Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Apollo Willems sat down in one of the chairs in a meeting room, curious to see what this was about. He was part of a government operation, one that worked to keep things safe and people protected. In specific he worked with the Crewfu, a special task force. 

Apollo was the last one of his crew to arrive so he had a girl on his left, long dark hair falling down her back and a blue hoodie on with some basic jeans.

Janet, probably the sweetest girl known to man. 

In his right side was pretty much the opposite of Janet. Permed brown hair, beautiful brown eyes, and a tall lanky body. The man with a horrid sense of humor and the man who could make Apollo’s heart jump from his chest. The one and only, Steven Suptic 

Steve was chatting with a much shorter man, one who wore a hat and a hoodie. They talked loudly, but nobody even blinked an eye at dumb and dumber. Steve was talking to his partner DK about something that seemingly wasn’t important. 

Apollo had sat across from a girl with dark hair, cut at her shoulders. She sat in a way that made it seem like she was in charge, a resting unamused look on her face. Their captain, Hafu. 

On Hafus right was her twin who had fluffy brown hair, and wore a pink scarf around his neck despite how hot it was outside. He spoke with confidence, a smirk on his cocky face. 5up. 

And finally there was one more girl in the room, on Hafus' left side. Her blonde hair tumbled down her back and she spoke with 5up happily, probably the most oblivious person ever, Kimi. 

Their handler came in and the room went silent as all eyes turned to him. He placed a file down in front of Hafu before he began speaking, which intrigued everyone. As he began to speak, Apollo felt the distinct feeling of eyes studying him but when he glanced over his shoulder there was no one there. 

“Good morning Crewfu. The issue with imposters has gotten pretty rough, and I’m going to need your help,” Apollo tensed at those words, imposters were bloodthirsty genetically modified people with powers. At least that’s what he’s been told. “You’re assignment is to stop and catch them,” 

“And how do we do that?” 5up asked, crossing his arms. Toasts eyes traveled over to him and nodded in acknowledgement. 

“I have these for you,” he pulled out a bunch on devices. “Each one has a different ability. Dakotaz, the sheriff bow. If you suspect someone as imposter then shoot them, but if you’re wrong then the arrow will turn on you,” he said and DK paled at the warning. 

“What?” He asked and Toast continued like he didn’t hear the man. 

“5up, the investigator mask. You’ll be able to see footprints of anyone but they only last for an hour so be diligent,” Toast said and tossed a pink mask to 5up. “Janet, the medic shield. Protect one person and you’ll know if they get attacked,” Toast said and Janet grinned

“Sweet,” she said and studied it for a moment. 

“Steve, trackers,” he tossed Steve a pack of trackers and the device to go with them. Steve pouted. “Kimi, the detective magnifying glass. You’ll be able to tell if someone was involved in a scenario of your choice,” Toast said. 

“This isn’t fair,” Steve grumbled. 

“And of course Hafu, you get final say on anything that goes down,” he said and then nodded. “Let me know if you need any help but I trust you. Good luck,” Toast then turned and left. Apollo glanced behind him again as the feeling of being watched faded away. 

“Damn, feel left out yet?” Steve said to him and Apollo just looked over before crossing his arms. “What? You didn’t get anything,” 

“I don’t need anything. I can handle myself,” 

“Yeah sure, whatever you say Dumbdog,” Steve said and snickered as he walked out of the meeting room with DK. Apollo couldn’t help the way his heart beat hard in his chest, despite what a dick Steve could be he still adored the man. 

Apollo stretched as he stood up, casting one more glance over his shoulder before leaving the room. He figured that Hafu and 5up would figure out a plan and get back to them eventually, that’s how it normally worked anyway. 

Apollo saw a door open and close in front of him despite there being nobody there. He paused and stared at it, tilting his head. Maybe he was imagining it all, that wasn’t uncommon in all honesty. 

He reached to open the door but was thrown off when a voice spoke next to him. 

“Apollo!” Kimi said with a grin that faded when Apollo clearly startled from it. “Sorry, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” 

“Sorry,” he said with a guilty smile. “I just thought I saw something,” he explained as he retracted his hand from the door knob. “Maybe I’m just a little tense,” 

“Maybe?” Kimi didn’t seem to believe him and Apollo rolled his eyes as he turned to face the shorter girl. “Imposters got you all weirded out?” She teased him and he let out a barking laugh. 

“I guess so. Can you blame me?” He asked her and she shook her head. “Exactly. Those things are creepy and I’ve only heard stories,” a shudder ran through his body at the thought of possibly facing them. 

“Oh, so is it possible you can fill me in on what they are? I have no clue,” 

“Oh Kimi,” he said and they started to walk as Apollo explained what he knew about them. He heard a door open from somewhere in the hallway behind them and when he turned he saw the same door closing. 

He stared at it for a moment before Kimi got his attention again. He shook off the creepy feeling of being watched before he continued to walked with Kimi again. 

Chapter Text

In a seemingly abandoned warehouse that boarded the woods, Skadj stretched out as he woke up in his room. The morphling was hungry, so he headed for the kitchen. Skadj was an imposter, and they fed off of blood. But they only used animal blood, and all of the good ones were kept up high because of his asshole friends. 

He passed by one of his friends and touched him, sampling him as he headed for the kitchen. He was a morphling, until he sampled someone else or forgot who he sampled he could morph into the person. 

“Hey!” The Janitor said as he grabbed Skadj’s wrists and made the imposter look at him. Skadj gave him an innocent smile, tilting his head. “What’s the idea?” 

“You’re taller than me, obviously,” Skadj said and he heard Chilled let out a scoff as he released his wrists. “Issue?” He asked in a teasing tone, knowing damn well that Chilled wasn’t gonna do anything. 

Chilled Chaos was an imposter that they referred to as the janitor due to his ability. Though it really only worked if he hadn’t eaten recently, because he would ‘clean up’ a body. In reality it was him unhinging his jaw and pretty much devouring anything left. 

“Trying to get something with my height?” Chilled asked and Skadj rolled his eyes before signaling to the kitchen. “What? Think you won’t be able to reach the blood?” 

“No, I think I won’t be able to reach the good blood. There’s a difference,” 

“Is there? I haven’t noticed,” Chilled said in a teasing tone before he walked off. Skadj made it to the kitchen where he saw ZeRoyalViking. His brother, even before they became imposters. Ze looked over and flashed him a smile. 

Ze was what they called a blackmailer. He was really good at blackmailing people but had an uncanny ability where if he looked someone in the eyes, placed a finger to his lips and made a shushing noise, then they were literally unable to speak for twenty four hours. 

Ze tossed a blood bag to Skadj in a greeting and Skadj just nodded to him. Skadj didn’t remember much about his transformation, or anything at all, but he knew that Ze had been one longer than he was. He had also been so incredibly sweet towards Skadj since he turned six months before, which made no sense. 

“Morning,” Skadj said after drinking a little bit. “You’re up early,” 

“Woke up, the fuck you want from me?” 

“Mhm. Ironic that Chilled’s also up, huh?” Skadj said and gave his brother a look. Ze shot a glare at him, but Skadj wasn’t fazed one little bit. “I’m just saying. Is Platy awake too?” He teased and Ze stuck out his tongue. 

“Shut up. What do you know anyway?” Ze stuck his tongue out after he finished his sentence. Skadj stuck his out right back, crossing his arms.

“I know that you’re a bitch,” Skadj responded and Ze rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying,” he told his twin. The boys finished their food in a comfortable silence. 

A buzzing sound rang out through the base and the twins headed silently through the base, comfortably walking in sync. Chilled joined them quietly on the way as well. Upon reaching the meeting room, there was nobody in there, then soon she faded into visibility.  

Kara Corvus was what they referred to as a swooper, an imposter with the ability to turn invisible for up to two hours at a time. She wore a worried look, almost bothered by whatever she was calling the meeting for. 

“Kara?” Skadj asked, a little concerned. Kara shook her head, clearly not wanting to explain anything just yet. 

A vent cap popped open and the imposter they referred to as the miner stood there. Courtilly could tunnel anywhere within a matter of minutes, adding new tunnels to her already complex system. Court was the first one Junk saved, that’s all they knew too. She waved as she sat down next to Kara. 

Two more imposters walked in side by side. TayderTot, the undertaker with incredible strength when it came to unmoving things, and APlatypuss, the grenadier with the ability to produce a flash that temporarily blinded any non-imposters. 

Then the door opened one last time, and an older man walked in. Junkyard, the original imposter, with no special abilities. Nobody knew how he came into existence, but they all knew it had to do with the neutrals. They all also understood that he was the reason they were all like this, but he did it to save their lives. At least that’s what they’d been told. 

“Kara,” he said as he sat down and nodded for her to explain. 

“I went to go see what I could learn about the crew the government wanted to send after us, and Toast gave them things to help catch us,” Kara explained the different abilities each one had, and mentioned that one seemed to pick up when she was there but didn’t actually catch her. 

“I don’t like any of this. At all. Keep a low profile for now. That means no hunting. Does everyone understand?” Junk asked and got nods of agreement. “Good. Dismissed. Kara, with me,” he said and left. 

“Oh boy, how long does Junk expect all the blood to last?” Tay asked and Chilled shook his head. 

“He probably wants to make it stretch, right?” Chilled asked and soon everyone was leaving the meeting room to go find something to do in the base. Skadj split up from everyone and Courtilly joined him, giving him a grin. 

“Does this mean you can’t mine anything?” Skadj teased her. Court narrowed her eyes but her look held no heat. 

“Yeah. Probably,” she said with a shrug. “And I figured you weren’t going anywhere so…” she trailed off with a sweet smile. 

“You’re gonna annoy me?” He asked and she nodded. 

“Tay’s waiting for Kara. Platy, Chilled and Ze are together and do you really think I want to go in there?” Skadj nodded, understanding completely. “And my dad is busy,” Skadj forgot that Courtilly was Junks actual kid. 

“Understandable. Movie?” He asked

“Movie,” Courtilly agreed and they headed to Skadj’s room. 

Chapter Text

A few days after being assigned to the case of the imposters, Apollo was at a crime scene. Someone had been killed in their apartment, a guy named Ellum. Apollo had worked with the crewmate before, Ellum used to work on the Crewfu with him. 

Apollo took a moment to sit next to the half devoured body, knowing that this was the work of the imposters. He took a moment to breathe, biting his lip. He really didn’t know what he was even supposed to do or think. 

This had been reported about two hours ago and Apollo had been sent out as soon as he was available. Apollo stood up and started to look around, finding the alarm. For whatever reason it hadn’t gone off to report a break in, and that didn’t sit well with him. 

He knew Ellum may not be the most cautious or paranoid person, and he was even relatively forgetful, but he always set the alarm. He took the front of it off, examining the wiring and such but it didn’t seem off. Then again he wasn’t a tech expert. 

Apollo knew he would need some help with this, so he decided to call headquarters. 

“Dumbdog?” Peter Park asked, since very rarely did Apollo bother to reach out to HQ unless he really needed something. 

“Peter. I wanted to see if I could pull in Justin to take a look at this alarm system. I think it’s weird that it didn’t go off and I trust him,” Apollo explained to the second in command. 

“We can. It might take an hour until he can get there but we’ll let Northernlion know,” 

“Thank you,” Apollo said as the call disconnected. Justin was one of his best friends, and he knew that he would be of help. Apollo used to work with that crew, and still did on occasion. So calling in Justin was a huge relief. 

Apollo sat back down next to the body, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. A hand on his shoulder made him flinch, he forgot he wasn’t there alone. Toast had sent Valkyrae with him to investigate, so Apollo gave her a tense smile. 

“I know it sucks, but at the end of the day he didn’t set his alarm. Something like this was bound to happen,” she said and knelt next to him. “Imposters are dangerous for this reason. If they can kill, they will,”

“I-“ Apollo's voice cracked as he tried to fight back the tears that had made their way to his eyes. “He didn’t deserve this. Ellum didn’t set his alarm once, and that was that. Really?” 

“Ellum was forgetful, you have to remember that. Besides, there’s plenty of ways imposters can get in and out of places,” Rae explained and Apollo didn’t miss the way she sounded. It was like she spoke from experience, whether that be facing the imposters or not he had no clue. 

“I guess so,” he mumbled and sat there for another moment next to the body. 

“Listen. I’ll send a cleanup crew after you and Justin take a look at the alarm system,” Rae told him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t spend too much time thinking about it, at the end of the day he made his mistake and that cost him,” she then left

Apollo watched as the door shut then he just sat there by himself and waited. His phone rang after a bit and he answered it, it was Justin. He knew the ringtone that played. 

“Hey,” he answered his phone, relaxing a little when he heard the cheery response from his happy friend. 

“Hey man. I’m on my way, I’ll be there in about maybe twenty minutes. Can you hang on that long?” Justin asked, and Apollo rolled his eyes. What did Justin think this was? Him having a panic attack?

“Yeah. I’m fine. I just need you to take a look at the alarm system,” Apollo explained gently and he heard the smallest sigh of relief. “I promise,” 

“I can do that. What’s going on with it?” Justin clearly hadn’t been filled in on what was going on and Apollo smiled ever so slightly. Leave it to the NLSS to forget to fill Justin in. 

“I guess I should fill you in now. Ellum, an old coworker of mine, was killed. His alarm never went off and I want you to see why,” he responded, and Justin hummed for a moment like he was thinking. 

“Isn’t it possible that he just didn’t set it?” Apollo was asked and he felt anger build up inside of him, pent up from when Rae had spoke to him and now what Justin was saying. 

“Why do people keep saying that?!” Apollo finally exploded. “Ellum may be a dumbass, but he wasn’t stupid. He always set his goddamn alarm, and I’m sure last night was no fucking different!” 

“Ok, ok,” Justin said in a clear attempt to calm Apollo down. “I’ll take a look. But I can’t promise anything,” 

“Thank you,” Apollo huffed out. “Anything else?” 

“Yeah. I’m bringing Chib with me. Since we’re coming directly from an assignment and I was his ride,” Apollo let out a small laugh at what Justin said, covering his mouth to try and stifle it. 

“Ok, I’m good with that as long as we get our work done,” 

“Great. We’re close. See you soon,” 

“See you,” Apollo said and the phone hung up. He stared at it for a moment before looking over at Ellum's still unmoving body. He hated that the only identification of the man came from his wallet, hated that Ellum would never sit there and laugh and lighten the mood. He hated that this had happened to such a good guy. 

He sat there and waited for Justin and Chib to show up, maybe they would make him feel better and they would help prove his point that Ellum did set his alarm. Though he wasn’t sure which was worse, setting the alarm and it not going off or not setting it at all. 

Chapter Text

Skadj and Chilled watched from a vent as the tall man went from anxiously pacing to sitting down. He was on the phone with someone, clearly waiting. They needed to get in, Chilled would clean the body up. 

Despite the imposters not doing it, or killing the poor man, they would clean up the neutral's mess so that nothing ended up traced back to them. Chilled tugged on Skadj and the man turned and tilted his head. 

Chilled gave a silent signal for Skadj to follow him and the morphling did. The janitor led Skadj back out of the vent to be outside the building, and they saw two people heading into the currently closed off building. One flashed a badge to get inside and the other followed. 

Taking to the vents again, Skadj and Chilled intercepted the two and knocked them out. Skadj took a sample and morphed into the larger man, and nodded for Chilled to follow him.

“Let’s get this taken care of quickly,” Chilled said and Skadj rolled his eyes. 

“You aren’t a ticking time bomb for demorphing. Remember?” 

“Yeah yeah, but I’m hungry because I haven’t eaten in a while. In case you remember I’m not supposed to in case we need to clean up one of the neutrals messes,” Chilled hissed at him

The two wove their way through the building and found themselves entering the room they had been watching originally. The man in there looked up and relaxed upon seeing Skadj, before greeting him. 

“Justin!” He said and ran over, hugging Skadj tightly. Skadj hugged back, always thrown off whenever someone called him a different name due to a morph. “Where’s Chib? I thought you were both coming…” the man trailed off and Skadj shrugged. 

“Dropped him off and brought my friend Chilled with me,” Skadj lied, not knowing what a Chib was but deciding it wasn’t a him issue. 

“Oh, ok,” he seemed hesitant when glancing at Chilled. “I guess that’s fine. What team does he work with?” 

“He’s just here for cleanup,” Skadj didn’t technically lie, and if he did then it wasn’t a total lie. Afterall, the best lies were built on shreds of truth. That was something Junk had taught all the imposters relatively early before he let them out of the base.

“Oh,” the man sounded disappointed. “I guess I just wasn’t expecting you to leave Chib. Haven’t seen either of you in a while so I thought that it might be nice to see you guys again,” 

“You ok?” Skadj asked, unsure how to go about this. Whatever, whoever, had died clearly meant a lot to this man and it kinda bothered Skadj. Sure he shouldn’t care but he did, because he still had feelings and didn’t like seeing this human so sad. 

“I’m fine, can we just get this over with?” The human asked, seeming annoyed all of a sudden. Skadj put his hands partially up in a mock surrender before dropping them. 

“Yeah. I guess so,” he said and the human signaled to the wall.  

“Great. Can you check out the alarm then? I’d rather get this done so that this can be cleaned up,” the man glanced hesitantly at the body before he held out his hand towards Chilled. “I’m Apollo,” 

“Chilled Chaos,” the janitor shook Apollo's hand. Skadj wasn’t sure what he was looking at when he took apart the system. He wasn’t even sure what he was supposed to be looking for. 

“You wanna tell me what I’m looking for?” Skadj asked and glanced at Apollo. The man crossed his arms and frowned. “Sorry, I just want to know,” 

“I told you when you were coming here. You can’t seriously have already forgotten, Justin,” Apollo sounded annoyed and maybe a little exasperated. “Why didn’t it go off? Did he really just forget to set his alarm?” Apollo asked and Skadj felt a pang in his heart as he heard the hopelessness in the human’s voice. 

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Skadj said and went back to poking at the wires, pretending he knew what he was doing. 

“How’s everything been going? How was your last assignment?” Apollo asked after a moment of silence. Skadj forgot he was supposed to respond until Apollo spoke again. “Justin?” 

“Sorry, I was thinking. It was fine, tiring I guess but overall nothing horrible,” 

“Sounds about right. How’s Ryan, and Kory? How’s Chib?” Apollo asked while leaning against the wall next to Skadj. Skadj swore that Apollo knew he wasn’t Justin and that’s why he was asking about this stuff, but the human could also just be making conversation. 

“All doing fine,” Skadj hoped that the answer would suffice. “We’ve just kinda been going for a while,” he added at Apollo's silence. Apollo nodded and a small smile crossed the man’s face. 

“I know. You guys miss having me around?” 

“Always,” Skadj responded, assuming that these two were close. He could tell that Chilled was getting anxious and wanted out of there. Skadj knew he needed to get Apollo out of the apartment so he turned to the taller man. “Go home Apollo. We’ll look into it and get this cleaned up,” Skadj told him and Apollo hugged him again. Skadj hugged back, he didn’t often get to be around humans so it was weird. He forgot that their body temperatures were way higher than his was, not that this one seemed to notice. 

“Thank you Justin. This means a lot,” Apollo said as he pulled back. “Take care, and please let me know what you find out,” he said and Skadj nodded. 

“I will. Bye,” he said and Apollo left the apartment, the door practically slamming behind him. Skadj relaxed and gave Chilled his signal before turning his back. He hated to watch when Chilled cleaned something up. Aka, he devoured the body. 

Soon Chilled nudged him and Skadj followed him to the vent where they both found their way to Courtillys tunnel system and started to head back. 

Chapter Text

Apollo was sitting in his office and working, trying to forget about the dead body he had been near the previous dag. He was waiting for Justin to find him and tell him what was happening with the damn alarm system. 

A knock on his door startled him and he got up, opening it and smiling at Sykkuno. 

“Come with me,” Sykkuno said, giving Apollo a look that left little room to argue. Apollo stood up and followed him to an interrogation room, which confused him immensely. 

“Sykunno?” Apollo asked as the man held the door open for him. “Inside?” He got a nod in response so Apollo stepped into the darkish room, where Valkyrae and Corpse were waiting for him. Apollo blinked and then gave a weary smile. 

“Sit,” Rae said and signaled to one of the cold metal chairs, the one that the bad guys usually sat in. He did follow the orders and sat down, looking up at the two still standing. Sykkuno shut the door and Apollo flinched, looking concerned. 

“I’m sorry, did I do something?” He asked and Corpse threw a paper down in front of him. Apollo got a nod before he moved to look at it and he realized it was simply his report from the day before. “I don’t understand,” 

“In this report, who are the cadets that you listed other than yourself and Valkyrae?” Corpse asked him and the deep voice made Apollo feel uneasy. Once again he felt like he was being watched as well. 

“HCJustin from the NLSS crew and his companion Chilled Chaos?” It was more of a question in response than a confident answer. 

“Rae?” Corpse said and looked at the girl. Valkyrae had an unamused look on her face. 

“He did contact HCJustin after I left. But I don’t know a Chilled Chaos,” Rae responded and Corpse nodded. Sykkuno stepped behind Apollo and the man glanced up at the raven haired male. 

“Yesterday HCJustin did in fact make it to the building with someone next to him. Except that that person was Chiblee. A Chilled Chaos never entered the building,” Corpse said and Apollo's face went pale. 

“What?!” Apollo asked, eyes widening in horror. “What does that mean?” He stood up only for Sykkuno to gently push him back down into the metal chair. 

“Justin and Chib were found unconscious an hour after you left, and that Chilled Chaos was never seen leaving the building,” Sykkuno explained to him.

“Is Justin ok?” Apollo worried for his friend, who apparently he couldn’t tell the difference between. “Is Chib ok?” 

“They’re ok, but they recounted being hit from behind. Then waking up in a closet,” Rae paused when the door opened and Peter stepped into the room. “Peter?” 

“Kimi returned with this report a bit ago,” Peter said and handed a file to Corpse. “As a basis she went to go check out the room and take a look at what she figured out,” 

“A morphling and janitor, in the room? With Apollo?” Corpse asked and Apollo glanced between the four officers in front of him with confusion. 

“And they left me alive?” He asked and Sykkuno shrugged. 

“They may have wanted to keep a low profile despite having killed Ellum,” Sykkuno told him. “Either way you got lucky,” 

“But…but…” Apollo didn’t really know what he was supposed to think, because learning he had been so close to some of the imposters he was supposed to catch made him feel sick. He genuinely felt like throwing up but he knew that it wasn’t an option, mostly because he also didn’t think he could make himself move at the moment. 

“That would explain why our cleanup crew didn’t find the body afterwards. They did think that was weird,” Rae said and Corpse nodded in agreement. Peter opened his mouth to say something but paused and looked at Apollo. 

“You dismissed Apollo. You can leave,” Peter said and Apollo would take that chance. He tried to ignore the feeling of eyes on him and he slipped from the room quickly. He found his way to a certain office and opened the door. 

Steve was just sitting in the room and playing a video game since he had no work to do. Apollo sat down in an extra chair and Steve flashed him a dazzling smile. It made Apollo's heart speed up and his cheeks turn slightly red. 

“Hey bud,” Steve said and Apollo just melted hearing the man’s voice. Steve could always make him melt, whether he knew it or not. 

“Hi honey,” Apollo responded and heard Steve snort at the nickname. 

“Where have you been today?” Steve asked him and Apollo just let out a sigh. Steve did pause the game and look at him, and it made Apollo feel better about everything. Maybe one day he would have the courage to ask Steve out. 

“In an interrogation room. Apparently I was with a morphling and janitor yesterday. And my goodness-“ Apollo started to say when Steve sat on his lap. Maybe this was the reason he loved Steve, or maybe it was the fact that they weren’t just friends. 

Steve kissed Apollo, who readily kissed back. “Oh honey,” Steve purred and Apollo just let out a fond sigh. “I’m sure it’s gonna be ok. You’re fine, you aren’t hurt,” Steve said and Apollo grinned.

Steve had this way of being almost addicting, and it wouldn’t be the first time that the two had made out or even hooked up. At first it was innocent, boredom leading to something more. And maybe to Steve that’s all it was, but for Apollo it was everything. 

“Maybe if you still feel worried about it later I can offer you a distraction,” Steve offered him and gently carded fingers through Apollo's hair. Apollo leaned into it and managed to nod. “Good boy,” Steve knew all his weaknesses and Apollo would gladly let him use them to his advantage. For now though, Apollo would sit there and let himself be distracted. 

Chapter Text

Skadj and Chilled didn’t see Junk the day they dealt with Apollo, but they went to his room the next day. Junk was already awake and working on something, but they both knew better than to ask. 

“Junk?” Skadj asked and the imposter turned to look at them. He gave them a smile and raised an eyebrow. Junk leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. 

“Do you two have a report for me?” He asked and Skadj nodded. Chilled clearly wasn’t gonna speak, because if he was going to then he already would’ve. Skadj knew Chilled assumed they’d be in trouble, and Skadj didn’t blame him. They were supposed to avoid humans, and clearly that didn’t happen. 

“We got into the building and I morphed into one of their people,” Skadj explained and the question he was dreading came from Junk a moment afterwards. 

“Did you have to talk to anyone after morphing?” Skadj shared a look with Chilled that caused Junk to sigh. “I take that look as a yes then?” He sounded so unamused and Chilled gave him a guilty smile. 

“Yeah, we did. There was someone in the room, we knew that going in, and we didn’t get much of an option. We needed to take care of that body. Besides, Skadj had it handled and had him-“ 

“Fooled?” Junk asked and both Skadj and Chilled shrunk back. Junk could be really nice but when risked with getting them all caught he wasn’t too friendly. “So he thought that Skadj was whoever he was, and what about you Chilled? Did you happen to give him a name? Make something up? Or did you tell him exactly who you are?” 

“I-uh-“ Chilled couldn’t even come up with something. Junk just sighed and then his door opened once again. Kara walked in, looking directly at Junk with a frown. Which means that she had some bad news. 

“Yes Kara?” Junk asked and the girl gave him an almost worried look. 

“They pulled someone into an interrogation room. I assume it would be someone that these two ran into,” Kara gave them both a look. “He’s aware that Skadj and Chilled were there and it’s only a matter of time before he figures out exactly who Chilled and Skadj are,” 

“Sooner than we probably think. Kara, go get Courtilly and Ze.” Junk ordered and the swooped left the room. Junk then focused on the two again. “Both of you are to stay in the base, I don’t want you leaving until we have the human handled. What was his name?” 

“Said he was Apollo,” Skadj answered and Junk let out a soft curse under his breath. 

“One of the smartest ones on that team? That’s really who we have to deal with?” Junk mumbled and it reminded Skadj that Junk used to work for the same people they were up against. “Dismissed, both of you,” Junk said and Chilled left. Skadj hesitated for just long enough that Court and Ze came into the room. 

“You wanted us?” Ze asked and glanced at Skadj with a look that asked what he had done. Skadj just shrugged at his twin and Junk nodded a little bit. 

“I did. I’m going to give you an address, keep the man there quiet. Blackmail him, Court get Ze in and out,” Junk said. Both Court and Ze nodded before Courtilly walked over to a vent in the corner of Junks room and dropped down, Ze following close behind. 

“Great. Uh, can I ask a stupid question?” Skadj asked and Junk gave him a curious look, one that Skadj meant he probably wouldn’t be getting an answer. 

“Not as great as Chilled. But go for it,” Junk said and Skadj had to take a moment to try not to laugh at Junk insulting his friend. 

“The neutrals, why are we cleaning up their messes? Why not talk to the government about them-“ 

“Neutrals caused this,” Junk waved his hands in the air, signaling to everything around him. And then signaled to himself. “The government won’t believe us, and if they did, it’s not their issue until more innocents die. Us cleaning up just keeps us out of trouble. Or at least it usually does,” 

“I’m sorry,” Skadj said softly. “I didn’t think this would happen. I’ve never run into issues before,” he admitted. He felt like he was a child that should be scolded, and despite having an angry parent he didn’t get in trouble. 

“I know. Go get some rest Skadj, I’ll handle it,” he said and Skadj was about to leave when Junk spoke again. “I know why you want to know about them, but you aren’t ready to take them on Skadj. Nobody here is ready for that,” he said and Skadj left the room silently.

Kara found him and gently shoved him. “Hey!” He said in shock and gave her a fake glare. Kara crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him. “What was that for?” 

“For whatever you did that pissed Junk off. Duh. Nobody wants to deal with that,” Kara reminded him and Skadj rolled his eyes because he really didn’t want to deal with her right now. He was honestly gonna try to find Chilled, though Chilled may have been with Platy. 

“It’s not my fault we practically got caught,” he said to the girl and she laughed, giving him a smile. He sighed and shook his head because Kara always had a way of turning bad situations into ones that could make him laugh. 

“Practically? You mean you did?” She asked and he shut another glare, despite it holding no actual heat he hoped it showed how annoying she was being. “Uh huh, because that’s so scary. You guys did get caught, the poor human looked so scared about it,” 

“We didn’t get caught, well we kinda did. Shut up,” he said before Kara could even actually respond to him. She laughed while giving him a challenging look. 

“Make me,” she said and Skadj would happily take that challenge as he chased her. 

Chapter Text

“Hafu?” Apollo asked as he stepped into her office, he needed to talk to someone who might listen. She looked up at him and smiled. Apollo was worried after finding out he was in the room with two imposters, and he still didn’t like the fact that Ellum never set his alarm. 

“Yes Apollo?” She asked and he shut the door behind him. “Can I help you?” 

“It’s about Ellum. I just can’t get over the fact that it never went off,” 

“Like we said, he probably just forgot to set it,” 

“Why doesn’t anyone believe me?! He may be dumb as hell but he wouldn’t forget something like this. Koji was his best friend, Ellum would never leave himself unprotected on the off chance he left Koji by himself!” Apollo felt like nobody heard him when he spoke, and it was starting to drive him crazy. 

“Apollo, I understand that you were close to Ellum. I do, ok? But you need to stop focusing on it, you’re being dramatic. He just forgot,” 

“But Hafu, this was Ellum-“  he tried to argue with the commander he usually respected and listened to. She had worked with Ellum before, how could she not understand what he was saying?

“Exactly why we think he forgot. Go home, get some sleep. You’ve had an upsetting last two days,” she told him. Apollo felt the frustration well up in his chest and he turned sharply on his heel and left. 

He went home. 

Apollo was off duty, and his so-called commander hadn’t been very helpful with easing his worries. He stepped into the quiet house, where he lived alone. Maybe one day he could convince Steve to move in with him, but that might also mean he’d have to ask Steve out. 

He sighed and made it to his room, where he promptly stripped down and jumped in the shower. He spent a while in there, just standing in the water before deciding that he should ultimately get out before he drove his water bill up too high. 

He pulled on some pajamas after drying off, walking back into his room. He almost went to his kitchen but paused seeing a piece of paper sitting on his nightstand. Now, normally this wouldn’t even catch his attention but with his anxiety about Ellum and how tense he was in general he decided to take a look at it. 

Be fucking careful and watch your back, we know who you are and clearly where you live and sleep. Say too much to anyone about us and we will make your life a living hell. If you even survive

-The Blackmailer Imposter

Apollo felt his heart stop. He ran to where his computer was set up in his tiny living room and accessed his security cameras to see what had happened, because he swore that paper wasn’t there when he got into the shower.

Water ran in the background, the sound slightly muffled by the closed bathroom door. From under the bed there was slight movement, and then a man slid out from the bed. The sound of a vent closed behind the man and he placed the paper on the nightstand. 

The man looked up at the security camera, staring it down for a moment. His eyes seemed to glow red in the light of the bedroom, or maybe it was the reflection of the camera, and he stood there for a moment. 

An evil looking smile formed on his face and the fake looking crown tilted on his head, viking horns attached to the crown as well. Sharp teeth showed in the smile before the man slid back under the bed and vanished from sight. 

Apollo hesitantly went back into his bedroom, daring to peer under the bed and he noticed the vent that was most definitely not supposed to be there. 

He felt absolutely sick, what were the imposters doing in his house? What did they want from him? He genuinely felt like crying, mostly from fear, but he was so scared. He didn’t want to be in the house alone, or really at all. 

He got up and left, heading to Steve’s house. It wasn’t that far away and Steve usually didn’t mind if he showed up. He lived about a minute walk away so that’s where Apollo headed. 

He knocked on the door and Steve opened it, giving a confused look but letting Apollo in. 

“Woah bud, why do you look so scared?” Steve asked as he shut the door behind Apollo. Apollo looked at Steve and shook his head, fear bubbling up inside his chest. 

“Can’t say. Long story,” he whispered and Steve nodded. He brought Apollo to the couch and made him sit down, curling up with him. Underneath Steve’s gentle touch, Apollo started to relax slowly. Steve played with his hair until Apollo had gone limp. 

“Oh honey, oh baby,” Steve whispered and Apollo found himself lying down with his head in Steve’s lap. “So tense, work getting to you huh?” 

“I guess,” he whispered in response, just feeling the hands combing through his hair and scratching at his scalp. “Guess the whole Ellum case got to me,” he mumbled and closed his eyes. 

“Oh sweet puppy, I know Ellum didn’t deserve it. I bet those dumb imposters made it quick though,” Steve said. “Get too anxious being by yourself? Needed someone to keep you safe?” 

“Needed to not be alone,” he responded. He heard Steve laugh and soon Apollo was falling asleep. 

In the morning, Steve shook Apollo awake gently. Apollo forced himself to go back to his own house to get changed before work. He was quiet as he entered the house again and went up to his room. The paper remained where Apollo had set it down the night before, and he took another glance at it. He changed for work and left, pushing the note from his brain. 

He had work to do, this note could not and would not cause him issues. 

Chapter Text

“You three, especially you-“ Junk paused and looked at Skadj who ducked his head, guilty after almost getting caught last mission. “-are to grab one of the crewmates. Do Not harm them,” Junk said. 

Skadj was standing next to a vent with Tay the undertaker and Platy the grenadier. Junk was briefing them on a mission he was about to let them go on. 

“I want them unharmed, brought to the medbay and cuffed down. This will be dangerous, so good luck. But by using someone as a bargaining chip we may be able to get the neutrals off our backs,” Skadj shared a look with Tay and Platy but they nodded and jumped through the vent. 

They had a while of a walk through the tunnels, and they’d have to make the best of it. Or in their case, argue the entire time. 

“So why have you been on base arrest recently? That’s really not like Junk to do, especially to you with your ability,” Platy asked and gave Skadj a curious look. 

“Well me and Chilled basically got caught by the human in the room. Ze and Courtilly went to go blackmail him last night but according to Kara they still know I was a morphling,” Skadj explained. 

“And Junk is letting you go on this mission? Is he crazy?” Tay asked and Skadj gave her a look. 

“In case you don’t remember Tay, I know what I’m doing. Plus I can probably pinpoint Apollo, and that might help. Though Kara actually knows the members of the crew so who knows why any of us are going,” Skadj responded and Tay let out a laugh that sounded sarcastic. “What?” 

“I have basically super strength, and you can change how you look. At least Platy can blind the humans, there’s literally no point to your power. At least for this mission,” Tay told him. 

“Ok but still, Kara couldn’t probably handled this-“ 

“Are you two done yet?” Platy asked and both Skajd and Tay shut up instantly. “I’m tired of listening to it. As if I couldn’t handle this alone,” he said and Tay went to retort only for Skadj to cover her mouth. 

“There, that vent. That leads to the building,” Skadj pointed above them and the three scaled the ladder to get out. They exited the vent silently, making their way through the base until they heard footsteps and voices. 

“Feeling better after last night?” 

“I guess. Thanks for letting me stay over,” Skadj recognized that voice and he pulled both Tay and Platy against the way. 

“That’s the guy me and Chilled ran into,” Skadj hissed. Before he could say anything else, Platy had thrown his hand forward and the room went a shade of gray. The humans were blinded, and the one with curly hair managed to stumble away. Apollo however ended up stuck. 

Skadj appreciated the imposter vision he had, and while they could see how long one of Platys flash’s lasted, they also could tell what was going on in the room. 

Skadj ran forward, grabbing Apollo from behind and Platy came over, hitting the human in the head and knocking him out. Tay used her strength to pick up Apollo, not that Skadj thought it would take much effort, and they hurried right back to the vents. 

Skadj and Platy went to report to Junk, while Tay did the easy job and brought Apollo to the medbay. Junk turned to face them and nodded for them to fill him in, and they did. 

“So you guys could have been caught?” He asked and Skadj nodded. “Great. For all we know the other human will bring attention to it. But, that’s fine as we have…” 

“Apollo?” Skadj filled in the name for Junk who nodded in thanks. 

“We have Apollo, which hopefully the neutrals will be willing to make a deal,” Junk said and dismissed both boys. Skadj walked off quickly and shut himself in his room, waiting to see what would come of the next day. 

He did wonder more about the neutrals and went to find Junk, despite knowing he probably wouldn’t reveal anything. Skadj still had to try. He caught Junk in the kitchen, and Junk tossed him a bag of blood. Skadj took it happily, sitting in silence for a moment before he asked the question. 

“How does having Apollo here help us against the neutrals?” He asked and Junk watched him for a moment, taking a breath before giving Skadj an answer. 

“It just does, ok Skadj? I really can’t answer many more questions-“ 

“Why not? You’re usually very honest with us but recently it’s all been secrets and hiding things and now not telling us why we’re doing the things we’re doing,” Skadj pointed out, finding himself growing angry and frustrated. 

“Skadj-“ Junk tried to say but Skadj wasn’t listening. 

“Cleaning up messes that aren’t ours, having us catch a human without any real reason. Neither of those make sense, other than your talk about the neutrals, which you also won’t tell us about,” Skadj pointed out. “What do you have to say about that, old man?” He snapped. 

Skadj expected Junk to be annoyed or to yell at him. Be somewhat angry. The imposter watches him and to Skadj’s surprise, he started to laugh. The audacity. 

“Skadj. You are. Piece of work kid,” Junk said through his laughter. “Yes I agree that cleaning up after the neutrals isn’t quite fair, but it keeps them from pinning more on us,” Junk wasn’t laughing anymore but he still sounded somewhat amused. 

“So then-“ 

“As for catching Apollo, I promise that will all make sense very soon. But until I can figure out exactly how I want and need things to go down I really can’t risk you running off,” Junk told him. “You are known to be very hot headed, even before you became a morphling,” 

“Fuck you old man,” Skadj pouted but despite walking away with no answers he found that for once, he wasn’t really looking for them.

Chapter Text

Apollo woke up with a headache, and he started to try to sit up. His hands were strapped down and so were his legs, and he realized he had no clue where he was. 

Apollo felt his breathing pick up slightly and he fought against the cuffs to the best of his ability, wanting out of them. The door to his right slid open and in stepped Chilled Chaos. Apollo knew this was the janitor, and he freaked out even more. 

“Go away. Just go away. Please, I didn’t do anything,” he begged and fought the restraints, tears brimming in his eyes. He didn’t talk to anyone after getting the note, why was he being taken? Chilled looked a little thrown at the begging and walked closer. 

“Relax. We aren’t going to hurt you,” Chilled placed a hand on Apollo's shoulder, and Apollo tensed up in fear. “I promise, we just need you for something,” he said and Apollo felt like he was gonna lose his mind. 

He really didn’t like having Chilleds hand on his shoulder, and he really just wanted to go home and go see Steve. Steve would make this all better, he always did. 

“Chilled,” another voice said as the door slid open. Apollo looked over with wide eyes and saw an older man-imposter?-come in. “Out,” he ordered. Apollo instantly relaxed a tiny bit when the contact dissipated. Chilled did start to leave. 

“What do you want me to do?” Chilled asked and waited for some sort of order. Clearly this older guy was in charge and it made Apollo shudder. 

“Go see if you can get in contact with Toast,” the older man said. “I want to see if we can strike a deal,” the man said and Chilled left a moment later. Apollo gave the new guy a wary look and shifted slightly as he was seemingly studied. 

“What do you want from me? I wanna go home,” he said and the older man let out a soft sigh. It sounded like a tired parent and if this was any other situation then maybe Apollo wouldn’t be so damn terrified. 

“I know the feeling. My name is Junkyard, I promise we aren’t planning on hurting you or anything like that,” Junk was so calm that it made Apollo physically uncomfortable. 

“So why take me? I swear I didn’t say shit-“ he started to try and argue that they should let him go but Junk just cut him off with a gentle tone. 

“I know. I always know,” that totally wasn’t creepy at all, Apollo did not like the phrasing there, “We just needed a bargaining chip for the neutrals,” Junk explained and Apollo wasn’t convinced in the slightest. 

“Right. Cause you aren’t planning on using me for food or something. You’ve killed people-“ Apollo snapped and Junk tried to say something and cut him off. 

“I mean yes but-“ 

“You killed Ellum!” Apollo didn’t let himself be stopped, his voice cracking in heartbreak at remembering the body. “And you’ve killed others! You’re evil,” 

“Listen kid, there’s a lot that you don’t know. Ok? Yes, when I was first turned I did hurt people and that’s something I will forever regret,” Junk explained and Apollo watched him closely. “But, when I did get control of myself I promised I would never hurt another person again. Never kill another human again,” 

“What about the others? Huh? You really want me to believe that they haven’t done things-?” 

“Of course they’ve done things. There’s a learning curve, there’s always one. But it’s not like I wanted them to be like this, be like me. I needed to save their lives, for one reason or another. So I had to turn them,” and Apollo hated that he believed it, so wholeheartedly. 

“And what about you? How did you end up like this?” He let curiosity get the better of him. Junk did smile at him, and then he started to explain a bit more. 

“The neutrals wanted someone, something, else to help them with their ability to keep control of the world. Honestly I think they wanted something to blame their issues on,” Junk told him and then sighed. “They may pretend to be good people but they aren’t,”

“So why me? Why take me?” Apollo asked and Junk bit his lip for a moment. “Because you wanted a bargaining chip for the neutrals…” Apollo trailed off as he thought. 

“Figure it out yet?” Apollo nodded as it clicked in his mind. It was Toast, it was Toast and his little team. They were the ones to kill Ellum, and so of course the alarm didn’t go off even if Ellum had it set. Ellum had no reason not to trust them showing up and he let them in. They disabled his alarm. 

“No,” he whispered as he realized he sat in the room with Valkyrae while he mourned Ellum, while he was investigating the death. She wasn’t there to help, she was there to steer him away from the truth. 

“I’m sorry this is how you had to find out. I know it’s horrible, but when I say I promise you aren’t going to be hurt, I mean it,” Junk said and then glanced at the door. “I have to go help Chilled set up a call, I’ll leave you with Skadj,” Apollo opened his mouth to question who the fuck Skadj was when the door slid open and another imposter walked in. Junk left and Apollo stared at this man. 

“Nice to see you awake Apollo!” Apollo flinched when the man, Skadj, said his name. “Oh right, uh. Hi, I’m the morphling,” 

“You pretended to be Justin?” 

“I did,” Apollo managed to nod, with so many questions filling his head, he didn’t know where to start or even what to do. “I thought you were onto me if I’m being honest,” 

“No, I was so happy to see Justin despite everything going on that I didn’t even think it was weird he had brought this random guy instead of Chib,” 

“Ah, so I was worried for nothing,” Skadj said and the two just sat there and talked for a while. Oddly enough, Apollo found himself relaxing despite being restrained in an unfamiliar place. 

Chapter Text

Skadj got the signal from Ze to grab Apollo, so he forced the human to his feet and handcuffed his wrists behind his back. Apollo was silent as Skadj gently nudged him to guide him through the hallways. 

Skadj moved Apollo to stand slightly behind Junk and Skadj remained behind the human. He pushed his knee to the back of Apollos gently, a friendly way to tell Apollo to get down on his knees. Apollo let out a huff as he dropped down, sitting back on his legs. 

Skadj tangled fingers through Apollo's hair, a simple and gentle way to keep a little bit of leverage over the human. 

The moment Junk connected to the call, Toast’s face came onto the screen. He looked at Apollo, who was now struggling against Skadj, and Toast didn’t seem that amused. Or even like he cared. 

“Toast,” Junk said. 

“Help-!” Apollo started to cry out for Toast, and Skadj yanked a little on his hair. Apollo let out a sharp yelp and went silent, wide eyes glancing at the morphling behind him. 

Skadj understood why Apollo was now fighting against him, whether it be because he was putting on a show or genuinely was feeling fear, Skadj didn’t blame him. 

Skadj did feel bad for yanking on Apollo's hair so he gently and practically invisibly scratched Apollo's scalp gently. To his surprise he could’ve sworn Apollo leaned into the gentle touch. 

“Junkyard. What is it?” Toast asked, raising an eyebrow. Junk gave him a confused look and then signaled to Apollo. “Oh yes. Him,” Skadj did not like the way Toast finished that sentence. 

“Listen, we have a deal we want to make,” Junk explained and Toast nodded for him to continue. “We will hand over Apollo, unharmed, if you pull the Crewfu off of us and leave us alone,” Junk offered and Toast was quiet for a moment. 

“And why would we do that? He’s served his use, clearly you’ve told him about us, so why would we want him back?” Toast said and Skadj felt anger fill him. “Keep him, hell kill him for all I care,” the call disconnected and all Skadj heard from Apollo was a very soft, 

“What?” 

Skadj dropped Apollos hair and he stared at Junk. Junk looked so thrown off that Skadj felt horrible, and that feeling got even worse when he glanced down to see Apollo looking heartbroken. 

“So what do we do with him now?” Tay asked and Junk shook his head. 

“We let him go. There’s no reason to keep him here and he has a life I’m sure,” Junk said and Skadj unlocked the cuffs. Apollo quickly stood up and glanced between the imposters before he ran, and Skadj had half a heart to go after him. 

Kara’s hand on his shoulder was the only thing that stopped him. 

“Hang on, this isn’t fair! How dare they treat him like that! Not to mention that Apollo’s probably going right back to them and they’ll probably just kill him since he knows!” Skadj snapped. 

“I hate that you’re right. Skadj, go in. Keep a low profile until we can be sure that Apollo won’t be harmed. If something happens, get him back here quickly,” Junk said and Skadj dove for the closest vent. 

Skadj wove his way through the tunnels, finding his way back to the base. He morphed quickly, glad he still had some sort of sample from Justin. He climbed from the vent and walked through the building, spotting Apollo. 

The man was heading for an office, one that Skadj could tell was labeled with the name Toast. He almost stopped Apollo from going in, but he knew at the end of the day he couldn’t do much without possibly raising alarms. 

He slipped closer to the door and heard raised voices coming from within. He silently listened, curious to know what was happening. 

“You left me there!” He heard Apollo snap, voice cracking in absolute heartbreak. 

“I did what I needed to do, to keep everyone here safe. For all I know you’re simply a morphling. Or you’ve been turned,”

“I wasn’t even hurt yet you left me there!” 

“I’d watch your tone. What do you know?” 

“I know who you are, what you are. What you’ve done,” Apollo was silent for a moment and then he spoke again. “I know one of your neutrals killed Ellum,” Skadj heard his voice become softer. 

There were no other words, no other sounds that came from the office after that. Skadj did not like that so when he did hear footsteps he dove into the shadows and didn’t move, heart freezing when he noticed that Toast had blood on him. 

Skadj rushed into the office, spotting Apollo laying on the floor. Apollo was fighting to keep his eyes open and Skadj could tell he was losing the battle. Skadj moved forward and knelt, assessing the injuries and trying to ignore the strong scent of blood from Apollo. 

“Justin?” Apollo asked in the weakest voice and Skadj couldn’t lie to him, so he let his facade slip and morphed back into himself. “Skadj,” Apollo murmured and then Skadj was picking him up. 

“You’re gonna be ok. I promise. You aren’t gonna die yet,” Skadj wasn’t even sure why he cared so much, or why he was so determined to make sure Apollo knew he would be ok. Apollo just dropped his head onto Skadj’s shoulder and Skadj made it to the vent before rushing back towards base. 

Apollo was bloody, deep scratches on his body and Skadj was honestly shocked that he was still alive. But he also knew Apollo was fading fast, especially when Apollo closed his eyes and just groaned. 

He made it back to the base where everyone quickly parted when they saw Skajd and what he was holding. Junk met Skadj in the medbay and took Apollo. 

“Stay out,” Skadj was ordered, everyone was ordered to stay out. Skadj just stared at the closed medbay doors, covered in Apollo’s blood, and waiting anxiously to see if the human he barely knew was going to be ok. 

Chapter Text

Apollo felt pain, that’s all he felt as he groaned and opened his eyes. Tears were already threatening to fall because of how much pain he was in, it was flooding his body and in all honesty he wished he could just die then and there.

“Hey there,” a gentle voice said and he took a moment to realize that Junk was standing there. Apollo blinked at him, confused. They had promised not to hurt him, so why was he in so much pain? “What do you last remember?” 

“You were leaving and Skadj came in. He was in here for maybe a minute. What happened?” His breathing picked back up and the panic filled him. He couldn’t breathe. 

“Hey. It’s ok. It’s all ok. I promise I’ll explain but you need to calm down.” Junk said and Apollo could barely hear him. It was like someone had shoved his head under water and he couldn’t get back up. 

He was faintly aware of someone coming in and speaking to Junk, then he was aware of himself being pulled onto someone’s lap. 

Fingernails gently scratched at his scalp and he hummed softly, starting to breathe again after a few minutes. He was aware of Skadj talking and he tensed up a little until he realized that he wasn’t being hurt. 

“I don’t understand,” he whispered and Skadj hummed at him. He didn’t stop playing with Apollos' hair, and he didn’t stop scratching his scalp either. “What happened to me? Why am I in pain?” 

“Oh sweetheart. A lot happened. But that’s not important right now. What’s important is that you’re ok,” Skadj whispered and Apollo nodded. He cuddled closer, finding that he really trusted Skadj despite everything. Despite knowing that this was the morphling. 

“So what happened? Are you guys gonna tell me?” Apollo asked and glanced up at the morphling. Due to the position Skadj had put them in, Apollo was leaning into his chest and was slightly down so he literally had to look up. 

“I’ll let Junk explain when he gets back. I promise we’re gonna tell you though,” he said and Apollo nodded. He just stayed still on Skadj’s lap and let Skadj keep doing what he was doing. Junk came in a while later and he explained what happened to Apollo, and Apollo was confused. 

“So what does this mean for me?” 

“We won’t know exactly, but you’re one of us now. We’ll figure out your powers eventually, and until we make sure you get control of yourself then I want to keep you here,” 

Apollo didn’t know how to respond or even what to say, and so he let himself be moved to a bedroom with Skadj. 

“What does he mean?” Apollo asked after a while of silence, curiosity getting the better of him. Skadj gave him a confused look and Apollo explained what he meant. “Junk, he said something about me losing control?” 

“Oh, that,” Skadj said and was quiet for a moment. “We have bloodlust, so yeah we want to kill people. We feed on blood. Basically sound like a vampire from anything you read ever,” 

“Oh,” Apollo was scared, could he really hurt someone? 

“I know, I know how scary this is. I promise you we all know how scary this is. We’ve all gone through it at one point or another, and I swear we all know what you’re thinking right now,” Skadj whispered and Apollo felt Skadj press a kiss to his forehead. 

Apollo was soon pulled into training where they worked to find out what his ability was. He also learned that maybe the taste of blood wasn’t so bad, though that could be the entire thing of the bloodlust. 

One day he was walking through the base with Skadj, like he normally did. He was usually with Skadj, something he found himself enjoying. Well Kara appeared in front of them and Apollo screamed. The swooper had scared him half to death and he didn’t appreciate it. 

All of a sudden the world around him slowed down and he turned gray. He took off from getting spooked and managed to hide somewhere until everything seemed to fade back to normal. 

“You know, you just activated your powers for the first time,” Junks voice eventually snapped him from his thoughts. Apollo realized that the imposter was sitting in front of him. 

“Oh,” 

“Come on, you Venerer,” Junk said and pulled Apollo to his feet. “Skadj is looking for you,” he told him and Apollo gave Junk a thankful smile. 

“I guess I’m a Venerer then,” he said and walked off. Skadj was sitting in their room and unmoving, looking maybe a little stressed until he saw Apollo. Skadj moved fast and pulled Apollo into his arms. Apollo melted into the touch and soon the two found themselves on the bed and cuddling. 

Apollo was slowly finding that he didn’t need Steve, that he didn’t even miss Steve as long as Skadj was around. Skadj placed their foreheads together and Apollo smiled at him. 

“Well at least we know what your powers are now,” Skadj whispered and Apollo shrugged. They were inches apart and Apollo could feel Skadj’s hot breath on his face. 

Next thing he knew was that Skadj’s lips were on his, and Apollo melted into the soft kiss. Apollo didn’t want Skadj to pull away so when Skadj did he was a little disappointed, and it must’ve shown because Skadj let out a gentle laugh. 

“Oh pretty boy,” Skadj whispered and Apollo parted his lips to speak but no words or sounds came out. “I would apologize, but since you seemed to enjoy it, I’m not sorry,” 

“Skadj,” Apollo managed to whisper and Skadj kissed him briefly and Apollo went silent again. 

“So then…I guess do you wanna be my boyfriend?” Skadj asked and Apollo didn’t have words to speak with, so once again he connected their lips. He was hoping that Skadj would be smart enough to understand that was a yes, and judging by the fact that Skadj smiled into the kiss, he did understand completely.