Hi friends! Sorry its late, the site wasnt working for me last night so I wasn't able to post it then :')
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"Are you sure you want to do this?" Anya said in hushed tones. "You don't have to."
Damian gulped, and squeezed her hand tighter, before his eyes hardened in resolve.
"It's better this way, right?" he said, and then he pushed the door to the apartment complex open -
- and came face-to-face with Anya's neighbour, Mrs Merkel. She jumped back from the door at the same time as they did, clearly surprised that it had swung inwards without her permission.
For a split second, her eyebrows had drawn together in a frown, and she raised her fist, about to berate them both, when suddenly she recognised the young man in front of her and her demeanour changed completely.
"Oh!" she gasped, clearly dazzled. "It's you!"
"Er-" said Damian uncomfortably, but he didn't have time to say anything else before the woman's face split into a huge grin, like she and Damian shared a secret.
"You know, I think you'll be able to put on your play after all!"
"Excuse me?" said Damian as his mind scrambled to remember the theatrical persona he had donned just hours ago.
"Your actors are really getting into their practice. Why, I heard some of the most convincing sound effects-"
Damian and Anya made panicked eye contact.
"Gotta go!" Anya yelped, and hurled herself up the stairs like she had just been electrocuted, and soon enough, Damian ran after her with barely a word of 'thanks'.
"Make sure you get me good tickets!" Mrs Merkel called after them, but they had already reached the top floor.
Anya slammed the front door open, the worry and fear clear on her face, but Damian didn't get a chance to see into the apartment before he saw her face fill with utter confusion.
Damian rushed after Anya, panting for breath, and he saw the same thing that she did: her mother, father, uncle, and Adrian all sitting calmly around the coffee table (Adrian had relinquished his seat to be on the floor), and a pile of wooden shards and broken planks where the dining chairs and table used to be. Adrian held an ice pack to his cheek, while Yuri's head had been bandaged, and Damian could clearly see where the blood had dripped onto the collar of his shirt, while Loid massaged a bruised neck.
In amongst them all, Yor was the only one who sat primly, and unharmed. Holding a gun in her lap.
Damian gulped. Maybe it was a mistake to come back. They had clearly interrupted something important…
His foot slid backwards without his permission, ready to propel him to make a run for it, but he forced himself to stay still. Didn't he say to Anya that he would come back with her? That he would try to talk to her parents again?
"What's going on?" Anya said as her eyes swept the room, but in an instant Anya had jolted in a way that Damian had immediately recognised: she had read something important from their minds.
"Are you serious?" She exclaimed. "You're working together?"
If Damian didn't know Anya, he would have assumed that she meant it in an angry way, but her eyebrows had flown upwards in shock, and her eyes sparkled with unmitigated delight.
Yuri was the only one that looked even the slightest bit sheepish, while Adrian sat cross-legged on the floor with an eager look in his eyes, and Yor had shown her interest by leaning towards the coffee table.
Loid was the first to break the silence, as he swiftly rolled up the large piece of paper in front of them. "Okay everyone, let's leave it there, and come back to it at a later date."
Yor and Adrian nodded eagerly, while Yuri hmphed, but all had gotten the signal; the discussion was over, and it was time to go.
Meanwhile, Loid flicked his gaze between Damian and Anya, and not for the first time since Damian walked out the door, Loid remembered part of what was at stake for the entire family.
"So, did you both manage to, er, smooth things over?"
Anya hesitated, and glanced briefly over at her boyfriend as she remembered their entire conversation over the course of the evening.
Did they manage? She wasn't entirely sure if they had accomplished it, but she did feel… lighter. Somehow there was a sense that the ground had managed to slide itself back under her feet, giving her a sense that the earth wasn't as shaky as it was just a couple of hours previously. Yet, Anya didn't know what to say, because they also had their first argument (kind of), and Damian did seem really stressed, and they didn't really come to a proper agreement about what they were going to do next -
"I'm not going to tell anyone, if that's what you mean," Damian effortlessly answered for the both of them, and Anya sagged with relief.
Well. At least that was one less thing for her to worry about. Even though there was a small voice inside her mind that warned her it was too easy. He obviously didn't mean it. Maybe he only said what he thought they all wanted to hear, maybe he had his own ulterior motive - but Anya squashed the voice down.
He was trying. They talked. It was going to be okay. It had to be. She didn't know what she would do if he was only pretending for their sake-
"Can we come back tomorrow?" Adrian piped up excitedly, but at the word 'tomorrow' something snapped in Damian's memory.
"Wait!" Damian exclaimed. He didn't even hesitate to rush straight up to Loid. "Tomorrow, can we still - you know-"
"Oh that's right," Loid snapped his fingers in recognition, as if the idea had just come back to him. (As if Twilight would have forgotten about the son of his target!) "You wanted that lesson. Are you sure you want to go tomorrow? I understand it's been a long day for you today, so we can always reschedule-"
"Please," Damian gasped and cleared his throat. "I really need to… to do this. It can't wait."
Loid paused, and slowly regarded the young man in front of him. He didn't expect that Damian would be so anxious to learn from him, especially after the events of the evening. He had thought that the shock of multiple revelations would have given Damian some pause, or at least made him question whether he would want to spend any more time in the Forger's company. After all, he was the second son of the Desmond's, and he had his security to think about - why willingly risk coming into close contact with a confirmed assassin?
Anya must have done more to reassure him than he would have thought possible.
"Tomorrow, then," Loid nodded, and took a mental note that Damian seemed relieved.
Meanwhile, Adrian and Yuri had retrieved their bags, and made to leave the apartment for the evening, but as Adrian brushed by Damian and Anya, he stopped, letting Yuri go on ahead.
He seemed to be waiting for something, but he didn't notice that just his mere presence made Anya tense up and sharpen her gaze at him.
"I won't apologise for punching you in the face," Anya huffed and crossed her arms.
Adrian winced. "No, I deserved it," he sighed apologetically, and scrunched up his eyes, as if he was experiencing the pain of the memory of her punching him. "But, uh, since I'm here, I think I have something that-"
"Adrian! Hurry up and get down here!" Yuri's voice called from the stairwell. "Are you trying to bother my sister?!"
"Just a second!" Adrian called back, and then he slung his bag over his shoulder and reached into it, pulling out a video tape.
"This belongs to you," he said in hushed tones, clearly hoping that Yuri wouldn't be able to hear him, and he shoved the video tape in Anya's hands. "Just don't tell him I gave it to you." He disappeared quickly down the stairs, without a backwards glance, or even a 'goodbye', or waiting for a 'thank you'.
Anya's eyes flicked downwards to see the title of the tape, and she froze, immediately drawing Damian's attention to her. He couldn't help it - he had seen her fearful reaction far too often, and her quiet panic sent his mind into overdrive.
"What is it?" he worried instantly. "What did he give you?"
Anya's hand trembled as she wordlessly handed the tape over to Damian, and his stomach dropped when he read the words clearly labelled on the side:
Test Subject 007 - AC1168
Damian's throat went dry, and a memory flashed in his vision: a wall of labelled videotapes, in Subject order, lined up like soldiers in the Director's office at the lab. The labelling was unmistakable, so he knew that whatever was on that tape was definitely not good.
Adrian must have taken it from the SSS evidence archives, but why steal it from them, and give it to Anya? How long had he had the tape just lying in his bag?
He startled out of his memory when Anya gripped the sleeve of his shirt with a tight fist, her eyes wide and manic.
"Promise me," Anya whispered hoarsely. "Promise me that you will destroy that thing."
It wasn't that Damian was confused, or particularly shocked by Anya's reaction, but after the crazy events of the evening, he did wonder how much she really trusted him. She couldn't tell him about her family… but she could give this? Something that would no doubt hold bad memories that she hid from her own self, from everyone else… and yet she would give them to him, just like that?
"You want me to take this?"
"Just promise me!" Anya cried out. "I can't look at it. I can't touch it. Please can you just take it far away from me so that I'll never see it again!"
"Okay, okay!" Damian hurried to stuff the tape in his bag, before he turned back to her. "There, it's gone. I'll take it away."
And just like that, he found himself with his arms around her again, like they had never left, like he was always meant to hold her close to him. Anya's shoulders visibly relaxed as she sighed into him, and clutched to the back of his shirt like he was the only thing keeping her upright. Her sheer relief warmed his heart, and he hoped that after everything that happened today, Anya would understand just how much he really wanted to be there for her, no matter the weight of the secrets she held, no matter the cost.
Damian cleared his throat. "I'd better go," he said quietly, and glanced at Loid and Yor, who had been pretending not to notice his attempt to reassure her. "I'll see you in class on Monday?"
Anya gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and pulled back from the hug. "If you survive shooting practice with Papa!"
"Very funny," Damian laughed dryly, and he tried not to think about the possible implications of what Anya had just said. "Somehow, I'm sure I'll manage."
He tried to keep his thoughts under control as he gathered his belongings back up, and cautiously exchanged goodbyes with the Forgers, before leaving with Hugh to go back to the school.
As soon as Anya was sure that Damian was completely out of her range, she gathered her courage and her strength, and went back to her parents.
If the dining table still existed, she would have slammed her palms on it to get their attention, but she didn't need to do that. Twilight had anticipated that Anya would have questions about what they had planned, and he sat patiently in the living room while he waited for her to come to him.
Anya slowly lowered herself onto the floor, by the coffee table where she had seen them all laying out their plans.
"You were talking about Damian's father, weren't you?"
Twilight nodded, knowing that she had probably seen snippets of the plans in all of their minds. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Anya looked at the floor. "It's not like I have a choice, right?" She tried to say it lightheartedly, and keep the heavy guilt out of her voice, but her father knew her better than that.
"No, you don't," he replied honestly, his voice carrying the weight of his own guilt. "I'm sorry. I wish there was another way."
Anya closed her eyes, willing the stinging sensation to go away, along with the increasingly heavy ache in her already-broken heart.
Did she ever have a choice? Would there ever have been another way? More and more, Anya was coming to terms with the fact that the answer to both of those questions was a final and burdensome 'no'. Twilight had made sure of that, when he chose her for his mission twelve years ago. She never had a choice, because he had sealed her fate for her.
Anya steadied herself before opening her eyes again, and meeting Twilight's heavy gaze.
It was too late to wish that things were different.
It was always too late.
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And that wraps up the Forger Dinner Disaster mini-arc, but we're not over the final hurdle yet! This is the Reveal Arc after all...
Next chapter Saturday! (I can't wait. Some shit is gonna go doooowwn)
Also, I want to say a huge thank you to all of you who read this story, and have stuck with it for all this time. I keep saying that this is a massive project and I really mean it, it takes so much effort and work behind the scenes to plan it all out and keep the threads/subplots running and its an absolute headache at times so I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your support. It quite literally keeps me going! Thank you all so much, and you will soon be rewarded for your incredible patience ?