A/N: I know. I should be writing for 'Memories' or 'Finding Home' and all that bullshit, but I decided to do this. Why? Because I felt the need to show off Echo's... affectionate side to Deathly Nights. Enjoy this one-shot!
Late Night Routes
He didn't need to look at the clock. He already knew what time it was. 3:14 in the morning. This was normal for him now, almost like it was his job to do this now, even though he knew it wasn't. It was just something he liked to doing, so he knew they were truly safe.
Echo had been with Deathly Nights for quite a while now, and in the time he had been with them, he had grown strongly attached to them. He often felt like a father figure to the five, since he was the one who was mostly responsible for them and took the utmost care of them. He also seemed to be the one they would go to for advice.
Echo slowly made his way out into the hallway of the large house, walking towards the first door. Quietly, he turned the doorknob and peered inside. The sent of candy and sweetness filled his nostrils as he looked around with a slight smile. He looked over at the bed, seeing Risky was fast asleep, his back facing the door as he was cuddled under his light blue blankets. Echo slowly strides inside the room, walking towards the young teen. He looked Risky over, making sure he wasn't harmed from being out all day earlier, and he wasn't sick. After seeing the boy was perfectly healthy, Echo turned his heels, and walked right back out, shutting the door silently behind himself.
Next is Azrael's room. The sent of death and despair along with small hints of blood is always there. And as Echo got closer, the smell got stronger. He opened the door to the beast's room, walking inside. It was no surprise to him at the sight he saw. Azrael's bass was laying on his unoccupied bed, his blood-stained sword was leaning against his wall, and Azrael himself was sleeping in the windowsill, his hood up like always as his head was resting against the glass. Echo gave a small smile at this, walking towards the older male. It surprised him at how old he was. Azrael Striker, the second oldest thing known to the world, was nothing but a bassist and a protector, much like himself. The nicknames he got: beast, killer, terrorist, and so on. They were lies in the eyes of Echo. He knew what and who Azrael was, and he never liked the ones who feared him.
After leaving the room, Echo traveled to the next one: Spitz. He could always smell the autumn wind when he neared the male's room. No matter what time of day, the boy always had the sent of autumn on him. Echo believed it was because he spent his time being the wind god he was when he wasn't working. Upon entering the room, Echo saw the usual. A large open window with blue curtains flowing in the night's wind that chilled him to the bone. Spitz slept in a hammock that was close to the ceiling. The boy was sleeping peacefully, just like the other two. He was in only his jeans, liking how the cool air felt. Echo grimaced slightly as he noticed the large scars on the boy's torso from both recent and past fights. Spitz laid there, his arm hanging over the edge. His eyes were etched in black, hinting to Echo that he hadn't been sleeping well in the past few weeks. Note to self: get Spitz some medicine to help him sleep better.
Echo swiftly left the room, going to Jennifer's next. He always did checked on Jennifer second to last. Why? He wasn't so sure, but he did. He could smell cherry blossoms as he neared the black door, also hearing the slight sound of blasting music. He entered the room, seeing it was trashed like normal. Random papers of sketches were sprawled across the floor, along with her guitar that was placed in the corner. He bent down, gently picking up one of the drawings. It was a tree, with two nooses hanging from one of the branches. 'Are you, are you coming to the tree? Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.' was scribbled in her odd handwriting, that seemed to be a mixture of both print and cursive. He shook his head, putting the paper back down on the floor before he walked over to the girl. She squirmed underneath her blankets, gritting her teeth and slightly shaking her head. Echo watched her for a second, before she lashed her hands out to cling to his arm. He figured she only wanted something to cling to, so after looking around a bit, he noticed a little yellow chicken sitting on the nightstand. He reached over and grabbed it, gently pushing the soft material into her hands, which she happily accepted and cuddled like a child. He smiled at this, and patted her head before leaving.
The last one to check on was Broken. The slight scent vanilla caught the man's attention. He smiled as he opened the door. Broken was laying on the floor, seeming to have fallen out of his bed. Chuckling a bit, Echo walked over, picking the younger male up and placing him back in the middle of the bed and pulling the covers up to his chin. Broken had muttered something in Czech, though Echo couldn't understand a word of it. After patting the boy's head like he had done with Jennifer, he glanced around the room. A few books were on the floor, his guitar was laying on his desk that was covered in music sheets, and his laptop was on a chair that was by his bed. Broken wasn't one to have many things in his room, other than the other three. In fact, he kept most of his things in storage, claiming he didn't want his room to be cluttered with objects he didn't need at the moment. He liked Broken. He wasn't the most tidy, but he was cleaner than his sister, Jennifer, who threw her things all over the room. And after saying a soft goodnight to Broken, he left.
Echo was done with looking over the band. They were all accounted for, unharmed, and seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He walked back to his room, stopping to take the time to pet Jennifer's munchkin kitty, who meowed with approval. Finding that the feline would rather be with his owner, he picked him up and went back to Jennifer's room. Walking over to her bed, he gently set the cat down, who happily padded over to his master and laid on her stomach, curling up and falling asleep almost instantly. With a small smile, he once more left and went back to his room, where he proceeded to climb back into his bed.
Echo knew it wasn't exactly his job to check up on the gang. He knew they probably didn't like him coming into their rooms at night to make sure they were okay, but they never spoke of it the next morning, and he was grateful of that. He knew they were capable of taking care of themselves, but making sure they were 100% okay always made him rest easy at night. He loved the five with all his heart. After all, they were the only true family he had, and he promised he would protect them with his life. And that's what he would do: protect them with his life, and make sure they were always okay. He would never stop this little routine he did. And when he did, that would be the day he died.