For a solid twenty minutes, Remus forgot he had other people in his house. So, he was really fucking thankful that none of the others noticed him walk through the hall to the bathroom in nothing but his Minecraft glowsquid boxers and one green slipper. After that, he very quickly remembered that nobody would like to see any of that. Probably.

He quickly snuck back into his room after doing his business, throwing on the shortest, most comfortable shorts he had and a t-shirt with more holes than was probably normal. He could worry about a more put together outfit when he didn't want to go back to his bed and collapse there and then. Besides, he'd heard an interesting conversation going on somewhere out in the living room. Sure, eavesdropping wasn't the most orthodox thing to do in the morning, but it did serve him a chance to actually wake up.

Remus stretched a bit, a few cracks echoing through his nearly unwalkable room before he gave his rats food and opened his door as quietly as possible.

From what he could tell, Logan and Dee were the ones talking. Their conversation was low; quiet enough that it didn't disturb the other's sleeping, but juuust loud enough for him to be able to hear without going into the living room. Remus smirked, tiptoeing to the archway and leaning in.

"-so why don't you want to sleep?"

"That…that is none of your concern."

"Logan, once again, I found you partially passed out on the balcony, I think that's a cause for a bit of concern."

Remus frowned, scooting away from the archway for a moment. Androids could have trouble with sleep? He knew that Logan had always sorta despised sleep as an idea. Said that, for an android, it was "wasted time that could be spent on other things". But Remus had always chalked it up to Logan being difficult and trying to 'fulfill his protocols', even when there were none. Now that he thought about it, he never asked why Logan didn't want to sleep. Remus shook his head, heart starting to pound in his throat. He didn't need the nagging guilty feeling coming back today. Or the panic. He had people over. He wouldn't let himself be hit with a flashback today. He took a deep breath, tapping his legs a couple of times until his body calmed down, then leaned back into the conversation.

"-st because you've been able to do it in the past, does not mean it's a good move to do it now."

"I will reiterate that I never suffered any consequences that I have recollection of."

"Sure, sure, but that was also when you had no inkling of sentience, which, trust me, is a very important part to consider."

"Even so, I'm functioning perfectly fine."

"Logan—"

"I do not see the issue here. I don't truly need sleep."

"Even if you don't 'need' sleep, you're going to suffer without it. Doesn't matter if you're an android or not."

Logan mumbled something out of Remus' ear-range, pushing up his glasses and crossing his arms. Dee paused then looked directly in Remus' direction, a disappointed pout on their face,

"Remus, you're truly quite horrible at sneaking, you know that?"

Remus popped out from behind the corner, hands on his hips.

"Well, it is my house, if I wanna eavesdrop, I'm in the right to do so."

Dee rolled their eyes, giving Logan a pointed glance before shaking their head. Logan looked to Remus, hands moving behind his back.

"Good morning, Remus, apologies if we woke you up, we were doing our best to remain quiet while the others slept."

Remus flashed a smile.

"Naw, don't worry about it, I was already up," He popped a couple of his fingers, attention drifting off a bit. "What were you two talking about? I didn't actually catch the whole thing."

Dee frowned, pulling their gloves down.

"Well," They crossed their arms. "We were just talking about—"

"-Absolutely nothing of consequence," Logan interjected, his voice tight. "How did you sleep?"

Wow, maybe it was worse than he remembered. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"You sure, Nerdy Wolverine? I'm not pushing but—"

"I'm sure, Remus, but thank you for the concern."

Remus held up his hands in defense, shoving them in his pockets and walking out into the living room. This was a particular type of stubbornness Remus wasn't prepared to fight. He watched Dee faintly shake their head, closing their eyes and leaning against the bar. Seemed as though they didn't want to fight the stubbornness much either.

Remus placed his hands on his hips, turning to the living room and tilting his head. Both Patton and Roman were still asleep, which, if he was honest, felt kinda weird. Roman was always an early riser and Patton, well, he didn't know androids could sleep that long. He shifted to the bean bags. Virgil was also still sleeping. He was curled up under a blanket, facing the wall.

Remus looked around with a blank face, trying to decide what to do. He could wait until everyone was up; from what he understood about Dee's whole plan thing, they were going to bounce places until they could find a solid place, so his house wasn't permanent. He could maybe go on a walk. His routine was screwed up a little because of all of the people. He shook his head. He would rather not leave his house to a bunch of strangers and his brother. He trusted Logan, but not enough for that.

"Welp," He turned to Dee and Logan, who seemed to be having a silent conversation, with a grin. He decided to ignore it. "Imma make breakfast. You want some?"

He pointed to Dee, but they shook their head.

"I'm not hungry."

"Oh come on," Remus pulled his hands out of his pockets, crossing his arms. "You can't be 'not hungry' when you didn't even eat last night."

Dee smirked, raising their eyebrow.

"I woke up early to get breakfast. I'm not one who enjoys people seeing me eat."

Remus squinted at them for a few seconds before pulling back a bit.

"Alright, fair enough," Remus walked around Logan into the kitchen. "I think Imma make some eggs and toast. And bacon if I have it."

Logan tilted his head watching as Remus pulled out pans.

"Remus, from what I recall, your cooking gave the Santos, and Roman food poisoning."

Remus chuckled.

"Yeahhh, I've given myself a 'no meat' rule when cooking unless it's in an air fryer or something like that," He moved to the fridge, digging around for a bit before pulling out an unopened bacon pack. "Figured that one out the hard way."

Logan nodded before taking a step forward.

"Are you in need of any assistance?"

"Hm?" Remus closed the fridge with eggs in hand. "Oh no, I'm good, I've got it."

Logan frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Remus watched as Dee moved to the living room. "Don't worry, Lo, take a chill pill, maybe sit down or like, I don't know, wake Roman up or something."

Logan gave a confused look, but nodded and followed after Dee.

Remus turned his attention mostly to the food in front of him. Let's hope he had actually learned something.

Remus sat in the kitchen, finally making himself breakfast and staring quietly at the eggs sizzling in the pan in front of him. Everyone had woken up, each in their strange individual groups. Roman, Logan, and Patton sat in the same area topic of speech ranging anywhere from their lives to dogs they saw at the park to really vague things Remus couldn't fully pinpoint. He'd tried to keep from listening too hard, it didn't concern him, but he couldn't help the growing hole in his chest as Roman spoke.

So much had happened. Roman had gone through two relationships. He 8got multiple leads in shows. He worked on his writing and art and everything he was passionate about. Remus knew he was embellishing it, his brother had always been good at making something sound better than it actually was. Even so, he sounded so lively. Remus shimmied the pan a bit. He'd almost forgotten that Roman had a life outside of him. That Roman continued to live after he'd left.

He sighed, squeezing his eyes closed, setting the pan down. It was fine though, he could deal with it. Remus grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate next to him, unceremoniously shoving half of it into his mouth. He glanced over to Dee and Virgil in the entrance of the hall. Maybe it'd be better for his mental health if he listened into that conversation. He ate the rest of the bacon, sucking into his mouth with one bite, and then turned back to his eggs, extending his ear to the two.

"-but dear god, Dee, I don't need you to fucking protect me."

"Oh yes, because being the subject of two different manhunts doesn't warrant a bit of concern."

"I know you see me as this fragile ass human, but I'm not an idiot."

Remus knit his eyebrows, popping another piece of bacon into his mouth.

"Debatable, Virgil," Dee paused. "Listen, I know you hate me after what happened, but can we at least act civilized for the time being?"

"Hate's a word for it."

"Spinne—"

"Don't call me that," Virgil sighed. Remus heard some shifting. "But, for now, I guess fine."

"Thank you," Dee cleared their throat quietly. "Now. The Bug."

"Yeah," Virgil stayed quiet for a bit. "What're you so inclined to know?"

"What am I allowed to know?"

"Ask the question and I'll tell you, how about that?"

Dee chuckled.

"I'm unsure of what to ask."

"Liar."

A loud pop sounded through the room. One that was suspiciously next to Remus. He turned to his eggs, a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth. He poked the middle with his spatula and frowned; the edges were a dark brown. He really hadn't thought this through, had he? There was shuffling behind him as he turned the stove off and slid the eggs onto a plate. He watched Dee and Virgil slink off into the hallway, squinting after them.

He understood the Bug as much as he'd had the attention span for; he understood why Virgil was all secret-y about what it did. He slid his eggs into a plate, setting the pan on a not-hot burner and turning the stove off. He could even wrap his head around sentient robot people. But those two. Call him a nosey bastard, but there was so much in just the way they stood next to each other. He wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to know everything.

"What did you say about getting better at cooking?"

Remus's focus shifted to Roman, who stood with his arms crossed and a smirk.

"Not gonna lie Rem, they don't look like the eggs of someone who said 'I got better at cooking' to me."

"HEY," Remus held the eggs protectively to his chest. "Says the bitch who can't cook at all."

Roman shrugged.

"I never claimed that I did know how to."

Remus stuck his tongue out and looked down at his eggs. He knew his mouth wasn't going to be happy about this, but he could deal with it. After making food for everyone else, he was starving. As he walked into the living room, he couldn't help but notice that everyone had left the room. Conversations drifted quietly from the hall, and he watched as Roman went to join them. He squinted. If any of them touched his room…

He sighed, glancing over to the couch. Dee sat quietly, contemplation working its way into their face. Guess whatever talk them and Virgil had sparked something. Remus shoved half an egg into his mouth. It was time to turn on the charm. He moved into the living room and plopped down onto the couch next to them, gaze locked onto the blank t.v. in front of him.

"Soooo, what's your deal?"

His gaze didn't drift as Dee looked at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry?"

"I dunno," He took a bite of his eggs. "You're just..strange."

Dee looked at him with an unimpressed stare.

"Right, because the man who decorates with lime green, baby heads, and worms on a string is one to judge 'strangeness'. Makes complete sense."

Remus shrugged.

"I know I've known you for, like, less than 24 hours but I don't know," Another bite. "I literally have not seen you drink or eat anything."

Dee sat up, shifting their position.

"I gave valid reasons to all of those."

Remus squinted at the t.v., sniffing and adjusting his shoulder.

Dee chuckled in disbelief.
"Yes, and as you so nicely pointed out, you've known me for one day. There have been plenty of times we have been separate from one another."

Remus paused, turning to Dee with an entirely blank face.

"So you're drinking water out of the bathroom sink, gotchya," He continued talking with a mouthful of food and turned back to the blank t.v. "Anyways, I was wondering, what's up with you and Virgil?"

Dee gave a side-eye and tugged down their gloves, rigidness entering their shoulders.

"Whatever do you mean?"

Remus chuckled.

"You didn't deny the sink water comment."

"Remus."

"Right, right," He stared down at the egg half on his plate. "I may have heard a little bit of you and his conversation when I was making breakfast."

Dee shifted.

"Why do you seem to have such a habit of eavesdropping, hm?"

"You're avoiding the question, Dee~"

They shot a glare, and if he were looking, he was sure it would be soul-crushing.

"So help me fucking—"

There was a knock at the door, silence filling the room as both Dee and Remus' attention pivoted. Remus didn't have friends to hang out with. And he was certain that the others hadn't told anyone where they were going. So who the fuck was at the door?

"Answer it."

Remus turned to Dee, their eyebrows furrowed in an expression he couldn't describe.

"What—"

"Answer. It."

Remus stared for a second but obliged, standing up and walking over to the door. As he opened it, he heard Dee slip out of its eyeline.

A man that kinda looked like he knew what it was like to be a chihuahua owner stood in front of Remus, a sour expression creasing his face. His hair was a dark brown, and if he were in the situation to, Remus would have given the guy some tips on maybe hair care or something. There was a certain amount of grease one could have before it just looked wrong. He pushed up a pair of cracked glasses, adjusting his coat.

"Is this the residence of Remus Santos?"

Remus gave a blank expression, slowly shoveling the rest of his egg into his mouth.

"Mm yeah. Why?"

A look of disgust flashed over his face, but it quickly reverted back.

"My name is William Abbrams, and from what I understand, a former employee of mine has ended up…here.." He glanced behind Remus distastefully. "Am I incorrect?"

Remus swallowed, squinting and placing his plate on the bar next to him.

"Why are you looking for him?"

William sneered, rolling his eyes.

"Upon his resignation, he took something of mine. I've simply come to take it back."

Remus glanced behind him for a moment, looking down the hall. Nobody stood there. He turned back.

"So, did he punch you?"

The man froze, face turning red.

"What?"

Remus smiled.

"He did, didn't he? Your glasses weren't broken before, were they?"

William clenched his jaw, holding back something. God, he just loved antagonizing people.

"Is he here or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, tight-ass, I'll go get him, gimme a sec."

Remus closed the door, Dee immediately grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him around the corner.

"So who's that guy?"

Dee shook their head, an almost impressed look on their face.

"Someone who would have killed you right there if he weren't trying to be civil," They looked over to the hall. "Do you have a way to escape that isn't the front door?"

Remus grinned.

"You betchya."

Dee frowned, shaking their head in resignation.

"How do we get out, then?"

Remus placed his hands on his hips.

"Follow me!"

The two moved down the hall, Virgil, Logan, and Roman emerging from the bathroom. While he noticed Dee and Virgil had shared a look, he wasn't going to say anything. Logan emerged last, pushing up his glasses,

"What, exactly, are we doing?"

Remus smiled.

"I think you know."

Roman sighed.

"Window or balcony?"

"Oh, Roman, you know me so well," He turned, opening the door to his room. "My window. I made a ladder out of twine that I got from an appliance store."

There was a louder knock on the door, William's voice muffled through the hollow wood.

"Will you hurry up? I'm on a schedule, and I really do not want this to escalate."

Virgil pulled his hoodie tighter, lightly touching the rip.

"He absolutely does want it to escalate," Virgil was the first to enter the room, looking back at the group. "Where's the ladder?"

Remus went into the room and casually pulled it out from under his bed. He started to set it up quickly, almost going into a sort of autopilot. With the amount of times he'd run away, the escaping part was almost second nature to him.

A louder knock sounded this time, Remus tying the last knot. He opened his window and threw the ladder through, ignoring the yelling sounding outside of his apartment. He took a step back, hands placed proudly on his hips.

"There! One escape ladder set up and ready."

Dee was the first to start moving, turning to Remus before they got on.

"Where exactly are we landing with this thing?"

Remus smiled.

"Trash cans. Lot better cushion then just about anything else."

They gave a look of disgust, but started climbing down. Logan moved to Virgil's side, watching as Dee disappeared behind the windowsill.

"Will you be able to climb? While I do not believe your shoulder is gravely injured, I would cause quite a bit of distress."

There was a distant metal thunk from outside.

"I'll be fine. I'd rather be in a little pain than deal with Will. Thanks though."

They went down one by one, trash muffling most of the sound they made. The door banging stopped at some point or another, and while Remus wished for it to be the guy giving up, he knew it probably meant he was getting reinforcements. And by the 4 black cars hanging out in front of the apartment building, they were ready. The group moved behind the trash can, out of the car's line of sight. Roman glanced around the trash can, watching a few of the men lean against their cars.

He ducked back down, looking around the group with concern.

"So what's the plan now? How're we going to get out of this situation if there's nowhere to go?"

Patton was the first to respond.

"We could go to the other side of the building through the alley?"

Dee spoke next, standing furthest away from the trash can. They looked down the alley.

"We'd be easily found. And besides, there's no doubt they'll start to search for us soon, we couldn't get away fast enough for it to matter."

As if it was almost a cue, footsteps picked up, voices drifting down the alleyway. Virgil shifted with an uncomfortable look on his face. He cleared his throat quietly, urgency in his eyes.

Remus stayed quiet, watching them all talk before his eyes drifted to the building in front of him. He knew the owner pretty well. Remus had traveled around the neighborhood enough to know where the backdoors led. And besides, the owner still owed him. He grinned.

"Follow me."