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Chapter Text

Joke still had nightmares about it till now…

The time he spent in that room, locked up while everyone thought he was dead, while everyone moved on with their lives…

"Why am I here? Why are you keeping me here?"

He never got an answer, they never gave him an answer, and he was still too weak to do anything about it, and when he grew stronger, he was tied with heavy chains around his ankle to the bedpost…

He had dreamed about Jack, about Grandma, and Toi… had cried till his eyes ached and his throat closed up…

Everyone thought he was dead, everyone he loved thought he was dead…

His wedding had passed, Toi's birthday… and every important occasion in his life…

Jack… He missed Jack… He needed Jack…

"Please let me go… Please… I need him, it would kill him…"

But his words always fell on deaf ears…

"Please let me go…"

It was the mantra he kept on repeating for days when Jack found him, chained down and delirious…

Chapter Text

Aran never told Tattoo why he had started sleeping again in his room of all places…

He never told him that it felt safer, never told him that he was scared of sleeping in the same house as his own father after what had happened…

He never told anyone what had happened as well…

It was a hot night, he had checked that his father was asleep, before he retired to his own bed, taking off his shirt and scrolling through the phone for a couple of minutes till he fell asleep.

Like every night… nothing out of the ordinary…

He woke up suddenly to a screaming pain in his lower back, the smell of burning flesh permeating the air, and he got off the bed and cowered in the corner of the room.

He had barely managed to open his eyes, looking frantically about the room to see who was attacking him, and where the pain came from…

His father was standing on the other side of the bed, holding something in his hand that was steaming… something Aran could hardly see…

"Pa… Pa! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"I… I have to mark you, so I won't lose you, so no one can take you away, you will bear my mark, so you always come back… like horses…"

The stinging pain was not lessening, and it dawned on Aran what his father had done, what exactly had happened…

"You… You burned me…"

The man nodded, smiling at him as it was the most logical thing in the world…

"I won't lose you now… No one will take you away… You are my property…"

Aran wanted to scream, wanted to cry and wail…

He didn't know how he managed to lead his father back to his room without killing him, without adding just a couple more sleeping bills to the water to end him, but he did…

He went back to the room and sat at his vanity…

He could see it in the mirror, could see the misshape of a burn on his left hip…

He covered the burn to the best of his ability, crying tears of both pain and frustration, before packing a bag and dropping himself off at Hoy & Tattoo's place…

It's how he ended up never wearing another cropped shirt again…

never letting Tattoo see his skin or touch him again…

even if he had been dying to let him touch him…

Chapter Text

Hope didn't remember what exactly happened…

He was drunk, in a bar, having a good time… and then he was in their bed and his and Save's room… naked but for his boxers…

And there was someone he didn't know on top of him… someone he had never seen before…

He tried to push them off, tried to tell them off, but he was so out of tune with his body, he felt like he was watching outside of his own body, like it was happening to someone else…

The person above him wasn't stopping, though; they were moving, kissing, stripping him off his shirt despite his attempts to fight against them.

He lost himself for a second, not enjoying the moment but reeking his brain to find an answer to stop this.

That was till the door to his room slammed open, Jack and Save coming in as they had been waiting for the right moment.

Hope heard a commotion of someone being pushed off him, heard Save calling his name, and shaking him…

before everything faded to black.

When he managed to open his eyes again, he was alone in his bed, in his entire room, but the door was ajar…

He tried to stand but almost fell back down, his head spinning and letting him know that he had made several bad choices the pervious night.

He must have made enough of a loud sound to draw the attention of whoever left the door open because the very next moment, Save and Jack came through the door.

"How are you feeling? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Jack asked, Save seemed to be withdrawn and angry…

Not that Hope didn't deserve it…

"No…"

"Sure? We don't know what they gave you…"

"I am good… Don't worry…"

Jack nodded, patting Save on the back before leaving…

Hope didn't know what to say as Save stood staring at him, didn't know what kind of excuses he could come up with for having someone in bed with him when he simply was in a relationship with another…

"Save…"

"I don't want to hear it."

"Save, Please… Just listen to me, please, it's not what you think…"

"It's not what I think? Really? What was I thinking then? seeing you with some cheap piece in our bed, drunk out of your mind and halfway into being naked already…"

"No, No, I swear, I would never…"

"You would never? YOU WOULD NEVER?"

Save stared at Hope incriously, tears streaming down his face, and Hope wanted nothing than to pull him in and properly apologise...

"Please, Save… Just… Just believe me… I was drugged, I had no idea what was happening most of the time, the last thing I remember was having a couple of drinks in the bar… I promise you, I swear to you…"

Save shook his head, moving towards the door, and all the panic that had been growing inside Hope that he was losing Save erupted.

He moved off the bed, dropping to his knees and holding onto Save's legs…

"Please, please believe me, I wouldn't do this to you, to us… Please…"

Hope didn't know when he started crying, but he did, and he would do more than crying if Save was really adamant about leaving him…

Save dropped before Hope, holding onto his shoulders and staring into his eyes, looking for the truth…

"You swear it?"

"I swear it." Hope nodded, tears trickling endlessly on his face, whether it was from the drug or from the emotional stress, he didn't know…

Save stared at him without answering for a bit, just staring at him, looking for the truth, before he seemed to find what he was looking for and pulled Hope into his arms…

"I… I believe you…"

Hope sagged in relief against Save. he was tired and out of sorts…

But he was with Save… Save got him and that was enough… more than enough…

Chapter Text

Following Day 1

Saving Joke should have been the end of their very sad situation. Jack saved his husband, and things should go back to normal…

Except that they found Joke deliriously sick, his body fighting a losing battle with infection and fever, chained and left to rot away in a dirty room.

Punishment and revenge could wait, but his husband couldn't…

They had taken him back to the house in the middle of the night, covering him and hiding his existence from everyone, since they didn't know who would be the one snitching and putting Joke and them in danger again.

"If Carbon wasn't dead, I would have dug him out and killed him all over again…"

Tattoo said it under his breath as Jack put Joke's body in their bed. He couldn't shake the horrible fear that had seized his heart at how feverish Joke was.

"Did you manage to get a doctor? We cannot ask his father for help yet…"

Aran nodded

"He is on his way with supplies, don't worry about it, I paid him enough that he wouldn't say a single word about it to anyone…"

Jack nodded, sitting next to Joke, and holding onto one of his hands tightly in his, Joke was delirious, his fever raging, and he seemed to not even be aware of a single thing if the mantra of calling Jack's name under his breath was any indication…

The Doctor came and pushed them all out, save for Jack, who declared he was Joke's husband the second the doctor tried to protest…

The doctor explained Joke thoroughly, commenting several times on the barbaric way the bullets were taken out, which led to the infection he was suffering from now.

"I would prefer if he were taken to the hospital, but Khun Aran said that it's not a possibility…"

Jack didn't answer, his sole focus was on Joke as the doctor put an IV needle in his arm, before hanging the bag on a nail in the wall above.

"I will leave you supplies to change the bag every time it runs out, along with his medicine, which you can just inject into the IV for the time being, he needs fluids… a lot of fluids…"

Jack nodded. He eyed the new bandages around Joke's stomach, swallowing hard as he tried to shake the memory of the entire thing off his head and focus on the here and now…

"I don't know what happened to him, but you… You seem to love him a lot, so I trust you will take good care of him, right?"

Jack turned to the doctor and nodded earnestly, tears falling on his face.

"Ok, I will pass again tomorrow to check him over, this is going to take a couple of days to clear out, try to keep him cool and comfortable till it pass and we can discuss proper recovery after that…"

True to the doctors words, Joke's fever raged for four days, before his infection cleared out, during those he was never alone, if Jack wasn't there for any reason, any one with the gang was there, and Grandma didn't even try to leave the house, not just the room, she was always bringing in more cold water to help Jack fight the fever off by wiping him down, always trying to just comfort both of them by being there…

Joke didn't wake up, he was too weak to fight against the comfort of unconsciousness, till the fever started to break…

"Jack?"

Jack almost missed it, before he turned from the IV bag as he was adding one of Joke's medicine dosages, to see his eyes open.

"Hey… Hey, are you awake?"

Joke didn't answer, just staring at Jack without uttering a word. Jack reached out and cradled his face in his hand.

"I am here, really here… I got you… I have you and not letting anyone take you away from me again…"

"Dream?"

"No, No, it's not a dream, I got you out, I have you…"

Joke hummed, closing his eyes for a second as he leaned fully into Jack's touch, dropping a soft kiss on the centre of his balm…

"Can you hug me?"

Jack nodded, tears cascading down his face as he lay in bed with Joke on his side, wrapping one of his arms around him as he caressed Joke's hair with the other…

"I am here… I will take care of you, Husband."

Joke didn't comment on the word, humming and closing his eyes as he surrendered to his tiredness again.

Jack stayed like that, counting Joke's breaths, thanking every god there was for having him back.

and above all else, plotting his revenge…

Chapter Text

Aran didn't hate his father as per se…

He hated what the man turned into the second his mother had passed, hated the monster that had overtaken his father and even the monster that had overtaken his father's mind once he realized he was losing everything…

there was moments of clarity for the man, mere moments when he seemed to shift back to the person he was before Aran lost his mother, where he looked at Aran lovingly, and called him his baby boy…

mere moment… fleeting moments…

Aran had been touched at the beginning whenever those happened, but as time dragged on, as his father spoke more and more hurtful words, those fleeting moments seemed to pale remarkably…

But that wasn't even a drop in the ocean of Aran's anger…

Because his father had been the one that unleashed Carbon on them, he was the one who made their life a measry for years, not only by proxy, but actively…

He was sitting with his father during one of his mental evaluations when the man seemed to gain a rare moment of clarity as he looked at Aran with shining eyes.

"I… I want you to forgive me… I… I thought I was… I thought I was doing the best I could for you and your mother…"

Aran had been dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, he found himself clinching the hem of the t-shirt without meaning to, he had been struggling with his own anger, at how unfair everything had been for them lately…

The way Jack and Joke suffered, the way everyone was more or less still reeling from everything that had happened.

The way he would never be able to trust himself around a person, the way he would never be able to know his own true worth…

"It's too late to ask for forgiveness…"

He didn't care if the man was his father or not, didn't care about any paternal status he might share with the man.

After all, the man didn't t

Chapter Text

Following Day 2…

Hoy didn't mean to open the door without knocking… he usually knocks even when Tattoo makes fun of him for it…

"There's nothing you didn't see already…"

But he wasn't used to Aran being with them in their rooms, he wasn't used to needing to open a door and thinking a couple of times before doing so…

Or maybe it was just pure rotten luck…

Because when he opened the door, he saw Aran as he tried to change a bandage on his hip.

Initially, he apologized and tried to close the door before what he saw registered in his brain, and he got into the room instead of closing the door.

"Aran? What happened? How did you get hurt?"

Aran turned, terror on his face as he clinched the shirt he was wearing to his front.

"It's nothing… really, it's nothing to worry about…"

"Aran… I saw it… It's bad, and you cannot possibly reach there to clean it and bandage it properly…"

"It's nothing, I can… I can take care of it…"

Hoy crossed the room in a couple of quiet steps, standing before Aran calmly, not trying to scare him further but needing to know what had led to something like that.

"Aran? Please? I… I won't tell anyone, and you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, just let me help you bandage it properly…"

Aran hesitated

"Ok… Just… Just don't speak of it to anyone, please…"

Hoy nodded feverishly, he was losing his mind already over the fact that Aran had been hurt but didn't seek any of them for him.

"Turn around, Just… Just let me see it…"

Aran lowered the shirt he was holding, before turning around and giving his back to Hoy…

Hoy sucked in a deep breath his fingers shaking as they reached to the edges of the burns, Aran flinched away and Hoy apologized instantly…

"Sorry, Sorry… I will… I will just bandage it…"

Hoy saw the spread of creams and ointments on the table and almost cursed…

"Is it… Is it bad?"

Hoy hesitated…

"It's a third-degree burn, Aran… It's… definitely not good, but it's not inflamed or infected thankfully…"

Aran just hummed.

"How… How long ago did that happen, Aran?"

Hoy was ready to be shot down by his initial words that he wouldn't ask but Aran must have been tearing at the seams to speak to anyone.

"When… When I came to stay…"

Hoy swallowed hard, spreading the ointment with a cotton tip on the burn, careful not to hurt Aran, and making a mental note to make sure Aran would take a couple of painkillers on his watch…

"My… My father did this…"

Hoy paused, his hands hovering over the burn, the anger in him boiling and threatening to take over his entire logical thinking, he was already trying to come up with a plan to tell the others, at the very least so that Hope and Jack could take care of the man once and for all for all he had done…

"I was asleep… He said he branded me so that I would never run away and would always come back…"

"You cannot go back there, Aran…" Hoy said with clinched teeth as Aran winched audinly when Hoy placed the bandage.

"I … don't have a choice… there's nowhere to go and stay, no one to take care of him…"

"Aran.."

"You said you won't tell anyone, please don't… I don't want their pity, I am already pretty useless as it is…"

He could hear the choked tears in Aran's voice, could hear the raw pain of the child who had been thrown away over and over again…

"If that's what you want…"

Aran hummed, staying still, waiting for the pain to subside…

Hoy wasted no time, checking Aran's supplies and finding the pills he needed before handing them to Aran, watching as he swallowed them with a bit of water…

"Those bandages need to be changed regularly, You will come find me when it's time to change them again, right?"

Aran nodded, averting his gaze away from Hoy…

"Aran!!"

"Yes?"

"You can stay here as long as you want, heck, you can stay here forever if you want…"

"Tattoo might not allow that…"

"Screw him, I am part owner of this room and I am allowing you…"

Aran chuckled softly before nodding…

If Hoy already planned to tell the others while he made sure Aran wouldn't be alone in his pain, it was only Hoy's business.

Chapter Text

Following Day 1 & 4

Joke rested his head on Jack's shoulder heavily, breathing evenly…

"Is he asleep?" Aran asked softly…

Jack shook his head, smiling a bit.

"He is easily exhausted... still recovering…"

Aran nodded, his eyes trained on Joke's pale face.

"He shouldn't have gone to the centre today; that was uncalled for…"

Jack chuckled softly…

"He missed being around the kids, and in all honesty, we all could use a bit of normality around here…"

Aran nodded, reaching out and taking one of Joke's hands in his, it was more than common lately for Aran to reach out physically to Joke, Jack knew it was in part, to assure himself that Joke was alive, and in another because Aran blamed himself on everything even if both Jack and Joke berated him endlessly for thinking like that.

"Shouldn't you move him to a more comfortable position?"

Jack sighed, eyeing Joke with a bit of worry himself…

"He will wake up the second any of us moves… I prefer to let him rest for a bit before both of us go home for the proper rest…"

Aran nodded, now reluctant to withdraw his own hand away.

"Did the doctor say it is normal?"

Jack hummed, fingers reaching to fix Joke's fringes…

"He said he will take a bit of time to fully recover because of the infection and the wound itself… but he is recovering and that's the most important thing…"

"He should rest more…"

"He is resting, I am not allowing him to exhaust himself, but he is tired without even trying…"

"More the reason to fully rest…"

"I can hear you, you know…" Joke said softly, his fingers tightening around Aran's…

"Sorry…" Aran said in a small voice.

"Nothing to be sorry for, I wasn't really asleep, just resting my eyes, this one must have known…" Joke pointed at Jack, eyes still closed, making himself a bit more comfortable on Jack's shoulder as Jack chuckled.

Aran looked between the two for a long second, struggling to come up with any words…

"I am ok, Aran… I will be ok…" Joke said, yawning.

Aran nodded, promising himself to keep a closer eye on the centre and even a closer eye on his friends… especially on Joke…

Chapter Text

Rose stared at the video before her in horror… utter horror…

"Why did you do it? Why did you do it, Father?"

Her father raised a single eyebrow as if his daughter were asking the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"You wanted that boy Jack, Joke was in the way… it was the only solution to take him out of the equation… which was made even easier after that incident with Carbon…"

Rose swallowed hard a couple of times, trying to say something, anything…

But what could she say, asking her father why he did what he did was pointless, cursing him would give her nothing but his wrath, and ignoring him would be taken as her being an ungrateful brat…

"But you didn't seem to be able to make use of the chance… he found him, I believe, and plotting revenge… from what I heard…"

Rose looked up at her father…

"What?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I allowed them to find the boy once he detoriated, and because you didn't seem to be able to make use of the golden change i gave you, so there's no point to keep him any further and risk him dying for real this time…"

Her father stood up, leaving her in her office alone but not without his final words…

"You are really a brat, Rose, not only a brat, but a stupid girl as well…"

Rose screamed in rage once the door closed, pushing the evidence of what had happened to Joke off the desk in utter anger…

Not only had she lost Jack as a lover, but she was sure as hell would lose his friendship once what had happened came to light…

And she would be lucky if she even managed to walk away with her life then… utterly lucky…

Chapter Text

Aran woke up to the sound of an explosion…

He had been staying in Hoy's room for the night, for one because he needed some privacy away from Tattoo and for another because Hoy and Tattoo were working on something…

Something that seemingly had just exploded…

Aran moved off the bed hastily, barely remembering to grab a shirt, before he opened the door, rushing out of the room and towards Tattoo's room.

There was smoke coming out of the door, and Aran needed a moment to catch his breath before he went into the room.

Hoy was holding his head on the side, trying to get up, while Tattoo was sprawled in front of what was his desk and was not a pile of shapeless wood.

"Hoy? Tattoo? What happened?"

Hoy whined softly, and Aran's eyes slid to the person who didn't answer him before dropping next to him.

"Tattoo? Tattoo? Are you hurt?"

And then Aran noticed it, the trail of blood coming from Tattoo's head and nose…

It was enough to make Aran shout for help like he had never done in his life…

Chapter Text

Following Day 1 & 4

As Joke recovered, Jack had never been more than an arm's length away from him, initially because he couldn't, mentally couldn't… He felt that if he left Joke and went anywhere, he might come back and not find him…

and later because it didn't make any sense to be anywhere without Joke…

Joke seemed to share the notion, needing the closeness of Jack, needing to see him every time he opened his eyes, also needing to assure himself that Jack wouldn't disappear, that he wouldn't wake up and find that Jack was part of his imagination and he was still locked up in that room.

As Joke recovered, closeness grew to needing to express their love in all the physical ways possible…

Jack refused, wanting and needing Joke to recover first before he gave in to his urges… to their urges…

But fighting back against needing to be wrapped around Joke in all shapes and ways proved to be stronger than any common sense he had…

He pressed Joke to the bed and made him promise to stay still and not exhaust himself as he kissed him as his life depended on it, as their life depended on how close both of them could be…

And as he held Joke in his arms in the aftermath, all he could think about was that it almost killed him to be without Joke…

And the mere idea of being without him again was enough to send shivers down Jack's back.

"I will never be without you… in life… or in death…"

Chapter Text

Following Day 2 & 6

"He cannot stay with his father anymore…"

Hoy said Suddenly, one day out of the blue, as the gang hung out in the bar, Aran was late, and Hoy had been tearing at the seams to say it for days now…

"He hadn't been staying there that much to begin with…" Tattoo said absentmindedly, but Joke seemed to catch that something was wrong…

"Why do you say that?"

Hoy seemed to struggle with words for a couple of seconds.

"He… He hurt him…"

Everyone was silent enough that Hoy could hear the sounds of the night outside the bar.

"Hurt him? Hurt him how?" Hope asked, the glass he was holding in his hand was one second away from shattering.

"I cannot say… I… I promised him not to…"

"Hoy! You cannot just say that and not say what happened…" Jack protested, Joke was trying to physically keep him from getting into Hoy's face.

"He… He hurt him, he branded him…"

Hoy heard more than saw the collective gasp everyone took, the glass in Save's hand was already in pieces on the floor.

"What? How? I sleep in the same room with him, I would have noticed if he was hurt…" It was Tattoo's turn to protest.

Hoy shook his head, and Tattoo paled.

"He… He kept his back covered at all times, Tattoo… When he needed privacy, He stayed in my room…"

"How did you come across that piece of info, Hoy?" Joke asked, and there was the edge of barely concealed anger in his voice.

"I walked onto him when he was trying to change the dressing, it is… it is bad…"

"Do we need to take him to the hospital? Is he hurt badly?"

Hoy nodded, hesitating before voicing his words.

"He is hurt badly, but I have been helping him to change the dressing for a couple of days. It's getting better, I doubt he would let us take him to be checked in the hospital…"

"Then he really cannot stay there…" Hope said, putting the glass down.

But before they could share another word or say another thing, Aran walked in face down, he was clad in way too many layers and suddenly him hiding in clothes that were big for his frame, and in materials softer than he was used to…

Hoy met Tattoo's eyes as well as the others, and a plan was made…

Aran would never set foot in that house alone again, or ever if they all could help it.

Chapter Text

Save didn't know how long he had been taken…

It had all started as he walked back home from another - normal - day in the centre, he was on the phone with one of the suppliers when a wet napkin covered his mouth and everything faded to black…

He had woken up to someone pouring cold water over his head, before he realized he was tied to a chair, and now a camera was pointing at his face…

"Look, Hope!! I hope you can believe us when we say we got your lover boy here…"

The rest of what was said fell on deaf ears as Save struggled to get his bearings…

"You better hurry, Hope… or else you might come collect your lover's dead body…"

Save didn't know anything but the hits that had started to land on his body, Hope's screaming voice on the phone…

Blood was rushing in his ears and out of his body, he knew he didn't have much time if that was the way they wanted to get the point across to Hope.

He had faded sometime after that, woken up again when he heard a commotion happening around him before Hope and Jack's hands were untying him off the chair, he could feel himself free falling once the hold on his limbs had disappeared, but Hope wasted no time, holding him up and carrying him out…

He was losing time every time he blinked, so it was no surprise that he found himself in Hope's arms in a car, Jack's voice coming from the front seat.

"Keep him awake, Hope…"

Save looked up to see Hope's frantic eyes looking at him, his mouth was moving but Save couldn't hear anything…

"Stay with me, Hope… Please…"

Chapter Text

Following Day 12

Hope tried to keep Save awake, tried to talk to him, but the pain and his entire ordeal seemed to have taken its toll on him as Save struggled to reply to him, as he fought a battle to keep his eyes open…

"Jack…" Hope said alarmingly

"I am going as fast as I can… We should arrive shortly…"

"Save, Love… Just stay with me… I am here, you are safe…" Hope tried to chuckle at the bun, anything to keep Save awake and with him.

Save smiled softly, his eyes closing and opening sluggishly…

"Hope…"

"I am here, Love… Just stay with me, we will be in the hospital in no time, right, Jack?" Hope shouted the last part

"Just 5 more minutes… Just 5 more minutes…"

Hope looked back at Save, but his eyes were already half lidded…

"Heard him, Love? Just 5 more minutes… Just hang on for 5 more minutes…"

Hope feared that Save was already bleeding internally, feared that they were running out of time, and it would be too late by the time they reached the hospital.

"H…Hope…"

"Yeah, Love?"

"I am sorry…"

Hope watched as Save fainted, sagging in his arms like a doll with all of its wires cut…

Jack would never hear something as agonizing as when he heard Hope scream Save's name in that second.

Chapter Text

It should have been a simple thing… Tattoo getting his appendix taken out, as simple as that…

But despite all the assurance, Aran couldn't shake the fear he felt, maybe because doctors and hospitals scared him shitless after everything they had been through, maybe because He had grown so attached to Tattoo that the idea of him hurt even if it was to make him better…

And it turned out he was right, he was more than right…

Midway through the surgery time, the doctor came out and informed everyone that Tattoo's appendix had ruptured, and they were trying to save him…

And what should have been a normal surgery and a casual wait had ended up being a race to save Tattoo's life, and the most horrible wait in all their lives…

It felt like days when it was merely less than three hours before the doctor went out again, making everyone hold their breath as they waited for the doctor to deliver the news.

"He is safe now… But he is not awake yet…"

Aran's legs couldn't carry him fast enough to Tattoo's room, he didn't realize he was holding both his breath and tears till Tattoo opened his eyes and looked at him, still groggy and delirious from the anesthesia.

"Hello, Pretty Angel…"

If Aran wetted Tattoo's hospital gown with his tears of relief, it was only fitting.

Chapter Text

Joke knew what the odds were when he pushed Carbon in the water…

He knew he could hardly make it with his injuries, he knew the only way he could grant Jack's safety was to take Carbon with him to hell…

And to hell he took him…

He had held onto Carbon's neck as the water pulled both of them down, not letting him resurface, his gun had already been rendered useless the second it had hit the water…

Joke himself was already losing his battle with consciousness, the blood he was losing along with his already screaming lungs was already letting him know that he barely had any time.

But he had to hold onto Carbon, because if Joke were to die, he would - at the very least - make sure Carbon would die with him…

The pressure was crushing his lungs; he felt like his chest would explode, before water rushed into his windpipe and everything started hurting even more…

He was dying… drowning…

He was no more…

Joke opened his eyes to stare into Jack's brown orbs…

"Joke? You with me?"

He heard the words but couldn't place them, as if he was still under water, as if he was still drowning…

"Breath… Please, I am here, I got you…"

Jack held onto Joke like he was going to fade away, pressing him now to his chest as he tried to demonstrate breathing to him…

Joke tried to follow, his lungs and windpipe seizing as if he had just gotten out of the water…

Jack kept his demonstrations till Joke managed to breath calmly, before pulling back to stare at Joke's face.

"Better?"

Joke nodded, still struggling to speak, struggling to share the moment he had relived more than once since he woke up from his injuries.

"I am here, We are here, We are together..."

Joke nodded, leaning forward and letting Jack catch him.

"Never again am I letting you go… Never again, Husband…"

Joke pressed himself against Jack's chest, it was several minutes later when he found his voice…

"Never again, Teerak…"

Chapter Text

It was a god damn hot day…

Hope had been seeing the warning about the heat wave for days, but he ignored it. It wasn't like he was running marathons around the city, he was working in the centre with the kids and sure it was challenging as ever, but Hope usually shrugged the physical effort that came with it.

He underestimated the physical effort of boxing in that heat till he found himself out of breath within minutes of the class starting…

"Phi? Are you ok?"

Asked one of the kids, and Hope was about to turn and smile at the small worried boy when everything around him started spinning like he was riding the rollercoaster…

He heard the kids scream and shout, but it was muffled, and there were already spots in his vision, and his control over his own body was sluggish at best.

He didn't know how long passed in that state but he heard a voice he knows so damn well speak.

“Give him room to breathe.”

Hope tried to open his eyes he didn't realize he had closed them to find himself cradled in Save's arm as Save tried to wipe his face with a wet cloth.

"Save…"

"Hey, are you ok? You seem like you have heatstroke…"

Hope took a deep breath, trying to anchor himself so that his head would stop spinning.

"Easy, it's ok… Jack is coming and we will take you back to the house. You should have stayed inside with the kids. Hope…"

Hope knew he was probably right, he should have stayed indoors in the air condtioner, if not for his safety then for the safety of the kids…

"Sorry…"

Save hummed, still moving the cloth across Hope's face, holding him tightly…

He soon heard Jack's voice before another set of hands helped him stand still supported by Save.

"Easy, He is bound to be dizzy again, the idiot didn't drink any water and has been boxing outside in the sun…"

Jack said something under his breath about arrogant idiots but helped Hope and Save get back home without further complaints.

Before Hope knew it, he found himself almost naked in their bed, Save sitting next to him, wiping him down…

"You are just like a child, I have to run around reminding you to drink water and stay in the shade…"

Hope smiled, he needed to ease Save a bit…

"It would be a nice change if you were the one chasing after me and protecting me…"

Save leaned in and kissed Hope's lips… Save's lips were soft and cool.

"Nice change, as long as you don't faint and scare years off my life…"

Hope hummed, turning in bed and pulling Save in his arms and trapping him.

If both of them slept the heat wave off in the comfort of their bed, it was only for them to know.

Chapter Text

Following Day 9

The doctor's assessment of Tattoo's condition was concussion, a head wound, and second-degree burns scattered around his body…

Aran couldn't utter a word as he watched Tattoo being wheeled into the emergency room and was forced to sit and wait surrounded by Jack, Joke, Hope, and Save…

Hoy was taken in as well. His condition was not as bad, since he wasn't close to whatever exploded, but he still had minor injuries as well…

"Is he going to be OK?" Aran asked in a shaky voice, and the doctor nodded.

"He will need to stay under observation for a couple of days, but he will be as good as new once he wakes up…"

Jack thanked the doctor, turning to Hoy, who had long joined them, a bandage around his arm and his cheek but other than that he seemed to be alright.

"What were you two working on that would lead to that?"

"I am not sure, Tattoo said, something down the line of a device that can detonate with a small explosion if placed inside a safe or something…"

Jack shook his head, continuing to pace the length of the hallway.

"Can… Can we see him?" Aran asked softly, looking between Jack and Hoy.

"I think we can… Maybe you should head first, Aran… I will check with the doctor if anything else is needed or if Hoy needs to stay and follow you…" Jack said, nodding to Aran, who stood on shaky legs and headed to the room where Tattoo was being kept.

Aran knocked before walking in, more as a habit than anything. A nurse was administering something to Tattoo. He looked to be sleeping, but that wasn't what caught Aran's eye.

His chest was bare, and Aran could clearly see the bandages covering the burns he had; he almost flinched; those might scar or take forever to heal properly.

"It's not as bad as it looks, the worst thing is the head wound and the concussion, but he is alright… He is bound to wake up soon. Is he your lover?"

Aran was about to say no, Tattoo was not his lover, and Aran was nothing but a part of a gang they all had, when a soft voice from the bed answered the nurse.

"Yes… My Lover…" Tattoo said softly, and both the nurse and Aran turned to him.

"Oh, in that case, I will leave you in his care, I am sure he would be able to take good care of you."

The nurse walked out, but Aran stayed as far away from the bed as possible.

"Aran?" Tattoo called to him softly.

"Yes?"

"Can you come close? I need your help to sit up…"

"I don't think you should, you need to rest…"

Tattoo hummed, already pushing himself off the pillows and sitting up despite Aran's protest.

Aran rushed forward, pushing a couple of pillows for Tattoo to rest on, before pushing him back against them, all the while Tattoo was staring at him.

"Aran?"

Aran hummed, his eyes anywhere but on Tattoo's face, as he was already fixing the covers and the bed.

"I am OK, Aran… Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you…"

Aran swallowed hard, nodding before he sat next to Tattoo on the bed.

"What were you working on anyway? The entire room was filled with smoke…"

"Something not important… You were the one who found us?"

Aran nodded, staring at his own hands.

"Don't do that again, I don't like it…"

Tattoo smiled at him and leaned back on the pillows.

"I won't… If you don't like it, then I won't…"

If Hoy kept teasing Tattoo about stopping all the exploding experiments after that, he would never tell him it was so that he wouldn't scare Aran again.

Chapter Text

Aran stared at the gang as they ate their weekly lunch together…

It was a habit created basically by the others' efforts to support Jack and to keep him company after what had happened, but now that they had found Joke, after they had become a proper family, they didn't seem to be able to shake the habit…

And every time, Aran felt out of sorts after the Lunch… felt like he was outside his own body…

"Aran?"

Joke looked at him curiously, cocking his head to the side, they were sitting at the table alone, and Aran realized that he didn't notice the others had went their own ways to finish anything pending before calling it a day.

"What is it? You seem into your own head more than usual today…"

"Nothing, it's nothing…"

Joke raised his eyebrow, and Aran found that he couldn't lie any further…

"Why… Why do you still want me around?"

Joke frowned. He could see Jack watching him from a distance; it was a habit now, if Jack wasn't with him physically, then he was watching him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… my father was the one who brought Carbon into our lives… and you… You know how that turned out to be, what almost happened…"

Joke paused for a second.

"And what's supposed to have to do anything with you?"

Aran stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Aran, since when did we hold you accountable for whatever your father had done?"

Aran bowed his head, shaking it slowly in a soft no.

"What would make us start now? and Carbon was not brought on by your father, he came on his own accord to seek some a revenge he had against Jack…"

"But…"

"But ?"

"I am no use to you, I am not like Hoy and Tattoo, I don't know how to work with my own hands, I am not like Jack and Hope… I am not as smart as Save…"

Joke's frown was downright turning into an expression of horror, and that was enough for Jack to come back to the table.

"What is it?"

Joke turned to Jack, shaking his head softly.

"Aran is asking us why we are not letting him go now that he is no use to us…"

Jack frowned, looking between Aran and Joke.

"That's gotta be some sort of a prank… Right?"

Joke shook his head, Jack dropped next to his husband.

"I don't know what made you think like that, but I don't think we can spare letting you go…"

"P'Jack…"

"Listen… After all that had happened, after everything, I can tell you without a shred of doubt that you are irreplaceable…"

Joke nodded, and Aran's eyes filled with tears without him meaning to.

"If Tattoo saw you cry, or Hope, they will think we are upsetting you and they will raise all kinds of hell…"

Aran wiped at his eyes sharply…

"I am not crying…"

Jack chuckled softly.

"Yeah, Right! Gotta go, Husband, I will come collect you in a bit…"

"OK, Teerak…"

Jack kissed Joke's cheek before leaving them alone again, in part to let Aran compose himself and in another to keep the others away from that conversation.

"Heard it yourself?"

"P'Joke…"

"I know the feeling… trust me, I do, but I can tell you without a doubt that we cannot let you go even if we want to… OK?"

Aran nodded; he could feel the heat of Tattoo's gaze on him, and he was more than tempted to look.

"He is staring daggers, just so you know…"

Aran chuckled softly…

He might have no father, no mother, and no family to turn to, but he can always count on the little pegs to get his back, no matter what he thought of himself.

Chapter Text

Hoy stared at the snake in confusion momentarily before hearing one of the children scream, calling for Jack…

"P'JACK, HELP!!… THERE'S A SNAKE IN THE CLASSROOM!!"

Hoy turned to the children, hearing more than seeing Jack running from wherever he was to the classroom they were in.

The snake was dead, Hoy had hit it already with a stone and killed it, but it must have managed to get him before then because he could feel a sting on his hand.

"Don't worry, kids, it won't hurt any of you anymore, and it's not poisonous anyway.

Hope said he came running behind Jack, picking up the dead snake and examining it, before disposing of it safely away.

"Are you OK, Hoy?" Jack asked softly.

"Yeah! Yeah! I am fine… Are you all fine, Kids?"

Hoy heard the soft murmur of affirmation between the kids before Jack nodded to him, and he and Hope disappeared out of the classroom.

If all he could focus on during the rest of the day was the pulsing pain in his hand and the heat that was thrumming under his skin, it was only for him to know.

Chapter Text

Following Day 19

Hoy remembered a time when Hope almost killed him and Tattoo, but back then everything was different, Joke had just come into their lives, and Hope still thought that being loyal to Boss would lead him somewhere…

He couldn't imagine his life without them now, no matter how he tried…

It was why losing Joke hurt, not only because it almost drove Jack - the kindest person he knew-into utter madness, but because he missed him the second he realized he might not come back.

The rest of the day in the center passed in a blur, and all the while, Hoy could barely register anything other than the fact that something was wrong with him.

He had heard Hope saying that the snake wasn't poisonous, and he had searched the snake up and knew from the internet that he was probably not, but that didn't explain the feeling of wariness and sickness that was drowning him.

"Hoy? Are you OK? You look a bit pale…"

Hoy looked up to see Save staring at him, he was probably doing one of his rounds around the center, since Rose hadn't showed up for more than a week now.

"I don't know…"

Save frowned.

"You don't know?"

Hoy shook his head. He tried to explain it, but it was lost on him; all he could feel was heat thrumming under his skin, his body was heavy like it was weighted down with a hundred stones.

"Hoy? Let me ask Tattoo to take you home, I don't think you are OK…"

Hoy was about to stand and reach out for Save to stop him, but the second he stood up, he felt the gravity pull him back down, and he had no energy to fight it back.

He heard shouts, felt hands shake him, but the sickness he was feeling was pulling him under way too fast, so he closed his eyes and surrendered.

When he managed to open his eyes again, the heat he had felt had turned into full-blown fever; the sickness was everywhere, and he was tired from the mere act of opening his eyes.

"Are you sure the snake wasn't poisonous?" He heard Tattoo ask

"Yeah, The Hospital also said as much, but the bite itself is bound to make him that sick…" Hope answered easily.

Hoy closed his eyes again, not able to fight the pull of tiredness any longer.

When he opened his eyes again, Joke was sitting next to him, changing a wet towel that must have been on his forehead.

"Hey? Can you hear me?" Joke asked softly

Hoy nodded.

"What happened?"

"You didn't tell us that the snake bit you, you collapsed a bit after, and we took you to the hospital, because Hope had the presence of mind to think that the two things might be related."

Hoy nodded, and he could barely open his eyes.

"Why do I feel like that?"

"The bite makes whoever sick, even if the snake doesn't have poison… 3 days of fever and sickness…"

Hoy whined softly, and Joke almost chuckled.

"Why are you here, and where's your husband?"

"Right here as well, Idiot…" He could hear Jack's voice from one corner of the room.

"The Others?"

"Resting… We have been taking turns keeping you company till your fever breaks…"

Jack came into Ho's vision, a glass of cold water in his hands before he and Joke helped him drink it.

"You should sleep… You will be OK once your fever breaks…"

Hoy nodded, he was already beyond tired…

When he opened his eyes again, it was the dead of the night, he didn't need anything as per se, but it seemed like his body had had enough rest as it is.

He got up from his pillow and was surprised to find his gang scattered around the room in different positions.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Save, holding his thumb to his lips in a hush sign, before putting a thermometer to his lips, sighing in relief when the he pulled it back.

"It finally broke…" Save said in a hushed tone.

"It did?"

Save nodded

"Three days on the mark, you should start feeling better tomorrow, sleep a bit…"

"Have… Have you all been here all along?"

Save raised an eyebrow…

"Where else?"

Hoy shook his head, lowering himself back onto the bed, smiling…

Those little pigs might have been the biggest problem he ever put himself in, but it was the best thing that had ever happened to him as well.

Chapter Text

Following Day 12 & 13

Save had a broken arm and a couple of broken ribs, not to mention the concussion and the cut to his forehead from all the punches, which led the chair he was tied to to fall a couple of times.

Hope sat next to him as he slept, Jack managing the entire process with the hospital, including the police report for all that had happened and anything Hope might need to be able to stay with Save… because he was unlikely to go anywhere…

"It's my fault…" Hope whispered softly, Jack was sitting far away, not willing to leave his best friend on his own, despite his partner being there.

"I doubt it…"

Hope turned to him sharply.

"Listen! I said the same thing once, I said more than the same thing, you have been there to see it if I recall correctly, and I can assure you, it has nothing to do with you, the person who hurt you and him is the only one to blame, you saved him, you got him out and got him to safety…"

Hope swallowed hard, nodding before his eyes went back to focus on Save.

"Joke…"

"He is on his way with the others, They were restless enough as it is. Grandma is coming with them as well…"

Hope nodded, and the silence between him and Jack stretched.

—

When Save opened his eyes, the room was empty…

He didn't remember anything other than being in Hope's arms and passing out; he didn't recall a hospital or anything that he was starting to fear Hope coming to save him with Jack was a dream…

He saw a nurse tinkering with his IV bag from the corner of his eye and turned to her.

"H…Hey… Do you know how I got here?"

The nurse turned to him worriedly…

"You don't recall?"

"I am not sure…"

"Wait, I will call the doctor…"

Save closed his eyes for a second, and he could hear a commotion just outside his room, but he thought it might be some rowdy patient or something, before the door opened again and the noise came into his room.

"What do you mean you think he damaged his memory?" Hope's booming voice came, and Save opened his eyes to see Hope and the doctor in the room with him as the doctor approached his bed.

"Khun Save, it's good to see you awake. I was told you have trouble remembering some things. Do you mind if I check and examine you?"

Save shook his head, trying to answer the doctor…

"That's not what I said, I… remember, I just said that I wasn't sure what I thought had happened wasn't a dream…"

"OK, in that case, can you tell me who that gentleman is?"

"Hope… He is… He is my partner…"

Hope sagged in visible relief.

"Well, I don't see the problem… Good having you back, Khun Save, your friends and your partner had been very worried."

The doctor walked out and Hope wasted no time getting in his place and pulling Save to his arms, he was stopped when Save hissed in pain.

"Sorry… Sorry… I forgot all about that arm…"

Hope pushed Save to lean back on the pillows, making sure he was alright before he sat down again.

"You came to save me…"

Hope cocked his head to the side.

"When did I not do that, and why would I start now?"

"But they wanted to hurt you…"

"Didn't matter, they cannot even if they wanted, and Jack was there, we kicked the hell out of them…"

Save chuckled, feeling the pull of his broken ribs and settling back down…

"Then why did I wake up alone?"

"Yeah, That… We got kicked out of the room, everyone was here and apparently we were making a shit load of notice so we all got kicked out, I was allowed back in when the nurse said that you might have memory damage…"

"Oh…"

Hope nodded.

"They are wishing you well, Grandma says she will cook some of your favorites and bring them along when she comes alone to see you later…"

Save smiled.

"So… How long was I out for? And how long would I have to stay here?"

"You were out for almost two days, but it's not for the reasons you think. They kept you on heavy painkillers for a bit because of the amount of broken bones you had… and you will have to stay at least a week for observation…"

"Too Long…"

"Not Long enough, I know the second you step out of here, you will want to go back to the center and get to work, I would rather you stay here than work yourself to the ground…"

Save smiled, reaching with his good hand to touch a bruise on Hope's face.

"Thank you…"

Hope held his hand and kissed it.

"It's my duty as your partner and lover…"

Save used the hold Hope had on his hand to pull him to his side, tucking himself against Hope, in the comfort and safety of his arms.

"Get some rest, Love…" Save heard Hope whisper, kissing the crown of his head.

If Grandma later came to find Save and Hope asleep in the tiny bed wrapped in each other's arms, it was no one's business.

Chapter Text

Save stared at his partner, dumbfounded as he led the small child to safety…

"You… You… That car hit you…"

Hope shrugged it off, handing the child to their mother, who thanked them profusely, before walking off with the child, who kept waving at them.

"I feel fine…"

Save felt like he might lose his mind…

"I doubt you are, I am taking you to the hospital now!!"

"Wait, Save!!"

Save dragged Hope - literally - into the next taxi he found, asking the driver to go to the hospital.

"I feel really fine…"

Save looked at him worriedly, before he reached with the cuff of his sleeve to wipe something off Hope's forehead, before showing him.

"Feel fine?"

Hope stared at the bloody cuff in confusion, before he reached with his hand to touch his head, and it came back bloody.

"I… I didn't feel it…"

"Yeah, it's probably the adrenaline… That's why I am dragging you to the hospital now, I don't trust you to know if you are hurt or not, not in this state…"

Hope stared at the bloody cuff some more, as the taxi took them to the hospital, once the car stopped moving at the entrance, Save moved to help Hope out.

"I… I can get out and move myself…"

"Yeah, lean on me, it will make me feel more comfortable… I don't want you to double over all of a sudden…"

Hope let Save wrap his arm around his waist, Hope's other arm resting around Save's neck as they strode into the ER.

Save was the one telling the doctor what had happened since he didn’t trust Hope in his current state to know what was actually wrong with him, and Save wasn’t going to risk it.

“Oh, It’s probably just the adrinale, we will run a couple of tests and scans to check him for any injuries, just sit tight and tell anyone if you started to feel any discomfort.”

Hope was led through the motions of all the scans and exams before he was led back to the ER. Save practically pushed him to lie down before sitting next to him.

“Now that you all said it, I am starting to feel a bit off…”

“That’s probably all the adrenaline receding from your system…” Save nodded worriedly.

Soon enough, it was a struggle for Hope to keep his eyes open, his head was starting to hurt enough to make something as small as the lights bother him.

The doctor came and told Save that Hope would need a couple of stitches to his forehead, and that he had a concussion, but other than that, the only issue was the amount of scattered bruises around his body.

“He needs to rest a bit, and he will be good as new in a couple of days…”

Save nodded, watching as the doctor placed the stitches. Hope was practically asleep by the time the doctor was done, between the adrenaline receding and the painkillers and anesthesia he was given, he was knocked out.

“Let him rest for a bit, it would be better to keep him for observation for a day…”

Save nodded, sitting next to Hope as he slept…

“An idiot through and through, wouldn’t even know if he got hurt…”

“I heard that…” Hope said softly, not bothering to open his eyes but smirking all the same.

“I don’t care, you were bleeding and you didn’t even notice…”

“It’s good that I had you then, you know how to keep me in one piece…”

Save hummed, tucking Hope’s fringes off his forehead and kissing the bandage.

“Yeah, don’t scare me like that again…”

Hope chuckled, cracking his eyes a slit and looking at Save.

“Next time I play hero, I will get your permission first…”

“You better, you are my hero, my hero exclusively…”

Hope smiled, closing his eyes again and falling asleep almost too easily.

Chapter Text

Following Day 2, 6 & 11

Tattoo didn't want to scare Aran… didn't want to push him away…

But he had had enough of both of them dancing around each other. He knew Aran had feelings for him, knew that life was too short for things to remain as unsaid as both of them let it be…

And above all else, he wanted to protect Aran, to give him a mental push after the shake of confidence he had…

Thanks to Hoy, he knew all about what had happened to Aran, about the burn, how unstable Aran's father was, and how dangerous it was to live with him…

But Aran had withdrawn more than usual, he was actively avoiding Tattoo, despite his eyes lingering on him whenever he thought he wasn't looking…

That was till Jack, Joke, and the entire gang decided to rent a place with a swimming pool and spend the hot summer day swimming and lounging around…

"Where do you think he is?" Hoy asked worriedly, everyone was either in the pool already or sitting by it, everyone but Aran…

Save turned to Hoy, pointing to one of the upper rooms in the villa.

"I don't think he plans to come down without prompting…"

Tattoo nodded, got off his chair, and went inside. It wasn't hard to know where Aran was since it was the only room with its door closed, and everyone was already outside playing in the sun.

Tattoo nodded softly, not saying anything till he heard Aran say a soft "Enter!"

Tattoo got in, Aran was sitting on the bed in that room, fully dressed in the clothes he had come in, staring aimlessly at his hands.

"Aran?"

Aran looked up, confused for a second before he seemed to remember that he had allowed Tattoo to get it.

"What?"

"Why didn't you change?"

Aran opened and closed his mouth a couple of times without an answer.

"I… I changed my mind, I don't want to… to swim, I will head back…"

"Aran?"

"It's OK, you… You and the others can stay…" Aran was already walking to the door to leave, a bag in his hand.

"Aran, Listen!!"

Tattoo reached the door to the room first and closed it with a soft click, stopping Aran from trying to flee the room.

"What? I said I don't want to…"

"It's OK if you don't want to, you can just hang around with us, don't you think so?"

Aran stared at Tattoo without saying anything.

"I… I assume so…"

Tattoo nodded, smiling softly at him.

"Then just wear something more comfy and come with me, I will be waiting here with you till you are ready…"

"You don't have to…"

"It's OK, I would rather spend time with you than watch Hoy swallow pool water…"

Aran laughed softly. He opened his bag and grabbed a change of clothes before heading to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him

Tattoo didn't have to look harder into the bag to see the first-aid kit, he didn't have to imagine the amount of pain a third-degree burn had given Aran, or the scar it left behind.

Aran came out a couple of minutes later, clad in a sun shirt that covered his body entirely and a swimming shorts…

He took a tube of sunscreen from the bag before standing before the mirror…

Tattoo wasted no time, he had wasted enough, and he wasn't going to watch as Aran got hurt again, as he suffered, and through he was useless and unloved.

He approached Aran from behind, wrapped his arms around his waist loosely…

"Tattoo? What?"

"I… I have been meaning to tell you that I like you a lot, really like you."

Aran seized all movements, staring at Tattoo's face in the mirror without a word.

"I don't mind you spending time in our room, I don't mind you moving entirely in…"

He leaned in and pressed his lips softly to a point under Aran's ear.

"I… I think you are beautiful, Aran, beautiful despite all you might think…"

"That's not… not true…"

"Because?"

Aran didn't say anything for a minute, and Tattoo decided he might as well take it all the way.

He dropped to his knees and pushed Aran's shirt off his waist enough to expose the burn; he almost whimpered, it looked horribly painful, but it didn't take anything from Aran's beauty or value…

He pressed his lips to it, caressing Aran's waist, who stood like a statue…

"You are beautiful… so beautiful, and He cannot take that away from you…"

Tattoo lowered the shirt back down, standing and turning Aran in his arms so that he was facing him.

"He cannot take anything away from you…"

If Tattoo held Aran as he cried his fear and frustration out, it was only for them to know…

Chapter Text

Following Day 8

Finding out who did that to Joke wasn't just hard, it was impossible…

whoever had taken Joke away and hid him, made sure to leave no trail behind them, made sure that there was also no one alive to tell of what had exactly happened…

Only one person remained, the police officer who had found both Carbon and Joke in the first place.

And speaking to that one person wasn't easy, they were threatened over and over, told to keep away, but eventually there must have been some conscience remaining in him because he told them one weird tale…

He told them of being summoned by a rich businessman who paid him a shit load of money to hide the fact that Joke was alive, handing the unconcious boy over to a couple of men that shoved him in a back of a car before driving off without a word being said.

"He said his daughter wanted to marry someone related to that Joke, and the only way that would happen was if that person vanishes off the face of the earth…"

The man then took the first plane out of the country with his family and was never seen again…

It was how Jack had connected the dots, Save and Hope barely holding him back from going to Rose's place and offing her and her father for what they had done to him and Joke, knowing without a doubt that not only Rose had known and seen him as he suffered, she failed to tell him the truth later on, once Joke was rescused, she hid the truth through and through, siding with a father who almost caused her own death at some point.

Once he had settled down enough not to go on a killing rampage, it was time for planning…

Planning for vengeance… for revenge…

Because not only him who wanted Rose to pay, it was all of them... 

Chapter Text

Following Day 8 & 24

Rose knew something was wrong the second Jack locked the door of the office behind both of them…

"Jack?"

"I want to know why you did it…"

Jack didn't need to elaborate. She knew exactly what he meant, but she had no idea how to explain anything to him.

"It wasn't me… I swear, I never wanted any of this… He did it behind my back, just like last time…"

"And like last time, Carbon tired to take him away from me and kill him, except that this time it wasn't Carbon, it was your father, who cared nothing about us, unless you told him something that made him think I will swoon under your feet the second Joke is gone?"

The last bit Jack shouted in her face, and she shrank away.

"Jack…"

"You said you loved me, but I don't think you know what that is. You just wanted to own me, no matter what happened, did you think for a second that anything will be left of me to love you back if Joke was gone, Losing him meant that I had no life anymore, but you wouldn't know that, you are a spoiled brat of a girl, Rose."

"I swear, I didn't know…"

"Oh, I don't care… You were in at least for a part of it, if you truly didn't know and didn't care, you would have come to me, but you chose not to, chose to hide the truth…"

"I couldn't… I couldn't tell the truth…"

"You couldn't tell me that your father tried to kill my husband? The same father who almost blew your head off?"

Rose swallowed hard, her words lost, but Jack was far from done.

"I have evidence that not only incriminates you and your father, but also puts you and your father as part of everything that Boss and Carbon did, and I am not scared to use it…"

"Jack, Please…"

"But I won't, do you know why?"

Rose swallowed hard, and Jack leaned on her, smiling manically.

"So that you will spend your days in fear and worry, you will always wait for me to strike, you will always worry that I will wake up and decide to get back at you for what you had done to me and my husband…"

"You cannot… Jack, that's not like you..."

"I can and I will, and just so you know, Joke knows nothing about this, but everyone else more or less has an idea, so you are no longer welcome in the center, I don't want to see your face there… and it's not just me... It's everyone, Grandma practically said she might kill you if she ever saw you again, and I am not sure I can stop her, after all, I am barely holding back myself."

Tears already were streaming down her face…

"If you try to touch Joke again, if you try to talk to him or tell him to make him get you off my wrath, I will do everything in my power to end you and your father Rose, I will show you exactly what it feels exactly to lose everything…"

Jack turned his back on her, unlocked the door, and walked out.

Rose dropped into the nearest chair…

She had lost everything, and none of it was coming back, no matter what she did.

Chapter Text

Jack stared at the cut on his side for far too long before he pulled the t-shirt over it and his jacket and walked out of the bathroom.

Joke was sitting, dressed on the bed, scrolling through his phone, raising his eyes when Jack walked out, staring at him for a moment and Jack almost squirmed, knowing he could hardly hide anything from Joke let alone an injury.

"I think it's about time you show me, don't you think?"

Jack hesitated, and Joke took that as all the invitation he needed to get off the bed and push Jack to sit down, pushing his jacket off his shoulder softly and pulling his t shirt up his arms.

And there it was, the cut from breaking Toi's fall when she almost fell off a ladder at the center.

They had both landed on a bit of broken glass, but while Toi's body had been protected by Jack's… Jack's body landed directly on the glass.

He had managed to hide it from Joke for almost a couple of days, but apparently Joke had only been waiting for him to tell him himself and had known all along.

"It's not as bad as it looks…"

Joke looked at him, and Jack clamped his mouth shut.

"It was a piece of dirty glass, Jack… It's exposed, you don't tell me it's not as bad as it looks when it's well on its way to be infected…"

Jack winced, and Joke sighed, pulling Jack by the back of the head to kiss his forehead.

"You should have come to me…"

"I didn't think it was that serious, just a cut…"

"Doesn't look so, Teerak…"

Jack didn't answer, and Joke pulled back, heading to one of the closets and pulling a small box out of it, sitting next to Jack on the bed, before pushing him to lie down.

"Get comfy for the next bit, it will hurt a little…"

Jack nodded, his eyes fixated on Joke's face as he focused on cleaning and bandaging his cut, it did sting, and hurt but all Jack could focus on was Joke as his face contoured in several emotions while bandaging him before kissing the spot and looking back at Jack.

"All Done… Did it hurt too much?"

Jack pushed himself up on his elbows and caught Joke's lips in a soft kiss.

"No… It didn't…"

Joke hummed, smiling softly against Jack's lips, before he pulled back and popped a couple of pills out, putting them to Jack's lips, who swallowed them without question.

Joke turned to put the supplies back in the small box, and Jack waited for him to be done before he pulled him from the arm on top of him, lying down on the bed, wrapping his arms around Joke's frame.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to go to the center?"

Jack shook his head, tightening his hold around Joke. He was still shirtless, and since he was, he might as well pull his husband into bed with him and forgo the entirety of the world.

"Sounds good to me…"

Joke said, and Jack didn't need to see his face to know he was smiling.

If the rest of the day they spent together in bed, it was worth Jack hiding his injury.

Chapter Text

Prequel to Day 26

Toi grew way too careless with both Jack and Joke around her…

And both of them had been letting it happen for many reasons, one of those, or rather the most important, was that she had suffered enough for a child…

But while Joke seemed to handle her with the softest of hands, Jack wanted to give her a bit of structure, a bit of a firm hand that would help her be the best version of herself as time went by…

However, they both agreed on one thing…

She had to be kept safe and off any surface that was a meter above the ground, because Joke wasn't going to go through another scare like that one again, no matter what, and Jack was inclined to agree with that.

So when Toi climbed that ladder, Jack and Joke were not present to witness it, or rather, stop it…

She was helping some of her classmates decorate when all of a sudden the ladder became unstable, and she almost tumbled down crushing to the floor, if it wasn't for Jack who had just came in the right moment to break Toi's fall, cradling her against his chest as both of them fell down.

Some of her classmates had ran to Joke, telling him what had happened and Joke's heart dropped to the bit of his stomach, as he rushed to the classroom to find Toi being examined by none other than Jack, who was clad in a black t shirt and shirt that was now dusted on the back from hitting the floor.

When she looked around and saw Joke, her face reddened, rushing to him and assuring him that she was sorry and she was alright….

But as she turned to him to go back to her classmates, Joke noticed the red spot on his shirt and pulled her back in softly…

"Are you hurt? Do you feel alright?"

"Yes, P'Joke… I am fine, I swear…"

Joke poked the red spot, waiting for a reaction from Toi, when none came he asked her directly.

"Nothing hurts here?"

"No… Why you ask?"

"There's blood on your shirt, Toi…"

Toi shook her head, holding Joke's fingers and letting him poke and prod her to assure himself that she was unhurt.

"It's not my blood, P'Joke…"

It was then that Joke noticed the bloody glass on the floor and realized that Jack was no where to be found.

Chapter Text

Joke walked into the classroom quietly…

It was one of the rather busy days at the center, He had hardly seen Jack since both off them arrived at the center, but the place was slowly emptying out.

The last of the kids in Jack's class had passed by Joke, telling him that their Phi was dead on his feet, that they thought he must have fallen asleep in the classroom.

and True to that, Joke walked in to find his husband asleep on his folded hands on one of the desks, the blasting air conditioner kept the room cool enough that Joke's own skin erupted in goosebumps as he walked in.

Joke opened a locker in the corner and pulled out a blanket that was kept there in case one of the kids needed to stay the night if their parents were working late.

He spread it over Jack's shoulders quietly, frowning when Jack didn't move or grow restless…

He had been sleeping way lighter than Joke remembered, he was always awake after a single touch, and If Joke did as much as whimper in his sleep, Jack would be awake in second, that wasn't the only thing, the work in the center also seemed to double up, especially when Rose stopped showing up out of the blue, Joke hadn't been adamant about having her around Jack that he didn't exactly miss her.

Joke sat next to Jack quietly, leaning to wrap his arms around Jack's shoulders, letting him rest a bit before it would be time to take him home so that both of them could get actual rest.

"Jack…" Save walked into the classroom, and Joke barely managed to put his finger to his lips to shush him before he would wake Jack up.

Save winced, nodding in understanding but approaching the two nonetheless.

"Why didn't you take him home yet? I was told he had been struggling to focus all day…"

"Just letting him rest, I was going to go back to wrap up any loose ends and then wake him up…"

"Don't bother, we can take care of it… Just drag him home already, he had been up and at it too hard…"

"Yeah, with Rose's absence as well, it seemed that there was more work added to both your agendas…"

Something dark crossed Save's features before it smoothed in his usual calm expression.

"That's ok, you won't hear me complain, but I don't think he had been resting enough, I am pretty sure you noticed it…"

Joke nodded.

"It's my fault…"

"Nope, not really, and don't let him hear you say that. You both went through something horrible, it's not your fault that his sense of security is still shaky, and it's not his fault whatever happened to you…"

"Wait! He thinks it's his fault…" Joke whispered in shock

Save nodded.

"He said it so many times that Hope now just wacks him on the head whenever he starts saying it…"

Joke swallowed hard, looking worriedly at Jack’s sleeping form, before getting off the desk and leading Save out of the classroom.

“It’s not…It’s all Carbon’s fault, and he is dead…”

Save closed his eyes for a second as if he was trying to shake a painful memory, or suppress anger before he spoke.

“My Point is that, it’s noone’s fault, he had been working too hard, way too hard not only to take care of you but to keep Toi and Grandma from losing their minds after they thought they lost you, he had been working too hard to drown all the feeling he felt that Tattoo and Hope had been placing bets when he would crash…”

“I didn’t know…”

Save shook his head.

“He made sure you wouldn’t. He didn’t want you to worry while you had barely been recovering to begin with, seeing you struggle to even lift your head off the pillows wasn’t easy, not just on him but on all of us…”

Joke swallowed hard, Save put a hand on his shoulder

“I am not telling you all of this to make you worry, on the contrary, I am glad you are with us, I am more than glad that we didn’t lose you, but I aslo have to ask you to stop him before he crashes and burns just because he dones’t know how to stop himself from overworking.”

Joke nodded, turning back to see Jack where he had left him.

–

Jack leaned back, humming as his back hit the mattress, and closed his eyes in clear exhaustion.

“You are working too hard…”

Jack opened his eyes, Joke was leaning on him, his hand caressing his cheek softly as he looked at him worriedly.

“I am ok, Don’t worry…”

Joke shook his head.

“You are ok, but I don’t want to wait and let you get away with it till you crash in exhaustion…”

Jack stared at Joke calmly, he knew he could see through all the act he had been putting up since Joke was found, he knew he barely managed to keep himself together all the while, leaning on one thing after another, being strong for Grandma, being strong for Toi, and then being strong because Joke was too weak and needed him.

And that wasn’t even the end of it, there was the issue of what Rose had done…

But if Joke asked anything of him, he wouldn’t have a choice but to comply…

“I… I will be careful… I will not overwork, I promise…”

The glint in Joke’s eyes stole Jack’s breath away…

“Thank you… I love you, Teerak…. I love you so much…”

Jack smiled, his heart skipping a beat at the clear love he could see in Joke’s eyes as he leaned forward and kissed him, something he had hardly been able to keep himself not to doing all the time and almost everywhere.

“Love you too, Joke… My Joke…”

If Jack spent the following couple of days in the house just to rest, because Joke asked him to, it was only for him to know. 

Chapter Text

Reference to several stories in the series, but direct reference to day 28

The second Rose walked into the center, she knew she was not welcome…

She could see the looks shared between Tattoo and Save, could see all their eyes land on her and the anger radiating off them before Save moved to intercept her.

“Khun Rose! What are you doing here?” The last part was said as a sneer, and Rose almost flinched before she shook it off and kept her composure.

“Checking my project, Manager Save… Is there anything wrong with that?”

She could see Hope dropping whatever was in his hands and staring daggers at her, and she swallowed hard.

“Check it all you want, Khun Rose… But please be fast, we don’t have time to entertain unwelcome guests.”

The meaning was clear as Save led Rose to the manager's office, unlocking it and following her inside, keeping the door open in a clear sign that she wasn’t welcome to stay for long.

“Where’s Jack? Joke?”

The fire that was in Save’s gaze when she met it, told her that she had asked the exact question taht might result in her not walking out of the centre.

“What do you want with them?”

“I… I wanted to speak with Jack…”

Hope walked into the office, followed by Hoy, both of them looking like they were a second away from committing a murder.

“That’s not going to happen, Jack is on leave with Joke for a couple of days…”

“I..”

“You better go, If you value your life, because I cannot trust myself not bury you where you are standing, Khun Rose…” Hope said with a smile that was boarding on manical.

Aran had just walked in as well, and the phone in his hand was a clear indication that he was ready to raise all kinds of hell.

“Hope… Guys, just listen!”

“If you show your face again, or try to approach any of them, we cannot guarantee your safety…”

Rose didn’t have any words to say. She walked out of the office and out of the centre with her head bowed.

She deserved it… She had broken their trust… and she had to live with the consequences.

Chapter Text

Joke was smart enough to figure it all out on his own…

The first indication was the way everyone was treating Rose, which he noticed when Rose popped out of the blue in the centre and it was as clear as day that she wasn’t welcome, that even Aran had been looking at her like he wanted to kill her.

He was starting to recall frigments of things that had happened between falling into the water and walking up in that bed, locked away, and some of those were of Rose’s father.

The rest was even more simple, all he had to do is to ask Hope, because Hope wouldn’t lie to him or try to spare his feelings, not like the others, not like Jack.

And Hope hesitated, and he was had never been one to hesitate… it was as much as an answer of itself.

“I cannot find him, How could you tell him something like that?” Jack shouted the last bit, he had been surprised when Hope came to the house, tension bleeding out of him as he told Jack about Joke coming to ask him if Rose was the one behind what had hapepned to him, Rose and her father…

“I didn’t… I didn’t even say a word, I was surprised, he must have taken it as the confirmation he needed, because he turned and walked out of the centre and vanished into thin air…”

Tears were already glistening in Jack’s eyes…

“Where did he go?”

The others had already arrived when Hope called Save, telling them what had happened; all of them were ready to scatter around to find their missing little pig.

“He cannot be far… We will spread around and look for him. Whoever finds him first should call the others, ok?” Tattoo said calmly, already heading out the door, followed by Aran.

Soon Jack was the only one in the house, his grandma staring at him worriedly.

“He might be angry, but he won’t leave you… He won’t let you go…”

Jack had his doubts, he was the reason all of that had happened to Joke after all…

–

“He is at the pier…”

The call made Jack’s blood run cold, Hoy had managed to find Joke where he had expected him to be, where it all had started, where Joke almost died to save Jack and the others…

Jack couldn’t get there fast enough, running towards Joke the second he caught sight of him sitting on the pier, his legs dangling over the edge.

“J…Joke?”

Joke turned to Jack, there was an expression of loss on his face, loss and something akin to confusion.

“What are you doing here?”

“I am sorry, I am sorry, it’s all my fault… I am so sorry…”

Jack approached him softly, tears of anger and regret were falling on his face, and much like the night he almost lose Joke, he tried to support himself on the railing as he reached out for Joke.

“What for?” Joke asked calmly, his gaze on the water rather than on Jack.

“I couldn’t tell you… I…”

Joke turned to Jack, standing up to face him, sighing like there was the weight of the world on his chest.

“It’s not… It’s not your fault, Jack…”

Jack shook his head…

“It is… It is my fault, you warned me about Rose, about her feelings, I should have been more careful, I should have listened… She almost took you away from me…”

Jack reached Joke, reaching to touch him, and was almost relieved when Joke allowed it.

“I… I am sorry, Please… Please I am so sorry…”

Joke shook his head.

“I… It’s not your fault, I never thought of it as your fault, whether it was Rose or anyone else… what’s done is done…”

“But… But you left, I thought you… I thought you might leave for good…”

Joke looked stricken a bit.

“There’s nowhere else I would go, nowhere else I would rather be… I just… I just felt betrayed… We saved her, Carbon could have killed her, her father could have as well… she just… she just betrayed you and me, all of us. I was angry, that’s why I came here, I wouldn’t leave you, I… I cannot breathe with you, let alone live.”

Jack almost screamed in utter relief, his hold on Joke’s shoulder almost painfully hard.

“I thought… I thought you regretted it… I thought…”

Joke shook his head, smiling sadly at Jack

“I would do it all again for you… all for you, Teerak”

Jack nodded, trying to smile, but it was more like a sob.

“Do you know what I need now?” Joke asked softly, his face tight as if he was suppressing tears himself.

“What, Joke? Anything, ask me anything!”

“I need a hug… I need a hug, please.”

Jack pulled Joke into his arms, crushing him against his chest, wrapping him too tightly as if he wanted to hide him between his ribs.

“I love you, Teerak… I love you so much.” Joke said, his voice choked with tears.

This time, when Joke said it, Jack managed to say it back, and Joke didn’t disappear like last time.

They had a life ahead of them... and this time no one would ever be able to separate them.