Title: Don't You Forget About Me

Summary: As a whole, Pinkerton barely changed as its students grew older. Sadie Macbeth never abandoned her tyrannical ways, and the Invisible Network never found cause to disband. However, as Macbeth's plans for ultimate rule become increasingly more dangerous, it's only a matter of time before the consequences become deadly.

Thus, the fog begins to settle.

The past catches up with Vin, proving that one cannot hide from their problems forever. Soon he will have to face the music as a man, and not as the scared child he knows he is. Zero must become more invested in the future as a result of her own mistakes – the mistakes she continues to make, marring her life in the worst of ways, creating scars as deep as valleys. Trixie now struggles to keep the seams between the four of them from splitting apart, afraid to lose those she considers family to problems far greater than they can imagine. Newton only wants the best for those he loves, but sometimes opening those doorways means exposing oneself to the brutal reality of life. Life, which is meaningless without them.

And so the final stretch begins. The clock is ticking, and it's only a matter of time before it's all over.

Rating: T 13+.

Chapter Summary: Vin comes clean about something important. Like, mega important. Trixie continues to have a crisis. Crises are had all over the show.

Chapter Word Count: 3150

Hullo, all.

I just want to clear something up before this chapter begins; I've always imagined Zero as Italian. I don't quite know why, I just have, so in this story she's half - on her mother's side. I know in the show she has a lot to do with Asian culture, but I'm choosing to see that as a cultural interest that developed when she learnt self defence, rather than because of her familial background. Just wanted to clear that up.

FYI, my Italian's a little rusty, so I might have bungled it a bit. Apologies if I have.

9 – Now I'll Run From You

That was the first time she did not leave. It was also the first time she slept until morning, though she pretended those two things were unrelated.

When Vin was startled awake by his alarm clock, he flailed so violently he nearly fell out of bed. He cursed, rubbing his bleary eyes, before remembering that he wasn't alone.

He didn't know what he expected, but he was surprised to see that Zero was still there, so deep in sleep that the alarm didn't wake her. A sense of fondness settled in his gut, and he reached out to brush some of her hair out of her face. She stirred a little at his touch, but didn't wake up.

I love you.

He didn't mean for the thought to cross his mind, but when it did, he drew in a sharp intake of breath. Did he? Did he love her? That was stupid; of course he did, but was he in love with her?

She snuffled slightly in sleep, pressing her face forward into his shoulder. Purely out of reflex, he brought his other hand up to drape over her bare waist beneath the blankets.

'Vin?' she mumbled sleepily. Her feet tangled with his.

'Didn't mean to wake you,' he replied.

'S fine. Are we late for breakfast?'

'Nah.'

She exhaled heavily. 'I should probably apologise to Trix.'

'That wouldn't be a bad idea,' Vin agreed. 'But she called, and she says she "understands your position", whatever that means.'

She seemed to know. 'Okay.' She rubbed her eyes. 'Okay.'

'I . . . I've been thinking.'

'That's new.'

'Oh, shut up.' He poked her shoulder. 'I just think it's time I talked to you about something important. You were saying you've got a past; well, so do I. And . . . and I want you to know about it.'

She froze. 'Is this the part where you tell me you've been living a double life as a serial killer?'

'What? No.'

'Alright, just checking.'

He pulled a face. 'Rude.'

She yawned, before propping herself up a little and pulling her hair into a messy ponytail. 'Alright, if you say so. Now spill.'

He drew in a deep breath. 'Alright. Okay. So . . . nearly five years ago, now, something really bad happened.' He wrung his hands, bracing himself to continue. I, uh, well, I'm the only one who actually remembers it.'

Zero was immediately on her guard. 'Is this something to do with when Macbeth stole our memories?'

He shook his head. 'No, actually. It was a few months before that. See, we'd gone on a mission to steal something – don't remember what, to be honest – but, well, it gave Macbeth ideas. She'd almost caught us, you see, since your phone started ringing and all, but -'

She cut him off. 'I've never had my phone turned on out in the field,' she told him, eyes narrowing. 'I make sure of it.'

He scratched his nose absently. 'Yeah, well, uh . . . This time you did. But that's not the point. Macbeth got mad because she was so close to catching us, and I think it gave her an idea. She -' He cut off and swallowed heavily, now very aware of Zero's eyes boring into him. 'She made a time machine.'

'And I know nothing of this because . . . ?'

'She wiped you from existence,' he whispered, fists clenching. 'All three of you.'

Her expression became incredulous. 'How?' she asked, sitting up abruptly, not caring when the bedsheets slipped down to her waist. 'How, Vin?'

'She stopped your parents from meeting. If they never were, then neither were you.'

She looked away, stunned. 'Oh my god,' she breathed, before shaking her head. 'That bitch did Mom a favour, then.'

'Don't say that,' Vin started, but she cut him off.

'How come she didn't get you?'

He smiled ruefully. 'I'm all alone, remember? It's what saved me – I'm an orphan. As far as anyone is concerned, my parents are nameless, and probably dead. Macbeth had no way of finding them. So, I took the watch from her and set things right.' He exhaled heavily. 'We had a bit of fun with it for a while, making Macbeth the school gardener and all, but I knew I had to fix it for good. So, that one last time, I made sure none of you would have any memory of it. It was too awful.'

She was silent, and that unnerved him more than he would have liked.

'It was strange,' he continued, feeling that it was best to get absolutely everything out in the open. 'Like, I've seen your mom. Your mom seventeen years in the past, sure, but I still saw her.' He reached out and carefully tucked a strand of hair behind Zero's ear. 'She was . . . very young. You've got her face.'

She flinched violently at that, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

'You'd know, then,' she said hoarsely. 'You'd know how much of a fucked-up relationship it was.'

He shrugged a little. 'Well . . . I think they really did love each other, once upon a time. It just didn't . . . last.'

She finally turned to look at him, and her eyes seemed to have darkened with anger. 'You know what he said?' she ground out. 'You know what he said to me?' When he shook his head, she continued, fists clenching. 'He said that she was working in bars, doing God knows what, and he never told me that he knew. He knew where she went! He fucking knew!'

'I'm sorry, Zero -'

'Dispiace anche a me!' A beat of silence passed. She exhaled shakily, before putting her head in her hands. Vin had no clue what she'd just said, but he knew that she rarely spoke Italian around anyone else, and only when she was really distressed. In fact, Vin didn't even know she was part Italian until he'd seen her mother in the past.

'Zero?' he said softly.

'Si?'

'English, please.'

This drew the tiniest snort of laughter from her, and she lifted her head again, wiping at her eyes. 'La prego di accettare le mie scuse,' she told him dryly, as a smile tugged at her lips.

He squinted at her. 'Did you just insult me?'

'Nah.' She wrinkled her nose. 'God forbid I use the language of the homeland, though.'

'I don't have a problem with it,' he cried, 'I just don't know a word you're saying.'

She gave him a deadpan look. 'Please accept my apologies.'

'What for?'

'That's what I said!' she replied, throwing her hands out in indignation. 'You said "Speak in English", so I said "Please, accept my apologies", in the most sarcastic manner possible. You just misinterpreted it.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah.' She swatted him on the arm. 'You're so useless.'

He was quiet for a moment. 'You know, it was really hard to tell if I was doing things properly. You know, when I was fixing the past.'

She raised an eyebrow, though her eyes seemed guarded once again. 'Oh?'

'Yeah, well, your mom was talking in Italian all the time, so I hadn't the slightest clue what was going on, and your dad has the thickest New York accent I've ever come across – it's a wonder that you're so articulate.' He grinned.

She punched him again. 'Rude. Mam– Mom's English was really good, actually.'

He raised his hands in surrender. 'Alright, I believe you.'

She exhaled, her mood sobering again. 'So, you saw Dad too.'

He tentatively reached out to touch her shoulder. 'He wasn't so bad in the beginning, you know. I've seen worse fathers.'

She lowered her gaze, tension causing her hackles to rise. 'You don't know what he did to me.'

'It's okay, you don't have to tell.' Vin had a feeling he already knew.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. 'I can't believe you didn't tell me sooner. This is big, Vin.'

'I thought you'd be mad,' he admitted.

She levelled her gaze at him. 'Who says I'm not?' Her reply was blunt. Too blunt. 'It's just . . . taking a while to process. She looked around, finally seeming to realise that they were both stark naked. 'Where's my bra?'

He blinked, surprised at the turn in conversation. 'Wait, what?'

'Bra,' she repeated shortly, before leaning over him and grabbing it off the floor. 'I need to go.'

'You don't even know what time it is.'

'So?' It seemed like the irritation was just starting to set in; her hands trembled as she tried to hook the clasps. Vin reached out to help her, but drew back at her sharp, 'Don't.'

He didn't stop her as she went about getting dressed, as a sinking feeling in his gut told him he wouldn't be able to help the situation. He pulled on a pair of pants himself before sitting down at his desk chair, waiting silently as she piled her hair atop her head in some messy approximation of a bun. Then she turned, jabbing a finger in his direction.

'I'm not talking to you,' she warned. 'I'll see you later, but I won't be happy about it.'

He exhaled heavily. 'Zero -' But she was gone before he could even think of what to say, leaving the door ajar.

She was no stranger to the Walk of Shame, it seemed.

'Alright, kiddo, I'm going to show you how to pull off a basic, run-of-the-mill brainwashing.'

'Isn't that a bit unorthodox?'

'Well, since you seem to be taking your sweet time unmasking I.N.K, I've decided I need a hobby to keep myself busy. If that means training an apprentice, so be it.'

Though she would never let herself admit it, Sadie Macbeth scared Liz absolutely shitless. So much in fact, that Liz was hardly about to go and let her get bored, should she become the next target.

Liz folded her arms and sat in the seat opposite Macbeth's desk. 'Alright, then. What ideas have you got?'

Macbeth pushed a large stack of papers across the desk with practised ease. 'These are some of the plans that have failed in the past. I thought perhaps with your insight, you may be able to think of something with a higher success chance.'

There was a beat of silence, before Liz gingerly reached out and picked them up. She looked through them, and though it was a brief skim, she felt increasingly more horrified the longer she read. 'Holy shit,' she breathed. 'You're hardcore, lady.'

Macbeth arched a thin eyebrow in careful satisfaction. 'Why, thank you.'

'Um.' Liz bit her lip, now starting to feel somewhat inspired by what she read, however much it may have repulsed her. 'Well . . . How about this one?' She pulled out one sheet, before continuing to look through. 'Aaaaaaand . . . this one. And this one.' Collecting the sheets up, she handed them back to Macbeth. 'You know the age-old debate of "brains verses brawn"? Pick out a few specimens and manipulate them into servitude. From what I've gathered so far, this "Invisible Network" would have to be made up of braniacs. How else would they have kept out of reach for so long? So, if you can't beat them in the intelligence field, bring them in by brute force.' She tilted her head. 'I'm sure a few of these kids are struggling a bit in the "feelings department". That'd leave them vulnerable.'

'Exploiting weaknesses, hmm?' Macbeth surveyed her with a keen eye. 'It seems you've had a bit of practice in this, Miss Elizabeth. I quite approve.'

Liz wasn't really sure if that was a good thing.

Straight off the bat, Newton knew something was wrong. Really wrong.

Trixie was humming.

'What's got you in such a good mood?' he asked cautiously as he stirred his coffee. She simply beamed in response.

'Meeting in Headquarters at lunch. I've got big news.'

'You can't tell me now?'

'Well, I've got to tell Vin and Zero, too.' She took a careful sip of tea, before continuing. 'Assuming that Zero's in a better mood, anyway.'

He gave her a dry look. 'Yeah, your odds aren't gonna be good.'

She threw a sugar packet at his head. 'Leave her alone; she's had a rough week.'

He dodged it easily, before sniggering as it landed in Hector's passing cereal bowl. 'I'm quite aware.' He was all too aware, if Liz had been telling the truth about what she saw the other night.

Trixie stuck a piece of toast between her teeth, before grabbing Newton's phone from his unsuspecting hands and doing something he couldn't quite see. She ignored his squawk of indignation, before eventually giving it back. It then became apparent she was texting Vin, demanding his whereabouts.

A reply came almost immediately.

im coming. Idk where Zero is

Newton raised his eyebrows at this, before nudging Trixie. 'Finding Zero might be harder than usual,' he said. 'She's probably gone walkabout.'

'Who's gone walkabout?' a new voice interrupted. Zero sat down opposite them, slamming down a mug of coffee with more force than would ordinarily be deemed necessary. Trixie looked up at this, eyes widening as she took in her dishevelled appearance. 'Where have you been?'

'Walking,' came the flat reply. 'Thinking.'

'You can do that?' Newton quipped, mentally crossing his fingers in the hopes that it would improve her mood somewhat. Funnily enough, it did.

A dry smile tugged on the corners of her lips. 'It wasn't good,' she replied. 'I don't intend to do it again.'

'That's the spirit,' he replied encouragingly. 'Who needs brains, anyway?'

'Not me.' She lazily raised a fist and he bumped it, grinning.

'There you are.' Vin had appeared at Trixie's shoulder, and he was watching Zero with an unreadable expression. 'I didn't know where you went.'

She didn't look up at him. 'Did it matter?'

'Well . . .' He never finished his sentence, sitting in the only vacant seat beside her. Something was off with the two of them – their dynamic seemed oddly stilted, like some unspoken argument was simmering beneath the surface. Trixie also seemed to notice this, and scrutinised them with narrowed eyes. However, while there was obviously an issue there, she didn't mention it.

'I've got news,' she announced, now buttering a second piece of toast. 'I think you'll like it.'

'Your parents have invited us for Christmas again?' Vin asked, smirking slightly. 'Trix, it happens every single year. It's not "news".'

'It's not just that, though,' she told him. 'They've invited you all for whole week, not just for the day.' She grinned at Vin and Zero. 'You two won't have to stay here alone for the rest of the time.'

Zero gave a small smile. 'Thanks, Trix. I appreciate that.'

'And crashing your celebrations is the closest I'll get to having a real family,' Vin added. 'I'm not about to give that up.'

'Shut up,' Trixie told him, point a finger. 'You are family, idiot. It doesn't count as crashing if you're invited.'

Vin tried to play nonchalant, but Newton knew he was pleased. 'Aww, shucks.'

She patted his shoulder. 'Besides, Mom's always wanted a son. She's practically adopted you.'

His cheeks coloured, and he gave a tiny grin. 'You know . . .' He paused, before clasping Trixie's tiny hand between his two larger ones and shaking it slightly. 'You know, I think I'm okay with that.'

Though he clearly couldn't put it into words, they all know what he meant by it.

'Hey, Trixie.'

Trixie held up a finger and continued her frenzied typing, knowing that if she didn't write this now, she would lose her train of thought. A few seconds later, she finished the sentence and looked up to find Liz standing by the chair opposite her. Aside from the two of them, the library was empty. 'Liz. Hi.'

'You too busy to talk?' she asked, tilting her head. 'I can come back later -'

'No, it's alright. Sit.'

Liz hesitated, but eventually dumped herself in the chair with the grace of a drunken sloth. 'I wanted to -'

'Was the hangover bad?' Trixie asked before she could stop herself. Then she winced, shaking her head. 'I'm sorry, that was out of line -'

'It's alright,' Liz replied, though now she seemed rather tense. She didn't meet Trixie's eyes, but instead stared somewhere to her left. 'Anyway, I wanted to ask about something.'

'Fire away.'

She opened her mouth to speak, but after a second, closed it again. 'Never mind. It's stupid.'

Trixie blinked. 'I – okay. But, you can ask, you know.'

Liz waved her off. 'Don't worry about it.' She pushed the chair back and started to get to her feet.

'Liz,' Trixie wheedled. 'What's wrong?'

She paused, before giving a little shrug and a tiny, awkward grin. 'Can you . . . can you help me with the math homework?'

Trixie wasn't stupid; she knew that wasn't what Liz originally wanted, but she had a feeling she oughtn't pry. 'Sure,' she said, patting the spot beside her. Liz got up and moved around the table, before sitting there. 'Was there anything in particular?'

'Just . . . just go from the top.'

'Alright.'

And so they sat; talking in murmured voices as Trixie reviewed what they had been learning, and Liz listened attentively. Though she tried not to, Trixie found herself staring at Liz more than the textbook, taking in everything from the gentle slope of her jaw to the little freckle beneath her right eye. She noted that her hair took on a copper sheen in the lamplight, and that she chewed her bottom lip when she was confused. She would fiddle absently with the end of her ponytail when she was thinking, and the whole time they sat there her right leg would bounce to a constant rhythm, as though she always had to be moving. Normally she would find that annoying, but with Liz it was just . . . nice.

Trixie was so done for.

'Trix?'

'Hm?'

Liz tucked her pen behind her ear, and even that small, innocent movement made her chest clench uncomfortably. 'I'm gonna call it a night. Thanks for the help.'

'No worries.'

Liz grinned, slightly hesitant for a moment. Then she quickly leaned forward and kissed Trixie on the cheek. 'Thanks.'

Her heart promptly dropped out of her chest.

Holy shit.

'It's . . . all good,' she replied faintly, trying to appear unaffected. She didn't think she was doing a good job – her face felt like it was on fire. Liz smiled again, closed the textbook, and left.

Trixie's head promptly hit the table with a dull thunk.

Damn it.

Translation:

Dispiace anche a me: I'm sorry too

Si: Yes

La prego di accettare le mie scuse: Please accept my apologies

31/10/17