A/: I own nothing.
Present:
"Why are you here Terra?" asked the brown haired detective across from him.
"I'm protecting my family and I will protect my family no matter what. And if the only way to do that is to become like that monster then I will. I will do anything to protect them."
"Are you admitting to attacking the Almasy family Mr. Kuragari?"
"I'm only admitting to protecting mine. We're fighting for the same thing really. Just on different sides of the badge."
One week ago (November 9th):
Terra sat on the couch at home after school, watching some show on wolves. They were deadly hunters and protected their own. It was a proud animal not to be fucked with. In one arm he was doing a bicep curl with a twenty pound weight. With the other he popped chips into his mouth. Balance.
Dressed in a dark blue tee shirt and black jeans he had just gotten ready for work, which he would need to leave to in an hour. He switched the bicep curl to his other arm.
"When cornered, like most animals, wolves become even deadlier. Ears slicked back, lips pulled and barring their teeth they get ready to pounce. They will fight until they can no longer move anymore for the safety of their pack mates." Said the announcer as a wolf was cornered by hunters, two small pups in the back.
It attacked a hunter nearest it, biting the man's wrist and breaking it and thus the double barrel in his hands becoming useless and clattering to the ground. It clawed at the man's (foolishly) unprotected stomach and jumped forward to the next. Combined with the fear and speed it held over the other two hunters it made quick work of them before a decent shot was taken. It won in the matters of seconds.
Vicious attacks, death of two humans…but because of love. He thought it justified.
"Eeek! Ohmygod! Terra!" Yelled his sister, running into the house.
With blue-hair that reached her chin on the sides and in the back (her bangs swept to the side touched her eyes) she didn't resemble her brother. Her slim body and motherly attitude differed as well. Her face even resembled Ven more then him. But they all had very blue eyes.
Her sense of style was also great. Instead of plain jeans and a shirt (a normal attire for him anyways) she had on black short shorts with sparkling chains. Her shirt was a blue, mixed with white, flowly piece of material that expertly hid everything important but still looked attractive.
"What?!" He asked, dropping the weight to the ground and running to his sister. It didn't take long to see this was a happy 'ohmygod Terra!' moment. "What?" He asked again, smiling.
"You would never guess!" She squealed, a broad smile on her face and her hands clasped together tightly, hoping from foot to foot.
"Then tell me!" The brown haired teen chuckled, going back to sit on the couch.
"No, come back here!" Aqua squealed, grabbing his arm before he got too far and dragging him back to the door.
"WHAT?" Terra laughed, staring at his blue-haired sister with an ounce of annoyance now.
"Look outside the window but be discreet!" She squealed.
He rolled his eyes and peeked through a blind. On the opposite side of the road, halfway hidden behind a large tree and a bush, at the corner, was their brother kissing someone. It was obvious he was doing it but they couldn't see the other person. Oh, wait, they were moving backwards. "Holy fuck." Terra gasped, along with Aqua taking a deep intake of breath. Their brother was making out with a boy. "He's queer?" Terra asked. Less angry more shocked. He shot a look at Aqua bit she shrugged.
"I only saw him kissing someone." She defended herself. "How come he didn't tell us. He's our little brother, he wouldn't be any different to us." She mumbled, hurt. "Right Terra?" She asked, looking at her twin with concern in her eyes. Ventus would need them. Both of them.
"He's gonna get his ass kicked Aqua. He's gonna get picked on. A lot." Terra said, frowning. His poor brother. His fist clenched. Not on his watch. He yanked open the door before he could stop himself, before Aqua could, and marched towards his younger brother. "Ven!" He yelled as he crossed the street at a jog. The call made the stranger boy flee and Ventus dropped a shade or ten of color.
"T-terra. O-ohmygod. T-terra." He mumbled, tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't want his brother to be angry or to hate him. Terra looked angry.
Terra couldn't muster a smile. His brother's happiness was not a concern. His safety was. He foresaw Ven being picked on, bullied, humiliated, hit, shoved into lockers, being abandoned by friends he thought he had. All the worse possible things happening. "Come inside." Terra said, his voice shaky with anger and stressed nerves.
The spiky blonde headed boy nodded and grudgingly followed his older brother.
"Hey! It's Ventus! Faggot!" a boy yelled from somewhere across the road. Ventus stopped in his tracks, freezing up and let out one strangled sob. That's all the incentive Terra needed.
He marched quickly over to the gang of boys, roughly Ventus' age so five years younger than the eighteen year old. And they didn't see the tall brown haired kid that didn't like school. They saw a brown haired monster measuring in at six-seven and one hundred seventy four pounds of muscle charging at them. So they ran. But they weren't fast enough. In a few short strides Terra was on the boy that spoke. He stood in front of the crowd with a cocky smile.
The boy wasn't smiling when Terra picked his scrawny ass up with one hand by the collar and held him against the house they were in front of. "Hey! You got a problem with being different? Eh? Well don't take out your 'Daddy wont love me' issues on my little brother. Back off." He warned. The boy nodded dumbly. Terra dropped him to the ground and sent him off. He turned back to his brother with a smile.
Ven shot a weak, unsure one back. Who was the bad guy again? His brother or that kid? He couldn't tell. But Terra was the victor. So Ventus smiled, wiping tears from his eyes.
One week ago (November 11th):
Terra was in the gymnasium at school, doing push-ups in the corner, alone. He was at one hundred and fifty…he had yet to sweat. He vigorously kept at it, ignoring all other children there with him. Minding his own business.
At one hundred and sixty five he felt a pain in his back and he lost wind. Standing up he looked down to notice a basketball. The nearest one was only a few feet away. An accident maybe. He picked it up and looked around to see someone who had thrown the shot. A group of boys far across the gym caught his eyes. They kept sending him shady looks and snickering. He tucked the ball under his arm and walked over.
"This yours?" He asked as he neared them. He was close enough to tell that one boy was James Hook, a scrawny French kid and that the boy next to him was the fat hairy kid Pete.
They nodded slowly, grinning. He shot one back. "Here you go." He said, thrusting it out with one hand.
They didn't budge.
Terra rolled his eyes and gently bounced it to Pete. Because the boy didn't put out his hands to grab it the ball it hit his stomach. "Hey! You tryin' to start a fight?" He growled. Terra could see him in ten years, older, fatter, laying on an easy chair, beer in hand and crushed beer cans at his feet.
"Nope. Just giving back your ball. You messed up my count is all. No biggy. Next time just try standing closer to the net." Terra said, shrugging. It wasn't a big deal. But it could be.
"You hit me!"
"No I didn't dude." Terra retorted. "Just take your ball."
"You hit me!"
"Is this a problem?"
"Nope." Pete laughed.
"You're making it one." Terra warned.
Pete growled, stepping forward. "Are you looking fir a fight bud?"
"Fir? What the hell? You mean 'for'?" Terra laughed and that made Pete swing a fist at him.
It was reflex, honestly, that made him grab Pete's arm and pull it behind the fat teen's back. His fist now reached his opposite shoulder and Pete wailed, tears springing up in his eyes. "Take your damn ball and let me do my pushups.
(November 11th: That Night):
"Hey, Terra..." Ventus started to say, standing in the doorway of his brother's room.
"Ogh? Yeah, eh, what? What is it? Somethin' wrong? You okay?" The elder teen asked in a rushed whisper, just in case somebody was looking for Ventus now that they had already taken out Aqua. Not that he fully believed that. If he did Ventus would be hidden and Terra would be out looking for him.
"No, um, I'm fine it's just...I uh..."
"What's the matter little bro, come here." Terra mumbled, sitting up and waving for his brother to come closer. As he walked nearer he noticed what the boy had with him. He was wearing his normal sleepwear of flannel green pants and a white wife-beater that was three sizes to large.
What was unusual was that he had a blanket in one arm and a large stuffed mouse in his other arm. He thought Ventus called them Blankie and Mickie. He, to Terra's knowledge, hadn't used them since he was nine and had nightmares for a week after watching Jaws for the first time.
"You have a bad dream?" Terra asked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes eight eh back of his hand.
"Do you have to say it like that? You make me feel like a kid. At least call them nightmares." Ventus mumbled, wanting to keep some sense of his teenage-hood with him.
"Uh, okay. You have a nightmare then Ven?" Terra asked, blinking. He was now almost totally awake.
Ventus blushed, feeling stupid but afraid. "Y-yeah." He said, finally sitting on the edge of Terra's bed. His older brother swung his jogging pants covered legs over the bed and sat next to his brother, arm over his shoulder. Ven instantly cuddled against his brother's warm, though bare, chest.
"Tell me everything that happened." Terra prodded and his brother opened up.
"W-well T-Terra there's been this kid. H-his name's Seifer. He's been picking on me." He began to say, Terra tensed up, angry. He sensed his brother's fear however and not wanting to scare him anymore he tried to quickly calm down. "W-well a-anyways, he's been being a jerk and the other day he called me a fa-fa- you know in front of the whole bus stop."
"Ven..." Terra said, sadness creeping in his voice. He wasn't great at this. Aqua was the mother figure. Terra wasn't. But he knew how to give great big bear hugs and he wrapped his brother in a tight hug. "He won't bother you again. I'll talk to the principal tomorrow I swear." He said.
Ven smiled, nodding. He had previously melted into the bear hug his brother gave him, feeling very save. Very loved.
"Now about that nightmare?"
"Oh...I don't really remember it too much. But I remember it was like I was frozen and you and Aqua weren't there but I could hear you laughing as Seifer beat me up." Ven said, sputtering and crying.
"Ven, I won't ever let that happen. I promise. I would never laugh at you and neither will Aqua. We love you. I will always protect you two, got it?" Terra promised.
Ven nodded, smiling. "Thanks Terra." He said, yawning cutely as he cuddled into his brother's much broader chest.
Terra bit his lip from crying as the feelings of anger, pain, love, regret from his inability to help his brother, and, most of all, and the desire to make sure his family was never hurt again. He laid the boy down next to him, laying his blanket over them and putting his stuffed mouse in his arms. Terra laid his comforter over their bodies and soon they were both asleep.
They would never know that hours later, before Aqua would wake them up for breakfast, she had contained a squeal long enough to take a few photos of her brother's in such a cute pose.
How was anyone supposed to know that it would be the last time the family was so at peace?
One week ago (November 12th):
Terra was sitting outside the principal of Ven's middle school office, hands clasped between his knees and head bent. He hadn't been in front of this office since his middle school years but he felt nervous. Though angry of course. How could his little brother be continuously bullied without anybody stopping him?
The thought pissed him off. Ven didn't deserve to get hurt. He was a sweet kid, always looking out for people, did his homework on time. Was his only problem liking a boy? Terra frowned. It was detestable. After calling his friend Leon before coming here he had been able to find out where Seifer lived…just in case. Leon was the son of the city police chief and was working on becoming a full-fledged cop. Finding the information was easy.
"Mr. Kuragari? You can go in now." Said the secretary. Terra nodded to her and walked into the office.
"Terra, I'm glad to see you again. You're looking well, sad to see you on such an occasion." The principal, Eraqus, said shaking hands with Terra. Eraqus had been a school counselor and had helped Terra deal with his anger problems in middle school. Terra hadn't known he was the principal. Hopefully this would mean he'd bring some swift action against Seifer.
"Nice to see you to." Terra said, sitting down in a chair across from his desk.
"Hi Terra." Ven said, in the chair next to him. Terra had been waiting outside the office, telling Erauqs his problems for the last twenty minutes.
"Hey Ven." Terra smirked softly.
"So, Terra, Ven has been telling me he's been bullied. Seifer has denied it but we're looking into it. Bullying is not tolerated in my school. This will be dealt with." Erauqs told the brown haired teen.
Terra nodded. This didn't need 'looking into' this needed to be dealt with. Now. Today. "Do you think Ven lied about this? He wouldn't make up this shit. You need to at least suspend Seifer."
"I don't think Ventus lied but I need to make sure of the accuracy of this behavior." Eraqus told him.
Terra frowned, that anger bubbled up inside him. "Seifer needs to be dealt with." He argued.
"He will be Terra." Erauqs barked. "Now I can tell you what you can do for now. Take Ven out, go grab some ice-cream, and wait." He smiled.
"Ice-cream? Can we Terra?!" Ven asked, smiling. Terra melted. He was angry but Ven was damn cute and ice-cream was great.
"Alright, sure, let's go." Terra told him, looking at the principal for permission to get out of there. With a nod it was given and Ven busted out of the stuffy room where he had relived his bullying and booked it to the car.
Terra chuckled and after a brief, and awkward, 'Thank you', he left, picking up his jacket from the chair he had left it on. Leaving Erauqs room he almost bumped into the oldest man he knew; Vice Principal Xenohart. "Hi, Vice Principal, Xenohart."
"Greetings Terra. I heard about that terrible issue with your younger brother. I'm sorry about what he had to go through. If it was up to me I would have expelled that other boy. But Erauqs trumps me." He said, frowning, was even more unflattering to his wrinkled face.
"Oh.." Terra said, intrigued. Could he help?
"You know Terra I can see that anger. Violence is never the answer…but sometimes neither is peace. All in moderation." He said; the tiniest of smiles on his face.
Terra nodded, gulping, his fists clenching. Peace wasn't always the answer. He could have killed Seifer right then.
He never knew how close to doing it he would come.
One week ago (November 13th):
Terra was laying on the couch (Shoes off of course) in black jogging pants and a dark green shirt, relaxed and almost a sleep. That wolf documentary was on again but Terra was in that happy quasi-dream state and wasn't paying attention.
Then he heard low sobbing sounds and the door started to open. You had to open it slowly so it didn't make any noise. Terra didn't move, just to see what was going on. "Ouch, god dammit." It was Aqua. He jumped up, running to the door. He yanked it wide open to gasp at the site before him.
Aqua's shirt, a lovely piece of material she was using to try and impress someone she liked (she had refused to give Terra anymore details), was torn to hell. It was almost off her body. But that wasn't the worst part. Not by a long shot.
Her face, which attracted many different boys was bruised on the left side, a large and ugly thing which puffed her cheek out. Tears pulled at her eyes. She looked broken.
"Holy shit! Aqua! What the fuck happened to you?!" He yelled, his own tears stinging the back of his eyes. How could anyone do this? How could anyone DEAR to lay a FINGER on his sister? He shook but wrapped Aqua in a hug.
"Y-you should see the other guy." She mumbled, bringing a shaky laugh to both of them.
Terra separated from the hug and gently lead her to the couch, "Stay here." He told her. He sprinted towards the bathroom, knocking bottles over before finding the first aid kit. Quickly he was next to Aqua and held out pain medicine for her to take. He also grabbed an ice-pack and held it against her cheek.
"We need to take you to the doctors." He told her. She disagreed.
"No, we don't. I can still talk. It looks worse than it is. Just give me something to take down the swelling and it will be fine with some make up."
"Aqua." Terra mumbled, his voice strangled with the pain he was feeling. How could he help? Who did this? Why? What was the point? And worst of all he kept telling himself that he hadn't been able to protect Aqua. He should have. He could have done something to protect her. All he had been doing was sleeping while his sister was victimized. He felt sick. "Who did this to you?"
Aqua smiled softly. "It's okay, honestly Terra, I took care of it."
"No it isn't." Terra frowned. "What happened?"
Aqua gave him a sad smile. "Nothing really. I was coming home from some late art classes and I saw Ven walking down the road after coming home from, uh, Vani's house? Vani is short for Vanitas, that's Ven's boyfriend." Then she giggled. "They're so cute together." Then she sighed again. "But anyways, I was talking to Ven now and this kid comes up to us, trying to look all cool and stuff and said something like 'Oh, the fag has a girlfriend?' Big douche. So I told him I was his sister and he better back off but he didn't and I told Ven to go back to Vani's house, and we kept arguing and then I slapped him and he hit me and threw me against a building then tried ripping my shirt but I got a good kick or two in and clawed at his eyes. I got his cheek and he howled like a baby. Hahaha."
"Aqua…that's not nothing. That's like fucking attempted rape! He fucking hit you!" Terra growled upset and sad but extremely pissed. "Stay here." He growled, standing up.
"Terra don't you dare!"
"Aqua! That bastard has gone too far!"
"I got him back! He won't be able to touch himself for a week!"
"That isn't enough Aqua!"
"Yes it is Terra! Don't do anything! What lesson will that teach Ven? That violence is the answer!?"
"No! But sometimes peace isn't either!"
"Terra! You're not going to do anything but get me a glass of cold water and some aspirin. I'll cover this up and change then we can go pick up Ven and you can meet Vanitas. He's kinda weird but he's nice. We can all go out for ice-cream. I think Vanitas even has a sister. Now go! I demand my water with four ice-cubes! March!" She giggled, the mood slowly ebbing down. Helping his sister was more important than beating the shit out of some punk. Plus ice-cream was also great.
He nodded and went to get Aqua her ice-water.
(November 13th) Evening:
Ven and Vanitas sat in the backseat with Vanitas' little sister, Xion, between them. She was five and a half and wouldn't let you forget that half. They both had deep black hair but Vanitas had golden eyes of honey while Xion had eyes that matched the ocean.
Vanitas was a nice kid but listened to music that was much too loud. Terra preferred things like Iron Maiden or Ozzy while the younger boy listened to bands like Five Finger Death Punch and Slipknot. Not too bad but just too loud. And he was slowly bringing his brother over to that dark side.
Currently Aqua was letting out something called 'Call me Maybe' which was, apparently, Xion's most 'Favorite song ever!'.
Terra pulled the car into the drive of a small ice-cream shop and soon everyone was out of the car and settling into a small table in the corner of the shop. "Ok, so, what do we want?" Terra asked, passing out menu's to the small family.
"We want sea-salt ice-cream!" Xion yelled, giggling loudly. Vanitas nodded
.
"Ven?" Aqua asked.
"Sounds good." The blonde said, smiling, squeezing Vanitas' hand.
"Awww, you two are cute." The blue haired girl giggled. Nobody could tell but Terra that only a few hours ago she had been crying and had a large bruise on her cheek. It was invisible for the most part and her attitude had gotten better as soon as she laid eyes on Xion.
The younger girl still had a baby's slight pudge, along with her big blue eyes and black hair that fell just short of her eyes she was adorable.
Terra ordered the ice-cream, everyone getting sea-salt ice-cream. He held all the bars in his hands and when he turned around to look at everyone at that table, smiling and laughing he almost teared up. He felt…complete right then.
One week ago (November 14th):
Sweat tickled the back of his neck and hid under the collar of his black undershirt as he screwed the lug nuts back onto the tire of Leon's truck. Because Len was paying him and he insisted on as much safety as possible the brunette had hauled in a very large wrench; a good fifteen pounds and a about eighteen inches long. It almost looked comical.
One headphone in his ear he listened as the symphony of metal that was Type O Negative flowed through his ear. Screwing on the last nut he sighed, sitting back down. It was hot in the garage he worked at, the wrench was putting in more pressure than usual, and dark thoughts of Seifer plagued his mind.
These dark thoughts had been haunting him since Ven woke hm up in the middle of the night a few days ago about his nightmare. He thought of Ven being bullied by the older boy and it pissed him off. He thought of pounding the boy's face in and it made him grin.
Seifer was actually seventeen years old but because of anger problems he was in the building closer to Ven's school and had frequent times to insult him and pick on him. How could the school let this happen?
What did this bastard do to his little brother to make him so scared that Ven woke up in the middle of the night and crawled into his own bed for comfort? Why didn't the school DO anything about it?!
He clenched the wrench tighter in his hand until his knuckles where white, exhaling deeply and slowly till most of the anger dissipated. But he wouldn't let it go. One day seifer would get what's coming to him. Terra would make sure of it.
'Violence isn't always the answer..'
Terra shuddered at the thought of violence. He did…but….sometimes it was needed. Freedom isn't free, right? It was a necessary sin, wasn't it?
'But sometimes neither is peace.'
You can't just always sit around and watch things happen. Didn't someone once say 'Those who are neutral support oppression?' or something like that? Terra thought he remembered it from school somewhere.
He stood up, running one hand through his sweaty hair. Sighing he hoisted the wrench onto his shoulder and picked up the rest of his tools, dropping them into his work duffel bag. He dropped the wrench in there as well and carried the bag to his motorcycle outside. He threw the bag into one of the saddle bags and locked it up. Sticking his head back into the garage he hollered at his coworker, a big and burly blond man named Cid that he was leaving early.
As he wiped his hands on his dark jeans his cell-phone vibrated in his pocket. He flipped it open. " Terra. Hello?" He asked.
"Terra! Thank god!" Aqua cried into the phone.
"What, what's wrong?!"
"It-it's Ven! I-I'm in the a-ambulance now with him! He-he got beat up! C-come to the hospital. Now." She cried, sobbing and choking on her words as they tumbled out of her mouth.
"Fuck! Yes! Right now!" Terra yelled, throwing his phone into his pocket and running to his bike. He kicked it started and tore out of the parking lot. The city's hospital was on the other side of town. It would take at least twenty minutes but that was if the roads were empty.
'What happened? Would Ven be okay?' Terra thought, mouth dry as he pushed his bike as fast as he could. Screw a speed limit, his little brother was hurt.
He didn't pay attention to lights, nor to his surroundings, he just shot towards the hospital. He needed to be there now. He hardly paid attention to anything, even the wind that whipped at his face.
Seifer. It had to be. What did that bastard do to his little brother? Was this a hate crime? Did Ventus get hurt because he was gay? Not that it mattered. Seifer would serve hard time. Was that enough?
He had sworn to protect his family..and he hadn't. He had failed Aqua and he had failed Ven. Dammit Eraqus, he should have put an end to it. He should have fucking stopped it. Terra should have fucking stopped Seifer the second Ven had told him of the bullying.
"Pull over!"
"God dammit!" Terra growled. He didn't have the fucking TIME! He quickly thought of ditching the cop but figured it would be quicker if he did it. He pulled over as soon as possible and waited for the cop to get out of his car. Couldn't he hurry?
"Do you know why I pulled you over?" He asked when he finally appeared.
"I don't fucking know. You want my body? Listen, I don't have the time. My little brother just got brought to the hospital in an ambulance. I need to see him now." He growled.
"Right…" The cop murmured, unsure.
"Follow me if you want and give me the fucking ticket later. I need to go." Terra barked and the cop backed off.
"Hurray up then and don't cause any accidents."
But Terra was already off, driving through the different lanes of traffic, almost doing the exact opposite of what the cop warned him against.
He pushed the kickstand down on his bike, grabbed the key, and rushed into the hospital. Let the bike get towed, fuck it.
He ran to the reception desk, yelling. "Ventus Kuragami, which room is he?"
The receptionist looked up at him as if in a daze. "Reason for admittance?"
"He got brought here in a fucking ambulance a few minutes ago. Where the fuck is he?!"
"Oh, oh, room four-ten."
"How do I get there?!"
"T-take that door, it leads to the elevator. Fourth floor, on your right."
"Stairs!?"
"N-next to the elevator."
Terra bolted to the door, yanking it open and running up the stairs three at a time until he was at the fourth floor. He wasn't out of breath yet and booked it as fast as possible to Ven's room.
Crashing through the door he finally let out a gasp. There was his baby brother laying in a hospital bed with more tubes and wires then the fucking Terminator. "Shit." He croaked. "Ven." Tears flowed to his eyes and trickled down his cheeks. Aqua was next to him, weeping into her hands.
"Terra." She sobbed, getting up to hug him. He hugged her tightly, looking down at his brother's sleeping face. Half of it was a violent dark blue, tinged with red as his cheek puffed up, cuts around his forehead and chin, one eye was swollen shut and he could see that at least two teeth where missing from his mouth. His bottom lip was swollen and cut while specks of dried blood scattered around his face. His arm was in a makeshift cast from the elbow to the wrist, and so were both legs under the knee.
"Fuck, Aqua. Dammit." He cursed, dropping to his knees at Ven's beside. He lowered his head onto his bed and wept. "I fucked up Ven, I failed. I swore I would protect you, I fucking swore it! Look where you are now! Fucking look at you." The older teen groaned.
"It isn't your fault Terra, you couldn't have known anyone was gonna do this." Aqua reassured feebly from his side.
"I did though Aqua! I knew Seifer was bullying him but Erauqs didn't do anything! I should have stopped that bastard. I could have done SOEMTHING! Why wasn't I with him?!" Ths teen yelled, standing up but not facing Aqua.
"You were at work supporting us!"
"I don't care Aqua! I don't fucking care!" He growled, kicking a small bucket of trash over.
"Ah." Came a tiny squeak. Terra looked to the right, for the first time noticing the curtain dividing the two patients.
He walked over to peek at the other patient and to his surprise he saw Vanitas. He looked almost as bad off, with less swelling but his left arm was in a cast from the shoulder down to his fingers and the exposed fingers where deep purple and mangled.
The black-haired teen was sitting up now, holding onto the machine that pumped him full of medicine. He groaned, looking as if he'd puke. In the chair next to his bed was Xion curled up in a blanket, rubbing her eyes. She smiled broadly at her brother. "Vani." She yawned. "Are you better?" Her voice was soft, afraid.
To Vanitas' credit he grinned through the pain. "Yeah, I'll be all better in no time." He grunted.
Xion teared up. "Liar! You're all hurt! Who did this to you Vani?" She squeaked.
Terra frowned, walking over to the young girl and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Your brother is tough, he can make through it." He shot a sad smile to his brother's boyfriend and the boy grudgingly returned it.
Xion wiped away her tears and smiled. "Good." She said, closing her eyes. In a minute she was asleep.
"You can lay down Vanitas, she's asleep. No need to put up a front. That fucking hurts, lay down." Terra said and the boy nodded, slipping back onto the bed gently.
Aqua dragged the curtain between them to its starting point and pulled a chair from a corner for Terra to sit on. "Thanks." He mumbled, she nodded.
Silence drifted over everyone and a nurse came in to check out everyone. When she left Vanitas spoke up.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault this bastard attacked you." Aqua told him, giving his good hand a gentle squeeze.
"More like bastards. There were four of them. I (Groan) managed to take out (Groan) two of them but the last two got Ventus and I got distracted and….If I had been stronger, or faster…maybe if we didn't take the long route. There was something I could have done to save him." While Vanitas spoke tears welled up in his amber eyes. "There was something I could have done."
"It isn't your fault Vanitas, without you who knew where Ventus might be? There are worse places then Intensive Care." Terra told him. "Now you need to sleep so as soon as you two can you boys can get out of here and I can treat you to ice-cream again." Terra smiled softly and so did Aqua.
Vanitas smiled and Aqua sat next to him, singing softly till he fell back asleep.
Once he was asleep Terra reverted his attention back to his baby brother.
The sadness that filled him was immense, gnawing at his insides like a wild beast, claiming his body as its own. It tempted its partner, Anger, to come out. The anger that coursed through his body slowly replaced sadness and it began to also replace the blood in his veins. He could only think of revenge.
He had sworn to protect his family, to keep them safe. Look where they were. Because of his failure now another boy was injured. Now another family would cry. All because of his failure. All because of Seifer's hate two boys and two families suffered in pain.
Terra would show him pain.
But first….he had a family to keep an eye on. At least till everyone was asleep.
Aqua mumbled in her sleep, resting her head against Ven's bed. Her blue hair hung down past her features and tickled the white of his bed sheets. He hoped the drugs he was on gave him good dreams. Right now that's all he could ask for.
He left the room after kissing Ven and Aqua's forehead. It may be the last time after all.
His bike was, surprisingly, still where he had left it. On the seat was a small Post-It note that read 'Hi there young man. I'm a nurse at the hospital and I know what happened to your younger brother so I made sure nobody moved it for you. I hope everything works out.'
Terra grinned, tears springing to his eyes. So some people where nice after all. But this one act of kindness didn't deter him. Seifer would pay for his attacks on his family.
He crumpled the note and threw it on the ground. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. He would go to jail for this, he accepted the fact. But it would be worth it. Seifer would never harm his family again. An eye for an eye.
Blood for blood.
He sat on his bike, dawning his brown and gold helmet, and kicked the bike started. It purred and he went off.
He knew where Seifer lived now after Leon had given him the address in exchange for a favor to be redeemed later. They would do anything for each other, best friends and all. And favors where necessary for a young cop with lots to prove.
Sure, his best friend was a cop. He probably would have pulled Seifer into a cell with Terra and turned around, maybe even just locked the guy up, but being behind a cell wasn't enough for Terra. Especially not now. Terrorizing Ven, hurting Aqua, and then finally assaulting Vanitas and his baby brother.
Rain began to fall and with each drop came the past week's memories, falling over him and washing him into a roaring sea of anger and hate.
While the anger coursed through his body, lighting up his limbs and clearing his mind the hate made him grip the throttle faster.
Lyrics to one of the songs Vanitas had shown him, something called 'I Won't See You Tonight Part One' by Avenged Sevenfold.
After this how many days would he get to see their faces?
Would they understand his actions?
Would Aqua and Ven still love him?
If they didn't…..he would find a way to disappear forever. He wouldn't kill himself if it happened, he wouldn't put guilt on their heads.
He took a breath to calm himself down. He had to get through tonight first.
He had to make this bastard pay.
For Xion.
For Vanitas.
For Aqua.
For Ventus.
For his family, this bastard would pay.
Terra wondered, ever so briefly, if this house looked like shit in the rain or if it always looked bad. Ugly gray littered the walls and the old brown paint peeled. Beer cans, wrenches, tires and, Terra was pretty sure, the dead bodies of a few cats littered the yellowed grass of their small yard.
The house itself looked weak with broken windows. It looked abandoned. But Seifer lived here?
Terra sucked in a deep breath, tingling all over. He was going to commit a crime. He was going to hurt someone, drastically, irreversibly injure them…but for his family he would do it.
He had stopped his bike a few houses down and had grabbed the wrench he had in the saddle bag. Big and heavy it would do damage. It would crack skulls. He pushed the door in and the old piece of wood creaked.
"Sef!?Dat you? Beer…." Was the slurred response. Terra didn't know the voice but walked into what appeared to be the living room anyways. In a decayed easy-chair was a man with a black hair pulled into a ponytail. It was the only neat thing about him; his clothes were stained and wrinkled. His shirt was littered with holes and on his face was a long old scar and an eye patch. Beer cans littered the floor around, and on, him.
"You ain't…mah damn kid. Whu r'you?" He grumbled, Terra's sudden appearance slightly sobering the drunk up. He weakly pushed himself towards Terra but time was of the essence and the brunette teen didn't need Seifer aware of his presence just yet.
He took his wrench and, using it like a bat, swung it into the man's (Seifef's dad?) stomach with the opened end of the crescent wrench. With all fifteen pounds of the wrench fueled by his strong arms the older man crumpled to the floor, gasping. Terra frowned. "Blame your son." He growled, kicking the man in the temple, knocking him unconscious.
He had fallen with a loud thud, attracting the attention of Seifer. Calling out from down the hall he asked who was there. Terra didn't answer but walked to where the boy was. "Yo, dad? What the hell is up?" He growled out.
The boy's voice sounded out from behind an open door. He was laying on his bed, his room a mess much like the living room was when Terra walked in. "Who the fuck are you?!" He growled, jumping up.
Seifer was roughly Terra's height, blond and he had the foggy eyed look of a teen using drugs. His hair was covered with a beanie and all he had on was a pair of dark blue jeans and sneakers. He moved towards Terra. "I don't know you are but you best get the hell out of my house!"
"My name's Terra. I'm Ventus' older brother you bastard." Terra almost smirked at the look of shock on the blonde's face but frowned as it quickly turned to a sneer.
"Then I guess I can kick your ass just as well as his fairy ass." The other boy chuckled.
"Don't fuck with my family you bastard." Terra growled, swinging the large wrench towards the boy. Seifer evaded but only with just enough speed to miss being hit in the chest to get knocked in the shoulder.
The boy skidded backwards, rubbing his shoulder. "That's a big wrench, compensating for something?" He chuckled, reaching under his bed to pull out a large golf club. "Knew I was saving this for something." He laughed, charging and swinging it at Terra. "And to think I was gonna throw this shitty birthday gift away. Guess my old man did give me something after all I can be thankful for. Hahaha." Even his smile seemed out of focus. How come this boy didn't seem to care what Terra might have done to his father?
Did he not care about his father? Terra frowned slightly. He underappreciated the value of a father, a living breathing one. Terra shook his head, not wanting to get teared up at the thought of the accident the year before that ended his parent's lives. This was about the family he did have now. The family this bastard had hurt.
The brunette, with one foot steadily behind him in a defensive stance, blocked the club with his wrench. "You fucked with my family. First mistake." He growled, pushing against Seifer and swinging the wrench against his arm.
The blonde growled but didn't drop the club. He was stronger than most. Terra growled and kicked at the boy, landing a solid hit onto his chest. Seifer grumbled, landing on his back but getting up in a second. "I'm not going down that easy." He grunted, swinging the club aimed at Terra's leg. It was blocked at the last second by the wrench but gave Seifer an opening to kick at Terra's chest.
The brunette caught the boy's leg and threw him to the ground.
"You picked on my brother. Mistake two." Terra growled, moving swiftly to swing his wrench onto the boy's right knee. He let out a cry of pain and Terra went for his other knee, landing yet another hit. The blond growled in pain, dropping the club to grip his knees.
However, much to Terra's surprise, the blond managed to slowly stand up. "I'm not through you bastard." Seifer growled, lunging at the intruder.
Terra grunted as he quickly brought his weapon up and smashing it against the same shoulder he had previously injured. The blond grunted, grabbing his arm. "Bastard! You like dislocated it!" He growled, grunting again.
"Relish in that pain you worthless piece of meat; it will be the lightest injury I give you." Terra grinned, sadistically. This feeling coursing through his veins, edging him forward to commit crimes….he could only describe it as darkness.
Seifer grinned. "As if chicken-wuss."
"Pain going to your head? Lamest insult ever." Terra chuckled and smacked the boy across both knees with the wrench. Seifer grunted but fell to the ground, only stopping himself with one arm. "Hurting an innocent family…mistake three. You're out." Terra grunted, kneeing the teen in the face. The sickening crack of his nose breaking and the tiny splat blood made as it landed on the floor delighted him beyond anything he had heard.
He bent forwards and lifted Seifer off the ground and pushed him against the wall. He pushed the wrench against his chest so that he stayed in place. "You're weak. That's why you need four guys to beat up my little brother and his boyfriend. You're pathetic." Terra growled, replacing the wrench with his arm and using the wrench to smash Seifer's right hand. More bones cracked and he watched as Seifer's hand turned into an unrecognizable slab of meat.
"OWW! OH MY GOD!" Seifer cried out, biting his bottom lip as blood poured down his face. "You broke my damn nose AND my hand! You bastard!"
"Shut up." Terra commanded. "That was for a little girl Xion. She's Vanitas' little sister, that's Ventus' boyfriend. She's not even ten years old but she's in a hospital crying over her brother's body." He growled.
Seifer moaned. "I'll back off." He groaned in agony.
"I'm not done. You'll pay for your crimes by the time I leave." Terra grinned darkly.
Seifer grunted beginning to sink into unconsciousness. "You don't get off that easy." He growled, backhanding Seifer roughly. The blond groaned, shaking his head slowly in pain.
He grabbed Seifer's other hand, meeting little resistance and repeating the damage with the same pleasurable cracking sounds from his other hand. "That was for my sister. You gave her a black eye. And tried to feel her up. Bastard." He snarled, slamming his knee into Seifer's stomach.
"This-" Terra began "Is for Vanitas who you put into the hospital and not being able to accept his differences." With that he swung his wrench in a downwards swipe and snapped his ankle. He did it again to his other ankle as well. All these sounds that would have sickened him a week ago sounded so pleasurable to his ears now.
He pushed the teen against the wall to support his own limp body. "This…is for my little brother you sick fuck." Terra growled, slamming the wrench with every ounce of his being into his rib cage.
Blood spurted from his mouth, adding to the blood trickling down his chin. He could see the bruise in Seifer's chest slowly spread into a dark purple mark. He loved it.
The teen crumpled to the ground, landing at Terra's feet in a sprawled mess. Terra spat down onto his back, his spit landing at the base of his neck…the spinal cord. "This" He started to say, kicking his side. "is" he added another kick. "for my family." Terra growled, swinging the wrench down and sank the wrench into the base of his neck.
Terra dropped the wrench down onto his back; his DNA was everywhere anyways. "This is what you get for screwing with my family." He growled, giving 'one last hurahh' in the form of a kick at his head before turning to leave the house, and the body, that'd caused his family such grief.
Present:
"Why are you here Terra?" asked the brown haired detective across from him.
"I'm protecting my family and I will protect my family no matter what. And if the only way to do that is to become like that monster then I will. I will do anything to protect them."
"Are you admitting to attacking the Almasy family Mr. Kuragari?"
"I'm only admitting to protecting mine. We're fighting for the same thing really. Just on different sides of the badge."
A/N: I love this story; it's my little jewel and my first crack at something violent. How did I do? Drop a review.