Bonjour, mes chers! I meant to get this up last night, but then work left me more tired than I would have thought! But behold, a chapter only a week after the last update! A miracle!

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With that, enjoy the story!

Warnings for: emotionally stunted idiots, sexual scenes (nothing explicit, but more descriptive than just kissing)

Chapter Fifty Three

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Randy never thought he would be in this position in his life - which was saying something, considering his rather overactive imagination and ability to imagine the worst and best of almost every situation. The position he was in, however, had never really occurred to him. That position being a sweet teenager in his lap that he was allowed to touch all he wanted and Andrew, someone he was equally allowed to touch, sitting right in front of them and dramatically telling story after story after story of how it all began for them.

To top it all off, here they were in France right where it had all started. It felt right that things should be brought to an end here, too. Feeling Danny shift in his lap, Randy glanced down and almost laughed at how captivated he was at the story Andrew was telling. Burying his face against the teen's hair, Randy grinned to himself as he heard the spike in the teen's heart and felt the heat coming off the blush on his cheeks. Still so shy.

"Stop teasing him," Andrew scolded, Randy raising his eyebrows when Andrew shifted closer and pulled Danny into a lengthy kiss without an ounce of shame. "Now, where was I?"

"Ah- Mm, hm, um, what?" Mm, much better than that scared, angry little teenager from just a few hours ago. Burrowing closer again, Randy took a breath in, exhaled slowly, and focused. What he felt had him grinning.

That cloud of fear and self-hatred and disgust that had smothered Andrew had lifted. Oh, to be sure there still tendrils that had tied themselves around him, but he could breathe again. And Danny, oh… His sweet, precious Danny. The darkness was still there - Randy had a feeling darkness would always be there for Danny Fenton - but it was his. His fear, his anger, his loathing, his wrath, his mistakes. His. No one else. It was such a wonderful feeling.

It would take time, but this was a damn good start. Andrew talked and talked and told Danny a story of what had been a very, very long day. As he talked, Danny's bright smile and understanding eyes made the hatred of the memory lessen. It was just a memory, now. What a sweet little hero that had saved them.

"Tell me everything." They told him of their first days in the Sanctum. Andrew told of a nice woman who had come to the orphanage and saw him scared and alone in a small corner that was all he had ever known. She had taken his hand, smiled down at him so softly, and said that she would protect him now.

"Tell me everything." Randy told a tale of a scared little child that was no younger than three and no older than five and had been taken in the dead of night to serve as a warning. That scared little boy had run and run and then a mad scramble between adult and child and he got the gun first and, well… He was going to repay to them what he had cost them.

"Tell me everything." Andrew told him of how amazed he was that there was a place that wanted him - a place that wanted to keep him. Randy told him of how he had always planned for escape. Since the first day he arrived, the plan was always to get out.

The stories kept coming so easily, Randy mused. They told of how they fell in love with someone who could only ever be a brother because the Sect could punish you for more than just your lack of faith. They told him of how they agreed it was either both of them together or neither of them would leave. They told of a mission given that Randy would never be able to fulfill, a fire that had been set in the dead of night, a train that felt like it would never stop, and a parting that had near broken them.

"It's rather amusing when I think of that fire, now." Andrew's voice was soft and quiet and his hands cupped Danny's cheeks. Randy could tell that they would probably have to tell Danny a lot of these stories again with how distracted he was. "Fire has given me freedom twice in my life, and each time it helped me get closer to the ones I love."

"Oh. Oh, that's-" Danny shook his head, Randy chuckling as he heard a sniffle. "That's not fair, Andy." Andrew curled against him and cooed little endearments against his skin, eyes flicking up to look at Randy and oh, Andrew was going to be very distracting tonight.

"Andy's not really one for fair, mon douce. Haven't you figured that out by now." There was another little sniffle, Randy smiling softly and pressing his own kiss to Danny's cheek.

"Well, he already knows the stories after that," Andrew shrugged, leaning back to drag Danny into a kiss that had Danny pushing closer. It took his arms locked around Danny and a foot pressing against Andrew's stomach to separate the two. "I'm helping."

"Yeah, I bet," Randy snorted, looking down to Danny, and, hm… Tell him everything, huh? "You… You two don't know all the stories, yet." The two turned to look at him as one and it served to make Randy smile because oh, for as much as it was him and Andrew, there was something between Andrew and Danny that could never be broken. His precious, precious little ones… It was time to stop lying. "I… I told you that I knew it was poison."

Andrew slipped past him and curled up to his side, Danny turning around to nuzzle against his cheek. It was Danny who spoke, voice quiet, "You don't have to-"

"I think it's no longer a time for secrets." Randy leaned back against the headboard and pillows, eyes slipping shut and oh… Oh, it was so easy to still imagine it. "I knew it was poison because I was the one who gave them the recipe for it." It was so easy to see the way he had been then, full of bitterness and hatred and loathing- Ah, no wonder he had become a ghost. "The Priest of Death was the most well known, but White Fang was even deadlier."

One wouldn't think it with how history was often remembered, but they had proven quite well that history wasn't always the most reliable source. Not even Andrew's legacy had matched his. There was a reason he had been ordered to kill the Priest and that was because no one else would have survived his wrath. "I dealt in guns, but my poisons were amazing. So many ways to kill someone with the simplest of plants and I remember each and every one of them. I could have just made it myself and taken it and be done with it, but I don't- It wasn't punishment enough? Or maybe I didn't want anyone to find out what a coward I was."

Even now, that bitterness and hatred still prickled under his skin. "Andrew and I went our separate ways and I went to college and lived in a dorm. They were so easy to charm. It was so, so easy to make them mad at me. Breaking up couples, bribing the ones who I couldn't charm, threatening those who started to push back. Oh, I made myself the most hated person." He was still the most hated person.

"It wasn't hard. Just leaving out scraps of paper with scattered plans and recipes was enough. It was enough to make them think I was going to drug them and they thought they were being so clever to turn the tables on me." The students had all laughed at their plan to shame him out of the school and Randy had only listened from around the corner and that was all it took, huh? Maybe Andrew would think he had kept his promise. "It was meant to be a poison that only took a minute to kill me."

Karma. "It took half an hour for me to die." Karma. "I remember every second of it." White Fang had taken too much to ever be given a gift like death. "It was toxic in every way and I drank it all with a smile and it hurt." Laughter bubbled out of him and he could see it so clearly. "It burned and it was the greatest joke of all. The fearsome White Fang, the great master of poisons, done in by something a bunch of college idiots had made- And they fucked it up so badly.

"White Fang's last and greatest trick was a death orchestrated so no one would ever know it was him who had killed himself, but I was the one forced to suffocate and choke on all the sins. Why do you think I'm so good at keeping secrets?" His death fear… It wasn't his drink being poisoned or even poison itself, no, no, it was… "I'm afraid of the truth coming out." Heh… Ha! He and Danny got along so well.

"I kind of am, too." Snapping his eyes open, Randy stared at Danny and his watery eyes, absently noticing that Andrew was tearing up as well and buried against his side to hide the fact. "I think that's okay, though."

"I'm so afraid of the truth coming out, and then you two came back for me." Randy pulled Danny towards him, brushing their lips together and cupping the back of his head. "It was only ever supposed to be you two and then me."

"That's what I thought," Danny said, a laugh bubbling out of him that caught Randy off guard. "I thought I was just the substitute for you. I mean, we do kind of even look alike-"

"Excuse you." Andrew looked up and sounded so offended that Randy really couldn't help the snort of laughter he gave, trying to choke it back as Danny laughed and Andrew just tsked. "Neither of you are a substitute for each other. For heaven's sake-" And Andrew was now kissing Danny. Again. Randy couldn't complain too much, he supposed. It did make for a very lovely picture.

"If you're quite done ravaging him-" Randy barely set a hand on Andrew's shoulder before he was on his back and twisted awkwardly to the side, the pain immediately forgotten because there were hands and teeth and obsession- Andrew pulled back and Randy immediately mourned the loss because that- That had been very nice.

"If you're still doubting, mon cher, please do remember that you're the one he kissed first." Oh, he was using Randy to reassure Danny. Okay, Randy could agree with that. Of course, then Andrew licked his lips and looked down at him and oh, dear. "I would be jealous, but I suppose I have a lot of time to make up for it."

"I think you're killing him." Oh, Danny acted as if he was so innocent, but Randy could feel the desire rolling off of him as he squirmed closer and happily watched Andrew draw him into another kiss- Fuuck, someone had gone for his shoulder blades and that felt so damn good. "Hey, hey Randy, I think I figured it out. Wanna hear?"

"'M all ears, petit mec-" Randy's voice cut out with a high whine, shuddering as Andrew's teeth brushed against his skin and oh, god.

"You know- Hey, Randy, you know that all of us have something the other doesn't, right?" A little pushing and scrambling and some very eager hands and Randy was shuddering as he was propped up against Danny, the teen nuzzling behind his ear while Andrew continued on his neck and ooh, these two were going to be the end of of him.

"Yo- You might have to ex- explain that one a bit more-" A harsh gasp was dragged out of him as teeth sunk into his neck, Randy arching and shaking between the two and god.

"Well, me and you understand each other in a way that you and Andrew can't, yeah?" There was a sharp bite to the side of his ear, Randy making a noise low in the back of his throat as Danny's words were mumbled against his skin. "'S okay, I understand your secrets."

"Mm, and you'll understand me in a way he never can." Andrew's voice was low and rough, Randy squirming at the lick to the ectoplasm he could feel dripping down his neck in rivulets. "Isn't that right, grand frère?" Ooh, Randy was so going to hell.

"I think that's okay, though." How the hell were these two still coherent? Randy could barely retain an ounce of thought- Fuck, these two were going to be the end of him.

"It just means that together we have something that can never be defeated." Andrew gave a quiet little purr as he nuzzled close before pulling Randy into a heavy, heady kiss, Randy shuddering and completely falling into the sensation.

"Mhm. Not even Spectra could make me doubt that you guys loved me. I mean, she tried, but she realized it was never going to work."

"'S good." Randy was quickly becoming a mess between the two and he wasn't sure how much thought process he had left. "There a point to this?"

"Yes, there is," Danny laughed, kissing at the side of Randy's neck right where Andrew had bitten him. "You once told me that you never really had a name to describe what you and Andrew were, so… How about the name mate?" For a moment, Randy's thoughts were crystal clear. "I mean, we all already know we're it for each other, right?"

"It was a rather rough start, I'll admit, but…" Andrew nuzzled right under his jaw, hips rolling down into Randy's own as the other straddled him and fuck that felt far too good. "We made it, didn't we? Others may think us fools, but it only matters what we think, right?"

"So, Randy." Danny's words pressed against his skin and Randy's breathing hitched as Andrew shifted closer.

"Be our mate-" The question wasn't even allowed all the way out before Randy was jerking Andrew into a kiss- Oh, no, it couldn't even be called a kiss, could it? It was tongue and teeth and obsession and hunger.

"Oo, do I get to watch, this time?" Danny slipped around to wiggle in between them, aura prickling at his skin as he was more ghost than human in that moment.

"Are you sure you just want to watch?" Andrew snatched him up by his wrists and held him out and Randy took the cue at once, bending down and dragging Danny in as far as he could. Gently, his hands wrapped around Danny's wrists alongside Andrew's before their fingers twined together.

Danny was the one to pull away first, gasping and heaving for breath and Randy all too happy to kiss and bite and nip at any and every piece of skin he could get to. There was a strangled swear followed by Andrew's low, throaty chuckle. "'S not fucking fair teaming up on me."

"Oh, but we do our best work as a team." There was another squirm from Danny and even with anticipation and want heavy in the air between the three of them, it felt… Safe. It felt safe. Like Randy could completely let himself go and he knew nothing bad would ever come of it.

"I want that." His words caught them all off guard, Randy huffing a laugh as he kissed Danny first, and then leaned forward to kiss Andrew next. "I want you two. I want- Fuck, I want us all together, and happy, and safe, and trying to stay out of trouble and always failing, but knowing it's going to be okay because we'll be together."

Andrew was the one good with words, but Randy had always been better with the truth. Scared as he was of it, this was the one time he didn't feel scared. "I want to have a home to come back to after I finish my jobs. I want to be able to come back and see you two bickering or teasing each other, and know I can lay down and that I'll be surrounded by you two, and it'll probably be some stupid conversation like asking how my day was and it's going to be so wonderful and-"

Randy's breath hitched into tears, his smile wide on his face anyways as he stared at these two- At his precious, precious mates. "I want it to be me, and you, and us, and the three of us together. I want us to be able to know the other is there even when we're apart and know that even if something happens and we can't see each other that we'll always have each other and-"

This time his words were cut off with a kiss, Andrew's hands on his cheeks and their lips brushing together so softly. He felt Danny slip off to sit beside them, hands wrapping up around his and for the first time in such a long time everything felt so damn right. When he and Andrew parted, Danny was tugging on his hands, leaning up to give him a quick kiss of his own, "Thought Andy was supposed to be the one good with words."

"Hey, I told you, who do you think taught him how to read, huh?" Randy laughed as the two snuggled closer, and, god… They were in France and they were mates and- Ah. Ah, right. "So, um, I know there's something more to being mates than just calling each other mates, but I, uh, I don't quite know that part of it."

"So much for being good with words," Andrew huffed out a laugh, holding a hand out and twining it with Danny's without even looking. "It's a binding ritual, of sorts."

"No blood, though. I mean, you think there would be, but, no, there's not." The disappointment Randy heard made him laugh more than anything. "It's about energy."

"Specifically, it's about sharing energy." Andrew held out his free hand, palm up, and familiar purple energy swirled and gathered in the center. It was memorizing no matter how many times Randy saw it. "It's about giving energy."

"Mhm." White rings wrapped around Danny and the transformation never looked so right on him, black hair fading into white and blue eyes swirling with traces of green. Bright blue energy poured into his own hand that was outstretched, Andrew's eyes changing to a purple that was the same color as his aura. "So… We're giving you everything."

"Just like we gave each other everything, we're giving you everything." Ah… How appropriate. Touching another ghost's energy burned - and if it didn't it felt uncomfortable and invasive. It was meant to hurt and to warn others away. Yet here they were opening up to him. They were… They were giving him everything. "Only if you want it, though."

"You needn't even ask." Sharing energy, huh? No, it was more than that… It was sharing everything- It was giving everything. All his emotions, all his thoughts, all his fears, all his hopes and dreams, all… All of everything. "You know, there's a lot we still don't know about each other."

There were days Andrew flinched away and Randy couldn't read what caused it. There were times where Danny would bury his way into his arms and act like such a child and Randy didn't know what to do. There were days he could feel them hurting - from worlds away - and no matter how much he ached there was no way to reach them and he just had to breathe and keep going and there was so much. "There's still so much I want to tell you two."

He wanted to tell him everything he had ever hid about the Sanctum, even now. "I want you to know all of it." He wanted them to know his fear and anger and all the times his gun had been over his heart and his finger on the trigger. "Everything." He wanted them to know that he, as a ghost, was stronger than they ever even realized.

White energy poured into his hands and Randy knew that his eyes were the same color. White… It suited him more than it had before. Holding his hands out to each of them, Randy beamed as their fingers all twined together. "I give you everything."

A moment and there were three colors of energy swirling within their hands and then there was one. A moment and Randy was so in love, but felt so far away, and then he was there. It was them. The three of them. It all mixed and swirled together and Randy felt everything.

He felt the rage and anger and hatred the two held for each other at the start of it all. He felt as it shifted to annoyance and caution, and then to worry, and then to amusement, friendship, fondness, love, so much love and he felt himself and them as he tumbled into the feelings and it was caution and concern and confusion and curiosity and anger and love and friendship and obsession and fondness and love and obsession.

As much as he tried to focus on each emotion and feeling and everything that passed through to him it was so much easier to get swept up in the tide of it all and just let himself… Ah, that was right, wasn't it? It was as easy as falling. It was as easy as closing his eyes and falling and letting himself drown in the two of them.

It would have been so easy to let himself stay lost like this for a lifetime, but it was even better when it began to settle down. When the auras of the three of them settled and wrapped around his skin like they were always meant to be there. A single color faded back into three and while Randy could only see white dance across his skin, he knew that blue and purple were threaded inside and would never again be removed. It was… It was- "Wait, did we just get ghost married?"

"We- Well, I wouldn't quite put it like that," Andrew cleared his throat, flush high on his cheeks at Danny's question. Randy was almost certain Andrew's expression was mirrored on his own face.

"Wait- Wait, does that mean I got married to you when I was-"

"No!" The laughter bubbled out of him before he could stop it, Randy grinning as Danny buried his face in his hands and Andrew tried to glare at him without letting it turn into a pout.

"I mean, this is kind of feeling vaguely honeymoon-ish, I'm just saying." Danny crossed his arms, glancing out the window and staring for what seemed to be a lifetime before he looked back to the two of them. "If- If it is kind of like ma-marrying- Even a little, then, well, um…"

"It's not," Andrew huffed, blush betraying him and his lie as he nudged at Danny to continue after a moment. "Well?"

"Well… Don't I get a wedding night?" Ah. Danny's smile was small and shy on his face and his expression was utterly opened and relaxed and Randy couldn't remember the last time he had seen Danny so soft and open with them and-

"Oh, my sweet." White Fang itched at his skin and Randy had Danny pinned down in a flash, staring at the wide eyes and hitched breath and turn of his head- "I am going to ruin you."

"'S that a promise?" There was no fear in those eyes. There was no fear as Danny shuddered and a burst of cold left him with a human Danny Fenton under him - only not quite. There was still too much coldness. There was still too much death for him to ever be human again, but oh, Randy loved it. Hips rolled up into his own and those pleasant feelings of anticipation and heat that had been there before gripped him tight. "Well, White Fang?" Ah, such a dangerous little thing. "Ruin me."

"We need to work on the dialogue with both of you, then." Blinking and startled out of his thoughts, Randy looked over to Andrew the same time Danny did, staring at Andrew's almost embarrassed expression.

"Oh, please, you just wish you were the one about to be ravaged-"

"Do not use the word ravaged, please."

"Ravaged, ravaged, ravaged, ravaged-"

"Danny."

The laughter broke out of him, Randy shaking his head and looking between the two of them and it was just so right. "You two are simply something else." The three of them who were so beaten and broken and lost and couldn't even have a serious moment without distancing themselves from it because they were so scared of what could come from it.

"Does this mean no wedding ni- Ah." Quite pleased as Danny's question was cut off with a sharp cry, Randy lightly licked at the bite marks on the teen's neck that now dripped blood mixed with ectoplasm. The taste was bitter as copper and sweet as sugar as Danny bucked and withed underneath him, Randy darting a glance to Andrew to see the younger lick his lips and watch them in hunger.

"Hush now, sweet ones." He spoke to them both as he let his words sink into Danny's skin, a hand reaching out towards Andrew blindly. It was taken at once. "It's alright to take things seriously, for once. Just for this moment, it's alright to be serious about it."

Nipping at Danny's skin again, Randy smirked as the teen gasped sharply, bright green eyes snapping up to lock onto his own. "Then take this seriously and fuck me."

"Oh, my sweet. It will be my pleasure."