A/N: Whispers this is uber long I'm so sorry

Enjoy~

Sneaking up to Kyle's house was the furthest from hard. Living in a podunk mountain town made for a good deal of forest surrounding the suburban area, trapping the masses in a wooded prison. It made for wonderful camouflage, blending in to the cascading shadows of evergreens beaming onto the dirt, slipping in and around branches like a summer breeze. Mysterion kept his eyes towards his target, seeing Kyle's simple one-story home a ways down the path, light beaming from the living room window. He sighed to himself, shifting the papers in his arm and shaking his head. Poor guy was probably already neck deep in paperwork, the last thing he wanted to do was give him more to look at. A necessary evil, he supposed.

He slid himself around an oak directly behind Kyle's house, ears perking and eyes darting for passer-bys on the sidewalk. He nodded to himself at the stillness, silently moving out from behind his cover and stalking up to the back window. He tongued over his lips, squinting at the intrusion of the environmentally suited LED's that Stan and Wendy had bought for him when he'd moved in blaring from his ceiling fan. He peeked in through the pane, seeing Kyle in his typical hunched over position at his laptop, fingers clacking away hard enough to punch straight through to the processor. Mysterion twisted his lips tightly, letting out a sigh and rapping quickly against the glass.

He watched the redhead whirl around, blinking at him rapidly before his shoulders sank and he hopped out of his seat, briskly making way for the window. Mysterion smirked as Kyle struggled to wriggle the pane upwards, using his free hand to assist him in pressing it up high enough for the both of them to stare at each other. Mysterion chuckled, seeing his frazzled expression trying to catch a glimpse of his eyes and moving to pull his hood further down. "Nice try," he teased.

Kyle just sighed, "Honestly, I'm so fucking tired I probably couldn't recognize you even without your little get-up," he waved at him aimlessly. He smiled sympathetically, holding out the papers towards him. Kyle blinked, grasping them and pulling them closer to read. "What's this?"

"Not sure," he said, waving him aside. Kyle stepped out of the way and he grabbed the window sill, hiking himself up and into the room and rolling onto the floor back onto his feet. He shook his head briskly, seeing the redhead staring at him and cocking his brow amusedly. "Am I that impressive?"

He frowned, "Don't fucking flatter yourself. I'm jealous of anyone who can do more than fumble around like me..." he trailed off with a sigh, pushing the window back down enough to leave a crack and turning his attention back to the papers, narrowing his eyes at the information given to him. "What the fuck. Whose shit are you stealing?" He demanded, looking up at him with a stern glare.

"Larson's," he clarified, getting a baffled stare out of the redhead. He shrugged, crossing his arms. "Went to his place, broke in, found that stuff hidden in a safe. Could be aliases."

"You broke in?" he hissed. "What the fuck happened to staying your distance?!"

Mysterion sighed, "Look, he looked in a hurry to pack up shit and leave so I figured he'd be gone for awhile."

Kyle paused, looking at him and narrowing his eyes in the slightest. "Pack up and leave?" he repeated. Mysterion nodded in confirmation and Kyle stiffened. "He had a vacation set up to start today... One that I don't remember approving."

He cocked his head, "Okay?"

"And I write down all our employees' vacation dates on my calender," he emphasized, running his fingers through his hair. "This one was approved by Cartman, and he never does that. Since it's my fucking job," he rolled his eyes. "Strange how we start looking into him and he all of a sudden takes an indefinite vacation far outside his usual time to do so."

The hero hummed in thought. "Strange indeed," he agreed. "Indefinite, huh?"

He nodded, looking at the two sets of papers grimly. "Yeah. He's only supposed to have I think eighteen days worth but Cartman approved of him taking off for as long as he wanted with pay." He glanced back at him and shook his head. "He has enough of an issue paying people for days off that they earned. This just screams that they're up to something."

"Why would he send off the person who gets his deliveries?"

"Easy enough to stick in someone unknowingly just taking boxes in and off to storage at the end of the day," he shrugged. He walked back over to his computer, Mysterion following and standing beside him as he placed the papers down and shifted through his files, readjusting his glasses and peering through the lenses intensively. "Anthony Pierce..." he murmured, clicking his teeth as he scrolled through a long list. "Yup, here we go," he said, tapping on the name appearing on his screen.

Mysterion blinked, "Wait, what's this?"

"That list I showed you of all the 'previous' employees," he air quoted. "Looks like Cartman might have thrown in some ghosts."

"Ghosts?" he repeated.

Kyle nodded, sliding his glasses off and looking at the man next to him. "When a company steals money, sometimes they make up fake employees to distribute paychecks to that deposits into their account."

"But you said you know who your checks go to," he hitched his brow.

"I'm guessing that these were there before," he muttered, clicking on the profile and narrowing his eyes at the I.D. picture appearing in front of them; a young man in his no-doubt early thirties with thick blonde hair and a deep mocha stare, skin tanned and golden. "Well, this ain't Larson," he drawled.

"Then who is it?"

Kyle shrugged, "Who knows? Could be a fucking stock photo for all we know. Or it could be someone else involved in the ring..."

"And Larson's just a record keeper," Mysterion finished.

He nodded curtly, "Right. So probably all the names on my list here are just fucking ghosts. Possibly not even their real names, so I'd just be wasting my time looking through them."

"Maybe?" he shrugged with a wince.

He sighed, "Bad news though: No record in this about Schroeder."

Mysterion frowned in disappointment, "So it's a dead end."

"Not necessarily," he said, tapping his finger on his desk. "This doesn't encompass the files that security makes with I.D's. Those happen first, and then my department gets all the information officially entered."

"Can you get into the security files?"

Kyle cleared his throat and nodded slowly, "Yeah but... it requires me to be at the security office." He glanced at Mysterion and shrugged, "Wanna go for a ride?"

"You propositioning me?" he teased.

Kyle groaned, punching his arm and ignoring his gruff laugh. "Anyway," he drawled in annoyance. "We can get in, sneak a look at who's in the files and maybe we can find out just where your fucking 'janitor' fits. Or at least we can see who else has had fake I.D. cards made."

Mysterion paused, looking up in thought. "Can you do that while I keep looking around the outside?"

The redhead frowned, "Larson's fucking gone. You're out of leads. Where the hell else are you going to go? Down to the fucking docks to just hope that someone shows up?"

He stared at the accountant, nodding slowly. "You have a point."

"Besides, maybe someone in the files can be someone you recognize," Kyle shrugged. "I can't exactly print off every profile for you to scavenge through."

Mysterion nodded curtly. "All right. I'll meet you there."

Kyle narrowed his eyes, "Whaddya mean you'll meet me there? Just fucking drive over with me." The vigilante was silent for a moment and his face dropped wryly. "Look, I don't have the fucking time for you to be fucking 'dark and mysterious'," he waved his hands around dramatically. "If you try to get there by sneaking around, I'll be fucking done by the time you mosey on up."

He pouted, "It's not that far. It's only a few blocks."

He rolled his eyes, "Everywhere in South Park is only a few blocks away. Either you fucking come with me or you can just go the fuck home, Dude. Comic book antics aren't gonna fuckin' fly with me," Kyle affirmed sharply.

The hero sighed tiredly. Yeah. He really should've seen this coming. "And if someone fucking pulls up next to your car and sees me?"

Kyle scoffed, "Unless they're in the car, it'll look like you just have a fucking sweatshirt hood up. I-"

"I can't take that risk," he said bluntly.

He leaned his head back, fighting off an impending migraine and forcing himself to take a deep breath. "Then duck down in my backseat," he said, managing to keep his tone cool and controlled, much to both of their surprise. "Look, whatever the fuck your name is-"

"Mysterion."

"I meant your real name."

He pointed to his costume, "I told you, when this is on, I am Mysterion. End of discussion."

Thin brows knitted before Kyle forced himself to relax again. Getting frustrated and fighting over petty nonsense would get them nowhere and just add to his building ulcers. "Fine. Mysterion," he drawled. "Right now, you and I are the only fucking people who can work on this. The cops can't help us, so I suggest you just listen to me every now and then and fucking swallow the damn vigilante pride or whatever and just let me get us somewhere without you thinking it'll end in a fiery goddamn death."

Mysterion took a long breath, staring down the smaller and biting his lip. "Kyle, I don't think you get just how much danger we could be-"

"Look!" he cut him off sharply, the hero jerking back as though Kyle had slapped him across the face. "No matter the method, we're going to be in some kind of 'peril'," he rolled his eyes. "Isn't it a better idea for us to stick together?"

His lips quirked into a tiny smirk. "You're taking to this 'working with a masked stranger' thing rather well."

He snorted half-heartedly. "Look, I'm not an idiot, I know you're not an utter stranger under your little cosplay there," he waved at him aimlessly. "And right now, I need whatever help I can get."

The man nodded slowly, "Cops can't help you, huh?"

Kyle sighed, grabbing his keys and his I.D. from the desk and shrugging. "Come with me and I'll tell you about what I found out," he offered smoothly.

Mysterion rolled his eyes amusedly. "Fine. You know that I'm supposed to be the person to bargain with people for compliance, right?"

He smirked and shut his laptop, leading him towards the front door, turning off the outside light and looking back at him with an innocent shrug. "Guess it's hard for you to find out you don't have to play dress up with faggy tights and still make an impact."

"Oh ha ha," he said dryly. "Look, do me at least this favor: You go out first, make sure-"

He waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, check the fucking perimeter. I fuckin' got it. Lock my door behind you," he instructed, switching off the ceiling fan light and stepping outside into the summer night air. He took a deep breath, brushing his hair back and letting his eyes slowly slide over his street. He could feel Mysterion watching him from the doorway, knew well enough that he was probably tensed and ready to run out should things go awry. Kyle rolled his eyes, wondering why he didn't go out first to scout if he was so paranoid about someone 'discovering' him.

Slowly, he unlocked his car, keeping his eyes flickering around and sighing through his nose. No idea why he was being so vigilant himself, this could so easily be passed off as dropping someone off at a goddamn costume party. He looked back towards the house, giving him a subtle wave towards himself for the hero to come out of hiding. He raised his brow, watching with a dry expression as Mysterion slipped from behind his door like fluid, creeping along the edge of his house. He groaned, leaning his head back. "Come on," he spat impatiently.

Mysterion scowled before pouting, quickly making way towards him. Kyle sighed, opening the back door and watching him dive in like into a fox trench. Kyle smacked his lips, shutting it and getting into the front seat. "So you get all your 'training' from watching shit spy movies or what?" he asked wryly, buckling himself in and starting up the car.

The hero looked up from his position hidden in the back behind his seat, flicking his elbow. "Look, I don't see you goin' around taking down bad guys, Broflovski."

"That's because I'm a responsible adult," he scoffed. "You lock my door?"

"You told me to, didn't you?" he rolled his eyes amusedly.

"Good to know I'm in charge," he said thickly, quickly throwing his car into reverse and backing out of the driveway. "Hang on since your stubborn ass doesn't have a seatbelt," he muttered, heading down the street and feeling the man's fingers clenching lightly around his dress shirt to keep himself steady. Kyle shook his head his own digits tightening around the steering wheel. Nothing like an impromptu adventure, he supposed.

As the car headed down the street, two sets of eyes stared after it, waiting until it turned the corner out of the neighborhood before glancing at one another.

"Got everything?"

"Pajalsta. You know I do."

Burke nodded. "Let's get this over with. Quick."

Mysterion's head was slowly bobbing along, listening to every soft, inconspicuous murmur coming from the redhead in front of him as he relayed the information Stan had given him. He twisted his lips, conflicted with the scenario entirely. On one hand, at least Kyle wasn't running a risk like he would be if he was working hand in hand with the department. On the other, the fact that he and Kyle were all but alone in this didn't sit right on him, knowing well enough that he got to hide in the shadows, but Kyle was practically a marshaller, standing on the tarmac waving glow-sticks around and catching everybody's eye. He grimaced, wishing Stan would just go rogue for him for this instance, but knowing that was pretty out of the realm of possibility. He was fairly by-the-book, regardless of who it was he was trying to help.

Kyle sighed tiredly, swinging his car into CartAd's parking lot, feeling Mysterion grab tighter onto his shirt to keep steady. "Basically, we're fucked," he recapped.

"We're not fucked," Mysterion said sternly as Kyle whipped into a parking space. He shifted into park and looked back at the man as he moved back upright. "Just because the cops can't help doesn't mean we can't narrow this down."

Kyle bit his lip, turning to get out of the car and Mysterion following suit. They looked around the empty lot before turning back towards each other and Kyle shook his head, starting to lead off towards the building. "I'm glad one of us is sure," he said quietly. "But we have two options here if looking through Larson's files don't pull anything up: Either I get the cops or we start from square one. Neither seems too feasible." He ripped his I.D. out of his pocket, listlessly waving it over the scanner and both of them hearing the telltale click. Mysterion grabbed the handle, waving him inside and following behind him. "Any ideas on who our one shot should be?" he asked.

"Schroeder?" he winced.

"But we're not even sure if that's an actual name," he reminded him, tearing open the second set of doors and letting him through, both of them glancing up as the lights flickered on overhead.

Mysterion nodded slowly, "Well, let's see what we can pull up."

"Right," Kyle nodded, leading the way to the security office and yanking the door open. They stepped into the small, enclosed space, Kyle making way and sitting at Todd's computer, the hero shadowing over him closely.

They watched the screen flicker to life, Mysterion twisting his lips at the password box. "Well. Didn't exactly remember there'd be something like that."

Kyle snorted. "Guess this is why you can't work behind the scenes."

He shrugged sheepishly, "You work with your strengths. You know his password?"

"No, but I'm second in command of this fucking company. I have special access to everyone's shit but Cartman's," he muttered, Mysterion watching him pulling up an administrative login and his fingers rapidly clacking against the worn keyboard. They observed a spattering of folders pop along the desktop and Kyle scoffed. "Must be nice to have so little to work with," he rolled his eyes. He scanned along the selection, finding a folder labeled 'Security Profiles' and selected it, both of them leaning back a bit and waiting for it to load.

Mysterion took a long breath through his nose, watching the redhead's fingers twitch impatiently. "You all right?"

"Aside from stressed to the point I want to tear my hair out, I'm great," he drawled.

"Aw, don't do that," he teased, patting his head. "You have nice hair."

Kyle blinked, looking up at him in bewilderment. "Did you really just say that to me?"

He smirked, pulling on a spiraling tendril and letting it spring back against his scalp. "Can't take compliments, can you, Broflovski?"

"Not from someone who won't even tell me who they are," he quirked his brow.

"And if you did know who I am, what would you say?" he questioned, leaning his head into a gloved palm.

"I'd call you a raging homo," he said with a smirk back. "Given, mask or no, that point still stands."

He feigned a scoff of indignation, "Well, fuck you, too!"

"You propositioning me?" he drawled.

Mysterion leaned down towards him and Kyle backed up a bit, blinking at the hooded figure and just barely catching a glassy shot of his eyes. "And if I am?" he purred. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, Kyle lost for words and Mysterion lost from slipping right out of character. A flicker of light caught their focus, turning their heads back to the screen now populated with names.

"Anyway," Kyle said hurriedly, both of them more than glad for the subject change as he whirled around and began scrolling through the names. He narrowed his eyes. "There's so many people," he whispered. "Even more than that list I had... Looks like about fifty or so more." He hummed in thought, hitting his 's' key and watching the list descend down, finding Trevor Schroeder lingering within the array. "Well, here he is," he muttered, clicking on the profile and Mysterion leaning further down nearly on his shoulder to read with him. "Social and everything."

Mysterion nodded, reaching back under his belt and grabbing Kyle's hand, forcing his palm supine and slapping paper down into it. Kyle blinked, eyes widening at $300 in his hands. "The fuck is this?" he asked.

"Half for Larson and full for Schroeder," he explained.

The redhead rolled his eyes, "Look, this isn't necessary. I can afford at least one more check."

"Kyle, take the fucking money," he spat. "We need to figure this out but I'm not going to put you in a goddamn soup kitchen to do it."

The man sighed, taking one of the hundreds and throwing it against his chest. "Here. Now it's even," he muttered, shoving the two hundred into his pocket and going to print out Schroeder's profile. Both of them flinched slightly at the start of the printer as Kyle backed up his page to continue sifting through names. "Speaking of a soup kitchen, I found something... interesting," he said slowly.

Mysterion cocked his brow, trying to sneak the other hundred slyly into Kyle's pocket before his hand was slapped away and he pouted. "What'd you find?" he sighed defeatedly, placing the bill back into place.

"I finished my charity meetings, and all of them had the same discrepancies... Except for one."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Which one?"

"It's a foundation for unwed moms of young kids," he elaborated. "Don't get me wrong, it's great they're not missing money but... One out of forty three?"

Mysterion nodded, "That does seem off. How'd it seem when you were there?"

He shrugged, "Normal enough. Moms and kids running around. Though the owner seemed... standoffish?" he winced. "I figured it was just because I was technically in their private files but she really tried to hurry me out of there."

"Hm," he hummed, biting his lip. "I'll check it out later."

"Why? I already did," he blinked.

The hero glanced down at his confusion, "Because that just doesn't add up. And if the woman you talked to seemed to not want an investigation, maybe there's something in that office to look for."

Kyle nodded slowly, "Maybe. Well, let's see what Schroeder pulls up and if you can find anything there and whatnot. Maybe one of 'em will get us somewhere." He paused, looking at his full list of names and grimacing. "And I'll print off this," he said as he went to do so, "and compare it to the list I have at home of names. Just do some cross-referencing and see if that gives me any real names. I can do free background checks for super basic information, like if they're actually people," he rolled his eyes. "And since Larson has their full information that I don't, it'll be a lot easier."

"Good," he nodded, feeling a sliver of relief. At least something seemed to be going in the right direction.

"Can you get the papers?" Kyle asked, pointing to the printer as he continued to scavenge through for any familiarity.

Mysterion nodded, turning and walking to grab the warm sheets, eyes hitting the brightly lit monitors for a moment before a change of hue caught his attention. He looked over, eyes narrowing at one screen of the parking lot, with a lone Camry sitting alone in the dark, lit only by street lights. "Oh shit."

"What?" Kyle asked, turning and following his gaze, landing on the monitor and freezing. "What the fuck," he muttered, closing out of his programs and logging out. He walked over to beside Mysterion, both of them staring at the display. "This wasn't here before," Kyle muttered.

"This just keeps getting more suspicious by the goddamn second," Mysterion scowled, crossing his arms in thought. "Do they want to just pretend they have actual security?"

"Maybe more they want to see if authorities are coming," Kyle murmured, eyes flittering over the other screens, landing on one darkened with a current-running timestamp in the corner. "This one is live, too," he said, pointing up towards it.

Mysterion blinked, "What room is it?"

Kyle glanced at the label marked 'Room 26' and moved his eyes upwards towards a row of binders along the top shelf. He stood on his tiptoes, reaching for one with the thick label of 'Blueprints', gritting his teeth. Mysterion looked at his struggles for a moment, snorting quietly and reaching up past him to grab it and hand it down. The redhead took it from him and glared, "Not a word," he warned.

He held up his hands in defense, "Who am I to insult genetics?" He oofed as Kyle elbowed his ribs, putting the binder on the counter and flipping through pages. He popped his lips mindlessly as he shuffled through, coming to a freezing halt as he found the layout of the top floor, looking between the label and the paper, his fists tightening. Mysterion watched him carefully, "Kyle?" he asked softly. "You okay?"

"It's my office," he whispered. "He's watching my office."

"Well... He's not here so-"

"Cartman has monitors, too," he muttered, rubbing his temple. "Well, access to watch them on his computer, anyway."

Mysterion gulped quietly, looking between him and the monitor. "Kyle, you need to take a vacation."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "Look, I'm not taking this lecture from you, too-"

"I mean for your safety," he stressed, Kyle pausing and staring at him. "He's watching you, he knows you're on to him," he said worriedly. He sighed irritably and rubbed his temple. "I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this. I fucking knew I shouldn't have, I- OW!" he yelped as Kyle's shoe made hard contact against his shin. He hopped around hissing, looking at the redhead angrily and finding the expression fully returned.

"I needed to be involved. I was going to be whether you came to me or not!" he snapped. "And I can't just leave now! Fatass, as much as I hate to admit it, knows me well enough to know that I don't pull impromptu vacations. He'd know that I know something and, if anything, I'd just be throwing myself into more risk than I'm already in!" He sighed and dropped his forehead into his hand, rubbing the skin in frustration. "Look, we just need to accept that we're both in this for the long haul, all right?" he said quietly. "I can't do this without you tracking down people, and you can't without me looking shit up. We just need to figure out how to deal."

Mysterion stopped his hopping, looking at the floor before back up to the exhausted accountant and nodding slowly. "You're right," he conceded, reaching back and snagging Kyle's paperwork. He tapped his head with it, getting the man's attention back on him and sighing. "We'll figure this out," he promised.

"I hope so," he whispered. "This keeps getting worse by the day."

"Eventually we'll hit the bottom, it can only go up from there," he shrugged.

Kyle smiled meekly, nodding in agreement. "Right..." he paused, looking around the small office. "So, I think we're done here. Come on," he jerked his head. "I'll drive us back."

"You don't need to drive me," he said, following slowly after him. They made their way back out of the building, hitting a light breeze on the outside and both of them taking a relieved breath to be out of the enclosed space.

He looked up at him and grimaced, "Just... get in the car," he said quietly. "Tonight's been a little hectic. And wherever you live, I'm sure my place is closer than town is." Mysterion was silent and he took at as the affirmative, waving for him to follow. The hero watched him for a bit before sighing quietly and obediently stepping off after him. He shook his head, looking up at a dark cloud passing over a waning crescent moon and bit his lip. He hoped he was right, he could only pray that it would start staggering uphill from here on out.

"Fuckin' piece of shit," Burke spat, tapping his finger impatiently on Kyle's desk, watching the screen setup taking its sweet time. His eyes lingered on the 'eight minutes until completion' notification and shaking his head. "Why'd he give a program that takes fucking forty minutes to load?" he spat.

"He eez not best at efficiency," Kashkov rolled his eyes. "Vants best for vatching Ryzhevolosyy."

"Well maybe he needs to lower his standards," he muttered. "Or come up with a backup so we can just fuckin' get this kid out."

He nodded in agreement, shifting on his feet in his place by the window staring outside at the driveway. Only the glow of Kyle's laptop shone around the room dimly, the toe of Kashkov's boot tapping lightly against a precautionary duffle bag at his feet. "Zis better be vorth eet," he murmured.

"Tell me about it," he sighed. "I'm tired of watchin' him playin' on his fuckin' computer."

"Ve do vhat ve are paid for," he reminded him. "Can't complain vhen pay eez high."

He half-shrugged. "True. Maybe we'll get lucky and the boss'll up our pay for babysittin'"

Kashkov snorted. "Doubtful." He paused, looking at the window and his eyes widening at a car coming down the road. "Sheet!" he spat.

"Fuck, don't tell me that's him!" Burke hopped to his feet.

He nodded affirmatively. "Go to hall, I vill handle eet."

Burke nodded back, "Let me hide this, I'll be back in a second," he said, unplugging the laptop's charger and slipping through the house and down the hallway near Kyle's bedroom out of sight.

Kashkov watched the Camry pulling into the drive, reaching down and opening his bag, snagging a clunky mess of supplies and shoving them into the large pockets of his cargo pants. He slowly ducked down, sneaking under the window to on the other side of the door, still able to catch glimpses of the two emerging from the car. He narrowed his eyes, watching the two of them conversing briefly before Mysterion gave a quick pat on Kyle's shoulder, hurriedly slipping away behind the house back towards the woods. He let out a long breath of relief. Good. Only one to deal with.

He bit his lip, crouching in the slightest as he heard Kyle making way up his sidewalk to the door. He listened to the jangle of his keys, the item slipping into the knobs and twisting slowly, breath hitched. He had to do this in one move. He tongued over his lips, hearing Kyle siding the key back out and opening the door in front of Kashkov. The redhead sighed and scratched at his hair, reaching over for the lightswitch before a large hand snared his arm and ripped him to the side, the door kicked shut. He gasped, unable to choke out a sound before another hand slapped down hard over his mouth.

Adrenaline fired through him like never before, thrashing around as a thick forearm snared his own, pressing them against his chest. He screamed from under the palm, making moves to bite at the obscuring skin, teeth only grazing the flesh. He whined, jerking incessantly as Kashkov kept him firmly held, jaw clenching as he struggled to keep the wiry figure still. Kyle switched tactics on a dime, going from trying to pull away to bashing his head against the perpetrator and kicking frantically. "Stop moveeng," he hissed.

The familiarity of the accent slammed onto Kyle's ears, mind desperately trying to remember where he'd heard it. His frantic state couldn't be bothered to pinpoint chance meetings, too busy trying to fight his way out of the gargantuan's hold. He was suddenly whirled around, hearing a second set of footsteps hurrying towards them and he screamed again, fingers losing circulation in their hold and adding to his panic as pinpricks began to dance along his skin. "Pockets!" Kashkov spat, grunting and pulling Kyle back more firmly as he continued to wriggle around. He kept the man's head staring forward, green eyes straining to look to the side to see who was attacking him, unable to in the darkness and the awkward angling.

Burke snagged a pair of cuffs dangling out of the larger's pocket, snapping them around Kyle's numbing wrists. Kyle's breath quickened, glancing at the back living room window and noting the higher position of the glass pane in the pale moonlight.

"Hand," the second voice said. Kyle felt the palm over his mouth lifting and started to yell for help before a large wad of cloth was shoved in past his teeth. He lurched forward, kicking to the side and making contact with Burke's thigh, sending the man stumbling back.

"Come on!" Kashkov hissed, wrapping his hand around Kyle's throat and keeping him pulled back.

Burke shook off his shock, ducking under Kyle's field of vision and snagging a half-full tattered roll of duct tape and ripping off a couple of strands, plastering them over Kyle's lips. Kyle shook his head, yelping as a black sheet bag was slammed down over his hair and face, the strands of the drawstring opening pulled to wrap securely around his neck over Kashkov's hand. "I'll check," Burke said hurriedly, moving back towards the hall. "Take care of him."

Kyle's stomach lurched with the words, the blunt, but vague connotations lingering in the air. He screeched as he was forced forward, blind and breathing labored through his nose in the thick material surrounding his head. Thick hands whirled him around, shoving him back against the wall. His bound hands were pressed up against his breastbone, hard enough to bruise each area of skin involved. He reared his foot up and forward, catching Kashkov's knee enough for him to fumble, but not enough for him to lose his grip. He reached up, snagging strands of Kyle's hair through the sheet bag and throwing his head back against the eggshell drywall behind him. Kyle's knees buckled, trying to regain his senses enough to kick again before the palm found its way back to his neck, pressing on his larynx. His hearing all but shut off, gagged mouth trying to fight for air that wasn't there. Kashkov kept his grip firm, watching him struggling, the accountant's head going heavy, his feet slamming against him and no doubt bruising his legs something awful. The man grunted, keeping him planted between his bookshelf and window, waiting for that lull. He just needed him out for a few minutes, then they were home free.

A swish of movement caught his peripheral a moment too late as 164 pounds of pure force dove onto him. He lost his grip, Kyle sliding down the wall on the sides of his legs and gasping for air as Kashkov found himself tumbling onto the ground from a shadowed blur of purple. "You fuck," Mysterion hissed, sending a fist straight into his nose. The man shouted, feeling the slight shift of bone, the cartilage crinkling under the vigilante's hand. He roared in fury, grabbing Mysterion's neck and throwing him over to the side. He managed to work himself back upright, staring as Mysterion fluidly rolled with the toss into a crouched position and launching forward towards him again.

Kashkov moved to grab at his leg, Mysterion snagging his cape and wrapping it around his head, the man missing his target as the hero sent another well-placed hit against his face. "Fuck!" he shouted, letting out a large oomph as Mysterion kicked him square in the chest, letting him fly back and his cape slipping off of his face as he moved. Mysterion didn't let his eyes leave his target, forcing himself to stop internally cursing for letting Kyle go back into the house without him there as a scout, for leaving the window unlocked, for letting him get hurt.

Kyle's shaking, bound hands finally had the presence of mind to reach up and snag the covering off his head, looking to find a caped form in front of him defensively and sighing in relief. He jerked up as a large figure from behind moved towards the hero, Mysterion tensing and readying himself to strike yet again. Kashkov pressed forward and tackled him down, Kyle watching with wide, shocked eyes as they tumbled about, throwing punches and curses at one another in a flurry of shadowed assaults. Kashkov reached for Mysterion's hood, the man sending his knee up into his stomach and throwing off his momentum, trying to take back control of the struggle.

Burke looked out into the room, narrowing his eyes with the laptop closed in his hands. All finished, missing their mark by mere fucking minutes and making this a thousand times harder than it had to be. He cocked his brow, seeing Kyle's slumping form against the wall but someone else wrestling with his partner. He grit his teeth, ducking down and heading back towards the desk slowly, stealthily placing the computer back into place as Kyle was distracted with the chaos happening mere feet away from him in his half-choked out daze. He slid back up, moving forward to assist Kashkov and get them out of there.

Kyle blinked, looking to the side as the second dark figure rushed towards the tangle and instinct flared. He jumped to his shaking legs, ignoring the blearing of his vision and catching up behind the man. He threw his handcuff chain around his throat, tugging back roughly and stopping Burke in his tracks. The man snapped back, elbowing Kyle in the ribs hard enough for his legs to give out, keeping his grip firm and bringing him down with him.

Burke growled, twisting and snaring Kyle's arm, forcing him to lift up so he could slide out and shove him onto the floor. He sent a curled fist into his eye, watching his head bounce back against the ground and a groan break through the fabric and tape. Burke pressed his hand against his face, keeping him planted and ignoring Kyle's squirming. "It's done," he hissed to Kashkov.

The noirette grimaced before gritting his teeth and grabbing the front of Mysterion's suit, shoving him back and sprawled onto the ground. Kashkov hopped up to his feet, fighting blurring vision from his scuffle and hurrying over to Burke and Kyle. They both reached down and snagged the smaller man from the floor, hefting him up as Mysterion jumped back to his feet and rushed towards them. They grunted, picking Kyle off the ground and lobbing him forward towards the vigilante, the redhead slamming into his chest and Mysterion clasping around him protectively as they both fell back to the ground. The perps took their second and made way to the door, throwing it open, snagging their bag, and sprinting off into the night.

Mysterion helped Kyle back upright, gently setting him to the side before rushing towards the door, looking out to glance around the moonlight tranquility, seeing no signs of them. He grimaced. They probably had his method: running out into the woods and moving around trees to keep hidden. A part of him wanted to just sprint after them, hunt them down like dogs and force them to repent... But other things required his attention a hell of a lot more.

He shut and locked the door, flipping on the light switch and looking at Kyle, biting his lip guiltily as he struggled to get his cuffed hands to help him find balance on the sides of his legs. He moved back over, kneeling down in front of him and sighing, cupping his chin upwards and feeling his chest lurch. With genial fingers, he slipped his gloves off to grip under the duct tape, slowly peeling it off his skin and cringing at the slight pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, trying his damnedest to keep his grating voice but finding it more than difficult as he eyed the damage caused. He relinquished the last bit of adhesive from his lips, tossing it to the side and grabbing the rag shoved in his mouth, slowly pulling it out to prevent the man from choking.

Kyle sniffled, coughing softly as the cloth slid off his tongue and out past his teeth, smacking his lips together to regain some moistness. "Kyle, are you all right?" Mysterion asked, waiting patiently as Kyle tried to regather his bearings.

The redhead met his hidden eyes, nodding softly. "I'm fine," he rasped, body still giving minute tremors as he tried to catch up to what had happened. He coughed again and Mysterion grimaced.

"Hang on," he murmured, getting to his feet and hurrying towards the kitchen. Kyle stared down at the carpet underneath him, eyes landing on his cuffed hands and sighing through his nose, bringing them upwards and staring at the metal. That'd all been a blur, he could barely remember just what it was he'd been subjected to, only knowing that he was tired and shaken, and wondering just why it was that he of all people was caught in this disaster.

He glanced up as Mysterion moved back in front of him, holding a glass filled with juice for him. Shaking hands reached up to grip at the cup before the hero shook his head, cupping Kyle's chin and holding the glass to his lips. Kyle nearly went to protest before all the energy snaked out of him at once, allowing warm, soft hands to guide him slightly back and let a rush of orange juice quench his torrid gob. He pulled back after a few sips, giving him a meek smile, "Thanks," he whispered.

"Don't thank me," he said remorsefully, setting the glass aside. "I should've made sure the house was clear."

He frowned, "Neither of us could've known they were in here..." He glanced around. "Why were they in here?"

Mysterion shrugged, reaching back into his waist-high back cape pocket and snagging one of his shims out of its place. He moved to get Kyle's hands in his lap, staring down at the metal guiltily. "They might've wanted to abduct you."

"For what? I don't fucking have anything."

"Yet," he finished. "They may want you out of the picture before you put anything together."

Kyle shook his head, "No. No because Cartman wouldn't have put a camera in my office were that the case. They wanted something else..." he cringed. "Like a camera in my house?" he looked around suspiciously.

Mysterion frowned, Kyle looking back and down as Mysterion slid the shim between the locking mechanism and the cuff. "I don't know, but I'll check before I go," he assured him, securing it within the metal and tightening the cuff a notch, pressing on the shim with it. Kyle blinked as the cuff popped open, taking his freed wrist and holding it in front of his face, turning to look for damage. His attention was brought back down as Mysterion repeated the process on the other cuff, grimly working with an air of guilt that the redhead could feel clear as sunshine.

"Hey," he said quietly, getting his attention as the other restraint was pulled off of him. "I'm fine. Everything's fine."

"I told you I shouldn't have let you in on this," he replied softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," he frowned. "It's not your fault. What if this had happened and we weren't working together? Then I would've been completely fucked," he winced. He paused for a moment, staring at the dredged-down hero. "How did you know I was in trouble?" he questioned.

"You didn't turn your light on again," he said softly. "I looked back to see if you had and noticed the window was open wider and there wasn't any light, so I came to check."

He smirked sadly, "Well, thanks for being observant."

He snorted half-heartedly. "I try." He took a deep breath, looking at the door. "I'll check your house and then I'm going to that charity," he decided.

"Wait, tonight?" he blinked in surprise, getting an affirmative nod. Mysterion went to stand before Kyle grabbed his forearm, the hero blinking in surprise. "Don't go tonight," he said softly.

"Why?" he raised his brow.

He bit his lip, "Look, tonight's been crazy enough. What if you need adrenaline for something else? You'd get worn out too easily. Just... just wait until tomorrow," he pleaded softly.

Mysterion twisted his lips. He had a point. Getting hurt or brought down wasn't so much an issue. But giving himself away to potential leads that he couldn't catch and they ended up finding a new place to go... He sighed, leaning his head back but nodding. "Fine. Tomorrow..." he looked at the redhead who gave him a thankful expression and bit his lip. "I'm coming over every night," he decided.

"I don't need you to-"

"Kyle," he cut him off sharply.

The redhead sunk a bit, nodding. He didn't particularly want to go through a repeat of tonight. Maybe having the occasional check wasn't the worst idea in the world. "Okay," he whispered.

They stared at each other and Mysterion sighed, slipping his gloves back on over his hands and rubbing his eyes. "You dizzy or anything?"

He shook his head, "Just hurt. I'll be fine... I'm gonna... call off tomorrow," he said slowly, missing the surprised look the hero gave him. "I'll use a long weekend to do my cross referencing and... breathe," he sighed.

Mysterion stared at him a bit, biting his cheek. "Do me a favor." Kyle looked up at him curiously and he shrugged. "Call Stan or Kenny to see you."

He raised his brow, "Why?"

"Because I'd feel a lot better if you did," he stressed. "Please just... just get someone to come see you."

"But I don't-" he stopped with an eep as Mysterion growled, lurching forward and hugging around his arms, resting his head atop Kyle's curls.

"Just. Do it," he pleaded, tightening his grip.

Kyle blinked, cheek pressed against the man's shoulder and he sighed, nodding softly in compliance, both of them sinking the slightest in a mess of relief and exhaustion. They let themselves stay as they were in silence for a few minutes, letting tension from the events of the day slip through their fingers onto the carpet. It was all piling far too fast to keep its balance, tumbling off their tired forms and momentarily discarded. It could wait until tomorrow. For right now, they just needed the reminder: Neither of them was alone in this; they'd figure it out together. It could only go up.

A/N: Sorry it was so long I had so much that needed to happen pfff

Thanks for R&Ring!