Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gavin rolled over, opening their eyes to see the bright morning sun shining on Ryan's face. They smiled and sat up slightly, putting their weight on one elbow. They leaned in, planting a kiss on his forehead.

After Gavin was dressed, they went into the kitchen and grabbed their phone from the counter to turn on the AC. The tank top and skinny jeans they wore weren't making the condo feel any cooler. They turned on the stove and pulled a pan out of the cupboard, along with the blender. Once the blender was plugged in and the pan was buttered on the stove, they got out the ingredients they needed.

When the food was done and the smoothies were blended, Gavin put two plates on the dining table and a glass next to each plate. They pulled out two spoons and two forks, setting the silverware next to the glasses. They filled each glass with the berry smoothie, and scooped three eggs onto each plate. Their eggs were over-easy and Ryan's were over-medium.

Gavin walked into the room they shared with their boyfriend and stirred him awake gently.

"Love, I've made breakfast. It's almost nine, if you don't get up now you'll ruin your sleep schedule." They whispered quietly to him, and Ryan turned to face them.

"Good morning," he said, smiling. He pulled Gavin in for a brief kiss, and as they pulled away, he sat up, pulling the blankets off of his legs.

He was dressed in loose jeans and a dark tee when he entered the kitchen. Gavin had returned there, and was rinsing out the blender's glass. He leaned against the counter as they turned off the sink and reached for a dish towel. Once they had the towel, they leaned in to kiss Ryan again.

It was Saturday, and they weren't due at the base until Monday. Their next big heist was over a month away, so they didn't have anything to worry about. After their kiss was over and the glass was dry, they sat down at the table. Ryan thanked Gavin for the food, and they ate in a comfortable silence.

Chapter Text

That night, Ryan couldn't sleep. It was a little after two in the morning, and Gavin woke up to use the bathroom. On their way back to bed, they noticed Ryan sitting on the couch, reading. It was fairly bright that night, and a lamp was lighting up Ryan's face. Gavin wondered how they missed him on the way to the bathroom.

"Why are you awake, Ry?" They asked, walking to the couch. Ryan flinched and looked up from his book.

"Oh, hey Gav. I can't sleep, so I'm gonna read until I feel tired. Why are you up?" He asked, and Gavin sat down next to him.

"I needed to use the bathroom." They paused, linking their hands together after Ryan sat his book down.

"Want me to stay up with you? We can find something to watch, eat some popcorn." They suggested, and Ryan nodded and then stood, letting Gavin's hand go.

"I'll get the popcorn, you set up the show. Deal?" He asked, and Gavin nodded, grabbing the remote.

When Ryan returned with a bowl of freshly buttered popcorn, they were turning on iZombie. The two watched it occasionally, but were usually too busy. Ryan sat next to them and they snuggled up to him as the show started playing.

A few minutes into the second episode of the night, Gavin was half-asleep. A loud beeping started, and the TV screen changed to show an error screen. They let out a loud yelp and sat up then, and a moment later a feminine voice started speaking authoritatively.

"This is a national emergency, important details will follow." The voice paused for a few seconds.

"Do not fall asleep, do not fall asleep. This message will repeat. Do not fall asleep." As the voice continued, Ryan and Gavin stood.

"What in the bloody hell's going on?" Gavin asked exasperatedly, and Ryan pulled out his phone to see that he didn't have a signal. Gavin did the same, and was rewarded with the same results.

"Do you think it's Funhaus? They shouldn't know where we live." Ryan ran a hand through his hair as he finished speaking and grabbed Gavin's hand for comfort.

"I'm not sure, but we should be armed. Let's not sit here like ducks." They suggested, and they went into their bedroom. Gavin flipped the light switch and Ryan unlocked the gun safe. He pulled out two pistols and checked to see if they were loaded. They were.

Once they were back in the living room, Ryan muted the TV, but kept it on. Gavin turned the lights on, and sat down on the couch once again.

"What should we do?" Gavin asked as Ryan handed them a pistol. They took it, and turned the safety off.

"We should head to base. People might be waiting outside the apartment for us, but we'll be able to get away if we're driving. Sound good?" He asked, and Gavin nodded.

"Sounds good, and Geoff is spending the weekend there. He might know who this is."

Chapter Text

They didn't see anyone as they drove out of the garage. Ryan was behind the wheel, and he sped up when he was sure no one was waiting outside for them. Even though it was so late (early, actually), they were surprised to see that there weren't any cars on the road. It was a ten minute drive to the base, and neither of them saw so much as a homeless person walking around. The city seemed empty.

The moment Ryan parked in front of the building, Gavin jumped out of the car, slamming the door shut behind them. Ryan followed and stood next to them as they punched in the security code. Once the code was entered, the elevator door opened to take the two of them to the seventeenth floor. Gavin tapped their foot on the floor impatiently as the elevator rose up slowly. Ryan would have told them not to worry, but he knew it wouldn't make a difference. It was at least a minute later when the elevator chimed and the doors slid open.

The message that was playing in their home was playing in the base. The familiar words repeating loudly. Gavin rushed down the short hallway and turned to into the living room. The TV was on, displaying the screen they had both expected. Ryan picked up the remote from the floor and muted the TV. Geoff was lying on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, an empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table in front of him.

Gavin was surprised that Geoff was able to sleep through the recording, considering how loud it was. They grabbed his arm to shake him awake. Despite the blanket, Geoff was cold. Colder than Gavin had ever felt him. Gavin stopped breathing and squatted in front of the man that was like a father to them. They put a hand on Geoff's face, pushing him slightly. His eyes stayed shut, and his face was pale. Usually after a night of drinking, Geoff's face was considerably red. Gavin let out a loud breath.

Ryan kneeled next to them and placed a hand on their back. Tears streamed down their face.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered quietly, his shaky words laced with remorse. Gavin lost it. They turned, taking their hands away from Geoff, and clung to Ryan, wrapping their arms around him. They let out a loud sob as their tears continued to fall. Ryan was crying then, too. Not as much as them, but more than he had in a long time. Gavin's sobs got louder and turned into gags, and after a few minutes of that, they pushed away from Ryan and rushed into the kitchen, thankful that there wasn't a wall separating the two areas.

Gavin vomited loudly in the sink, and Ryan rushed up to them. They were both still crying, and Gavin wiped their mouth on their bare arm. They let out a few more sobs before vomiting again, emptying their stomach of the popcorn they had eaten earlier that night. Ryan rubbed Gavin's back and wiped his own eyes after he managed to stop crying. He looked at the clock on the counter to see that it was a while past four in the morning.

They stayed there for another half hour. Gavin had managed not to vomit or gag after that, and their tears had almost stopped completely. Ryan covered Geoff's body, Geoff's corpse, with the blanket he had been wrapped in when they found him. Luckily, Jeremy, Jack, and Michael hung out that night, and they had said that they were going to sleep at Michael's apartment.

"Ryan, I really don't think this is Funhaus. Hacking into the base and our house to display the message on our TVs, knowing the code to the base, killing Geoff without so much as a struggle... No one there is skilled enough to have done any of this. We haven't even done anything to provoke them, or any other crew, for that matter," Gavin said as they were sitting in the passenger seat of Ryan's car on the way to Michael's.

"Maybe he died because, because he fell asleep. Maybe this isn't about us. Maybe this is a real national emergency like the recording says it is, like fast moving virus that kills you in your sleep." Ryan slowed the car and came to a stop in front of Michael's apartment. He turned the car off and Gavin beat him to the door by several seconds.

"Let's hope they're all still awake," Gavin replied, sounding hopeless. Ryan had never heard them like that, and he took their hand, squeezing it. Michael's apartment was on the first floor and his door was facing the street. Gavin pushed the door open, not surprised that it was unlocked.

They let out a sob and began to cry again when they heard the woman's voice again. Ryan closed the door behind them and led Gavin to the living room. All of the lights were off, but the TV was bright enough to show two men, Jack and Michael, asleep on the old couch. Jeremy was asleep on the floor in front of the TV.

Gavin and Ryan stood on the edge of the living room, by the wall. Gavin slowly lifted their arm and flipped on the light. Everyone was still. When they found Geoff, they weren't expecting to find him dead, so they didn't notice how still he was. But now... the stillness of the three men in front of them was obvious. Gavin didn't want to check. They didn't want to try to shake their friends awake. They didn't want to feel how cold they were. Ryan seemingly sensed Gavin's thoughts, and stepped forward, letting their hand go.

He first went to Jeremy and kneeled down in front of him. He put two fingers against his neck, and Gavin held their breath. After nearly half a minute, Ryan pulled his hand away. Gavin let out a quiet sob. Ryan stood and moved around the coffee table. He stepped over a bag of chips and stood in front of Jack. He kneeled down once more and put his fingers against Jack's throat. He pulled his hand away sooner that time, knowing that he was dead too.

Gavin's sobs weren't quiet anymore, and since the recording was still playing, the living room was quite loud. Ryan moved in front of Michael, and tears were once again streaming down his face once he was done checking Michael's pulse. Gavin fell to the floor, too distraught to stand, and Ryan went back to them.

He collapsed next to Gavin and they wrapped their arms around him again.

"Gavin, I think... we'll die if we fall asleep. I... I'm so tired, Gavin. I need to sleep." Ryan spoke quietly. Even though he had a hard time falling asleep, he was always tired. Even in the middle of the day or during an exciting heist, he was tired. It had been an exhausting day, and with the crying and stress, he could barely keep his eyes open. He assumed that it was past five in the morning, and he probably would have fallen asleep hours ago if he hadn't been watching the movie when the recording started.

"I'm tired too, Ry. Our friends, our family, is dead. I... I want to go to sleep. I'm okay with not waking up if I won't ever see them again. I can't live without them, Ry." Gavin loved Ryan with all of their heart, but they couldn't possibly live without the rest of their crew. They loved all of them too, and they couldn't stay awake any longer. All of the crying made it hurt to keep their eyes open, and they had been closed since they had sat down. Gavin could be asleep in minutes if they tried. Ryan squeezed their shoulders tightly, and they both leaned back onto the carpet.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked, closing his own eyes. He felt Gavin nod.

It was barely a few minutes later when Ryan felt Gavin's body slacken. They started to roll onto their back, off of Ryan, but Ryan tightened his grip on them. He cried as he kept his eyes closed and drifted off to sleep listening to the woman's voice repeating the same phrase, over and over again.

"This is a national emergency, important details will follow. Do not fall asleep, do not fall asleep. This message will repeat. Do not fall..."