Chapter Text
If Neil thought that Eden’s was hell, that the bar that Seth and Allison had stumbled into must have been the darkest pits. It was dark and crowded, just like Eden’s had been, but there seemed to be even more bodies, many of which were past the point of heavy intoxication – they bordered on suffering from alcohol poisoning.
The smell of sweat and cheap booze infiltrated his nose, making him want to gag. Neil kept his breaths shallow and his head held high though. Not that it helped much. Curse his height, or rather lack thereof, which made it impossible to see over the crowd to spot where the pair had disappeared to. Neil couldn’t be spotted so that meant finding Seth, who would be easier to see, before Seth found him.
Neil also kept an eye out for anyone that seemed even remotely familiar. A shock of black hair, irises the color of night, anything that would tell him he was about to come face to face with a Raven. He doubted he’d see Riko, that would be a stupid play no matter how angry the man was. No, Riko wouldn’t stoop to that level, he would send someone else out to do his dirty work, as he often did. There were plenty of individuals associated with the Moriyama family that Neil didn’t know, faces he likely wouldn’t recognize at a quick glance, and that made his chest tighten.
Amidst the dozens of faces that he passed, any of them could be preparing to strike. The worst part was that they would know who Neil was. Would they attack him? Likely not. Just like with Kevin, leaving a mark on Neil at the moment would bring too much attention to the Ravens. The attack on the Foxes had to look random, had to be clean.
That was why Seth was the perfect target: a past history of drug use, hadn’t been at the Ferdinand show, didn’t appear close to Neil or Kevin, plus he didn’t have the same status that someone like Allison had. Taking out Seth would be a simple no strings attached kind of deal. It was sick, but Neil understood the thought process behind it all.
Bodies grinded against him, making his stomach twist and churn, but Neil kept his eyes open. He’d gotten rather close to the pair who still had yet to spot him. They were hanging out near the bar, Seth ordering drinks, and Allison sipping on a beer. She rested a hand on Seth’s chest and kept it there. The two of them were in a good mood then.
As much as it annoyed Neil to think it, he hoped that the positivity would continue.
He kept a keen eye on their drinks, making sure nobody slipped anything into them. That would be the easiest way to go about it: drug Seth, stage it as an overdose. It was so simple.
Seth and Allison broke away from the bar, the latter pulling Seth towards the dance floor – or rather a sad excuse for one.
Neil kept the walls, standing on his toes to get a better look. Sweat dripped down his back and the pungent smell of weed floated in front of him. The thought of watching the two all night sounded awful, but if it kept Seth alive then Neil had to do it.
So he watched.
As minutes passed exhaustion started to creep over his body. But Neil kept his eyes open, completely peeled. At any second something could happen and he needed to make sure that he caught it so that nobody died. Killing someone would be rather extreme, but Neil didn’t doubt that Riko would take it to such levels. He just needed to keep watch. Watch. Watch everything before him. Watch over the crowd. Watch over Seth and Allison. Watch for a Raven or anyone else that exuded the energy that someone from Edgar Allen did. Just keep watching.
Neil’s eyes slipped closed for a split moment, not even a minute. It was probably thirty seconds at most, but that was enough for Seth and Allison to disappear from his gaze. Panic jumped in his chest. Neil immediately broke away from the wall, pushing through the crowd to find the pair before it was too late. He couldn’t believe he let them get out of his sight, that he had slipped. Neil mentally cursed himself, furious that he hadn’t paid as much attention as he should have. What was even the point of following the two to the bar if he was just going to fuck everything up once he got there?
He chewed his lip, the sting grounding him. Just find Seth. Just find Allison. Just-
Neil was yanked back by the collar of his shirt. “What the hell are you doing here, Hatford?” Allison was standing behind him, nails nearly digging into his skin. Her grip on his shirt was tight, but she let it go before Neil could fight back. “Are you following me?”
Neil looked around. “Where’s Seth?”
Allison crossed her arms. There were too many bodies around them. The music was too loud, the ground sticky. “Why are you so obsessed with him tonight?”
He was two seconds from losing it completely. “Allison, where is Seth?”
She was quiet for a second, looking him over. Neil was sure he looked worse for wear – the night, the bar, taking its toll on him. Allison pursed her lips. “He’s in the bathroom if you need to know so bad.”
Without a second more to waste, Neil tore off to find where the bathroom was.
“Wait!” Allison called out after him.
He was sure she was following, but Neil didn’t look back. He had one person he needed to focus on and that was all he could pay attention to. There was a line outside of the bathroom, not too long, but long enough that men started to yell at him for cutting. Neil ducked under arms and hands that tried to pull him back. There wasn’t any time to deal with them. “Seth!” He called out a few times but there wasn’t a response.
The bathroom stank, almost as bad as the alley did. Neil started to bang on stall doors. “Seth, Allison wants to leave.” The mention of the man’s girlfriend could possibly get him moving.
There wasn’t any movement though. The men in the bathroom started to haggle him to leave, but Neil wasn’t doing so without Seth. He started looking under the few stall doors until he spotted the most horrendous sneakers he’d ever seen. Seth. Neil banged on the door. “Seth, you’re leaving, come on.” It was possible that he’d just drunk too much, but Neil had been monitoring his drinks and the alcohol content wasn’t enough to put him in such a state.
Deciding there was only one option left, Neil slammed his shoulder against the door until it gave way under him. It took a moment to get his barrings. He looked to the floor where he expected to find Seth hurling into the toilet, but the man was out cold.
“Shit.” Neil dropped to his knees, immediately searching for a pulse. He pressed two fingers under Seth’s jaw.
There was a heartbeat, faint but there.
Neil scrambled to get his phone. He didn’t like the idea of the cops knowing his number, but he couldn’t let Seth die on him. Patting his pocket, he couldn’t find it. “Shit.” The one time that he actually needed his phone and it was nowhere to be found. “Allison!” He called out.
The woman had her fighting through the crowd last time he checked, but in a moment she was pushing past the men in the bathroom and rushing to Neil’s side. Her hand came up to her mouth. “Oh fuck.”
“Allison.” Neil couldn’t have the woman freak out on him. “You need to call for an ambulance.” His fingers were still on Seth’s neck.
“Right, yeah, Seth you fucking idiot!” Allison dialed the emergency line. She looked at him, focus coming over her face. “Try to make him puke. Whatever’s in his stomach needs to come out.”
“Got it.” Neil tried his best to haul Seth up, letting Allison handle the phone. He leaned Seth’s face over the toilet. It was a horrendous experience, but he knew it was for the best. Neil wasn’t going to let anyone else die. Not Jean. Not Kevin. Not Seth.
Neil’s body moved without his brain. All of his senses became dulled. He knew that Seth threw up. He knew that paramedics came streaming into the bathroom. He knew that he was checked over as well. Neil knew all of these things, but he didn’t truly experience any of them.
Allison sat next to him in the waiting room. Her expression was furious and desolate at the same time. She turned to Neil. “Thanks. I don’t know why you were there, but thanks for helping him.”
Neil didn’t know what to say so he kept his mouth shut. He couldn’t say that anyone else would have done the same thing, he was sure there were several members of the team that wouldn’t.
Allison’s head was in her hands. Even though she found her boyfriend close to death, even though she had been the one to make the call and deal with the doctor’s, she didn’t look like she was about to break. She was upset, that much was clear, but she kept herself together.
At that moment, Neil thought Allison was one of the strongest people he had ever met.
He tucked his knees up to his chest. There she was, thankful beyond belief that Neil had saved Seth – though he didn’t really feel that way, not really, the doctors had done most of the work. Neil had done everything for entirely selfish reasons: he needed to make sure that Seth didn’t die because that would screw up the lineup, that would be a win for Riko, that would put Jean in even more danger. He couldn’t tell Allison any of that, but the silence between them grew awkward, like she was expecting to hear anything at all.
Neil sucked in a breath. “I wouldn’t have changed what I did for anything.” At least that much was true. Telling the truth was strange, it made his stomach twist in an odd way, made him feel vulnerable in a way he hadn’t been before, not with any of the Foxes.
Time passed, the plastic chair began to dig into his back, but he didn’t dare move. Neil didn’t know what would happen if he did. Hospitals were terrible places, but he couldn’t leave, not until he knew for certain that Seth was still alive.
The rest of the upperclassmen came streaming through the hospital doors after a bit of time, Wymack and Abby too. Renee and Dan immediately rushed to Allison’s side, holding her close and making sure she was okay. Neil just looked forward, gaze blank. Matt sat down next to Neil. He sighed. “How are you holding up, man?”
“I’m fine.” Neil’s words came out too quickly to be genuine, but he didn’t know what else to say. There were no proper words to describe how he felt.
Matt shook his head. “I don’t think anyone would be fine after seeing what you and Allison did. You know that’s okay, right?”
Neil turned to look at the man. There was concern on his face, brows pinched together and a frown across his lips. Was it real? Was anything around him actually real? In what world was it okay not to be okay? Neil wished he lived in a world like that, maybe then some of the terrible things that had happened to him wouldn’t have happened, maybe they wouldn’t have hurt so much.
Neil shook his head, not knowing what he really meant by the movement, and went back to looking at the tile in front of him.
Time passed like molasses dripping from a bottle. It felt like a lifetime until the doctor came out and said that Seth was stable. Neil let out a long breath when he heard it. Seth wasn’t going to die. He was going to be okay.
“Hatford, come walk with me.”
Neil looked up. Wymack stood in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. Neil felt like he was glued to his seat. He didn’t want to talk Coach, not at the moment. He wanted to keep his mouth shut and leave as soon as he could now that he knew the situation was handled. But he knew that ignoring any conversation surrounding the night would be a bad look.
Wymack didn’t appear angry, just tired. God, weren’t they all. The night seemed to stretch on for far longer than a handful of hours. Neil didn’t even know what time it was. He braced himself with the arms of the chair and pushed himself up. “Let’s talk then.” He followed Wymack down the hall, hands tucked into his pockets. The hospital was quiet for a weekend.
Wymack didn’t speak for a bit of time, probably waiting to get further from the Foxes. When they were far enough, he sighed. “What were you doing out with Seth tonight?”
Neil looked at his shoes. “Isn’t this a little above your paygrade?”
Wymack scoffed and shook his head. “Usually it would be, but this is going to come back to hit the team, so I think it’s my business now.”
Neil chewed his lip, peeling back dried skin with his teeth. “I was just enjoying a night out.” “Bullshit.” Wymack looked at him. Neil couldn’t help but look back. “It might not seem like I notice what’s going on off the court, but I know this team better than anyone else. I know that you don’t get along with most of the people here. I know that Seth pisses you off. I know that you aren’t the type to spend a night on the town. So,” Wymack raised a brow, “what did you know that made you follow those two?”
Neil’s breath hitched. He couldn’t say the actual reason, couldn’t admit to Wymack of all people that Riko was trying to pick off his team until they were an even bigger mess than they already were. He tried to keep his expression as calm as possible, not letting anything show on his face. He took a breath. “Does Kevin ever tell you anything about the Nest?” It was a decent enough diversion that he knew it would catch Wymack off guard, and it alluded to the reason behind his actions for anyone that dug deep enough.
Wymack squared his shoulders. “Enough to know it was hell.”
Neil clenched his jaw and turned to look down the hall. His footsteps echoed off the walls. Talk about the Nest, don’t talk about the Nest – it was a lose-lose situation where the only winner was the Master. He closed his eyes for a split moment. “There’s the concept of shared punishment, particularly among partners.” He swallowed down his fear. “One’s pain is another's."
By saying those words, Neil knew that he had broken one of the most cardinal rules of the Raves: never speak about what happened to you, especially not to outsiders. It had been an easy rule to follow back at the Nest. Who was he going to tell? When would he have even had the time to do so? Keeping quiet was also simple back there because of the tight leash around his throat. He couldn’t say much of anything without it getting back to the Master in some way.
Now that he was out, even if he was still leashed – just slightly longer this time – he couldn’t help but let some hidden truths fall from his lips. He wouldn’t say it all, couldn’t without his throat closing up like his body knew he wasn’t supposed to be talking. He’d say enough though to make them understand at least a little. Perhaps not fully understand because only another Raven could do that, but at least see the outline of what happened.
Wymack’s expression was unreadable as he processed Neil’s words. His arms were still crossed over his chest, but they seemed tighter in a way, like he was trying to hold himself together in front of the younger in any way that he could. “It’s not about the championship, is it?”
Neil didn’t want to reply. The hospital hallway was too constricting. He needed to get out, to run as far from the hospital as he could. But he couldn’t, and Neil found he didn’t really want to either. Odd.
He swallowed the blood in his mouth. “The Ravens are more than a team.” It was a polished answer, one he’d even heard other members of the team say to the press. The media took it to mean that the Ravens were like family, that they cared for and loved each other. Right, as if that was the case. Nobody suspected what was actually going on beneath the surface. Aside from Wymack, maybe him since he had seen Kevin after Riko broke his hand. The breadcrumbs that Neil was leaving likely wasn’t helping keep everything hidden.
Wymack shook his head, rubbing his temples. “Jesus, kid.” He stopped and stood in the hallway.
Neil stopped as well.
The two turned to face one another.
Neil’s skin itched. His legs twitched. He didn’t think Wymack was going to do anything to them – they had come to an understanding of sorts. It helped that they were in public. He bit his tongue. It was going to be fine, perfectly fine. Okay, not perfect, Neil’s life wasn’t perfect, but it would still be fine.
Wymack looked down at him. “You did good today. Don’t let anyone ruin that for you, alright?”
Neil nodded, voice dead. He was exhausted, but his heart was still beating rapidly in his chest.
***
Neil looked up at the ceiling of his dorm. It felt emptier than usual since Seth wasn’t there. The doctors said he would make a full recovery with time, that he’d been lucky to survive, that it was unlikely he would be back on the court within a month. Neil could have at least predicted the last one.
There was a lot of yelling when the upperclassmen got back to the dorms, all directed towards Andrew’s group for not showing up. They were in Columbia though, so they didn’t hear a thing.
Neil couldn’t sleep. That wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but his body was so exhausted that he expected himself to collapse into the mattress. But he didn’t. He kept his eyes open for hours. He listened to the other Foxes, keeping tabs on who was speaking. Though it was improbable, Neil worried that if he stopped listening that something would happen to them.
They’d be taken under the cover of night. Someone would break into the dorms and kill them. Something, anything terrible could happen to them, and if Neil was asleep then he wouldn’t be able to stop it.
Matt never came into their room, and Neil chalked it up to him spending the night with Dan. They deserved time together after the hell that had gone down earlier in the night.
Neil tried to use his trick of counting in different languages, but every time he got to French his mind supplied him with Jean’s face. What would happen to him when the Ravens found out Seth was still alive? Would the Master hold up his side of the deal? What would Riko do to Jean – would it be worse than last time?
Neil decided to skip French and go to German, but that was no better. Then he was thinking of Andrew and the mountain of questions he still wanted to ask the man. They hadn’t indulged any further in their game, and now he was hours away. Neil thought about the rooftop, the scent of cigarettes and Andrew’s steely eyes. It didn’t feel right to go up there, not alone at least.
He squeezed his eyes as tight as he could, thinking that maybe if he forced himself asleep that it would finally wash over him.
A buzz from his phone broke him out of his attempt though. Neil was simply going to let it ring and ring – whoever was on the other side could wait until the morning – but it continued to buzz incidentally.
Deciding that the noise would only worsen his efforts to fall asleep, he crawled out of bed and checked the notifications. When he did, his heart stopped.
There were several texts from an unknown number, but Neil didn’t need the digits to know who it was.
There was a picture, a horrible picture, of a body littered with bruises, scrapes, and bite marks. The person’s face wasn’t shown, but Neil had cleaned those scars enough to know who it was. Beneath the picture was a single strand of words.
Unknown Number: Play nice.