappeared from their sight as they turned away from him and began sauntering down the street.

"Well, I guess we don't get that vacation," Kryoz said.

SMii7y pouted, "This sucks."

"All we have to do is kill Ezekiel, report it in, and they'll let us go," Kryoz said, grinning. "Easy-peasy."

SMii7y wished he had his enthusiasm. "I don't think it's going to be that fucking easy."

"It's because you're thinking that it'll be hard, and I'd rather not overthink the situation, at least not now when we're so close to the finish line," said Kryoz.

Were they close to the finish line or did Kryoz really want to believe that? Either way, they were once again, hitting another wall, and were put on an assassination job.

"I guess we have to do what we have to do," SMii7y said with a sigh. When he agreed to work with Lucian under Hastings orders, it was so they can get time off right after. He figured Lucian wasn't the kind of person who wanted a lot of things, and when he ordered a few people killed off. It was practically child's play for SMii7y and Kryoz to deal with.

Now, they were under orders to kill Ezekiel Roland. He thought it was stupid to question why they were going to kill him simply because a few hours ago, Luke had insured Ezekiel's protection within Hastings.

It didn't seem like that anymore.

SMii7y took his phone out. He had Luke's number, but he was also curious if he had gotten rid of the phone. When he didn't answer, he figured this wouldn't be as difficult because the people Ezekiel was with had also made themselves a target.

"Spectre wants Evan," SMii7y mused. "Luke belongs to us, but he is a liability if he stands in the way—"

"Luke knows better not to fuck around."

"Yes, I do agree, but why is he so adamant on keeping him around? The same goes for Brian who has Thomas Cyr hanging off of him."

Kryoz smirked at him, "Oh, are you trying to figure out their weak spots?"

SMii7y rolled his eyes at the question, "I don't have to when they made it easy for us to poke and prod at their defences. If this doesn't go our way, we can contact Spectre, give them a hint on Evan's location. If they don't take the bait, we do what DUSK did with Evan's friends, Rane, Amie, and Pierce. Nonetheless, even if we did bother to go that far, all we have to do is put a bullet in Ezekiel's head, and see how they react."

Kryoz nodded, "Yes, they have made themselves far too easy. They're also in Lucian's territory. I'm sure Twin Fox doesn't want a mess like DUSK and DeadEye had created recently."

"Not only that," SMii7y said, amused, "Lucian killed Reagan, I'm sure Mirage will want retribution for what he's done."

"Ah, I already see the chaos creating itself. Lucian shoved himself into a corner, while the rest are good enough for us to pick at without any tenuous."

Well, they can figure out the simple plan to kill Ezekiel first. He wouldn't mind seeing how Luke reacts, if he does try to intervene, then they were also given permission to kill him too.

SMii7y, who never really questioned his orders before, couldn't exactly stop himself from thinking of one.

Why?

Chapter Text

Evan sat on Pierce's couch with Rane and Jonathan on either side of him. When they all had arrived within the home, Evan was sure that he'd fall asleep almost instantly, but that didn't happen. Pierce made a pot of coffee for everyone, at least the people who remained awake.

Luke and Ezekiel Roland hadn't stayed long. They left a half hour ago. Brian and Thomas Cyr fell asleep in Rane's bed. Amie and Pierce were in the kitchen, sitting at the small square table with their own cups of coffee.

Evan's hand was slightly intertwined with Jonathan's. It was a quiet comfort, but Evan was far too stressed to think about anything at all since they had left Lucian's house. Reagan was dead. A Dominion leader…was dead.

None of them had spoken of it since they left the apartment. What he knew of Reagan was that he was a nice person, more even-tempered than the rest of them. He was more kind than ruthless, and that he was friends with Lucian said a lot, while Lucian killing him also spoke volumes. Wouldn't that mean Mirage , Reagan's Dominion, will need a new leader? No one knew of the heir's, the next in line to a Dominion's so-called throne and authority in the underground world.  So none of them knew who Reagan chose to take on Mirage's mantle. They'll have to wait and see, but most of them were now completely cut off from the other Dominion's.

He did want to ask Jonathan what he'll do now. He had the list of names of all who had been a part of Messenger Assault . Not only he and Mark Mercer remained alive, but all those years ago when the other Dominion's decided to eradicate MA , they had at the time, left survivors. Or those same people stayed alive and hidden long enough for this list to be made at all.

Will Jonathan look for Mark Mercer in hopes that they'll work together to restore their Dominion? Evan couldn't even ask the question. He kept staring at the TV, at the cartoons on the screen. It kind of burned his eyes, made him tired.

Rane had gotten up a moment ago and was now setting down their cups of coffee on the coffee table in front of them. She was telling them she was going to take a quick shower and be out in twenty minutes or so. Evan nodded his head, watching her walk away while Jonathan picked up his cup. His hand remained on Evan's, his thumb gently rubbing his knuckles.

What was going to happen with Spectre ? Evan tried his hardest to escape this life, to run as far as he could, even if he had fell into Lucian's spider web. He hated his life being dredged up like this, but it's not like he could run when all his friends surrounding him were also a part of it.

"Are you going to drink your coffee?" Jonathan asked, looking at him, brows arched. Evan slowly nodded his head but he didn't touch his cup. Jonathan turned to him. "You have a lot on your mind."

"Why wouldn't I? Don't you?" Evan asked.

Jonathan smiled softly. "Yeah, I guess, it's a lot to process."

"Too much to process." Evan finally reached for his cup and brought it to his lips. He was careful when he took a sip, he didn't want to burn himself, but it was also a good distraction not to talk. With all his thoughts in his head, Evan wasn't sure what to say.

If anything, they might not be allowed to stay in the city. This was apparently Twinfox' territory, and if Lucian wanted them to leave. They'll have to leave or it'll be an unspoken threat amongst his Dominion. He was kind of a baby, but Lucian got what he wanted in the end.

"Are you…going to look for Mark?" he asked. He wasn't sure why he felt so uncertain about this question. It's not like Evan had anywhere else to go, he wasn't affiliated with Lucian anymore, and there was no way he was going to walk his way back into Spectre's arms. Since they met, it seemed as if they've always been with one another, finding each other. Evan didn't want to leave, and he didn't want Jonathan to either.

"I should, but I have no idea where he'd be," Jonathan said after setting his coffee back down and falling against the couch. "Maybe I should locate the ones who are alive on this list."

Right, the list…

"Do you know any of them?"

Jonathan shook his head, taking the list out of his pocket. "Nope, but most of MA's members are dead. I guess Hastings' did the job for Mark and I."

"We can do that then, if you have nothing else to do," said Evan. He shrugged, staring down at his coffee. It was a little too sweet for him, but he wasn't sure if he cared or not.

"Yeah, we can do that…if you don't have anywhere else to go," Jonathan said, sounding timid.

Evan set the cup back down on the table and leaned against the couch, smiling at Jonathan. "Are you going to talk with Luke again?"

"I don't know. He's Hastings …and I'm…from a practically dead Dominion, who knows what's going to happen," Jonathan said, closing his eyes.

Evan wanted to lean close and touch Jonathan's face. The urge was there, but it soon petered out as he closed his eyes too. What made things a little better was the fact that their hands touched, fingers intertwined together. He wanted to feel comfort, because after this, they'd have to move around again. Brian might not even stay in the city with Thomas, and Lucian had far too many agents roaming around.

They fell asleep, although not as long as Evan had hoped, but when he woke up, Jonathan's hand was on his shoulder and Amie was standing in front of the TV that was no longer turned on.

Amie had long brown hair, and her arms were crossed. She was pale, her brows dark, and her eyes had bags underneath them. Did she sleep? Rane had entered the room a moment after with Brian and Thomas, the two of them were yawning and stretching their arms.

"What's going on?" Evan asked, rolling his shoulders and stretching a bit from the awkward position he had slept in.

"While you love birds were sleeping, I was looking into our current situation," said Amie, taking her phone from her pocket.

Their coffee cups on the table were gone. That didn't really surprise Evan, but he was eager to hear what Amie was going to say. Pierce was sitting near them, rocking back and forth slightly as he brought one of the chairs from the kitchen to the living room to sit on.

Pierce is Rane's older brother. They both had short hair, and while Pierce had been kidnapped awhile ago by DUSK , Rane was the girlfriend to Amie and had been in Lucian's inner circle at one point. Lucian probably didn't trust her after Evan and Jonathan decided to leave the city, which is why she's been hanging out at the house until DUSK took Pierce.

Brian has been doing a lot lately, protecting Lucian's former inner circle members, and protecting himself from the other Dominion's. He was grateful Brian was on their side after all this time.

"What situation?" Jonathan asked, rubbing his eyes a few times, his hand dropped beside him, fingers looking for Evan's again. It seemed almost automatic that had Evan's heart racing.

"Our situation," Amie said, rolling her eyes. "We're in the Twin Fox Dominion. Lucian owns this place, and since some of us did his dirty work and got rid of a few people, that doesn't mean our involvement vanishes in the fucking wind. We're still a part of this game."

"What did you find out?" Pierce asked.

"And why are you yelling so much?" Brian asked, holding a glass of water. Thomas was frowning at her, but if anything, he still looked tired. Thomas Cyr was one of Lucian's agents, and although he wasn't an inner circle member, he ended up clinging to Brian, and vice versa.

Amie ignored them and showed Evan and Jonathan a photo. "Mark Mercer is in the city somewhere."

It was a slightly faded picture of the man that was the apparent second surviving member of Messenger Assault.

Jonathan leaned forward to look at the photo, "Who is that? He's talking to someone."

Amie shrugged, shaking her head, "I have no idea. And whoever took this photo didn't want anyone to find out either."

"Where did you get the photo?" Brian asked, looking over her shoulder to glance at it.

"A forum," Amie said, arching her brows at him before swiping the screen. "It dictates other Dominion's, not many people are allowed in."

"You're not working for a Dominion, so how are you a part of it?" Evan asked her. Amie seemed more like an informant, she was also a part of Lucian's inner circle, but that was to steal information from the other Dominion's that Lucian had, and apparently, the information was of Messenger Assault's members that weren't killed in the purge. She had been in contact with a few Hastings' agents at one point.

"I have my ways, Evan," Amie said. "Besides that, Mark Mercer has a bounty on his head."

"Again?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, again," Amie said with a sigh. "This was sent out by an anonymous person…about sixty."

"Grand?" Evan was confused.

She shook her head, and the others went quiet.

"I mean…" Jonathan said after a moment, "I don't mind being the last, and apparently, there are other members of MA."

"I'm not done, Jon," Amie said, swiping the screen and passing the phone to them. "A bounty is on your head too. The amount is the same as Mark Mercer, but whoever dies first, the last survivor's amount goes up significantly."

"Shit," Jonathan passed the phone to her. "Well, that sucks."

"It gets worse, not just for you, Jon, but for the rest of us," Amie said, showing the screen to Brian who scowled at it.

"Fucking Ember," Brian said through gritted teeth, he ran a hand through his hair as he turned away from them. A bounty was also set on Brian's head, about twenty-five thousand to kill him, and thirty, to bring him in to DeadEye alive.

"There's a bounty on your head too, Evan, but this isn't about your death, but your retrieval," she said, giving him her phone and showing him his picture and the name of Spectre's Dominion Leader who had requested the bounty to be placed up. Fifty million.

"Ember's being fucking hilarious with my bounty," Brian said, shaking his head. "I had to do everything to get away from DeadEye, DUSK, Hastings, Spectre, and now fucking Twin Fox, and she gives me this shitty ass—"

"Shut up, Brian," Amie said, glaring at him.

"What about the ones who worked for Twin Fox?" Thomas asked timidly, holding onto Brian even though he was flailing his arms a bit in anger.

"Nothing on Twin Fox…even though Lucian killed Reagan, I'm thinking this is a bit personal," Amie said with a sigh. "My name was brought up at one point, nothing on Rane and Pierce. I think this could be an anonymous bounty, but not as high as you three."

"What about Hastings?" Evan asked. He figured they would have something up since they had agents in Twin Fox, and this whole mess had them in the midst as well.

Amie shook her head. "Nothing on Hasting. I'm thinking Mirage might want to deal with Twin Fox on their own. Either way, you three are targeted, and if you're going to wander off, I think you should do it by watching your back."

Great advice, not that Evan really wanted to know what their next few days were going to be like. He actually hated the anticipation of it, it crawled under his skin. If anything, they could all be dead in under a week, so much for a breather.

Chapter Text

The rain was coming down quick as Blarg sprinted along the empty street. He was soaked through as he headed for the shadows between two houses. He slowed down, leaning his back against the house, peering down the street. His heart was thudding, and he had to calm his shaking, but the moment he spotted lights, he headed for the gate and pushed it open.

The house number had been on his mind since early in the morning. He didn't know how he was able to make it here after everything he had gone through, but as Blarg climbed the stairs to the back door. He shoved it open and it came free easily.

No one lived here.

That was good, because this would be more than anything awkward. Besides, his contact told him it was empty, and he would be able to stay there as long as he could. He walked to the front of the house and carefully peered through the old blinds that were covered in dust.

There was someone outside in a small silver sedan. They were making it so damn obvious that they were looking for him. They were driving slowly down the street as rain droplets streamed down the glass.

Blarg leaned away, hoping no one saw him as he headed for a room where the light of his phone wouldn't be seen by the people outside. He closed the bedroom door. The bedroom itself was completely empty. He sat on the floor, hands still wet, he tried drying them off on his pants before reading over the recent text from Eli.

"Come on," he said under his breath.

After he found out what happened with Reagan, the leader to Mirage, Blarg wasn't sure what the hell was going on with the rest. Hastings couldn't be trusted, not when they were siding with Lucian, of all people. He had read over the reports when it came to what happened in Twin Fox's territory. That whole thing was a mess.

Apparently, DUSK was keeping their agents closeby. Lucian would be scrambling for power, and no one was going to give it to them. He had the names of the agents who remained in Lucian's Dominion.

Strangely, he felt like he was still in the dark in all of this, but because of what the agents had done to one another in Twin Fox's territory, it made everyone else far too vulnerable, and most people were easier to kill. That meant Blarg, who was an agent moving around on his lonesome, was bound to get targeted just because.

He had contacted a few of his friends, and they gave him some safe houses to lie low in, and he heard from one of them that things have mostly quieted down amongst the Dominion's, Blarg wasn't so sure about that and was ready to get out of here.

He messaged one of his friends to help him out of this fucking situation he was in. He wanted to leave this house, he wanted somewhere safer than this damned place.

By the time Blarg got a message back about a car being down several blocks, his ear was already against the door. Shit, it was no longer quiet in the old abandoned house. He didn't like it. The sounds were making his heart race, and his breath became heavier. If he didn't calm down, he was going to eventually be found out.

He had to get out of this fucking house.

Blarg shuddered, tucking his phone into his pocket and reaching for the window. He tested it a few times. Although, unfortunately…he was inside a room that had nothing inside, and the window itself was high up. So, he had to reach his hand up and make sure his feet didn't slide too hard against the wall.

He bit his lip. Come on, he can be quiet, right?

There were voices outside the moment he managed to nudge the window a milimeter. He heard them clearly, and he made sure to stay equally as quiet.

"Which one is this?" one of the people outside asked, their voices quiet under the rain.

"Hastings," one of them hissed.

"Great, we're dealing with one of these fucking assholes."

Well, Hastings did get a bad wrap when they started assassinating high level people. They were quite good at it because the leader of Hastings only managed to train the best of the best. If they weren't, there was no fucking need of them, and they'd ultimately be killed or moved.

If anything, Blarg was far too noisy to be the kind of person to stand as a Hastings agent, but since he was being so quiet these guys from DeadEye didn't seem to realize he was listening in on them. He counted three outside, and three looking throughout the house.

Blarg reached for the weapon inside his coat pocket. He only had seconds to do this, the other two would race after him. They were blind to the rain, not that he had any success for it on his own either. He just rather not hang on the fucking window ledge like an idiot, sooner or later, one of the agents was going to find him.

He got another message, the car was being moved, and it was much closer. If he can get to it in five minutes, Blarg won't have to stay in the area anymore.

He nodded his head slowly. Okay, he can deal with five minutes. He tucked his phone away again, opened the window, and in two seconds, he killed the agents outside. He scrambled out the window and jumped from the ledge. He landed, although staggering a bit because of the wet pavement, but nothing else was going through his head besides his need to get out of this fucking place.

Damn, he didn't think DeadEye would have this much courage to try to take out a Hastings agent, but here they were. If anything, he could easily blame SMii7y and Kryoz for this if he wanted to, but at least DeadEye won't have to praise themselves for the lousiest kill ever. They should feel embarrassed they were killed by someone like Blarg.

He chuckled at himself, he couldn't believe he was finding this hilarious. Either way, Blarg was sprinting down the alley, the wet mud hitting his legs. His heart racing, the cold drops fell against his face like ice. He could hear more people yelling, and gunfire behind him.

He ducked. Shit, he didn't want to get shot, he was so fucking close. He wasn't going to die here.

Fuck these people.

He ran down the street to the end only to see a bright light appearing before him. The door fell open, and Blarg climbed in as gunfire lit up the darkness, followed by more from the people that were inside the car itself.

"Who the fuck is that?" a familiar guy that Blarg sighed in relief to, he sat before him, holding Blarg.

"Uh, DeadEye," he answered, trying to shake off the adrenaline but his heart was still in his ears.

His friend, Jericho, was driving the vehicle away from the alley, while Eli, who sat in the passenger seat, was rolling up the window.

"Why didn't you say DeadEye was chasing you?" Fl0m asked, shaking his head.

"I couldn't, they were literally following me for the last few hours, I thought they'd lose momentum, but I had to cut their numbers to get away," said Blarg, catching his breath and leaning against the seat.

"Why were they following you?" Eli asked. He was watching the road behind them in case they were being followed.

"I don't know, I think they just recognized an agent from Hastings, and wanted to kill me for the fuck of it," Blarg said, wiping the rain water from his face. "Assholes. I'm blaming Twin Fox for this."

"Yeah, that makes sense," said Fl0m, nodding his head. "We've had our own problems on our end with DUSK."

"Well, the information I managed to get from the other Dominion's tells me that this started with Lucian," Blarg said. "I'd rather not end up killed because of their screw ups." He didn't sound as bitter as he felt, but that didn't matter as much.

"True," said Jericho. "We can take you back, we still have our own shit to take care of."

"Like what?" he asked.

"We found out that there's a hit out on Lucian and Mark Mercer."

"Who…is Mark Mercer?" Blarg asked, frowning.

"One of the remaining people from M.A," Eli said, looking over at him from his seat. "Messenger Assault."

He vagualy recalled the name. "I thought it was...emptied."

"You haven't been told much, have you?" Fl0m said, chuckling.

Blarg shook his head. "I was in the dark for a bit until I was told about Lucian's group and what he was doing, I figured someone was going to kill him sooner or later. I just…don't have any clue who the people are from Messenger Assault."

"Well, they're an old, old, fucking group, like old, they were taken out by Hastings and Mirage a long time ago," Jericho said from the front seat. "The name speaks for itself. If anything, they were probably one of the first Dominion's, and the only one who seemed to matter the most recently. Other than that, we don't know much about what's going on besides the hit on Lucian and Mark Mercer."

Blarg nodded slowly, unsure if he cared about the new information. "Take me to Puffer or Grizzy, I need a few days to sleep and chill out."

Chapter Text

SMii7y had moved from one place to the next in the last several days. He didn't like staying in the same place once everything began to hit the wall. Maybe it was his paranoia, but he wanted to make sure.

He had sent Kryoz out to do recon on the other people amongst the game that was being played. The last thing he wanted was for either of them to get close to Lucian, at least not until most of his agents are cut down, or if Mirage decided to kill him for what he's done.

SMii7y was actually trying to figure out what was the point of killing Reagan. It's not like he posed a threat to Twin Fox' territory. Unless it was getting to Lucian, and he was then forced to kill him.

Whatever the reason why, he only made more of a mess for himself, and created a much bigger target. Not only for himself, but for the rest of the people who worked for him.

SMii7y had his laptop situated in front of him on the round table. He had a half full coffee sitting beside him. His fingers tapped on the table, staring at the group chat that belonged to most of the agents within the other Dominion's. It was highly encrypted and everyone spoke mostly in code. It took awhile to even understand a single word, but SMii7y has been around long enough to understand what most of it was saying.

There were hits out on Evan and his small group. That made sense. There were a lot of people debating on who was going to kill who, but most wanted Brian killed for supposedly betraying DeadEye and now Twin Fox.

There were apparent rumors going around that Amie, a friend of Evan's, and the one who stole the USB with the Dominion's information on it, was an agent to Hastings.

Unfortunately to them, she had only been an acquaintance for a short time, and only spoke to a few people from Hastings. It didn't mean she was a part of it, if anything, she was one of Lucian's more loyal agents in Twin Fox. At least until she decided to turn her back on them…which made sense for what was happening once Mark Mercer made his entrance within the Dominion.

SMii7y sighed as more people began speaking.

Apparently, a lot of these people wanted Mark Mercer killed, and wanted Jonathan to go down with him. And there were new rumors that MA's agents were flooding in, but those were only rumors and not actually true.

There was a knock and SMii7y glanced at the door when Kryoz entered the room. He grinned at him and closed the door behind him, the lock sliding into place before he crossed the room to sit down on the otherside of the table.

"You're back early," SMii7y said. He figured Kryoz would be out all night.

"I talked to an informant," Kryoz told him, tilting his head.

SMii7y picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip. He grimaced when he found it was cold. "And?" he asked, placing the cup down.

"Evan and Brian are beginning to move…and we have a few interesting people from Mirage and Hastings making their way into Twin Fox' territory," Kryoz said, grinning.

Well, the pleased look on Kryoz' face must mean something, which only made SMii7y annoyed because he wasn't telling him anything.

He sat back against his chair, arching a brow at him, "Are you going to tell me or are you gonna leave me in suspense."

"Depends."

"John!"

Kryoz chuckled at him. "Fine, calm down…you really need to sleep."

"Sleep is for non-working people," SMii7y muttered, glancing down at the chat room again. More people were talking, but some were now betting on who were gonna die first and how they were going to do it. Of course, there was one who spoke of the Dominion Leader's green light, not like it mattered since DeadEye and DUSK were meant to leave, and well… Mirage made sense for their appearance in Twin Fox.

Lucian was surely going to expect Hastings. He must be aware of him and Kryoz remaining in the city.

"From what the informant told me, Matt is in the city," Kryoz said.

SMii7y arched his brow. "Blarg?"

"Yep."

Well, that was unexpected. He heard he was somewhere else on recon, and was mostly under the radar for awhile and would be away for four more weeks. What in the hell was he doing in Twin Fox'?

"Why?"

Kryoz shrugged. "How should I know, but they also told me Matt has been in contact with a few people from DeadEye and most notably, DUSK."

Well, okay, that was just piecing things together. DUSK hadn't fully left, and most of their agents remained on the outside of the city. Apparently, from what SMii7y could find out in the chat room was that they were mostly loyal to Mirage, and well…Reagan is dead. They were just waiting for the green light on Twin Fox, and will do what DeadEye had done.

He hoped for less of a mess, but with how everyone seemed to be more riled up by the hour, he didn't think that was even possible.

"All I can think of for Matt's reason for stepping into Twin Fox is curiosity and being absolutely nosey, or they gave him a mission here," SMii7y said, trying to think of why he made his way here when he should be on another mission somewhere else.

Kryoz scoffed, shaking his head at SMii7y. "Why would they give that idiot a mission here if they bothered to give us a secret one."

"Well, I'm sure there are more…if the other Dominion's decided to get in the way," SMii7y said. He looked at the chat room again, frowning at what was being said.

More rumors of M.A having agents popping up.

"Stop looking at that thing, we have better stuff to do now," Kryoz said. 

"I'm almost finished," SMii7y said as he picked up his cup and Kryoz got up and walked to the bathroom.

There were Dominion leaders in the chat, they weren't telling people what they were meant to do, but most of it was also…encrypted. Riddles and lies and half-truths, most of them spoken in jokes, and never really about what was actually happening.

They never brought up Reagan.

However, they kept talking in mild threats to the agents that were wandering about.

Eyes.

Eyes everywhere.

We have Eyes.

They have Eyes.

Eyes.

You can't escape.

No One Is Blind To Your Work.

The Eyes are in the walls.

In the trees.

On the phones.

We see you.

We see you.

For we have eyes and ears.

SMii7y would say and tell them to stop, but what would be the point. They were getting what they wanted across quite nicely, and maybe Kryoz was right. Maybe he should get off the chat. It was getting him nowhere.

However, he was curious, and maybe a little nosey, because Matt wasn't supposed to be in Twin Fox' Dominion, so he asked. He needed to ask.

The Dead Speak With Knives.

His answer was gone in seconds and SMii7y closed the laptop. He drank the rest of his cold coffee and stretched his arms a bit.

Kryoz left the bathroom and sat down, only to frown whern SMii7y stood up.

"What's wrong?" Kryoz asked him. "You have this…weird look on your face."

"DeadEye is stalking Matt, and I don't like that," SMii7y said. When he and Kryoz began working with Lucian for a short time, DeadEye were all over the place like a group of irritating insects. Sure, DUSK was making things worse, but it was DeadEye who were killing most of the people in Twin Fox' Dominion, which was one of the reasons why Lucian was getting more and more paranoid over time.

He was pretty sure the leader of DeadEye, Ember, told them to leave the Dominion. Why were they still wandering around attacking Hastings agents?

"So, what do you want to do about that, kill them?" Kryoz asked, grimacing as he stood up and grabbed for his coat he had left on the motel bed.

SMii7y shrugged, a small smile on his lips. "Don't tell me you don't want to."

"If they find out we're the ones who went out of our way to kill them, then our mission is jeopardized," Kryoz said, pulling the coat on as SMii7y walked toward the door.

"Don't tell me you don't want to," SMii7y repeated, hoping to tease out that slight bloodlust that Kryoz sometimes held. It was so easy to do things when they had a contract. Lucian had wanted them to murder a few drug dealers in the past, but these people hunting Matt were trained assassins. They knew what they were doing, but surely…they wouldn't be able to get past SMii7y.

"Can we just find Matt and ask what the fuck he's doing in this area in the first place?" Kryoz asked him as they stepped outside. He locked the door on his way out and kept the motel key in his jacket pocket.

"Sure, we can do that too," SMii7y said, pleased about what they were going to do.

It was better than listening to their so-called Handler. Right now, they were going to hunt down a few DeadEye agents.

Chapter Text

He hoped to sleep for a few days, but he woke up several hours after he was picked up by his friends. He recalled sprinting from DeadEye, trying his hardest not to get shot by any of them. That would be the last thing Hastings would want, one of their own getting shot by the current rival Dominion groups.

And then DeadEye would get too fucking cocky for their own damn good. Assholes.

Blarg sat up, still wearing his clothes that had been soaked through, covered in mud, worn out from how long he had been wearing them. He recalled Tucker telling him he can borrow some clothes if he really needed it.

And right now, Matt had to change his fucking clothes. His body ached from sleeping on hardwood floors, sometimes in a car at awkward angles, and not sleeping at all at times, just to stay ahead. If only he wasn't left in the dark, but Hastings only wanted intel from certain people. He'll have to figure that out later, maybe someone can pull him out of this shithole.

At least he had friends who gave a shit about him instead of the organization that seemed to not care. He was the only current Hastings member amongst the DUSK and Mirage agents. And he had been friends with them much longer than they all had entered other Dominion's. Of course, their allegiances had been confidential and secretive, it was better that they didn't have much contact throughout their time.

Well, Matt would like to believe that it was practically an honor to be brought into Hastings, but for the past few years, all he's been doing is kept behind a desk and playing games on his phone. This was one of the first times he has been placed in the field.

Matt took off his clothes and grabbed a hold of a new blue t-shirt and jeans that sort've fit. He grabbed a thin belt from a closet and pulled it through the belt loops. He touched his hair and grimaced before leaving the room. The house was a two story, and he recalled no one actually lived here. There wasn't much furniture besides the two beds stacked on top of each other in the room he came from. There was no sheets or blankets, and Matt had been far too fucking tired the other night to actually give a shit about it.

He went to the bathroom, surprised that the water ran, and he washed his face and ran his wet hand through his hair. He grabbed the hand towel and dried himself off before heading downstairs.

He found Fl0m at the round table in the kitchen, looking peculiar at a thin silver laptop. He glanced up and gave him a smile.

"Good afternoon, sweetheart."

Matt rubbed his eyes. "It's the afternoon?"

"To be exact, it's 1:03pm," Fl0m said, typing a bit on the laptop. "We're getting intel from DeadEye…well, us DUSK members, I'm not sure what Hastings has in store for you."

Matt wasn't sure either. They were rather meticulous about their agents, sooner or later, someone was bound to find out where he was and who he's with. And he didn't like the thought. Maybe he shouldn't linger with his friends from DUSK.

"Where is everyone?" 

"Tucker and Eli went to grab food, the other two left earlier than that, said there was something they had to look into and we might see them later in the evening, if we're still here." He shrugged. Lightly tapping his fingers on the table. "There are a few Hastings agents within Twin Fox Territory, and Lucian has yet to say anything about the rest of us being here…who knows, he could have someone else on the hunt."

Matt yawned and sat down on the chair across from him. There were two guns on the table, old cans of Coke and Pepsi sitting on the table, including Root Beer. Staring at it reminded him of someone else, and he was kind of hoping to catch up with him sometime too.

"Who are the Hastings agents?" he asked. Well, he kind of knew who it was, but he'd like to know from Fl0m. He wasn't sure if there were more that were sent here to clean up DUSK and DeadEye agents, not that he'd say it out loud in front of Fl0m.

"There's a current hit out on a guy named Luke, he's close friends with an M.A agent," Fl0m said, tapping his fingers on the table.

Matt stared at Fl0m, watching him gaze at the screen of his laptop. They both knew what Matt was actually asking, the question left between them. Before he could ask again, the back door opened, and Tucker and Eli entered with a bag of food and drinks.

"Hey, you're awake," Tucker said, grinning.

Eli closed the door. "Finally awake to make something happen, don't you?"

"I need to get into contact with Hastings later, but who knows, they might pull me out once they learn DeadEye hunted me for a few days." Matt hated thinking about it. He was not good with stuff like this, and running constantly, listening to them talk about him and were willing to simply kill him. Maybe he wasn't good for this shit.

"They have been secretive more or less about their activities," Fl0m said, taking the offered drink from Tucker.

Eli opened a container that had fries and gravy sitting on the side. Matt reached for one and ate it, making sure he didn't burn his tongue when he realized how hot it actually was. He was thankful that Tucker gave him a cup of Pepsi after he poured it in a plastic cup.

"Do you think they'll do that?" Eli asked him, having dragged a chair over to the table and sat down.

"Why wouldn't they?" Matt asked, plucking another fry from the pile. Fl0m was also chewing on one of the fries covered in hot gravy, and Tucker leaned against the kitchen counter, sipping his drink.

"They don't have many Hastings in Twin Fox' Dominion, and they aren't kicking the Spectre and M.A agents out yet," Eli said, glancing at Fl0m and arching his brows at him.

It has been far too long since he had talked to any of his friends, but Matt didn't like the looks they were giving one another. As if they were trying to confirm the information they should be sharing with him. Which, he guessed they all weren't exactly on each other's side. He belonged to Hastings for several years. Early twenties, a desk job, sometimes running intel on people, but other than that, it's not like he went out of his fucking way to kill people.

And he did hear what DUSK did on their off days. But he didn't want to think so negatively towards any of his friends. Not when they bought food that was easing the hunger from his stomach. He got to drink something, even if it were a sugary drink, and he had a nice bed to sleep on. None of them shot a bullet into his head while he was knocked out.

He had to get the paranoia out of his head, it burrowed deep like an insistent fucking parasite.

"Just tell me, I can take it."

Fl0m sighed, closing the laptop and taking another fry from the plastic container. "SMii7y and Kryoz are here, in Twin Fox."

Matt nodded slowly. "That…makes sense."

"It does, doesn't it," Tucker said, sounding almost sarcastic. "They weren't ordered to do much else besides watch over Lucien. The moment Reagan died, Mirage has been scrambling about, confused since the head of the chicken got cut off."

"SMii7y and Kryoz were brought back into the fold afterwards," Fl0m said, grimacing. "They have orders, but I don't know who they come from. I tried asking a few people, but no one knows why they're still here. They should've been gone the second Reagan died. However, Mirage agents have been keeping an eye on them, including the former Spectre agent, Evan Fong."

Matt shrugged. He had no idea who that was either. He ate a few more fries, coating them in the gravy. "They are the assassins' of Hastings, it makes sense they would still be here."

"That's the thing. Lucian doesn't want them here," Eli said, taking a sip from his drink. "Unfortunately, some of Mirage's agents don't know much else beyond that either. It's all kept secret since Reagan was killed."

"Is that why Grizzy and Puffer aren't here?" Matt asked.

"We don't know much about what they're going to do, but they aren't ordered to leave either, they are keeping an eye on DeadEye for now, including the former Spectre agents," Tucker explained, stepping over to the table and grabbing a fry.

Matt watched him eat it, biting his lower lip as he thought of what was going on with the Dominion's. Everyone was scattered, and he still wanted to blame Lucian for this entire fucking mess.

After they finished off the rest of their food and drinks, Matt headed upstairs to look for his bag. He opened it and sighed in relief his gun and a few papers were still inside. Nothing seemed tampered with. He heard a loud sound coming from downstairs, followed by his friend's frantic voices.

Matt descended the stairs, and winced when the back door slammed shut. He spotted Grizzy and Puffer standing inside the kitchen, both of them panting, either looking far too elated or extremely tired.

"What happened?" Tucker asked.

Puffer scoffed, "Fuck, what didn't happen?" He glanced over at the stairs and grinned. "Hey, Matt, how are you doing?" Then he took out a gun and pointed it at him.

Matt sighed, shoulders slumped and muttered, "Shit."

Chapter Text

Evan had drained his second cup of coffee, and was impatiently waiting for all of his friends to hurry up. They had a bounty on their heads, some of them worthy of death, the others more or less, were going to get dragged away.

He didn't like staying in the same place, not when they could easily get rushed. He hated how vulnerable he felt, and tapped his fingers on the counter, watching as Amie and Rane were pulling on their coats. They already had bags on their backs, hair slick from the shower.

"Where are you planning on going?" Rane asked, carding her fingers through her short dark hair. She was thin and smiled softly, her eyes had heavy bags beneath, but she didn't look as tired as he'd expected her to be.

"Well, it would be better if none of us know what path we're taking," Evan said with an exasperated sigh once Jonathan left the bathroom. "But it's quite obvious where we're going."

"I'm not sure if Lucian will let go of what happened, he might've been the one who put the bounties on our heads, at least some of us," she said with a shrug. "And if Spectre finds you?"

"I'm not going back," he said flatly. The last time he had, it was a miracle he managed to escape the building itself by stealing information. The place wasn't as backed up and the security was atrocious. Now he understood why it was Tyler who had come after him in the first place.

Tyler was far more aggressive than the others, mildly sadistic, he didn't mind inflicting pain upon others. So, handling Evan would be easy for him. Would he and Legiqn come after him again? Maybe Jordan too?

There were others a part of this, Jonathan had a bounty on his head. The other Dominion's wanted M.A entirely gone. He'd rather not wander Twin Fox territory on his own.

"If they drag you back?" Rane asked him, tilting her head slightly, arching a thin brow at him.

Jonathan, who was standing close by, scoffed at her question. "As if I would let them do that."

"Right," Evan said, nodding his approval. "He won't let them take me."

"Hastings, DeadEye or DUSK can easily kill Jonathan, grab the reward, and then… Spectre can take you, or the others can kidnap you and then ransom your reward money," Amie said, sauntering over to them. "He won't save your life, and if you're smart enough to know to run when you have to, you better not depend on others but yourself."

Evan would've liked to disregard her words, but it's also the reason why he had stayed alive for so long. He was only with Lucian at the time to protect himself from anyone else. He wanted to hide after all these years, and Lucian was the better cover. Lucian even knew who he was, he easily used Evan's skills to steal information from people, but now that their partnership was gone, there was no point in shielding him.

If it came to running when he needed to, would Evan do it? Would he run without overthinking his friends' safety? He glanced over at Jonathan who didn't seem completely aware of what was going through Evan's head and was currently yawning, mumbling about another coffee.

Brian and Thomas left the bedroom, both of them looking more tired than they had awhile ago. He didn't exactly know what their relationship entailed, and right now, he didn't feel like asking about it.

"It's better none of us know where we're heading," Evan said to them. It would be better, not that he was expecting any of them to get kidnapped and tortured. He just didn't want any new surprises happening. Besides, just because they were friends, doesn't mean they'd all wouldn't eventually turn on each other under the right pressure. He'd at least want a guarantee that it wasn't gonna happen.

Brian nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Fuck…it's been a rough few weeks. Sure…uh, probably keep—"

Thomas nudged him in the arm. "Please, shut up."

"I feel so hung over and we didn't even drink," he said.

"Well, most of us are fucked up," Pierce muttered, entering the room and stepping past them. He wore a leather black coat, and was holding his car keys in his hand. "Alright. Whoever is coming with me, we might not even stay here…"

Rane hugged Evan, and told him to be careful before heading out after Pierce.

Amie lingered for a moment. "I looked into the chat last night."

"The one that has a bunch of other Dominion's agents in?" Jonathan asked her.

She nodded. "From what I could find out…there's another Hastings' agent in the city. He's probably not as relevant, but he was chased down by DeadEye the other night."

Brian frowned, glancing at Thomas who was wringing his hands in front of himself. "Why?" Brian asked after clearing his throat.

"From what I could find out, he was a spy amongst their members, and I heard from an insider that he's friends with at least three DUSK agents. Other than that, he hasn't left Twin Fox, and he hasn't been killed," Amie said with a shrug. "I can send more intel your way, but I have no idea how I'm going to get into contact with you, and I'd rather not have your numbers. You'll just have to expect my messages." She smirked and walked out of the house.

Evan sighed deeply, looking at Jonathan. "I guess we know what we're doing for the time being."

Brian groaned. "Yeah. Fuck. I thought for sure we'd be able to get a damn break from all of this.."

Evan kind of hoped that too, but with the mess they left behind after Reagan was killed, he wasn't so sure about that. Sooner or later, they were going to get blamed for being involved at all. It's not like any of the Dominion's were just gonna let them walk off unscathed.

Besides, Evan was certain that Jonathan being a former member and living member of M.A was a problem for the Dominion's, including Hastings and Mirage, since they were the ones that had killed most of M.A into irrelevancy. It was unfortunate that Jonathan was kept alive at all, and he had been surviving as an assassin for hire by other Dominion's under their noses.

Brian was a former member of DeadEye , he wasn't gonna simply walk off, not when Riley had been recently killed, and DUSK was unfortunately involved with the situation with Pierce and Rane. Amie was part of Lucian's inner circle, but Lucian kicked them all out recently, so…that only left her open for a bullet in her head.

And then there was Evan, he didn't want to overthink Spectre's involvement. He hoped they would leave him alone after all of this. But they were still pissed about what he did all those years ago, and popping up in the middle of this shit wasn't helping any of them.

So, no, none of them were going to have a fucking vacation. They were all on the run from a group of assassin's from Dominion's none of them were actually affiliated with anymore. They didn't even have any damn friends to hide with.

This only tired Evan out as they all walked out of the house, the door had been locked by Pierce when he had first left, so the car that sat in the driveway belonged to Thomas. He didn't look like he wanted to drive, and since he was a former member of Twin Fox, or could be a current member, Evan wasn't sure of what his allegiances were exactly. He just kept clinging to Brian who had an arm around his shoulder, leading him toward the car.

"I'm not sure if we should be talking to anyone else," Brian said, unlocking the car. Thomas climbed in, closing the door behind him. He did not seem like the type of person who should be dealing with this shit. "I'd like to ask Brock a few things, but he's affiliated with Twin Fox, and I'm not sure if I want to trust anyone who speaks directly to Lucian."

"We are certainly on our own," Jonathan said with a fake smile on his face. "Well, if we survive the next few weeks, I guess we'll find out that maybe someone out there does cater to us."

"You don't believe in fate."

"Not now, I don't," Jonathan said. He waved and began walking down the opposite end of the street, away from Pierce's house.

Evan sighed deeply, "I'm going with him. I have to make sure that…maybe…we'll find Mark Mercer."

"If he's even still alive," Brian said. "I'll stay with Thomas. I might look for Brock, if he's a lost cause. I'll figure out this whole…DeadEye situation, why they're chasing down a fucking Hastings' agent of all people."

"They are friends with DUSK as well."

"Yeah, which is really fucking strange, cause there's no damn way a Hastings' would stay with DUSK, they wouldn't even stay with Mirage after what happened with Reagan. It's ridiculous," he said, shaking his head incredulously.

Evan smiled, wondering if they would see each other again. He hated the feeling of being on the run like this. He was just glad that no one was currently hunting for them. "Maybe Amie will give us all some intel on the other Dominion's."

"If she survives this shit, Lucian must be fucking pissed at her, she's kind of the reason this all started," he said.

Evan wasn't sure if that was true, it was gonna happen one way or another since Mark Mercer resurfaced, trying to bring M.A back to life. The other Dominion's would do their hardest to keep it down, but he seemingly survived the longest than the rest of them. He was actually eager to meet him.

"I'll see you…if you're alive by the time we meet each other again," Evan said, backing up.

Brian waved slightly. "See you, Evan."

He turned and jogged after Jonathan who had his hands tucked in his pockets, and when he slowed, they walked side-by-side, in silence.

Chapter Text

SMii7y yawned. He hadn't slept all that good, and working while tired wasn't a good thing on his end. He almost wanted to ignore the entire day and go back to a hotel room and sleep some more.

Although, he was a little paranoid about his supposed Handler. Not that anyone was following them, he just didn't like the fact that someone from Hastings' had bothered to give them one in the first place. They weren't even in a hurry to locate the MA agents either, they could be out of the city by now.

Kryoz walked across the dreary road, the sky was covered in grey clouds, and it had rained about fifteen minutes ago. There was the sharp cold air that made SMIi7y sniffle, even as he was given the cup of coffee to warm his insides.

"Anything?" SMii7y asked him.

Kryoz took a sip of his own coffee. "From what I can tell, Puffer and Grizzy are here too."

SMii7y's brows are knitted together, confused. "He saw them?"

Kryoz nodded, enjoying his coffee as he relaxed against the random car they were leaning against. "Yep. About two hours ago…they were walking across the street. I'm not sure why they thought they wouldn't get tagged by an informant. The store clerk gets paid well now that there's a dispute going on amongst the Dominion's."

"They would be here because of what happened to Reagan." They didn't have orders not to stop Lucian, nor to save Reagan when he eventually died. Just because they were working with Lucian, it really didn't matter. Hastings' liked progress, whether it was processed in death or not.

He didn't have the credentials to ignore the mission itself, he'd just like to see his friends again. It's been several years since he had talked to them without their Dominion's in the way. SMii7y was wrapped up in the cause of it all, his work meant a lot to him, why wouldn't it? It was damn Hastings, a grueling organization that had their agents knowing everything about shooting a gun to hand-to-hand combat.

SMii7y and Kryoz ended up not feeling much for people afterwards. The missions were smooth, easy kills, all of it meant to be deceptive and quick.

They had chosen other Dominion's, he kind of just got over the fact they weren't really his friends. Simply people he once knew when he was younger.

Kryoz didn't seem bothered by it either, he was sipping his coffee and wishing he bought a donut.

"Where do you think they went?"

"Well, they're meant to be here, while DeadEye and DUSK are supposed to leave the city…so if DeadEye isn't listening and is actively hunting for…Matt, then…?" Kryoz turned slowly, looking at SMii7y, and waiting for him to catch up apparently.

"They're looking for Matt?" SMii7y was far too tired for this. Mirage could've given them the mission to kill anyone who isn't supposed to be in the area. In the last few hours, he noticed DUSk was mostly gone, and Evan Fong's group were slowly trying to escape as well. "Matt's not following procedure?"

"I don't see why Mirage would go after a Hastings member when…Twin Fox is the whole reason why Reagan is dead," Kryoz said, turning back and sipping his coffee once again.

"Well, the answer would be that Puffer and Grizzy found out that Matt was being hunted by DeadEye…which means…reunion?" he said, smiling sheepishly.

Kryoz shrugged. "Eh, maybe. That could be the reason, I don't think either of them would kill Matt, maybe for the fun of it."

"Maybe…" They stayed silent for a bit before an idea appeared in SMii7y's mind. "We can possibly…get information off of them if we find them altogether."

"Hmm…good idea, maybe we can do that," said Kryoz.

They still didn't know where they were, and if Mirage was out to kill Hastings, along with Dead Eye strangely staying within the bounds of Twin Fox territory, then that only makes things a little too careless if they'd end up walking about. They were still on the hunt, and dying around here felt far too fleeting.

"Can you find out how many safehouses are being used by other Dominion's?" SMii7y inquired.

"I can find out, not sure if that information will be given freely," said Kryoz.

"You have your ways."

"Violent ways," Kryoz said, nudging SMii7y in the arm, "sexual ways too."

He rolled his eyes. "They're hiding, I want to find out where…and maybe who else is here in the city. I mean, if Dead Eye is lingering, then that only means that DUSk could be here too."

"Could be," Kryoz said. He pushed himself away from the car and walked back toward the corner store. As SMii7y watched him, he took out his phone, sipping his coffee at the same time and finding a text from the Handler.

DUSK — fl0m. JERICHO. Eli.

There was an address attached to the names, to the photo's of the three. SMii7y stared to the point Kryoz was making his way over, a tint of red on his cheeks from the cold wind brushing against his face.

"You're right about the DUSK agents…what's that?" SMii7y showed Kryoz the text he received a moment ago. "Is he listening to our fucking conversation or something?"

"That's worrying, I don't like it," SMIi7y said, feeling concerned about the eavesdropping, but at least his Handler didn't feel like it was unnecessary for SMii7y and Kryoz to go looking for old friends. He actually didn't know fl0m, Tucker, and Eli were in the city at all.

That made sense…Matt must be with them, and Mirage must've found out about it before Hastings.

Another text came in, and SMii7y read the next few words. He even showed Kryoz who nodded in response.

"It's not like we're wasting time, right?" Kryoz wondered.

"I don't know," SMii7y said, sighing. Kryoz took out his keys from his pocket and they walked to their vehicle that was a block away. He was still curious why his Handler didn't just tell their boss that they weren't doing what they were supposed to. At least they weren't getting reprimanded.

"We'll look into this, get more information from both the DUSK and Mirage agents, and see where this goes," Kryoz said, unlocking the car.

SMii7y sat down in the passenger seat, staring at the text. "I want to know who this is. They don't seem to want to push us to find Ezekiel, he could be out of Twin Fox by now…which leaves a lot of dead ends for us."

"I think we see what Matt and our old friends have to say about their allegiances, we haven't been given this sort of intel since we've worked with Lucian, and you know how paranoid he turned out to be," Kryoz said, driving them down the street. He asked SMii7y what the address was again, and he told him. He turned down the left side road, and kept going.

Don't take too long, your target is on the move.

Chapter Text

"You should be fucking glad it was us that found you and not anyone else from the other factions," Grizzy said, grinning at Matt while standing beside Puffer who kept his gun pointed at him.

"Hey, we're all friends, aren't we?" fl0m said nervously from his chair.

"We are, aren't we?" said Puffer. "I'd like to know what the fuck you were doing with DeadEye?"

Blarg took a step down, staring at the gun in Puffer's hand. He was steady, a calmness in his eyes as all agents appeared. He just had some understanding of who they were because of their past together. Everyone in this room, even though they were a part of different Dominion's, they were also friends. Long time friends, and Blarg knew for a fact that Puffer wasn't going to shoot him in the head.

"I was doing my job," Blarg said to Puffer, standing in front of the barrel, and if he wanted to, he can easily move closer and press his forehead against the gun. "You would've shot me a long time ago."

Puffer sneered, but even that expression faded into exasperation as he dropped his hand and tucked the gun inside his black coat. "I'm serious, Matt."

"I am too," said Blarg, grabbing for a fry inside the box, surprised there was some left over. It was a bit cold as he chewed. "I was doing a job, the job…isn't exactly over. I still have to report to my handler about the issue."

"When are you going to do that?" Grizzy asked, stepping over to the table, smiling at Tucker and Eli as he reached over for a few fries inside the box.

"I'm not too sure. I heard that SMii7y and Kryoz are still in the city, I thought they were supposed to leave," Blarg said, shrugging. He wasn't too sure about the details of what they were doing exactly, and since he wasn't here for them, he didn't care either. "What are you guys doing to avenge, uh, your former boss?"

Puffer narrowed his eyes at Blarg as if he hated that he had brought it up. But before he could open his mouth and say anything, Grizzy decided to instead.

"We were told not to do anything about it and stay low," Grizzy said, finishing off his fry. "They told us you were here and you asked for us, right?"

"Kind of, I think I was more curious where you guys were, not that I can get into contact with SMii7y and Kryoz if they're currently doing a job," Blarg said. At least he didn't have to deal with what happened last night again. Running from a group of DeadEye agents wasn't fun, and they seemed eager enough to kill a Hastings agent. It would make their entire month. If only they knew he wasn't exactly a field agent, and if he was better at his job, he could've easily taken them out without desperately calling for his friends for help.

"Matt, what were you doing with the DeadEye agents?" Puffer asked him. He was serious, and everyone in the room had gone uncomfortably quiet. He took a step closer to Blarg and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If your Dominion gets their claws deeper within this mess, everyone else might turn against Hastings for being a nuisance."

What is he supposed to say to that exactly? He was doing his job, that's it, it's not his fault that DeadEye saw him and came after him without reason. Everything has been screwed up since Reagan died, and Lucian has gone off the deep end. He was just a casualty if he ended up killed, and DeadEye might even blame Twin Fox for it to rile up Hastings. Unless they just wanted to randomly murder him, then that wasn't a good enough reason.

"Everyone is too focused on the other agents that were amongst those who were with Lucian when Reagan died, I don't think it matters, besides…DeadEye is out for anyone, apparently, whoever is walking on their own and can be identified as someone who isn't part of their Dominion, is fair game." Blarg tried not to sound disgusted, but he had spent most of the night doing his best to stay out of their sight, and had almost gotten shot in the back of the head. He might not be having this conversation with them right now if he hadn't asked another Dominion for help, and it's not like anyone really needed to know that they were all friends of one another.

"It's not Matt's fault," Eli said, sitting in the corner between Tucker and fl0m. "DeadEye has been riled up for some time. No one really knows what's going on with them during and after Reagan's murder."

"They have a hit out on one of their former members," Puffer informed the group, giving them a mostly empty expression. It seemed he liked to hide his emotions at times, shoving it down so no one would see the disappointment or anger. Blarg was standing close enough that he can see the twitch of annoyance when it came to this information. He wondered if it had to do with Mirage at all.

"It also doesn't mean that DeadEye should be doing this, but they haven't left Twin Fox territory, nor has any of us been told to leave either," Grizzy said, leaning against the wall next to Puffer.

They were all just sitting ducks from the looks of it. He just didn't like the idea that if Hastings decided to assassinate anyone else, he might have to turn against his friends. He was curious if they thought the same way.

"I guess we can just…sit here, watch a movie?" Tucker inquired, placing his feet up on the chair that fl0m was sitting on. Fl0m glared at him but said nothing.

"You're not willing to tell us what your mission was?" Puffer asked Blarg.

Blarg shoulders tensed, unsure of why Puffer was so interested. "I don't know if I'm comfortable speaking it out loud…" He chuckled nervously, avoiding looking at Puffer and the intense look in his eyes.

"Come on, Matt, we're friends, aren't we?"

"Uh, if shit goes south and our Dominion's take a hit, we might all end up on another side of a—"

They all went quiet and still once more. The uncomfortable tense feeling shifted toward the door behind Puffer and Grizzy, they both looked at each other. Blarg stared, wondering about a gun, maybe the others had something on them just in case other Dominion's came looking. He didn't like how simple the knock was.

"Does anyone else know we're here?" Puffer looked to fl0m, Tucker, and Eli. The three shook their heads, glancing at one another as if questioning each other about it. Blarg wasn't sure either, he only came here to sleep off the night and have this conversation, even how tense it became.

If anything, he'd run if things went south, he didn't feel like dying, and last night was making his hands shake with the reminder of cold rain plastered on his face and the rush of bullets barely hitting the back of his head. He can feel it now, the rush in his veins, it tightened in his chest as if the walls were falling inward.

Another knock, much louder, jolting Blarg to take a step back while Grizzy stepped toward the door. A kick came, reverberated the wood, and Puffer touched Grizzy's shoulder in caution.

"We know you're in there you fuckers!" Blarg blinked at the familiar tone on the other side of the door. "Let us in!"

"You got to be fucking kidding me," Tucker said, dropping his leg off fl0m's chair.

"Of course they'd eventually find us," Eli said, shaking his head.

Grizzy grabbed the doorknob, twisted the lock, and dragged the door open where the sunlight outside fell through the doorway, including the cold stiff air blowing against Puffer, Grizzy, and Blarg. Two figures entered, one of them grasped the door and slammed it shut behind them, and once more, they were all covered in the dim lighting of the house, the cold slowly fading.

"How did you find this house?" Puffer asked, incredulously.

Blarg stared at SMii7y and Kryoz, curious how they even knew where they all were. He kept thinking about Hastings and their surveillance and how incredibly disturbing it can be sometimes. That only told him that Hastings knew about both DUSK and Mirage agents inside this house. That didn't bode well if things truly did go south for all of them. He'd rather not get pulled into violent bullshit like he had last night.

Kryoz wore a grey trench coat, his hair was a bit messy from the cold wind outside. His cheeks were slightly pink, and he wore a perturbed expression as he glanced at fl0m, Tucker, Eli, Grizzy, and Puffer. "Uh, we were informed of DUSK agents in the area."

SMii7y had his hands tucked in his coat pocket, also flushed in the face, and appeared almost miserable thanks to the cold weather. "We figured Blarg would be here too. Hi Matt, long time."

This reunion, in some way, seems like a good thing, but there were alarms going off in Blarg's head and all he wanted to do was run when he couldn't even move an inch.

"Hey," he said, voice cracking slightly, unable to hide the nervousness, wishing he could shove down his panic like Puffer can with his anger. He couldn't, he can still hear the gunfire in his head, feel the cold wind and rain on his face.

He didn't know if he should run.

Chapter Text

Mark Mercer, a mid-thirties, chaotic and self-destructive man out for revenge after his Dominion had fallen all those years ago. The results of it were inconclusive besides the fact that Messenger Assault was old, and extremely full of its own members betraying one another for other factions. It was getting to a point that it couldn't remain afloat any longer, and outside Dominion's decided to take action upon the growing threat.

Jonathan had been a child when Messenger Assault was destroyed, most of its members scattered into the winds, assassinated, and disappeared off the map. He had grown up with the knowledge of who he was to M.A, and what he was supposed to do. He kept under the radar for most of his life, and decided to not bring it up again when he became a hired gun.

One of his more notable assignments was to murder Amie and Evan. A few of Twin Fox's members were killed, Amie and Evan were left unscathed because of it. Attachments grew between Evan and Jonathan, which is why they were hiding out in an abandoned building, thinking about what they were going to end up doing in the long run.

He closed the notes app in his phone, sighing deeply.

"Were you ever going to tell me about Spectre?" Jonathan asked, standing near a grimy window, staring out at the back yard with the overgrown grass and bushes.

It was rather damp inside the room, not because of the humid air and recent rainfall, but because of the old wood that creaked with the wind. This place had been left to rot for some time, which was a good place to sit and think for the time being after they left their friends to whatever plans they had in mind.

"I did eventually tell you about it," Evan said quietly, sitting on an old piece of wood on the ground. "It's not like I kept everything from you whether I liked it or not."

Jonathan nodded slowly. "If they hadn't come to hunt you down, would you have told me you were an agent of Spectre?"

Difficult questions deserve difficult answers. Evan sighed, shoulders slumped at what he was being asked before lifting his gaze and meeting Jonathan's eyes. "No, I wouldn't have told you. I wanted to keep it on the back burner where it was meant to stay. But Tyler thought it would be a good idea to hunt me down."

"Because you were in the middle of Twin Fox?"

"Because Twin Fox said my name out loud, DUSK and DeadEye only stirred the pot, they continued to do it with the bounties on our heads in hopes we'd end up dead for our involvement. Hastings will make it quick, but it seems they're far more interested in other people than us. I think we have more of our issues to deal with than the rest of the Dominion's," Evan said.

It seemed they can simply sit around and wait it out. It's not like they had a full understanding of where Mark Mercer was besides the fact he was in the city at all.

"We need better intel," Jonathan muttered. "And to avoid the other Dominion's. If they're correct about Hastings being in league with three DeadEye members, then there might be more of a collaboration, and I'd rather not get involved with other people's messes."

Evan nodded. "I don't want to either. It's the last thing on my mind. However, we still need to make sure that Lucian doesn't get his grubby hands on Mark Mercer. I'm surprised the asshole managed to evade him this long."

Jonathan left the window and strolled over to Evan. "I'm sure the last thing Lucian cares about is Mark Mercer, whether he started this or not. The rest of the Dominion's should've left by now, but Mirage only made things viable because of Reagan's death."

"They can't do anything without a leader unless their members go rogue, but they aren't like that either," said Evan, wondering how that would look. Mirage is more than anything, passive when it came to Reagan as their leader. But Reagan was simply lazy, and he had been friends with Lucien before Lucien decided to kill him. The reason for that was rather unknown besides the fact he was growing far too paranoid for his own good. Evan was surprised he hadn't killed the Mirage agents that were with him the entire time. He was probably close to doing it if it weren't for the two Hastings standing in the room.

"I'm more worried about Spectre coming after us, and our allies are more akin to Twin Fox. The only thing we can do is…stay out of their sight while looking for Mark Mercer, if you're still up to doing that," Jonathan said.

"Anything is better than squatting in this house," Evan muttered. They waited until nightfall, and once it was dark enough, they had left the house and went walking toward the location where they were sure Lui would end up. Evan had texted him enough to get his information. He seemed happy enough to help them as they spotted his car near the edge of downtown and crossed another street. The sky was becoming darker with clouds, and the smell of rain was growing stronger by the hour.

Jonathan tapped the window, and Lui unlocked the door so they can enter the car.

Lui glanced over at them, another guy was sitting behind him. Evan recognized him to be Arlan, or more formally known as SilentDroidd when he was with Lui. He didn't know him much beyond his mysterious friendships.

"I got information on Luke, he's not in the city at the moment, which makes DeadEye a little worrisome thanks to the fact they want Ezekiel back from Hastings, so their eyes are currently off the two of you," Lui said from the front seat.

Evan glanced at Arlan who smiled back, "What about Spectre? From what we all saw after leaving Lucien's dumbass apartment, it was surrounded by Spectre agents. What happened to them?"

"Currently, nothing," Lui said, yawning. "However, I'm guessing they aren't really on your radar either."

"Something like that," said Jonathan. "We want to know where Mark Mercer is. We had some information, but it's been a few hours since then, and that sneaky bastard probably left the place he was last seen. Whether he's alive or not, I want to know."

"Marky Mark is alive," Lui said, glancing over at him. "He's still trying to figure out a way to change Messenger Assault. He might have some kind of idea."

"Like what?"

"Well, Lucien made an impression on Mark, and from what I can understand, he's changing the name. Good riddance, Messenger Assault was made by stupid old men anyway," Lui said flatly.

That was a start on changing things, but his location remained a mystery.

"If he becomes the leader, he can do whatever he wants, but right now, I want to know where he is," Jonathan said impatiently. "Do you know or not?"

"He moves around. So, I can't exactly pinpoint where his location would be. The last time I saw him, or had a read on him was the warehouse near the harbor. Other than that, downtown in the office district. Top floor, 7th room to the right. He owns a portion of it under the alias, Adam Thorn." He lit a cigarette and was staring at his phone as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

That wasn't helpful in the least. If they go there, the place might be empty and they would end up at square one again. That wasn't a good thing.

Evan sat back against the seat. "We have bounties on us thanks to DUSK," he said.

"Oh, yeah, I heard about that," Lui grinned in the rearview mirror at them, "hilarious, you know…I think Mark Mercer might be pissed about that too."

"What about Spectre?" Jonathan asked, tense, his fingers tight on the back of the passenger seat, "the last time we saw them, they were surrounding Lucien's apartment."

"They're only watching him because of what happened with Mirage. I think they're far more busy with that Dominion than with you guys," he said, blowing out a stream of smoke.

"You'll be fine," Droidd said, nodding. "We can update you about Mark Mercer, if you want."

"Sure, why not," Evan muttered. "We did hear Hastings are having their own issues, and Luke still has Ezekiel. If you can get any more information about that."

"You don't have Luke's number?" Lui asked, glancing over his shoulder at Jonathan.

"We wouldn't be bringing it up if I did," Jonathan said, letting the seat go and sitting back with Evan, their shoulders bumping together. "We can't go back to Pierce's house. He and his sister are leaving with Amie. If DUSK wants to make things worse for the rest of us, we're all on our own from here on out."

"Ah, does that mean Brian is gone too?"

Evan glanced at Jonathan before nodding at the question. "He took Thomas somewhere. No idea."

Lui chuckled, amused. "Oh, you don't need to tell me anything. I'm only wondering. You guys are in Twin Fox territory, and it's a good thing Droid and I don't follow Lucien's rules."

Evan wasn't too sure about that since he was a contractor, sooner or later, someone might look into who Lui is talking to. Although, he really hoped Lucien would simply disregard them entirely so they can continue their search for Mark Mercer.

"We need a place to crash, we've been staying in an old building for the last day or so," Jonathan said, already getting comfortable in the back seat as if he was going to close his eyes right there and then.

Lui flicked his cigarette out the window. "I have a place. You should be safe there, and maybe in the morning, we can figure out what the fuck is going on in this damn city. I always liked good gossip."

Chapter Text

SMii7y scanned the room, fingers loose at his sides, heart picking up with anticipation and a slight horror sinking in the pit of his stomach.

What were they doing here? Why were they all packed up in a small dingy house like this? A bunch of cockroaches, no…he shouldn't think of his friends like that.

He can see the flicker of fear passing over each of his friend's faces. He knew what they saw when they looked at him and Kryoz. Did they think they were here for them? SMii7y didn't want to deter the thought when his gaze swept over Blarg who looked more like a deer in headlights.

Don't run…don't run…you'll make us chase like dogs after a rabbit.

Tucker cleared his throat, "Do you want any coffee? We have food too," he said, offering them the fries and other fast food that sat on the table. Grizzy, fl0m, and Eli were eating bits of the fries that were inside the container.

"No, we just ate," Kryoz said, not bothering to hide grimace. "Why are you all in here like this?"

SMii7y blinked, glancing at Kryoz' question, but didn't bother to stop him from asking questions. There was no part of this that should be worrying. They were friends, all of them. That's all that should matter. But they were the only Hastings inside this room, and there was a gnawing in SMii7y's stomach that twisted with both fear and a rushing panic.

"It's a safe house," Puffer said, incredulously, shaking his head. "You heard about DUSK, but what do you want with Blarg?"

Blarg was now rocking back and forth, looking down at the floor between them. SMii7y smiled at his reaction, knowing he was paranoid from what he had gone through the other night. At least from what they understood, he's been on the run for a few hours now. He's sure DUSK isn't paying too much attention to him.

SMii7y shrugged. "He's part of Hastings too. We heard some things, and just came to check up on him."

"That sounds like a fucking lie," said Grizzy, leaning back against his chair. "Come on, you might as well tell us the truth. Why are you here?"

Kryoz clicked his tongue. "If you must know, some agents are meant to stay in the city after Reagan was killed."

"We heard you were there," said Eli, arching his brow. "Were you?"

SMii7y shuddered from the cold outside, the pitter-patter of rain falling on the house, the smell of food he didn't want to eat. Maybe it was the secrets settling in his stomach, making him nauseous.

"Something like that," said Kryoz in a deadpan tone. "We heard about DUSK, so we wanted to see what you guys are going to do about Blarg. I mean, he wasn't completely identified, but if a Hastings agent was involved then—"

"I…I wasn't involved in anything," Blarg said, taking a deep shaky breath. "I was only supposed to get intel for Hastings."

"And why haven't you updated your handler?" SMii7y asked. He didn't want to sound harsh, or even dull with emotion, but the words came out just like it. He hated the feeling of separating himself from his friends. But working for so long in this city, with these other people…it felt like he had to be someone else.

"He hasn't told any of us shit either," said fl0m, taking a sip of his drink that was beside his plate.

"Besides, most of Mirage are scrambling for a new leader, so the rest of us," said Grizzy, indicating himself and Puffer, "are out on the job for sometime."

"And if you're meant to assassinate each other, then what?" Kryoz asked, a hand on his hip.

"Is that what you want?" fl0m wondered.

"No."

"Then don't bring it up," said Puffer, glaring. "Besides, everyone knows what you two have been up too since you set foot here. You don't work for Lucian…or whatever he calls his Dominion."

"Twin Fox," said SMii7y, shrugging. "And no, we don't give him intel anymore, and it was Hastings that gave us that job. We were only meant to remain in his presence for a time. We're contractor's like that, nothing more. Once the job ended, we were supposed to leave."

"And yet…here you are," said Tucker, leaning against the counter, looking at the two curiously.

Did he say too much? SMii7y cursed at himself, while keeping his gaze steady upon his friends. He didn't want to show too much, it would be his undoing. He didn't know whether any of them were telling the truth anyway.

"From what we know currently is that DUSK knows about Blarg's involvement, but there's nothing to be done about it since there's a standstill amongst Dominion's at the moment," Kryoz said, shrugging. "You're all little too cagey to be looking at old Friends like that."

"We wouldn't be like that if we didn't know how devious you two can be," said Grizzy. "You're not here to kill any of us?"

"You would be dead right now," said SMii7y. Staring at them, speaking the words as calmly as he would have with anyone else he'd be threatening. He wasn't trying to be, but the words came out smooth, and his anxiety was fading by the second.

"That's good," said Puffer, scowling.

Blarg sighed deeply. "DUSK has hits on certain people, that's all I know about what they're doing. They aren't listening to the higher ups about their orders, which is making it difficult for them to leave."

Puffer gave him a pointed look as if Blarg had also said to much, he turned back to SMii7y and Kryoz, and sighing at them, "DeadEye is gone, from what we can understand."

SMii7y shrugged, almost mimicking Puffer's action as they stood across from one another. "We're told to stay. I'm sure having us around will stabilize some actions against one another. Lucien is vulnerable inside his fucked up apartment. He isn't going to leave. He's too paranoid for his own good to do anything drastic…I'm surprised Mirage hasn't done anything to avenge their former leader."

"Well, like what Grizzy had said, Mirage hasn't given any of us anything to do while we're stuck in Twin Fox territory," said Puffer, arching a brow.

"I'd like us to be more friendlier than this," said Blarg, grimacing at his friends. "You're not here to kill any of us, and we're not here to kill you. So…I don't know, stop standing there like you're going to do something."

SMii7y smiled softly, letting his walls fall a bit, the frost easing away into warmth. "Sorry. It's been a strange few hours since everything had happened. We're not sure what to do. And like the rest of you, we're stuck not having anything to do or the next few hours or even days."

Kryoz' had sat down, reaching for a few fries and dumping them in the gravy, he ate them quickly, not caring if some of it smeared on his face. Grizzy, fl0m, and Eli, started talking about where they all met up, and how everything was going on their end. Which wasn't a lot, since their Dominion's have yet to update them about anything.

SMii7y stood near Kryoz, smiling softly at his friends, but his gaze kept going to Puffer and Blarg standing closer to the hallway.

At this point, they had gotten all the information they needed. All the men inside this room had no idea what was actually going on, and it was better it stayed that way.

Besides the fact that Blarg had gotten the attention of DUSK, and they're the ones sending out hits on Evan's group. He might have to look into that just in case, since he's sure that they were the one's who had last seen Ezekiel.

That seemed good enough.

He had reached in and grabbed some fries and started to eat, played the game, laughed with his friends as if he hadn't been able to before. He was still technically on the job. Kryoz might've opened his mouth a bit about one or two things, but either way, it was better that they didn't involve themselves too much.

"What are you guys up to after this?" fl0m asked, smiling sheepishly.

"We'll be heading back to our hotel and wait for instructions on whether we should stay or leave," said Kryoz. "The weather sucks."

At least he knew his friends weren't going to be much trouble once they leave and do their mission. For now, he actually enjoyed the little moments.

"We actually might get another coffee," SMii7y said, then shook his head at Tucker when he pointed at the coffee pot. He'd rather get a new one at a coffee shop.

"Well, if you're planning to kill any of us, maybe give us a heads-up," said Grizzy.

SMii7y nodded, smiling, "Yeah, I'll make sure you have one." He reached into the box and pulled out a few more fries, chewing slowly. He had an urge to look at his phone to check on the handler if he messaged him again, but he did his best not to think about it.

It was still raining, and he wasn't eager to leave just yet.