Jasper woke in the morning feeling slightly nauseous. He tried to ignore it, kissing Magnus' head and going to shower. He got out of the shower and took a few pills, hoping to get rid of the sick feeling before he went out and got himself dressed.
He looked over at Magnus for a moment with a small smile, then left the room. He found Zephyr in the kitchen eating a bagel.
"Morning," Zephyr smiled.
"Hey," Jasper replied, looking at the food with a conflicting look.
"You okay?"
"Fine."
"You don't feel good, do you?"
Jasper sighed, "Not really, no."
"Well, you've got me back, I can help you with your tasks for the day?"
"You need to rest and just enjoy being free again."
Zephyr shrugged, "I got to sleep in a comfy bed last night, I'm rested and enjoyed."
Jasper chuckled slightly before nodding, "Alright, I have to meet with the kids we rescued."
"Eat," Zephyr shoved half a bagel at him.
Jasper shook his head quickly.
"It's been, what? Two years? You look like a fucking stick in comparison to what you did before. You're going to get back to a normal weight."
"I'm fine. I had some weight to spare."
"Had. Now you've gone too far the other way, so eat."
Jasper took a few bites, struggling to swallow them down with the nausea. "Alright, I ate."
Zephyr rolled their eyes and nodded, "Fine, but you're eating more once you feel better."
"If I feel better.." Jasper muttered under his breath as he turned to head out of the kitchen.
Zephyr followed him out of the room. They headed to the conference room where the kids they'd saved were all gathered.
"Hey everyone!" Jasper got their attention. "My name is Jasper, also called Commander Phoenix. This is my friend Zephyr. Welcome to your new home. You are free here and will be taken care of."
"We're going to make everything lots of fun! You'll be trained to use your powers and everything," Zephyr added.
"I know what you've been through and I also know how scary and different freedom can be, but we are here to help you. There's guards and teachers here and they are all here to help. If you encounter any problems with them, you can come to one of us."
The door opened, Magnus poking his head in. "Please tell me there's coffee somewhere…"
Zephyr chuckled and started moving to the door. "Come on, I'll show you."
One of the kids growled at the sight of Magnus.
He looked at them with a puzzled expression. "Who are you?"
The kid looked like they were getting ready to attack, "You had my parents murdered!"
"Huh?" Magnus fully entered the room. "Kid, I've never seen you."
"My parents didn't want me to go to the prison, so you ordered the guards to kill them," the girl's anger shifted into crying.
Magnus's eyes suddenly grew distant, then he blanched so fast Jasper thought he'd pass out right there.
"Magnus?" Jasper approached and put a hand on him just in case. He then looked at the girl, "He didn't know they were prisons, he thought he was helping people."
"Doesn't bring them back.." She said quietly as a slightly older girl wrapped her arms around her.
Magnus swayed, tears streaking his cheeks. "I'm sorry..I don't remember everything...I'm a murderer..I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" His breathing was coming in gasps, his body trembling. "I don't deserve to be here.." He turned and ran out the door.
Zephyr looked out into the hall as Jasper ran after Magnus. Jasper suddenly stopped and held his stomach, his face looking ill.
Zephyr sighed and was suddenly beside Magnus, stopping him in his tracks. "You deserve to be here. Please don't go." Zephyr then shook their head as they heard Jasper throwing up. "I think he needs you."
"He's sick again." Magnus tried to quit shaking, face still pale. "Why didn't Jasper just kill me?"
"He doesn't want to kill anyone. Unless he's killed since I was taken, he'd only killed once and that was when he was escaping the prison." Zephyr answered before adding, "Plus, he sees the good in you. You didn't know what you were doing at the time, you thought you were helping people."
"You can't win a war by sparing the enemy! You have to show them the consequences of doing wrong!"
"Then we'll be the monsters they already say we are.." Jasper said quietly as he finally walked up.
"I see both of your points, but still, even I can see the good in you. You deserve to stay here. Plus, it gives you a chance to redeem yourself by actually helping others," Zephyr added.
Magnus looked at Jasper. "The government doesn't fear you. They'll never fear you until you make them." He switched his gaze to Zephyr. "I can never redeem myself aside from death. Whether it's by that child's hand or fighting troops. I'm no good to anyone. My own body is at war with itself. I sure can't save anyone else."
Zephyr rolled their eyes at Magnus. "You are good. You're good for Jasper. You've helped free prisoners and can help with more."
Jasper stared at Magnus for a minute then kissed the conflicted man. "I love you." He then looked at Zephyr, meeting their eyes.
Zephyr shook his head, "You're nuts and you're going to get yourself killed."
Jasper just shrugged and vanished.
Zephyr growled and looked at Magnus, "You better help me bring that idiot back."
"Where did he go? And what is his bright idea?" Magnus growled.
"Trying to make the government fear us.. I mean, it might work, if he wasn't feeling sick today.."
"I didn't mean it like that! I meant they would have feared him if he'd tortured me to death and dumped my body on their doorstep, not running into who knows what danger!" Magnus clenched his fists. Then he sighed and vanished.
Jasper appeared at a main government building, hiding behind a column. He took a few seconds to check his weapons then took a deep breath before moving out and starting to attack everyone in sight.
Magnus appeared at the same building,took a deep breath, then let his eyes go white before summoning a cyclone of whirling water and ice. He released it at the people, ignoring the chills already beginning to overtake him.
Zephyr cursed and ran to a comm room. They checked the tracking for Jasper before using their speed to run to the government building. They came across Magnus first, cursing as he saw him. "Idiots, both of you! Stop using your ice! Jazz needs us to help him."
"Go away." Magnus' voice was monotone, his skin turning a deep blue. "He's on the other side of the building. Take him back to your base."
Zephyr growled and slapped Magnus. "Get your shit together! He needs you! Why are you trying to get yourself killed quicker?"
"No one needs me. Touch me again and I'll kill you too." He materialized a large ice dagger and held it to Zephyr's throat emotionlessly.
"Do it." Zephyr answered. "And fine, don't believe that he needs you. But just know it'll rip his heart out. If he's even still alive.."
"Go save him if you can. Tell him I'll wait for him on the other side." Magnus threw the dagger at a guard attempting to attack Zephyr from behind.
Within a fraction of a second, Zephyr was injecting something into Magnus.
The cryokinetic slumped slightly in Zephyr's arms, his eyes blinking slowly.
Zephyr just sighed, throwing Magnus onto their back, "Just hold on."
"Leave me. I'll cover you and Jasper's escape."
"No, you're coming with us." Zephyr argued and moved toward the other side of the building, taking out people with one sword while their other hand tried to keep Magnus on them.
"I'm too far gone.." Magnus lost the urge to shiver, his temperature continuing to drop. "I'll just slow you down. Let me go out a hero, please."
Zephyr looked thoughtful for a moment before taking a deep breath. He started out of the building, his speed getting him back to the base in less than a minute. He handed Magnus to Callie and ran back out.
Callie injected Magnus with a medicine she'd created to help keep his temperature up before working on healing him.
Five minutes later, Zephyr entered carrying a bloodsoaked but laughing Jasper.
Magnus' eyes went wide, then grew angry. He pushed Callie aside and marched up to Jasper before slapping him repeatedly. "You stupid idiotic shit for brains. You didn't let me finish my fucking statement."
Jasper looked a little dazed, making Magnus wonder if any of the blood belonged to the leader, "I told you once, I'm a villain. Time I started acting like it."
"I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!" Magnus shouted, resisting the urge to throttle the renegade right there. "You should have killed me, then dumped me there to scare them. Not go mister destructo." He shook his head, then swayed as the room spun. He looked at Zephyr. "Would you please explain to the village idiot here what I meant? I think I'm gonna pa-" His eyes rolled up and he started to fall.
Callie caught him and carried him to a bed before continuing her work.
Zephyr soon dumped Jasper into a bath, stripping him of the bloody clothes and washing him off so he could see where Jasper was actually hurt. He treated the wounds the best he could, then laid Jasper in bed and gave him a sedative. The leader soon was out, slumping against the pillows.
Jasper was sitting in a chair, a tablet in his hands, listening to a report on the attack.
Magnus groaned, one hand covering his eyes as he woke.
Jasper looked up a moment, "Morning." He then looked back at the pictures of the government building being shown.
"Which morning?" Magnus's eyes were still hazy. "Where is that damned walking tree? I have a bone to pick with them. Several actually."
"You've been out a couple days." Jasper answered.
The door opened and Zephyr entered quietly.
Magnus growled at him.
"What?"
"If I had more strength, I'd punch you. Hard. Repeatedly. And don't act innocent."
"All I did was help you."
"You slapped me, drugged me and then denied my request!"
"Well, I kept you alive."
"Who gave you the right?!"
Zephyr rolled their eyes, "Whatever. I'm not going to listen to your shit. You are needed. You have Jazz who loves you and I care too. You don't need to sacrifice yourself or have us kill you. We can all save people together and your life is worth it. End of story."
Magnus snarled, lunging toward them.
Zephyr dodged quickly. "Beat me up all you want. Still won't change what I said."
"You're a bastard." Magnus stopped, taking a shaky breath.
"For caring? Fine."
"For being fast. I really wanted to hit you." Magnus sat down. "Did you at least explain to Caligula there what I actually meant by my interrupted statement?"
"He doesn't give a shit what you meant." Zephyr sighed and waved his hand. "Come on, I won't dodge. Give me your best shot."
"Too tired now." He frowned. "Why aren't I comatose? Or dead? I pretty much said fuck it and didn't hold back.."
"Callie said something about a breakthrough in research.." Jasper finally spoke up as he scrolled on the tablet.
"Give the girl a gold star and a lab coat. What about you? Are you back to normal?"
Jasper just sighed in response.
"He's feeling okay right now, but she hasn't been able to fully fix him." Zephyr informed softly.
Magnus sighed. "Sorry for what I did."
"You're fine. I'm sorry too." Jasper answered. He growled for a moment and clicked on a link before setting the tablet upright to watch the screen.
"It was all my fault though. If I hadn't said what I did…"
"Don't worry about it," Jasper said, his distraction obvious as he kept watching the screen.
Zephyr looked over Jasper's shoulder and shook his head, "Just turn it off now Jazz."
"What's wrong?" Magnus craned his head to see.
The bottom of the screen was scrolling through a report on the government building while the top of the screen showed a reporter talking about a Prince from another land turning 18.
Magnus frowned.
The reporter spoke, "Soon Prince Theo will be ready to take the throne." It showed pictures of the Prince as he grew. "But for the family, it is now that they hold a private remembrance for Princess Sarah who would have been in line if not for her death at such a young age."
Jasper laughed bitterly and mumbled. "I'm glad she died.. Wish the whole fucking lot of them would die too."
"You know you don't mean that.." Zephyr sighed. "You just want the Queen and King to die."
"Their whole country could go up in flames for all I care." Jasper stood and headed out the door.
Magnus kept frowning, then his eyes narrowed and he growled. "Him too?"
Zephyr raised an eyebrow at him.
Magnus winced. "Jasper didn't tell you?"
"I haven't actually talked to him much since I've been back."
"I thought you two were close?"
"He's been kind of distant. Especially since I told him he looked like he's getting worse and forced him to eat."
"Ouch. Well, thing is.." Magnus nervously swallowed. "I'm Crown Prince..at least I was.."
"And I'm guessing he didn't fully tell you of his past yet?"
"First I'm hearing of it actually."
Zephyr sighed and sat down. "His parents could tell what he was even with him trying to hide it. They tried to kill him and blamed it on an enemy. He knew the truth though, since they were always pretty abusive toward him. He ran to try to get to Dayama, but got caught up here. Spent 10 years in prison before he finally escaped. I was escaping Brilia, trying to get free, but when I ran into a freshly escaped Jazz, I knew I needed to stay and help him."
"So we've all been royally fucked. Pun completely intended."
Zephyr chuckled. "I wasn't from a royal family. And my parents actually cared. So I had some struggles helping Jazz at first. He was so hurt by everything that had happened, but I stuck with him and showed him not everyone is an ass."
"You're a great friend." Magnus bit his lip. "Not sure what's worse. A sibling taking your spot or being replaced by someone not related. And realizing your parents love him instead of you."
"I honestly think Jazz's siblings don't know the truth. Theo was only one and is the only one Jazz ever met."
"Wow."
"Sucks about your situation though. I can't imagine parents doing that to someone. But like I said, mine cared. Though caring got them killed." Zephyr trailed off.
"You were lucky.." Magnus flinched. "Didn't mean it that way. It's just I feel twice as guilty, you know? First they did it to me, then they used me to do it to other people."
"Yeah, makes sense. Try not to worry, though, it wasn't your fault."
"Still not sure how it isn't. Not like I didn't know what those kids would be subjected to. I just thought it would be the hell of a training school. Not a literal prison. I was tortured at mine, so why did I give others to that awfulness? What's wrong with me?"
"You were being used. And Jazz and I don't blame you at all."
"How do I stop blaming myself?"
"It's hard but it comes with time. Just let us help you."
Magnus nodded, then inclined his head towards the door. "You should probably find him before he does something stupid again."
"Why don't you? Still think he's a bit grumpy at me."
"How else to get him ungrumpy? Plus, I'm not quite with it yet. If I stand up, I might meet the floor."
"Alright, but you really should talk to him soon about this.." Zephyr stood and looked Magnus over for a moment before disappearing out of the room.
Magnus half smiled before sinking to the bed and closing his eyes.
Hours later, Jasper came back to check on Magnus. He sat down quietly and stared at the other man.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Magnus opened his eyes and gave him a soft smile.
"Hey. Sorry about disappearing earlier. How are you feeling?"
"Disappointing who?" Magnus pushed himself onto an elbow.
"Huh? I don't know.."
"Oops. Sorry, took me a minute. And I'd be more concerned if you didn't disappear after that report." Magnus ran a hand through his hair.
Jasper frowned then sighed, "Zephyr told you."
"Yeah. At least they mourn you. My people don't know the difference between me and the stand in."
Jasper just sighed, "Doesn't matter. Anyway, how are you feeling?"
"Better. Though a little worried if I have to use my powers again. Doesn't help I've never used anything else."
Jasper frowned, "We can teach you to use weapons."
"Much appreciated." At Jasper's look, he explained. "We're only trained to use our powers. Not given any other weapons. Pretty sure it's their way to get rid of us faster."
"Ah." Jasper nodded. "I'm pretty good at guns and knives. Obviously Zeph is good with swords."
"Obviously." Magnus laughed.
Jasper chuckled slightly then admitted, "It's so weird seeing Theo on TV, being an adult now. He was so small when I left.. and when they show the others.. I wish I could have met them. They'd probably hate me too though."
"You never know.." Magnus took his hand and kissed it.
Jasper rested his head on Magnus' shoulder, "Are you sure you like being with me? I'm kind of a disaster."
"Like I'm not?"
"Not really."
Magnus snorted.
Jasper looked up, "I love you."
"Love you too. Where's the kitchen?"
Jasper chuckled and pulled Magnus up. He led him to the kitchen then began making them food. He held out a full plate to Magnus before taking a small plate for himself.
"You need to eat more." Magnus started to eat ravenously.
Jasper shrugged and slowly picked at the plate.
The cryokinetic dropped the subject, finishing his own plate. "What's on your to do list today?"
Jasper shrugged, "We can teach you to fight, if you want?"
"As long as you don't kick my ass too hard." Magnus shot him a smile.
Jasper chuckled, "Well, we'll start with the basics. A bit of hand to hand, then some knife work, then we'll go to the range."
"Hand to hand might get...sweaty." He waggled his eyebrows.
Jasper rolled his eyes and picked up their plates. His looked barely touched while Magnus' was clean. He washed off the plates and put them in the washer before leading Magnus to a training room.
"Sorry. Just trying to get a smile." Magnus apologized before beginning to stretch.
Jasper kissed Magnus' cheek before stretching as well. After a few minutes he began showing Magnus some moves, correcting the other's form when needed. "Stand like this," Jasper wrapped his arms around Magnus, moving his arms into position.
Magnus took the opportunity to kiss Jasper.
Jasper smiled slightly before kissing back needily.
"I think we should take this a bit more private." Magnus whispered before continuing to kiss him.
Jasper finally pulled away then pulled Magnus down the hall to their room. He pushed Magnus onto the bed and kissed him hard.
Magnus returned the kiss, running his hands through Jasper's hair. "No pressure. Stop if you need to."
Jasper looked nervous, "I.. I want you.."
"I've never wanted anything more in my life."
"I've never done this.." He paused, "Willingly anyway.."
Magnus winced.
Jasper slowly removed his shirt, showing the binder tight around his chest.
Magnus frowned. "How do you breathe in that?"
"It's normally not an issue..unless I'm fighting. But you're technically only supposed to wear it like 8 hours at a time at most.."
"Then let's take it off. Or do I have to cut it again?"
Jasper looked nervous, closing his eyes as he worked on removing it.
Magnus grabbed his hands. "Baby, I love everything about you. Your body doesn't matter to me, it's your soul."
Jasper nodded slowly, finishing removing it, revealing decently sized breasts.
Magnus kissed him, then took off his own shirt to reveal severe scarring on his torso. He watched Jasper's face closely, tensing in apprehension.
Jasper ran a hand over the scars, then turned slightly to reveal his own scars on his back which looked like they were caused by whips.
"Matching pair." Magnus cracked nervously.
Jasper smiled slightly, "You're beautiful."
Magnus blushed before shaking his head. He silently removed his pants to reveal scar tissue from healed burns on his legs. "Still think that?"
Jasper nodded, "Yes. I just wish I could have saved you from all that pain.."
Magnus surged forward and kissed him hard.
Jasper kissed back roughly, a hand wrapping in Magnus' hair.
"I need you. You make me feel alive."
Jasper smiled and moved slightly, pulling at Magnus' boxers. "Are you sure you'll like me..down there?"
"I love you. Don't care about your body aside from housing your soul." Magnus kissed him gently this time.
Jasper nodded slowly and moved away for a minute. He began pulling down his pants and then his boxers.
Magnus laid him on the bed.