Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sun beamed through the windshield, reflecting against Adrian’s glasses causing him to squint, which had only added to the tears that were previously beginning to form the second he had gotten into his car and slammed the door shut. His hands gripped tight against the steering wheel before he whipped a hand up to pull down the sun visor in an attempt to shield himself from the added irritation. 

Adrian’s hands shook despite his multiple attempts to take breaths deep, calming breaths and steady himself out in the way’s Adebayo had shown the team before. Luckily he was already pulling into the parking lot of his apartment building before he could notice the worsening of the gross feeling in his chest or the lump in his throat getting bigger when the exercises hadn’t worked. 

He was lucky he only lived a few blocks from Chris’ trailer park. Especially on evenings when his surprise visits to the trailer are a little more of a surprise and very unwanted. 

Adrian leaned his head forwards in defeat, leaning his forehead helplessly against the top of the steering wheel as the radio station turned to mushy static in his ears. Each of his senses shut down one by one in an attempt to let himself fight off the unwanted feelings but it was all too much. 

He and Chris argue all of the time.

 Chris calls him funny names all of the time. 

Today had just felt so personal. 

It had already been a bad day. Adrian had a shitty day at work. Customers were dicks, tips were bad and on top of all that the manager made him stay longer to clean a mess that totally wasn't his fault. 

So at the end of the day he had decided he wanted to see his BFF, As anyone would after having such a shitty day. But evidently that was a bad idea as the pokes from customers mixed with the very rude and stuck up comments from his managers left him feeling vulnerable. 

When he showed up at Chris' door with a dvd to put on and a bag of leftovers from work in his hand he was greeted with Chris in a dirty t-shirt and boxers. He looked angrier than usual, which said a lot and his brow was knitted into a knot on his forehead as he stared down the younger man. 

Adrian asked if he was okay and shit only escalated from there. 

It was clear to anyone else that Peacemaker was projecting his emotions and problems onto Adrian, especially with the shit he said about Adrian’s dad leaving because he was too up everyone's ass and ‘weird’ but in that moment It was just an unprompted string of insults on top of an already terrible day no matter how Chris was feeling inside.

So that’s how he ended up rushing out to his car, slamming the door and driving off in a frantic mess of movements, Adrian gave no more than a glance over his shoulder at Chris who had followed him out on the deck. 

Adrian took in a shallow breath, finally shoving himself up into a sitting position as he blinked away tears while pushing his fingers up underneath his glasses to swipe them away despite the fact they were definitely still coming and he was definitely still sniffling. 

He finally looked to the side and snapped from his france when he heard his phone ding, then made more of an effort to look around once it had dinged another time shortly after until he finally found it discarded in the passenger seat.

Part of him hoped it was Chris genuinely apologizing for what he had said, but of course it was a ‘Chris Apology’ which consisted of a statement and a single emoji. Not good enough for the damage caused. 

P🦅: Hey man. Forgot your Movie and Food here. 👍

P🦅: i’ll put food in the fridge for u to pick up tmrw 

Adrian huffed, leaving the text on read and dropping the phone down onto his thighs. 

His eyes fluttered shut momentarily when he leaned his head back to listen to the jumbled sounds of his own broken breathing and the radio show he had on for a while until he was broken from his thought at the sudden noise of his car door being opened. He was certain he had it locked so it was definitely not just his kind neighbor Sharon with the little poodle making sure he was feeling alright. She wouldn't break in. 

Adrians eyes darted open as he went straight into an attempted fight back but he was easily overpowered as his arms were still jello and his head still felt too heavy for his shoulders. Before any adrenaline could kick in or he could pull his hand free to reach for his knife a fabric was pressed over his mouth causing him to fall unconscious into the stranger's grasp within seconds. 

Chris set his phone on the coffee table after a few seconds lf staring at the “read” message below his own. 

He groaned, lifting himself up off the couch to walk toward his fridge, the takeout Adrian delivered in his hands. As much as Chris wanted to eat the absolute shit out of the food just to show Adrian he couldn't be a little bitch and run off when he couldn't handle an argument but he decided against it as he did feel quite guilty… He probably definitely shouldn't have said a lot of the things he did. 

Chris pulled open the fridge, pushing a ton of leftover food and beer cans farther back on the top shelf to make a spot for the takeout until Adrian came to his senses and returned with an apology- 

– If he ever did. Chris stood with the fridge open for a moment wondering if he even deserves an apology. Maybe it was he himself that should be dishing them out. Maybe this was the end of it and Adrian would never return at all and the food would sit in his fridge to rot forever. He did go pretty far tonight with the things he said, Adrian was usually clung to him like his life depended on it so to have him storm out and not answer tests was unreasonably stressful. 

He shut the fridge, mindlessly wandering back to his couch. He plopped down on top of it, the springs making a sad, long creak while he shifted to be comfortable. Chris let out a small huff, thinking to himself for a few short moments before quickly grabbing his phone. 

Still no text back? Super unlike Vig. Maybe he really was super pissed. 

Chris decided he’d try a call. There was no way in hell Adrian would ignore a call from Chris. He had his phone set so the ringer would go off even if he was in do not disturb mode for god's sakes. Chris could almost swear he was the only person in Adrian’s life… and maybe he was? He wasn't sure. Family wasn't a thing discussed.

His finger hovered over the call button for a moment before he decided it wouldnt hurt to try. He didnt even know what he’s say. He listened to the ring of the phone. Once, Twice…Three times? Then.. 

“..Hey!” Adrian’s voice! There he was..he sounded strangely cheerful given the circumstances but Chris didn't linger on it

“Hey man look im-” 

“--This is Adrian! If you’re hearing this that means I'm probably busy or something so– call back later or uh, leave a message! Bye.” 

Chris’s lips formed into a tight line as he pulled the phone from his ear to look at the screen. Once the beep had rang to leave a voice message he just hung up without further thought. Maybe he was driving… Adrian was always super strict about no phone usage while driving. He was sure he’d call him back later.

When Adrian regained some of his consciousness he slowly lifted his head up from where it had and squinted his eyes to look around whatever room he was in but without his glasses he was pretty much blind. He couldn't see past another chair a foot or two in front of him which had only stressed him out more. He hated not having awareness of his surroundings..

Adrian squirmed in the chair, The ropes around his wrists and legs holding him against the chair excessively tight suddenly making themselves known. Adrian grunted around the gag in his mouth as he continued to squirm in the chair, trying to find an out.

Being tied up certainly was not something he enjoyed; Especially after Goff tried cutting off his pinky toe. Ouch.

He groaned, pushing against his restraints before coming to an abrupt stop when he heard the door creek open and footsteps make his way to him. 

“You’re awake.” A man’s voice said in a tone much too flat for Adrian’s comfort.

“Do you know where you are? Who you are with?” Adrian squinted towards the source, trying to figure out who he was but he couldn't make out anything other than a blurry blob in a doorway. 

He shook his head, groaning again. The figure made its way toward him, pulling the gag out of his mouth wordlessly so Adrian could speak back. 

“Who are you, man? Why am I here and where are my glasses- Fuck!! if you broke those glasses dude I swear-” Adrian spoke frantically until he came to an abrupt stop when the man placed his hand firmly over his mouth.

“The glasses are fine.” The man groaned, moving down so he was eye leveled with Adrian who continued his squint at him as he lowered his hand down again.

“Good cuz they’re super expensive and-” Adrian was cut off my the man letting out another grunt before speaking. 

“-You know Christopher Smith?” He more or less asked. It was mostly just a flat statement with a hint of question to it.

There was a sudden tense silence in the air that told the man all he needed to know before Adrian let out a shaky, worried sigh. 

“I know of him.” Adrian muttered as he shifted his wrists against the restraints again. Of course Chris would get him into more shit. 

“Don’t lie because you are not very great at it!” The man grunted, his voice now way more stern than it was before and his tone laced with venom and anger. 

“We already know who you are Adrian Chase…Vigilante.” 

Adrians eyebrows furrowed as he suddenly struggled harder against the restraints. He bit his bottom lip, embarrassingly much too afraid to speak or ask how he knew, or who “we” was. 

“We’ve been watching you two for a while now. Ever since the White Dragon was murdered.” There was a small pause for the man to back up again slightly.

“We need information and lots of it.” 

Adrian didn't speak. He didn't want to- His mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out who this person was and how he never caught on to them following them.

“Chris has some valuable items of the White Dragons. He knows how to get into the storage room. We need that information, we know you’ve been there and we need to know where he hides it all or at least have some leverage over Chris. We know you two are close.” He explained.

Of course he was one of the White Dragon’s followers. Why was this not a surprise? It did make it all much more terrifying knowing the man infront of him wasnt just your average psycho but a bigoted psycho instead. 

“Now's when you start speakin’ asshole, or else this’ll go the shitty way that i'm sure you and Chris wouldn’t want.” 

More silence. 

Adrian was dependable. He wasn't about to break for shit- Chris would find him eventually.

“Oh so you’re choosing the painful route. Gotcha, kid. You could have just walked out of this untouched but you’ve got his dick too far up your ass to see the logic even when it’s right under your nose.” 

The next day when Peacemaker had still heard nothing from Vigilante even though they had planned a mission with Harcourt for that day he had started to feel worried. 

Adrian abided by a strict schedule and plan. He didn't like change and he absolutely wouldn't ghost such a huge mission over something as silly as an argument. No matter how bad it was. 

So, against any of bitter old Chris’s better judgment, the new and improved Chris picked up his cellphone from the coffee table yet again, hovering his thumb over Adrian’s icon before finally hitting the call button.. 

It rang once, then again and a third time before it was finally answered. 

The smile that tugged across Chris’ face was short lived however when the only noise on the other end was the sound of distant, pained and shaky breathing that was unmistakably from his best friend. 

“Hello? Adrian? Are you okay?” Chris’ tone couldn’t help but sound worried. 

“Adrian is fine.” An unknown voice spoke into the phone. It sounded closer than wherever Adrian must have been in the room.

“What- Who is this?? Why are you on his phone? Are you a hookup because if you are thats totally fucked up to answer his phone” Chris half joked. His mind wandered to if his friend was actually in trouble.

“What? No i’m not a fucking hookup- Chris. You really can't recognize your own uncle's voice?” The mystery man, now uncle’s smile could be heard through the phone by the way he spoke. 

Chris’s face dropped with the realization of the situation. These people were fucked up and if they had Adrian that only meant actual hell for him– Why would they even want him in the first place. It was Chris who shot his father. Was this even about his dad’s murder or-

“Speechless? I know… It’s been a while, huh? You’ve got a charming… friend here… ‘really takes it like a champ… You know; You’re father left some valuable things in your possession and well-” 

“-Where the fuck are you? Leave Adrian out of this… it’s completely family business he-”

“- Christopher Smith do not interrupt me…” 

Silence followed by a soft chuckle. 

“Good. Those items and passwords did rightfully belong to you after his passing… i mean even after me and the boys did some digging and found out you were the man behind the gun we still respected his wishes… but now we come to find Auggies own son and my nephew is some queer? Not only that but a queer banging a transvestite? Fucking weird, Christopher.” The venom in his tone brought Chris back to his childhood in a way he hadn't been since he put a bullet through his fathers brain.

“I want your fathers shit, Chris. The suits, The technology, weapons…keys to the house… everything.” 

More silence. It was eery. Chris couldn't bring himself to speak; he was completely terrified. Paralyzed with fear as the ghost of his father plaguing his mind stood across the room pointing and laughing as if he was some walking comedy show.

“...Okay...Clearly you’re not understanding the situation.” His uncle groaned. There was the sound of shuffling on the other end of the phone before Adrian’s shaky and shallow breaths were much closer to the microphone. He heard his uncle tell Adrian to speak then winced at the way Adrian grunted with pain before shakily forcing words. 

“Hey P…I’m- m’ not giving up shit, man.. I got you d..don’t worry dude.” He whimpered after speaking as if it physically hurt before the phone was pulled away again before Chris could even get out any words of comfort to his friend. 

“Sounds like you’re friends pretty fucked up huh?...See you around, Chris. And when I do you better have the shit I need or this little…thing will get the short end of this stick..” 

Chapter Text

Adrian gasped and gagged as water was thrown over the cloth covering his face for what felt like that one hundredth time that day- night? He wasn't even sure what it was or even how long it’s been since he got there he just knew it was long enough that he was in an intense amount of chest pain and couldn't stand being there a moment longer…but despite that harsh feeling he knew he wouldn't break and tell these weirdos where Chris kept his stuff.

He knew that even if he did stupidly decide to tell them out of the pettyness toward their argument or even just to escape what they were doing to him he’d be putting a lot of innocent people in disgusting amounts of danger and obviously that’s not what Adrian stood for. 

Chris’ uncle who had still remained unnamed to Adrian crouched down in front of him as he threw his head forward and choked on air after the cloth over his face was pulled away. 

“You think you’re done yet? This isn't going to stop until you tell me where my shit is.” The Uncle spoke insanely calmly yet incredibly condescendingly as he tapped his finger against Adrian’s cold, soaked cheek to keep him looking at him. 

Adrian glared at the man through half lidded eyes. Besides a shaky exhale he was completely silent, all he wanted in that moment was for Peacemaker to break down that door, shoot this asshole in the head and take him home. 

But sadly, that did not happen to be the case. At least not yet…Adrian hadn't lost hope. 

He hadn't lost hope when the first night came and went waterboarding, shouting, screaming and just generally very overstimulating, overwhelming and purposefully painful behavior committed back to back against him.

There had been one time Adrian had embarrassingly let out a shaky sob which had convinced their little ring leader they were close to getting answers from him. It only made the torture continue more intense than before.

 When day four had come and gone Adrian was completely exhausted. His brain could hardly even work enough to make his instincts fight back anymore. He had started to seriously doubt if Chris even bothered to look. 

Chris Smith sat anxiously shoulder to shoulder with Economos, staring intently over his shoulder at the laptop screen as he fidgeted with his hand on his lap. Breathing heavy and body sore from stress and searching for Adrian. 

It had been four days. Four entire fucking days. And the most they found was his car completely stripped of anything with valuable information including prints. 

Chris knew it was his uncle. They all did– but he was impossible to track down. Chris hardly knew his real name apart from Smith being the last name and “Snake” being his weird ass nickname. 

“Jesus dude. Are you going to breathe down my neck all night?” Economos shifted uncomfortably as he continued to sift through different files of information on possible suspects involved in the disappearance. 

Chris opened his mouth to respond but quickly closed it when Adebayo had spoken up instead. 

“Economos, his friend of many years, just went missing with some crazy psychopath. Let him breathe down your neck and get on his ass about it later– preferably when we find Adrian safe and sound?” Adebayo practically pleaded as she turned pages of files with Harcourt right at her side helping her. 

“Yeah, Sorry. It’s just- It’s day four? What are the odds he’s even still-” Economos tried to bring up the hard conversation nobody in that group was ready for. They had all grown pretty close to Adrian over the past year since Goff. Especially Harcourt who had taken a specific liking to him, somewhat because it was intriguing to her how his mind worked but also because Adrian was strangely a good listener? He actually asked questions even if they were stupid ones. 

“- Yeah that’s not an option.” Harcourt shut him down, interrupting Chris in the process. “He’s too valuable to this team.. plus Chris said his uncle wants leverage so its unlikely he’d kill some pretty good fuckin’ leverage.” She defended, sifting through more pages. 

“Yeah- Uncle Snake is like…crazy but he’s not murder without already having the upperhand crazy….Can we not track his cell? Adrian’s i mean-” Chris hesitated as he spoke.

“Tried that.” Economos sighed heavily. “Tried almost everything in the book. We need a location of what way the truck went after grabbing him from the lot and I am about two screens away from hacking into the city's security traffic cameras.” 

“Thank fuck.” Chris exhaled, leaninf closer to the screen as Economos finally broke down the wall and started sifting through times until he found the apartment building- then the truck meeting the description of the ones witnesses said they seen. 

Chris and Economos watched while essentially holding their breathes as the truck left the parking lot, made its way rown a main road, turned left, turned right and then came to an abrupt stop at Auggie’s old house. 

Chris exchanged a look tocthe rest of the team but turned back when Economos angrily groaned. 

The people carrying Adrian walked right past the house on the sidewalk end right up into the neighbors house. The answer was next door to the dead man’s house and no one even thought to check. 

“So that’s a location? We have to go in there and get him-” Chris almost sounded frantic but had quickly mid sentence went monotone to mask how much he really truly gave a shit.

“Smith, That’s going to take planning…We will be im there as soon as possible but we have to check the perimeter first and make sure it is absolutely safe before we go in” 

Adrian stared at the walk through his half lidded eyes, his head wobbled forward every so often as numbing pain caused him to remain in a state of semi consciousness. His body wouldn't allow him to fall asleep but he was exhausted. 

His arms were starting to get rope burns and his clothes had begun to stink from sweat and being damp from the waterboarding. 

Adrian didn't even know how long it had been anymore. 4 days? 5? Maybe even a week. He was certain Chris had forgotten about him…or just couldn't find him. He had enough faith in his best friend that the idea of him forgetting still seemed a bit unrealistic though it did taunt the back of his mind. 

Adrian scrunched his nose up and shut his eyes, pushing back tears from falling. He was much too dehydrated to cry right now. 

He just wanted to go watch a movie at Chris’ trailer and eat some leftover food from work while sneaking eagly a bite every so often when Chris would turn away to grab something.

That fantasy was what kept him sane. The idea that something so normal- or at least as normal as sneaking an eagle a snack could get- was waiting for him at the end of this storm.

Chapter Text

The 11th Street Kids minus Adrian sat in the van a block away from the house they believed Adrian to be in. 

They faced toward the house all while Economos was typing away on his laptop, trying to scan for security camera access or just any and all security at all that they could potentially trip on the way in.

“How many people do you think are in there?” Leota asked, leaning further back against the chair as she let out a deep sigh. 

“Hard to tell. Maybe 10 to 20? What do you think Chris how many of those fuckers do you even think are left” Harcourt asked, turning toward Chris who had his eyes trained on the house. 

He looked so determined it was a little scary.

“I cant believe it took us 4 fucking days to realize they took him right next door.” Chris groaned, either ignoring or not hearing Harcourts question. 

“Why did it take us so long?”

“Well, The city has definitely put more of a lock on their security after finding out about the butterflies and everything so hacking takes a little longer than before. Plus tracking down witnesses to get a description of the truck took ages and there was no direct camera on the parking lot of the building so we couldn't immediately see…I’ve said all of this before but it’s fine.” Economos explained as Harcourt shifted closer to Chris, gently patting his arm to get his full attention after he nodded to Economos. Despite his nod he was clearly attempting to mask some clear frustration. 

“How many people do you think are in there?” Harcourt repeated, this time being sure Chris heard her. 

“Probably closer to 10...Not a crazy amount of them left.” Chris reached to the side, grabbed his helmet and placed it atop his head before reaching for his gun. He just hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

Adrian choked and gasped, head rolling forward as his body became too tired to even attempt defending itself once more. He let out soft grunts of pain as water dripped from his hair and his chest tightened with a mixture of anxiety and not getting enough oxygen. 

“You gonna talk yet or are we going to have to do this shit again? Cuz It’s been five fuckin’ days down here now and im startin to get the feeling they dont care enough to come get you.” Snake spat. 

He signaled for the two men holding a sopping wet cloth and a bucket of water to back off a little when Adrian had let out a strained noise as if he was trying to speak. 

“I..I wont tell yo-…you shit.” a harsh cough and then an even shakier voice as he continued. “Im…not a pus…pussy anyway.. i don’t care if Peacemaker comes or…or not because..eugh” Adrian let out more harsh coughs that rattled his chest. He clenched his hands into fists rolling his wrists to the best of his ability under his restraints though it did nothing but make them even more sore. 

“he would do th..the same for me. And you guys dont deserve power…not for the reasons you’re using it…you… fuckin’ bigots…” 

Snake groaned, clattering whatever he was holding against the cemented all. Adrian hardly even flinched. He just squinted his eyes and took in a deep breath when he felt the men behind him pull back his head once again to place the wet cloth over his face for the 6th time that day. 

This was the most consistent form of torture they used as they didnt want to make a physical mess of a lot blood and shit that would take a while to clean. Was that lazy? Probably. But obviously they didn't worry too hard about it.

They hadn't only been exclusive to that form over the past few days however; It had also been recurring for them to cut his skin on his jaw or his legs and they had also kept him quite sleep deprived, not allowing him more than an hour of rest per day. Someone at his side constantly waking him up and keeping him conscious of everything happening. 

They also figured sensory overload was a good method to keep his anxiety peaked and his mindset in fight or flight. They’d yell and bang around him, near his ears while he was deprived of sight and short of breath due to water boarding among other things. It was all so terrifying and loud. 

“He’s here.” Adrian barely heard a voice call down the stairs after loud clattering and shouting erupted He couldn't tell the tone or what it meant but ‘he’ could literally mean anyone.

The cloth covering his face was moved away, a bright light now shining on his face as the two men in the room skidded his hair back against the wall underneath the window. Adrian grimaced, twisting his wrists against the restraints again. Chris’s uncle was now missing from the room- This was common as he would usually leave him with goons but he hardly left unannounced.

There was yelling upstairs but he could hardly make it out. Maybe someone upstairs had fucked up and misplaced something? Maybe someone was hurt? Or whoever was there was an enemy. 

The possibility that Christopher Smith and the rest of the 11th Street Kids were the reason for all of that chaos until he saw Christopher emerge from the staircase and into his line of vision. His uncle stood to his side. Adrian looked past them, seeing the remaining three of his friends behind Chris made his heart…warm? They hadn't given up on him like Snake had said…though the fact guns were not out and he wasn't being untied definitely was a little confusing.

“See? All intact. Just…tired. A little hungry…definitely cold and definitely wet.” Snake stepped toward Adrian and in turn Adrian’s eyes had shifted down to the floor. 

“She lost hope you guys were comin’...What kinda friends are yous anyway?” 

Adrian felt Snake’s head gently rest on the crown of his head, messing with his hair in a way he knew would bother the hell out of the group in front of him. Adrian’s breath grew heavier as he tried to make himself focus on Chris but he was so tired that as much as he desperately wanted to be able to ask him to get him out of there he just couldn't. 

Chris gestured to Adrian with his free hand after a moment, a frustrated grunt leaving his lips. 

“Let him go now? We’re here and that’s what you wanted right?” 

“No.” Snake snapped quickly. His hands tangled through Adrian's hair and he sharply pushed his head back in a swift action to show the other group he still had the upper hand. That Adrian’s life was right under his fingers. 

“I told you. I want your dad's house…the code to the weaponry…I want his tech, his spare suits, everything.” 

There was a brief silence. An exchange of looks between the 11th street kids that Adrian had not seen since he had tightly screwed his eyes shut when tears had prickled at them as his hair was pulled. 

“Not going to happen, Uncle Snake.” Chris sighed, pulling his gun from his side (finally) and pointing it toward Snake casually. 

“You let Adrian up from the chair and let him walk over to us, we leave and I won’t tell kill you all or have you locked up or You don’t, I shoot and I don’t give a fuck how many of you losers I kill… Your choice.” 

Snake reached around his back, pulling his own handgun from his pocket with his free hand as the other continued to grip onto Adrian’s hair, keeping him in place, his entire bruised, red and soaked face on full display to his already furious friends. 

“It is truly a shame that we couldn't see eye to eye, Christopher.” 

Snake pointed the gun between Chris, the others and then down to Adrian. 

“ You tell me the code and all the other shit I said or I shoot your little transvestite ‘ boyfriend’ in the fucking skull” 

Chris’s eyes grew cold and hard. A part of him he thought he left so far behind in the past breaking it’s way from the back of his mind to absolutely unleash hell on this fucker. 

Very carefully he calculated how to go about taking him down without getting Adrian shot. It was the last thing he wanted right now, obviously. 

“I promise Christopher I will do it. You have my word and you know I'm a man of-” Snake was cut off by the loud ring of a shot firing towards him and directly into his skull. Then there was another shot as his reflexes had made his grip squeeze the gun. 

Chris saw red. He couldn't even hear Leota’s scream from behind him or feel when Harcourt had grabbed his arm. He just pulled away and rushed toward Adrian who was now limp in his chair, blood gushing from his temple. 

He quickly pulled the knife from his belt and cut the restraints from Adrian’s wrists and legs, pulling him out of the chair and laying him carefully in his lap as Adebayo and Harcourt held off and killed of the remaining people in the house. 

“Fuck- FUCK!” Chris hovered his hand over the gunshot wound before he settled on placing it down against Adrian’s chest. 

“Shit- I didn't fucking think- I knew- i’m so sorry Adrian.” His eyebrows furrowed as the tears welled in his eyes began to roll down his cheek. 

“Smith- You gotta pick him up and carry him to the van…W-We need to get out…out of here before..” Emilia trailed off as tears rolled down her cheeks as well. Everything had happened so quickly, she didn't even know how to process the situation and Ecnomos’ nervous muttering and swearing as sirens grew louder absolutely wasn't helping. 

Slowly, While Emilia scolded Economos and shushed him, Chris had carefully risen to his feet, Adrian limp in his arms. The blood from his head soaking the front of Chris’ shirt as they more or less rushed up the stairs and out the door. 

Chris laid Adrian carefully on the floor of the van once they had gotten in, he sat down at his side completely silent. 

He was afraid. Completely afraid of what he had just caused to happen. He was horrified by a future without Vigilante bugging the shit out of him. 

It had just happened too fast. He didn’t think his uncle would have gripped it that hard. He thought the impact would push the gun off track. 

Even though he was dead there was still an intense emotion on Adrian’s face. He looked like he was in pain.. and of course before he had been shot he was. Chris’s mind dove even deeper into guilt and regret when he realized Adrian hadn't even had a moment to heal or to feel relieved or safe. He had been in constant pain and fear for five days and it all ended in a flash. 

Chris shut his eyes. 

He shut his eyes tight and he didn't open them again.. He didn't ever want to open them again, even when the van had come to a stop. Even when Leota had wrapped her arm around him for comfort. 

They stayed closed until he felt and heard rapid shuffling in front of him. His eyes quickly shot open as he heard everyone else in the van let out little yelps of fear as they stumbled away. 

Chris stared down at Adrian who was now having a full seizure right in front of them out of seemingly nowhere. Had the bullet not killed him? Was it killing him now? 

He maneuvered around to look at Adrian’s face but was quickly hit with the reality of how horrible that decision was when he saw the foam and spit running down the corners of his mouth. 

He saw what he did to his brother happen all over again. Someone else he loved dying at the hands of him in too similar of a way. 

If Chris wasn't about to throw up before; he absolutely was now. 

While Chris tugged his eyes away from Adrian and basically rolled over to grab a bucket to hurl his guts into, Leota had sprung into action, rolling Adrian over onto his side so he wouldn't choke on his spit while carefully rubbing up and down his back. 

She watched as the bullet hole slowly closed up, dropping the bullet fragments out of it with little clinks against the ground. 

“Holy fuckin’ shit.” Leota took deep breaths as Adrian’s seizure had concluded and his breathing was back now more heavy and rapid than ever. 

Was this guy fucking immortal or some shit?

Chris finally managed to pull his head from the bucket and build courage to look over. He saw Harcourt moving to her knees next to Adrian with her jaw dropped and her hand covering her mouth. Ecnomos stood a few steps away frantically shifting from foot to foot and Leota was very carefully patting her hand against Adrian’s cheek…

He was breathing? Chris could see from here he was breathing. He could also see that his eyes were starting to crack open. Chris practically slid across the van’s floor to get to his side. Leota quietly and wordlessly moved to the side to let Chris take action in inspecting the side of Adrian’s head, absolutely speechless at how the wound had almost completely healed and was now just a slight what looked to be a cut oozing a little bit of blood. 

“Peacem– Chris?” Adrian’s broken voice strained as his hand flattened against the floor, trying to push himself into a sitting position despite Chris’ quick hands trying to lay him back down.

Chapter Text

Ow- Holy fuck…My head is throbbing.” Adrian mumbled, his voice was raspy and broken. He no longer attempted to sit up and was now only relaxed back into Chris’ grip, almost completely limp.

Everyone was utterly speechless…I mean, Apart from the frantic squawking from Economos that Adrian was ‘shot in his head’ and that there was ‘no fucking way.’ 

But 10 minutes ago one of their closest friends was cold and dead from a gunshot to the head but now all the sudden here he was just whining about a fucking headache… Which, as fucked up as it may sound, was so painfully Vigilante of him and everyone knew it.

Adrian covered his eyes with his hands for a few seconds to really emphasize just how frustrating this headache was while Chris had gently squeezed him closer, his fingers digging into Adrian’s arm uncomfortable but he didn't seem to mind.

 Adrian glanced around to everyone once he had decided he was okay enough to move his hands down.

“Why are you guys acting like you just saw a ghost?” Adrian sounded genuinely confused. Harcourt’s face shifted from a concerned relief complicated expression to just plain concern that her friend might not remember what had happened, Economos let out an exasperated laugh and Chris’ grip only tightened. Leota was now sifting through a first aid kit, only listening to the others.

“No? Adrian do you-” Harcourt began but was cut off when Adrian had sighed a heavy breath of relief, his head falling limp against Chris’ bicep when Leota had scooted closer, placing her fingers against the side of his head to carefully apply a bandage to the new barely bleeding cut because somehow it soothed her mind. 

“Good. Because if casper was around I would have wanted to meet em’” A usual Adrian observation definitely sprinkled some light onto the dark situation but despite the smallest amount of relief they felt the terror still outweighed it all. 

Adrian looked at Leota from the corner of his eye and mumbled a thank you that was meant to be louder but was unfortunately cut off by Harcourt pressing deeper into ensuring Adrian that these things in his mind were in fact real memories and not just delusions from getting shot in the head or whatever John said a million times frantically. 

“Do you not remember?” Harcourt finally questioned, breaking the ice for everyone while ignoring Adrian’s ghost comment completely. The look of torment that struck across Adrian’s face said more than any words could have. He entirely cringed as the truth of the situation struck his mind. 

There was a silence that lingered after Adrian’s face had twisted into something terrifying and unfamiliar. Among that silence was an understanding that everything needed to be perfectly quiet. Just by looking at Adrian you could tell there were a million things flowing through him all at once as he took in shaky breaths. 

Chris had subconsciously begun rubbing up and down his arm at some point, not minding how caked in dried blood and dirt he was because honestly the man’s current hygiene was the least of his worries. He could always shower later. 

Adrian hesitantly looked up at the ceiling of the van, sucking in a painful sounding breath before breaking the silence/

“Thanks for finding me. Maybe we could just go home now?” Adrian tried to force out in the most normal sounding tone but all that came from that attempt was a shaky, small and embarassingly vulnerable voice.

“We’re all going to house together. We have a safehouse nearby to stay at until we’re sure it's safe, and before you ask yes Adebayo, Your wife may come…and the dogs too.” Ecnomos explained almost like a robot “-and hopefully when we get there we can figure out why the fuck the side of your head spit out bullet fragments as if they were fucking sunflower seeds!” 

The drive to the safehouse took what seemed like forever. It was approximately five hours out of town and they had to stop to pick up clothes, supplies, Eagly and food on the way which added another three…and they weren't even there yet, only two more hours to go.

Half of the group in the van had eventually fallen asleep sitting upright on the benches in the back. The only two who remained awake were Chris, who was keeping an eagle's eye on Adrian who was huddled into a corner, fast asleep with some thin blanket loosely wrapped around his shoulders and Leota who was driving and keeping her eye on Chris periodically. 

“Soooo…” Leota drug out, tapping her fingers along the steering wheel anxiously. “He’s totally like– superhuman…like fuckin’ superman?”

“Superman…” Chris repeated back, letting out a soft chuckle before finally pulling his eyes from Adrian to lean back in the passenger seat. “From what I know it's only healing shit. I don’t think he’s going to be flying anytime soon.”

“No, yeah. you’re right.” Leota nodded. 

A beat of silence before it is broken again by Chris letting out a small, exasperated sigh. 

“I just- I thought he was dead… yaknow? Then he was seizing and it looked a lot like.. well.. like Keith. Keith had a heavy seizure before he died.” 

“Your brother? Shit man…” Leota exhaled, taking a turn down a long bend of the road. “Yeah- Fuck. That really sucks…but hey, at least he’s okay? At least we know he’s tough as fuck…I mean the guy can literally take a bullet to the head.” 

“Yeah. I’m pretty annoyed he won’t let me get a good look at it. What if it’s just like- yaknow… those news stories where the dead person gets up for a little while and then drops dead again.” Chris grumbled, leaning back in his chair to glance back over his shoulder at Adrian. Adebayo snorted at the probably very fake news story Chris had mentioned.

“You know though, Vigilante being a superhuman shouldn't be as shocking as it really is if you think about it– I mean I've been really thinking about it. We’ve seen that guy sleep off a bullet to the stomach before…and like you literally seen him blow himself up?” Leota let out a small chuckle, glancing at Chris whose mind was clearly elsewhere as he only responded with vacant nods of agreement.

 The stare on his face as his eyes focused on Adrian conveyed almost his exact emotion and Leota in that moment had decided the rest of the drive should be quiet unless he spoke first.

Adrian awoke to a gentle touch on his shoulder, someone shaking him gently out of his slumber. His eyes fluttered open and he glanced around the van with darting eyes for a moment before relaxing when they landed on whomever had woken him up. A familiar face. 

“We’re here” Harcourt informed, removing her hand from his shoulder to instead help him up from the bench. 

Adrian gripped her hand, allowing himself to get pulled to his feet with an almost immediate regret when the pounding in his head had returned at full force. 

He shot his head downward so he was looking at the floor of the van as his hands shot up to cradle the sides of his skull. 

He let out a low groan of distress as Harcourts arms had immediately wrapped around his chest to keep him steady, he could hardly make out her muffled voice calling for help. The next thing he knew, Chris was now guiding him into the house. He may have been asking Adrian questions– or maybe it was Harcourt? Regardless of who it was he couldn't hear or answer… everything felt muffled and fuzzy, like tv static. 

Adrian was then lowered onto something soft. He leaned back into it, his head fell back against the cushion as he tried desperately to end the fuzziness and pain in his head to successfully level back out to normal.

There was almost an immediate relief of some of that feeling when Chris placed a warm rag against his face and rubbed it down to his neck. Adrian forced his eyes to open, watching through a squint as his friend wiped away dirt and blood from his face and neck while carefully scanning him for more injuries. Leota, Economos and Harcourt spoke behind him, still too muffled for him to comprehend, Adrian was pretty well checked out of the conversation, he was too tired to even try to understand any of today. 

“If he’s got these fuckin’ healing powers then why is he still in pain?!” Harcourt shouted, tone full of venom. She was angry, anyone could see that. 

“Who knows? What do I look like, Harcourt… The fuckin- uhh The expert on superhumans??? No!!! I dont know whats going on with him for all I know he could literally drop dead in an hour!” Economos defended, causing a tense in Chris’ hand as he wiped away dirt from Adrian’s jaw. 

“Yes- Yeah! Economos…It’s kind of in your job description to have an understanding of superhumans.” She argued back with a huff. 

While they were arguing, Adrian had slowly begun to get more and more overwhelmed by the cloth and wetness the poor Chris tried to wipe away the dried up blood all over his upper lip from a former bloody nose. 

Harcourt had turned away from John and the argument to look down to Adrian who had caught her attention when he had let out a groan of what seemed to be distress. 

Adrian carefully brought his hand up to loosely grab onto Chris’ wrist, pulling him away gently. He watched Chris pull back and go bug eyed through his own squinted eyes as he did so. It seemed they weren't even aware he was conscious.

“He’s up-” Chris addressed to the crew behind him before redirecting his attention back to Adrian who was guiding his hand down and away from his face. 

“Vig? You okay, man?” He asked, eyebrows furrowing. 

“Yeah- I guess standing up wasn't very–uhh.” Adrian thought for a moment, pushing his head up off its limp position against the cushion. “Very…doable. I think I just need to nap. “ 

“Yeah, of course. We have a bed all set up for you but first let Chris finish getting all of that blood off of you.” Harcourt responded in place of Chris, stepping forwards to gently nudge Peacemaker’s shoulder as a prompt for him to continue. 

The second Chris’ hand went up again toward Adrian’s face with the cloth again, Adrian’s hand shot up alongside it, squeezing his wrist tightly as his eyes shut, his entire body flinching backward into the couch. 

“I’ll do it.” Vig breathed out quickly, eyes still closed as Chris retreated backward and out of the way. 

The 11th street kids exchanged a worried look. 

Harcourt's eyes narrowed on Chris. 

‘You and I are talking later about what rhe fuck methods of whatever your nazi family works with.” She whispered, leaning slightly toward him as she did so. She did not want Adrian to hear clearly. 

Chris didn't respond with more than a groan and a nod.

After Adrian had wiped himself (mostly) clean of the dirt and allowed Chris to help with a little more of it he had moved into a room with two beds pushed to either corner, he was sat on the one to the left.

Adrians sat with his legs over the side of the bed, his hands folded in his lap and for once he was completely silent. He didn't feel like he had much to say to anybody, especially not Chris who was eyeing him every so often while unpacking items into different places for the assumed month or two they’d stay in the safehouse. 

Chris’ lips were pressed into a thin line as he shoved his clothes into drawers. Eagly chirped and squawked at him from the corner of the room, probably hungry; he half expected Adrian to jump to his feet to feed him since he had always done so before but Adrian stayed seated, watching Chris’ every move. 

Eventually Eagly had gotten tired of waiting for Chris to finish unpacking his and Adrian’s things, after the 5th “bad eagly! I'm almost done and then I'll get you your snacks”  of the night, the Eagle had decided to jump up onto the bed next to Adrian, deciding to pester him into getting snacks since he knew Adrian had always caved. 

And of course, Eagly was right. Adrian had finally pulled his eyes from Chris to look at the bird with a small smirk. 

“Hey buddy, are you hungry?” Adrian hummed, moving to snake his foot around a strap of a bag to pull it close. He listened to Eagly’s excited chirps as he unzipped the bag and pulled out a bag of chips. 

Chris furrowed his eyebrows and watched briefly as Adrian pulled open the bag and handfed his pet. Chris then raised his eyebrows and turned back away from them. Whatever kept him busy and his mind off of all that bullshit. 

“Chris” Adrian hummed from his spot on the bed, still holding the chip bag beneath eagly’s head so he could eat it as he pleased.

“What's up, man?” Chris turned his attention back to Adrian again with another small eyebrow furrow.

“I left your trailer pretty um… abruptly? The last time we were together when you were upset. I didn't mean to…you know, do that. It just happened.” Adrian confessed, finally pulling the now empty chip bag away from eagly, disposing it onto the bedside table. He ignored Eagly when he continued to nip at the bedsheets and Adrian’s sleeve, deciding to turn his full attention to Chris instead when he had cleared his throat nervously.

“No hard feelings, dude.” Chris managed, shrugging his shoulders. 

Maybe he should have apologized to Adrian for yelling and practically chasing him out the door. Maybe he should have confessed everything in his mind; the hallucinations, the memories of his brother, everything. 

But he couldn't. He couldn't because if he did his father would be there laughing the entire time. Auggie would be probably right next to Adrian, laughing and shouting about how much of a pansy his son had turned out to be.

Chapter Text

Adrian stared blankly into the dark void of the room up toward what would be its ceiling. 
He couldn't sleep anyways, there was way too much on his mind. 

There was the annoying click of a clock mounted on the wall keeping him lucid, the rustling of wind in tree branches outside of the bedroom window that had been slightly cracked open by Chris before they slept at Adrian’s request to let in a cold breeze that would brush across his face every so often. 

All of that, the memories of the events just hours before and the rumbling in his stomach from not having eaten anything in a few days were keeping him from the sleep he was craving .

He sighed and finally decided to roll his head over to the side to look at where Chris’ bed was. He couldn't see anything other than the faint outline of where his friend was fast asleep. Adrian felt a little jealous at his ability to knock out like that even after a horrible day.

“...Chris” Adrian whispered after a moment of staring, his voice was quiet and hesitant. He was always a little wary about waking Chris up because he was definitely not a morning person which would usually get a million times worse when he is woken up early, Adrian has spent enough nights at Chris’ house to know that much.

“Chris.” He had a little more of a sharp edge to it this time, making sure to lean more into the yell half of ‘whisper yell’. 

Much to Adrian’s surprise there were the sounds of rustling in blankets and he could see Chris’ outline shifting around as he grumbled and swung his arm up to cover his head. 

“Whaaat” Chris groaned, dragging out his words as he was still clearly mostly unconscious. 

“I’m hungry.” Adrian stated simply while he propped himself up with his elbows on the bed, wincing as he did so. His ribs hurt like hell. 

“Go to the kitchen and i'll be out in a bit maybe” Chris sighed, his voice barely audible as he grumbled out the sleepy slur of words, though still way nicer about it than Adrian had expected.

Chris then rolled over to face the wall, probably already fast asleep the second he settled onto his side. If he was a little more conscious he’d probably have been up within a second to help Adrian, especially with everything going on but everyone (and especially Adrian) knew a half asleep Chris was an immobile Frankenstein-like individual. 

Adrian only hummed in response. He sat up slowly, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed while taking in deep, heavy breaths. He pointlessly attempted to mask the pained expression that shot across his face when his chest tightened with pain caused by the movements. 

Eventually he had managed to get up and onto his feet which scuffed against the cold hardwood floors while he made his way toward the bedroom doorway. Adrian wS leaning forward with his hands folded protectively over his aching chest while he made his way down the hall and toward the kitchen, small huffs of deepish breaths escaping his lips. 

Once he had reached the destination he froze upon noticing Harcourt was already in there and wide awake, Adrian’s eyes remained wide as he tried to decide on whether he was going to address her or not.. 

Harcourt was sitting on the countertop, eating crackers straight out of a box as she stared off into space; completely unaware of Adrian’s presence until he had decided on descending further into the kitchen, feet still tiredly scuffing against the floor. 

Harcourt finally noticed and looked at him with a stern expression that had immediately melted into something more soft with the realization of who he was. 

“You should be asleep. Especially with the few days you had.” She whispered to him, furrowing her eyebrows. “You need your energy… but, Why are you up now? Do you need anything?” 

“I couldn't get to sleep.” Adrian said simply with a shrug of the shoulders as he wandered to and pulled open the fridge, scanning its insides. There weren't a whole lot of choices apart from a few yogurt flavors, milk and the basic ingredients for a sandwich.

“...and I'm really hungry. I haven't eaten in at least a couple days.” He complained, grabbing out the milk. 

He stepped back, scanning the counter top before spotting the cereal box behind Harcourt, she was already mindlessly passing it to him before he could even get the request out.

“Sorry…embarrassingly enough I guess we didn't really think about that… Definitely had some other things to worry about.” Harcourt admitted, watching as Adrian rummaged through cabinets to find a bowl. 

There was a stale silence for a few minutes while Adrian prepared his food. They were both too nervous to break it or upset one another by asking a question. It stayed tense until Adrian sat down at a stool against the counter island, leaning against his palm. Emilia took in a small breath before finally breaking that silence.

“You’re acting like nothing happened and being a pretty watered down normal- I expected a little more of a freak out about getting shot in the head and surviving.” She observed, shrugging her shoulders almost dismissively like it was a sensitive topic even for her… Which Adrian understood it was he just couldnt get why, she had seen a lot of violence who decided he was amy different?

“Oh.” Adrian shrugged back, shoveling his first bite into his mouth before continuing to talk. “Well, I dunno. It doesn't seem like it happened. It hurts but not as bad.” 

There was a beat of silence so Adrian continued; “I mean- I dunno.” Adrian sighed, dropping his spoon into the bowl as he shifted his weight on the stool uncomfortably.

  “A lot of stuff happened. Way more than just a headshot… Nothing I can’t deal with though, I guess I'm just figuring that out first before I freak out about being immortal or whatever.” He tried to explain. His voice cracked as he spoke which was a dead giveaway that he in fact could not deal with the weight on his shoulders.

Adrian lowered the bowl down onto the island countertop, hands shaking and clunking it against the marble as he set it down. He then pulled his hands close to his chest, holding them tightly together in a poor attempt at steadying them from trembling. 

“Do you want to tell me some of the stuff? It could help.” Harcourt offered. She had noticed when he started to tremble but knew him enough to know she shouldn't mention it and instead offer him the opportunity to.

Emilia then hopped down off the counter top afterward to instead sit on a stool across from Adrian who was now shoveling cereal into his mouth despite the shakes. He was thinking long and hard to try to decided on what he would and would not tell Harcourt about his stay at the extended Smith family household.

Adrian knew he could trust her. Harcourt was super smart and had never failed to identify and help him through his emotions after the butterflies. She was there for him even during that after the whole jail situation with Chris’ father. He could talk to her.

“ I guess they tried to hurt some information out of me but I didn't like- tell them. I dunno…” he stumbled on words, unable to stay true to a single sentence as he slowly came to a silence after stretching out gaps between his speech. his eyes fluttered shut as he thought about the events. 

Harcourt was worried, he had very displayed this vast of a tormented emotion. She honestly would have coined him as a sociopath when they first met but here he was shaking and almost crying infront of her over violence. She went to speak but Adrian was already talking again, his shoulders tensed as he leaned his head forward slightly. It felt like his head was heavy as the memories flowed to the front of his brain.. 

“And the whole time I was there I felt like I was going to die and the last thing I would have ever done would have been running away from Chris during an argument. I mean- who would fucking want that.” His hands were shaky but he tried to maintain the cool and composed look (that she was not buying) as he took another bite. 

“What was the argument about?” Harcourt asked in a hushed tone. She contemplated reaching over the counter to cup his hand for comfort but she knew better, he definitely wouldn’t have liked that and honestly neither would she. They were both pretty awkward when it came to comfort; especially physical.

“Coming over unannounced or something.” Adrian mumbled with a small shrug of the shoulders. 

Harcourt nodded, huffing out a breath as she stood from her seat with her coffee mug now in her hand. She must have had one before Adrian had walked in which added to his confusion because it being completely gone meant she was in the kitchen for way longer than he thought… were they doing watch cycles?.

“So he was mad because you showed up unannounced? Did you guys talk about it in the room before he fell asleep?” Harcourt cut off his thought process by pressing further than he thought she would. Harcourt reached over the sink and quickly turned on the faucet.

Adrian listened to the stream of water quietly for a moment. He listened to it hitting off the metal and felt his lips become chapped as the lump in his throat became harder to push down. 

“Oh- No.” He barely whispered. It felt like Harcourt was taking an eternity to wash her mug out- That was what she was doing right?

She began to speak to him; something about Chris and something about how he was worried but all Adrian could really truly focus on was the water. 

It felt so intense and dangerous even if it was just coming from a faucet, because the water thrown over his face over and over again came from a faucet too. Adrian was so scared that he really didn't know if Harcourt intended to do the same to get all the information of what the Nazi’s said out of him. All of his logic was gone and he just couldn't be too sure on what was safe or what was trying to kill him and now she was getting closer to him, saying something louder and louder and louder until- 

- CRASH

Adrian tensed up, his brain finally catching up with him as he shoved his way out of the stool to stare at the mess of milk, cereal and shards of glass all over the tiled floors…Did he do that? 

When Harcourt was approaching him all he could feel was fear, it had even felt like fear was all he could see… It had just filled each sense to the brim and in the moment he could practically hear the sloshing of water in a bucket and he swore he saw a towel in Emilia's hand but when his mind cleared nothing was there… Nothing but a friend with a horrified expression. 

Did he throw the bowl at her? He couldn't remember… There was such a ringing in his ears as his eyes were now darting around the room for an answer. He wanted to- no, he needed to find an excuse for this. Adrian didn't want to be looked down on and knocking cereal off of a table because he thought he was about to be hurt was definitely something he thought would have him wind up there. 

“I-” Adrian hesitated, taking one step back. “I just…I guess I just can’t…eat– um,, yet.” Not the smoothest he’s ever recovered from something but hey, he wasn't at his a-game at 1 am after literally dying. 

Harcourt stared for a moment longer before giving him a small, hesitant nod. 

“That’s okay… Why don’t you go lay down for a second on the couch while I clean this up?” She offered and he immediately agreed by just shooting her a hesitant single nod becore immediately retreating through into the other room (that was directly attached). He dropped down into the middle of the couch with a small sigh.

Adrian stared down at his shaky hands, squinting hard. This wasn’t him …He was supposed to be unbreakable, it's what made him such a good partner and if he wasn't that then would Chris even want him around to hang anymore.

He could hear the rustling of Harcourt cleaning behind him and the sound of someone's footsteps coming down the hall. 

“Little too late. You missed all the action.” Harcourt grumbled to the mystery person as they entered the kitchen to scope out the issue. Adrian’s back was turned to he didn't have much of an idea who it was until the person had cleared his throat…and fuck… it was Chris.

To say Adrian was embarrassed was an incredibly huge understatement. He was completely tunnel visioned on that to the point he didn't even want to look back at Chris or greet him or anything. He just wanted to go home and go to bed. 

“Vig? Hey, man, you okay?” Adrian’s eyes widened as Chris had just basically teleported in front of him. Though obviously and logically Vig had just been two spaced out to notice the movement. 

Adrian pushed a smile onto his face, nodding forcibly very enthusiastically at the man in front of him. 

“Just an accident- I’m super tired and you snore a lot , '' Adrian complained, furrowing his eyebrows in a fake annoyance. Chris, who was surprisingly not that fucking stupid, didn’t buy it for a second and only pursed his lips into a tight smile as a response. 

Harcourt stood behind the couch, looking over them for a moment. 

She listened to Adrian’s lie but didn’t really find it all that shocking that he would have lied to Chris about the situation. She understood why he lied to both of them. He had a reputation with them to be funny, agile and tough, but in this situation for the first time ever he was unable to be any of those things.

To everyone in the safe-house right now he was almost sort of scary to be around in the sense that they were all much too scared to even look at him out of fear that the bullet wound would return right back to the side of his head and he’d be dead again. 

There was a silence amongst them all as Chris carefully and slowly helped Adrian up from the sofa, holding his biceps with each hand to guide him back to the room. Adrian was trembling beneath his touch and it was something he was not used to. 

When they had reached the bedroom door the silence between them all broke as Harcourt followed them down the hallway. 

“I’ll be right in the next room over if you guys need anything…” she offered, leaning in close to Chris afterward for a direct and silenced add-on. 

“He’s going to keep freaking out. Try to talk to him about what happened.”