Edited 4/28/2021

I don't own Digimon or the song The A Team (Ed Sheeran)

TW: Death

"An angel will die
Covered in white
Closed eye
And hoping for a better life
This time, we'll fade out tonight
Straight down the line"

She looked so small in the bed, fragile, like when we were children. Maybe that was my mistake, seeing her as someone fragile, someone that could be easily broken. Maybe if I'd treated her more like an equal, maybe she wouldn't have hidden from me, maybe she'd have stayed. This was the spiral my head had been going through over the last few days, ignited after the photos were released, rekindled after having been buried away for the past few years.

The color had started to return to her face, over the past hour or so, as they pumped her body full of fluids. I heard her screaming as we were getting out of the car. I ran and helped the EMT catch her as she slipped out of consciousness. Stress, alcohol, and exhaustion, the hospital said. They asked about her former injuries once they got a look at her. It was awful, listening to everyone retell what they knew, horrifying to know none of us were ever there to stop it. It made me hate myself, for being so fucking distant over the past few years. I should have reached out more and should have tried harder. Now though, here I was, praying it wasn't too late to help her, and praying it wasn't too late for us.

Her hair was slightly longer and styled differently, her face covered in the remnants of heavy makeup, and she had this wild tattoo on her forearm. I leaned forward to study it, tracing my fingers over the edges. It didn't matter how small she looked lying in this hospital bed, she wasn't a little girl anymore. I wasn't looking at my kid sister, that I knew almost as well as I knew myself, I was looking at a woman who was a stranger to me. I'd seen videos of her on stage. She had this commanding presence that I wasn't familiar with. She'd always kind of stood by and let everyone else shine when we were growing up but it seemed that, like most things, was a situation of the past. I was happy for her there, maybe getting away was the only way for her to get to that point, maybe there was some silver lining to all of this.

I ran my hands through my hair, short now after years of growing it to unruly lengths, and then rubbed my face trying desperately to stay awake so I wasn't sleeping when she woke up, afraid if I closed my eyes she would disappear again.

When I first saw the news I was frozen, and the texts that came shortly after made it all real, made real what I hoped was a cruel hallucination. Seeing her like that, so broken, skinny, and small, made me sick with rage. I remember yelling, and throwing my water bottle across the room, and then nothing for a few minutes, blacked out with anger. Before I knew it I was on the phone with my mother, telling her I'd go take care of it, but I didn't even know what that meant. I just knew that I needed to be here. Thankfully, I didn't have to make the trip alone, a friend had shown up just before I paid for my ticket, normally so over the top but he was oddly calm.

I was ashamed at how we'd just let her go. Once she disappeared for school it was like she was some sort of distant relative. She never came home to visit, and once she started dating Michael we heard from her even less. By the time she started showing up in magazines with him, it was like looking at a stranger. I spent so much time trying to figure out why she'd gone, so many hours, and days, retracing the steps and conversations of the weeks leading up to it, but nothing ever made sense. One day I'd come to the conclusion that she must have been hiding some huge part of herself from us, some part of her she didn't think we would support, or understand. Now though, now I felt like I was back at square one trying to retrace all our steps again, trying to dissect how a girl, so strong-willed, and brave, could end up with, and stay with, a guy who would abuse her like that. How she could go from TK to Michael. I knew it wasn't so simple. I assumed he'd manipulated her, but it was still so hard to fathom.

She started to stir, mumbling, rubbing her eyes, and trying to adjust to the uncomfortable hospital lights. Suddenly, she shot up and started yelling a name, I think it was the guy they brought in. I told her it was okay, he was okay. She looked over and her eyes widened, shock and fear crossed her features before they settled into what looked like overwhelming sorrow. She sat back, and looked down to her lap, opening her mouth a few times in what looked like an attempt to say my name before it finally escaped her lips, "Tai."

So much about her was so different, but her voice, still melodic and soft, put me at ease in a way I didn't know I needed.

"Hey there, sis." I tried to smile, but her eyes cracked open before me and rivers escaped them. I moved to capture her in my arms and she clutched onto me, she said sorry over, and over again, and my own dam cracked right along with hers. We sat like that, crying into each other until we were both empty. I pulled back, and she reached up towards my head, "You're hair, it's all gone."

"A lot has changed," I said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Tell me everything?"

"How do you think she's doing?" I was shifting in my chair every few minutes, anxious and uncomfortable after being on the plane all day, only to end up sitting in an emergency room all night.

"She's been through worse," TK said darkly, he hadn't said much since we'd arrived. I was surprised that he didn't insist on being in the room with her, they said he could stay with Tai but he wanted to give the siblings space, knowing it would be a shock for her. I looked at my best friend, his tired eyes, and the weary line of his mouth. Everything that was happening was clearly taking a toll on him, and I was sure that he hadn't spent one second thinking about himself.

The two of them were one and the same, always putting everyone else first, but this time there was no cheer to keep everyone up. He was out of it.

"You know you look like shit right?"

I watched his group shift uncomfortably at my comment. Matt's eyes widened looking between the two of us as TK's foot stopped twitching and he squinted towards me.

"Good thing I have no one to impress at the moment," a smirk twitched at the corners of his mouth.

There he is.

Everyone relaxed, Matt snorted and settled back into his chair.

"Why did you end up coming with Tai anyway?" Sora asked kindly, if not slightly amused, as she leaned onto Matt tiredly.

"I mean, I'm either keeping Tai out of jail or joining him. I haven't decided yet."

"And here Izzy was saying Tai wouldn't charge right into battle," Mimi said, with an eye roll.

"Whatever helps him sleep," I saluted in her direction.

I nudged TK, "Cmon dude, you need some coffee, and I need some food." He scanned the group unsure. Matt told him to go and he would text him if they heard anything. I stayed quiet until we were far enough away from everyone else.

"We've seen some stuff like big, scary, shitty stuff, and I've seen people beaten down, but you and that group look wrecked. Michael really did a number on you guys, huh?"

He signed and slipped his hands into his pockets, sulking down towards the floor, "You have no idea, it's like he's everywhere, even now, this with Trevor." He paused, his brow furrowed up and he ran a hand across his tired face. "I don't know."

"How's she been holding up?" I prodded, walking slowly, scuffing my shoes against the floor as I went.

"Every day is different. Even on the good days, there is this shadow in her eyes, and she's always on high alert. Always waiting for the next crisis."

"Remember meeting him way back? He was a bit full of himself but I never imagined he was such a piece of human garbage." I tried to think back, find something in those moments that might have foretold what he would become, but there was nothing, just an arrogance, that I honestly shared at that age.

"You don't even know, he came after her in public at a show before we left the city." His voice grew a little too loud, he took a breath, trying to calm himself. "Davis, it was like a game to him, he believes he's untouchable. We had witnesses, and everything, and he was still so smug."

I stopped before going through the cafeteria doors, shocked at the new information. "Wait, you guys saw him, and he walked away alive?"

"Back to witnesses, can't exactly get ourselves thrown in jail. I was honestly more worried about making sure she was okay. I've been scared before, ya know? I've seen her in danger, I've seen her hurt, but not like this, not from someone's bare hands."

"Yea the photos were-"

"I know." He interrupted, not needing the reminder. We stood there, quiet for a moment before someone came through the doors reminding us of our task.

I looked back as I held open the door, and refocused on the current human disaster in front of me, "How are you?"

He didn't say anything as he walked over to the coffee bar. I was about to ask him again, assuming he hadn't heard me, but he turned around, stirring his coffee, before bringing his attention back to me.

"I don't know. It's a lot, and some days I want to kill him. I mean that – that's fucked up right?"

"I mean what he did is fucked up so I can't blame you, but that's not what I'm talking about. How are you?" I pointed towards him, he was unbelievable, no wonder he was a mess.

"Tired," I gave him a pointed look. "Anxious," He shrugged, "I'm just trying to keep it together. I'll feel better once she's up."

I gave up, he wasn't going to give me anything else specific at the moment, "How are the two of you otherwise?"

There was a ghost of a smile that crossed his face, "We do the best we can given the circumstances. We're trying to rebuild in the middle of a battle, and that's not easy, but we're trying."

I listened intently as I sorted through snack bags, waiting for him to bring up what happened all those years ago, but by the time I'd paid I realized he wasn't going to bring it up unprompted.

"So, Did she give you a reason?"

"Yep," he was firm, telling me in one word, that the subject was closed.

"A good one."

"Yea," his response to this was quieter, I decided it was enough.

"Do I need to have the don't break my boy's heart, conversation."

He smirked pushing me a bit. "Shut up."

There was the lightness, even for a moment, if that was why I came, it's enough.

We talked for about an hour as the nurses came and went. They allowed me to be discharged since there was nothing seriously wrong with me. I told my brother everything while we waited. I started backward, and ended with the pregnancy, and leaving home. His head was down for a while, he'd stopped fidgeting once I got back there, back to the root of everything.

"I never once thought," he was talking more to himself than to me, it was quiet, gentle. He looked up at me with sad eyes I didn't recognize, sad eyes that didn't belong on my brother, who was normally upbeat to a fault. "Does he know?"

I told him yes, that we'd talked about everything, and we're working through it the best we could.

"I could never figure it out, never understand what was so big, or bad, that you couldn't tell me. I'm sorry you were all alone." I'd have started to cry again but I felt like I'd cried enough for a lifetime. I had all these people in my life, the selflessness, and love I was surrounded by, and I was so stupid to think differently.

"I should have-"

"We all should have something at some point," he said, taking my hand and giving it a small squeeze. "No more secrets?"

"No more secrets," I said back.

"Tell me about your life?" I asked.

A smile lit up his face, and his eyes brightened up, back to normal as told me about school and that his studies had maneuvered him into political science, which was both surprising, and unsurprising. Tai had always liked the role of leader but growing up he had been pretty oblivious to politics, he'd thought about being a police officer, but he wanted to be able to change things from the top. I was really proud of him, he had matured so much over the last few years, he was more calm and thoughtful when he spoke, a far cry from the often rash, and blunt, comments from his youth.

I hadn't realized how close TK and my brother had become after my disappearance. TK never once mentioned it. Apparently, they got coffee once every week or two and texted most days. I think it was the connection to someone in our original group that they both craved so much. It's not that either didn't make friends easily but there was an understanding we all had between each other. Tai always felt a responsibility to TK, but it almost seemed the other way around the way Tai spoke, with TK dragging him out of the house if he stayed cooped up too long. I hated the effect my leaving had on both of them. I promised myself I'd make it up to them.

Once they let me go we went to find everyone else because they told me I couldn't see Trevor yet. He was stable but they were still running tests and they anticipated he would be unconscious for a while. We found everyone waiting in a corner of the ER. John, and Colin, were both half asleep in their seats while Sora, Matt, and Mimi were immersed in a hushed conversation.

Sora saw me first, she sent me a gentle smile, "How are you feeling?"

"Just tired, I-" I stopped when I heard feet running down the hallway towards us, and I turned to see TK rushing towards me.

"Are you okay? Should you already be up?" He ran his hand gently across my face, searching my eyes for a sign that I wasn't going to break.

"I'm okay, tired and worried, but I'm okay." I leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. When he pulled back I noticed someone standing a few feet behind him, I looked around him and saw the last person I ever expected to see.

"Davis?"

I felt my stomach go up into my throat. I couldn't read his expression, but I didn't have to. He crossed his arms and gave me an uncharacteristic stern look.

"You left me all alone with the two of them to take care of, you owe me," he whined. I started laughing, it was just a giggle at first but it grew, he smirked and twerked his head as if to say, 'get over here.' I moved towards him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, through my laughter.

"I just told them. I'm either keeping Tai out of jail or joining him. I haven't decided yet."

"Sounds about right," I signed, shaking my head. He looked so much like the boy I remember, just older, his hair was still unruly and sticking up in odd places, his auburn eyes still held this hint of mischief. He'd grown, but was still slightly shorter than TK, and had stayed lean from years of soccer.

Our reunion was short-lived, "Are you all here with Trevor Levinson?" Everyone grew silent and turned their attention to the doctor who walked towards us. He was probably in his mid-forties, with tan skin, and dark hair that was beginning to get little flecks of grey throughout.

The guys shared a look before they stood up and headed over, "Yeah we came in with him," Matt said, taking the lead, as he always seemed to do when it came to Trevor.

"Your friend is stable for the time being, he will need to stay for observation and we would like to run a full toxicology report. Has he ever had something like this happen before?"

"Yeah, he's been out of rehab just shy of a year, we thought he was doing really well," Matt trailed off, ashamed like he was somehow responsible.

"The girl?" I asked

The doctor turned to me.

"The girl that was brought in with him. What about her?" The doctor took in our group for a moment, we were a mess, the girls in various states of disarray from crying through mascara, and the guys with their shirts wrinkled and untucked from awkwardly sitting in the waiting room for hours, hair all askew from nervously running their hands through it. We probably looked like junkies ourselves, but what did that even look like, I'd been around some of the most glamorous people in the world who'd done drugs I hadn't even heard of before moving here.

"We treated you right? Where you the one who found them?" His gaze softened towards me as I confirmed that it was me. "None of you know the female?" The group collectively said no, but I butted in.

"Her name is Lexi Lawson," realization came over part of the room. "I don't know her but she was an acquaintance."

"Having her name is very helpful, we had been trying to figure out how to notify next of kin." He paused, writing on his clipboard before looking back to me once again. "She was gone before she arrived at the hospital, the EMTs said she was DOA, there was nothing anyone could have done for her."

I felt like the wind had just been knocked out of me, that wasn't right, she hadn't felt cold. Did I remember it all wrong?

I felt a gentle hand placed on my shoulder, and I looked up towards the doctor, "Your friend is only alive because of you," I was startled by his words, and still stuck on Lexi being gone. "If you had not acted so quickly he might not have made it. He's lucky to have people who care so much about him. I would look into another rehab facility. The police will want to talk to him about the incident before he's discharged, it's standard procedure when a death is involved." He turned back towards Matt and the guys. "The best thing you can all do right now is get some rest, he will probably be out for the next few hours."

We listened to his footfalls make their way down the hall as silence fell back over the group. I looked around and saw how exhausted everyone was, not just from tonight but from everything we had gone through the last few months, and if I was right in my assumptions, this was all somehow connected.

"Jesus Christ," Matt's head fell into his hands as he collapsed back into his chair. "He was clean for months. How the hell did this happen?"

"Maybe we went back out on the road too soon?" John said.

"It's over guys, after everything we just need to go home. He needs to go back into rehab, Kari needs a lawyer, and we all need to relax for more than ten minutes," Matt sighed and looked up at the ceiling, John, and Colin agreed.

"I'll start calling the venues," John said pulling out his phone somehow forgetting it was the middle of the night.

"Wait until tomorrow. None of it matters right now, I just want him to wake up so we can find out what the hell happened. Who knows if he's going to get charged, a girl is dead, he could be facing jail time."

"But, how did he know her?" Mimi was squinting her eyes, deep in thought, trying to put together the puzzle of how they were connected, if they were at all.

"That's what I want to figure out because it doesn't feel random at all, but," I trailed off, afraid to sound insane if I kept going.

"But what?" Matt prodded.

"I knew her through Michael," I turned back to TK "The girl I told you about at the party, it was her."

His eyes grew wide as his mouth fell open, "Shit," he said, slumping down into the closest seat.

"What are you talking about?" Matt's frustration was growing.

"She overdosed at a party Michael took me to once, but they kept it really quiet because they didn't want the show to get bad press. Michael was so cold about it and was always off when she would come up. I thought he just didn't have respect for her, but maybe they had a history, I never wanted to know the possibilities."

"Wait, so he could be attached to this too? This is fucking insane." Colin was pulling at his hair, irritated, and tired. "Why Trevor though?"

"He hated him." Everyone turned back to me, almost moving forward on their seats to hear me. "It was strange, when I would see you guys on the seldom occasions I did before leaving him, he'd always talk about how Trevor was total trash. The party with Lexi had happened before I started to see you guys, so I always assumed he just really hated anyone with a serious drug problem, I don't know. Things didn't stick out back then, I was too wrapped up in my own stuff, but now-" I bit onto the inside of my cheek, stressed, and trying to think, everything felt so crazy but at the same time it seemed even crazier if it wasn't connected.

"Trevor hated him too," John, nudged Colin. "Before we knew anything, do you guys remember that night Kari left us at the club after her show? Trevor just kept on that he didn't trust him, he was worried about her, we all just assumed he had a crush on you." Colin confirmed his story while Matt seemed lost in thought.

"I once told him you were off-limits if anything ever happened with you and Michael," the corners of his mouth turned up for a moment as he turned to TK, "I said you were spoken for, half-joking, but his response was weird. He got quiet and told me I had it all wrong, that you reminded him too much of someone he once knew. I never asked him anything else about it, it seemed like a story he didn't want to hash out," his face fell again, guilt and regret clouding his icy, blue eyes.

The room grew quiet, everyone piecing together a different story in their heads. Sora, always the voice of reason said we all needed sleep, that we could get answers from him when he woke up. Matt insisted on staying behind as he forced Sora to go back with us, saying he was fine on his own. Tai and Davis had already booked a hotel, which put Mimi at ease with one of the rooms unusable at the moment. Matt said he would send us a message once Trevor was awake.

Everyone separated once we got back to Mimi's. Izzy was hold up in his office so Sora shared Mimi's room, while John and Colin took the room Sora and Matt had been using. TK and I silently made our way up the stairs and into our room. I sat on the bed and put my head in my hands. I wanted to cry but I was drained, I felt hollow and empty.

"Hey," TK's hands ran through my hair, catching mine, and pulling them away from my face. "There's an end to all of this. I don't know where, or when, but it will come," I tried to respond but he stopped me, "And I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you." I looked up at him, his normally light, ocean blue eyes, were covered in the shadows of the room, making them look dark and intense. He knew, he knew I'd tell him to go again, to protect himself from all of this, but it was useless and I wanted it to be. I didn't want him to go. He lowered his head to kiss me, just meaning for it to be a moment, a kiss goodnight before we got ready for bed, but I held him to me. I kissed him harder, pulling him down onto the bed as I pushed myself back further. Every time he pulled back I'd hold him tighter to me. I went to pull his shirt over his head and he finally pulled away.

"Kar-"

"Please," he looked about to protest and he had every right. The timing was awful but I wanted him so badly then. Maybe it wasn't fair, but loving him was the only thing I was certain of in all the chaos. I wanted to feel something, besides the scratching open wound that kept growing in my chest. He brushed the hair away from my eyes, I could see him battling with himself, but I could tell he wanted it too, by the way, his hand was tracing lines up and down my back, and the way he was leaning into me. I pulled him in and kissed him again, feeling his objections crumble. I forgot what it was like when someone really loved you, and he spent the night reminding me.

I felt another headache approaching but knew I'd taken far too much aspirin at this point, after everything I'd found it was a wonder I was even still able to look at my computer. I'd talk to everyone tomorrow, after everything they had been through tonight I didn't think it was appropriate to wake them now. I regretted not being home earlier, I had a meeting that ran past the expected end time, once I got home it was already too late.

I'd gone back into his computer once everyone left and found surprising new evidence. I couldn't figure out if he was really this cocky, or if his intelligence was just this subpar. He had so many saved photos, and videos that went back years. Trophies, the way it seemed, like a serial killer would keep. At one point I went down a rabbit hole researching sociopathy, which seems to be a reasonable conclusion based on information I have so far. Once I found the video I knew we had enough, now we just needed a lawyer, and officers we could trust.