updated 23/7/2019 for mistypes
Ch 12: Confined
1412 reached the Kudos, not surprised to see Conan and the two men had just exited the house, ready to look high and low for Kuroba.
Conan turned when he heard the motorcycle's sound and immediately spotted the little boy in front of the driver. The detective and 1412 kept a fixed glare until the boy grinned and spoke with Conan's voice "they can't take him," he paused, "Humph, I wonder what went wrong~"
"Zip it, KID" Conan shot a glare at him and walked to him, "How's Kuroba-kun?"
"They didn't do anything to him, they just drugged him"
"How can you be so sure?" Conan arched his eyebrow, "who knows what they've done to him!"
"My partner was with them, he'd kill them in a sec if anything bad was going to happen~ Doubt he'd miss anything, the guy has eyes like hawks~"
"...Anyway..."
Yusaku and Dave went to him as he placed the bike near them. He got down with Kaito in his arms and handed him carefully to Yusaku. Dave adjusted his glasses.
1412 gave his KID smirk, "I'd never hand him over to you~"
"How did you find him?" Yusaku interrupted before the two could taunt each other any further.
"I followed them with the tracker," 1412 said back in a void tone, "They easily called you out of the way~"
"If you were listening, you could have warned us!" Conan hissed the threat.
"It was a child's play, and you fell for it, tantei-kun~" but Conan kept his caring the less face. "Besides, you knew they were coming. Akai-san said he delivered the warning"
"I didn't expect them to lure me out with a phone call and drug me the moment I entered Hakase's house!"
"Likewise" Dave added, "we got drugged in the car, I don't even know how they slipped the can inside it!"
"Well, we were up against professional killers," Yusaku said calmly, "Did you figure out who they were and why they came here?"
"Yeah, Vermouth and Bourbon, they came to take him to the syndicate, on the boss' orders," 1412 said, there was cheer worry on the detective's face. "Don't worry, my partner was there, he made sure everything went to our advantage. Of course, none of the crows knew that"
"So," Conan turned his head around and scanned the area. "Where are they?"
"Taken care of, Tantei-Kun" 1412 was confident, Conan didn't say anything. It was a pure lie and he was sure of it, "anyway, 1211 will be watching from nearby, he'll arrive in half an hour or so" he gave them his device, "Contact him with this if you need anything, but say who you are first, or you'll get in trouble~" they sustained, he took out a small tracker and activated it, "it's easy to hide and untraceable to anyone aside us," he gave it to Yusaku to put it on Kaito.
"Sounds to me like you won't be available today~" Conan locked his serious eyes on the thief's face, "Going somewhere? Back to Ekoda, huh?" that much was obvious.
"In the matter of fact, yes, I am going somewhere, but to where is none of your business, Chibi-kun~" Conan was going to have his revenge, that was certain. "You can count on 1211, if you ever get in a tight spot, 1413 will come to help. But, only when it's absolutely necessary"
"That's a new code, who is he? To you, I mean. Obviously, I didn't ask for his identity, I'll figure it out sooner or later~"
"He's the third leader~ make sure you are polite, he'd lose a nerve or two if you belittle him~ besides, he's currently on a vacation~"
"Oh, you thieves get vacations? That's good to know~"
"Well if it calms your curiosity, we only get vacations when we're on recovery" 1412's tone went serious, one green eye showed from under his cap. "Can't stay out unless you can't get up~ you'd be stuck monitoring if you're conscious~"
"Oh..." Conan eyed him, noting the expression into his memory. "So that's what you've been doing for the past weeks~" 1412 shrugged. "I feel bad for you~"
"Me too, it's too boring to just watch every camera in Japan~"
Dave interrupted, "Is 1413 okay?"
"Yeah, but we keep him away from the dangerous situation because he can't move freely," that said, he walked back to his bike and got up on it, "Well, my job's done here. You better obey 1211's orders, ja na~" he put his helmet on and turned the bike on, then rode from a differed street.
"With that speed, he's in a hurry" Dave pressed his glasses to his eyes, "It must be important" he threw the hint.
"Yeah, and probably because we stalled him" Conan turned to the two beside him, "None of them is hurt, and he is counting on his partners. He knows he won't be able to help, which means_"
"He switched with Kaito to be the hostage and he wants his partners to keep him safe. He also cannot tell them about his arrogant switch, they'd just stop him~" Dave was calm as ever, he wasn't truly sure about the switch, 'why would the boy return if he was the hostage now?' he put his hand on his chin, "that boy is the real 1412, but... even he can't rescue Kaito without having to crossfire with them. And since that didn't happen_"
"Yes, they switched all right," Conan's right lens light, his voice was serious. "And he acted on his own. 1311 is going to kill him~"
"Maybe his partner caught them?" Yusaku added.
"Everything is possible!"
"Doubt he'd be back alone so soon if that was the case, Yusaku" Dave turned to the faux child, "Besides, I am sure his partner was planning revenge the moment he agreed to switch with Kaito, Shinichi-kun~"
Yusaku agreed, "Let's follow him then, we all know he's walking into a trap"
"I'm sure that he too is aware of that, however, we would have done an exchange too if we were him. Besides, following him now won't be wise, he probably agreed to come along. We'll track him after they meet each other, else wise, he'll be killed" Conan turned on the signal in his glasses. "I placed a tracker on his bike, so we better find him before he parks it far"
"I'll put Kaito up, one of us has to stay behind and watch over him," Dave turned his gaze to him, "Shinichi-kun, that's your duty"
"But_"
"Leave the chase to us professionals~," His father said with a wink, Conan glared at him, yet accepted the mission and went back inside. "Well, I'll be going to the station," he said, making sure that he could be heard.
"I'll head back to the hospital, Goodbye" Dave played along and walked beside Kudo. Shortly, they followed 1412's trace with Conan's glasses.
Within an hour and ten minutes on his motorcycle at high speed, 1412 reached the two members waiting by their car beside the rail. Vermouth was still smoking, she grinned, "Finally, we began to worry~"
Bourbon raised a smile, "and as agreed, you came alone?"
He nodded, he made sure no one followed him. "Yet, precautions are to be taken," Vermouth's cold tone added, "Leave the bike here because they can track you with it. We'll go in my car" she pointed at a black car next to the gas station on the opposite side of the road that they were on.
He kept his silence as Bourbon walked to him and stood beside him, 1412 blinked, "What?" with a firm hand and slight push, they walked to the car.
"I can walk on my own..." he mumbled. "You don't have to drag me..."
"I know, but it's fun to drag my little prisoner~" Bourbon grinned and they approached the car. He opened the back door casually with calm hands and told 1412 to get inside and sit in the middle, where they could obverse him.
'It's like I never taught him anything!' Vermouth breathed a thin cloud as they took their seats in the front. Bourbon kept his eyes ahead of him, he was thinking the same. 1412 would always walk into any trap willingly if it meant saving his friends' lives. 'I told you to escape from the syndicate, to not involve yourself again, yet here you are!'
'Good thing that it's us and not someone else' Bourbon watched her from the corner of his eyes. 'Snake will never hesitate to kill him' she nodded without the boy noticing their facial conversation and turned the car on and drove off with medium speed.
"Our trip is going to be long, I hope you won't fall asleep~"
"Doubt it with you here~" and she laughed. 'Who can fall asleep with killers beside them...?'
'I'll make sure you're away from danger, son'
Bourbon beside her shared the same thoughts. The boss might have been ignorant of her protecting Shinichi, but he knew that the kid in the back would always be protected by her. Not just because of the mission that he entrusted to them, but as the person who raised the boy, she would never hurt him.
Of course, that same boy sitting in the back didn't know about that, for all he cared to do was to stop the people who murdered his parents. Snake had everything planned out, once 'the weapon' was old enough and ready, he'd claim him back from them and have him find the jewel. Instead of being a treat to them as the silver bullet, they took him to become their ally from his early days.
Pretty much, that plan backfired when Snake brutally murdered the parents two years ago, such an act assured that the silver bullet would never be on their side. And if he ever did, it would always be to spare his friend's lives from the Syndicate's claws, and thus, allowing them to get their revenge on him for 'betraying' them.
"I suppose we'll be calling you Jeff-kun," Bourbon had his hand against his cheek, "Since it's already what you've been going by for the past three years"
"And since It's what your new ID says. Even we cannot risk exposing your real identity" Vermouth added. "It's important that nobody finds out"
"To be frank with you, I wasn't given any information about you, even the ones that include your name. So for now, I'll stick with Jeff~"
'He expected me to agree to his deal!' the boy thought. 'I don't believe him, he knows everything about me, I am sure'
"Oh what a shame, I wanted to call you by your real name!" Vermouth teased, "Oh well, wouldn't want blondie over here to figure anything out~"
"Why again are you in the syndicate?" her partner asked dryly. 'And I know everything about my son' his face told her but she dismissed it and grinned.
"Because I'm very special~"
Bourbon glared at her then turned to the boy, "For the time being, know that you won't go anywhere without us sticking close. And if you try anything, I am more than capable of knocking you out on the spot" that didn't trouble any of them, they knew he wouldn't try, else wise, Kuroba would be done for.
Bourbon continued, "Although I'm sure that it's not necessary, after all, you wouldn't want your friend to die~"
'Never underestimate them' Kuroba's voice rang in his head. 'Always stay on alert. Never look away' he nodded to the voice.
"In addition to that," Vermouth continued, sounding more serious, "you didn't let your partners know about your stupid act, which I can say was a wise call. This has nothing to do with them, it's the syndicate's issue to take care of loose ends" that's what he was, a problem that needed to be dealt with. "We will decide later what your mission will be"
'Yeah, right, like I'll do anything for you killers' he never counted himself as a unit of the crows. He never wanted to be one. Ever.
Not for himself, but for his parents' sake. That's what he told them, he'd never be a killer in that group. Or any other group.
"That will be after Bourbon and I pass the information," she added, noticing how often he drifted in his thoughts and what he was thinking of.
Behind his calm face, he trembled. '...information? It doesn't involve Kaito, does it? No... it can't be, the boss already knows he's alive... so what are they going to tell him?'
"As agreed," she continued without turning, "Kuroba-Kun's survival won't be mentioned, to anyone, including the boss. And no one knows your partners filled for you. What we said earlier was just a bait to get you here~"
"We already knew about the bugs you doves had on your little leader~"
"And you should know that you're in more trouble than you think, Jeff-kun~" the blond smirked. "And I bet you won't like it~"
'It doesn't matter. I've already been through worse, whatever you'll do, won't exceed Snake's actions. And even if it does, I won't live to see after it' he thought, 'I have no regrets, I know it's stupid to fall in their trap so easily, but, it's what he would do too. It's the right thing to do, mom, dad. Gomen'
Vermouth's gaze remained on the mirror, focused on his face. Her eyes turned to the left, she knew what he was thinking of. "We're gonna have lots of fun~" she gave him the cold grin.
He noticed that they didn't turn, focused ahead of them on the road until the blond turned and spoke, "Can you apply a mask? Or Vermouth will help you?"
1412's eye twitched, "I'm KID" but Bourbon arched his eyebrow, "Of course I can!"
"Good. Saves me the trouble" Vermouth said and handed him a latex mask and a black wig, "Put them on" then she handed him a photo. Reluctantly, he took the three objects and applied the mask on his face. She observed his disguise for a quick moment, "Good. As expected from a kaitou" he didn't respond. "Take the jacket off, it'll blow your cover" he did. "Not my fault everyone knows Black is KID's method of moving unnoticed~"
"Would say the same to you" but she grinned, "we can't move in the KID white costume undercover"
"Hai, hai, because it's too eye-catching," Bourbon said in a dismissive tone. Vermouth applied her mask and helped Bourbon with his. "Remain silent" they passed the stations without any trouble. They put their IDs back in their pockets, and Bourbon handed the boy his ID. Jeff said nothing, keeping his silence as a prisoner should. "First things first, we'll head to your apartment, where you'll make sure no one will know about this deal of ours"
"One day, and that's all, after that, you will be staying with us" she watched his plain face from the mirror facing her, "Understood, boy?" She ripped her mask and turned to him, eyes fixed on his but he wasn't mentally present anymore.
'Staying with them?' He didn't like it at all, caught by the syndicate was something, and having to stay with those two was entirely something else. Something felt eerie, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. The one thing he learned was that only Snake and Chianti were the only psychopaths, forgetting they were humans. Even Gin could control his temper and actually obeyed his orders to the fullest and never raised his gun at him. Much like those people he was with now, they were being... humans... maybe that was why he didn't feel any pressure around the other members.
"Understood?" she raised her voice, he got out of his thoughts, "Don't get distracted, boy! Am I clear?" and he nodded.
Bourbon kept his act, 'Did she have to get angry?' but Vermouth only played her cold character role, fooling her son to not realize anything. He never found out the truth, who his parents were. To him, Vermouth and Bourbon were killers, part of the group he wanted to catch and avenge his parents' death. He never found out his parents wore masks or were fakes.
Either way, killers have to be dead and cold, no one will know what they have in mind, "After all if those nosy people find you at your place, they won't suspect any deal to have taken course~" he finally said.
"You see, we already studied all their possible moves. And there are many backups in case anything goes wrong, including anything you'd do~" Her voice had a dash of seriousness and a bossy kind of way with talking.
Bourbon took out a foulard and told the boy to cover his eyes with it. "Don't take it personally," he tied his eyes too. "I can't know either ~"
"Wouldn't want you two to know where my lair is~" She then took a left turn and headed toward Ekoda.
They kept their silence for some time, planning their next move. The boy in the back was dead silent, she glanced back from time to time, "So, cat got your tongue~"
"Not funny..." and Bourbon laughed, "can't expect a chit-chat going on between enemies, can you?"
"Oh, I like to chit-chat with anyone, boya~"
"I'm not that little..."
She smiled, though he couldn't see it, she only allowed her voice to be cold. Her partner put his hand under his cheek above the window and yawned. "We're not far~"
"Looks far to me~"
'And me~' why did they like to talk like that? 'God, you people are crazy~' ten minutes passed in silence.
"So, KID-Kun, How's everything back there? You've been silent for a good fifteen minutes. Hope you're still awake~"
"Unfortunately"
Vermouth grinned, "Good. As long as you're not memorizing the road"
"... no need to, I know where your apartment is~" the car made a sudden stop. Bourbon hit the board.
"Hey! What got into y_"
"Is that so?" she turned to her son, ignoring her partner's angry face, "I don't believe you, boy!"
"25th street, Blue tower, 7th floor," he said calmly. "Door number 14, beside the elevator"
"Oh that's not too far, should take five minutes" Bourbon grinned, "Good memory~ I should have asked you sooner if I knew~"
Vermouth glared at him, "thanks to you, boy, I have to move now"
"You're welcome, now we're even"
She turned and glared at him, he still felt it. "Is that so? I thought you moved three times! You still have two times for us to be even, KID"
"Nope, I moved twice"
She sighed, "Whatever. Change of plans, Bourbon, we're going to his place first. Take your blindfold off " he did and she took to the street leading to 1412's apartment.
She parked her car away from the parking lot, in a small forest-like region that was ten minutes far from the hotel. Bourbon took off the sheet from on KID's eyes and turned back in front of him. She strode down after applying her new mask, 1412 caught a glimpse of a small gun under her pale yellow jacket, as she was exiting the car. The disguise she chose was the clerk's face while he and Bourbon waited for her to enter the building. When they receive a text from her on Bourbon's mobile, they will head up to his room.
Jeff shifted his sight to the trees surrounding them, the sky began to darken indicating rain to fall down soon. As he got out of thoughts, he heard a grin slip across the man's face.
"It looks like it's going to be a bad storm," he said casually, placing his hand under his chin, leaning it on the car's board. "A perfect weather to keep your partners from flying in~"
Jeff glared him, "They don't follow me everywhere, you know... And they can sneak in as anyone, gliders are just for heists~ they're too flashy~"
"Well, it's nice of them to give you a bit of privacy outside the KID life~" The smile crept down Jeff's spine. The smile disappeared and a serious dead expression took its place. "Vermouth and I will be watching you from the Hotel's cameras, I advise you to be cautious and not do anything stupid. I am aware that there are cameras in your apartment, placed by both the partners and you. You won't mention anything or worn anyone, you'll do as we tell you. Know that we will tamper with the cameras, so don't try anything fishy or answer them"
'Can't even try, they'll scold me and drag me back~'
"You should also be aware of the third party watching, the organization. We need to trick three parties, only that person knows everything"
"I already know about them watching," Jeff said.
"How? You never displayed your knowledge!"
"It's easy to anticipate when Snake is always down and knows the moment I leave, while he has others watching from their devices. If I displayed my knowledge, you'd change their places~" that made Bourbon grin. "Besides, if you people were watching, how come the others didn't know about the person who filled in my place?"
"The same way that you didn't know about it," he said calmly. He lied to them, "And most likely, you weren't going to be informed of it~"
'I'll get my revenge later for being cast out of such details!'
Bourbon sighed out of boredom. "Say, Jeff-kun, I am curious to know why you're being so easy-going"
"... you told me to not do anything" Jeff rolled his eyes away, "If you didn't stick to your deal, I wouldn't stick to it either"
"Is that boy's life that important to you?" he finally turned. His blue eyes were curious as to why he would risk his life for the enemy of the syndicate.
"Of course it is, and you know well why. Besides, even with that placed aside, I can't let you hurt anyone, especially a kid who doesn't know who he is"
"Your police partners are easy to blame for that. They could have been more cautious! As much as I hate to admit an easy task, it was a child's play for us. I am starting to doubt why you trusted him to be safe with those people. Why did you anyway?"
"That doesn't mean we won't take him back now"
"Your partners, you mean, because you are caught now, and of course you are not allowed to contact them either" He turned back in front of him again, he seemed distracted as he was looking from his right at the sky. The rain began to pour down, little by little, sliding down the windows. "We better hurry in before it gets heavy"
"... why does that worry you?"
"Rain means evidence will be left behind, and that should worry you more than me" He checked his phone. "That's our cue," he applied a mask and got out after he opened the back door's automatic lock. Jeff kept his silence, if he wanted to escape, he could have easily done it hours ago. Bourbon was as scary as Vermouth, yet both were being easy-going. He didn't know why, maybe because it was the boss' order, or because he was just a kid to them. Not technically a kid, but he was still underage. They were also acting like people who had schizophrenia, one moment they were deadly serious and cold, and the other they were teasing and grinning. Nothing made his life easier.
Bourbon grinned, "You sure get bored, KID-kun~" he strode out.
1412 glared at him, "Jeff-kun was better"
The blond spoke with coldness mixed with seriousness in his voice. "Don't try anything. Walk beside me and slowly" Jeff got out and did as he was told.
They entered the hotel and took the key from the clerk (Vermouth) as he gave a gentle smile, welcoming them back. Both played along and went towards the elevator. Bourbon pressed the button on the 5th floor and calmly waited to reach Jeff's room.
Within less than a minute, the double door slid each to a side and both boys got out. Jeff opened the door. They glanced around the place consumed by complete darkness. "Good, you go in first, I will be right with you once I hack the cameras"
Jeff nodded and calmly went inside to the end of the apartment as if nothing was wrong. He looked around, the bed was properly fixed and his laptop remained unopened on the desktop to its left, while his school bag was placed accurately in front of the bed.
He sat down not far from it, waiting for the man to join him. If he wanted to be honest with himself, he didn't feel at ease with him around, but he didn't have a choice either. So far, his heart told him to obey all of their orders. He wasn't afraid of them, but he couldn't let them hurt Kaito, the partners or everyone else they prepared on their long list.
So back to reality, back to the inevitable situation; he stayed where he sat, waiting. He toyed with his bag, pretending to arrange tomorrow's books. He had the camera's to fool, that wouldn't be easy.
Bourbon entered without laying his guard down. "Everything is under control~" His confident smile sometimes troubled the boy, but the latter knew well that a genius detective like him would be prepared for everything. "Vermouth is controlling Kaito-kun's camera from down, and if anyone comes, I will hide while you act yourself. In the meantime," he threw his sight at the laptop, "Pretend to do your regular search and maybe today's homework on the way since I am pretending to be your classmate~"
Jeff looked at him confused, "...okay..."
Bourbon laughed, "Students aren't supposed to be neglecting their work, and you skipped your class today. That was careless of you! Skipping all of a sudden, gave us the advantage to cover for you and plot today's main event~"
That's awkward...
"Be yourself, your team might be watching" he reminded the boy. Jeff sat by the desk, pretending to do any work before Bourbon handed him a book. He then approached the camera's range, his disguise was one of Jeff's classmates, and spoke casually like a student. "So I came today based on Sensei's orders, you're falling back, you know"
' ...This can't get any creepier...'
"Let's do our homework together~"
The voice of his classmate crept him as it came out of the man's mouth. This now disguised classmate, named Mark, brought a chair and sat beside his young prisoner. He opened the book, actually solving the homework much to Jeff's surprise, and annoyance.
'I take that back, doing my homework with you is the creepiest thing I've ever done!'
"You have the fifth answer wrong," he said looking at Jeff's copybook. "If you look at it from this way," he continued explaining as Jeff listened in astonishment. "The answer is option A" he looked at Jeff, "what?"
"... Nothing"
Bourbon raised his eyebrow, "no, come on, explain why"
"I hate to break it to you... but, you're wrong~"
Bourbon twitched his right eye, "how so? The equation says..." he sounded serious, he didn't seem to be faking it, exactly as earlier when he explained the answer.
'Why is he truly solving this?' Jeff tried his best to play along, and took out a paper and began to break down the steps to the solution. "See? It's option C"
Bourbon exhaled, "I see... " he crossed the answer from his copybook. 'He played along well, as expected from a KID. But I got your message from that!'
"What about this question? I can't solve it!" Jeff said and Bourbon approached to look over the question.
You don't have to do this, besides, it's creepy
And I can solve my own homework without help
He looked back up at the boy. "Ah, a quite simple answer if you think of it from this way," he wrote.
It's fun to pass time because faking it won't help you
Jeff's poker face would crack any minute now, he wanted to slam his head into the thickest wall on earth. God, please help. "hmmm... it is simple, thanks~"
Bourbon smiled, retaining the classmate's voice, "Don't mention it~ After all, teamwork is better, and you are way behind schedule. You won't catch up without help~"
Life couldn't get any worse!
After around fifteen minutes had passed, the man got up and opened another book, pretending to read while he none directly watched the boy working.
It didn't make him feel better, aside from lying to the boy facing him, he was lying to himself. 'The truth is, I wasn't planning on playing along. It's been so long since you've been caught up in this mess. You've doubled your grade because of your frequent encounters with Snake, getting seriously injured every time. Maybe, doing this now would make you forget about your current situation. I don't intend to make you feel like a prisoner...' he glanced around at the room. 'Why don't you go back home?' Vermouth never told him why, and he couldn't ask his son either. But whatever kept the boy from going back there, was definitely tailed to his parents' murder. 'If you continue to blame yourself for what happened, I'll never be able to tell you the truth, son'
Jeff looked up from the book, feeling an awkward sensation of being watched over by a loving parent. He looked at Bourbon who was watching him, drifted in thought. At first, Jeff was going to try to ignore the feeling crumbling in his stomach because of that weird 'caring'_ maybe blank_ face the man had on. The second was to try and get him out of his thoughts, maybe he'd stopped looking at him like a father would after years of not seeing his children.
"Ammm," he cleared his throat. Bourbon got out of his thoughts, "you've been staring at me for some time now..." he spoke as friends would among each other, maintaining a little shyness. "I don't think the paragraph is that hard to memories~? Or is there something you want to tell me?"
Bourbon blinked, "...sorry! It's just that I got distracted. Sorry..." he pulled himself away. 'That was close, I shouldn't have stared at him and sank in my thoughts. If anyone was watching, they would think like something fishy is going on...' He pulled the chair slightly back, giving Jeff some space. "By the way... you have something on your face" he closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head, taking a break from the book he hoped to be saved from anytime soon.
Jeff blinked, "really?" Bourbon hummed with his closed eyes. 1412 took his phone and saw his reflection in the camera, there was a bit of redness near his left ear. He wiped it, but it grew bigger. Bourbon noticed that he looked worried to see the mark exposed.
He lowered his hands and asked the thief what it was. Jeff said that it wasn't anything important and that he will be right back.
To support the little friend's act, Bourbon nodded. Jeff got up and opened the bedside drawer on the left and took out a small box. Even with his back to the syndicate member, Bourbon knew the boy was applying something to conceal the mark. 'A burn?' Bourbon thought. 'Come to think of it, I recall something like that happened when Snake had you...'
Jeff returned and sat back down beside his capturer. From the detective's perspective, Jeff was hesitating. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah..." came a shallow hushed reply. 'This can't be happening! Not with him around!'
But Bourbon didn't buy it, he approached and caught Jeff's hand without having to hold it tight. "Your hands are shaking" he muttered.
Jeff looked away, "It's nothing. It'll stop... in a bit"
Bourbon connected the pieces, Vermouth's voice floated in his head, "He didn't surpass the incident, and he is still taking pills" his eyes widen behind his mask. The boy put his hand on his head, slightly grabbing his fringe tighter within each second.
"Jeff-kun, take the pills before you begin seeing those memories"
The boy looked at him surprised, trying to control his increasing headaches. "How did yo-"
"Just go take it, and get some rest too," he said in a low voice. "Well, thanks for your help, we're going to get a high grade on this~" he said with a cheerful smile in Mark's voice and excused himself.
Jeff remained down as his mind tried to process what just happened. 'Why now of all times?' his head pained him the more he tried to control it. As he heard the elevator's noise, he knew Bourbon went down. Within seconds, his phone vibrated. At least his vision had the tendency to allow him to make out most of the words.
I'll pass by tomorrow morning. For now, sleep.
And don't worry, no one will be watching you.
You're going to need your strength if you want to pull a good act, KID-kun
-Unknown
He put the phone away and dug his head in his arms, holding tight on his sleeves. The pain continued to elevate and he wasn't sure if he could manage to get up to get the pill from his backpack.
Everything in him became numb, his eyes gave up on him. Seeing colors mixing and moving made his head spin more. His stomach felt upside down.
Their voices echoed in his head.
"Don't worry about us" his father said, hands tied behind his back on a wooden chair. Blood had covered his face and his wife's.
"Don't let them use you" his mother's voice trembled. "You're never alone"
"We love you son"
The image of their eyes full with tears conquered his head. His heart pulsed faster, the scene became more and more real.
They began to burn
Their screams echoed in the large white room
"No!" he screamed and tried to get up
He tried to reach them
He tried to save them
But he couldn't move
The chains were holding him back
Snake was standing there, grinning like the evil murder he was.
Finally happy to have killed them
Happy to have him watch them burn alive without being able to do anything
"No matter what you try, there is nothing you can do against us!" Snake's voice said high. "Just like now, you cannot save them" his laughs echoed in the room.
The boy collapsed after something hit him.
Everything went black and silent until heavy voices spoke from nowhere.
"Jeff... Jeff..."
A feminine voice called from the darkness around him, he looked around him, but there was nothing. Everything felt unreal. 'Am I dreaming?...'
He opened his eyes, barely halfway, it took seconds but he began to see again, slightly becoming aware of his surroundings. A hand rested gently on his left shoulder, "Take this," and a small soft right hand in front of him was holding two white small round pills.
He couldn't think. He couldn't move. He couldn't do anything, his body and mind were betraying him all over again. He couldn't focus anymore and his eyes began to close again.
'Why now?'
Something was shaking him to wake him, but he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. They were heavy, heavier than he felt during the days he was tortured in. He felt drained of everything.
Something went in his mouth and fingers pressed on his throat, making him swallow what was forced in. Coldwater brushed against his dry throat, and the fingers pulled back, nothing felt too forced. Minutes later, the pain in his head began to slowly fade, his headaches echoed less and the voices in his mind disappeared.
Someone held him, he felt their troubled heartbeats against his ears. He then felt them put him down on a soft mattress, probably his bed. A cover was gently laid on him, and a wet garment covered his forehead. Soft hands brushed through his hair. He felt everything, but he couldn't see or hear anything.
"Just rest"
Whoever they were, he couldn't recognize them, not with the heaviness his head made their voices sound. But they were at least two people. Not his partners, no, they would drug him first to make sure he remained still and stable.
Who knew what could happen in his state.
Yet, it felt okay to rely on those two. So he gave in to his traitorous body and allowed his mind to sink back down to sub-consciousness.
A more firm hand rubbed through his hair, "Just sleep, don't think of anything" said a male voice.
"We're right beside you," said a female voice.
Sleeping was the best thing to do now.
Everything around him began to dissolve and mix again. His head calmed down and his eyes_ although barely open and not seeing_ slowly closed. Soft fingers held his right hand and kept their gentle grip. Their touch felt familiar.
Painfully familiar.
"Everything is going to be okay, son"
'So I'm dreaming again?' He had to be, it couldn't be them.
Familiar soft lips rested on his forehead, they were cold. How high was his temperature?
"Goodnight, dear~" they said.
'Goodnight... mom... dad...'