Chapter Eight: Regrettable

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"You see any bees?"

"Hornets."

"Whatever. You see any?"

"Not yet."

The Fear sat back with a sigh. For all the waiting they'd done, they could have afforded a few more hours of sleep. Or at least breakfast.

"Where's Fury?" Sorrow leaned against the brick wall of the factory. The building was mass-producing some rather sweet products, and it had been attracting insects of all kinds. Particularly black and yellow ones, according to the news article The Fear had found.

"At the store, getting groceries."

"Oh," he wished the brunette had come with them. He couldn't help but feel very uneasy around the mercenary since waking up that morning. He couldn't even look at him without a few choice images running through his head. It definately made spending the afternoon alone with him vey awkward.

Fear had noticed his friend's unease, but he didn't know what to make of it. So he tried to make conversation, and found it going nowhere. "So you're for sure that The Pain can't see you?"

"Y-Yes."

"Is something wrong? You've been acting really detatched today."

"It's nothing. I've just been having...some odd dreams."

Fear felt his legs going to sleep, so he stretched them out in front of him. "Nightmares?"

Sorrow's face flushed. "Not as such, no..."

The orange-eyed Cobra quirked a brow, but nodded. "I get it. None of my business, right?"

He frowned. Since he'd met up with Fear, he'd kept very little from him. He hated now to withhold information from him, on more than one subject, but on this one especially. But he wasn't sure what this sort of thing meant, or if it meant anything at all. "Maybe...maybe later. First I need to understand it myself."

Fear nodded, not pressing the issue.

"Any bees yet?" Fury hopped the small chain-link fence, plastic grocery bag in hand.

"Hornets," Fear and Sorrow automatically corrected.

He rolled his eyes. "What the fuck ever."

"No," Fear replied as the brunette sat down beside him. "I'm starting to think this whole thing's a bust. Definately not one of my better ideas."

"So how long are we stakin' out before we give up?"

Fear shrugged. "It's up to Sorrow. This is his objective. We'll wait until he's ready to go."

Fury opened his bag, handing Fear a couple of doughnuts wrapped in wax paper. "Well, we've got breakfast at least. I was hoping to have all this sorted out before tonight though."

The Spider Soldier grinned. "Out to find some trouble?"

He frowned, unwrapping his own breakfast. "I don't need to find trouble. It finds me. I'm just in it for the drinks."

The Fear offered Sorrow one of the doughnuts, which he declined. "Well, you don't have to stay if you don't want to."

Fury leaned back against the wall, arms behind his head. "I guess it depends on when your ghost decides to pack up."

Sorrow tilted his head. "Your?"

Fury, who didn't hear him, didn't answer. The other shook his head a little, but didn't ask.

They continued the watch for another few hours before all of them, even Sorrow, decided it wasn't worth the waiting anymore. They agreed to try again the next day, and they split up. Fury headed off into town, and Fear decided to go with him.

Sorrow started to go along as well, before he changed his mind. He had a lot to think about, and a bar wasn't exactly the best place to do so. And after the awkwardness of the day, he felt he needed some time alone.

"I'll just go back to the hotel. You guys have fun."

Fear stopped, turning to stare at him. "What? You're not goin' with us?"

He smiled a bit. "I'm afraid I'll have to sit this one out. I've got...some thinking to do."

The mercenary frowned. "Are you sure?"

Nodding, the ghost waved. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. You should go have fun. You've been working hard lately."

He looked like he was about to argue, but Sorrow started walking down the sidewalk before he could protest. He heard Fury urge the other along, and he sighed to himself. If he was getting this depressed by the mere thought of spending the night without his company, he had a great deal more to think about that he would have liked to admit.

On the other side of the walk, Fear tripped a bit as Fury yanked on his arm. "If you're goin' then let's go."

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Fury was beginning a series of revalations, sitting stop a dangerously high barstool. One, it probably wasn't the greatest idea to drink as much as he did after only eating a few doughnuts that day.

Second was that he lacked in good sense when it came to drinking partners.

He looked over at Fear, who was now well past his limit of 'a few drinks' he'd set himself to when they'd stepped inside the bar. The black-haired man was slouched over in a sulking manner, resting on his crossed arms on the bar.

Fury rolled his eyes. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Nothin'," he replied sullenly. Slurring already, this was going to be really annoying or really interesting.

"So you're just a depressed drunk? You should prolly go back then."

"Screw off," Fear muttered, finishing off his current round. Fury himself had lost count of their place, but he knew it had to be more than usual. He started mumbling something, and the brunette leaned in closer to hear.

"Don't know what his problem is...'s not like I did anythin' wrong...what's wrong with goin' out an' havin' some fun?"

Fury laughed a bit. "Havin' fun? You've done nothin' but whine the whole time. You call that havin' fun?"

Fear looked up at him. Dear god, was he pouting? "Whadda you know? It's his fault anyway. Bein' so weird all of a sudden..."

"Who, Sorrow?"

"Yeah. He's been actin' all creeped out today, an' I dunno why."

Fury took a drink of his own bottle. "And this's what's been botherin' you?"

He nodded.

The pyromaniac growled, setting his drink down on the bar with a 'thunk'. "Look. I'll be the first to admit this is some weird shit we're gettin' into here. But look at the situation. He's dead. He's a freakin' ghost, and he can't talk to the person he had a thing for. Seems to me I'd be fucked up too."

Fear's face went through a range of emotions, some of which Fury had to admit he'd never seen on him. Some others he had to admit, though only to himself, that were a bit attractive on him.

What the fuck?

Finally he settled down. "I guess you're right."

"Why're you gettin' so worked up over this anyway? You loved makin' him miserable back in the day."

"I dunno...it just seems different now."

A loud howl interrupted their conversation. Across the bar, a large crowd had gathered for some reason. They were all probably as drunk as the pair, or even more so. There was a large racket being created, much to Fury's annoyance.

He looked over and found Fear with his eyes squeezed shut tight. He was shaking.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"It's...nothin', just...the noise..." he opened his eyes, looking up at Fury with a pained expression. "My head's..." he clenched his teeth, pressing his hands to his temples.

Fury cast an angry glower towards the crowd, getting up and tossing some money on the bar. "C'mon, let's just go. These guys are fuckin' morons."

Fear bit his bottom lip, following the angry Cobra outside. The city was quiet this time of night, a welcome change from the commotion in the bar. Sighing in relief, Fear shoved his hands in his pockets, wishing vaguely that he'd brought a jacket.

"You okay now?" Fury frowned, not looking at him.

"Y-Yeah, I think so..." Embarassed, Fear kept his eyes on the sidewalk. His head spun for a moment, and he felt himself fall.

A pair of arms encircled his waist quickly, holding him up. Fury was glaring at him. "You idiot. You're too fuckin' drunk to walk."

He shook his head. "That's not it...something's gone wrong..."

"What the hell are you talkin' about?"

Fear, who had been leaning where he'd almost fallen, now straightened. Fury was still holding onto him without realizing it, until he felt the other Cobra suddenly flush against him. Face growing warm, he backed up.

The orange-eyed man spun around, grabbing at the shoulders of Fury's shirt in a panic. "I don't know what's goin' on! My head's...and I...shit..."

Fury was quite confused at this point. "What's wrong?"

He was even more confused when Fear fell forward, pushing the brunette down onto the sidewalk and falling on top of him. He was about to yell at the other, when Fear started talking, apparently not aware of their positions.

"Is that so wrong?" he asked no one in particular. "Why the hell is this happening? I was fine before..."

"Have you gone fucking nuts?" Fury snapped. Fear stopped, staring at him with wide eyes as if just noticing he was there. "What the hell are you--"

Fear silenced him by closing the distance between them quickly, kissing him. Before he knew what he was doing, Fury responded, grabbing a fistful of Fear's shirt and pulling him closer. The dark-haired Cobra deepened the action, and the other decided to reverse the position, turning them over so he was leaning over Fear, pinning his arms above his head.

The mercenary looked up at him, breathing a bit heavier than before. Something passed across his eyes, and he froze.

"There's no way that's what it means..."

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Sorrow frowned. As much as he'd been trying to figure out what was going on with his mind, it only led to a few conclusions, none of which he was willing to elaborate upon. He'd given up in favour of reading until the other two got back, but found himself unable to concentrate. Frustrated, he just stared out the window.

A couple of hours later, his head began to hurt badly. Agonizingly. He cringed, curling into a ball. It was unbarable...this kind of pain.

Then it was gone again, just as sudden. He sat up, finding tears in his eyes from the intensity. Then his mind reeled, and he almost fell off the window ledge as dizziness overtook him.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. He had to find Fear fast. Transporting, he could go straight to him. He made his mind attempt it, and was rewarded with another sharp pain for his efforts.

But it worked. He was standning outside, in front of a bar. He almost ran inside before he stopped, hearing something off to the side. He turned curiously, and froze.

Fury leaned over Fear, pinning him and straddling his waist. And the look in the spider Cobra's eyes...

He turned and ran down the sidewalk.