TWs: Mention of illness/scars/needle/medication/pain/sharp objects(glass), hanging out on a roof and jumping from that roof. Stay safe :)

"Respirator masks are used by graffiti artists and spray painters- or for people who don't want to catch the plague," Tom spoke as Matt finished filling them in.

Edd hummed, "How come you never told me you did graffiti?"

"It was more of a personal hobby..." He shrugged.

Matt shook his head, "I can't believe they just scarred their soldiers like that."

"I can," Tord muttered.

"Please tell me that's not coming from personal experience." Edd looked at him.

"No, no, of course not," Tord assured him quickly, squeezing his hand.

Edd nodded, not entirely convinced, as he opened the door to the apartment complex.

As Tord stepped inside, someone barreled into him, nearly knocking him over, "Red!"

"Woa-" Tord balanced himself out, peering down at his 'attacker,' "Clay!?"

"Surprise!" He yelled, clutching onto Tord tightly.

There was a chuckle ahead of them as an accented voice spoke, "Sorry it took so long."

Tord looked up from Clay's embrace at the people and grinned when he saw them, "Ah, my friends!"

Yan and You stepped forward as the ex-leader greeted them with a hug.

"We would've come a lot sooner if it wasn't for these two." Yan said, "On an unrelated note, our plane's engine exploded- all of them."

Tord glanced at Clay and You, raising an eyebrow. You put his hands up in a surrendering position, "Don't blame us; it was the Cloudbergs."

Sighing, the Norsk looked at the others, "You guys already know them from the 'confrontation.'"

"Is that what we're calling it?" Edd smiled awkwardly as he wrapped an arm around Tord.

"Of course." Tord nodded, leaning into him.

The duo noticed the intimacy of the two, knowing that Tord wasn't affectionate with just anyone.

"So... what's new?" You gestured a finger at the display in front of him.

"Nothing much- the ex-black army member woke up, so we visited him today," Tord replied.

"That's good." Yan nodded.

A silence followed after, other than Matt speaking to the landlady in French.

"Is that it?" You inquired, gesturing his whole hand at them now.

Tord quirked an eyebrow, silently questioning what he was doing.

"Tord," Edd spoke up, glancing at him.

"Yes?" His silver eye peered at him.

"Did you not tell them we were dating?"

A pause.

"I knew I was missing something." The Norsk muttered. Edd sighed.

"Looks like you're the only one who can keep Tord under control." You smiled, winking at Edd.

"Wha-"

"Yeah, it's a demanding job." The taller nodded.

Tord huffed, crossing his arms as he mumbled to himself.

"Wait- what about Pat and Pau?" You asked.

"What about them?" Tord kept his gaze on his friend as he reached over to steal Clay's white cap.

"Oi-"

"Are they dating?" The blonde bobbed in place, wanting to know the answer. There was an amused glint in Yan's eye.

"Yes, why?" Tord placed the cap on his head, letting it sit there.

"Ha!" He exclaimed, jabbing Yan in the side, "You owe me 20 pounds!"

The ravenet groaned, "Seriously?"

'No matches found.'

Arthur listened to the words on repeat as he breathed heavily through gritted teeth. He didn't get it. Something was wrong, and it wasn't him.

"Sir, your blood pressure is increasing."

He sighed, "Of course it is."

Typing again, Arthur decided to backtrack, retracing his steps.

"Single out all possible chemicals and drugs with amnesia after-effects, and take effect within the body after a week." He uttered, "If only I knew how it was given to him... it could've been by medication or a needle."

Arthur sat there, thinking. He reached out, pulling the paper the nurse gave him closer.

"Read the notes again, C." He told her.

His AI was a fast reader, and Arthur understood most of the things she said. Although sometimes he missed specific details.

"Wait, go back to that sentence again."

His AI processed the order before repeating the previous sentence, "Everything seemed normal when I checked up on him, although I did notice he had an IV in his arm that I didn't call for. It was gone when I checked on him again hours later. He described what the guy looked like, but I had never seen anyone that fit his description-"

"Stop. That's all I need, thank you." Arthur went back to typing.

"You're welcome, sir."

As he narrowed it down, he was met with another dead end.

'No matches found.'

He groaned, running his hands through his hair, "How is this possible?"

He knew the chemical was distributed with a needle, but what was in the syringe?

"Unless it's an unknown substance... but how did this person get their hands on it?" Arthur whispered to himself.

He had a suspicion it wasn't just any ordinary person looking to erase someone's memory. Someone from the Black Army had to have done it.

"That bastard planned this from the beginning..."

William was an enigma. He was erratic to the point that everyone was afraid to go near him, fearing they would be his next target. Arthur and his friend seemed to be an exception.

He was smart, yet he had his weaknesses like anyone else.

William wouldn't visit Larry anytime soon. He still had to recover, after all. He would send someone to do his dirty work.

Someone with the same resources as scientists to uncover what they haven't discovered.

"That's it..." Arthur realized, gazing up at his screens, "A scientist."

"Promise you won't overdo it?" Matt crossed his arms.

"I promise." Tom said, "I'll only be there for a few hours."

"How long is that?" The ginger questioned.

"2 or 3 hours." He replied.

Matt hummed, "I'll give you 2 and a half."

Tom grinned as he pulled him down for a kiss, "You're the best."

Matt gently bit the bassist's lip as they pulled away, "I know I am."

As Tom left Matt's apartment, he glanced at the clock.

'Man, it's 21:00 already.' He thought as he did his nightly routine.

After taking his contacts out, he heard something from the living room. He slid his glasses on, peering out of the bathroom in hopes he wouldn't have to check it out.

He saw nothing out of the ordinary in the hallway, so he resumed his routine by brushing his teeth and making sure to floss.

Thump.

Matt jumped, freezing with the thin string between his canines as he looked into the hall again.

Throwing the floss away, the ginger decided to investigate this time, walking through the hallway and toward the living room.

As he reached the doorway, he saw something fall to the floor; one of his picture frames.

Three of his frames had fallen from their position on the wall miraculously; two on one wall and one on the opposite.

'Huh, strange.' Matt thought as he went to put them back in place.

Placing the last one back on the wall, he heard a noise as another picture fell to the floor. Matt huffed, staring at the large portrait he would probably have to use his vampire strength with.

Taking a step forward, he felt the air shift behind him.

Shifting his gaze, his eyes widened as he noticed a mirror was falling toward him.

Something told him to move, that with his agility, he could get out of this unscathed, yet he couldn't bring himself to move his legs as he closed his eyes and shielded himself with his arms.

He yelped as he waited for the impact of the glass shards to take hold all over his body. He held his breath as he expected the pain to take over.

Then he opened his eyes, noticing it had been a few seconds too long.

'What the...?' Matt glanced around, noticing that the mirror was back in place on the wall.

Taking a few deep breaths, the ginger huffed.

'Talk about a long day...'

'Why did I do that?' He asked himself, staring down at his opaque hands. Sighing, he stared out into the night sky from the rooftop of an apartment complex.

His friend was right; he was an idiot. Why did he accept to live this way if he couldn't live normally anymore?

His phone vibrated in his pocket, signaling a message from his boss.

He hesitated as he took it out, reading the word in the text.

Corvidae: Results?

Biting his lip, the man in a black uniform twitched as he typed.

IDESA: It went according to plan.

Corvidae: Good.

Putting his phone away, the man looked down at himself again, not seeing through himself like he used to.

He took a deep breath, feeling his body weigh lighter as he turned transparent and jumped from the building, setting off toward the base.