You Can Go Home Again (But maybe you shouldn't) V1 Season 2, Story 2

by MistyMay6886

When Simon gets a call from an old friend back home for help he agrees- somebody needs help, that's all he needs to know. Raphael's less sure. He's the only one of the group who knows just how hard growing up was for Simon and he doesn't want him to have to face all that alone. Raphael, Alec and Magnus go to help him out. That's good- he's gonna need all the help he can get.

9. Chapter 9- well that's one way

{-:-:-:-=}=Multiverse Mysteries={-:-:-:-=}

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-Pseudo Psychic Verse *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

*~1~*

Chapter 9: Well That's One Way To Make An Entrance...

Chapter Notes:

Hey look, I'm not dead!

SO sorry for the unexpected hiatus- I know it's been months . It really wasn't intentional. Honestly the election really hit me hard and put me into a major funk and I just couldn't get into a writing headspace.

I got through that by about Christmas but then this year it's like every time I turned around there was something else in the real world to deal with: lot of home repairs, fridge went out, dryer went out, work is super busy and my schedule is all haphazard, a family members work slowed to a crawl and they're laid off and it looks like it might go under altogether so they're now home all the time (which is okay it's getting sorted it's just really hard for me to write when I don't have time to myself). So yeah things seem like they're getting to a more even keel and I'm hoping I can get back to more regular updates but just know if I don't update it's not for lack of trying.

Lastly this honestly should have been at least two chapters but I don't have the space so just settle in, it's a long one.

Thanks for listening and so glad to be back.

{*} *-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-* {*}

"Will you stop with the boots! They're really not THAT bad."

"No, they really, really are."

Simon laughed, shaking his head once more at him delightfully snarky boyfriend as he shifts, slipping out of the truck, Raphael following close behind. On the other side Alec and Magnus clambered out, the quartet making its way up to the quaintly rustic log cabin.

As they reach the front steps the group slowed, catching sight of Desi at the door fumbling with his keys, irritatedly muttering under his breath. Simon blinked, head tilting curiously, gesturing towards the door.

"What's up Desi?"

He huffed, shrugging in confusion, gesturing towards the door.

"Key's not working."

Simon blinked, slipping closer.

"Wha-why? You trying the right one?"

Desi nodded, holding it out, showing Simon the bright metallic red key with the apple engraved on the top of it.

"Positive- kinda hard to miss. Don't know why it's not working."

Raphael shifted forward, dark gaze flickering over the doorjamb curiously, holding up a finger.

"I do- lock's been changed."

Desi startled, shaking his head.

"What? No it hasn't! It worked fine yesterday."

Raphael glanced over, brow quirking.

"You came over?"

Desi shrugged, brow quirking right back.

"Well, yeah, course I did, yesterday morning. It was my last move before I gave up and called Si. Like I said I was really worried. The call scared the hell out of me and I was trying to figure out what was going on. I came by to see if I could find anything suspicious but I didn't see anything."

Simon hummed, nodding.

"Okay, so the locks have been changed within the last day. That definitely seems like something."

Alec hummed, moving over by his side, leaning in to inspect the lock before glancing over at Desi, brow quirking.

"Well it could be. Or it could be the property owners changing the locks after their renter left. You said he was renting the place, right?"

Desi shrugged, giving a faint nod.

"Well yeah, but he was obsessive about keeping everything ahead of due dates. His rent was paid up clear to the end of the year. Besides it's owned by Bob and Nancy Whitmore and they're out of town for at least the next month. They're back east visiting their new grandkids." He glanced over at Simon.

"Masie had twins, a boy and a guy. It's their first grandkids, they're over the moon, can't think about anything else." He shrugged, giving a bit of a wave, head again shaking, glancing around at the rest of the group.

"And even if they were in town they wouldn't just drop everything to swap it out. When Ty moved in they'd told him it'd be about a month before they could get the locksmith out to change it. Ty ended up doing it himself."

Magnus hummed softly, head tilting, sharp espresso dark eyes slipping over the porch, taking in everything, nodding distractedly.

"Alright so not the property owners and the renter fled town three days ago. So who would change the locks?"

The group exchanged glances, shrugging. Raphael hummed softly, slipping closer, sharp, dark gaze flickering over the locks, gesturing over towards Desi.

"My guess is someone who did not want Drake here snooping around."

Desi started, head tilting.

"What?"

Raphael shrugged, giving a slightly careless wave towards the door.

"You change locks to ensure someone who had a key no longer has access. You used your key; it's changed within the day. Stands to reason whoever changed them did so to keep you out."

"Whoa, wait. You think someone knows I was here? Like whoever took Tyrin? You think they were watchin' the place, maybe are right now?" Desi swallowed, blinking, looking around wearily at the thick surrounding woods.

Raphael sighed, head tilting concedingly.

"I suppose that is a possibility but I don't think that is too likely. Changing the locks right after you came by would be about the worse way to hide evidence. It would do little more than make you more suspicious." He sighed, shaking his head, glancing almost apologetically over at Desi.

"In all honesty I couldn't see changing the locks being a plausible way to hide evidence- at least not at this point. Maybe if they had changed them when they took him it could have be written off as something he did to show he was gone for good but at this point it would do nothing but draw more attention.

It really does not make sense for someone to change locks on a property that wasn't theirs. You don't genuinely change the locks on someone else's place."

Desi started, looking over in disbelief.

"Wa-wait. You think it's Tyrin? Like he's back?"

Raphael sighed, giving a bit of a fluttery wave.

"It does make the most sense."

Desi shook his head.

"No it doesn't. How does that make sense?"

Alec shrugged, shifting closer.

"Ockham's razor; simplest answer is usually the right one. It's far more likely someone changed the locks on their own place rather than some evil entity kidnapping reporters and running surveillance scrambling to badly cover up some shady doings." He paused, glancing over at Desi.

"He was a reporter working undercover on a big story. On the call he said the Powell's got wind of his investigation. Given how much influence the family has here it would make sense for him to rabbit when things got too hot."

Magnus nodded, pointing over to him, bouncing lightly on his heels.

"Exactly! And you said he was extremely organized. An organized person would have a contingency plan. That would go triple for one who was working a dangerous job undercover." He shifted, giving a soft, fluttery wave, head tilting slowly, clearly replaying the recording in his head.

"He said whatever happens, however it goes down; he's fine. He can take care of himself. That he is far tougher than he looks. He completely believed that. He was not worried about himself.

He was confident whatever this turned into he has dealt with worse." He sighed, head tilting slowly, sharp brown eyes shifting slowly over the porch, giving a flickering little wave, moving slow and purposeful, as if in a trance.

"Not once on the recording did he say anything about dropping the story or in any way backing off of his investigation. He was a highly organized, determined professional and he was seeing this through to the end. He knew his cover was blown but it sounds like he had been ready for that.

If he's still working the story he's not going to go too far. He'd have to have somewhere close by that he can hole up. Close enough to continue his work but with enough distance to keep from being spotted. Seems as if it'd be easier said than done in a town filled with nosey busybodies where everyone feels they have carte blanche over others personal lives. It is odd and would be quite difficult, but not impossible- especially if he was as organized as you said.

He was a planner, someone who worked out every move, every angle, every possible issue or complication. He was confident when he spoke of himself, of his ability to handle it…he knew HE had it covered…at least where he was concerned.

However any planner worth their salt knows there are always going to be some kind of weaknesses or unknown variables…" he paused, humming softly, head tilting, those sharp, impossibly dark eyes flickering back to Desi, brow quirking, holding up one finger, pointing.

"You were an unknown variable, his biggest weakness. He had a plan for how to handle himself. He did not have one to handle you."

Desi swallowed, kind of fidgeting under the intense dark gaze.

"What do you mean?"

Simon gave a faintly disbelieving laugh, catching his eye, brow quirking.

"Desi? Come on- there's no way someone could have a plan for you. YOU barely ever have a plan for you! You're impulsive and passionate and just this side of crazy on a good day. There's no planning for that." He nodded, glancing over, gesturing towards Magnus.

"Mags's right; he was worried about you getting involved, maybe drawing the attention of the people he was looking into. His fear about that was absolutely legit.

So he has a contingency plan. Things get tough he goes underground and finishes his assignment. Maybe he keeps an eye on the place to see if the Powell's come sniffing around.

If he was watching for them and instead saw you it could have scared the hell out of him. He was genuinely worried about you getting involved, possibly putting yourself in danger over him. That could explain why he risked coming back to change the locks. He wanted to keep you safe.

And Raph's definitely got a point. Changing the locks at this point to cover up a crime or hide evidence makes no sense- this kinda does."

Desi swallowed, shaking his head.

"I-b-but-How would he even do that?"

Simon shrugged, looking thoughtfully around the porch.

"Maybe he still has his camera feeds transmitting to wherever he's holed up." He paused, glancing over, head tilting questioningly.

"Did you happen to check if he'd taken the cameras?"

"What? He didn't have any security cameras."

Simon huffed, brow quirking.

"Wha-no…of course he did. He'd of had to."

"Why wh-"

Simon blinked in disbelief, brow rising even more.

"Dude, come on! You said he was a reporter working undercover on some clandestine, cloak and dagger type story investigating a shady company ran by the most powerful family in town! No way in hell someone like that wouldn't have some kind of security system."

Desi faltered, shifting, giving a slight shrug, hesitantly nodding.

"I-w-well…yeah that'd make sense but he didn't have one."

"Yes he did- still does." Raphael piped up.

Desi started, looking over at the shorter man, shaking his head.

"What no he d-"

"Three cameras just out here." He reached up, lightly tapping a small glass circle in the elaborate brass filigree around the porch light.

"Pinhole cameras, easy to conceal…" He shifted, holding up a finger, deftly pointing.

"One here in the porch light, one in the sensor light by the pathway up and one hidden in the rooster weathervane on the top of the cabin."

Desi blinked in surprise, looking around disbelievingly at the places Raphael had mentioned.

"What? How did y-"

Raphael gave a casual shrug, flashing a somewhat smug little smirk.

"I have my ways. I do work part time in a psychic detective's office. I got a few tricks up my sleeve."

Magnus chuckled, nodding, flashing an impish little smile.

"Far more than a few sweetheart. And those are some really good catches. Good - but not great. There's actually nine. You missed the one over by the woodpile and the other in the animatronic squirrel about halfway up that ponderosa pine."

Raphael huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Showoff…and that's only five, how'd you get nine?"

Magnus shrugged, head tilting back towards the driveway.

"There were four hidden in the trees and brush between here and the off turn from the main road about a quarter mile up. That's just out here. Someone with this kind of set up's near certain to have some around the house as well.

Guy's definitely got a thing for security. That's good. We may be able to wrap this up quite quickly."

"Here's hoping." Alec flashed a faint smile towards his boyfriend, nodding approvingly before shifting over to Desi.

"You really had no idea there were any cameras?"

Desi shook his head, eyes wide, shifting somewhat uncomfortably. Simon slipped a bit closer, hesitantly reaching over, resting his hand on Desi's arm, lightly squeezing.

"Hey this is a good thing, right? Like Mags said we could have a lot of information. It's another avenue to explore at least. That's good, yeah?"

Desi swallowed, nodding.

"Y-yeah…"

Raphael quirked his eyebrow, head tilting, sharp, dark gaze flickering over the taller man.

"Hmm…you seem a bit nervous. Something you need to tell us? Is there perhaps some other reason he would be changing the locks if he saw you coming over?"

Desi startled faintly, blinking in confusion before huffing, flashing a faint glare, rolling his eyes, waving him off.

"No, no, nothin' like that. I didn't do anything and I want to know what happened. If it's Ty this is a pretty clear sign and despite what you think I do know how to take those. If we find out for sure he left on his own I'll back off, I swear. The only reason I'm doing this is to make sure he's okay." he paused, shifting, giving a kind of uncomfortable shrug, reaching up, scratching at the back of his neck.

"It's just we spent a lot of time up here-like together, you know? It's romantic and secluded and it's really nice to just stretch out under the stars together. It's just weirding me out knowing that this whole time the place was covered with cameras and my brain's kinda spinnin' and spiralin' on what exactly those cameras might have caught."

Raphael shifted, attitude somewhat softening, giving a slight hiss and cringe.

"Oof…Okay yeah, fair point. And must admit it's pretty messed up he didn't give you a heads up about the cameras. That's a major overstep. Sorry."

Simon sighed, flashing a warm, approving smile at his boyfriend before shifting over to Desi, giving an empathic little smile and shrug.

"That's really rough. Sorry Desi. But I'm sure he had a good reason. I mean it's not like he was some smarmy creep voyeur secretly recording their trysts. He was just a guy with a dangerous job trying to keep safe."

Desi sighed, nodding faintly, giving a slight shrug.

"Yeah…that's true. And I know anything that was recorded with us will never go past him and you know me; I've never been the shy type. Honestly if I'd of known about them I may have even asked him for copies." He gave a faint chuckle, shrugging.

"Hell maybe that's exactly why he didn't tell me. In any case it's not anything like that. I trust him completely. It's just really weird, that's all."

Simon rolled his eyes faintly before nodding, flashing a slight reassuring smile.

"Okay, that actually makes a lot of sense. But even if you would have been fine with it had you known it still must be a major shock and pretty unsettling. With any luck at least the weirdness and shock won't be in vain. We should have footage of the locks being changed-maybe even footage of the actual night he left. That would answer everything.

We have to get a better look at that camera." He paused, glancing expectantly over at his boyfriend.

Raphael nodded, smiling, shifting closer to the porch light, head tilting. He reaches up, delicately lifting the decorative filigree plated cover, setting it aside, revealing a small, sleek silver object about half the size of a ring box. Raphael slowly reached up, just barely lifting the device before suddenly pausing, leaning in a bit closer.

"Hmm…well that's rather clever."

"What?" Simon asked, shifting closer, looking on in interest, catching sight of a delicate looking transparent strand of wire stretching from the little silver box into the base of the light fixture.

"What's that? Power hook up? Thought they were battery operated or wireless or whatever. Is it like a back-up power source in case the battery dies?"

Raphael shook his head, giving a soft chuckle.

"No, this isn't a power source. This is a kill switch."

"A what?!" Desi started, clambering closer, looking over the little device and wire before shifting back to Raphael, eyes wide, Magnus and Alec moving in closer at well.

Raphael nodded distractedly, shifting the device ever so gently to give a better view, raising his hand, pointing delicately at the little barely perceivable wire.

"A kill switch. If someone tries to remove the camera without disconnecting the wire it'll cause an electrical surge in the device, frying the internal memory and rendering it completely unusable." He huffed out one more faintly impressed little chuckle, glancing over at Desi, brow quirking.

"Damn, your guy's good."

Desi rapidly blinked, giving a somewhat shaky nod.

"I know…guess I didn't know how good."

"Right?" Simon exclaimed, animatedly nodding.

Alec nodded as well, shifting forward, holding up his phone, quickly snapping a few pictures from different angles of the device, Magnus doing the same. Simon slipped closer, settling right against Raphael's shoulder, looking over the little filament and camera, glancing hopefully over at his boyfriend.

"You think you can unhook it without triggering it?"

"Of course Mi amor." Raphael murmured, carefully turning the camera enough to see the connector, holding it steady.

Without looking away he reaches in his front pocket, pulling out a small inconspicuous leather pouch. He sets the little lock picking set on the base of the light fixture, opening it, fishing out a small, sharp tool. Using the tool he gently presses a small tab, the little plastic piece with the imbedded wire releasing.

"Here we go. Mags?" Raphael shifts, turning back to the others.

Magnus leans forward, already holding open the medium sized evidence bag he'd retrieved from his dark purple snake print satchel, 'porch light-camera 1' scribbled across the front in Magnus's distinctive, scrawling script. Raphael smiled approvingly, dropping it into the bag, Mags zipping it closed before holding it up for the group to get a better look.

"Perfect. If he had that set up it has to have an internal memory."

Raphael nodded, moving closer.

"Definitely. And that's not just the run of the mill nanny cam you'd snag off the shelf at Wal-Mart." He paused, pointing at a small sigil on the bottom of the camera base.

"See the little eye looking emblem? It's HaraVision tech. They do some of the most advanced security systems in the world. A lot of the labs on my route use them. These things are top of the line. Lots of internal memory along with all the bells and whistles; thermal imaging, panoramic views, high definition, even infrared.

From what I have heard they even have multiple government contracts. I don't even know for sure if they're available to private citizens. Each camera's a couple grand, minimum."

Alec blinked in shock, head shaking, sharp hazely green eyes flickering over the camera before slipping around the rest of the property taking in the different places Raphael and Magnus had pointed out cameras, finally shifting back to the others.

"Seriously? That's like two hundred grand just out here. Guy's a reporter moonlighting as a waiter! How would he have that kind of equipment?"

Magnus shrugged, shaking his head.

"His employers? If it's that big of a story."

Alec gave a somewhat unsure shrug.

"I mean if they were being used to get solid evidence or proof or whatever for the story then maybe but these aren't even being used on the story. They're being used for his own, personal security. Would a news organization really spend that much money on security for one reporter?"

Magnus shrugged, head tilting.

"I suppose it would again depend on the story."

Alec sighed, faintly shaking his head.

"I still don't know, something just doesn't fit. And why would he rig them to go up in smoke? Regardless of the importance of the story I couldn't see that flying."

Magnus hummed noncommittally, giving a bit of a fluttery wave, glancing over at his boyfriend, brow quirking.

"Survival instincts? Maybe if he was tapping into the feed from somewhere else he was worried someone else could? Perhaps even use them to find him? Losing that much equipment would be a major loss but if you're weighing two hundred grand against your literal life it doesn't seem quite as farfetched."

Alec blinked, head again shaking.

"But really, are those the stakes here? This is the investigation into a shady company in a small town, not some biker gang or psychotic hate group. This seems pretty damn excessive for dealing with a shifty company."

Raphael hummed softly, tilting his head.

"Depends on exactly how shady the company is. What could Powell Production possibly be up to that's big enough to justify this level of caution?"

The four glanced between each other before shifting over to Desi. The taller man started, placatingly holding his hands up.

"Hey don't look at me; I'm more lost now then I was when he first disappeared. He told me he was a reporter. That he was looking into Powell Production and that they were into something really shady. That's all he said. All I know."

Simon glanced around the group before taking a deep breath, giving a slight nod.

"Okay well there's no sense trying to speculate. Maybe it's this huge, insane earth shattering story that could justify this. Maybe he's used to cases where it's that level of stakes and he's just going by his usual playbook or-hell, who knows, maybe he's got a buddy in the surveillance company and they give him a break on the discontinued models so he has an entire storage unit full of them.

There's no way to know for sure and we're not gonna figure it out standing around out here spinning theories. All we can do is follow the evidence and work the case." He shifted, holding up a finger, giving a faint wave with his other hand.

"One positive between the techy cameras and the kill switch thing whatever it was he would have seen it coming-literally. Also, I'm pretty sure whatever this turned into he did have a pretty good handle on it. Now we need to get one." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, squaring his shoulders trying to stop the spinning and spiraling and just focus using the tricks Magnus and Raphael had taught him.

He took one more deep breath, slowly letting it out before blinking his eyes open, centering himself, slowly pacing the porch.

"Okay. Enough of this. No more theories or guesswork. We need to focus on facts, data and evidence, nothing else. We have the voicemail, we have the camera- and absurdly expensive, top of the line camera that was rigged with a kill switch to destroy it if it's not properly removed- and we have locks changed within the last day.

The cameras are gonna be our best bet but those have to wait till we get back to the house. We have this one but I really don't think we should take any others unless it seems absolutely necessary. If Tyrin is the one that changed the locks taking them wouldn't be evidence collection it'd just be theft. Beside if he is using them to survey his own property I don't want to mess that up for him or screw anything up for his story.

We'll take this one; make sure we document all the others.

In all honesty before we do anything else we should probably stop here, take the camera and check to see who changed the locks as if it's Tyrin we have no cause to go past that and entering now that we no longer have a key is pretty blatant trespassing." He sighed, reaching up, brushing a few wayward honey brown curls behind his ear, giving a slightly unsure little shrug.

"That being said there is the possibility it wasn't him. That Desi is right and there is someone behind his disappearance and Desi showing up spooked them so badly they felt the need to scramble to cut off his access to the place in hope of hiding something they missed.

If him showing up alone spooked them then him coming back with four other people, one blatantly obviously some kind of cop- no offense Alec- searching the place could scare the hell out of them and then there's no telling what their next flailing move might possibly be.

If there's potentially evidence of a crime someone missed in there we need to find it before they have another chance to get rid of it." Simon glanced over at Desi, flashing one more reassuring little smile before shifting back to the others, continuing on.

"Okay we need to be thorough, methodical and hyper vigilant." He paused, head tilting, glancing over at Magnus, Raphael and Alec, flashing a bit of a smirk.

"Don't think we have an issue with that."

The other three chuckled, nodding. Simon huffed out a soft laugh before turning to Desi, flashing a reassuring smile.

"Desi I don't know what this is but we will figure it out. I admit as of right now I'm thinking Tyrin leaving on his own seems the most likely option but if he didn't or there were some kind of shady circumstances surrounding his disappearance then that means someone thinks there's something in there worth hiding. I say we find out what the hell it could be and go from there. That sound okay to you?"

Desi swallowed, nodding.

"Yeah whatever this is I need to know. I'm hoping you guys are right and he's just this badass firebrand reporter going above and beyond for his story but until I know for sure I won't be able to stop worrying.

We need to know-I need to know." He paused, shifting, kinda unsure, glancing over at the door, hesitantly holding up a finger.

"But uh…my key doesn't work anymore. How are we gonna get in?"

Simon chuckled softly, waving him off.

"Yeah, also not an issue with us; Raph?" He paused, glancing over at his boyfriend, brow quirking.

Raphael gave a magnanimous head tilt and little wink, once more retrieving his lock picking kit, turning to the door. He shifts, lifting two little metal tools, doing a quick little flick and twist, the sharp sound of the deadbolt clicking over sounding loud and clear.

Simon flashes a smile of thanks, beginning to reach for the doorknob but Raphael caught his hand, squeezing gently, tugging him back away from the door. Simon blinks in confusion, brow quirking.

Raphael held up his hand placatingly before slowly reaching forward, cautiously turning the knob, head cocked, listening intently. He paused a moment before pushing open the door just the slightest crack, waiting a few beats before slowly shifting over, just enough to see inside. Seemingly finally seemingly satisfied he shifts back, pushing the door open the rest of the way, holding it open for the others, giving a fluttery wave forward.

Simon quirked his eyebrow, head tilting curiously. Raphael shrugged, flashing a quick smile, nodding over towards the porch light.

"Just checking to make sure there are no unpleasant surprises. I didn't think it was too likely however given that I thought it's best to be sure. We're all clear though. Go on in, just keep your eyes peeled and watch where you step."

Magnus and Alec nodded slipping past him into the cabin. Desi blinked, somewhat confused gaze flickering over Raphael and Simon, slowing a bit before shaking his head, falling into step behind the other two. Simon hung back a bit, slipping closer to Raphael, chuckling softly, nudging him, giving a playfully exasperated eye roll.

"Yeah, yeah you're just doing that cause you know how sexy it is when you're all take charge and mysterious. God, you are SUCH a show off."

Raphael gave a soft, low chuckle, flashing another flirty, mysterious little wink, reaching over, catching Simon's hand, lifting it to his lips, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the back of his hand, looking up, catching his eye.

"Only with you Amour."

Simon snorted, brow quirking pointedly. Raphael chuckled, concedingly tilting his head.

"Okay fair. But you're the only one that I actually get a thrill it when it works."

Simon hummed softly, turning his hand, squeezing Raphael's, leaning in, lightly brushing a soft kiss just beside Raphael's ear, nuzzling lightly.

"Lucky for you that always works."

Raphael shivered, squeezing his hand, leaning a bit heavier against the door jamb, swallowing, pointing back at Simon.

"Ditto."

Hmm…damn how'd he ever get so lucky?

He really has no clue but god he's so grateful he did.

Simon laughed softly, squeezing his hand, pressing one more soft kiss to his cheek, unable to stop a faint sigh, a slightly smug little smirk tugging at his lips, flashing a flirty little wink at Raphael before startling, remembering they're on a job. He pulls back, shaking his head, trying to force his mind onto the investigation, finally making his way into the cabin, Raphael closing the door behind them, automatically falling into step.

Okay enough Raphael distraction, you're working.

He shook his head again, pulling his focus away from his beguiling boyfriend, catching sight of Alec and Magnus already fast at work, moving in opposite directions, making their way through the living room, snapping pictures, cataloging everything. Simon took a deep breath, relaxing faintly, slowly retrieving his own phone from his pocket, beginning his own circle before pausing, blinking in surprise.

The cabin was small but rather cozy with an open floor plan. Very open. In fact from where he's standing he can basically take in the entirety of the cabin. There's a coat closet just beside him, a rather large living room that blends seamlessly into the kitchen and dining room on the opposite side of the cabin, a bathroom just a bit off to the right with a linen closet, a single bedroom and a small laundry room with an open accordion door nestled by the back door in the kitchen- and that it. That's the entire place.

Well, if anything it shouldn't be too hard to search.

Although…huh…

The space is clean-fastidiously so- but not what he would classify as cleared out. Desi did say it was a rental and came fully furnished but even so it looks a fair bit less empty than he was expecting. It does seem near obsessively clean and organized; everything perfectly in place, to a near unnatural degree.

The centerpiece of the home is the large stone fireplace the front covered with a folding screen perfectly bracketed by an assortment of logs stacked neatly in the log holder on one side, the matching holder with the tools on the other. They're immaculately clean and angled just so- he kind of wonders if they've ever even been used or if they're just for aesthetics. Same goes with the perfectly arranged logs, he swears they're organized by color darkest to light.

Above the fireplace the mantle is polished clean. It's adorned with two tall amethyst geodes and a set of deer bookends bracketing an antique oil lamp. Once more everything placed perfectly and angled just so.

Situated in front of the fireplace is a large rug and a huge redwood coffee table. The table is quite unusual, it looked like someone had taken an entire redwood stump, sanded down the top, slapped a bunch of lacquer on it and called it a table. Despite the rough, rustic style and its uniquely irregular shape it- like everything else- seems to be perfectly placed, dead center in the middle of the rug.

Also like everything else the table is immaculately clean, the deep cherry red wood polished to a gleaming shine, not so much as a smudge or fingerprint to be found. In the very center of the table there's a small metal holder with a set of wildlife themed drink coasters, a decorative brass deer statue and an oversized vase filled with pinecones and potpourri lending the entire cabin an earthy, somewhat spicy scent.

On the other side of the coffee table there's a forest green couch with a soft southwestern patterned blanket folded neatly over the back. The couch is bracketed by a matching pair of leather armchairs, each with a tribal patterned turquoise, burnt orange and cream colored throw pillow sat in them, once again angled just so to where the chairs are perfect mirrors of each other.

On the wall between the linen closet and the bedroom there's a massive pair of bookcases packed near to bursting with novels, travel and nature guides and a wide range of historical books about the region. Intermingled with the books are statues and little oil paintings of birds and other local wildlife, an old-fashioned clock, a vintage style rotary phone, a rather striking brass globe and multiple candles tucked in here and there amongst the shelves and cubbies.

At a glance they nearly look like they could be cluttered but yet again when Simon looks closer he can see a clear pattern to how the knickknacks and curios are laid out- and the books and guides seem to be organized again by color.

Beside the book cases a large antique cherry wood grandfather clock stands in the corner just outside the bedroom door, its slow, deliberate ticking the only sound cutting through the silence. As with everything else it's polished to a gleam and perfectly placed with exactly the same amount of space between it and the book case and it and the bedroom door.

Hmm…okay this is just odd. The place is so precise it nearly feels staged but the level of precision seems almost compulsory. Everything is absolutely exact, it's almost unnerving. More to that it doesn't in any way feel cleared out. There's so many touches, so many little things.

How odd…

Simon hums softly, head tilting, snapping a few more pictures before moving slowly into the bedroom, taking in the scene. The room most definitely looks more cleared out than the living room, and yet still Simon sees far more left behind than he'd expect. There's an empty steamer trunk at the foot of the bed, a few nature paintings and a rather odd pair of copper rooster wall hangers situated on either side of the window.

There's no bedding, it's stripped down to the mattress but dead center on the nightstand is a small antique jewelry box. The box is open, a clean gold pocket watch and simple pair of diamond stud earrings setting inside.

The closet door is open and completely empty, not so much as a stray hanger or speck of lint left. The dresser drawers are pulled out and empty but folded neatly on top of the dresser are two black tank tops and a dark blue dress shirt.

Coming out of the bedroom Simon makes his way into the kitchen, taking in the soft yellow lace trimmed curtains hang over the sink, an odd retro avocado green fridge and oven and clean bleached wood counters. Beside the stove an assortment of blue stoneware pots and pans hang from a decorative rack.

Just like the living room and bedroom it appears to be near obsessively clean. He doesn't see so much as a speck of dust, dirt or a crumb on any surface. Everything is spotless, clean to the point that again it nearly feels staged. Opening the fridge Simon is rather surprised to find it cleaned out- with the rest of the place he'd honestly half expected it to still be stocked.

Hmm…again…how odd.

Simon sighed softly, not sure what was going on here but having a bit of a prickling feeling slip over him. He hums, moving back into the living room, making his way over to the coat closet, glancing in before pausing, blinking in surprise, reaching up, running his hand over the soft beat up brown leather jacket.

Huh…

He turned, holding the closet door open, the others gathering together clearly all done with their walk through. Glancing at their faces Simon can see they're just as perplexed, and quasi suspicious as he is. He looks up, catching Drake's eyes, head tilting curiously, faintly shaking his head.

"Desi? What's going on here? You said the place was cleaned out, that he'd taken his things."

He swallowed, shifting faintly, reaching up, scratching at the back of his neck.

"He did."

Simon huffed, brow quirking, gesturing animatedly, tugging on the jacket sleeve for emphasis.

"There's a jacket hanging in the coat closet, a stack of shirts on the dresser, a pair of earrings and a watch in the jewelry box on the nightstand and a blanket on th-wait…" he paused, shifting, moving over closer to the couch.

He hums softly, settling behind the couch, gingerly picking up the edge of the blanket, running his fingers over the soft, somewhat faded fabric with the he's just now realizing oddly familiar turquoise, copper red and white patterning, gaze slipping from the warm cozy blanket back over to Drake.

"Desi? This was one of Dottie's blankets. It's yours."

Desi took a deep breath, hesitantly nodding, giving a faint shrug.

"It was Tyrin's favorite whenever he was over at my place so I'd brought it over for him."

Magnus nodded, shifting forward.

"And the jacket and shirts, those are yours as well, yes?"

Desi swallowed, nodding, shifting, folding his arms.

"Yeah they are. And the pocket watch I got Ty for his birthday last year, the earrings this past Valentine's Day. Far as I can tell everything of mine is still here as well as everything I've ever bought him or helped him pick out."

Simon sighed, head shaking faintly, giving a somewhat hopeless wave.

"Des-"

He shook his head, holding his hands up.

"Si I know how that sounds- how it looks, okay? I do but I'm telling you somethin's off here. I know Tyrin and I know his voice and something was really wrong on that call.

I know this makes it sound even more like a kiss off. You think the same thing as Bobbie-Ann; that he got cold feet and used this story thing to make an exit but I know what I heard on the voicemail and I know I heard something breaking and a bunch of things that just don't feel right. I know something really bad happened that night and then he just disappeared.

I know looking around it sounds insane cause everything is spotless and perfect but that's exactly what's freaking me out so much. You heard the call- he was rushin' around everywhere, frantically going through papers and searching for something. It sounded like he was tearing the place apart. Then he supposedly skipped town leaving his uniform at the restaurant and the note not even two hours later.

That's a crazy short time and there's not so much as a trace of anything? That says something."

Raphael nodded, folding his arms, brow rising.

"Yes; it says the call was staged- exactly like we had originally said."

Desi shook his head.

"No it wasn't! What I heard on there was real. It was genuine fear and panic I heard in his voice and Ty doesn't panic about ANYTHING. Come on, you heard the call too. He was rushing around, rummaging through things. It sounded frantic. Tyrin doesn't do panicked and he doesn't do rummaging and scrambling. Everything with him is precise and organized and logical.

He wouldn't be scrambling around looking for something; the man knows the exact location of every item in this place. This place looks exactly how he kept it but his clothes and all his personal things are gone- and I know how that sounds but in my gut I know it's just not as simple as that.

I don't know how to describe it but I know there's something more here and I can't just write it off as a break up and leave it when I think someone I love could be in trouble.

Si? You said you guys can review the recording again here- that maybe being in the cabin once you're more familiar with the space you might be able to make more sense out of the jumbled, spotty parts at the end. Can you do that? At least try? Please?" He sighed, swallowing, looking around at them pleadingly, giving a helpless wave.

"Look guys, I'm really out on a limb here- I don't know what to do and you're the only chance I got. I can't go to the cops on this. I can't ask the sheriff to look into his family's business- I'll either end up getting laughed out of there, tossed in a cell or in the loony bin. I can't trust anyone else on this.

I talk to anyone and it gets back to them and I'm screwed six ways from Sunday. I don't have any other moves. Please, j-just try…please?" he swallowed again, looking over at Raphael, Magnus and Alec.

"Come on- I know you guys think I'm just a jackass who can't accept that I've been ditched- and I know how I was with Si really pissed ya'll off and you think I'm just some smarmy troll who can't take no for an answer but I swear it's not that.

I know I screwed up with Simon- I know I did and I am so sorry. I told him and I told you Raphael and I should have said it to guys too cause you're obviously really protective of him and this just makes me look even worse but I'm not that person.

L-look…I'm not gonna lie. Seeing Si was a shock- I'd finally accepted that I didn't have a chance and that I'd never see him again and I'd made my peace with it but then he was there and he was happy and it was just a shock seeing him after all these years and I don't know- I was just an idiot.

I'm an idiot and I can be a jackass but I love this guy with all my heart and every instinct I have is screaming at me something is off, that he's in trouble- real life and death type trouble and if you guys just write it off as nothing but a Dear John and go back home without me getting an answer I-god I really don't know what I'll do. Please, I don't have any other moves left here."

Simon took a deep breath, gaze shifting from Drake over to the others, catching their eyes, shrugging somewhat helplessly. Alec sighed, shrugging back, clearly at a loss, glancing over at the other two. Magnus caught the look, shifting from his boyfriend and Simon over to Raphael, brow rising, an entire conversation seemingly passing between the two, just from one look.

Finally Raphael took a deep breath, dark gaze shifting from Magnus over to Desi, holding his gaze for a moment before relaxing faintly.

"Okay, what the hell. I think you're just grasping at straws but I will admit some things on the call did feel a bit off and there are some things we don't have answers for. He didn't sound like he wanted to leave you- it could have been an act but it did sound like real regret in his voice.

I think he left on his own but he was legitimately worried about you getting involved; genuinely worried for your safety. That is concerning.

I think he left on his own and it is entirely possible the whole thing was just a cover for his cold feet however if he was being real and he actually is some wildly selfless, firebrand reporter putting his life on the line for a story going up against an insane, conspiracy addled evil cooperation out to stop him from revealing their wildly evil, undoubtedly illegal plan we're not letting his only hope be an obnoxiously loud country album escapee.

We'll keep looking a bit more. But from here on out you tell us everything- no exceptions or we walk, clear?"

Desi nodded, Raphael nodded sharply in return, giving a faint shrug and a slightly annoyed wave.

"Alright, get out your phone, play the damn recording."

Two Hours Later…

"Ugh…okay! Yes, I admit, it sounds like glass breaking but we have checked every garbage bin three times. If something broke it's long been disposed of."

Magnus shifted, head tilting, giving a bit of a shrug.

"The most likely option is the panel in the window in the bedroom- it has been recently replaced but given how diligent he was about cleaning there's really no way to tell exactly when."

Simon flashed a faintly apologetic look, giving a slight shrug.

"Sorry Desi, I know you were hoping we'd find more but we're still coming up blank. Hey but if it was cleaned up that well odds are he's the one who cleaned it up. That's a good sign, yeah?"

"Yeah…I guess."

Simon sighed, settling closer to his side, glancing over curiously.

"Why didn't you mention that he was autistic?"

Desi sighed, shrugging halfheartedly.

"I don't know- it's not really something he talked about a whole lot. He never wanted anyone to pity or look down on him- not that they would just…you know…people can be idiots."

Simon shrugged, head tilting concedingly.

"Yeah, no question and I get wanting to respect his privacy and that but it was pretty important information. It actually make a lot of the disconnects we had about the call make a lot more sense. When we have so little to work with we need all the possible information we can get."

Desi nodded, kind of slumping down onto the couch.

"Yeah I got that…even so I just didn't feel right. It's not my information to share. Kinda feels like outing him." He glanced up, looking over them, giving a somewhat lackluster shrug.

"That's why this place is freaking me out so much. Ty was a bit of a neat freak and liked things organized and clean but he only ever went this overboard when he was really tore up about something and spiraling. Cleaning and organizing is a coping mechanism for him.

I know something happened during that call, sometin' bad and going by this place it really sent him over the edge and made him feel out of control. The organizing and straightening is his way of regaining that control.

It's tearing me up cause I know he was really in a bad place that night and then he's just gone. I was really hoping you guys would find something on there, something we could work with…but you didn't, and that's about it-all we had to work with.

There's no evidence of the glass breaking; we have a guess what it was but that doesn't really help much. The what I thought was a gunshot was likely one of the heavy encyclopedias falling off the top of the bookcase onto the wooden floor. Still seems kinda off to me but he was rushing around and it did sound like he was packing and searching for something.

I still think that one part sounds like a struggle but as much static and feedback as there was you said there really was no way to know and again there's no evidence-so we're still at square one.

You've found an explanation for pretty much everything."

Simon sighed, slumping down next to him.

"Yeah, pretty much…"

They sit silently, at a loss as to what to do next before Magnus shifts, fidgeting faintly before giving a slight huff, shaking his head, slipping over next to them, perching lightly on the armrest next to Desi.

"Actually no, not everything. There is something else." He shifted forward, plucking Desi's phone off the table, pulling up the voicemail, jumping forward, beginning the recording.

"-Please Desi? J-just leave it.

I'm so sorry Desi. I never meant for any of this to happen. I sh—'ve told you the truth. You were never sup-ed to be a fact-ever should have involved you. Should have never put you in d-er.

Don't believe what y—ear. I'm sorry I—ove—y-u, so sor—I should hav-ld you the truth. I'm not a r-g-" Magnus sat up, gesturing towards the phone.

"There! Hear it?"

Simon blinked, head tilting.

"Hear what?"

He rewound the recording a few seconds, replaying a small snippet, gesturing towards the phone.

"That!"

Simon leaned forward, replaying the section again, catching a faint sound under the static and breathless chatter. He paused, glancing over, head tilting.

"That creaking sound?"

Magnus nodded. Raphael glanced over, brow quirking, giving a dismissive shrug.

"That? Yeah I heard it, a few times, what about it? It's just a creak…a loose floorboard or maybe or a chair."

Magnus shook his head, waving him off.

"No, not a floorboard- well maybe- the sound is almost right for that but we've gone over this entire cabin three times and I haven't heard the floor squeak once. I hear it on the recording four times. Once at the minute and a half mark, once four minutes later and then again about two minutes before the end. The last is in his last sentence, maybe ten seconds before the recording cuts off. "

Raphael hummed, head tilting concedingly.

Okay so two sets of the sound. Could it be something opening? He did sound like he was searching for something. The linen cabinet, laundry room door, that steamer trunk in the bedroom maybe?"

"No, I checked all of them- no squeak or creak whatsoever. Plus the bedroom is carpeted and the linoleum in the kitchen and laundry room sounds different. In the recording you can clearly hear footsteps on the hardwood. He was definitely somewhere in here- in the main room." He shifted, head tilting, holding up a finger.

"And there's a bit more. In the sections between the creaks his voice changes ever so slightly. There's a bit of a timber change, almost an echo but not quite. It's almost like a metallic type twinge."

Simon blinked, head tilting curiously.

"And what's that mean, what might cause that?"

Magnus shrugged.

"That I do not know."

"Could it just be something with the connection beginning to cut out?" Alec offered, glancing over.

Magnus shook his head, closing his eyes, clearly replaying the clips.

"N-no…not that…it's cutting out but it's cutting out in several places. I only hear the metallic twinge in between the creaks. It sounds a bit different a-and the footfalls…they're a bit…off. They almost feel like they echo, kind of like-"

Raphael started, setting up sharply.

"He's walking on stairs."

Simon started, glancing over at his boyfriend, head shaking faintly.

"Wait- what? That makes no sense. There's no stairs- it's a single story cabin."

Magnus shook his head, standing up, pointing over at Raphael.

"None that we know of but that's the sound-that's what I couldn't place, what was off about the steps. That's the echo. He was walking down steps-metal steps. It's like a basement or a cellar o-" he paused, head tilting, cautiously tapping his shoe on the wooden floor, holding up a finger.

He pauses, tapping again, louder this time, looking over at Alec and Raphael, brow rising.

"You hear tha-"

Alec nodded, moving over next to him.

"There's an echo- it's faint, barely there but it's there. It's hallow…" He paused, glancing over at Desi, brow quirking.

"Is there a basement or a Cellar for this place?"

He shifted, shrugging.

"I-I don't know. He's never mentioned one but we are in tornado alley, most places around here have some kind of storm cellar."

Simon blinked, standing with the rest of them, looking around somewhat unsure, sharp gaze flickering around the cabin. He swallows, head shaking faintly.

"I-but wait- how would you get in? There's no basement door and we walked the perimeter six different times. Wh-"

"The flower bed!"

Simon started, looking over in confusion at Magnus, brow quirking.

"What about i-"

He shook his head, flashing a beaming smile.

"Desi? You said he put it in, right?"

Desi nodded.

"Yeah, a few months after he moved in. The Whitmore's had fell way behind on repairs and updates so anything he did around the place to improve it they'd knock a bit off the rent for the next month in thanks. He was really handy, great with tools. He made a lot of upgrades."

Magnus smirked, brow quirking.

"Yeah, but that wasn't an upgrade, it was a cover."

Desi blinked.

"A cover? A cover for what?"

"For taking out the cellar entrance. I was wondering why he put it there. It didn't make any sense, it's on the northern side of the building, it'd be next to impossible for the plants there to get enough sun. This is why he put it there.

It's not a flowerbed, it's to hide where the cellar door was."

Desi blinked, head tilting.

"Th-wait…what? He took out the entrance to the cellar? Why would he do that?"

Magnus shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe it was run down, some kind of hazard. Although between the cameras, his preoccupation with security and his job I'm thinking maybe he just didn't like having that extra entrance into his home. Whatever it was he took it out. That entrance at least. Thinking he put in another, only with less potential outside access."

Alec hummed thoughtfully, nodding slowly, looking at the others, stamping his foot again, listening for the hollow sound.

"Okay well, we're hearing it here, you were hearing sounds from in this room on the recording so stands to reason the entrance he put in has to be somewhere in this room."

Simon blinked, slowly looking around the room, searching over everything for some kind of clue they somehow missed up till now but coming up blank. He sighed, head shaking faintly, looking over at Magnus, shrugging totally at a loss.

"But we've been over this room. We've been over every inch of it- multiple times. How would we miss an entire door?"

Raphael shrugged, slinking around the room, sharp, dark gaze slipping over every piece of furniture, slowly holding up a finger.

"We wouldn't…it has to be somewhere we can't see. In the bottom of the coat or linen closet? Under something maybe? The couch or…"he trailed off, sharp gaze landing on the large redwood burl coffee table, head tilting curiously, holding up a finger, brow rising.

"That would do…"

Simon blinked, disbelieving gaze shifting from his boyfriend down to the gigantic chunk of wood.

"Uh…Raph? That thing looks like it'd need a truck to move it."

Raphael smirked, head tilting brow quirking right back.

"You're right, it does. It LOOKS like it'd be all but immovable. But if it was then how did they get the rug underneath it?"

"That…huh…" he trailed off, the group slowly moving over to the same side of the absurdly heavy looking slab of wood functioning as a coffee table.

The five of them move closer, bracing against one side, beginning to push, startling faintly when it slips smoothly across the carpet. Simon blinks; looking over at the others realizing it's actually on gliders, the entire ton looking slab sliding across the carpet smooth as silk.

"Oh that is so freaking cool!" Simon swallows, glancing up at the others, stopping on Desi's wide, shocked eyes. He shrugs, flashing a faint smile.

"Well this kinda feels like progress, right?"

Desi blinked, swallowing, nodding.

"Sure as hell seems like it."

Simon smiled faintly, glancing over at the others, the group quickly moving the table to the side, rolling up the rug, to reveal…a, smooth, polished wooden floor.

Huh…odd, he thought for sure there'd b-wait...

He pauses, slowly kneeling down, looking closer at what at first looks like just another knot in the grain of the wooden floor. The knot looks a bit darker than the others, a little more prominent. He reaches forward, running his fingers over the smooth polished wood, somewhat surprised to find a small indention in one part of the knot. He blinks, glancing at the others, brow rising. Raphael kneels down next to him, looking over the spot before shifting back to him, giving a faint shrug, waving him forward.

Simon nods, swallowing, slowly pressing the indention. He feels more than hears a soft click, the knot pressing in, making a handle. He clasps the hand hold, pulling, a perfect square of the floor lifting. Simon's unable to stop a faint gasp when the hidden door giving a soft, low creak- the exact sound they heard on the recording. He glanced up, catching Magnus's eye, flashing a beaming smile before shifting back, slowly pulling the door all the way open, looking down before freezing in shock.

Oh…oh whoa…

The door opens to a sleek, clean metal spiral staircase. The revealed room looks far deeper than he expected and is absolutely pitch black; the smooth polished metal steps disappearing into the inky darkness below. Simon hesitated, shifting back on his heels, glancing up at the others, for the first time during the investigation wondering just what exactly they're getting into.

"So uh…we going in?"

Raphael swallowed, nodding, reaching over, catching Simon's shoulder, squeezing, gently pulling him back, helping him to his feet, other hand gesturing towards Desi.

"Yeah, but he's going first."

Desi started, looking over, eyes wide.

"What! No I'm not! Why do I have to go down into the creepy hidden trapdoor to hell first?"

"Because your boyfriend freaking built it!"

"Yeah b-"

Raphael huffed, rolling his eyes irritatedly, waving him off.

"Oh Dios mío, ¿cómo puede alguien tan grande ser tan bebé?You go first- not alone-just first. I'll be right behind you, watching your back- or whatever the hell I can make out over your damn shoulder. Simon's behind me, then Mags and Alec covering all of our backs." He paused, brow quirking, pointing at Alec.

"You did say you have your service weapon on you, right?"

Alec nodded.

"Yeah, didn't think I'd need it but I figured better safe than sorry."

Raphael gave a sharp nod, pointing.

"Gracias a Dios. I wasn't expecting you to either; however I was also not expecting hidden staircases to hell. Everyone stay close, Desi? Phone out, light on- Alec ditto. If we all have them out we would just end up blinding each other but first and the last should be sufficient.

Everyone stay close, watch your step and just go slow." He shifted, taking a deep breath, squaring his shoulders before glancing over, nudging Desi, nodding towards the pitch black hole.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way cowboy."

Desi huffed, glaring. Raphael quirked his eyebrow.

"What, you afraid of the dark? Need me to hold your hand?"

Desi scoffed, flashing one more glare before reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone, flicking on the light, holding it in front of him, slowly moving forward, beginning down the stairs. Simon huffed, nudging Raphael, catching his eye, giving a slightly censoring look. Raphael shrugged faintly, reaching back, catching his hand, squeezing lightly as the group begin down into the darkness.

Only…it doesn't stay dark.

When Desi's foot hits the ground at the bottom of the steps there's a soft little buzz, the room illuminates with a soft, incandescent blue light, a wall of sleek computer screens flickering to life, all showing crystal clear, super detailed views of the property, the house and the surrounding area. Simon swallows, head shaking.

"W-well…the cameras are definitely working. Damn, the guy really does have a thing for security, doesn't he?"

"Uh…yeah…t-that's one way to put it." Raphael breathed, catching his shoulder, tugging lightly.

Simon blinks, glancing over at the odd tone in his boyfriend's voice before startling at the wide, shocked expression, turning, following Raphael's gaze before freezing.

Simon gulps, hesitantly holding up a finger.

"Uh…what?"

That was about all he could get out but to be fair that's about all that was going through his head…well that paired with several colorful explicative.

The wall opposite the cameras is covered in five sleek, lighted cases. Each meticulously ordered and holding one of the largest collections of weapons Simon has ever seen outside of a comic-con booth. Only he kinda got the feeling these weren't just some super fanboy's movie prop collection.

He swallows, hesitantly pointing.

"T-those…uh…those aren't movie props…are they?"

Raphael shook his head.

"Nope…"

"So uh wha-"

Raphael scoffed, quickly shaking his head.

"Hell if I know." He paused, gaze slipping from the wall of death over to Desi, brow rising pointedly.

Simon shakes his head, eyes wide, trying to take in the sheer insanity that surrounded them. His gaze shifts slowly from the monitors and spiral staircase in the corner, slipping over to the weapon cases and a long, smooth metal table along the back wall filled with tools, soldering irons and other unidentifiable items before finally landing on the last wall. Simon freezes, feeling somewhat light headed.

Oooh…crap…

The last wall is taken up entirely by a large cork board filled with pictures of the Powell brothers along with many many others, newspaper articles and clippings, detailed movement lists and tracking information, international flight logs and maps. All of it is crisscrossed with multicolored strings and painstakingly labeled and color coded. Simon gulps, an icy chill slipping down his back, glancing over at Desi, head titling.

"Dude, what the hell is this?"

Desi blinks, mouth hanging slightly open, shaking his head.

"No clue…"

Simon nodded, hesitantly holding up a finger.

"Me neither. But um…thinking when Tyrin said whatever this was he could handle it he damn well meant it."

Alec gulped, nodding, sharp, hazely green eyes wide, flickering over the veritable arsenal before shifting to the what looks a hell of a lot like a murder board.

"Yeah. Only now I'm kinda worried what exactly it is he's 'handling'. Is he trying to take the Powell's down, or take them out?"

Magnus and Simon shrug, totally lost. Raphael seemed the first to pull himself out of the bunker of insanity stupor, shaking his head faintly, a slight, disbelieving breathless little laugh slipping out, glancing over.

"Drake; who the hell were you dating?"

He blinked, swallowing.

"I-I-uh…I don't think I know."

Good lord…what in the hell is this man up to? What are they getting into h-

Simon startles as the cool blue lights in the room suddenly flash red, a blaring alarm sounding from the monitors. The entire group starts, whirling to face the screens. The monitors showing the access road flicker red before shifting back to normal zooming in, showing a large black van roaring down the gravel road, screeching up just outside the cabin.

"What th- Are those cops, is it like a raid o-" Desi begins, trailing off as the side door slides open before it's even completely stopped, five very large, armed to the teeth men dressed in camouflage and black rushing the building.

"Not cops. Damnit!" Alec exclaims, thinking fast, rushing up the steps, quickly pulling the door to the cellar closed, flicking over the large, heavy duty lock on the door, getting it secured just as they hear a thunderously loud crash from the front of the cabin. Looking over at the monitors Simon sees the door of the cabin kicked in, slamming hard against the wall.

Alec hurries back down the stairs, waving the group back, quickly herding them back along the far wall, huddling in the corner. Simon flinches, tugging Raphael closer, clasping his hand, squeezing tightly.

Raphael turns into him, eyes sharp and determined.

"The cases-"

Magnus shakes his head, leaning closer, voice barely a whisper.

"No chance-bio locks, need a fingerprint and it's tempered glass."

"So what do w-"

He swallows, eyes wide and helpless, shaking his head.

"I don't know. I don't-" Alec moved closer, wrapping his arm around him, pulling him close.

Simon shivers, looking over, catching the back of Desi's shirt, roughly pulling him back. The taller man stumbles, looking over, dark eyes wide with terror.

God, how the hell did th-

His thoughts scramble at loud shouting from above, the men rushing about, heavy boots on the wooden floor, combing the entire cabin, clearly looking for something-or more likely someone.

Simon swallows down a whimper, moving closer to the others, gaze frantically shifting from the door above over to the cameras in the living room, watching as the men work their way through the cabin, clearly searching for them.

Oh god, oh my god! What are they gonna do? This is supposed to be a not even case about someone who ditched their boyfriend! How the hell did they end up here?

Oh god…

Simon gulps, terrified gaze again moving up to the door. It seems sturdy but the floor's just wood and the guys have guns, if they start shooting the floorboards aren't gonna be much protection.

Magnus waves to get their attention, gesturing over to the table. Alec nods, group shifting down onto the ground, taking cover under the metal table, hoping against hope that it'll shield them if bullets start flying.

It's something-not much but better than just being out in the open. Even so they know if the men find the door they will eventually be able to get through and then they will be screwed. Alec has his service weapon but it's one weapon and they're in a hole. It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel, they don't stand a chance.

Oh god…oh god, what are they gonna do?

On the camera he can see the five men searching, circling the room. Beside him Alec, shifts more in front of Magnus, fumbling his phone out, trying to call 911 but there's no signal. He hears muffled shouting, one of the men slowing just above the door, catching sight of the rolled up carpet and the coffee table clearly pushed aside.

On the camera Simon sees him crouch down, feeling along the boards, tapping, clearly registering the same hollow sound they picked up on. He shifts, tapping louder, getting closer to the door.

Simon's heart stops when he sees the man's hand pause on the hidden handle in the knothole. He get his fingers in the groove, Simon hears the door rattle but it doesn't open, the lock holding.

The man calls out to the others, waving them over, pointing at the knot. They circle around, one pulling out a large, wicked looking serrated hunting knife, trying to pry it open. Again the door rattles but the lock holds. The men stand up, four of them shifting back faintly, one pulling a gun, taking aim at the lock. Magnus gasps, wrapping his arms around Alec, reaching over, putting his other arm around Raphael, hand resting on Simon's shoulder trying to pull them all in as close as possible.

Oh no, oh god…oh god what are they gonna d-

Suddenly there's the an odd whistling sound, on the camera he sees multiple canisters fly through the kicked in door, belching out thick, rolling clouds of smoke, emitting an odd hissing sound and a near deafening screech. A smattering of shots ring out, the men above shouting, beginning to cough and gag, scrambling to cover their ears.

The whole room above them fills with smoke, obscuring the view of the camera. They hear the men coughing and shouting. Suddenly there's a rapid succession of electric buzzing sounds and five heavy thunks before it suddenly goes eerily silent.

The group looks at each other, frozen in shock before startling at a rustling at the door to the cellar. Simon's heart jumps into his throat as the unmistakable click of the lock turning over, the sound unnervingly loud. The door creaks ominously as it opens, a cloud of the cloying smoke swirling in the light. A tall, lithe man with warm amber skin and short dark curls clad in black slinks silently down the stairs, head cocked, listening intently, gun at the ready.

"Ty?"

The man whirls to face the voice, sharp grey green eyes landing on the totally gob smacked Desi. His head tilts, move smooth and fluid, quickly shifting over him, clearly checking for any injuries head tilts, move smooth and fluid, quickly shifting over her, clearly checking for any injuries, sharp bright grey gaze shifting back up, catching Desi eye, brow quirking, tilting his chin towards the taller man.

"You alright?"

Desi gulps, nodding in a kind of daze. He slowly climbs out from beneath the table, moving towards the newcomer, completely dumbstruck. Evan glances over at Eli and the others questioningly, hesitating just a moment before cautiously sliding out from under the tables, standing up as well, the group slowly moving over by the other two.

Tyrin glances over at them almost dismissively, sharp gaze faltering somewhat when it lands on Simon, a bit of a glare flickering before it shutters. The man swallows, breathing a sigh of relief, flashing a faint, almost smile at Desi, holstering his weapon, quickly moving the rest of the way down the steps.

He shifts, beginning over to Desi, smiling in clear relief before seemingly catching himself, slowly shifting back. He swallows, that unsettlingly sharp gaze pulling away from Desi, slowly shifting around the room; from the weapon cases and tables and the wall of monitors and the murder board before once again shifting back to his extremely confused boyfriend.

He takes a deep breath, reaching up, tucking a few tight, dark brown curls behind his ear, meeting Desi's gaze, flashing a faintly wincing smile.

"Think we need a bit of a chat, Love."

Simon blinks, glancing over at Desi, brow quirking.

"You didn't mention he was British..."

Desi blinks, brow somehow rising higher, nearly to his hairline, head shaking.

"H-he wasn't..."

The group looks at each other and Desi before shifting back to Tyrin. The man stands up straight, meeting their eyes head on, head tilting curiously before he takes yet another a deep breath, giving a slight wave and an almost eyeroll.

"Okay...a rather long chat." He trails off, glancing around at the arsenal and the bevy of screens showing the living room floor above them, the cloud of smoke nearly dissipated, leaving a clear view of the living room floor littered with five crumpled bodies before shifting his gaze back to them, again holding up a finger, gesturing towards the cameras.

"But, not here."

{*} *-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-*-Simon-* {*}

"So wait…you…you're-"

"MI6."

And the guys back at your place?"

"Mercenaries trying to take me out."

Desi blinked, dark eyes wide and shocked, shakily looking over the sleek, black leather passport embossed with the Royal coat of arms, turning it over once more, stunned gaze shifting over the official government FCDO attaché identification.

He swallows, looking back up, head shaking.

"I-that-no, no way. that's impossible."

Tyrin sighed, leaning back against the kitchen island, folding his arms.

"No it's improbable. It's completely off the wall and wild and totally mad but none the less it is absolutely possible. I'm not a reporter running down a story; I am an MI6 agent working a joint mission with the CIA."

Desi gave a disbelieving scoff, handing the passport back, shifting faintly, once more shaking his head.

"I-b-but we're in KANSAS! What the hell would an MI6 agent be doing in freaking Kansas?"

Tyrin sighed, giving a somewhat helpless shrug.

"At the moment? Trying to keep my boyfriend, his ex and his exes entourage from being taken out by a team of mercenaries. In general? Working a joint mission with the CIA to find out who is using Powell Productions to illegally manufacture components for biological and chemical weaponry and keeping them off the black market by any means necessary."

"Wha-that-that's-mercenaries, weapons, black market? And what do you mean by any means necessary?"

He sighed, folding his arms, brow raising pointedly.

"Drake, you've seen enough spy movies. You know what that means."

Desi startled, blinking, animatedly gesturing.

"So wait- you're here to like take them out-like out out? Like kill them?"

He sighed, shrugging dismissively.

"Well it's not plan A. Ideally we'll be able to avoid that, track them down and bring them in…but yes. If that's the way it needs to go then that's the way it's going."

Desi gulped, shifting back faintly, dark eyes flickering over him, hesitantly pointing.

"And y-you…you could do that?"

Again he just shrugged, giving a somewhat resigned, halfhearted little wave.

"Won't the first time, will not be the last."

Desi blinked, swallowing, looking him over in shock before startling, shaking his head, giving a frantic wave.

Uh uh, No, no way. You've gotta be pulling my leg or somethin'."

"Desi? You know I don't do that. And you were out at my place, you saw everything. You know I am telling the truth."

"I-n-but again-were in Kansas!

We don't have mercenaries and bio-weapons and government assassins! We have cow tipping, joy riding and theft of lawn gnomes! The absolute worst we possibly get around here are bar fights getting out of hand, a rowdy group after a football game or a few domestic squabbles. We don't have CRIMINAL criminals; we have drunk idiots, hillbillies and hicks!

Why would any of that be in freaking Kansas?"

Tyrin gave a faintly exasperated shrug, reaching up, tucking a few dark brown curls behind his ear, brow quirking.

"I don't know; not like I brought them here with me. I followed them; not the other way around. I'm just following my assignment. That being said there is a fair bit of logic to it. Honestly what better place to hide something than the last place anyone would think to look."

Desi swallowed, beginning to shake his head again.

"But tha-"

Tyrin sighed, stepping forward, reaching over, catching his hand flailing hands, squeezing gently.

"Drake, love. I know, okay? I know how utterly mad this sounds. I know it seems completely unbelievable and has got to scare the hell out of you and after seeing that back at my place you probably think you don't know me from Adam and you probably trust the Powell brothers more than you do me but I'm being honest. This is why I'm here.

I'm not some evil, blood thirsty monster like the mercs back at my place. I'm not going about hunting people down for a cheap thrill or a quick payday. I'm trying to keep some of the vilest, most repugnant weapons ever known to man from ending up in the hands of cartels, dictators and warlords.

It is not pretty and it is dark and cold and scary as all hell but it is absolutely necessary to keep people safe." He took a deep breath, looking up, helplessly shrugging.

"I know it's a shock love. I cannot imagine how lost you feel right now and you probably hate me for lying to you and for getting you mixed up in this-hell I hate myself for getting you wrapped up in this! That's why I tried so hard to back off." He huffed irritatedly, faintly sniffing, squeezing his hands, looking up, catching Desi's totally confused gaze, shaking his head, swallowing.

"Damnit Desi; why couldn't you have just left it alone?"

Desi gave a shocked laugh, pulling his hands away, animatedly waving.

"Because I love you and that call scared the hell out of me! You were panicked and scared and saying you would have to disappear cause they found you out and it was gonna be really bad and then I heard glass breaking and I thought a gunshot and your phone being smashed and I freaking panicked!"

Tyrin gave an irritated growl, rolling his eyes, glaring.

"I told you I had it, that I was a hell of a lot tougher than I look!"

Desi scoffed disbelievingly.

"Well Of course you are! You're freaking MI6 with CIA backup!

I know that NOW! I didn't know it then. I thought you were just a kinda reckless reporter undercover going up against the most powerfully connected family in town! I thought it was like David verses Goliath!

If I'd of known David was a hotter, more badass version of James Bond with a command center, diplomatic immunity, a license to kill and a freaking weapons arsenal to back it up I wouldn't have been so god damned worried!"

Tyrin gave a surprised laugh, cheeks warming, brow quirking, a slight little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Desi huffed, glaring, shaking his head, sharply waving the look off.

"Oh no, that is SO not working right now! You're not distracting me with the pretty smile and cute blushing. How could you not tell me? Why'd you make up that reporter thing? Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

Tyrin huffed, smile shifting to a semi-patronizing smirk, brow quirking somewhat sarcastically.

"Because despite my better judgment I happen to be rather fond of you and I would really kind of prefer it if you didn't end up being classified a potential threat to national security in need of elimination."

Desi froze, blinking.

"A-wait…what?"

Tyrin huffed, irritatedly shrugging;

"Desi, love? I'm an undercover foreign agent working a classified, top secret case imperative to the national security of multiple countries in tandem with an equally clandestine CIA agent. There's a lot on the line here and no room for errors or missteps. This isn't an oops, how embarrassing type secret. This could quite literally be life and death. Specifically your life and death. I lied to protect you.

You out me as an undercover reporter it's just a bit of harmless gossip for the mill. You end up outing me or my partner as government agents our covers are burned and you are unbelievably screwed.

I didn't lie because I wanted to hurt you- I lied to keep you from getting hurt- or far worse."

Desi swallowed, holding up a finger.

"Uh-t…O-okay. Fair point. But I'm not gonna do that. I wouldn't put you in danger like that."

Tyrin sighed, head shaking, giving a kind of helpless wave, gesturing towards him.

"I know you wouldn't intentionally but this isn't some little game and there's no room for slip ups. I couldn't chance it."

Desi shifted, kind of slumping, looking up, expression faintly hurt.

"Tyrin I get that and I know I can be kinda reckless and impulsive and all that but I take seriously when I need to; when it really counts. I mean come on. We've been together for almost two years. We're you ever gonna tell me?"

Tyrin shifted, wrapping his arms around himself, shaking his head.

"I-honestly no, not I could help it."

Desi blinked.

"Really, never?"

"It was the only way I could keep you safe." He sighed, hesitating for a moment before shrugging, leaning back against the counter, glancing away.

"Besides I never thought we'd last long enough for it to be an issue."

Desi started, blinking, looking hurt.

"Wha…You didn't?"

Tyrin huffed, slumping, glancing up, shaking his head, helplessly shrugging.

"Drake, come on. I'm really sorry, I'm not trying to be mean but when we got together I never imagined it'd actually go anywhere. You were fun and wild and a blast to be around but you were a total player. I thought the only reason you stayed with me longer than most girls was just because it was more of a challenge.

I-Honesty? I really thought you were just a fun distraction and it'd be a good way to shore up my cover and blow off a bit of steam until you got bored and moved onto your next conquest

Don't get me wrong. I loved being with you- I've loved every single minute of it but I never thought it would go this long. I knew our time was limited and you'd eventually move on, go back to running around and bed hopping or your true love would come back and I'd be left in the dust.

And honestly that's the best thing for both of us. You're happy and safe and can find the nice, sane, normal, non-lethal guy of your dreams and I can finish my job with the Powell's and move on to my next assignment. It's win, win. By far the most logical move." He sighed, shrugging, head shaking.

"I never imagined I'd fall for you. You were loud and brash and passionate and funny and honestly kind of irritating. I thought I was good- I thought you were safe and by the time my mission was done you'd be long done with me and I'd be able to just cut ties and go.

I never imagined telling you because I never thought we'd reach that stage. I figured you'd be bored with me long before that. I never thought I'd fall for you –but I didn't think it really mattered if I did or not because there was no way in hell you were ever going to fall for me.

I mean, come on; you made the rounds like it was last call. I heard all the stories the day after I met you. I heard them all the time, from everyone, near every day. You were a free spirit, a wanderer, you never stayed with anyone for too long and everyone and their brother knew you didn't because you were just killing time till your real love came back to town." He huffed, rolling his eyes, gesturing sharply towards Simon.

"And look! Look what happened! I'm not even gone a week and he's here staying at your place- with a bevy of babes to boot!"

Desi startled, shaking his head, waving towards Simon.

"Oh no. No, no, no. It's not like that darlin', I swear. He's not here for me, he was here for you."

Tyrin scoffed, brow quirking clear to his hairline.

"Your ex-boyfriend is here for me? Wha-are you drunk? Desi; I don't even like to share food."

Desi swallowed down a faint laugh, eyes wide, flailing, quickly shaking his head, animatedly waving.

"No I don't mean like that! He's a detective- they all are. That's why they're here-they came to help me find you."

Tyrin snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Oh really n-"

"No darlin' I swear, it's the truth. There's nothin' like that goin' on here. They're not here for anything like that. I just didn't know who the hell to turn to and I thought you were in trouble and I had to do something. Only there's nothing I could do- at least not by myself.

I was lost and spinnin'. There was nowhere I could turn and then I remembered hearing through the grapevine that Si was making a go of it as a detective out in California. It was a long shot but, hell it was the only shot I had. I tracked down his number and called to beg him to come back to town and help me because I had nowhere else to go and the person I love more than anything else in the world was in trouble and there was not a damn thing I could do about it.

He agreed and even brought along his whole team to try and help." He turned, pointing franticly to them one at a time.

"Alec there is a head detective with a ton of experience and Magnus is an honest to god Psychic detective with the SBPD and Raphael is a-a…well…I don't know what the hell he is but he works with Magnus at his agency and he can pick a lock in about two seconds flat and he figured out your kill switch thingy on the cameras and he apparently convinced a whole ass FBI team that he wasn't a murderer by freaking them the hell out and proving he'd of did a better job than the actual murderer." He started, eyes wide, pointing more at Raphael, nodding animatedly.

"Oh! But what I DO know is he's Simon's boyfriend and they're both totally over the moon for each other and committed and only have eyes for each other and I'm pretty sure if I actually did try anything he'd kick my ass-and probably the rest of them would too- Simon included.

S-so I know how this looks and I'm sure you were probably really pissed when you heard he was in town and at my place and yeah, yeah I honestly kinda played up that and the sexy strangers thing a bit but it wasn't anything real- I was just kinda screwing with that nosy busybody Alice. But I swear that's all that was.

You know the gossip mill around here better than anyone at this point and you know how they run with things. But anything like that, all it was was talk and a bit of cover cause I couldn't very well let it get around town I'd flew a bunch of detectives in- that'd kinda throw off the whole case/investigation type thing.

But darlin' I swear, only thing I was thinkin' about was getting' you back. That's it, I just needed help and he was the only cop I knew who I could be sure wouldn't be under the influence of the Powell's.

That's why he's here. That's the only reason, I swear it."

Tyrin blinked, glancing over the group, lingering faintly on Raphael curiously before shaking his head faintly, shifting back.

"Damnit Desi, this is all going to hell. You should have just let me go."

Desi swallowed, shifting back, wrapping his arms around himself, dark eyes flickering over the shorter man, clearly faltering.

"Is that what you want?"

"That doesn't matter." He mumbled, voice barely a whisper, glancing away, slumping, irritatedly pushing a few wayward chocolate brown curls behind his ear, wrapping his arms around himself.

Desi shifted closer, reaching over, hesitantly resting his hand on Tyrin's shoulder, squeezing.

"It does to me."

Tyrin swallowed, hesitantly glancing up, shaking his head.

"Drake, love? You have no idea what you're getting into here."

Desi shrugged, settling a bit closer, nudging his shoulder, reaching over, catching his hand, lightly squeezing, glancing over, catching those unsettlingly bright grey green eyes, smiling softly.

"That's never stopped me before."

Tyrin gave a surprised laugh, concedingly tilting his head, relaxing a bit closer before seemingly catching himself, pulling back, hesitantly looking up.

"Drake this is serious. It's big and insane and it's gonna be terrifying and there's no room for mistakes or second guessing."

Desi took a deep breath, standing up a bit straighter, nodding.

"I know. And I get it, I really, truly do. I got it- I got you. You can trust me."

Tyrin huffed, shrugging irritatedly.

"Well I sure as hell hope so! Don't really have much of a choice now. I have to trust you…" He paused, sharp grey gaze shifting from Desi over to the rest of them, halfheartedly waving.

"All of you." He took a deep breath, gaze flickering over them once more, helplessly shrugging.

"Look, I'm going to be honest, I haven't the foggiest idea what the protocol here is but you know my real identity, you saw my command center and my weapons cache and you also saw me take down five very armed mercenaries who attacked my home. You saw far much; know too much.

This is going to be a huge mess and complicated as all hell. From what I can gather my only real option beyond flat out elimination is to read you in on the case, have you finish it off with me and my partner becoming an integral, indispensable part of the mission and then basically just throw enough NDA's, confidentiality agreements and gag orders at you to placate the powers that be and reassure them that you will not in any way be an issue.

That sound alright to you?"

"Sounds a hell of a lot better than the alternative." Simon muttered.

Tyrin huffed out a faint laugh, nodding.

"Good- at least we're on the same page." He paused, shifting from Simon back over to Desi, expression softening.

"Desi, I'm so sorry love. I never wanted to get you mixed up in all this. I never wanted you to have to deal with this part of my life. It's dark and messy and cold and hard as all hell. It's merciless and ugly and painful.

I felt guilty for lying to you but I'd be absolutely destroyed if I ever ended up getting you hurt- or god forbid worse." He swallowed, giving a helpless shrug, shaking his head, glancing away.

"I absolutely hate that you're in the middle of this; I never wanted you anywhere near this, never wanted you to have to see this side of me. I wanted you to just keep the image of me as a nice, simple, sarcastically snarky waiter. Just a normal, boring guy with far too many quirks and far too little patience.

That's how I want you to see me, think about me. That is me- at least most of the time, when I don't have to be this other person. You're not going to really understand this part of me- there's no way you will.

It is going to throw you, scare you. You are going to feel like I'm some total stranger because-well- because of course you will- because fact wise I basically am a total stranger to you but just this one part.

I swear everything between us was absolutely real. I loved you-love you- I still do, so much, with all my heart. And I know that probably doesn't even matter anymore because you can't have love if you don't have trust and I know I pretty much shot that all to hell but even so everything that truly mattered with us was real.

It wasn't a cover or a guise or anything like that. It was real, every second of it…it really was…" he trailed off, swallowing, glancing away, slumping against the counter, the room settling into uncomfortable silence.

"Marry Me".

Tyrin starts before huffing, exasperatedly rolling his eyes, flashing a faint glare.

"Damnit Desi, be serio-"

The taller man flails, turning, knocking into the barstool behind him so quick it tumbles over, clattering loudly on the linoleum floor. He completely ignores it, stumbling over it as he begins to back towards the stairs, holding up his hands in a placating 'stay' type gesture towards Tyrin, eyes wide.

"W-wait-j-just wait, don't move, stay there." He shifts, glancing over at the others, holding a finger up, frantically pointing at them, eyes wide.

"Don't let him leave!"

Raphael scoffs, brow quirking.

"You want us to stop a government agent who could probably kill us with his pinkie from leaving?"

"YES!"

"HOW?!"

"Figure it out!" he exclaims, turning on heel, scrambling gracelessly up the stairs, stumbling and cursing a few times.

Almost immediately they hear a door open and commotion upstairs, sounding like a herd of elephants clomping around. The others look around in confusion. Raphael huffs disbelievingly, glancing over at Tyrin, brow quirking.

"How the hell are we supposed to stop you from leaving?"

Tyrin's hummed softly, head tilting, sharp grey eyes flickering over him in interest, a curious little smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, brow quirking right back.

"Get the feeling you'd be the one to figure it out."

Raphael huffed out a faint chuckle, flashing one of his most effective charmingly disarming smiles, head shaking.

"What makes you say that?"

Tyrin shrugged, giving a bit of a fluttery wave.

"I am quite adapt at reading people." He paused, those unsettlingly sharp grey green eyes flickering slowly over Raphael, shifting over him before slipping back up, catching his gaze pointedly.

"You are a VERY interesting read."

Raphael blinked in surprise, freezing for a moment before snapping out of it, the fake flirty smile falling just as quickly as it had appeared, a soft, low little laugh slipping out, smirking right back, giving a careless shrug.

"Damn…you really are good."

Tyrin chuckles, smirk picking up a tic.

"So are you."

"True."

Tyrin gave a soft huff of a laugh, flashing a playfully impish little grin, approvingly nodding.

"I like you."

Raphael shrugs, head tilting concedingly.

"Ditto..."

Another little chuckle slips out as he flashes a smile before catching Raphael's eye, head tilting towards Simon, giving a faintly apologetic shrug, almost wincing.

"Don't think I'm much of a fan of your boyfriend though."

Raphael outright snorts, adamantly shaking his head.

"Definitely not a fan of yours."

Tyrin snickers, grey eyes brightening in amusement, leaning in a bit.

"More than understandable. I wasn't really at first either. He kinda grows on you though."

Raphael scoffed, brow quirking.

"Like a fungus?"

Tyrin's snicker is cut off by a fumbling clatter from upstairs along with a string of colorful cursing. He paused, glancing up at the ceiling, blinking in confusion, hesitantly gesturing towards the stairs, slowly shifting his gaze over the others.

"Umm...wha-"

"I don't know, how would I know!" Simon exclaims, eyes wide.

Ah crap…

Tyrin freezes, shifting. Those bright, unsettlingly sharp grey eyes zero in on him. Simon gulps, trying to fight down a nervous smile or awkward shifting. It did not work. Tyrin shifts a bit away from the bar , standing up straight, crossing his arms, sharp, glittering grey eyes shifting over Simon, pinning him like a bug under a microscope.

"So you d-"

Raphael shifts forward, slipping smoothly between the two, shaking his head, waving the taller man off.

"Alright now, knock it off Jane Bond. Évangéline did nothing. Save the super spy interrogation shtick for the suspects in the case. Your fungus will be back down here soon enough and you can ask him about it yourself."

Tyrin huffed, brow quirking in challenge. Raphael met the look head on, pose relaxed and open, totally at ease. Tyrin blinked, huffing out a surprised little chuckle, head tilting approvingly, those sharp, unsettling grey eyes flickering over him a fair bit slower than the last time.

"Hmm…well, well. Interesting read may be an understatement."

Raphael just relaxed even more, leaning casually against the bar, once again meeting that sharp grey gaze head on, giving that soft, low, growly little chuckle that always sent an excited thrill up Simon's spine and made his knees turn to jelly. Even without being able to see it Simon knows exactly which look he has. It's that slow, sharp, dangerously mysterious knowing little smirk with that bright, dizzying spark in those impossibly deep brown eyes.

The one that even Alec gets a bit twitchy when it comes out.

Mmm…He REALLY likes that look…

"Oh, you have no idea Agent Voss." Raphael murmured, voice slipping soft and low.

God, that tone…

Simon swallowed, just barely managing to keep in an embarrassing little whimper, shifting a bit closer, resting his hand on the small of Raphael's back. Raphael shifted faintly, leaning back a bit more against the bar, arm slipping over, snaking around Simon's waist, tugging him closer to his side, hand coming to rest on his hip, squeezing near possessively. He glances over, catching Simon's eye, flashing a stupidly appealing little wink.

Simon huffed faintly, brow quirking pointedly.

"Stop it."

Raphael blinked, giving a blatantly false innocently confused look.

"Stop what?"

"You know damn well what…" he mumbled, unable to completely tramp down the little smirk tugging at the corner of his lip, or the little shiver again slipping over him.

He also can't quite keep himself from settling just a bit more against Raphael's side, hand trailing up his back, coming to rest on his shoulder, mainly to keep his balance as his knees currently feel like jelly. Raphael gave another slow, growly little chuckle, humming softly, leaning over, nuzzling lightly against his cheek before pressing a soft little kiss, voice slipping soft and low, reminding Simon of velvet, lips brushing lightly against his ear with each word.

"Lo siento mi amor, es una costumbre, ya sabes… Mmm… aunque siempre aprecio mucho tus reacciones…"

Simon sputtered, feeling his cheeks burn, the heat traveling clear up to his ears. He huffs, glaring, nudging him.

"Damnit Raphael."

Raphael gives a warm, soft little chuckle, flashing an apologetic smile, shrugging.

"Sorry amore, I couldn't help it." He flashed a faint smile, catching his hand, lifting it up, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the back of his hand.

"You are FAR too adorable for your own good."

"Annoyingly so…" Tyrin muttered.

Simon blinked, pulling himself out of the Raphael stupor, clearing his throat, flashing a sheepish little smile.

"Uh, he-uh-w-sorry…he kinda does that. It's a bit distracting."

Tyrin couldn't seem to help a laugh, brow quirking in amusement.

"Uh, yeah…kinda got that." He smiled faintly, beginning to shift forward before seemingly catching himself, shifting back, trying to pull back up the strong, cold agent vibe.

Simon sighed, giving a bit of a shrug, glancing up, flashing an apologetic little smile.

"And look, I'm really sorry if it bothers you that I'm here. I get it- I really do…I mean I didn't when we got here cause I never actually saw it like that. I always thought it was just the town busybodies assuming two non-straight people who are really close can't just be friends but it wasn't that but it was on my side but even so I totally spaced just how over the top the gossip mill was here and it really never occurred to me they'd still be hung up with some crazy, pie in the sky fantasy from nearly a decade ago but…w-well…

I don't know…guess some things really never do change. In any case I know this has gotta be a major curveball for you and I swear it's nothing like what you probably thought when you found out that I was well…me..." he gave a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head, giving a fluttery little wave, reaching up, tucking a few wayward honey brown curls behind his ear unable to keep from continuing on.

"I mean- man, dude, that had to be almost as unexpected as your whole spycraft reveal thing was for us. I mean you disappear for a few days and out of nowhere your boyfriends ex just swoops in with three stupidly gorgeous men in tow and oh man with the gossip mill around here I can only imagine the stories that are floating around here now. Probably gonna go down in Lawrence county history right alongside that damn Pumpkin Weasel Incident.

Hell, come the spring they'll probably adapt it into some cheesy rom-com type play for the spring musical." He snorted, shaking his head, blinking, glancing up, catching those sharp grey eyes, flashing an apologetic smile, looking up hopefully.

"Look, I am so sorry if I've made you uncomfortable or anything like that. I know what it seems like when someone's ex swoops into town the second they're seemingly dumped but despite what everyone and their brother in town is saying I swear that was the farthest thing from what this was. I wasn't trying to win him back- there was no 'back' to win him to.

I never wanted him in the first place." Simon gasped, eyes wide, animatedly waving, quickly shaking his head.

"No wait! That came out wrong! I don't mean I didn't like Desi, I always liked Desi- I just never LIKED liked him. I liked him just fine, hell I loved him but it was just never THAT kind of love and I know a lot of people think any love not involving family members is THAT kind of love but it wasn't. I loved Desi with all my heart and he's the only reason I made it through my time here but when I say I loved him I mean it in a purely platonic, friend, family totally non-romantic kind of way.

I never saw him as anything more than my best friend and probably the closest thing to family I really had. Which incidentally made it creepy as hell and super uncomfortable when I lost my friendship blinders and saw everything clearly. It really was always platonic between us…a-at least on my side…

I thought it was on both sides. I really, really did and honestly I'm STILL kinda processing that cause I only just like twelve hours ago learned it wasn't and even then it was only when after being bombarded by the town gossip mill, busybodies and 'long lost love' crap my poor boyfriend flat out told me when we were lying in bed.

I was totally blindsided by this.

A-and I know…I know how unbelievable that has to sound to you since you've been inundated by this crap for over two years but that really is the truth. I had no idea he ever really felt like that for me. I-I really didn't…S-so…like I know this is SUPER awkward and uncomfortable for you but if it makes you feel any better it's like ten times worse for me.

I mean come on; you've had over two years to deal with me being his unrequited or long lost love or whatever the hell it was that everyone in the freaking town knew except for me…I've had twelve freaking hours! Twelve hours and everything I thought I knew about my past and relationship and connections here are totally turned on their head.

Twelve hours! And of those twelve four I was asleep, five were working a case and running interference between my obnoxiously intimidating boyfriend and my intimidatingly obnoxious pre-ex, one we were trapped in a bunker by heavily armed mercenaries and one half hour with an international superspy thinking I'm trying to swoop in and steal his guy the second he's out of sight…so…uh…yeah…" Simon trailed off, slightly out of breath, giving another helpless shrug and a totally lost wave.

Tyrin blinked somewhat rapidly.

"Wow that's a lot of words."

Beside Simon Raphael gave a softly affectionate chuckle, squeezing his hip, flashing an amused smile.

"Yeah…he kinda does THAT."

Tyrin huffed out a soft laugh, glancing over, head tilting.

"Kinda picked up on that one too…Spy and all that…" he shook his head faintly before shifting from Raphael back over to Simon, head titling looking him over.

"You really had no clue?"

Simon scoffed, eyes wide, animatedly nodding.

"None! And I'm a freaking detective! Raphael had to straight up tell me and even then I didn't believe it. I came back here thinking I was coming to help my best friend look into his missing boyfriend and I ended up stumbling ass backwards into some screwy rom-com love triangle insanity and it's not even with my actual boyfriend who I'm madly, stupidly, embarrassingly in love with! No it's with two people I have less than no romantic interest in; One who pretty much hates me and I don't know from Adam and the other who I see as family…which is again- super awkward and just…ugh…"

Tyrin huffed out a faint laugh, again blinking, giving a low whistle.

"Damn…that sucks…"

Simon snorted, giving a sarcastically animated wave.

"What I've been saying!"

Tyrin relaxed faintly, shaking his head, glancing up, expression more open then Simon's seen yet, shifting a bit closer, flashing the first real smile he's seen directed at him since they've met.

"Man and I thought I had a rough couple days."

Simon laughed brightly, feeling a bit of the tension in his shoulders ease, flashing a bright, dimpled grin, relaxing against the bar, giving another fluttery wave.

"So wha-" he begins before startling at a loud cacophony from upstairs followed by a clamoring from the stairs.

Desi scrambles down the stairs, tearing back into the room, kind of disheveled and out of breath. He stumbles, all but screeching to a stop, trying to catch his breath, halfway leaning on the bar kind of supporting himself with one hand, the other he raises up shakily in front of him, holding out the ring.

"I-I was..."

Tyrin freezes, blinking, eyes wide.

"I-Desi...I did not see this coming."

Raphael snorts.

"Maybe you aren't as good as I thou-oof!" He cuts off as Simon elbows him, glaring, brow quirking censuringly before shifting back to them, smiling hopefully, eyes wide and bright with excitement.

"Ignore us, we're totally not here...what were you saying?" He trails off, bouncing giddily on his heels, all but vibrating with excitement.

Tyrin blinks in surprise, brow raising, staring him down for a moment before kind of slumping, shaking his head irritatedly.

"Oh damnit...you really are too damn adorable to dislike..."

Raphael shrugged.

"-S okay, I got you covered here. I'll just dislike the fungus enough for both of us."

"Thanks." Tyrin chuckled.

Simon huffed, nudging him again.

"Don't call him t-"

Desi blinked in confusion.

"The w-wait...is that m-"

"Yes."

Desi scoffed disbelievingly, shaking his head, glancing from Tyrin back over, glaring faintly at Raphael.

"Now that is really uncalled f-"

"Desi?" Tyrin interrupted, an amused little smile tugging at his lips.

"Hmm..." he asked, glancing over.

"Yes."

Desi blinked, looking back to Tyrin.

"Wha-"

Tyrin chuckled, brow quirking, head tilting.

"I said yes..."

Desi blinked, freezing for a second, beginning to grin before pausing, holding up a finger.

"I-wait...yes he called me a fungus or yes to...uh...t-this..." he trailed off, holding up the ring.

Tyrin laughed softly, shrugging, slipping a bit closer, brow quirking teasingly.

"Both..."

Desi's eyes widen, he whoops loudly, darting forward, grabbing Tyrin, pulling him into a deep, excited, toe curling kiss. Tyrin hums softly, happily hugging him tighter, slowly pulling back, pressing one more kiss to his lips, looking up, smiling.

"So you really want to marry me? Like the real me- this me?"

Desi smiled, reaching up, tucking a few loose curls behind his ear, nodding.

"Yes, this you; any you. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. I've thought that from the first time I met you."

"You mean when you catcalled me and I hit you in the forehead with an apple?"

Desi laughed, shaking his head.

"I was not catcalling! But yes, ever since you hit me in the forehead with an apple through the half open window of my moving truck from over twenty feet away. I knew right then you were extraordinary…I just had no idea exactly how extraordinary."

Tyrin huffed out a soft laugh, glancing up, brow quirking impishly.

"You still don't."

Desi chuckled, smiling, nodding.

"No I don't, but you said yes which means I have the rest of our lives together to find out."

Tyrin blushed, sighing softly, tugging him closer.

"Yes you do. I hope you don't regret it."

"Oh, I won't. I mean, unless you secretly have yet another secret identity I should know about. Because, honestly? Finding out my fiancée has some crazy secret hidden double life feels like it really should just be a onetime thing in a relationship."

Tyrin rolled his eyes, brow quirking sarcastically, poking Desi lightly in the ribs.

"Yes love, you caught me. MI6 is in actually just a clever cover for yet another even more secret identity I'm hiding."

Raphael snorted.

"Excellent. I for one can't wait for the post-credit scene when we find out he's also Batman."

Simon huffed, rolling his eyes, nudging him.

"Shh, let them have their moment."

Raphael scoffed out a faint laugh, glancing over, brow quirking, waving towards the happy couple.

"They did. It was very nice. Now can we pop some champagne, toast the happy couple and figure out how the hell we're gonna ferret out an evil international criminal using a small town company to manufacture bioweapons or are we waiting around to find out he's also an alien?"

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*End Of Chapter Notes*

{:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-*}

« Oh mon Dieu, comment quelqu'un d'aussi grand peut-il être un tel bébé ?

"Oh my god, how is someone so big such a baby?

FCDO= Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office

"Lo siento mi amor, es una costumbre, ya sabes… Mmm… aunque siempre aprecio mucho tus reacciones…"

"Sorry love, habit you know…Mmm…though I do always SO enjoy your reactions."

Yay! Finally some progress!

So what did you think? Surprised by the spy twist? What do you think about Desi and Ty? I'm kinda really liking the way they're fleshing out, they may end up working into a few of the other verses more. And I know Simon and Eli kinda ran the show here but with it being Simon's ex and said ex kinda putting Eli through the ringer a bit I kinda figured Xan and Alec would let them take the reins and just fill in when they needed.

Anyways this chapter was the last before we get to the final 3 {those I tend to post in pretty quick succession as 12 I always finish early so I have extra time to proof so generally I finish 12 first {Which the stories we have remaining in this round I have the majority of the final chapters between half and three quarters done} then 10 and I honestly kinda rush through 11 because it's the only thing standing between me and a completed story so I know I keep saying it but we really are nearly done with this round and ready to move onto the next., before we go too much further into the new set of stories I'd like to largely finish up this last set.

Here's the update list as it stands now:

Verse 5- Devil Went Down To Jersey {Ch 2}

Verse 1- You Can Go Home Again {Chapter 9}

Verse 3- Death Was Just The Beginning {Chapters 10-12}

Verse 7- Trust Is A Tricky thing {Chapter 2}

Verse 1- You Can Go Home Again {Chapter 10-12}

Verse 2- Family, Friends And Freakouts {Chapter 1}

Verse 9- Nosy Neighbors {Chapters 10-12}

Verse 6- Opposites Attract {Chapter 1}

Verse 4- Magical Meetings & Mysterious Strangers {Chapter 1}

Verse 8- Raptor Run {Chapter 1}

So as you can see my plan is to finish a story, update one of the new ones- or start the next story in that verse- then finish another. I think this'll be the best move as this way by the time I finish this round I'll have the majority of the next round started. All I'll have to start is the ones for verses 1, 3 and 9.

Thinking as I finish one story I'll move the first chapter of the next story in the series onto the bottom of the list so I can just flow right on through. I know it sounds a bit convoluted but It'll work.

And remember as always this is a very loose idea of what is to come. I do want to finish a verse and then work on one of the new one to keep from stagnating but the order of which I finish next could fluctuate. I plan on finishing the story for Verse 3 first as it's been waiting the longest but there's a lot to cover in that one.

Verse 9 will likely be the easiest to finish as it's about the only one I didn't end up pushing stuff back to where I kinda have to cram about 5 chapters worth of story into 3 so that one's also a possibility and then again I really love how this verse is shaping up and I do have a very clear idea of what's to come so it's possible instead of jumping to 3 or 9 I may just run this one through to the finish line.

So yeah…I do know the next story I work on will be one of the ones in the final 3 chapters and whichever one I do will be the next completed story I'm just not 100% certain which it will be.

If you have a preference let me know, it could help make my decision easier.

In any case I will get to all of them eventually until then we'll just have to go with whatever pace my muses and the real world will allow.

In any case Yay progress!

So what do we think so far?

*~Page 65 of 65~*

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