Soon it will all be over, and buried with our past. We used to play outside when we were young. And full of life and full of love

Kevin awoke to intense pain in his sides and spat a curse when he realized where he'd been sleeping was wet. His bite wound had reopened and soaked through the bandages that Edd had administered earlier that evening. Edd woke moments later and hurried to grab the medical kit to change it. The ache in Kevin's sides remained and he did his best to control the labored pain. While they slept, he must've subconsciously clung to the other, as he knew he had a tendency to do, and pressed him to close to broken ribs. He'd also torn open the wound, but that was a given with where his arm had been placed when he woke with a start.

When Edd returned, Kevin noticed that blood had soaked onto the others bed clothes. "H-Hey, y-your-"

"Stop talking," Edd scolded and retrieved a bit of paracetamol from the medical box and a sterile needle. Immediately, Kevin scooted away, eyes narrowed down at the needle as if it had offended his family. Edd paused. "Please don't be serious. You're in incredible amounts of pain, and the paracetamol needs to be taken. I have no other form of it-"

"Nuh-uh, fuck that, I'd rather be suffering."

"You're being ridiculous," Edd stated, setting the needle aside on a clean surface. "How can you handle being shot and bitten as deep as you have been, but not stand a needle that will alleviate your pain?"

"I said 'no', dammit!"

"You won't even feel it," he seethed, climbing onto the bed where the other was cornered. "I am sorry to have to do this to you, Kevin, but an injection is required so I may properly care for you!" He grabbed at him, but Kevin was faster and slipped off the bed. He was tangled in the sheets and hit the floor hard, groaning aggressively. Eddward winced and promptly went to his side. "You are such an idiot! Don't move, before you puncture a lung!" He forwent the pain medication and just quickly examined Kevin. Nothing seemed worse than before, but this just put Kevin out of commission even longer.

Kevin grumbled as he lay on the ground, half wrapped in the bedding. Edd didn't even bother to help him and just cleaned and rebandaged the opened wound on his arm. "I should just let you sleep on the floor," he scolded. "It would teach you a lesson."

"About being scared of needles?" he scoffed. "You're shitting me, right?"

"Language," warned Edd and disposed of the medical waste. Kevin watched him silently disappear out his bedroom and sighed very carefully, the corner of his mouth twitching from the twinge of pain his breathing caused. He knew Double Dee was angry with him, but he had to understand that everyone had an irrational fear, right? Kevin hated his, but he couldn't get over it. Needles made his skin crawl.

Edd's shadow loomed over him. "Open your mouth," he said. Kevin refused though. "Kevin. I managed to find something else. It's the same medication, the same dosage, just in different form." Kevin sat up slowly. Edd gave him a glass of water and dropped one tablet in his hand. "With water, and all of it please."

Kevin shrugged. Better than a needle, and that's all he gave a damn about. The tablet was foul, but he washed away the bitter taste with the water. "H-How long before i-it helps any?" Edd was changing the sheets as Kevin relaxed on the floor. The sheets were set aside, and Edd checked to make sure the blood did not soak through the mattress. Thankfully, they were lucky in that aspect. He made the bed quickly yet efficiently and helped Kevin back onto it. "Hey Edd… How long?"

"It could take up to one hour," Edd said with a frown.

"What the hell, an hour?!"

"I chose to not give you the codeine, because it is far too strong and could affect your stomach. The paracetamol should work equally as well with very low chances of any side-effects. I assumed you would appreciate that more than instant relief for the time being." He had to change his clothes though, pulling off his shirt and tossing it atop the pile of soiled linen. Whatever, he could sleep like this.

Edd, like all the others in their profession, had quite a few souvenirs from their jobs. Kevin's were far worse, ending in knotted scars and long lasting bruises. A few surgeries, and then a skin graft from a year back when one of Kevin's targets had known he was coming and used a vile of acid to stop him. Kevin was burned dangerously in the assault, but managed to complete his job in the end. Of course, they had to act quickly, neutralize the acid before it ate away past the epidermis and into the nervous system. Thankfully, Edd always carried something on him and he managed to save Kevin's arm in time. Unfortunately, he had to have the skin grafted to help heal the injury.

Still, the few on Edd's body were mostly from his partners at the time. The Ed's caused a great deal of collateral damage together as a trio, and they always got hurt in the process. Only once was one of Edd's injuries caused by his own misdoings, but Kevin chose to not remember that time. Well once, not counting the small nick he had received just recently.

An hour passed and Kevin's labored breathing rested to a more comfortable state. Edd lay back down with him. "It should last at least 4 hours, 6 at most. Let's hope for the best, and pray it's 6 hours. That much sleep will be needed to help with your recovery." Kevin tweaked Edd's nose then, eyes half-lidded. "Ouch! Why on earth did you do that?"

"Shh," Kevin grumbled and hugged him gently. "I just wanna sleep. I don't wanna hear you nag me like my mother, just - SHH." He closed his eyes and listened to the breathing of his bed partner. It was irritated at first, causing him to smirk. Soon enough, it calmed and the body beside him only curled in close and eventually drifted off to sleep. Kevin remained awake for a while longer, thinking. His wounds shouldn't have opened as easily as they had. Edd was not careless - in fact he ranked top in all of his classes since they were children. He was a highly skilled surgeon, and knew anything medical one could throw at him. He frowned and shifted away to sit up, leaving Edd to sleep in the bed alone. He kissed his head gently and quietly left the room.

His body was mildly numb to the pain he was experiencing, thanks to the paracetamol. Everyone who wasn't on a job would or should be asleep by now, except for one person. He silently made his way down the halls in barefeet and baggy pyjama bottoms, until he found the only room with light still dancing. The violet haired girl sat with black lens goggles over her eyes and a controller in her hand. She was staring intently at a computer screen with a steaming mug of tea on her right side and a bag of chips on the floor. She kept her desk area clean to avoid any sort of damage to her machinery, but around it was a disaster. Kevin made a face as he leaned on the door, wrapped in bandages that left him shirtless.

"This place is a mess."

"I don't pay you for your opinions," she said, refusing to avert her gaze from the screen. She stopped whatever she was playing for a moment to stretch her arms over her head and spun in her chair to face him. "You can turn on the light." Kevin's hand lay flat on the wall and slid up, hitting the switch to reveal the violet haired computer technician who affectionately went by "ARC." She scrunched her nose at the disaster that was her work space, slid her goggles from her eyes to her neck and got up to clean the place. Kevin watched her from the door until she shoved a rolling chair his way with a foot. "Sit, Pinky."

"Man, why do you call me that?"

"Obscure 90's character references," she stated. "Because Edd is Brain- never mind." She waved a hand at him and set the garbage bag aside. She grabbed her tea and sat down again, sipping it while she watched him. "Can't sleep huh? Saw Double Dee dash down the hall-" she paused and giggled then, Kevin raising an eyebrow "-a bit ago. Reopened your injuries, didja?" He scowled and ran a hand through buzzed red hair, his signature bangs resting against his face. "Thought so. Want some tea?"

"What?" he asked. He hadn't actually heard her. She knew though, and quickly handed him a mug with a simple caffeine-free tea bag and steaming hot water. He thanked her curiously. "What's this for?"

"It'll help you relax," she said, sitting down with a smile. "So what's up, Pinky? Couldn't fall back asleep with your boy?" She looked genuinely concerned. It puzzled Kevin. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I actually care for you assholes."

He sighed and sipped at his tea. "Yeah, yeah. I know you did, or because Edd tells me. Also says you tease me for the same reason."

"You are avoiding the conversation."

He sucked through his teeth. She was pretty preceptive. "Yeah okay. I can't sleep and I did reopen my wounds, what more do you want?" He scowled, angry for no reason. She gave him a dirty look and he huffed. "I'm just thinking about my targets from earlier. You don't happen to have that on file, do ya?"

"Does Ed love chickens, Kevin?" she rhetorically asked with sarcasm.

"I uh… yes?"

"That was a rhetorical question, but thanks for keeping up with me there, Skippy." She pat his knee with a smirk and turned to her computer while he grunted at her. "I record everything you idiots do. I have too. It helps you guys and me. Plus a lot of other secret things behind your back, blah blah blah. Hang on." Her fingers rapidly typed away on the screen before pulling up a video from the cameras in the building Kevin had been in. All angles appeared on the screens around them and she turned what wasn't facing him towards him. "If you see anything you like, let me know and I'll stop."

Kevin leaned in closer and watched. "There," he finally said. "Right there. Stop the playback." She did and scooted his way. "What the hell is that?" He narrowed his eyes curiously, trying to make out the creature that had attacked him. The video feed was too blurry, or this thing was too fast to make out properly. "H-hey hold on, is someone there? Who's that? Right there, can you blow that up?" She tapped at the keys. He grit his teeth, his knuckles turning white.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"Kankers."