Chibiyu: I enjoy writing this way too much.

Nick: Yes, yes you do.

I have never and will never own JONAS.

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Paragon withdrew slightly. "No, I don't. But you were connected with it."

Nick looked Paragon straight in the eye when he said this: "I still am. The Four is still out there, Para. The Bane has failed."

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"Where is that boy, now?!" Sandy Lucas exasperatedly shouted as she walked upstairs a few hours later to find it empty. "Joseph! Kevin!"

No response.

Sandy shook her head, though a small smile did shine through her irritation. "At least Nicholas is being rational this time around."

And the Normal was, for once, being smart about his own safety, though it did annoy him how Joe and Kevin wouldn't leave him any room to even swing his arms. Or that Paragon could be seen overhead, her powerful eagle eyes their radar. It also didn't help Nick's rising urge to smack his brothers when they kept looking at him in worry, for they knew they he hadn't walked in days and his first meal had been just an hour ago. He knew they saw the signs of his exhaustion, but he didn't care. This was something better done sooner than later.

He stopped in the tight alleyway, eyes on the closed curtains of the window and on the 'closed' sign that hung in the door.

"Nick? Why'd you stop?"

Nick glanced to the Heroes, not caring if they saw him as strange. He slowly approached the door and through the window on it, saw a tiny candle with a silhouette with straggled hair near it.

"No reason," he commented lightly as he peeled his eyes away from the figure that undoubtedly stared at the trio. He slowly began to walk again as a shudder ran down his spine, aware that his brothers had shared a look of complete confusion when Nick had freely stared at the 'plain brick wall.'

"Why are we out here again?"

Nick, like before, didn't answer. He just kept walking with the knowledge that his brothers would follow him no matter what.

"Nick, tell us!" Joe whined when it became apparent that Nick wouldn't answer them. "At least tell us where we are going!"

Nick stopped again when they rounded the corner, finger pointed at a sewer grate that covered Lilith's secret room.

"It was like that," he whispered once as his hand fell back to his side, "Dark. Oppressing. Scary. But with one difference," though his voice was soft and cracked, the emotions behind it raged strong.

"What was, Nick?" Joe asked as he glanced towards Kevin.

Nick looked over his shoulder and regarded the brothers with what looked like envy. "The Four."

Both Heroes took a sharp intake as shock took over their features.

"I thought you should know," Nick breathed out, eyes back on the sewer lid, "What it was like." He took a shaky breath before he continued. "With Lilith, I was trapped, couldn't see, could only hear her when she wanted me to hear her, only felt the bite of the rope and the scratches from her nails. It was awful," he recounted before his fingers touched the spot where the Four used to rest, "With the Four, it was nearly the same, except," he trailed off again, eyes closed and shoulders tense. "Except I wanted it. You can't even imagine how hard it was to fight it, when I wanted it so badly. "

"But in the end..." he finished, not even bothered to finish his statement.

"Do you remember what it was like to be controlled?"

Nick shook his head once. "Only what it felt like in the Hero Council's power-vacuum."

"And?"

Nick glanced once to Kevin. "And I don't understand how I could have ever wanted that. That power...it's intoxicating in all of the wrong ways. When it's in your head, all you see is the blood it wants to be spilled. It makes you feel completely invincible and like everything you desire can be given with just a simple thought. But that's a lie. The Four doesn't have a master - it is the master."

The brothers were silent for a moment longer before Joe let out a long breath. "I know you don't remember this," he stated carefully as Nick slowly turned to face him, "But there were times when it was you in control, not the Four. I am sure of it."

Nick looked to his feet, the denial on his face. "I doubt that, Joe. The Four is just too much for anyone to fight off. A Normal wouldn't have stood a chance. Not for long, anyway."

"But..."

Nick shook his head to cut off Joe. "Believe what you want Joe. It could have been me, but it could have been the Four. We won't ever know."

"We could if you remembered," Kevin commented lightly, for he hated the fact that his little brother seemed to have given up.

Nick only shrugged once as he turned to face away from his brothers. "What if I don't want to?" he breathed, his voice only just loud enough to be caught by the two. Joe shared a scared look with Kevin, who felt the nerves, the fear, and the self-anger that rolled from his brother. "I don't want to recall what it was like," he tried to redeem himself, but he knew it was a lost cause.

"It could help us, though," Joe told him gently, unsure if he should get in close enough proximity to see his younger brother's face. "We still need to find the other Normals. You and Henry are the only two left."

Nick was silent for a moment longer. "No, Henry is gone too. Just look at Paragon."

The brothers did, but the bird was too high to read and Kevin knew better than to try and sense her emotions.

"She is hiding it," Nick told them quietly, "But he hasn't been around. He was taken too."

"When?"

Nick could only offer a shrug. "No idea. I only just got back, remember?"

The ridged tone to his slightly hostile voice had the brothers ducking their heads in shame.

"But that's in the past," Nick sighed once, something in his voice the brothers couldn't place, "And things have changed," he trailed off for a second, the next statement seeming to touch a nerve, "But one thing hasn't."

"What thing?"

Nick didn't offer an explanation, he only just glared at the pavement as he began to walk once again. But Kevin's hand latched onto the Normal's shoulder, preventing him from going further.

"What thing, Nick?" The elder was tormented by an over-the-shoulder glare, but he did not release his grip. "Talk to us."

Nick seemed to growl as he ripped Kevin's hand from his shoulder and spun to face him. "Who is still being held captive, Kevin? Who is still thought so little of? Who is still the bait!?"

At the last outburst, Nick's shoulder's sagged and face fell; the sudden change made the brothers start. "Necrophere..." he whispered once and his voice shook with each syllable, "Didn't think of us as humans," he continued in the same voice. "We were nothing to him. And he constantly reminded us of that fact."

"What are you talking about?"

Nick looked back to the ground at Joe's voice. "I just remembered that," was all Nick could whisper before he turned and began to the long trek home. The brothers, stunned into silence from this, only had enough sense to hurry after him, and a too-heavy tongue to ask more.

Only when they turned down their street did Paragon fly off and Joe find his words.

"What did he do to you all?"

It wasn't obvious if Nick's shrug meant that he didn't remember or that he didn't want to tell it.

"Nick?"

Nick stopped at their driveway and sighed once. "I'm not really sure," he admitted softly, "I can only recall certain insults. Nothing clear; just vague words."

"Alright," Kevin intervened when he saw Joe open his mouth, readied with another question. "Thanks for telling us, Nick. Now I think the best thing to do," Kevin kept talking while shooting Joe a look that clearly said 'shut up,' "Is to go back inside and relax. It's been a crazy week."

Nick shot Kevin a thankful smile before he agreed. "Crazy is an understatement," he muttered before he slipped back into the house.

"Kevin, we need him to remember," Joe instantly told the older, a little anger in his voice from when Kevin cut him off. "It's the key to getting the Normals back!"

Kevin nodded once, but his jaw was firmly set. "I know, Joe. Everyone does. But do you think it will be in Nick's best interest if we push him?"

Joe looked away, face downcast as he thought back to Nick's earlier reaction when he remembered the vaguest of things. "You're right. He will be interrogated enough."

Kevin nodded once, a proud smile on his face. "We need to keep our home a home. Not anything more, okay? We need to be careful around him. At least for a little while."

Both brother's jumped when a voice entered their thoughts: "I am glad you boys came to that conclusion on your own. If you hadn't, you and I would have had a talk tonight," came the light laughter of their mother. "I am proud of you," the telepath said before she left their conversation.

"Okay..." Joe breathed out as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "How is it that I always forget our mother can hear our thoughts?"

Kevin only laughed before he lovingly shoved his brother towards the front door. "Because you're an oblivious idiot."

Joe feigned hurt before he cuffed Kevin on the head and ducked back inside the house. Kevin could only shake his head, a smile on his face, before he followed his brothers footsteps.

Nick had already ducked up the stairs and collapsed on his bed, lips bent into a scowl. "Fools," he breathed once before he turned on his side and closed his eyes. "All Heroes are."

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Chibiyu: :-) Until Next Update!