Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Agents Juno Steel and Sasha Wire sat side-by-side in the small ship taking them down to mars. Their ride was smooth and calm, which meant it was quiet. Far too quiet. Juno wasn’t a fan of silent moments between him and Sasha, it always felt like there was a wall of things left unsaid between them. A thick layer of glass he couldn’t reach through. He could read her face through it, but never her mind.

For someone like Mick, the face would be enough. But for Sasha, it was a puzzle. Piecing together exactly what emotions she was hiding, who she was hiding them from, why she might not want them to see. But that’s not all. What could she be trying to say? Was there some hidden sign she was giving when her eyes locked with his? 

And with the sunglasses? Forget it. Juno could read her face, but he’d never be able to read her mind. 

That didn’t mean he wouldn't try.

She looked cool and calm, but he could see the frown lines between her eyebrows wrinkled ever so slightly. He saw the way she glanced at her watch and how she would occasionally skim the files. She was impatient. maybe Frustrated too, based on the slightest tension in her jaw, but he wasn’t sure.

It was reasonable, to be honest. Their mission today was a weird one. They were solving a missing person’s case for… People who weren’t missing anymore. All of them had gone missing, none of them knew how long. It was at least a month for all of them, but they recalled it like it’d been a few hours. Even worse, one of them was dead.

Aria Gold. Age nineteen, female, last seen going to buy eggs for her mother, though she didn’t remember doing so. She’d come home thinking she’d been out for a long walk, talked to Sasha who’d come to investigate, complained of chest pain, and died from respiratory failure that night. The cause of it is unknown, only that she’d deteriorated incredibly fast and died quickly. Not the kinda case Juno wanted to bet his life on, but being a Dark Matters agent meant he didn’t get to decide what he bet his life on.

He considered the other victims in the case. They had four that had returned, and a lot of other disappearances they’d messily linked to this case in a hurry. But he wasn’t gonna focus on something they had nothing on just yet, he had to run through what they did have first.

June Johnson, for example, twenty-eight and living with their wife and two kids. One day they got up, kissed their kids and their wife and walked out, vanishing for a month, just like Aria. They’d come home not even remembering where they worked or the names of their co-workers. Not only that, but they’ve also become sick, and while their condition has been manageable, it’s still inexplicable.

Michael Jones, left for a trip with friends. Allen Umber, left for work. Both had kids, partners, lives. Vanished for a month and came back with gaps in their memories and something ruining their health. Something that couldn’t be explained, only contained.

Silena Green missing for two weeks, Kevin Vist missing for three weeks, Norman Grove missing for one week. Lines and lines of name after name after name, person after person. Not seen since, not seen since, not seen since… all within a month. None of their last locations lined up either. Some were going to school, work, the park, a walk. Some were in cars and some on foot or on bikes, none of it lined up. And Hyperion wasn’t short on missing persons cases. Who knew which of these were a big conspiracy and which ones were a kid gone rogue or a random kidnapping?

He closed the case file a little too aggressively, and Sasha turned to him with an eyebrow raised. Then, because he was almost certain if he stayed silent any longer, he’d strangle someone, he cleared his throat and said:

“How long until we arrive?”

Sasha checked her watch again, then relaxed her expression entirely and said, “Not long.”

She leaned back slightly and looked at the door. If this was an attempt to look calm, Juno thought, she wasn’t doing a good job. Her shoulders were rigid, and her lips pressed together in a thin line. Why? He had no idea.

“We’ll visit Gold first,” she said finally, taking the files and reading them, before pushing it towards Juno and tapping a gloved finger on the name Marianne Gold, Aria’s mother, “after that we’ll speak with Umber. If we need more information, we’ll continue but we do have someone to meet at around five.”

“Someone to meet?” He echoed.

“Yes. Agent Glass. He’s taken an interest in this case and asked to join us. He specializes in underground tech,” Sasha said, before adding, “allegedly.”

“Allegedly. So, you think he’s lying?”

Sasha seemed to roll that around in her mind for a moment, before saying, “No. I just think he’s leaving something out.”

“That sounds a lot like lying.”

She ignored him and continued, “Most agents have ulterior motives, but if they’re going to put the organization at risk, well…” She closed the file and set it down in between them, “We’ll arrive shortly. Don’t leave anything behind, they won’t return it.”

Juno snorted, “Yeah, coulda told me that the first time.”

“Juno, I don’t know how you even manage to forget an entire bag. It’s nobody’s fault but yours.”

Before he could protest or argue or rile her up, the ship shuddered and bumped to a stop. Sasha took her single small bag and stood, sliding the file into it nicely.

Hyperion city. The most beautiful place in the galaxy… unless you live there. Prettiest skyline on mars, but that’s where it ends. Juno used to live there. So did Sasha, but she’d never talk about it. It was… messy. And Juno hadn’t ever wanted to come back. But of course, if crazy crime happened anywhere, it was Hyperion.

Juno stepped out into the warm, dry air. Sasha, despite insisting it wasn’t her job, checked to make sure he had everything repeatedly. She did that sometimes, but not out of charity. She was taking this case seriously, which meant she wanted everything to be in place. If he looked now, his clothes were probably prepped for combat already, complete with poison antidotes, emergency plasma cutters, and maybe even a blaster or two.

It's just how she was. Prepared as ever. More than he ever was.

Maria’s apartment wasn’t a long drive away. Quite close in fact. She opened the door with a hand on her hip and a girl attached to her arm.

“You’re the cops?” She asked in a husky, impatient tone.

Sasha didn’t even look at Juno. She straightened her back even more if that was possible, held her shoulders stiff, and politely said,

“Investigators, yes. We’re here to talk about your daughter?”

She nodded and stepped aside to let them in. Her house was nice, all things considered. Nothing special, bland and forgettable, but nice. The walls were beige and had some weird abstract art on it, her carpet was clean for a household of five, and her couch was a bland brown color. She offered for them to take a seat, and Juno did. Sasha didn’t.

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you recount what happened the day of Marianne’s disappearance?” Sasha asked.

She sighed, then nodded slowly, “It was, oh I don’t know, noon time. The 30th of June, and I asked her to go get some eggs. We’d run out and she promised she’d get some because her sisters love them and…” She shook her head, “I didn’t see her after. I called her over and over and she didn’t pick up… Except…”

Sasha’s demeanor shifted. She tilted her head just barely to the side, narrowed her eyes slightly behind the glasses, “Except?”

“Well… It seemed like a mistake and so I didn’t say anything but… I-I assumed it was a mistake because it didn’t happen again but… She picked up one of them.”

Sasha exchanged a look with Juno. Not one that told him, anything, but they were probably thinking the same thing: That should’ve been in the case files. Witnesses got stories wrong all the time, but calls can be tracked and so even if this woman had never told them before… They should’ve known, that is, unless someone covered it up.

“She didn’t speak at all. I heard footsteps and… It was hard to make out, but it hung up after ten or so minutes.”

Sasha looked at her watch, tapped it a few times, and said “Well, that’s actually very important information, thank you. “Did you hear anything about her in the time she was missing?”

“No,” Gold said, “they found no sign of her, and then one day she just… Came back. She said she forgot to get eggs, like she’d gone out on a walk or something! Like she hadn’t been gone for an entire month!”

She was upset. Juno didn’t blame her.

“And… her death?” Sasha pressed.

“Impossible!” Gold insisted, “The doctors all said it was impossible. She was fine that morning and then she was in some pain, so she went to bed early and she never woke up!”

The rest of the interrogation was things they already knew. Sasha had him take note of it anyways. It also went on longer than they’d planned, between Sasha demanding every detail and Juno trying to piece it all together in his mind even though it made zero sense.

Afterwards, they discussed.

“Okay, so, girl disappears in and impossibly perfect way, comes back fine with memory issues, gets sick, and dies.” Juno said, “Sounds like your run-of-the-mill experimental drugs to me, Sash.”

“She didn’t get sick, Juno,” Sasha said, “her organs abruptly shut down for no explainable reason. Not only that, but the gaps in her memory are severe. Even if this is an experimental drug, it’s dangerous, and we need to get rid of it.”

“Well, you said we have a place to tie them to, didn’t you? Why haven’t we gone in there and dealt with it yet? Why waste our time with information we already have?”

Sasha gave him a glare that could’ve cut a hole in his head like a clean blaster shot, “We don’t have enough evidence to go in guns blazing. Not to mention we don’t know anything about their work or what they have in there. Think, Juno, if they can do this to these people, we can’t just shut down one facility. How do we know they don’t have more? Or-“

“Okay, okay, it’s complicated, I get it.” Juno said finally.

“Good. Because you need to. This is serious.”

Juno read through his notes on the case. Aside from the phone call, nothing seemed different from what they’d been told. And it seemed pretty clear-cut to him. Drug with nasty side-effects is being tested on people. Maybe they’re drugged during the process and that’s why they don’t remember anything. Maybe the memory loss is a side effect.

It did feel like a big organization, but Sasha seemed a lot more on edge about it. There was something she wasn’t telling him, but he knew he’d never get anything out of her. So, when he managed to slip away with the bathroom excuse, he called Rita.

“I dunno, boss, Sasha got real mad at me last time I poked around in her files,” she said, her keyboard clicking over the receiver.

“Yeah, well, this is a little more important than probation, alright?” Juno muttered.

“Well, I’m not seein’ much. She did send a message asking for the call logs of that girl you two were lookin’ for, but… I dunno.”

That wasn’t suspicious, but Juno filed it away for later anyways. “How about before this? Anything else she’s done for this case?”

“She followed it a few months ago but hit a dead end. That was before the last guy went missing.”

“What? Wait, which last guy?” Juno opened his notes on his comms and started typing as she talked.

“Last guy was-“

“Juno! We have to go soon!” Sasha called.

“Nevermind. I’ll call you back.” He said quickly.

“Boss- wait, but-!”

He hung up on her and stuffed his comms in his pocket. He’d have to come back to that later. For now, he had a case to solve. “So, agent, where to next?”

“Glass.”

He frowned at her, “Glass? Really? What about the other witnesses like… Uh… Johnson was next, right?”

She smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear, “We set up a time, Juno, and I prefer not to be late. If you’d like to take over interrogations while I fetch him-“

       “Oh, to hell with that, Wire, you don’t get to dump your work on me just so-”

       “Then stop complaining.” She said, stopping beside the car they were taking to meet him. The really, really nice car. All black, like things tend to be in Dark Matters.

       “They’re really giving you whatever you want for this case, aren’t they?” Juno slid into the passenger seat.

       “It’s important,” Sasha said, “why? You don’t like working on company creds?”

       “No, I just think it’s weird.” Juno muttered.

       The rest of the drive went on in silence. But Juno kept running that conversation over in his head. Sasha logging new evidence wasn’t weird. Them getting nice rides for a case wasn’t weird either. And neither was Sasha taking her job seriously. It just felt wrong.

       So did having three agents on this case. The first time he and Sasha did something together, they had a third, but it was someone they knew. Glass was a new recruit. And a lot of this stuff came down to him or Sasha. And right now, he seemed a lot more suspicious than Sasha did.

       A new agent who’s not on file squeezes his way into this case when he’s never done any others before. It reeked, and Juno was sure that if he wanted to answer all of the questions in this case, he’d have to answer Rex Glass first.

At least, that had been the plan.

Before he met Rex Glass, Juno expected something a little more… intimidating. Dark Matters agents usually were, after all. But when the car pulled into a dingy driveway and Sasha stepped out, Juno saw someone… 

Well, Juno liked his men like he liked his whiskey. Ready to do him harm. And Agent Rex Glass sure looked like he could do harm. But he wasn’t intimidating. His face was soft and sharp at the same time, his legs were long and lean, his eyes were narrowed and peeked over his glasses, something Sasha would’ve hated.

He looked happy to see them and ready to kill them at the same time. And Juno couldn’t say he hated that look.

“Agent Glass.” Sasha said.

“Agent Wire, hello, and who is your partner? I don’t believe I’ve met him before.”

Sasha glanced at Juno expectantly, and he took Rex’s outstretched hand, “Uh, yeah, Agent Juno Steel. Hey.”

“Juno Steel,” He echoed, “has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

“If you say so.” Juno muttered.

“Why, I find your friend quite fun, Agent W.” Rex smiled a fox’s smile with a fox’s teeth.

Sasha’s comms rang, and she looked down at the screen. After a moment, she said, “Well. I’ve got to take this. You two get comfortable, I’ll make it quick.”

Juno and Glass sat in the car in silence while Sasha took her call.

“So…” Juno said, awkward, “What brings you to… Uh… This?”

“The case?” Rex offered.

“Yeah, that. It’s not like you’ve gotten any other cases under your belt. Seems odd to start with one like this.”

“Well,” He leaned back, relaxing almost dramatically into the seat, “I’ve never been to Mars before, and I’ve heard many things.” he glanced at Juno and grinned again, “I can’t say I hate the view.”

“Yeah well the view isn’t so great from the inside, Agent.”

“Maybe as far as the city is concerned,” Rex said, “but I think this view is worth it.”

Juno just snorted, “What brings you to Dark Matters, then?”

“Many things, Agent, the benefits aren’t too bad alone.”

“Oh, can it, I work here too.” Juno waved him off.

“Well, it’s not everyday you get to become a new person. Scrub your name clean and start a new life. I’d say that alone is worth it.”

“People only want to start a new life if their old one went to shit. Unless you’re Sasha, nobody joins Dark Matters because they like who they used to be.”

Rex studied him for a moment, then said, “Well, I like to think I’m rather skilled at disappearing without Dark Matters stepping in.”

“Not a skill I’d parade around, Glass,” Juno said, “can’t say I’m a big fan of people who lie.”

“Yet you’re in Dark Matters?”

Juno huffed and turned to look out the window, “I didn’t say it was a dealbreaker.”

Rex laughed at that, “You don’t say? So what is a dealbreaker for you?”

Juno didn’t respond to that. But Rex leaned in just slightly as he said it, and he could smell his cologne. It smelled strange, foreign. Like something he could only describe as Rex Glass. Like nothing he’d ever smelled before.

A silence stretched out between them, interrupted by Sasha knocking on the window a lot louder than was strictly necessary. 

“Well, it’s getting late,” Sasha said, “we have another witness I’d like to talk to, but first,” She slid a tablet out of her bag and started typing on it, before pushing it towards Juno, “I’m afraid something’s come up.”

Juno met her eyes first. She looked upset. Her eyebrows furrowed and the frown lines on her forehead stood out more. Her lips pressed together and after a moment of eye contact she looked away. So he turned his eyes down to the screen, where another missing person was displayed.

Mick Mercury.

Chapter Text

Sasha kept her eyes straight ahead as they drove. Juno was quiet, staring out the car window with his brows furrowed into a scowl and his glasses propped on his forehead. Thinking, most likely. He’d already gotten his feelings out quite loudly, and now Agent Glass was driving.

Juno didn’t take bad news well. He never had. He liked to convince himself that everything was either his fault or impossible, which was a small-minded way of viewing the world, but then again selfishness is small-minded, isn’t it? Focusing only on oneself instead of the bigger picture.

Sasha had known Juno a long time—longer than anyone who was alive, in fact—and she knew him front and back, which was important to their partnership. It was easy to read Juno, but it was hard to know him. No doubt their rookie friend knew that as well as she did.

She had no opinions about Glass, despite how Juno certainly wanted her to. He was new, and new meant one of two things. Either he was highly skilled, deadly, and dedicated, or he was a liar. And lying to Dark Matters was a dangerous game to play.

But no matter how much she tried to piece together which one Rex Glass might be, Sasha found her mind slipping. The situation with Mick was, well, shocking. Juno had felt very strongly about it.

“What the hell could they want with Mick?” He’d snapped, quite loudly.

“It’s possible whatever they’re doing is ongoing. Even though most of the disappearances have slowed down, they still take people for exactly a month. And how many people are missing who haven’t been reported?” Sasha said, “I’m not saying it’s a fact, but we need to consider every angle-”

“How do you know he didn’t just wander off somewhere?” Juno cut her off, “He’s not exactly the most reliable.”

“He’s not much more irresponsible than you are, Juno,” She replied, “and he could be in danger.”

“Then let’s go find him!” Juno threw his hands up in the air, frustrated, “If you would let me in there-”

“We can’t just walk in.”

“Dark matters can shut people up with a laser to the brains and a couple million creds, but you can’t sneak into a facility!?”

“Juno!”

And they went back and forth for a while until Rex suggested they get to their next destination. It’d been quite a waste of time. But Juno was rattled now. He was taking this seriously, and she had no idea if that’d hurt or help their mission. 

Juno was volatile, yes, and unpredictable. But it made him adaptable. Not only that, but while his selfishness put him in danger many times, it made him a reliable partner. He was profoundly negative and paranoid, but he was observant and intelligent. He was everything a detective should be, even if he was lacking in the prime agent qualities. Sasha would be lying if she said he wasn’t an extremely helpful asset despite his many flaws.

“Well, agents, I do believe we’ve arrived at our destination!” Rex said, far too cheerful for the tension in the backseat.

“Let’s get this over with.” Juno muttered

“Actually, Juno, I think I’ll handle this one.” Sasha said.

The look he gave her was not entirely unlike the look he usually had given her before he tried to knock her teeth out when they were kids. But he wasn't going to fistfight her, which meant she surely had the upper hand. She often did.

“I want you and Agent Glass to scope out the facility I told you about,” She continued.

“I thought you said-”

“I know what I said. Which is why I’m also telling you to stay outside. Do not enter that building until I tell you to.”

Juno, already riled up for an argument, snapped at her. “How do you expect me to find what they’re keeping in there if I can’t go in? Do you want me to window shop on the highly illegal kidnapping and human experiments? You want me to find their giant flashing sign that says hey, Dark Matters! Secrets are this way! ”

“Just scout the area, Juno. We don’t know what we’re up against, and even if you don’t find anything… We lose nothing by simply taking a look.” She stepped out of the car, slipping her blaster into her bag and zipping it closed, “Now, Juno. I’ll send the address to your comms and I’ll call you when I’m finished here.”

She didn’t wait for his response. She closed the door and motioned to Glass to drive. She waited a moment and watched the car get smaller in the distance. Truthfully, she knew Juno could handle himself. He was Dark Matters after all. But agent Glass? She didn’t know what to think of him.

After the car disappeared from sight, she approached the door and gave it two sharp knocks.

Sasha listened as the witness explained their situation. It didn’t differ from the files she already had, so she was more focused on her body language. This woman didn’t seem like she had anything to hide. She was upset and sad and kept delving off into irrelevant details. Which was typical. She probably assumed Sasha had never heard this story before, as a lot of witnesses do.

“...And then…” She sniffled softly, and that put a thought in Sasha’s head. Just briefly, “She died.”

“...She died?” Sasha echoed, raising her eyebrows.

“She got really sick out of nowhere and the…”

The woman kept talking but Sasha was only half listening. Another one, June Johnson, dead. According to their now widowed wife, it had nothing to do with her growing illness. Mick would probably be dead soon too. And then who else? Juno? Glass? How many people would die before they could put an end to this?

She honed in on that question. Most of the witnesses were probably a lost cause. And those who weren’t probably wouldn’t give her anything interesting. Mick probably was too. Juno was always up in the air. If he listened to her, he’d be fine.

But Sasha wasn’t really counting on that. She was moreso hoping Glass would keep him in check, and in turn Juno would keep an eye on Glass as well. She needed to buy time so she could talk to one more witness, and if she couldn’t trust Glass, she needed Juno to be there with him. But on the other hand, this witness wasn’t in the case files. And for good reason. Juno wouldn’t take kindly to this one.

“I’m glad you came, agent.” Doctor Amber Killigous spoke with a smile that didn’t touch her eyes. She had fiery red hair pulled in quite a large ponytail that reached past her shoulder blades. She wasn’t much older than Sasha, but she looked years younger and, to any agent worth a damn, years more deadly.

“I trust you understand how serious this situation is.” Sasha said flatly.

“Of course I do. So many people taken from their families!” Killigous replied. Her voice rang like bells. Plastic bells.

“Well, I don’t think this is an appropriate place to discuss something of this magnitude.” Sasha said. She felt like grinding her teeth at this woman, but she kept her voice level. This was on purpose, she thought, Killigous was not an idiot. If anything, she was far too intelligent.

“It’s a coffee shop! I’d like to get to know you, agent, and what better way than over a cup of coffee?” Killigous said casually, “And besides, my house is just a total mess.”

Sasha slipped a hand in her pocket and turned her comms on to record the conversation, “Very well then. We’ll just have to keep it quiet.”

“So we will,” Killigous said, “a nice first date, don’t you think?”

Sasha didn’t agree.

Once the sun went down on Mars, everything was so much colder and so much quieter. Rex walked beside Juno as they circled the building from a distance. It was a lot like the factory in Oldtown, but so much more… Empty. It had no windows, a single door, and a the only other openings were a few chimneys jutting into the sky, spewing smoke.

The loudest sound was Rex breathing next to him, or maybe it was the wind, or maybe it was that goddamn cologne.

“So, Juno, hm?” Rex offered.

“Huh?”

“Your name. Quite unique, isn’t it?” Rex was looking out at the empty desert, the flashlight in his hand bounced slightly as he walked, casting light over uneven sand and rocks, “As in the goddess, I assume? Mothers, guardians, protectors…”

“Yeah, well, turns out Juno was a real piece of work. Had a mean streak a mile wide and a nasty habit of killing her kids.”

“And do you have a mean streak, Agent Steel?”

Juno scoffed, “Nope. Mom did though. Never killed me, but that wasn’t for lack of trying.” They fell quiet for a moment, before Juno added, “What about Rex? That mean anything?”

“Look at me, Juno.” Glass said softly.

“I… am…?”

“ Really look at me, Juno,” he said, leaning in close until that sweet scent felt dizzying, “now tell me, what do you think Rex means?”

Juno was, frankly, very frustrated by the way he was head over heels for this guy. The last time he’d felt so strongly about someone so soon had been… well nearly ten years ago now. And that hadn’t ended well.

And it made him think of Diamond. That’d been so long ago, it felt like a distant memory. The only difference was that Dark Matters agents were far more likely to stab him in the back.

“Sounds like someone who took psych 101 a little too seriously.” He said finally, looking back at the blank walls of the building.

Rex chuckled. He had a laugh ill-suited to an agent and a voice that sounded far too kind for the job, but it really just meant he was especially good at it.

“Very close. It means king, Juno, in a language ten thousand years past. I take my name as a creed to live by. Control your name, and you control yourself.”

It was a pretty thought, and Dark Matters sure loved controlling your name. Something about it could’ve felt safe and comforting if it had been that simple. Juno was about to say that in a much less flowery way when the pair heard shouting.

“Get down!” Juno hissed, and they dropped to their stomachs on the sand.

Two people with their faces and bodies covered were dragging someone along with them. The person was still and quiet. Dead? Juno didn’t know. They went in the front door with a card of some kind.

In short, he already knew Sasha didn’t expect him to listen to her. Her orders often ended up being more of a suggestion than a demand. And maybe it was a mixture of his recklessness and the fact that Mick might be in there. Mick might be alive. Juno didn’t know how long that’d be, though. 

So he drew his blaster, pointed it at one of the men, and shot a stunner at the back of their head. He didn’t know if those suits would protect them, and if they did, he’d blow the entire mission. But they hit the floor, and the second one followed as Glass fired his own blaster.

The pair didn’t speak. Juno put the man behind a bush and sent Sasha a message to pick him up and then he took the card and the pair of them slipped inside the building.

Sasha was going to kill him.