Balthazar had a lot of work that he could do, but it could wait until later. As far as he was concerned, sitting next to Dakota and making sure he's safe and content was the most important thing he could be doing right now. He had capable subordinates who could work without his constant supervision. They understood that Vinnie, and other versions of him, were the most important thing to him.
He'd been obsessed with work once, and he hadn't achieved anything from it. His devotion had almost cost him the life of his partner. He had learned his lesson, and he would never go back to the way he'd been before.
Dakota started to doze off in Balthazar's protective hold. He had been prepared to be there for a bit, but then Woof Woof jolted up and sniffed the air. She whined slightly and jumped off the bed. She ran out the door, barking. Balthazar felt a familiar rush of worry.
"Vinnie." Balthazar said breathlessly. He stood up, leaving Dakota's side. He needed to find his partner and make sure that he was okay. He'd gone to such lengths to keep Vinnie safe, but he hadn't truly believed that another version of himself might be a threat to his partner. It seemed he had underestimated how ambitious Balthazar might be.
He followed Woof Woof out of the room. They ran down the hall and out of their little sanctuary. She scratched at the door to the meeting room. Balthazar unlocked the door and went in. He didn't see either Vinnie or Cavendish inside. The room was empty, without even a sign that somebody had been here.
Woof Woof dashed around the room, sniffing, looking for Vinnie. She couldn't find him, and she was becoming increasingly more distressed.
"Where is he?" Balthazar's hands shook. "Where is he?!"
"Balthazar?" Dakota came into the room behind him. He was rubbing his arms uncertainly. "What's wrong?"
"They're gone." Balthazar said. He left the room and made his way towards the main headquarters. He needed to inform his agents to keep an eye out for Vinnie. If any of them had let Cavendish just walk out of here with his partner, they had forfeit their lives.
"Gone?" Dakota's voice cracked slightly, showing his distress. Balthazar was most worried about his Vinnie, but that didn't stop him from feeling sorry for him. He took a deep breath to calm himself and gathered Dakota into his arms, frowning at the small squeak of surprise that the shorter man gave. Was it really so unusual for Dakota to be given physical reassurance like this? Balthazar couldn't remember exactly how cold he'd been to his partner in the past.
Dakota let himself be in Cavendish's hold for a moment before he pulled away. "Vinnie was only gone for a few minutes. M-maybe Cav disappeared, and Vinnie went after him."
"He should know better than that." Balthazar frowned. "And your partner shouldn't have been able to leave. I had the door locked."
Dakota frowned at him. "You locked him in a room? Why? He's not a prisoner."
"I never said he was." Balthazar said.
"But you wouldn't let him leave." Dakota crossed his arms.
"You didn't want him to leave." Balthazar said. "You were already upset about him leaving you. I didn't want to risk the same thing happening again."
"Don't act like this is what I would ever want." Dakota said tensely. "Look, I get why you handle your partner with kid gloves, but you have no right to make decisions like that for me."
Balthazar was not used to his partner speaking to him like this. Vinnie frequently disagreed with him, but his tones were more subdued and hesitant. His time in the Corridor had broken something in him, and no matter how hard Balthazar tried he couldn't fix it all. Dakota though had never been through any of that, and he didn't have a partner that he felt had his back no matter what. Dakota still fought for himself.
"You're right." Balthazar admitted. "I overstepped. I apologize."
"I-it's fine." Dakota said. All of the fight went right out of him. "Look, are you sure the door was locked? I mean, it's not like Cav couldn't have just vanished into thin…air…" Dakota's eyes widened. "Oh."
"Oh?" Balthazar gave Dakota a concerned look. The other man looked guilty and scared. "Do you know something?"
"Uh, maybe?" Dakota grimaced. "What time is it?" Balthazar informed him, and he looked even more panicked. "Almost three hours. Cav…I think Cav went back to our own dimension"
"And he might have taken Vinnie with him." Balthazar began to pace around the room. He liked to think the best of the other version of himself. He knew that he could be single-minded when he was focused on a task. Dakota's reaction implied that they could only be in this dimension for a limited amount of time. If their way home opened after three hours, Cavendish was probably so intent on getting through that he didn't take care to notice that the Dakota that came into the room wasn't his partner.
"If this is an accident, then they should be fine." Balthazar took a deep breath to calm himself. "Will they be able to come back here?"
"I think so." Dakota rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't look as assured. "Our boss said that a portal would open to bring us back to our dimension after three hours, but if one of us was left behind then they'd find a way to get us home."
"Your boss." Balthazar frowned and pushed down the instinctive fury and protectiveness. He still associated their boss with Mr. Block. Dakota had said that he and Cavendish had been fired from B.o.T.T. and were working somewhere else now. "Does he have your best interest at heart?"
"I think so." Dakota said. "I mean, he takes some getting used to, and he can be kinda condescending sometimes, but he's been worried about how I'm adjusting after everything that happened with Cavendish. He wanted me to go to counseling after this assignment."
"So why are you worried?" Balthazar asked. Even Cavendish should soon realize that Vinnie wasn't his partner. Once the truth came out, surely their boss would arrange to fix the mistake.
Dakota gave him a pained look. "I don't know if I want to tell you. You're going to freak out." That did nothing to make Balthazar feel better. He didn't want to get mad at Dakota though. As frustrating and concerning as this situation was, he knew that it wasn't Dakota's fault.
"I won't get angry." Balthazar said.
"Yeah, you will." Dakota said. Still, he sighed and looked like he was about to give in. Balthazar waited patiently. "Alright, look, we were sent here on an assignment to try to get some answers. We were told to not intervene in anything. This dimension's timeline is set. It was just our job to figure out why our dimensions are different. The thing is, it's not the P.I.G.'s job to deal with other dimensions. That falls under the jurisdiction of-"
"B.o.T.T." Balthazar seethed. "Block." Woof Woof growled. Dakota shrank in on himself.
"I told you you'd get mad." Dakota wrapped his arms around himself. He looked frightened, and Balthazar felt a pang of guilt cut through his anger. Dakota was afraid of him.
Balthazar stood up and walked to Dakota. The shorter man grew tense and he didn't look at Balthazar. He put his hands on Dakota's shoulders, keeping his touch gentle. "I'm not mad." Balthazar said, and it was only partially a lie. "I'm certainly not mad at you or even your partner. I'm just worried about Vinnie."
"Yeah, I don't blame you." Dakota said. "But I don't think Mr. Block will do anything to him."
"I didn't think he would ask me to kill my own partner, but here we are." Balthazar said. Dakota looked like he was going to be sick. Balthazar didn't know if it was because Dakota didn't like the thought of his former boss being capable of such a thing, or if he was realizing that Vinnie truly might be in danger and he felt guilty about it.
"B-but Cav wouldn't let something happen to him." Dakota said. "Even if he knows that he's not me."
"Forgive me for not having as much faith in your partner." Balthazar said. He liked to think that he would never stand to the side and allow something terrible to happen to his partner, but when he'd been oblivious he had nearly agreed to do just that, just because he'd been willfully blind to what was right before his eyes.
And even at his worst, Balthazar had never even considered abandoning his partner the way that Cavendish had. If he was willing to leave his partner behind for the sake of his own self-righteous ambitions, who knew what he would be willing to turn away from?
Cavendish had always felt like he'd understood Dakota fairly well. After all, his partner wore his heart on his sleeve. What was there to not understand? Apparently a lot, as he hadn't even known about the Island of Lost Dakotas. It had explained things about his partner that he hadn't really questioned, such as why he was always so tired, and didn't seem to care about what was happening right in front of him.
He had to be exhausted after traveling back in time so often, as his days were longer. Dakota had even told him that sometimes he had to go back multiple times because he kept on messing up saving him, and once he'd had to go back several weeks to prevent Cavendish's death. Anybody would be exhausted after that ordeal.
As for Dakota's apparent lack of caring, Cavendish supposed it must be rather difficult for one to motivate themself when they had already witnessed the results of their work, and it wasn't anything good at all.
Since learning about what his partner had done for him, Cavendish felt like he understood Dakota completely. He thought their partnership was going well. It was only today that he realized how wrong he had been.
Dakota got defensive and upset this morning, similar to how he had been when Cavendish was oblivious about the Island and had said something unknowingly cruel. It was only then that Cavendish even considered that his partner wasn't okay.
And then they were attacked and Dakota was so distressed at the thought of being left alone. It wasn't normal for him. That should have been all of the indication that Cavendish needed, but he still told himself that things were fine. And then the other dimension's version of himself said that Dakota had a panic attack and implied that Cavendish was a threat to his partner.
Cavendish couldn't even imagine how he could be a threat to Dakota, but he'd felt bad about not being at his side to assist with the apparent panic attack. He'd thought he would have the chance to talk to Dakota when they got home, and then his partner panicked and fainted, and he had no idea what had happened.
"Dakota?!" Cavendish knelt on the ground and gathered his partner in his arms. He took off his jacket and threw it over Dakota's head in an attempt to shade him from the light. It was the only thing he could think of that might make Dakota get so overwhelmed that he fell unconscious. After all, he wasn't wearing his glasses. Cavendish wondered what had happened to them.
"What's wrong with him?" Mr. Block asked. He sounded more annoyed than concerned.
"What I want to know is where your partner is." Bob Block said. "And why you came back without him." It was the first time that Cavendish had heard something resembling anger in his boss' voice.
Cavendish looked at Bob Block in confusion. "What are you talking about? He's right here."
"You didn't think it odd that he's wearing a completely different outfit from before?" Bob Block asked. Honestly, Cavendish hadn't noticed. Dakota had come to him in a dark room. When they were in a brighter place, he'd immediately fainted and Cavendish had other things to worry about than his outfit.
His clothing wasn't even all that different. He was still wearing sweatpants and a comfortable jacket, and they were similar colors, even if the designs were different.
Cavendish felt terrible. Dakota had just told him this morning that he was still upset about being left behind, and he had been worried about the same thing happening again. He hadn't done it on purpose, but Cavendish had, in fact, left his partner behind. Dakota had every right to be upset.
"We have to get him back." Cavendish said. He reached for the watch that had activated the portal. He stopped as he realized that he didn't really know how to make this work. Before he could even try Mr. Block grabbed his wrist, blocking his access to the watch.
"Hang on." Mr. Block said. "Did you idiots manage to find what we sent you for?"
"Well…no." Cavendish admitted. They'd been separated, and then he'd been too busy trying to find his partner. Just look at how that turned out for them.
"Then maybe we can take advantage of this." Mr. Block said. "If anybody knows what happened, it's him."
"Why in the world would Dakota know what happened?" Cavendish asked. Even as he asked it he remembered how frighteningly intimidating his other self had been. That dimension's Cavendish had been commanding, protective, and he could see now that he'd been involved with the agency they'd been sent to learn about.
"Me." Cavendish muttered. "At least, the version of me from that dimension. He knows something." And if he knew anything, then Dakota would as well. Cavendish had never been as good at keeping secrets as Dakota was.
"From what little our agents were able to figure out, he knows everything." Mr. Block said irritably. "Considering he's the one who started all of it."
"What?!" Cavendish felt all the color drain from his face. "But I…I wouldn't…why would I ever-"
"That's what we sent you to figure out." Mr. Block nearly growled. The other version of Dakota whimpered and shifted closer to Cavendish.
"Balthy," The other Dakota muttered. He stirred for a long moment before he sat up, though he didn't pull Cavendish's jacket from over his head. "What-?"
"Nice to see you awake, Dakota." Bob Block said. The other Dakota stiffened and lifted the jacket enough to look towards him.
"You…who're you?" He asked.
"My name is Bob Block." The man knelt to be closer to his level. "I guess we've never met in your dimension."
"...Block?" The other Dakota's eyes widened. He worriedly lifted his gaze towards where Mr. Block was leering down at him. Cavendish could feel him shaking in his arms. "You. You're supposed to be dead."
Mr. Block's eyes narrowed. "You want to tell me why I'm dead at your home?"
The other Dakota cowered away from him, but he made a growling like sound and leaned against Cavendish, putting himself between him and their old boss.
"I don't want to." The other Dakota said rebelliously, though he sounded scared. "W-what will you do if I don't?"
"I've got ways of getting information." Mr. Block said. The other Dakota whimpered pathetically and looked away from him. He curled up against Cavendish, who glared up at their old boss.
"Don't threaten him." Cavendish snapped. He wasn't afraid of speaking up to Mr. Block now that he wasn't working for him.
"Okay, why don't we all just take a deep breath." Bob Block suggested. He put a gentle hand on the other Dakota's shoulder and guided him to stand, though he couldn't pull him away from Cavendish. "We're not going to hurt you. We just want to ask a few questions, and then we'll get you home to your partner."
The other Dakota gave Bob Block a terrified look before he turned his gaze to Cavendish. He was looking for answers. Cavendish didn't know how he felt about any version of Dakota looking at him like this.
Cavendish sighed. "Come along then, Dakota…or would you rather be called Vinnie?"
"...Vinnie." The other version of Cavendish's partner said. "Where are we going?"
"Why don't we get you some fresh air and water right now?" Bob Block suggested. "Don't worry, you can stay with your partner."
"And Mr. Block doesn't have to join us." Cavendish said. He didn't want to cause undue stress to Vinnie.
"Okay." Vinnie said quietly. He clung to Cavendish's arm, and it didn't seem that he was going to let go anytime soon. It wasn't what Cavendish was used to, but he would tolerate it for a version of his partner.
Cavendish was even more curious about the other version of himself then before, but even now he was more curious and concerned about Vinnie and Dakota. What had happened to Vinnie to make him so clingy and terrified of Mr. Block? He had fainted, for goodness sake. Cavendish doubted that it was because Vinnie wasn't used to seeing a dead man walking. He was still Dakota, after all.
As for his actual partner, Cavendish was worried about Dakota's well-being. The other Cavendish had seemed unnervingly protective of Vinnie. What if he did something to Dakota when he found out that his partner wasn't in his dimension?
Cavendish just hoped Dakota would be okay. Surely a version of himself wouldn't go so far as to harm Dakota, would he?