A/N: I know that as of late I've been paying a lot of attention to Seven and V, but no worries! Soon the focus will be shifted back to Ray.

Enjoy chapter ten!

Our Garden of Sunlight

Chapter Ten

by queenstiel

"Seven?"

No response.

He was sitting on the steps, headphones on, blaring a song you didn't recognize. You walked over to where he was sitting and sat down beside him before slowly reaching up and pulling his headphones off his ears, slipping them down around his neck.

"Hey," you said simply.

Seven glared at you before reaching up to pull his headphones back on. Your hand shot out and grabbed his before he could, placing it back down onto his lap.

"Come on, talk to me," you insisted.

"What is there to say?" he snapped. "You heard everything. Saeran… is my brother, and V lied to me. As far as I'm concerned… he doesn't deserve my help anymore."

"You don't mean that."

"I do, MC. Saeran was my only family, and V let Rika brainwash him. Now look what happened. My brother is after you and the RFA, all to get to me."

"I'm sure that V didn't mean for this to happen. He really was trying to do what he thought was best."

"Yeah, he always does," he replied in an almost somber voice. "He always does. But he's not my father or my brother. He's not my family. He needs to stop acting like it. I can take care of myself. Damn it, if he had told me… I could've rescued Saeran a long time ago."

There was no way Seven could mean that, not after the way he talked so highly of V in the chatroom. You figured that he was probably just feeling hurt, and he had every reason to. Someone that he had looked up to for years had been lying to him for… well, pretty much ever since he'd known him.

You tried to offer a positive side to the situation in an effort to cheer him up. "In any case, we're about to see him again. Your brother. Isn't that a good thing?"

He chuckled dryly. "MC the optimist. Sure, but the Saeran in the chatroom… is no longer the Saeran I knew as a kid. Rescuing Ray… isn't going to be easy, MC. I won't ask you not to come, but… I just want you to be prepared. Not even you and I together may be enough to bring him home…"

"It will, I'm sure of it. Ray will eventually want to listen to you. He mentioned wanting to find his brother once. So there's a part of him that still misses you. I'm sure that with both of us there, we can convince him," you said confidently. Admittedly, you weren't so sure of that anymore, especially since that "Unknown" personality had taken over. But even so, you were sure that you could at least get through to him. If Ray's words about having feelings towards you are true, then he will at least listen to you. You weren't sure if having both you and Seven there at the same time would be best for him, but at this point, all you were concerned about was getting him out of Mint Eye. The challenging part would be convincing him to leave, especially when he was so dead-set in his belief that Mint Eye was a place of salvation.

Seven fidgeted awkwardly next to you, hesitant to speak. "MC... while you were there, with Saeran… what was he like? Did he seem… happy?"

You fondly recalled Saeran's warm smile and his kind words, but could you really say that that was the real him, knowing what you know now? "He always seemed happy around me, but there was a sadness to his smile. There was something so melancholy about him."

Seven gave a slight nod in response. You couldn't help but notice his grimace and the way his jaw tightened as he sharply drew in a breath. "What did Rika do to him?"

"Seven-"

"Tell me. I need to know. What did Rika do to him?"

"…He takes something called the elixir. I don't know what kind of drugs are in it, but they seem to be pretty strong."

He tightly shut his eyes, as if your words were causing him physical pain. "What is he to Rika?"

It was hard for you to get the words out, but no matter how much they hurt, he was right. These were things that he needed to hear. Things that he should've heard a long time ago. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say servant. He refers to her as his 'savior'-"

"This is all my fault," he interrupted, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "I let V and Rika do this to him… if I hadn't left that day… then I could've saved him…"

"It's not your fault, Seven. Whatever the story is… I'm sure you did whatever you thought was best for him at the time."

"It wasn't though. It was… me being selfish. MC… Saeran and I… we didn't exactly have a good childhood. Our mother hated us. To her, it was like we only existed so that she could take out her anger on us. We weren't even children to her. But… thanks to her… I never really got to be a kid, you know? I had to be more than just a kid. More than Saeran's brother. I had to be his mom, his dad, his everything, to protect him from Mom, to give him a good life. I didn't get the chance to grow up naturally. Ever since I was old enough to walk and talk, I only ever thought about Saeran. Mom… loved to torture him the most. Because he was weaker than I was. And I find it strange that she said that, because I always thought I was the weak one. For years, while I went on hating our mother, Saeran… he loved her."

You watched as a wistful expression fell over his face, his eyes softening as the moonlight spilled onto him, defining his features. "The fact that someone he loved so dearly turned out to be so cruel was devastating to him. But even after Mom would scream at him and beat him or starve him… he insisted that she was doing it because she loved him. For years, even after all she did was hate him, all he could do was love her. Every night before bed, he would say "I love you mommy". And so for years I thought… Saeran would definitely be a better man than me one day, because he could find the strength to love a monster like her."

Of course. You felt like you had always known, but it was something that you never particularly paid attention to. Saeran loved unconditionally. He was an all in or all out kind of person, he loved with his whole heart or not at all. Of course, this had probably been twisted through years of emotional manipulation and abuse, but even so, that part of him had remained so glaringly obvious.

It was there inside him, the ability to love wholeheartedly, and you loved him for it.

"But… that all changed as we got older. I saw the resentment start to build up in him too. He grew to hate her, and sometimes he scared me with how he talked about her. That was around the time I started to talk about escaping together, and about the time that I met Rika and V."

"Seven… did you…"

"I left him behind," he interrupted curtly. "I did. It's something that'll haunt me till the day I die, but yes. I left him behind. I left him to face our mother alone. V promised me that they would take care of him, but I never should've trusted him. Not with Saeran. Now look at what they've done to him."

"I'm sure that V will explain everything in time. You know… I understand that it was wrong of him to lie, but I don't think V ever meant to hurt you. I can see it in his eyes when he talks about you, and about Saeran. He really loves the both of you."

Seven met your eyes for a moment, golden eyes boring into yours with a deep intensity that was almost intimidating. His stare was like fire and you feared that you might melt under his gaze, but you found that you couldn't look away.

"If he really loved Saeran… if he really loved me… he never would've let Rika hurt him. I'm sorry MC… I know that you're… into V or whatever but I… this isn't something I can just let go. Saeran is my only family. He's all I have. He's my flesh and blood. I can't... I can't just…"

You nodded your head once. "I understand. It'll take time to forgive him. But I promise Seven, V really never had any ill-will towards you or Saeran. I'm sure of it."

A short snicker slipped past his lips. "MC, do you want to know what got V into this mess in the first place? He's too damn nice. He doesn't know how to say no, how to disappoint someone. He wants to try and be the hero for everybody and he doesn't understand when someone tells him it's impossible. He pushes himself to the extreme to ensure that others are happy, and rarely worries about himself. Yet, without even realizing it, while trying to make the world happy, he forgets about the people that are right here waiting for him."

"I don't think he forgets," you argued. "I think it's those people that are here that encourage him to fight like he does. The only thing he tends to forget is himself, and the fact that by trying to be the martyr for everyone, he's hurting them."

Seven huffed indignantly. "Hmph. You've been here for a week and you already seem to understand V better than me, and I've known the guy for basically my whole life. No wonder he's so into you."

You blushed furiously at the implication, ducking your head. "O-Oh, h-he's not really…"

"He's not? Seems like all he can focus on is you." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, turning his head to look in the opposite direction. "Although, I don't really have any room to talk..." he mumbled softly.

"Hm? What'd you say?" you asked, not having heard what he had said.

He jumped in response, laughing sheepishly as he put a few more inches of space between the two of you. "Hahaha, oh, it's nothing! Just me being stupid and making dumb comments… ha…"

You narrowed your eyes suspiciously at him, but decided against forcing him to explain. He clearly didn't want to talk about it and you were in no position to make him do so.

"Hey, can you promise me something?"

The sudden mood whiplash focused you once more. "What is it?"

"Promise me… that if it comes down to it tomorrow… you'll leave me behind."

"No," you answered immediately, shaking your head defiantly.

"MC-"

"No, because that won't happen. We're all going to get out together. I won't let Ray or Rika do anything to you."

He met your eyes again and the fiery stare from earlier had been replaced with a gentle warmth. You were no stranger to the expressive nature of his eyes, as Ray had always been the same way. His eyes spoke volumes. The phrase "eyes are windows to the soul" seemed to be true for the both of them.

"Yeah, okay. Let's believe that."

X

Vanderwood paced anxiously around the cabin, biting the nail of his thumb. "I don't think it's a good idea for you two to go alone. Having her with you is going to be a liability, Luciel."

"What other choice do we have? MC is dead set on going to rescue him. And… now that I know that Ray is my brother… so am I."

"I understand why you feel like you have to rescue him, but you don't need to bring her along. She has nothing to offer you. Leave her here with V. She can look after him."

"I do have something to offer," you argued. "I know Ray. I know that side of him better than anyone here. If Ray doesn't listen to Seven… then we know that he'll listen to me."

Vanderwood snorted in disbelief, rolling his eyes. "Please. Don't try to act like you know anything about this. The only reason you want to go at all is to save your boyfriend."

"That's not-"

"Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter," Seven interjected with a sigh. "MC is coming, end of discussion. I won't take that away from her. I'll keep her safe."

"And what about V? What about the agency?"

"You'll stay here until we come back. Lay low. If you leave for any reason, take V with you and be quick."

"And what if the agency comes knocking on the door? Or someone from Mint Eye? How the hell do you expect us to escape without a car?"

"I've prepared for that," V suddenly cut in as he emerged from the back bedroom. He was looking much healthier. The color was finally returning to his face and his body seemed to have finally started building his strength back up. "I managed to get a hold of Jumin to ask him for help. He's sending bodyguards to this location."

Vanderwood gasped, his mouth falling open. "You told him the location of this secret hideout?! Are you a fucking idiot?! If that information gets out..."

V shook his head. "It won't. Jumin and his company are sworn to secrecy."

"Besides, as soon as we make it back here, I plan to take everything from this cabin and get rid of any evidence that any of us were ever here. We'll find a new hideout," Seven added.

Vanderwood sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. "So you're on board with this, V?"

"Yes. I… I don't want to see MC leave… in fact; I wish I could stop her. But… I can't. I have to let her go." Your gazes locked and you found yourself trapped, unable to look away from him.

"V…"

"MC… it's true that I can't stop you from leaving. I know that. But I'm selfish enough… to ask you one more time to please stay. Stay here where you'll be safe, and let me go back. You two might be able to rescue Ray, but you won't be enough to stop Rika. I can. So please…"

Still entranced by his eyes, you folded your arms over your chest as you began to make your way towards him. "I imagine that by "stopping Rika", you mean sacrificing yourself, right?"

He lowered his head shamefully, the trance finally broken. "That's…"

You reached out and gently placed your hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at you. "No more of that. You don't have to sacrifice yourself anymore, V. You've done enough."

"MC-"

In a move that neither of you expected, you reached forward to wrap your arms around him, holding him close. "Thank you for everything." You smiled softly, looking up at him with watery eyes. "See you around, okay?"

"Yes," he choked out, his eyes the size of saucers, a light pink blush dusting his cheeks. "Yes, I'll see you around. Thank you, MC."

Seven awkwardly cleared his throat, breaking the building tension in the room. "If I don't come back after three days, then Vanderwood, follow the instructions that I texted you. Make sure the agency never knows what happened to me."

Vanderwood scoffed. "You want me to put my ass on the line for you? Do you know how much trouble I could get into if the agency finds out that I was covering for you?"

"Look, I know it's too much to ask, but you've already betrayed the agency by helping me with this. So please…"

Vanderwood threw his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine. If you end up getting killed, I'll help you out. It's… the least I could do, I guess."

"Thank you. And… keep an eye on MC and Saeran, if that happens. I want them both to be safe." He then turned to face where V was standing on the opposite end of the room. "And V…"

"Luciel, you don't have to say anything to me. I understand that you're angry with me-"

"I am angry with you," he snapped back in response. "I'm absolutely furious with you. But still… I can only hope that after this… you'll be able to start over."

"Luciel-"

"Vanderwood, don't let him leave. He'll try to, so keep an eye on him. No matter what it takes."

The agent smirked. "So that means I can use my taser on him?"

"If you must." His attention fell on you then. "MC, you might want to go get some rest. We're going to be leaving at around one o'clock this morning. I tracked the location of this Mint Eye place, and it's going to take about five hours to get there from where we are."

You nodded. "Okay, but what about you Seven?"

He shrugged. "I'll take a quick nap later. I have to pack and take care of a few other things."

You cast quick glances at Seven and V before retreating to the back bedroom to get some sleep. It was going to be a long drive, after all.

X

"Luciel…"

"Save it, V."

V anxiously bit his lip before heaving a frustrated sigh. "We need to talk about this."

"And we will, just… not right now. I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Luciel." V placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping his almost frantic movements. "Relax, and let's talk about this. You said… you said that you didn't want me to hide things from you anymore. And I feel that there are things you should know before you go after Saeran."

A cynical smile spread across his lips as he let out a single dry, humorless laugh. "That's hilarious, now all the sudden you wanna talk 'cause you feel bad? Forget it."

"I never wanted to keep any of this from you. I was just trying to protect you. I see now that the way I was going about things was wrong. I should've at least kept you all informed. I thought… that the best way to keep you all safe was to keep you in the dark. Lying to you about Saeran… I wish I could take it back. I think… a part of me was afraid of what you would do once you saw what he had become."

"This doesn't make me love him any less. What he is now doesn't change how I feel about him. Saeran is Saeran. He's my brother. And I'm gonna save him. Simple as that."

"No, it's not. You may have met him in the chatroom, but you haven't seen him in person yet. Saeran is… he's been damaged. By years of torment… a-and brainwashing… and…"

"And what?" Seven asked, his voice small and almost fragile.

"Drugs," V answered, a grave tone to his voice. "Rika's been drugging him."

Seven grimaced, swallowing thickly, his expression darkening. "For how long?"

"It started not long after you left home. It was going on behind my back for years. It wasn't until Rika left when I finally realized. When Rika left me… she took Saeran with her."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Seven asked, the abrupt question catching V off guard. "Why didn't you tell me that Rika was hurting my brother? I… I really thought…" His voice wavered, his next words choked off by sobs.

"Luciel…"

Before he could protest, Seven was pulled into a tight embrace, V's arms constricting around him.

"Let go of me," Seven grumbled halfheartedly, wriggling slightly in his arms.

V didn't comply, and instead only held him tighter.

"I'm so sorry Luciel. I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry that all I can do is apologize. I only ever wanted to help you, and now look what I've done to you…"

"I'm never going to forget this," Seven muttered lowly, remaining motionless in his arms. "Maybe one day I'll forgive you, but until the day I die, I will never forget."

"I won't ask for your forgiveness. I just want you to know that I truly regret everything. I wish… I wish things could've been different."

Seven sniffled, tears now freely streaming down his cheeks. "So do I."