Randy plopped down next to Andrew, leaning against him heavily and giving him an absent nuzzle. Even though the child's hearing was coming back more and more each day, they still had gotten into the habit of communicating silently. Andrew tilted his head at him curiously, giving a quiet hum as he continued to write. It was what he'd been doing most while cooped up. He had been allowed to go back to the dorms with a promise to return to the infirmary for a check-in every morning, but training had been strictly off-limits.

He had also noticed that the other age mates gave him a rather wide berth, barely even looking at him most days, and others just avoiding him and pretending he wasn't there. Not that he actually minded, since they were all idiots and not worth his time. Besides, he had Randy, who was...looking a little off. "Are you okay?" Andrew gave him a small nudge and oh, yay! His hearing was getting better.

"I'm fine, just a little..." Randy trailed off, not seeming to find the word he was looking for before he shrugged and buried himself under the covers, shifting to lay in Andrew's lap with a small huff. He had been ten for near half a year and he still hadn't been sent out on a solo mission.

"Randy," Andrew whined, grabbing the covers to try to annoy him. Randy whined back, burying his face in Andrew's stomach while lying on his own stomach.

"I'm fine, just thinking about some stuff." Andrew tapped nails against one of Randy's shoulder blades, dissatisfied with the answer. Randy, who had given a sharp shudder and squirm at the touch, shook his head and shot Andrew a look. "Quit that. I told you, I'm fine. Just wondering about some missions and stuff."

"Tell me," Andrew insisted.

"I did. I've just been thinking about missions the past few days. Like when I'll be sent on my next one, and stuff." Which wasn't exactly a lie. He just wanted to know if the Sect thought he was incapable of doing a mission on his own, or just didn't trust him to do one on his own.

"...Huh. You haven't gone in a couple weeks." A pause from Andrew before he was running a hand through Randy's hair. "Maybe they were waiting for me to get better."

"Mm… May… Maybe..." Randy arched into the touch, seeming quite happy at the attention and it felt so nice. Especially when Andrew passed right behind his ears.

"I bet you'll go on one soon."

"Tot… Totally," Randy hummed, curling up in Andrew's lap even more and nuzzling against him in delight. "Love you."

Andrew grinned widely at that, curling over Randy and while things were still quiet, he heard that perfectly. "Love you, too."

And, really, was Randy not supposed to tackle Andrew to the bed and utterly spoil him with hugs and attention? Really, now. Andrew laughed, hugging Randy back tightly. There was a knock at the door, and one of the older members was calling into the room. "Randall."

Randy frowned, hugging Andrew tightly before he was letting the child go and heading over to the door curiously, head tilting in silent question. "It's time for your first mission." ...Well then. He hadn't been expecting that.

"I take it the target has already been decided?"

"It has been, yes." The member gave him a slip of paper before smiling at him kindly. "Welcome to the Sect." Randy suppressed the urge to shudder, a pure wave of fear crashing into him and sending shivers down his spine. Those words wanted to make him run, and hide, and sob for everything he had sacrificed just to try and escape and-

"Thank you. I will be sure to do the Lord's work well." Four more years. He just… Just four more years.

::

When Randy returned, most everyone was already asleep. Except Andrew. Andrew was sitting up in his bed and reading under the moonlight from his window. He was only startled out of his reading when he felt his bed move, a glance showing that Randy was looking like hell, face pale and body shaking as he weakly climbed into the bed, curling into a small ball as soon as he did so. Andrew didn't seem very surprised, only setting his book aside and laying beside Randy. He didn't speak a word, only was there for him.

It was a long time before Randy was slowly coming out of the state he was in, gaze rapidly taking in all the information he could of where he was at. A few more minutes and he was curling around Andrew, tucking the child close to him and clutching him tightly. He had been on missions before- Had killed people before, but that...a mother and her teenage son who had begged for mercy. Pleaded to be spared, that-

He wasn't used to that.

All Andrew whispered was "It's what the Lord wants."

::

Over breakfast the next morning, most noticed that Randy was rather… unresponsive. Mostly by staring vacantly into space, not eating, and looking a mixture between horrified and utterly hopeless. Even with Andrew's careful prodding and quiet words, Randy barely ate more than a couple bites.

The other age mates gave them a wide berth, Randy looking to slowly come back to himself as the day went on. Enough so that he was instantly on alert when he noticed the High Priest come in to watch their training sessions for the day. It was strange, since the High Priest often never watched the training sessions. One of the instructors cleared her voice, though didn't raise it. She commanded the attention of the room well enough she didn't need to. "Hand-to-hand combat."

The groan was heard from every child. Hand-to-hand combat was never fun, especially since the instructors held back less and less as they got older. One nodded at Andrew, and another at Rose. Andrew stepped forward, head held high. Rose did the same, looking confident that she knew enough to at least keep her distance when the fighting began. On the sidelines, Randy was worrying his lip with his arms crossed. Andrew had just been cleared for training again, and his balance was still a little off from where he had gone so many weeks without being able to hear...

A sharp sound of a whistle being blown and the fights were beginning. Rose was doing marvelously at slipping and dodging shots as she always did, Andrew scrambling around and slipping out of holds similarly. Randy seemed to be the only one to notice just how much the younger child was struggling, slipping and sliding far more than his usual style of 'fighting'.

The fights went normally enough until they noticed Andrew was getting quite a few nasty hits, one of them sending him to the ground and taking more than ten seconds to get back up. It was usually at that point the whistle was being blown, but...it wasn't. There was no sign of the fight stopping, or pausing, or even slowing down.

The age mates were nervously sharing looks, most noticing that Randy was near bristling with rage. At one particularly nasty hit where Andrew didn't get up, and the whistle still wasn't heard, the others watched in shock as the instructor was ruthlessly tackled and disabled, Randy pinning the man down and giving him no chance whatsoever to move or get up. They all knew Randy could have pulled his gun and killed the man in under two seconds if he wanted. A sharp flick of his gaze and he was looking at the lead instructor, gaze filled with rage, and voice quiet. "Blow the whistle."

As the whistle was blown, a glance showed that the High Priest was no longer there. Almost as if he hadn't been in the first place. A couple feet away, Andrew was trying to push himself up before he collapsed back to the ground. Randy was sliding over to him at once, gently helping the child up and scanning him for any permanent damage. Deciding they were done for the day, Randy was scooping the child up and heading for the door, glaring at anyone who so much as looked ready to protest.

"Well," the instructor huffed. "Hope the High Priest got what he wanted."

::

"Heh, hiii, Sylvia. You know, it's funny how you most often see us in the infirmary these days." Randy gave as charming a Beaumont Smile as he could, looking perfectly pleasant and blocking Andrew from view where the child was resting on a bed. "Strange. I suppose we'll simply have to be more careful in the future."

"Randall. Move." Nothing, not even Randy, could get between her and her boy. Randy, to his great credit, managed to stand up to Sylvia for near twenty seconds before he was caving and scrambling out of the way. Although he did stay as close to Andrew as he could get. "Oh, little one," Sylvia quietly cooed, cupping Andrew's cheeks. "Who did this to you?"

"The instructors," Randy growled in distaste, bristling once more and looking more like a guard dog whose owner had been threatened than anything else. "The fight clearly went past the levels he was at and the whistle hadn't been blown after he was unable to get up. I intervened, but not quickly enough." Something he was still beating himself up over, he would admit.

"I meant who? I knew it happened during training, though I didn't get all the details." She ran a hand through Andrew's hair with a sigh. "My poor baby..." Andrew cautiously leaned into the touch, and, yes. He was not above being spoiled.

"Stephan was the one he fought, although the head instructor did nothing to step in." Randy frowned, looking a touch more concerned. "Also...the High Priest was there, at the start of the lesson."

"Did he see what happened? How could he let something like this happen?" Sylvia was at this point pulling Andrew close and rubbing at his back.

"I'm not sure. When I looked after the fight, he was gone from the room, so I don't know if he saw everything, or merely parts of it." Randy went quiet for a few moments, fleeting smile on his face before he looked up to Sylvia as cutely as he could. "Sylvia, do you think Andrew might feel better if he had one of your divine cookies? After all, he's been through a lot, today."

"That doesn't work on me anymore, young man. Though maybe you should make some of your heavenly hot chocolate." She at this point was holding Andrew in her lap like one might a small child.

"Alright." Randy was kissing the tip of Andrew's nose before he was prancing out of the room, very clearly plotting. He was only gone for ten minutes before he was coming back with a cup of hot chocolate and a few cookies, looking perfectly pleased with himself. "I've mastered the art of escaping Cook's kitchen knives."

"You, little one, have a death wish." She rolled her eyes, looking far too amused.

"Nonsense. I always make sure the reward is greater than the risk," Randy sniffed haughtily, the action completely ruined by the fact he was handing Andrew his treats and climbing onto the bed to lean against the child.

"I'm certainly going to be having a talk with Stephan."

"Good. You should threaten to disembowel him but keep him alive long enough to eat his own organs." Randy nudged at Andrew's cheek, head tilting silently to ask if he was alright. He had been rather quiet, and those hits...had been pretty bad. Andrew looked up at him before shrugging and eating his cookie.

"You're rather creative, aren't you?" At Sylvia's look, Randy only gave a bright, cheery grin.

"If they make him suffer like this, then they deserve no less than eternal damnation and severe and extreme emotional and physical pain." Randy curled up to Andrew a bit more, sneaking his hand up to rub at the tip of the younger's ear. Andrew shook his head a bit before he was relaxing. Slumping a bit, the child still looked...morose.

Chewing at his lip for a moment, Randy seemed to be thinking on what to say before he was grinning and tugging on the ear to get the younger's attention. "I read that story you recently wrote, you know. It was really, really good. I especially liked the part with the well- Although you should really finish it soon because, Andy. Andy. I need to know what happens to the kid who fell down."

"He dies." He gave another small shake off his head, nose wrinkled. Randy frowned, and, huh… Maybe his ears were still sensitive from the lake incident.

"Well, I mean...I guess I expected it but what about his friend? What happens to her?" Randy switched to rubbing at the back of the child's neck, pouting. "She doesn't die by falling down to try and save him, does she?"

"She does."

"Aaannndddyyy."

"Hm?"

"Andy you're being cruel. What have I ever done to earn this cruelty, little brother?" Andrew looked at him before shrugging. Randy pouted, taking the child from Sylvia's lap and cuddling him instead. "You're my cuddle captive, now. No escape."

"Kay."

::

A few hours later was when the bruises started to appear. Randy was fretting and worrying over him near at once, gently putting on the bruising cream they used and wrapping up the worst of it all. "As soon as I see that instructor again, I'm emptying a clip of bullets into his stomach."

Andrew gave a small shake of his head. "No, it wasn't his fault."

"I suppose next you'll tell me it's no one's fault," Randy sighed, stilling Andrew's head and working at the particularly nasty eye. That had Andrew slumping a bit.

"No." Randy frowned, giving Andrew a little nudge.

"Alright, then whose fault do you think it is?" Andrew remained stubbornly silent, crossing his arms and pouting. "I mean, it definitely can't be your fault, since Stephan is far older and stronger than you and should have known to pull his punches when you're still learning."

"But I'm supposed to be able to do it- Rose did it." Randy gave him a sharp look, voice even and he really was trying not to be frustrated because it wasn't Andy's fault it was the fucking Sanctum.

"Rose is also older than you, has been training for longer, and her instructor was pulling his hits and never really trying to hurt her. Stephan was fighting at full strength, and as much as I know you hate it, you are younger right now, which means less strength than the other age mates."

"I'm not that much younger, some of them are the same age as me," Andrew pointed out. He absently rubbed at his ear before letting his hand drop.

"As I said, the others held back. Stephan did not on you, however." Randy frowned, tilting Andrew's head to inspect his ear. "The pain acting up again?" The infection had mostly gone away, but it still hurt every so often.

"What? No, it's fine." Andrew tugged his chin away, curled up slightly. Randy stilled him with a touch, patching up the broken nose, and, really, Stephan was getting shot somewhere when Randy next saw him.

"Andy, I know you. I know when you're not fine." A weak smile. "Please try to believe this wasn't your fault. Besides, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong, right?"

Andrew's eyes were wrenched shut and he looked to be trying to re-orient himself. "I'm fine."

"Andrew." Seeing he had the child's attention, Randy gave a quiet sigh. "Please don't lie to me about your health… I'm trying to make sure you're healthy and stay healthy. Besides, you're still recovering from the lake, which threw your balance off and caused you to get more hits than normal." Logic. Andrew responded well to logic and reason.

"I'm… A bit dizzy," Andrew admitted. "But it's fine. It's probably nothing." Randy frowned, remembering there had been a particularly nasty hit near the ear. Checking the child over carefully, Randy's expression became a bit blank.

"It seems you have a concussion, little one. Nothing too bad, but you'll need to rest here for a few more hours, or you'll get even more dizzy, and sick." A concussion. A concussion and a hit on the ears when he was already weak. If Randy hadn't stepped in, Andrew could have-

Andrew gave him a nod. "Mmkay. Will you eat dinner, this time?" ...Dinner, huh...

"I'll try to eat something, at least." Randy finished tying off a few bandages before he was pecking Andrew on the cheek and nudging him down. "Rest here, okay? Try not to sleep for another hour or so. I want to make sure that concussion isn't too bad."

"Okay. Do you think you can bring me some food?" Andrew laid down with little protest, only looking up at Randy.

"Yeah… Yeah, Andy, I think I can bring you some food." Randy gave the child a smile and another little peck of a kiss before he was heading for the door, expression dropping into something dark.

When Randy entered the dining hall, the age mates gave each other cautious looks. This… Wouldn't be pretty. They had all seen Randy pretty angry before, when it concerned Andrew, but that fight today...well, they were all just glad they weren't Stephan.

Said instructor was sitting at a table with his own age mates, Randy utterly silent as he slipped through crowds and shadowed areas, no one but the occasional child spotting him. There were whispers at his regular table, drawing the attention of some of the members nearby. By the time they reached Stephan's table there was a single gunshot ringing out across the room, Stephan slumping off his chair and utterly dead, Randy's face completely blank as he re-holstered his gun. Eyes flicking to the High Priest, who was nearby, Randy tilted his head before speaking quietly. "I disliked his treatment of children."

The High Priest watched him for a moment before giving a small nod and returning to his meal. Randy spared a glance to Stephan, a distasteful expression flickering on his face before he was drifting over to his own table. Getting two trays of food, he headed back out the door, looking as if nothing of interest had just happened. Sylvia followed after him in a flurry. No, no, this was all wrong.

Randy proved a bit quicker, since by the time she got to the infirmary Randy was settled down by Andrew and telling him a wild story about lake monsters, both of them eating their meals and looking perfectly content. "Randy... What did you do?" The two started at Sylvia's appearance, Randy pausing from where he was holding his spoon.

"I… Got us dinner?" Sylvia only shook her head, snatching Randy up and holding him close.

"My dear little one... What have you done?" While Andrew frowned in confusion, Randy only nudged the child to keep eating before he lowered his voice and looked up to Sylvia, not an ounce of regret in his gaze.

"He hurt Andy." Sylvia shook her head again with horror, remaining silent. Randy hesitantly went back to his story, efficiently distracting Andrew from Sylvia's behavior and his wounds, and, really… He didn't regret what he had done. He had hurt Andrew, and it could have happened again. So… Randy made sure it wouldn't.