[M] Paradoxes. But that's alright [MatrixOne and The_Eternal_Lullaby]

[MatrixOne]

Rating Description: Rated M for mature content including, but not limited to: Yaoi sexual scenes, drugs, bad language and possibly more.

***

"I'm glad you're the one to do this, Mr. Dune" Eric's mysterious employer said. He sure tried hard not to reveal his identity; He was wearing a smart suit and a creepy white mask covering his entire head, revealing only his green eyes. The mask had some kind of a voice alteration device built into it, so that nobody could identify him by his voice.

All that was known about him was that he was powerful, involved in everything around the world, and pretty damn rich. Once, someone called him a 'faceless weirdo' on TV, and he adopted the name as his own because he thought it fit him perfectly. He just wants to be called 'Sir Faceless Weirdo'.
"What you're doing is a risk. But I worked closely with the government on this one, we made sure that recovering your target won't create any problems in the parallel world you'll enter. That's because you'll get him out on the day before his death"
Faceless Weirdo showed Eric the painting of the target - it was the original, bought for 100 000$.
"His name's Jack de Wiart. A great mind; I believe he'll adapt quickly. But can you adapt to him? I'm trusting your peaceful nature, Mr. Dune"

He approached the machine.

It wasn't an actual time machine; Its purpose was simulating a new, parallel world which is exactly the same as the real world, and taking whoever enters the machine into a specified point and time. That way, Weirdo could create many different versions of the world, and even bring something back into the real one by molecular recreation. And Eric was supposed to get Jack out.
"Bear in mind that this is just a simulation, so if you die, you'll come back here and we'll get you back inside so you can prevent such unfortunate mishaps reoccurring" Weirdo slapped the big red button as if it was a stripper. "Any questions before we begin?"

The machine created a bright force field of some sort - walking through it means going to the target's time.

____
Go through the machine in the 'question' post, so we don't have to make two tiny ones just to get you through ;q

[Nori]

Eric wrung his hands hands nervously, staring at the machine before him while his employer spoke. He didn't even know the man's name. Well, not his real name, anyways. He didn't really trust the man, but, then again, he didn't really trust anyone in general.

"It really is an honor, sir," he said as politely as he could possibly manage through his nerves. This was going to be such an exciting adventure, no matter the length! But, naturally, he was extremely nervous. He wasn't used to doing such tasks such as these, of course. And just the thought of going back in time and bringing a man back seemed extremely complicated to him right then. What if something went wrong? His employer just told him that he couldn't really die. But he still worried.

He glanced at the picture that his employer showed him of the target. He was going to need to remember the face, anyway. He just hoped that he didn't get lost in the past. That would suck pretty bad. The young man laughed nervously, the anxiety biting away at his mind. "No questions, sir," he replied, even though he could think of many to ask. He just didn't have the mind to say them. He wanted to get this over with as fast as possible. He hated being out of his confined compartment for so long, even if it was for such an honorable task like this. He felt wide awake and jittery in anticipation.

Without waiting for a response, he hurried over closer to the machine, albeit rather hesitantly. He was starting to have second thoughts. Shouldn't someone else be doing this? If this Jack person were to start fighting, or if Eric ran into any trouble, what the hell was he supposed to do? He was a pacifist, after all. Hopefully his own crazed mind would be able to get him out of such situations.

He glanced at the mysterious employer one last time, took a deep breath, and walked closer to the peculiar yet highly fascinating machine. He walked right into it, his eyes closed tight. If he couldn't get out of this predicament, he would at least get it over as quickly as possible.

[MatrixOne]

The room was dark. As Eric's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he started to make out the objects.

He was in a wooden house of some sort. The time was late night, and...

"Go away, damn you. Find your own house to burglarize" Someone shouted. "Well, okay, I'm burglarizing it, too. But still! Don't you know crimes are bad? Leave it to me, go plant some flowers or something"
The man stepped forward into view. He had a revolver in hand, but pointing at the ground.
"But where are my manners. Jack de Wiart, professional, uh... Someone. Gotta think of a good catchphrase, huh. Anyway! Want some tea? It doesn't belong to me, so it's okay"

Jack had every possible outcome perfectly revised for this event, and suddenly someone just shows up.
"Well, you're not related to Mr. Lemonworth. You're not even his business partner. I don't know you, so you're not from this town. So you're either a damn good thief, or you've been sent to find me by someone of matching intellect to mine. Now tell me who you are and why would you even consider wearing this hideous sweater"

[Nori]

Eric blinked, rubbing his eyes some so that they adjusted quicker to the intimidating darkness. He was shivering now. He hated the dark. Absolutely loathed it with every fiber of his being. It brought back too many painful memories, so he tended to avoid it when possible.

He wished he had a flashlight; then he could see a little better and be at ease. He jumped slightly when he heard someone shout, and he quickly looked towards the area where the voice had come from.

He blinked blankly at Jack, and he slowly moved his hand away from the pocket where his knife was always hidden. Why didn't he bring his gun? Such a surprise like that while he was in the dark... the young man would have pulled it out and shot in an instant.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wiart," Eric said with the smallest of nods once he had collected himself. He arched an eyebrow at the man's rambling, but he didn't grow impatient. In fact, it actually humored him. He pulled a smile, before it disappeared as his nerves settled back in.

"Wha-...?" he asked, looking down at his own sweater. Was it really that ugly? He shook his head, sighing. He was getting wildly off track. He had a task to do, a mission to complete! "The name's Eric Dune," he replied somewhat distractedly, and he waved his hand to show that he didn't have time for this. He wanted to get out of the dark and with Jack.

"Look, you're gonna have to come with me," he began, but wondered if that was the right way to go about it. He rubbed his chin and thought it over. He didn't know Jack, after all, or really how he acted. How would Eric treat a child in such a situation? Probably offer them some candy...

But he hadn't any candy, and Jack wasn't a child. Damn his rambling thoughts and short attention span! Now he was just getting frustrated with himself. How much could he say to Jack? Everything? Would he sound like a complete madman? Well, he was already half-way there, at least. And this Wiart guy seemed a bit bonkers as well, so would he even believe what Eric had to say? Possibly.

"I... have to take you back to my... place," he continued shakily, glancing about frantically. Jack better agree to go back, and fast, before Eric had another paranoid panic attack.

[MatrixOne]

"Hey, easy there, Officer" Jack lit a match and used it to light a kerosene lamp. "You look like you're gonna pass out, or something. I didn't mean to insult your sweater" He laughed, hiding his gun. "Well, sorry to say this, but I'm about to commit a murder, so I can't really come with you right now. Busy day"

He looked around the room. His plan was to trash the house so that the police suspect a burglary, and take the murder as something done on impulse.
"Guess I'll get back to it. Just pretend I'm having a psychotic episode"
After saying that, Jack grabbed the bookcase and flipped it, tumbling it to the ground.
He picked up a few plates and started throwing them around, shattering them.

After a little more senseless destruction, Jack stopped and looked at Eric.
"Well, that leaves you. Now what do I do with you?" He slid his hands into Eric's pockets without asking for permission.
"A knife! That's not very nice"
He kept his hand in Eric's 'knife pocket', and put the other one on his shoulder, pressing Eric against the wall.
"Now that you can't unexpectedly slice my throat, let's talk about who you really are. This place is already set up for murder, you know... I can leave two bodies instead of one"

Possible outcomes of this scenario were running through Jack's head.

20% chance of him attacking. 1% chance of him actually winning. Outcome - Eric's death.

60% chance of him telling the truth. He looks scared, so Jack made sure to seem even scarier. Outcome... Unknown.

20% chance of him lying and trying to run. Jack will catch the lie easily, and there's no escape from here. Outcome - Eric's death.

Jack's dark green eyes flashed with excitement. This was not in the plan, it's unaccounted for! That means, it's a challenge! New variable that could change everything. Jack had to know what it was!
"Talk fast, my tea's waiting for me"

[Nori]

Eric watched as Jack made a mess of everything in the room. It seemed rather pointless to him. And it was causing a lot of noise, as well. What if someone heard the man throwing and smashing things around. Not like that was his problem, any way. The only problem he had was that Jack wasn't going to be as willing and complying as he had first hoped. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use any force because this man was probably stronger than him.

He did not like it when Jack stuck his hand into the young man's pocket, nor did he like being touched by the stranger. He hated being touched. The sensation on his shoulder brought back another flashback of another countless beating. He would have pulled away immediately if it wasn't for the fact that he was currently pinned against the wall.

His second instinct was to attack. But with what? His fists and legs? He had already established that Jack was stronger than he was, so that seemed a futile idea in his eyes. "Don't touch me," the young man snapped, trying to keep his patience as his breathing quickened. He couldn't die; he had to keep reminding himself that. But could he still feel pain? He hoped not; he had had enough of that to last a lifetime.

"I doubt you'll kill me," he said instinctively, turning his head slightly away from Jack while still looking at him. He had to get out of this situation. "And even if you do, I won't die." Jack wanted the truth, didn't he? "I am Eric Dune, like I said before. I am a babysitter and an engineer. I test things sometimes, make sure they work." Now he was just rambling on about his life back in his time. But that was what he really was!

"I was sent here to retrieve you and take you back to my time... could you please let go of me," Eric added that last part in a whimper, trying fruitlessly to pull away from Jack's grip. He was being patient, but if he didn't get away soon, he would lash out. And that would make Jack react, no doubt. And then he'd be dead, sort of. Or hurt. He hated pain, too many memories.

[MatrixOne]

Jack listened to Eric, trying to catch any signs of a lie.
But there were none. He was scaring the poor weird guy.
"I believe you" Jack finally said. "But tell me one thing... What the hell is that?"
He pulled his hand out of Eric's pocket, taking out the knife and... The cell phone that Faceless Weirdo gave him. In order to get back to the present, Eric would have to dial Weirdo's number to create the portal.

It was an iPhone, with all the touchscreen stuff.
"Well, now I'm really interested. Just let me kill this guy real quick and we can get the hell out of here"

Ten seconds later, someone came in through the door.
"Who's in here?!" Someone said in a deep voice.


"Heyyy! It's just me!" Jack hopped onto the pile of rubble he created, and waved.

"Wiart! I should have known. What do you want from me?!" The old man entered the room Eric and Jack were in. "I had to pull you away from the case, you know I had to! You were too unstable, you..."

He didn't finish, because Jack grabbed the revolver which he had prepared earlier, and fired. The bullet went straight through the man's heart. Jack approached him and pushed him to the ground, then fired three more bullets.
"Alright, come on, Eric, my automobile's hidden on the other side of the garden. We'll discuss what you want with me over tea. I'll drop the murder weapon over to that hitman they sent after me yesterday, he should try and murder me tomorrow" Jack laughed, carefully wrapping the revolver with a handkerchief. "Come on, door's over here. You really don't want to stay here any longer"

[Nori]

Eric gave Jack a rather funny look. He was glad that the man believed him. But it took him a while to realize that Jack had never seen an iPhone before. After all, they weren't even thought of during this time. "It's a cellphone," he replied, taking the phone back swiftly. "You use it to call people who aren't in the same area as you." Were telephones invented yet? This was confusing as he was never really fond of history unless it had to do with his own past.

He jumped again when he heard someone else's voice, and he pulled out his knife this time. He wasn't taking any chances. And he really didn't want to be touched again. Avoiding human interaction was hard, but it was typically necessary to the young man. Why did Jack have to take so bloody long? Eric wanted to go home right then and there! He could enjoy tea in his own cozy apartment with his stuffed animals and nightlights. Maybe he could even watch some TV. And he'd be far away from nutties like these.

He was more than a little shocked when Jack killed the newcomer. "Was that... was that really necessary?" he stammered, turning deathly pale and sickly green at the same time. All that blood... It was making him feel sick to his stomach. Now he was unsure of whether or not he should actually accompany Jack. He could just grab the man and leave now, after all. But he decided that he would play the man's little game. The last thing he needed was for Jack to try and attack him or anything.

"...Right," Eric murmured, walking over to the door. He was shaking, even more so when he stepped in a bit of blood. He gagged. "Let's get out of here fast, then." He made no move to put his pocket knife away. He felt safer with it in his hand and right there if he should need it.

[MatrixOne]

"Crikey nutcrackers!" Jack shouted when Eric stepped in the small blood pool. "I know, I know, I'm not Australian. But watch where you're going, damn it" He sighed and took another handkerchief, then kneeled at Eric's feet. "It's a crime scene. Wanna send me to the slammer? Keep stapling the place with victim's blood" He cleaned out the bottom of Eric's shoe of the victim's blood, and put the handkerchief in the dead guy's mouth.
"One final thing before we go"
Jack took out a copper ring and threw it onto the victim's chest.
"This will get them off my track for sure. Alright, out we go before you do something stupid again"

They left the house. The victim's automobile was still working, but Jack didn't even come close.
"Don't step on the mud, watch out not to make prints. I'm gettin' too old to teach rookies how to murder" He sighed. "My automobile's right there!"
He went around the back of the three-wheeled automobile which looked like a bike or something, and started the engine. The thing didn't even have doors. It looked fit to be driven by a horse, not an engine.
"Alright, it's not really mine. But I stole it so long ago, it might as well be mine now!" He steered it out on the road.
The thing was pretty slow. Horses could run twice as fast.

They arrived at a large, wooden house which looked like nobody cared to tend to it. The place was overgrown with grass and vines, everything was dirty and seemed old.
"Hey, don't judge. I wanted to hire a maid, but they disagreed when I told them the maid has to be a guy. So now, I clean on my own! And that means... Not at all"
He kicked the door open, and entered, throwing his coat on the ground.
The interior was quite peculiar, as it was filled with many different technological inventions and... Well, trash. Lots of it. The place was quite untidy, but there was order in this chaos, and Jack knew exactly where everything was.
"Alright, now we can talk! You can start by putting that damn knife away before you hurt yourself"
Jack hopped onto the couch opposite of the fireplace, inviting Eric to sit right next to him.
"And this thing"
He laid the iPhone on the table, examining it closely.
"Phone calls, you say... But there's no damned wire. You can't just send it through the air like that, eh" He pressed the sound buttons, but nothing happened. "It displays time, but it's flat. Also, learn to set the time on this thing! It says it's 5 PM when it's clearly midnight"
He put the phone away.
"Curious, most curious... It's been some times since I had to ask a question without already knowing the answer... Eric" He looked him in the eye. "Eric... Ric... Rick. I'll call you Rick!"

[Nori]

Eric sighed, and his face flushed when Jack insisted upon wiping the blood off of his shoe. He gagged when the man stuffed the bloody handkerchief into the dead man's mouth. He quickly looked away and hurried out of the door to get outside. The stench of the fresh blood and body might not have been too strong, but it was strong enough to make him feel like he was going to keel over with nausea if he stayed in that house for a moment longer.

When he was outside, he listened closely to Jack for once and made sure not to step in any of the mud that surrounded the house. Which was easy, considering how much he hated to get dirty. He followed Jack to the peculiar automobile. Why didn't they just take the victim's? It would have been much faster that way.

But he didn't dare question Jack, and climbed into the vehicle. It didn't have any doors, and it was terribly slow. But he didn't get impatient; he hardly ever did. He just enjoyed the chilly night air in silence until they arrived at the house.

It was definitely run-down. Eric couldn't help but wince at the sight of the place. He was a bit OCD, and everything had to be spotless and tidy and organized to his liking. He was half-tempted to tidy up the wooden house and its yard right then and there!

But he had more important matters to attend to, at the moment, he decided as he hopped out of the automobile. He followed after Jack still in silence, scowling at everything he set his eyes upon. This house was too messy! "Well, you really ought to clean up a bit," he murmured distastefully, glaring at the sight of all of the dirty and poorly placed things. He closed the door silently behind him.

He slowly put the knife back in his pocket, but made no move to sit down next to Jack. He wasn't very comfortable around the man if the nervous glint in his eyes was anything to show. "There doesn't need to be a wire," Eric replied seriously, yet still humorous enough. He wondered what telephones were like back in this time. "I'm not sure on how it works, though..." Phones were never really his thing.

"And it's 5 PM back where I'm from; that's why the time is set to it," he continued with a nod, relaxing a little. He watched at Jack put the phone away, and he bit the inside of his cheek in worry and anxiety. "You better not call me Rick," he muttered darkly, but the humor and amusement never completely left his voice. "And if you do, I might just call you Jackie." This was how he handled kids. And with the way Jack was acting now, he could have easily passed for a kid.

[MatrixOne]

"But... But Rick rhymes with..." Jack started with a bright smile, and then lowered his voice. "...Um. Sick" He giggled. "And what the hell, the name 'Jackie' doesn't even exist in my books"
He reached for the pile of clothes laying next to the couch, and pulled out a perfectly clean, white shirt.
"What do you mean, 'clean up'" He laughed, taking off his black shirt and throwing it into the fireplace. "You mean, you volunteer to be my man-maid? Sounds great! I'll pay you one not-death per hour"
He put the white shirt on and buttoned it.
"You might wanna turn around" He warned before removing the other parts of murder clothing, placing them in the fireplace and putting on new ones.
"So!" He hopped back onto the couch. The new guest kept him interested; He always needed a point of interest, otherwise the life was just too boring and Jack would have to spice it up a little. That's why he was fired not long ago. "Quit standing around like a telephone pole. You said you want me for something. What is it? It might have to wait 'till I get rid of that hitman sent after me. If you want me for detective work, it better be something more interesting than just another murder case" He reached into a pile of fruits, and grabbed two apples, throwing one to Eric.

Jack wasn't quite sure how to react to his behavior. The guy was obviously uncomfortable in Jack's presence (just as anybody...), but for some reason he sticks around. So, he's obviously doing this for someone, not himself. And Jack had absolutely no idea who. That fact angered him. Moreover, that person must have known of his murder plans tonight, and of his plans for tomorrow...

He could be sent to stop Jack from doing it.

But that's not an option...

[Nori]

Eric blushed, looking away from Jack as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Ha... right," he murmured, but he was unable to pull a smile this time. "I actually wouldn't mind tidying this place up. Cleaning's a bit of a hobby to me. It's actually quite fun!" he chirped cheerfully, before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He was getting off track again. Why the hell did they choose him for this job? He rambled on too much.

He glanced at Jack as the man took his pants off, and his lingering blush only grew stronger. He looked around the room before deciding to stare down at his feet. At least his shoes were clean. Somewhat, at least.

"Well, you see, they didn't really tell me too much," the young man began nervously, continuing to gaze down at his shoes. He didn't really know quite how to explain the situation, honestly. And he was horrible with conversing, anyway. "'They' being my... employer, I guess," he said with a shrug, and he tried not to sound too terribly awkward.

He caught the apple that was thrown to him, but was too nervous and paranoid to eat it. Jack seemed crazy. Who was there to say that the fruit was not poisoned? But he was rather hungry... "Time travel is in its earliest stages back in my time. The first task they assigned was to come and get you and bring you to our world. You know, before your death. Maybe for detective work; I'm not quite sure. I am to take you back to my time and... well... teach you stuff, I guess. About our time, and stuff," Eric rambled quietly, trying to choose his words carefully. He wasn't quite sure on why he was sent here to retrieve Jack. If they had told him (which they probably did), he was too caught up to actually pay attention.

[MatrixOne]

When Jack heard Eric's words, he started laughing happily, as if it was the best thing he ever heard.
"Whew! Man, I can't even... Ha!" He hopped in excitement. "Look. I don't know of your stupid employers and whatnot" He started, trying to hold back the laugh. "But the thing is, I wasn't dead!" He fell back onto the couch, feeling absolutely elated. "Can't you see? I was planning to fake my own death and disappear. And it worked! Haha! It fooled everybody, from tomorrow, all the way to your future! I made a fool of every historian who ever studied my life. I can't even imagine" He bit into the apple. "At least you're telling the truth. As weird as it all sounds, it's the truth, I can tell" He said, looking at the iPhone. "Besides, you're not crazy. I'm crazy, not you" He threw the rest of the apple into the fireplace. "Okay then! Tomorrow should be in exactly... Five seconds"
He watched the clock, and when midnight passed, he opened the wardrobe.
"Now onto me faking my own death. Forget the hitman, then, might as well do it right now"
A dead body fell out of the wardrobe, face-down on the ground.
"I know, I know, two murders" Jack sighed. "Not your average detective guy, am I?"
He grabbed the iPhone and handed it to Eric.
"Well then, send us back, Rick"
After saying that, Jack stuffed the body into the fireplace. It caught fire instantly; Must have been rinsed with gasoline. The fire started spreading to the rug.

"Better hurry, 'cause I forgot where I put the door keys" Jack laughed. "I suppose burning alive wasn't on your schedule for today, was it?"

[Nori]

Eric was a little confused at this revelation at first, and then he was just embarrassed. Jack must have been a pretty clever man if he could pull off with faking his own death. And he didn't doubt the man's obvious cleverness for a minute. He was grinning now, but if faded somewhat when the dead body fell to the ground from the wardrobe.

He wondered whose body it was, and if Jack had killed anyone else. He didn't doubt that, either. There could be all sorts of dead and decaying bodies, human and animal, all over the house with the state it was in. He pulled a face and accepted the iPhone.

All he had to do was punch in a few numbers, and that Weirdo guy would have the portal that led back to his time up and working. He was eager to get home, and even more so with Jack. It meant that he had accomplished his mission, and for that he was proud of himself. He never really did anything great like this. Perhaps he could celebrate with some wine or chocolate. He loved chocolate.

The young man wasn't alarmed when the fire spread onto the rug. It couldn't kill him. Burn him, maybe, but not kill him. And he liked fire. It got rid of the darkness and kept Eric company when he was lonely. Fire was nice, and it was especially fun to stare into the burning flames. It was so peaceful and warm.

He stood for a moment, transfixed by it as a moth is to a lighting fixture. He could always make a fire at home, in his own fireplace. He blinked for a moment, before turning to Jack. He'd do just that, then. "Ready?" Eric asked, but he didn't wait for a response. He didn't even have to think as he punched in the numbers. They had been drilled into his brain, after all.

[MatrixOne]

"Hey, it's a house fire. Some screams of panic would make it more moody, you know" Jack grabbed a few things just to ready himself.

Then, the portal appeared in the form of a sparkly white light... Straight over the fire.
"You sure about this?" Jack didn't feel like jumping over there. "Go on, then, Rick" He pushed Eric through the portal, and saw him disappear.
"Well, I'll be damned" Jack whispered. For a second, he wondered if he shouldn't just turn back and bask in the glory of his victory...

But no. This place, this world, it was too boring for him. And out there? Out there, a challenge was waiting for him.
So he made the jump.

***

"Everybody, welcome the guest from the past!" Faceless Weirdo shouted to the microphone, and the crowd started cheering.
"What am I, a celebrity?" Jack asked, looking around the stage him, Eric and Weirdo were standing on while a couple hundred people were cheering.
So... This device is used to spread lies and deceit over to the public. Simple enough - Jack thought, looking at the microphone Weirdo was using.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I would like to..." Weirdo started, but Jack grabbed the mic.

"The masked creep guy would like to say that we have a guest from the past, right here! Everyone, applause for mr. Eric Dune!" He shouted into the microphone and pointed at Eric. The crowd went crazy with excitement. "That's right! Now excuse us, but the guy is not ready for interviews. I mean, just look at him! I should really show him around the place"
He retreated behind the big red curtains, leaving Eric on the stage.
"Well played" Weirdo complimented, entering the backstage as well. "I knew you'd adjust quickly. My name is Faceless Weirdo"

"I prefer Masked Creep Guy" Jack laughed. "I suppose you are Rick's employer. What do you want with me?"

"Oh, nothing at all. Enjoy yourself, mr. Wiart"

"I will, Masked Creep Guy, I will"

[Nori]

Eric had started to chuckle at Jack's response, but it was cut short when he was pushed into the portal. Having not expected the sudden push, he fell straight out of the portal and onto his face on the stage. The sound of cheering was deafening to his ears. He hated large crowds of people. He stood up slowly, his face flushed in embarrassment. Damn, it was loud!

He glanced over to Jack, and he relaxed a little at the sight of him. He still felt like he was going to burst into tears. In fact, he could already feel the salty substance building up in his eyes, irritating them and making his vision slightly fuzzy around the edges.

The young man was confused when Jack took the microphone from Weirdo, and his expression showed that. What the bloody hell was Jack talking about? He looked out towards the crowd, and his fear only grew, so he swiftly turned his gaze away.

It took him a moment or two to notice that both Jack and Weirdo had exited the stage, leaving him alone standing before hundreds of people. He grew extraordinarily dizzy as a renewed sense of panic swept over him. He hesitated only for a moment before hurrying backstage as soon as Weirdo and Jack had finished their conversation. Eric secretly wiped the tears out of his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to go home and get away from the multitude of people. He could lock himself in his room for hours. Then he would be calm again.

[MatrixOne]

Jack told Weirdo to go away and make himself a sandwich, and he took Eric out of the building.
"Pull yourself together" He told Eric when they were finally alone and out on the street. "I'm sorry about that time-travelling celebrity thing, but I can't have attention drawn to me, I'm sure you understand" He said and looked around.

It was the present. Modern tech stuff.

Or, as Jack would call it, lots of weird shit.
"Do you have an automobile like that?" Jack asked, pointing at one of Weirdo's Ferraris. "How do you get inside? It looks like a tin can" He kicked the door, but the alarm came online. "Shit, these things can call for help now?" He resumed walking as if nothing happened. "Guess we'll have to find our own automobile. I hope you've got an idea. Also, I'm guessing you're here to babysit me... Good luck with that!" Jack laughed. "Where do I live? In your apartament? It'll have to do. Lead the way!"

There was nothing in Weirdo's contract about Eric babysitting Jack...

[Nori]

"It's fine," Eric murmured dismissively, waving his hand as he walked with Jack outside the building and onto the street. He had a car, but he only used it when he needed to travel further than he could walk in an hour. He turned curiously to see what Jack had pointed at, and he laughed.

"You really think I could afford a Ferrari? Those things are damn expensive, and I'm living almost by paycheck to paycheck as it is," the young man stated with a sad shake of his head and a soft sight. He was only a part-time engineer, and a full-time babysitter. Neither of those jobs paid very well, but he was happy with his life nonetheless. Well, sometimes he was, at least. This ordeal, as he deemed it now, had been merely a stroke of luck. He wouldn't ever get lucky again in this lifetime.

His eyes widened when Jack mentioned Eric babysitting him. That wasn't in the contract.
He was about to banish the idea altogether until he realized something. Jack was rather... odd, to say the least. And he seemed to cause trouble. Leaving him alone in this modern world would end up being a horrible decision.

"Well... I guess you can come over to my place," the young man said slowly and hesitantly. He couldn't leave Jack alone. But he didn't want Jack to come with him. He didn't like human interaction, and only endured it when absolutely necessary. He could always find Jack another place to stay at...

But Eric was more patient than most people in this world. He could handle Jack much easier than anyone else could. And his career babysitting young children helped build up his patience. He knew how to handle things, and as such he felt confident. So long as Jack didn't bother him every waking moment of every day, then he could stay over at Eric's apartment.

"Let's go, then," he said to Jack, walking swiftly over to his own car. It was a smaller, black car that looked a bit beat up. It was clean, though, and despite a few scraped here and there, it was actually a fairly nice car. He opened the passenger door for Jack, motioning for the man to enter. The sooner they got home, the better.

[MatrixOne]

"Are you saying you're poor?" Jack couldn't believe it. "Well, in that case, me living with you is gonna be the best thing in your life, since... Ever!" He laughed, entering the car. "Oh, I'll get you a Ferra... Ferra... Something, all right. This place is full of opportunity, I bet there's money here just waiting to be made"
He looked around the interior of the car.
"Hey, where does air get in? It's all locked! Do I have to open the door to let air inside?" He asked, opening the door while Eric was driving. The street lamp nearly hit the door, but Jack closed it. "Impractical. Anyway, show me what the future automobiles can do! Can it drive faster than a horse? Can it fly? Or swim? Come on, show me something awesome!"
He pressed the big button on the steering wheel, but all the car did was honk.
The driver of the car in front stopped, leaned out of the window and shouted:
"Hey, who the hell are you honking at, asshole?!"

Jack opened the door and left the car, pulling out his revolver. "You! Want a piece of me? Come and get it!"
But the guy stepped on the gas and made a sharp right.

Jack returned to Eric's car. "Well, glad to see the old ways of traffic persuasion are still working. Keep driving"

He was looking out the window, taking in the amazing sights. But the real mystery was sitting next to him...
"Rick" He started the conversation. "Are you married? Do you have kids? Why not?" Jack was smart enough to deduce that Eric wasn't a family man. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" He whispered in his ear, smiling devilishly. "I better be"

[Nori]

Eric rubbed the temple of his forehead as he buckled into his own seat and began to drive. "I am not poor," he snapped, but he still kept his patient tone. He did sound hurt, though. "I just... don't have as much money as others' do is all."

He kept his eyes on the street mostly, but his attention was drawn to Jack as the odd man opened the door to the moving vehicle. "Don't open the doors while I'm driving!" he squeaked, pressing onto the gas a little harder than necessary. "Do you want to get us killed?" Dear God, this man was going to be harder to put up with than he had originally thought.

He turned his eyes back to the road and swerved around a parked car before he hit it. "Cars are faster than horses. Much faster. And, no, it cannot fly or swim. Boats are used for water transportation, and airplanes are used for air transportation," the young man clarified a bit more calmly. It was only natural that Jack should be curious about the car, and many other things...

But touching his steering wheel while he was trying to drive wasn't a smart move. "Hey, watch it!" he snapped once more, glaring at Jack momentarily as the car honked. He only became more frightened and alarmed when Jack reopened the car door and took out his revolver. "Sorry!" he called to the man in the car in front of them as he turned. Not that he could blame the poor guy.

"I'm trying to drive, but I can't when you're acting like that. Don't open the door when the car is moving, and don't take out any sort of weapon and aim it at another. That sort of stuff will get us sent to the big house, and I don't want to end up there again," Eric admonished firmly to Jack. The thought of getting sent back to prison made him shiver and grow ill at ease once more.

He enjoyed the silence while it lasted, and was considering turning on the radio to a rock or classical station when Jack spoke up once more. "H-huh?" he asked, his eyes widening slightly and his cheeks flushing red once more. He hadn't expected a question like that. But he decided to answer anyway; maybe if he did, Jack would stop bugging him. "No, I'm not married, nor do I have any children. I want some, though," he mumbled in response, his expression softening as he grew sad at the thought.

"No woman would want me, anyway, and I don't want them. I would adopt, but the government won't allow it," he continued, glancing at Jack as he talked. He decided not to elaborate there. It was much too personal, and he already felt like he had said far too much. "And, yes, you are making me rather uncomfortable."

[MatrixOne]

"Adopt?" Jack whispered, inching himself closer and closer to Eric. "Does this mean what I think it means?" He grinned, his lips now almost touching Eric's ear. "We might be quite similar after all, you and me" He kept whispering. Eric could feel the warmth of his breath. "You and me..."

Then, Jack retreated back to his seat.
"Also" He said, smiling. "You think I haven't caught that little hesitation when you talked about the slammer? What were you in for?" The last question was a lot louder than the others, as if it was some kind of test. "Did you drop the soap?" That last sentence was a whisper again.

Jack relaxed in his seat.
Eric was a fun guy. Bit of a baby sometimes, but still, every badass goes limp when Jack's around. That's a fact. And Jack did put him through a lot during the first few hours; Two corpses, a million people and a couple near-death experiences...
But still, the guy was pretty patient. Most people would have freaked out by now, and Jack was fine with that.

"Hey, what's this?" He extended the seat belt. "Seems like it fits into that port over there" He fastened the belt like a real pro. Then, his eyes widened. "You sick bastard! This is not an automobile, it's a torture seat! I'm trapped! Let me out! What are you gonna do to me?!" He unfastened the belt. "Shouldn't your victims not be able to run away? I mean, it kinda defies the purpose of holding them in place with this thing"

He ran his hand through his pink hair.
"Anyway... What do you think of my hairstyle? Futuristic enough? I'd hoped there'd be more freaks like me in the future, but I guess I'm an all-time one of a kind" He laughed. "I just wonder... Where I am right now" He said, thinking aloud. "I haven't died, it was a fake. So, I should be alive for fifty years since my disappearance... What year is it? Think I could still be alive? I mean, it was only 1845. It can't be that far of a future..."

[Nori]

Eric shivered at the feel of Jack's breath on his ear, and it took all of his strength to suppress the moan that threatened to escape his lips. It felt good, and he was just slightly saddened when Jack pulled away and sat back in his seat. What was wrong with him?

"I doubt we have anything in common," he sighed, keeping his gaze firmly on the road. They would be arriving at his apartment complex sometime soon. When he got home, he would make himself, and maybe Jack, and nice steaming cup of tea or cocoa. He was in the mood for chocolate. And he needed a shower, as well. He wondered if Jack wanted to bathe. He had just killed someone, after all.

"It was nothing," the young man responded hurriedly to the next question Jack threw at him. Why did he have to be like that? Why couldn't the man just leave him alone. "I just did some things I shouldn't have, and I paid the price. Simple as that."

Of course, it wasn't that simple. There were quite a number of things that he had done. He was lucky to even be out of prison today. He was sure that he would get sentenced longer, but the people there seemed to praise good behavior. "And I didn't 'drop the soap'," he continued in embarrassment. What man would dare to fuck him, anyway? With his past and his father's popularity in the criminal world, it only made sense that no one dared to mess around with him. Well, except for Jack, that is. But Jack didn't know anything about him, so it was okay.

Eric glanced over at Jack as the man messed around with the seat belt. "That is a seat belt. It keeps people properly placed in their seats so in case their is an accident, you won't go flying out the windshield," he said with a soft chuckle and a smile.

He was silent for a moment as Jack continued to talk, but he was only half-listening. "Trust me; there's many people much weirder than you in this time," he said with a sigh. Teens nowadays were so stereotypical. "And the year's 2013. Dunno how far that is from 1845, but I'm pretty sure you won't be alive now," Eric continued as he pulled into the parking lot to the apartments.

[MatrixOne]

"Wierder than me? You seem to be forgetting who you're dealing with here" Jack laughed, and left the car when Eric stopped the engine. "Finally, out of that enclosed box of torture! You are a sick person" He teased Eric. "By the way, are we friends now? How much of a time do we have to spend together in order to call ourselves friends?" He wondered aloud. "Wow, this huge building is your house? And you said you were a poor bum nearly living in the streets"

As they went into the elevator, Jack sighed again. "Another claustrophobia-inducing enclosed torture box. Why's the future obsessed with those?"
As the elevator doors opened, Jack jumped in surprise. "How can it be! We got in here, and now we're on a completely different floor!" He let some silence arise for a second. "Oh, I forgot, we had elevators, too" He giggled.

As they walked across the hallway, Jack kept spewing comments.
"That's a lot of doors for just one man. What do you do with those? Knock'em down?" He asked and rung a doorbell to one of the houses.

"The hell you want" Some guy asked from the other side of the door. "Go away, you pink-haired moron, I ain't got time for your shit"

"Newspaper delivery, sir" Jack said in a formal tone.

"I didn't order no newspaper"

"Oh yeah? Screw you" Jack snapped and returned to Eric's side. "Who was that, your butler? Are you a prince, or the son of a mafia boss? Is this why your corrupted family member bought you out from prison?" Jack's conclusions were brave, but made a certain amount of sense. "Or should I say... Quote, family member, quote..." He added, smiling devilishly. "Who's your daddy? That's a question even you don't know the answer for, do you" He stood in front of Eric, pointing a finger at his chest. "I saw your face when you talked about adoption. You and your sibling got adopted and separated. You'd like to adopt a kid of your own, to show the world how people should tend to adopted children, but you can't do that, can you, my little homosexual?" He worked it all out. "Also, you're grieving. But not your foster parents, I can see how they fucked up being parents. So, it's either a sibling, which means you have more than one... Let me guess, your brother died not very long ago, and you're feeling so lonely that you want to find your sister and reunite after all those years"
He basked in the glory of victory. He was sure he got most of those things right, and from as short a time he had with Eric, this was a success. But then, he realized this must have been kinda hard to listen to.
"I didn't mean to, uh, make you feel bad, though. Just trying to work out your past" He added. He wasn't much of a feely guy, and he sure didn't know the limits to being an ass.

[Nori]

"It's not my house; it's an apartment complex," Eric responded, walking into the elevator after Jack and clicking the button for his floor. He massaged his head once more. He was getting one hell of a headache from listening to Jack ramble on and on. What would make the man stop talking for just one second?

He hurried out of the elevator the minute it opened back up. He was ready to put some distance between him and Jack. He didn't know how much more of this he could take before he finally snapped. "Hey, don't do that!" the young man barked at Jack with wavering patience as he rang the doorbell to some random guy's apartment.

"Sorry, sir. This one's a bit special," he said as politely as he could to the man before pulling Jack away and continuing on down the hall. He was nearing his apartment which was at the very end of the hall. "Wish I was a prince," he murmured quietly, more to himself than to Jack. It would be nice to live in a castle and have people wait on him.

He was shocked at Jack's continued speech predicting Eric's past. He stood silent for a moment, only partly listening to the man. Jack's account was surprisingly accurate, except it was his sister who had died. And his foster parents had at least tried.

"Listen here," Eric snapped with mounting venom, glaring furiously at Jack. His patience was gone, and he was now being fueled by his anger and hurt. "First of all, I am not a homosexual," he seethed and pointed at Jack as he spoke, although he was unsure about these words. "Second, my past is none of your damn business, so stay the fuck out of it." Perhaps that was a tad harsh. He felt a little bad then. But Jack had no right to try and dig into his past, detective or not! It hurt to even think about it. Too many memories. And the memories brought back nightmares and screams and bad thoughts and hallucinations. He didn't like those. It was always a touchy subject, and he tended to overreact when anyone brought it up. He couldn't help it. He isolated himself away from people for fear of remembering everything. He didn't want to think about it. "You're... sort of right though..."

His expression softened some to show that he wasn't completely angry with Jack, and he brushed past the man without another word. He walked over to the door to his apartment and unlocked it just as a tear ran down his cheek. He bowed his head, and he hurriedly entered the room. "...Aren't you coming?" Eric questioned softly to Jack, pausing in his pace to look at the man. Angry or not, he wasn't going to be so rude as to lock Jack out of the apartment. He also wanted to show the man around.

[MatrixOne]

"I..." Jack started, but Eric's angry snap interrupted him. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't..."

"Second, my past is none of your damn business, so stay the fuck out of it"

"You're right" Jack said quietly. "I've been causing trouble to you since it all started. I only wanted to show you how much I figured out about you. Show you that I cared. But I screwed it up and hurt you, just like I always do with people. Perhaps I should... Just go" He lowered his gaze. "You're just a normal guy. And I've been on my own all my life, I can be alone again. I'm sorry to have bothered you, Eric. I'll stay the fuck out of your life, as you said" He said softly, and turned around, walking away slowly. "You'll probably read about me in the newspapers pretty soon. At least you won't read about yourself... I'll claim the headlines, just as I always have..." He paused. "Alone"
And pressed the 'down' elevator button, waiting for it to come.

Of course, it was all just an act. Jack played Eric like a puppet, and his angry reaction was exactly what he was waiting for. He knew it was easy to make Eric guilty, and he decided to accumulate this guilt into one big burst. That way, he'll want to do a lot to make things up to Jack.

The elevator arrived.

[Nori]

Eric narrowed his eyes at Jack as the man spoke. Should he trust his words or not? He watched in silence from his doorway, leaning on the frame with a raised eyebrow as Jack walked towards the elevator. He wasn't that stupid. He knew full well what Jack's goal was in doing all of this. The children that he babysat did it all of the time, and it was actually quite adorable when they did so.

But Jack was a grown man. Why would he act like a child? "Well, I was going to put the kettle on for some tea. And I was hoping maybe you'd like to watch some TV with me," he offered in a softer tone with a genuine smile. He knew how to handle children, and Jack was acting like one. Therefore, he felt much more confident. He couldn't let his anger get the best of him, and he had to show Jack who was boss.

"Come on, now," the young man continued, walking over to Jack and pulling him away from the elevator as the doors slid shut once more. "I gotta show you your room, too. Except, I'm not sure if I have another bedroom..." he muttered thoughtfully, trying to remember the layout of his apartment. It was fairly larger, but it didn't have a multitude of rooms. "You could always sleep in mine, and I could sleep on the couch. Or we could both sleep in my room..." That sounded way more suggestive than he would have liked.

[MatrixOne]

"Year 2013 and you people are still drinkin' tea?" Jack laughed, pretending to forget all about that showdown. "Hell yeah, go Brits. Oh, and what country is this, by the way?" He stopped talking when he entered Eric's apartment.

He looked around the room for a few seconds before opening his mouth again.
"What... Is the deal with all those plushies" He asked. "And you think I'm childish? Nuh-uh, Rick" He hopped on the couch, just as he did back at his house. Without taking his shoes off, of course. "I can't take all this cleanliness. How can you live here? No wonder you're such a neurotic"

As Jack made himself at home, he started taking out all the things he took from his house.
A shiny revolver, lots of ammo, a long knife, a short knife, a folding knife, a revolver wrapped in a bloody handkerchief, empty wallet, a syringe with a rusty needle that was filled with a transparent substance, an exploding cigar, a lighter and a carrot.
"Running out of table here" He laughed as he put the items one next to another. He then proceeded to eat the crunchy carrot. "My, you really are poor. I don't have a cent to my name, but hey, at least I have you!" Jack winked, taking off his coat. "Tell me about the police here. How do I listen in on them? I need to know what kinds of cases are causing problems. Oh, and where's my room?"

____________
Eric wouldn't see through Jack's lie if I hadn't informed you of it in narration... I counted you wouldn't let the OOC knowledge impact the IC interaction :S

[Nori]

Eric rolled his eyes at Jack, and closed the apartment door. A small, amused smile was still flickering on his lips. He didn't mind at all when Jack made himself at home, but he decided that all of his stuff could not and would not be allowed on the table.

"You'll have to find another place to put your stuff. If someone came in and saw all of that, we'd both get in trouble. The guy that runs this place won't allow such weapons," he said firmly to Jack. Where could he put all of that stuff? "And my house isn't too clean; yours' is just dirty and disgusting."

He didn't appreciate being called poor, but he pretended as though he hadn't even heard Jack say that. He threw off his sweater, tossing it into the hamper that was almost entirely filled with clothes. He would have to do laundry soon. Sighing, he ran his hand through his tousled hair and made his way to the small kitchen that was connected to the living room that Jack was sitting in. He could use a bite to eat.

"I wouldn't even try listening in on the police if I were you," the young man called to Jack as he filled his kettle with water and placed it onto the tiny stove. He put two small tea bags into two separate mugs. "I'll find you a room in a minute. I'm busy right now," Eric said to Jack. He walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a box of macaroni and cheese. That would have to do for now.

He began cooking it, glancing through the doorway and at Jack every few seconds or so. He felt like if he took his eyes off of the man for just a split second, the apartment would be in smokes or something equally terrifying and alarming.

((Sorry if I came off that way! Actually, Eric takes a bit after me. And I've done a lot of babysitting in my short life-span. It's actually really easy to tell when a child or immature person is merely bluffing to get their way or to get others to pity them or feel guilty. My brothers do it a lot, unfortunately -,- I'd say at least twice a day))

[MatrixOne]

"You're talking to the best detective in the world" Jack retorted angrily, grabbing all the items at once and throwing them all in the bathtub. "As good a place as any" He shrugged.

Jack carefully left the bathroom, making sure to stay out of Eric's sight.

It was time to search his apartment, finding out everything about Eric. Of course, the go-to thing would be his wallet, which Jack pickpocketed before, in the elevator. But there had to be more. People's houses were gold mines, and Jack knew where to look.
Behind books, under unused clothing, on flip sides of photographs... He searched every place that he could access without it being noticed.
"Is this a painting?" Jack asked, looking at the flatscreen TV. "It looks dumb. It's just black; And the frame's got weird stuff on it" He pressed one of the buttons, and the TV lit up.

"I take that back" Jack said, looking at the marvel of modern brainwashing. "Is this how the news are relayed now? Awesome! I'm gonna be on that, mark my words" He smiled devilishly and threw the remains of his carrot on the ground. "How can you just... Cook when the world is filled with opportunity?" He added angrily. "Anyway, I'll go wash the victim's blood off myself. Don't worry, your bathroom's safe with me"

***

So what do we have here...
Jack was looking through all the cosmetics and stuff Eric had.
Shaving cream... That's for pussies. Shampoo? The hell is that?
He read the labels and ingredients carefully.
Alright, might as well.
Jack also added some cologne to Eric's mouthwash as a prank.

At least using the shower was not difficult, and Jack managed to clean himself without destroying the neighborhood. He didn't bother putting the clothes back on, and he walked out with just the towel covering his privates, leaving the rest of his clothing in the bathtub with other items.
"So, tell me, Rick" He started, sitting at the table again. "What do you expect to do with me? You can't expect to house me forever, can you? I've known you for a few hours and I already made you burst with anger. And you know I know a lot about you, and whatever I don't know yet, I shall know pretty soon" The devilish grin returned.

________
Describe in your next post what Jack found while he was searching the house, so I know what I can make him deduce ^.^

[Nori]

Eric didn't mind when Jack began to wander around his apartment, although there were some things that he hoped the man didn't find. Some stuff was simply much too personal for children or immature adult men to mess around with. He merely continued stirring the macaroni and checking the boiling water in the kettle.

In the living room, there was the flatscreen TV, the couch, the small mahogany coffee table, and a matching bookcase. The bookcase was lined with many books, ranging from old classics that were written long before Eric was born to babysitting guides to cook books to language dictionaries. Most of it, actually, was fictional, but there was some nonfiction mingled into the mix. It was obvious that Eric enjoyed reading very much and was good at it.

There were four other rooms to the apartment; the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, and Eric's bedroom. The second bedroom was nice and clean, but it looked untouched. That room was usually only reserved for kids who came over and had to stay the night. The bed was rather small, and a stuffed bunny rabbit doll sat at the end of it. It looked rather eerie and was positioned so that whenever someone entered the room, the doll would appear to be looking at the newcomer. It was an exceedingly clever idea that Eric had had, and it made children (namely little girls) feel much more welcome to both the room and the apartment. A large bookcase lined one of the walls entirely. It was mostly filled with children's books that Eric had bought over the years. He really loved children.

The apartment was fairly bland. It had bear, white walls in every room except for Eric's bedroom. It was still white, but it had many posters and clippings taped and nailed onto the walls of the bedroom. There was a fair sized bed with one pillow and a thin blanket. There were stuffed animals all over the room; they were all Eric's, but his excuse for having them was that they were toys for the children he babysat. There was also a nightlight in the corner. (Also for the kids was his excuse.) A dark, wooden desk sat in the corner somewhat, facing the wall. It was loitered with many papers as Eric hadn't had the time to organize them. There were sketches of plants, animals, children, people, engineering parts, and all sorts of other things. There were notes scribbled on some, but they had been written so fast that it was hard to read.

Also on the desk in Eric's bedroom sat a small, framed picture. It was fairly old and slightly frayed, but it was still able to make out. In the picture, there were three, young and smiling children standing in what appeared to be a yard on a nice, warm and sunny day. They looked to be about the same age and height, probably no older than five or six. Maybe older, maybe younger. Their facial features were all exactly alike, so they were obviously related. But they looked almost nothing alike in any other way.
At one end of the picture stood a girl with long, curly dark hair. She had hazel eyes and a gleaming grin that showed her missing tooth. In the middle was a boy that was just slightly taller than the other two. He was a curly, long-haired red-head with bright green eyes that shimmered in the sun. The last child was also a boy with the same curly dark hair and green eyes. He had his arm wrapped around his supposed brother, while the red-head had a grip on the girl's hand. They looked to be the happiest children in the world, but if one were to look really, really close enough, they would notice the fading bruises that peaked out on different parts of their body that was shown. Not really noticeable, though.

The bathroom was bland and small. It had just a toilet, a sink, and a shower/bathtub. A medicine cabinet with a mirror on the front of it stood just above the sink.

"You do that," Eric called back to Jack, nodding a little to himself. Jack could use a bath. And so could he. "Just don't mess with anything!" He continued cooking until the macaroni and cheese was finished. He had just dumped it into two bowls, one for Jack and one for himself, and poured the tea when Jack came into the kitchen and sat at the table. He panicked upon seeing the man in nothing but a towel.

"Couldn't you get some clothes on? Or, would you like me to get you some cleaner clothes? You're making my floor all wet," he sighed, cleaning everything in the kitchen up as the meal cooled down a bit. "You'll be staying here until i can trust you to be by yourself. And do you really have to be such a devilish ass?" Eric added the last part playfully, not really meaning it. He sat a bowl and a cup in front of Jack before sitting down at the table across from the detective with his own food. He was rather uncomfortable with the man not being clothed, but he had handled children. And they tended to run out of the bathroom without even a towel on. He smiled serenely at the thought of such childish innocence.

[MatrixOne]

Jack was very thorough in his search. He jumped from item to item, book to book, not missing anything. He was also reasonably quick and didn't take ages, but enough time to make sure about everything.

In the children's room, there'd obviously be nothing; Eric wouldn't want children to mess up his important stuff, now would he? Jack entered the room anyway, just to look around.
I guess this is my room. Not a bad start.
He hid the stuffed bunny under the pillow, and scanned the bookcase quickly.
This guy... What's with the child obsession? He wondered, leaving the room and heading to the bedroom, which was usually the most important room evidence-wise.
And the most personal.
He didn't search it until now, because he wanted to dry completely before entering, as to not leave any evidence of him being here.
Posters. White walls pressing down on you, friend?
He noted the posters and proceeded to searching the place.
One pillow... No girlfriends or boyfriends. Not even hoping. Isn't that sad...
He didn't touch the photo; People tend to notice these things move even half an inch. He looked at it very closely, though.
So, I was right. Brothers and a sister... Only it was her who died. Guy can't let go, can he? Huh, wait a second...
Jack had a habit of looking really, really closely at the photos.
Not the greatest childhood, was it?
Jack noted the bruises, moving on to the desk.
I'm surprised it's not perfectly cleaned and organized.
He went through the notes and sketches, making sure to put them back exactly as they were.
How many nights have you spent at this desk, thinking about the past?
He left the bedroom, sitting at the table where Eric served the food.
"Real food? Awesome!" He hopped over to his bowl, and when he sat, he threw Eric's wallet on the table. "Don't ask where I kept that thing" He laughed. His only item of clothing was the towel, after all. "I must say, you're pretty interesting" He started, but decided to save his conclusions for a different time. He didn't want to get thrown out of the house half-naked for pissing Eric off. "What's with all the children's stuff? You can't just hope to never be hurt by escaping from the adults into your own little world" He pointed out. This shouldn't get him thrown out. "Whoa, this is actually pretty good! Just like my mom used to make before some mafia guy blew her brains out. Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to you" He spoke while eating, which resulted in the sentences being muffled. Still, it was his form of a compliment. "I think I figured out the true identity of the Creepy Masked Guy" He suddenly said, as if it was absolutely easy and not something that people wanted to do for years. "But I fear he's tied with every damn criminal in this city. I can't prove it yet, but think about it... Hiding his identity, financing huge tech advances for his own amusement, and asking someone from outside of his inner circle - you - to assist... Mafia guy. Totally" He finished the food. "Anyways, I'll go use your non-portable time-forwarding device, also known as a bed. Don't wait up"
He stretched and made his way to Eric's bedroom.
"Also, I think the couch might be too uncomfortable for you" He added, and hopped in the bed, dropping the towel on the ground.
He fell asleep in an instant. Eric needed some time to think about Jack without Jack running around and talking, and now he had it.
Besides, Jack really couldn't wait for next day. This was going to be amazing.

____
That's the end of prologue ;q. You forgot to say what was in the wallet, but no matter, I'll have plenty of time to pickpocket it later xD

[Nori]

Eric ate his food mostly in silence, watching Jack while he ate. The man was rambling again. He felt that it would do no harm to respond. He took his wallet back, first, his eyes narrowed at Jack. He didn't even want to think of the places where it could have been hidden on the half-naked man. He shivered just thinking of it.

"The children's things are for the children, naturally," he replied calmly, taking this all once step at a time. Jack talked a bit too quickly for his liking. "The younger ones tend to get rather bored if they haven't anything to play with. And watching TV all day is bad for anyone, really."

The young man looked up from his bowl and arched an eyebrow at Jack. So he thought he knew what that Weirdo guy's identity was? Eric honestly couldn't care less, but he listened anyone because it was only polite. He needed to learn to be a bit more rude. Then he wouldn't have to put up with anyone anymore.

"A mafia guy, hmm?" he murmured, thinking it over some as he took a sip of the warm tea. "That wouldn't surprise me in the slightest." Honestly, he had sort of expected that guy to be part of something. No one could be that rich and still want to hide their identity so thoroughly.

Eric took another sip of tea, watching as Jack stood up from the table. "You really ought to get some clothes on, first," he replied, but doubted that Jack would do so. He didn't want certain parts of the detective touching his bed. And had to at least be somewhat wet, still. He didn't feel like doing anymore laundry the necessary.

He sighed, lowering the now-empty cup back onto the table. He finished his macaroni, enjoying the silence. Jack was pretty annoying. And he was a pest. Just like any other child. Speaking of children, Eric was most certainly not a pedophile as many had called him. He might be a little messed up in the head, but he would never do anything to a child. And adult, most likely, but not a child.

Children were easier to talk to than adults were. They were sweet and kind and always curious. The young man found their naive attitudes adorable. They were so innocent and pure that it was a wonder how anyone could mistreat such a beautiful creature.

Like him. Eric had been mistreated by older kids and adults. And he could never do anything right, or comfort his siblings when they were hurt or scared. He felt like if he could take care of children, then that would make up for all of the times where he failed. But he was still never good at comforting.

That was also why Eric was so afraid of people besides children. They brought back memories of beatings and tough times, and he never wanted to remember them. But when he was around children, it only brought back happier memories that made him smile. The times back in his childhood where he could run around and act like any other child in the world.

Jack didn't get that, did he? He might have figured out Eric's past relatively quickly, but did the man understand why he liked children so much? The children's toys and items were sort of an escape to him. Simply holding a doll of fairy tale book made him at ease. He had always wanted children, his own children. Then he could feel happy and safe. He could actually do something right for once.

But he was simply too frightened by people to actually find someone to start a relationship with. So that was out of the question. And he couldn't adopt, either. Just because his father had been a murdering psycho, one of the most popular criminals in his time. And his mother... driven insane by the man. She had never loved him, and he had never loved her. Nor did she want to keep her children. But she did anyway, unfortunately.

Eric wished that she hadn't. He wished that he and his siblings had never been born. Then he wouldn't have felt all the pain and suffering that he had to sit through over the years. There were multiple times when he had considered ending it himself, but he could never find the strength to do so. He was a weak, foolish coward that was afraid of people because of his own parents. He wondered if his dear brother felt the same about all of this. Probably not. He was so strong. Even Alidine had been stronger than Eric.

But how was he to help that? He might have had a great patience, but he was sensitive. He cried easily. He used to be teased about it back in the orphanage; some kids would beat him until he cried, call him a sissy, and beat him again. Laine had usually broken up those fights and help Eric with the bruises while he nursed his own. He was so strong. But he didn't have Laine now, did he? Who the hell knows where he was now, and who else even cares? God, he missed him so much. He had been Eric's closest and only friend through those years. Now he had no one.

Not really. He had the kids, but they were simply too naive to notice that anything was up. And then there was Jack... But did the detective really care? About all of this? About Eric?

Probably not. Not that he could blame Jack. No one ever cared for him, so he never cared for anyone else. Except for the kids. They cared. Whenever he was sad while babysitting, or if he had a hallucination or a nightmare, they'd come over and give him some sort of toy. And Eric would just smile and ruffle the child's hair, and the kid would giggle. Then they'd have cocoa while the babysitter read them a bedtime story. Oh, how he loved kids. He wished he could have at least one of his own. Then he would always have someone to try comforting, and he could be comforted by them in the innocent way that they went about things. They were simply so precious and special.

He didn't deserve a child. He was labeled as mentally unstable, after all. The government barely trusted him to babysit. Because of his mother. Because of his father. They didn't want time to repeat itself.

But they didn't understand, just like everyone else. He had never hurt a child. He had never fatally harmed a person. The reason he went to jail was because he had been caught with drugs. That was a while ago. Back when he was just barely eighteen. He wasn't sentenced very long because he showed good behavior. They wanted to sentence him longer, though. Because of what his father had done. They kept an eye on him when he got out, and even more so when he became a babysitter. Eric had seen the pictures. He looked just like his father. His mother's hair had been a much lighter brown, and she had hazel eyes. But his father... dark hair and green eyes, just like Eric.
No wonder people didn't want children around him.

His father was a rapist and a murderer. He despised children. Melody Note... she had been one of his victims. Only fifteen. She never loved him. She never loved her children because of him. The newspapers didn't help, either. You couldn't read one back then and not see another headline. "Daniel Dune Strikes Again!" or "Another Child's Life Ended".

His father was a sick bastard. Eric tried not to be like him, to love children as much as he could, but how could he do that when he wasn't allowed to? Fuck the government. They were just to stupid to realize that despite of his flaws and his mental instability, he was a person. A person who desperately wanted to love because he had never been loved. He wanted someone to hold him and love him and comfort him and tell him that everything's going to be alright when he knew it wasn't.

A single tear rolled down Eric's cheeks as he stared down into the bowl. Why couldn't they understand? He stood from the table mutely, grabbing his and Jack's empty bowls and cups, and he dumped them into the sink. He was too depressed right then to clean them. He could do it later.

On his way to the bathroom, he glanced at the hamper as he passed it by. He didn't want to go to bed, he wanted something to do to keep him awake. But he was tired, and if he was going to have to deal with Jack tomorrow, then he would need all the strength he could get.

he walked into the bathroom and flicked on the light and closed and locked the door. It was small. It was so small, and he hated it. Why couldn't he have a better house, a better place to live? Why couldn't he have a happy life with a family he had always dreamed about? Did God really hate him so much that he wouldn't allow any of these things? That He had allowed his mother and many others beat him into depression?

He was right; no one cared. Laine was the last person he had in this world. That's why he was so keen on finding him before it was too late. He had already lost Alidine...

The young man stood in front of the sink, hands gripping either side of it. He looked up slowly to see his own reflection staring back at him. His father's face... A haunting memory...
The sound of fractured glass could be heard when Eric punched the mirror with his own fist. The glass shattered. Pieces of the mirror were in his fist, but he didn't notice because of the adrenalin.

He stared back into the remnants of the mirror that still hung. He was seething, and he looked completely insane. he looked just like his father. Like father, like son. Monster. He was a monster.

Sitting down onto the edge of the bathtub, he began to calmly, albeit shakily remove the pieces of glass from his hand. Nothing too serious, unfortunately. Once that was completed, he swept up all of the glass and threw it away. It was useless now, after all, and he didn't want any children getting hurt. He didn't give a fuck about himself. He was just as useless as the broken shards of glass.

He noticed everything in the bathtub, and he threw it all into a drawer below the sink. Jack better not leave any stuff lying around in plain sight. Although, Eric was half-tempted to grab one of the guns...

He resisted, though, and closed the drawer and stood back up. He opened the medicine cabinet and began to look for a certain bottle of pills. He had many pills. Some of them were prescribed, while others were simply ones that you could buy in any sort of store. Most of them were anti-depressants and sleeping pills. Some were chewable tablets for the young'ns when they weren't feeling so well. He didn't want them to feel sick.

He grabbed a bottle of sleeping pills, and he read the instructions. Take two. But that didn't feel like enough. A few more wouldn't hurt, would it?
But he took two, anyway. The last thing he needed was to overdose and leave Jack alone in the apartment. But honestly, he didn't care if he overdosed, anyway. He could say he was only doing this for Jack's being, not his own. He had given up long ago, anyway.

He could have simply gone and got a syringe and a vial of Morphine out from its hiding place in his room. Morphine; because he wasn't allowed to have Heroin. The Morphine helped knock him out, especially when he was in pain. Which was often.

But he didn't want to risk waking Jack up if he was still sleeping. That would be rude of him, and it would only give him any reason to hate himself even more. Eric unlocked the door, turned off the light, and he headed towards the guest bedroom.

He wouldn't sleep on the couch because there was no night light. He hated the dark. "You're such a damn coward. No son of mind sleeps with a light!" He really was quite crazy. Even more so than it actually seemed. Depression didn't mingle well with insanity. He could just picture his father's ridicule, and it brought a pathetic frown to his face. It wasn't like he was trying to impress his father or anyone. Except maybe Laine. But Laine never minded Eric's sensitivity. But Laine was sane. Huh, that rhymed.

He walked into the guest bedroom, turned on the nightlight in the corner of the room, and flicked off the light. He hated the dark. Hated it. Even the night light didn't seem enough, then. He felt as though if he were in the dark for too long, they would come back and haunt him. They would beat him senseless. Every time he had been beaten, it was in the dark. He hated the dark. No one understood.

Eric hopped into the bed, his shoes sliding off onto the floor. He pulled the stuffed bunny out from under the pillow and held it close as he pulled up the blanket. He felt safer with a stuffed animal. He brought back happier memories. His eyes were still open, but he couldn't see the room around him. He was seeing a memory.

A young, dark-haired boy fiddling with an invention of some sort. Bruises littered his revealed arms, standing out against his pale skin. His brown shirt and blue jeans were tattered. He couldn't have been much older than six or seven.
A boy walked up to him, red-haired. He was a bit tanner than the other boy, and bruises were also cascading his body. They were beginning to fade, though. His clothes were a bit junky as well. He was smiling, though, despite all of this while the boy sitting was frowning. A girl followed the tanner boy into the room that appeared to be a garage. She was smiling as well, and she looked more like the boy sitting and fiddling.
No words were said then. The dark-haired boy stood up and, forcing a smile onto his think face, he handed the other boy the thing he had been working on. It appeared to be a small, wind-up airplane. The red-head loved airplanes, it would seem. A doll was then handed to the girl. They were obviously exchanging things. The red-head and the brunette girl exchanged looks and handed something to the pale boy. A stuffed animal. And he smiled for real this time. "Happy birthday," they all said to each other, before the memory faded into blackness.

Eric blinked, the room coming back into focus as the half-memory, half-hallucination disappeared entirely. He liked that reverie. It was one of the more happier ones. He smiled, his eyes sliding shut as the pills began to work. Maybe tonight he would sleep peacefully, with no nightmares. He could only hope...

[MatrixOne]

"Are you the one who needed assistance?" The policeman asked.

"Nope, that would be... You" Jack answered, turning around in an instant and punching the guy so hard, that he passed out instantly.
The other officer reached for his gun, but Jack was on him long before he could switch off the safety.
He tried fighting back. Jack stopped in his tracks, and the officer's fist missed him by an inch. Jack grabbed his hand and pulled him to the ground, smacking his face against the ground, making him lose consciousness.
Well, that was easy.
Jack took off his gloves. Before attacking the cops, he decided to put a few rocks inside, just to give him better punching power. Now he removed the rocks, but put the gloves back on - he wasn't done touching stuff yet.

He searched the cops, taking half their money and nothing else; Guns can be traceable, and who knows what the future is like?

Jack opened the door to the police car, taking a long look at the radio.

But what was he doing there? Well, I'll explain.
He woke up in the very early morning, dressed himself up and left the house, making sure he wouldn't wake Eric up.
His first stop was the local library.
Of course, he had to ask fifty people before he managed to reach it, but he made it eventually.
His goal was finding out more about the world he was in, but the books had nothing. So, he moved on to asking people - there was some guy sitting at the computer, and Jack started the conversation by asking about lighting circuitry. The guy answered "Oh, just google it, God dammit".
Twenty questions later, Jack knew how to google.

And with this knowledge, he was ready to take on the world.
This 'keyboard' is just like my typewriter! Anyway, I need to know how to steal a radio from a car...

And that's pretty much how it went down. Anyway, back to present.

Jack unscrewed the radio with the help of his pocket knife, and carefully unhooked it from the car, cable by cable. He then stuffed it in his trash bag and made his way back to Eric's apartment. It was pretty far away, he didn't want to attract police attention to Eric. So, he hailed a taxi. He saw one of the people wave at the yellow car, and he did the same. When the car stopped, he got into the same taxi as the man who waved.
"Hey, what the hell" The man said angrily. "Get your OWN cab"

"Hey, driver, I'm dropping way more bucks than this baldy" Jack shouted to the driver, who turned around and looked at the two.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to leave" The driver finally said to the bald guy.

"Hell yeah. You tell him" Jack laughed as the bald guy left the car, mumbling swears at them both.

***

It was 12 AM, and after making several rides to a few different shops, Jack returned to Eric's house. He managed to spend nearly all the money he stole from the cops.
He bought a few different wigs and fake mustaches, some fresh carrots, a LOT of flat balloons, two screwdrivers, a flashlight and a year's supply of unmatching batteries, and a mirror which he mounted in the bathroom by duct taping it over the broken one. Oh, and he bought duct tape.
Also, a damn scary Halloween mask.

"RRAAARGH! GHRRARAH" He decided to go for a less-subtle way of waking Eric up.
He took off the scary mask. "I need your help to hook up a radio and make it work, my little engineer.

[Nori]

Eric continued sleeping, oblivious to anything around him. The pills knocked him out cold. They left no room for any nightmares or unwanted memories in his mind. It was simply a nice, dreamless sleep for once. Although, it would have been better if he had had some good dreams. Those were pretty rare in his life when he slept, but he could only hope, after all.

His mouth was just slightly agape, and drool was just barely trickling our from the corner and onto the comfy pillow. Those pills were much stronger than he had thought. If he had taken just one more, it would make him sleep for pretty much the entire day. Or kill him, considering how strong each pill was. Dammit. He missed out on a good thing. Oh well; there was always the next night.

He was unaware of Jack leaving the house to do God knows what, and if he had noticed, he wouldn't have had a single trickle of care. That man was a menace, and if he was out of the apartment and bothering someone else, Eric didn't mind. So long as he didn't kill anyone. That would probably send Eric back to jail if anyone figured out that he was housing a criminal.

He almost didn't hear Jack enter the room, he was so out of it. Nor did he hear the man make such monstrous noises. "Go fuck yourself," he murmured into the pillow, still somewhat conscious. What the hell did Jack want to early in the goddamn morning?

It was too late, though. He was regaining consciousness. His mind wanted to know what Jack was up to, and it overrode the pills. "What'sit?" Eric slurred, trying to pull himself up, but failing miserably. He fell back onto his stomach, grunting in pain. His hand hurt. Bad. He felt like cutting it off right then and there. But that would only make it hurt worse.

He slowly opened his eyes, and he realized that he had forgotten to clean his cuts and wrap it up. Fuck. The sheets were now stained with blood from the wounds. He'd have to clean that, too. The stuffed animal fell from his grip, landing back onto the bed as he stood up and pulled the sheets off of the child's bed. He didn't want them to see blood-stained sheets, after all. "What d'you want?"

[MatrixOne]

"There's a long list of things I do want" Jack smiled devilishly. "Oh, you're on your period? That would explain your angry bursts" Jack said, pointing at the bloody sheets. "Sheesh. Warn me next time" He laughed. "Anyway, get dressed and try not to be angry with me when you see that device that's on your table right now" Jack added, walking out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.
Gh. This guy's gonna get himself killed. I can't believe I haven't noticed his bleeding hand when I woke up...
Jack scanned the bathroom in search for the bloodstains which he had noticed, but couldn't find the reason for them and just assumed Eric got a nosebleed from hitting his face on the mirror, or something.
Oh, here we are...
He found the sleeping pills with a few drops of blood on the cover.
He carefully read the label.
Idiot.
He threw all the pills in the toilet and flushed it, then put back the empty container.
Well, it's for his own good.
He left the bathroom and sat at the kitchen table, looking at the stolen police radio.
"Come on, now. Use your magic to make this thing work" He waved a carrot around as if it was a magic wand, but it didn't work. "See? I can't do it"

[Nori]

Eric glared at Jack as he balled up the sheets into a bundle. "Fuck off," he snapped, really not in the mood right then to put up with Jack. Why couldn't he just have a nice, peaceful sleep for once? Why couldn't Jack just let him lay there and hopefully bleed to death?

He walked out of the room, and he threw the sheets into the hamper. It was much too early to do any laundry. He walked into the kitchen, and he turned on the sink. He shoved his bloody hand under the ice cold water. He hissed at the pain that shot up through his arm, and then cried out. The young man's eyes squeezed shut as memories settled in. Pain tended to bring back those memories. Lots of things did, actually.

Tears trickled down his face from underneath his eyelids, and he removed his hand and turned off the faucet. It still stung, but at least now it was clean. With his good hand, he wiped away the tears that had fallen. Eric glanced at the table as Jack sat down.

"What is that?" he asked slowly, looking down at the radio. He knew what is was, though. He wasn't that stupid. "Why do you have a radio? Where did you get it? When did you get it?" he questioned to Jack, but wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answers. He took out some rubbing alcohol from a cabinet in the kitchen by the sink. Hesitantly, he doused the liquid onto his cuts, careful not to spill it onto the floor with his trembling hand. God, that hurt. He bit back a scream, and stopped pouring the alcohol. He then wrapped the cut up in some bandages from a drawer.

"Oh, and what would you like for breakfast?" Eric added rather calmly, looking around in the pantries for something to cook. He couldn't think straight when he was hungry. But he didn't deserve food, nor did he want it. He would just make something for Jack, then.

[MatrixOne]

"I ate the hearts of people I murdered while you were asleep" Jack said in a very serious voice. "For now, I'll just have this carrot"
He sat on the couch, feeling rather happy.
"Not big on mornings, are you? Guess that's another thing we'll have to change" He laughed. "Also, if you hadn't noticed, I got you a new mirror. Putting it in place was real hell. I barely made it without punching the shit out of it, injuring my hand and putting myself to sleep by using pills" He pointed at Eric angrily. "I know I'm, like, the last person that should be giving life lessons, but honestly, Rick, get your shit together. You dug yourself a sad pit to cry in, and I'm planning to pull you out of it" He added in a proud voice. "I owe you that much. Now, before you hurt yourself again, mr. calm person, please make the radio work?"

Jack never had much patience with people. When they were becoming a problem, he'd just cut ties and leave. But he needed Eric, and not just as a portable information provider. Eric was a mystery. He was a challenge, and a whole new one.
Jack knew there was something wrong about Eric, and he wanted to fix it. He wasn't sure why.
I slept during psychology classes.
He tried to rationalize it by amusing himself.
He wasn't great with people.
Sure, he was good at manipulation, at playing with people's feelings, twisting them to his own needs and then throwing them away. But helping someone? That was a much bigger challenge.

Bigger, because Jack simply didn't understand other people. Sure, he knew of the reasons, causes, possibilities, but to him, 'being yourself' is not as much about the past as it is about... You. Making your own choices.
And Jack just couldn't understand why Eric would choose to live a miserable life.

So, Jack assumed he didn't choose. He assumed that such life was forced upon Eric.
Luckily, Jack felt the power to change that.

[Nori]

Eric merely sighed, and he closed the cabinet he had just opened. He wouldn't make anything for breakfast, then. He massaged his injured hand as he walked back over to the table. "I got a little... upset, is all," he murmured, not really wanting to talk about it. Especially with Jack. He wouldn't understand, anyway, so what was the point?

He doubted that Jack could really help Eric. And he doubted that the man truly wanted to try. There was no sense to it. Depression wasn't easy to overcome. Sure, the anti-depressants and drugs worked for a little while, but then he just felt worse because he had to use those to make himself happy for a little while. If anything, Jack would only make matters for Eric worse than they already were. He was like a more kind version of his dad. And that scared him a little, although he wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself.

Mutely, Eric pulled the radio towards him after sitting at the table. He was moody this morning. One reason was because of Jack waking him up so early. The other reason was simply because he felt like shit. And the blood loss from his hand wasn't alarming, it still made him lightheaded and blurry.

He began wiring the radio's wires and cables on the back of it. He wore a slightly bored yet still interested expression as he worked. It gave him something else to think about besides his past and his depression. Children did that, as well. He'd be babysitting again soon; either today or tomorrow. He couldn't quite remember. But now the young man was wondering if that was such a good idea with Jack around. As long as he didn't hurt or scare them in any way. Or show any sort of weapon to them. Or do something alarming. Perhaps he should simply send Jack off into the city when he had to babysit?

He had rewired the radio in just under two minutes. He clicked a button on the top of it, and he turned a knob slightly. It buzzed to life immediately, and he grinned a little. He felt good when he actually did something right. "There. It should work now. But I still don't think this is a good idea..." Eric mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with his good hand. No doubt Jack had stole the radio. Probably from a police officer. And if anyone found out, which they surely should...
He shivered at the thought.

[MatrixOne]

"Oh, don't worry. I've done so many horrible, unspeakable things, a simple radio theft is really no big of a deal"

Jack was actually pretty hungry, but he didn't want Eric cooking with his hand being like that. Besides, back when Jack was solving the biggest cases, he wouldn't eat for the entire day, so he was accustomed to the feeling of hunger, and didn't pay it much mind.
"One more thing" Jack said with a grin, throwing Eric's wallet on the table. "Check the damn contents already. The Creepy Masked Guy gave me your payment for bringing me from the past. Said it was up to me to decide if I should give it to you or not"
The payment was five grand, and Jack put four in the wallet, hiding the rest.

He started tuning the radio. He read about it on google, so it wasn't much of a difficulty; Just a matter of turning the right damn knob.
Then, he realized the radio must have been tuned to the correct frequency from the bat, so he had to reverse everything, and turn it on.

Worked like a charm.
"Well, I'll miss the days of sneaking into the office of the Chief of Police to search for unfinished cases"

Back in Jack's time, before he was forced to run from the law, he was very widely known. For solving every case. Every single one.
But he cared just about that - solving the mystery. And sometimes, some things should just be left untouched.
They warned him, but he didn't want to hear it. He pushed too hard, and it caused everyone to turn away... It was like a reverse journey from the top.
"This is car 11K. I have encountered what seems to be an illegal deal. Requesting additional cars at Mohawk Avenue..."
"Car 11K, this is KGPL, negative, do not approach the location. The area belongs to mr. Faceless, he has made matters very clear regarding police cars in the region"

Jack frowned.
"Seems like our masked friend has bought the entire damn police force to keep his shady deals going... And I'm sure he knows I'll be very interested in that. He didn't just bring me back to have me sit back and enjoy the clean slate, oh no. I'm here because he's looking for a challenge. And - what a coincidence! - I might also be looking for a challenge"
He stood up and started gathering his stuff. The wigs, fake mustaches, carrots, balloons, revolver, ammo and other things.
"Are you gonna sit here and clean up and babysit and cry over yourself all your damn life? Or do you want to be a part of something exciting for a change?" Jack asked, standing in front of Eric. "This world is still foreign to me. I could use a partner. Or, to be exact, I could use you. No matter how much of a little girl you are at times"

[Nori]

Eric looked into the wallet, glaring at Jack once more before doing so. How many times was Jack going to mess with his personal stuff? He noted the money, and he arched an eyebrow. Four ground was a very good amount of money of money to him.

He could buy all sorts of great things. Things that he didn't deserve. Like food. He put the money back into the wallet quietly. Maybe he could go shopping soon. He was getting low on stuff to eat, anyway. Again, mostly for the kids. He usually only ate about once a day normally thanks to his childhood. His eating patterns were very irregular back then. He could only eat once a week sometimes then. But now he could eat as much as he wanted. Except he didn't. Even he didn't understand the reason as to why.

The young man watched Jack mess around with the knobs on the radio, only partly paying attention. He should go back to sleep now. He was tired. Very tired. The pills still hadn't worked themselves out of his system. He should take them much more often, then.

His ears perked slightly when he heard voices coming from the radio. Mr. Faceless, hmm? His employer that sent him into that Godforsaken time machine? Of course, he had only accepted because he needed the money. He leaned back in his wooden chair, his hands behind his head. "I dunno... sounds dangerous."

Wait. He wanted to do something dangerous. Maybe it would give him the adrenalin rush he always got when he did things he shouldn't. Like jumping off buildings. That was always fun, so much fun. "...Alright. I guess we can go check it out." Besides, he felt like beating something (with his good hand, of course). He usually felt like that after feeling depressed. It help channel his emotions out of him. Usually he ended up punching or kicking things like the walls or windows or mirrors. That would explain the boarded up holes in the walls.

"And I'm not a little girl," Eric snapped, his arms crossed over his chest now as he stood from the table. And he actually liked cleaning and working and babysitting. It made him feel much better about himself when he got something finished. Maybe if he helped Jack do most likely illegal things then he could feel good once it was finished and over with. As long as he got his adrenalin rush, he'd be fine.

[MatrixOne]

"Alright then. Try not to have any more violent episodes unless we get into a fight, which I'm not planning just yet"

He agreed a little too easily... It might be because of his mental condition. I best keep an eye on him.
***

When they arrived, the deal was long done and the suspicious people have left the scene.
Jack told Eric not to drive his car there; It'd be bad to be seen. They took a cab to drive them near Mohawk Avenue, but far enough to not be suspicious.

The deal was made near the White Mask Plastic Factory, which belonged to Faceless Weirdo. There were a few 'workers' patrolling the area, but it was such a long stretch of land, they couldn't possibly find Jack and Eric.
"Hm, these guys are carrying large weapons under those worker jackets" Jack noticed. "Bet the cops are pissing their pants when they're told to investigate Creep's property"

Jack started searching the scene where the deal was made. First thing he found were bloodstains all around, but in small amount - as if someone had a nosebleed, or something.
"I'm here to get something solid on him. If I get it, I'll have clues to go on, and I can blackmail him if need be"
He approached a rusty toolbox laying on the cement.
Inside, there were tools, but not regular ones.

Tools for torture.
Many knives, even a cleaver, a bonesaw, bloody scissors...
"These scissors were recently used" Jack commented calmly, as if he expected to find this kind of stuff here.
He examined a few more things. A cigarette butt, a few footprints, two plastic chairs, a torn worker jacket, a chewed up gum and one pistol round casing. Also some chalk markings near the bloodstains.
"Okay then" Jack stretched. "There were five guys here, two big bosses and two minor members who dragged another guy, I believe he was one of the workers here. He had a bag over his head, and was tied up - look at the footprints here, someone was obviously being dragged. They questioned him without taking the bag off, and one of the bosses doused his cigarette on our worker guy and fired a round in the air to scare him. The weapon used must have been some kind of a quiet futuristic gun, because a loud gunshot would attract attention here. Anyway, he must have been new to all this Weirdo's mafia thing, so they took off the bag and drew this circle with the chalk, threatening to kill him if he talks. I think he was hard of hearing, because they cut open his jacket and used the scissors to cut out a similar circle on his shoulder. Then, they used the bonesaw to cut off the rope binding his arms, one of the bosses held him by the jacket and probably beat him up until he just started running away, leaving the jacket in the bad guy's hand. Then, they must have noticed the police car which called in an illegal hostage deal, because they left in a hurry and couldn't clean everything up. Either that, or the corrupted police tipped off the Creepy Masked Guy, who then called the boss, telling him to get out"
Jack was pretty proud of himself. Working this stuff out wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be in the futuristic world.
"What that means for us, is..." He continued. "We need to find a scared, new employee of this factory with a cut wound in his shoulder. It's a guy, if it was a girl, they'd have raped her instead of torturing her. Also, the two bosses are pretty laid back about this whole thing, sitting comfortably on chairs, chewing gum and smoking while the poor guy gets tortured... We best be careful not to pick a fight with them"
Jack clapped, happy to have such good evidence right from the start.
"You know, Rick, I lied about me not being hungry. Let's go eat somewhere! Your treat" Jack offered, looking around. "How about that place?" He pointed at the White Mask Pizza restaurant. "We can talk, and you can tell me what you think about all this"

___
Feel free to describe the interior of the restaurant if you go there. Make it creepy ^.^

[Nori]

"No promises," Eric responded with a wry smile before hurrying out of the apartment.

...
Eric shivered in the chilly, morning air, and he hurried along after Jack down Mohawk Avenue. He wished he had thought to grab a jacket. He hated the cold, but, then again, he also hated the heat. Why couldn't it be a nice, warm day? Of course, that was hardly possible when the fallen snow had only just melted a few days ago. He still wished he had a jacket.

He wasn't used to these sort of things, so he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking for. He kept an eye on the workers. They weren't close enough to be overly alarming. They were simply way off in the distance. It was a very large area, after all.

Why had he come out here? He was a bit hungry, cold, tired, and his hand still throbbed. The young man rubbed his bleary eyes, pinching himself to keep him awake. He had almost forgotten why he so easily agreed to this. He wanted nothing more to curl up onto the couch with a nice, hot cup of cocoa. That would be nice and relaxing. Well, nothing in his life was relaxing, anyway.

And they weren't doing anything really exciting. Detective work had never interested him much in his years of experience. If anything, he disliked doing such work. It reminded him of cops. And he hated cops, obviously. "What are we doing again?" Eric asked Jack, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. He had the shortest attention span and memory. Except when it came to his past. He could remember those horrid memories, yet he couldn't even remember his own name at times. It was sad, really. Not that he really cared about it. He remembered what he had forgot sooner or later.

"Oh, right;. Detective work and stuff," he answered himself before Jack went into his elaborate speech about what had happened. Eric didn't doubt the man because said man was a brilliant mastermind back in his time. Or so he had been told. He didn't like detective work. Wait...; had he thought that before?

Yup, definitely insane. "So we have to find this guy?" he murmured, trying to pay attention to what jack was saying. His eyes had wandered off onto a butterfly flying by. He stared at it for a moment, and his hand, which had been rubbing the back of his head, stopped moving. He was transfixed by the creature, and his expression was eerily blank and devoid of actual expression.

"Huh? Oh, right, yeah, totally," Eric agreed absently as he snapped out of his stupor. "Hmm? A restaurant? Oh, alright. You're lucky I have money," he said in a more cheerful mood, hurrying towards the building. He was skipping. Something that was not like him. "It looks kind of spooky, though," he said quietly, taking on a slightly worried expression. He hoped it wasn't dark.

He pulled Jack into the restaurant, glancing around nervously. It was... actually pretty well lit. The lights were flickering, though, giving it an eerie effect. There was red stuff on the white walls that Eric was positively sure was blood. It was probably only paint, but he was naturally paranoid. The light didn't reach the corners of the room, though; only the center. And it was cold. Cold as death. And it was kind of empty, too. There were tables and chairs here and there, all looking worn for wear. A door in the back of the large room probably led to the kitchen area. The counter stood in the middle of the room, directly in the light.

"I don't like this place..." he whimpered pathetically, gripping tightly onto Jack's arm as though the man would vanish. He didn't want to be alone in such a place, after all.

[MatrixOne]

"Guess this place is not very popular. I wonder if it's because of the mafia guys, or just the bad food"
Jack decided to move towards the counter. He knew of Eric's fear of the dark, and it was the only place with light.
They sat down, close enough to each other that their shoulders touched.

Jack was unsure how to continue.

Not because he didn't know what to do; Oh, he had lots of leads he could pursue.
But his worry was Eric. The guy didn't care, the clues bored him, Jack's monologue nearly put him to sleep.

This hurt Jack, and it hurt him a lot. There were only two people Jack ever asked for help.
Eric, who didn't seem to give a damn, and...
The other person, Jack didn't even want to think about. Not the right place or time for memories.

Jack has isolated his past from himself. It's not gonna faze him...
Let things get too personal, and become like Eric. Miserable.
"Do I need to ring a damn bell or something?" Jack shouted in the direction of the kitchen.

A few seconds later, a fat barman with a bored look on his face approached the counter.
"What can I do for..." He started, but when he saw Jack, his eyes widened and he paused for a split-second. "...you" He maintained a calm outlook, but Jack could see the guy was alarmed by his presence.

"...Where's the bathroom?" Jack finally asked.

"The big door with a sign that says 'Bathroom'" The barman answered, pointing at the door.

"Riiight. Was a bit too obvious, I had to ask. Anyway, that's all I needed"
The barman nodded, and left for the kitchen really quickly.

"Okay now, Rick" Jack whispered. "This guy's gonna come back, real soon. I know you don't give much of a damn for what I'm doing here, but I live for moments like this. When he comes back, no matter how armed, tell him I went to the bathroom. When he follows me there, you leave the building, and I'll meet you outside as soon as I get the evidence I need. Won't be long"
With that said, he left for the bathroom hurriedly.

Three seconds after the doors closed, the barman returned, but not alone. Alongside him was a tall, buff bald guy smoking a cigarette, with a silenced pistol in his holster. Obviously, he was the boss who tortured the guy near that factory.
"Where is he?" He asked in a deep voice, giving Eric a scary look.

[Nori]

Eric sat in silence, fiddling with his thumbs. Being so close to Jack made him feel more than a little awkward. He didn't like human contact, and he didn't like being touched. But, because Jack seemed like a pretty nice guy that wouldn't want to beat him up without reason, he did not protest to their closeness.

He glanced up from his hands for a moment to see the plump barman come from the kitchen and towards their table. He obviously had recognized Jack. And he seemed pretty scary; a sort of guy that Eric wouldn't easily mess around with. Even he knew his limits, despite his crazed state of mind.

He was glad when the man left, and he turned to Jack when he started whispering. "Wh-what?" the young man questioned incredulously to Jack. He didn't like that plan. One; he didn't want to look at the barman or any other men he brought, let alone speak to them. Two; even though Jack seemed highly skilled in situations like these, he didn't want any harm to come the man's way. He felt like it was his responsibility to watch Jack, which it sort of was.
And he did care about what they were doing here. He was just tired, is all. He couldn't really pay much attention when he was tired.

"Alright," he agreed as Jack left the table and hurried off towards the bathroom. He'd do it to show Jack he wasn't a weak coward, even though he sort of was. He looked back to the kitchen doors when the barman returned with a little 'friend' of his. Eric instantly remembered what Jack had said about a man using a silent gun. And this very man had what appeared to be a silencing pistol in his holster. The only reason he could guess this was because he was fascinated in guns and how they worked. He had a book about them, at home. He wasn't entirely sure, but he had to be careful.

"In the restroom," Eric responded calmly with his hands folded innocently as he looked up at them. He couldn't show fear here, so he didn't. Jack had told him to leave as soon as they went after him into the bathroom. But he wasn't sure about that. But Jack could handle it, he decided.

[MatrixOne]

As Eric left the restaurant, he could hear a loud "Surprise, fatty!", a loud thud, a muffled scream, a few silenced gunshots, and after that, looong silence.

Well, ten minutes. Not that long.

"Whew, I wasn't quite ready for that other guy" Jack laughed, exiting the restaurant. "But guess what, he was that boss man from our crime scene. Oh, and he was pretty rich. That also means we're now pretty rich! Two grand, hell yeah"

They took a taxi home.

Jack tried his best to mask the blood dripping from his arm from Eric, but the taxi driver noticed it through the rearview mirror.
"Hey, you're bleeding" He said. "Want me to drive you to the hospital?"

"No, no, it's just ketchup" Jack laughed, trying not to look at Eric.

"Looks like a gunshot to me"

"How about you, like, drive the car, or something" Jack got frustrated.

"Alright, alright"

***

"Well! That was a good day" Jack laughed, taking off the coat. He went to the bathroom to look at his wound in the duct-taped mirror. Nothing much, the bullet barely grazed him.
"Oh, and by the way, I did check your last phonecalls and messages. You're gonna babysit two kids tomorrow..." Jack smiled devilishly. "This is gonna be... Interesting"
A drop of blood from his wound fell on the carpet.
"Oops. You'll tell them it was ketchup"

[Nori]

Eric waited outside the restaurant, pacing back and forth nervously. The noises coming from inside the building did little to comfort him, and he bit the inside of his cheek in worry. He was downright relieved when Jack finally exited the horrid restaurant. "That's pretty cool," he replied, talking about the two grand Jack had stolen. He fought the urge to hug the man; he was simply happy to see him again.

In the taxi ride back to Eric's apartment, the young man kept looking at Jack. It was obvious the detective was hurt, even if he didn't show it. And the taxi driver confirmed this. He would've driven to the nearest hospital right then, fearing the worst. He liked Jack, and he didn't want to see the man hurt. But he made no comment to this for the entire ride.

Once inside his apartment again, he locked the door and went into the kitchen. Eric wet a rag, grabbed the roll of bandages under the sink, and walked into the bathroom after Jack. "How'd you check that?" he questioned in an interested tone, giving the man a puzzled look for a moment. He chuckled then, and shook his head. "Sounds like fun. You'd better behave, then."

"Let me see your arm," he said and, without waiting for a consent from Jack, he grabbed the man's bleeding arm and began cleaning the gunshot wound. "You're lucky you got off so easy," he said as he cleaned off the blood. He didn't want Jack's wound to get infected. The man grabbed the bandages and wrapped them around Jack's arm. The detective really was lucky. Guns were lethal weapons. Had it been aimed somewhere else, he could have died. Eric didn't like that thought, so he banished it from his mind.

[MatrixOne]

"Hey, don't you worry, I have as many bullet holes as I have nostrils!" Jack giggled. "...Didn't need a bandage" He added quietly, but for a short second he held Eric's hand, giving him a small smile. His way of saying 'thank you' without saying 'thank you'.
"Anyways, I only killed the rich guy, told the barman to take this chance to lose some weight. I found a few things in the kitchen, and the dead guy had an address and a list of names. I found a few interesting ones, like 'Jack de Wiart', 'Eric Dune', and even 'Laine Dune'. Oh, and how could I forget 'Daniel Dune'..."
But before Eric could say anything, Jack put his hand on Eric's shoulder.
"I know what you'll say, and first of all, looking for that Laine is gonna wait. I have an address of a meeting where some people will be. Sounds like he's in deep with these guys, which is worrying, but I'm ordering you not to worry"
Jack hated when people he informed burst into tears or showed other emotions.
"I'll get to the bottom of this. And maybe this time you're not gonna sleep on the case"

He hid the evidence so that Eric couldn't find it.

[Nori]

Eric returned the smile to Jack, listening intently as the man spoke of what he had found. He had cared earlier, but obviously he didn't show it, and he bet that that made Jack upset. So he decided to be a little more attentive from then on. He wished he hadn't made that decision.

"L-Laine?" he repeated, the name sounding foreign on his tongue. It had been so many years, so many hours spent of fruitless searches. But what was his brother's name doing on a sheet of paper in the 'enemy's base', as he deemed it. Along with his father's...?

What the hell was that Faceless guy up to? Did he know something about his family members, did he know them? Part of him hoped so because then maybe he could see his brother again. But part of him didn't want that to be; he didn't want Laine to turn out to be a criminal or something. He was always quite the troublemaker back when they were kids...

And he didn't even want to think about his father. he couldn't have another episode; not in front of Jack. He could ponder it more later. "A... meeting, huh?" the young man questioned after a pause, trying not to sound as worried as he felt. He had to be strong, to prove that he wasn't weak and that he could handle this.

"Do you know what time this meeting starts? Or what day? We are going, right?" Eric questioned Jack, sounding much more interested than he had this morning. Of course, he did find everything rather intriguing earlier; he was just tired then. Now he felt wide awake.

[MatrixOne]

"I have the time and place, but of his last meeting. For the next one, the time is unspecified. But, about that last meeting..."
Jack looked Eric in the eye.
"Did Laine enjoy chewing gum from time to time?"
The question was pretty directly accusing Laine of being one of the bosses there. And Jack was rarely wrong. He had Laine's name near the time and place of the meeting where that guy was tortured...
"Well, the note also said your pops was in prison. For the last couple of years" Jack looked at Eric suspiciously. "Too bad I had to find out about that from some note pulled out of a dead guy's hand, huh, Rick"
Jack gave Eric a little hurt look. Why didn't he trust him with that information? Is Jack just a burden to him?
"No clues about what he has to do with any of them. And I don't quite like the feeling of being led like a dog on a leash... Weirdo brought me here specifically to take up this case. He wants me to challenge him. He knows that I know that he knows. It's like a showdown of minds here"
Jack sat down on the couch, and pulled Eric on the couch as well. He then rested his head on Eric's legs.
"I better not lose this damn showdown. If the Creep is who I think he is, (and I'm never wrong), then this might be a little difficult. A little much difficult. And he has the advantages. I need to put him on the leash instead"
Jack turned his head, putting his face against Eric's belly.
"Let me die in peace"

[Nori]

Eric paled slightly when he remembered gum at the crime scene. He had been looking around at least some. "Yeah... he chewed gum..." He murmured in reply, hoping it was simply a coincidence. Besides, anyone could chew gum, right? Many people did it...

"And, yeah, my dad's in prison. So what?" the young man replied a bit more harsh than he had intended to. Was it any of Jack's business about what his father had done? Eric was so sure that the detective could have at least guessed at that. He found out the rest of his past easily. So why not this?

He sat on the couch next to Jack as the other man pulled him down onto it. He was going to say something comforting to Jack. He hated seeing the man in such despair. But this position was making him feel more than a little awkward, and he wasn't sure as to what exactly he could say.

"I-I'm sure it will be fine," Eric said after a pause, looking down at Jack as the man lay in his laps. It actually felt rather... pleasant. He felt like it shouldn't feel that way, though. And Jack's face against his belly did little to alleviate his awkward and tense frame. "There hasn't been anyone who's bested you before, has there?"

[MatrixOne]

Jack sighed, turning his head to look at the ceiling, taking his face off Eric's belly, and ran his hand through his hair.

Should he tell him?

Huh. Fine. He can know. He's the one keeping secrets relating to the case, not me.
"I wouldn't call it being bested" Jack started, Eric's comment wounding his pride a bit. "More like, betrayed. Remember when I said about only ever having two investigation partners, with one of them being you?"
Jack sighed again. Talking about that just made him want to punch something real hard. The memory was not a feeling of defeat, more like... Disappointment. Anger. Humiliation.
"Well, let me tell you, there ain't nobody who's bested me other than myself"
He closed his eyes.
"It was a God damn master plan. Jack de Wiart, a clockwork detective! Tonight in London, tomorrow in Los Angeles. Tonight alive, tomorrow... Dead. They day after tomorrow... Alive again"
He clenched his fist.
"None of this makes sense to you. Well, good. It will. Let me put it this way..."
He reached out for his pocket, and threw a dime in the air, then caught it.
"You see it? Let me try again"
He threw it and caught it. Then again. And again.
"It's the same one, isn't it?"
He threw it one more time, but this time, he didn't catch it. He punched it so hard, it flew all the way across the room and collided with the wall.
"There we go! It's gone, you hear me? GONE" He said, nearly shouting that last word.
Then, he threw a dime in the air again.
"But who gives a shit. This one's exactly the same. Right? Right? Is it?"
He threw it in the air and caught it.
"Feels the same. Looks the same. They were both in my fist. You couldn't tell the difference. But still, they were together in my fist. And now?"
He held the dime to the light.
"Now it's all alone"
He hid the coin in his pocket, and his hand fell limp on the couch.
"A damn stupid metaphor. I had to make it look dramatic" He tried joking, but was still angry. "I shared my fame with an exact copy of me. A twin" He finally said it. "But someone had to be the face of it. We swapped roles. Exchanged ideas. We were equally contributing to solving the cases, but I was Jack. He was... Not. So, I got all the praise for our work. All he got was praise meant for me. And... If I was in his place, I don't think I could take it"
Jack clenched his fist.
"And did I mention we were pretty much copies? Well, I should have fucking seen it coming, then, huh? But I thought we were so close... Well, as it turns out, it didn't matter. Such a stupid thing... I was preparing breakfast, cleaning a metal plate, and saw his reflection in the plate. I saw the knife coming at me"
His gunshot wound opened up, and the bandage went red again from the blood leak. He shouldn't have clenched his fist that hard...
"He had everything prepared. Feasted on my trust. Because of jealousy, hunger for recognition... And it scares me, because if I was him and he was me, I'd feel the same... In the end, I killed him. Nobody ever knew he existed. That's the worst way to die... The worst thing I could have done to him, do you understand?"
Jack closed his eyes again.
"Since then, I never let anyone get close. And it worked out well... I'm still breathing, as you can see"
He put his hand on Eric's hand.
"Loneliness is tiring sometimes, though. I figure it's better than being dead, though. And how this whole story relates to our current case..."
He paused.
"Well, if anyone has the power to best me, it would just be myself. So I'm guessing you don't have to worry"

He didn't cry.

He never cried.

Not even over his brother's body.

What was his name?

Jack couldn't remember.

[Nori]

Eric immediately scooted away from Jack when he started to sound angry, but he still listened. He listened closer than he normally would have, and he tried to care more than he ever had. He cared about Jack. More so than the man might have thought. And he wanted to comfort Jack. But he didn't know how.

"Jack..." he murmured, unsure of where to go from there. The young man hesitantly reached out his hand, resting in on Jack's shoulder. Shortly afterwards, without even fully realizing his actions, he pulled the detective close, holding him to his chest. Whenever he comforted someone, specifically sad or hurt children, he liked to have them close. That way it would feel to Eric as though he had said person close to his heart and could comfort them more.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he murmured, still hugging Jack close. Such things were personal, though. He never said anything about his past, though. So why should Jack? But he had anyway. And he only loved Jack even more for admitting such a thing.

Wait, loved? No. Respected or liked, that's what he had meant. He was just getting too caught up in the moment, is all. Eric wanted to say something else to Jack, but what was there to say? That he felt sorry for him? He did, but he wasn't sure if Jack would appreciate him saying that. Or that it was going to be okay? That would be a lie. The young man didn't like to lie. He simply... hid the truth. Bent it to his liking, even. But he would never full-out lie.

You can't escape the past. Well, you could with drugs and opium and alcohol. But that was limited. It didn't last forever. Drink away the pain for just a few hours. Get high and feel free for a little while. Inject yourself with the morphine, kill the pain. Kill the pain. Only for a little while. Then you do it again. And again. And again. Until the day you die. You can't get away. You can't escape the past. Ever. No matter what.

[MatrixOne]

"I did" Jack answered. He let Eric hug him, but he didn't feel like it was needed. Jack was feeling fine. He wasn't like Eric.
I'm not gonna let the past drag me down. I'm brilliant, successful, and this place is full of opportunity. Last thing I need is to turn around and start weeping over the unchangeable.
"The deal with sad stories is, they make me incredibly hungry" Jack said in a more spirited voice. "Telling them, even more so. And by the way, why don't you have a computer in your house? What are you, a damn technophobe? The internet is like a police database, only larger. And I don't quite get it yet" He smiled devilishly. "But it seems to be the perfect place for me"
He left to change the bandage and fix the leak.

When Eric wasn't looking, Jack picked up the dime he threw away earlier, and stashed it in his pocket.
Couldn't have picked him back up, now could I.
He shook his head. Don't think about it.
"So what's with the kids? Who are they? I didn't feel like deducing much. I don't particularly like kids" He sighed. The only thing Jack really, really hated, was stupid people. And children were... Stupid. To him. Of course, it wasn't their fault, they were stupid because they were young.
But... They were. And Jack disliked them for it.

[Nori]

Eric let go of Jack, and he stood up from the couch. "Right. We never actually did get anything to eat at the freaky restaurant. I'll go make us something," he said cheerfully. He loved to cook. Especially for others, namely children. It was so much fun. Too bad he couldn't do it very often.

"And I do have a computer... well, a lap top, anyways," he responded to Jack from the kitchen as he looked through the fridge for something yummy to prepare. "It's in my closet in my work bag in my closet. If you need to use it, try asking me first. And don't break it." The young man used that computer for work only. Well, unless a kid had homework to do on the internet. Like research papers. He hated those. They were too boring and dull.

"I believe the kids' names are Riley and Colin. A girl and a boy, a brother and a sister. I've babysat them before. They're pretty sweet kids when you get to know them," Eric said confidently as he pulled out a large can of Spaghetti O's and poured them into a pot on the stove. "And how can you not like children? They're so sweet and innocent and just fun to have around." He really couldn't understand why Jack would be like that. Kids were the best things in the world!

[MatrixOne]

"That thing was a computer?!" Jack was pretty surprised. "I thought it was a portable typewriter or something. And, of course I'll ask you! Did I ever do anything related to your own items without your permission?" Jack laughed, putting Eric's wallet back on the table again.

"And how can you not like children? They're so sweet and innocent and just fun to have around."

"Yeah, just like dogs" Jack sighed. "Look, I see you're crazy about the damn kids, but it's not my kind of fun. Kids are boring, selfish, waste your time, you can't talk with them about the important topics, and if you could, they wouldn't understand. Might as well speak to a lump of plastic. As much of a waste of time"
His words were pretty harsh, but it might be because he liked to push his beliefs to the extreme.

***

When Eric wasn't looking, Jack snatched his iPhone to skim through his contacts.
He found the number of Faceless Weirdo, used to signal to create the time machine portal.
Would it work now?

Jack dialed the number, and the phone was picked up nearly instantly.
"Faceless here" Weirdo's technologically modified voice answered.
"Oh! Uh, I was gonna call for pizza, must have used the wrong number"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! I wanted a pizza all day today, but all that was served in your pizza joint was a good beating. And I decided to serve that one myself"

"Was that really your decision?"

"Think I'll follow the clues you're leaving for me forever? As soon as I see one tiny slip-up, you're done. Bringing me here is equal to sending yourself to the joint for good"

"You know who I am, and yet you still hope to defeat me"

"You're old and overconfident. There was once a time when you knew your limits, but that time is long gone"

"I am the master of time" Weirdo answered briefly, and hung up the phone.

"Master of shit, more like" Jack returned to the kitchen, putting Eric's phone next to his wallet. "Don't ask"

___
You can fast forward to next day ;q

[Nori]

Eric simply rolled his eyes at Jack, biting back a cynical response. It wasn't the kids' fault that they didn't know every-fucking-thing in the world. They were just too naive. But some of them could understand what Eric talked about when he was speaking of his job as an engineer. And there were others that had advanced vocabularies, and they knew even more words than Eric. Not all kids were stupid. But none were stupid in general.

He took back his wallet and gave Jack a suspicious look. It wasn't like there was anything in there. Just his driver's license, his ID card, insurance card, and some money. Well, then there was his credit card. But he wasn't going to let Jack mess with that without fighting back.

And he was poor than a little peeved when Jack took his iPhone. Who the hell was he going to call with it? He couldn't quite hear the conversation, mostly because he had just burnt his hand on the burner from not paying attention. This caused him to cry out with pain. But it was nothing serious. Just a little burn on his palm. He'd live through it. "Just shut up and eat your food," he replied sharply, yet playfully to Jack and handed him a bowl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That next morning, Eric was fast asleep in the bed in the guest bedroom. He had done the laundry last night so that he wouldn't have to worry about that today. Which meant he could sleep in. Maybe. He had no clue what time Mathilda would be bringing the kids to the apartment. Mathilda was a pretty good friend of his. Well, acquaintance would be more appropriate. She was pretty, young, and kind. Married, too. Not like Eric cared; he never had much interest in women anyway. Sure they were very beautiful, delicate creatures, but he wasn't sure if he liked that. It was hard to explain, and even harder to understand.

He lay in bed for a while, still sound asleep. He hadn't taken any pills this time. He was going to, but he couldn't locate the pills he had used the other night. Those were strong. And he liked strong. He had taken a few swigs of vodka last night. That tended to make him a bit drowsy. Not nearly enough to make him drunk. The last thing he needed was to feel sick with kids around.

It was another dreamless sleep. This surprised his inner conscience. Did whomever it was that watched over the people of the world really take pity on him now? And why? Not that it mattered; he would need all the strength he could muster if he was going to take care of two children. And Jack. Jack was probably just as stubborn and odd as a child.

[MatrixOne]

Of course, Eric was still sleeping. Jack managed to get up, get dressed, spend two hours on the internet, make breakfast and prank call Weirdo.

And Eric was still asleep.

But just as the day was starting to becoming boring, someone rung a doorbell.
Jack quickly hid the guns he was cleaning back in the bathroom drawer, and opened the door.

He saw a woman and two children.
"I'm sorry, miss. Sir Dunn has suffered an unfortunate fatal incident and I'm conducting an investigation..."

"He's not dead, he's just sleeping! I know it's hard to tell the difference sometimes!" One of the kids - Colin - said. "But that's just how he sleeps!"

"Hey, don't argue with the law!" Jack said, folding his arms.

"Then where is your badge?" Riley retorted.

"...Fine. You win" Jack sighed. "Outsmarted by a ten year old"
"I'm nine!"
"Whatever!"

Mathilda was unsure what Jack was doing there, but she figured that if Eric was comfortable sleeping with him in the house, then he must have been harmless. Besides, the kids seemed to like him already.
"I'll come back at the usual hour, then. Pleasure to meet you, mr..."

"...Rodrigez Sanchez" Jack shook Mathilda's hand. "I'm the maid here, in case you haven't noticed"
Matilda only smiled, and left. The guy certainly was funny.

"You don't look like a maid" Colin pointed at Jack.
"Yeah, you're a slob!" Riley added.

"And you don't look like a nine-year-old!"
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"Okay, fine!" Riley said, giving up. "I don't argue in a childish way like that, mister"
"Ha, I win!" Jack laughed, and started filling a balloon with air. Then, he tied its end so that the air doesn't escape.

"Why would you need balloons" Colin asked.
"Well, we want Eric to wake up eventually, right?" Jack laughed.

***

"Fire in the hole!" Jack shouted. "Sargeant Riley, Lieutenant Colin, get down!"
The kids hid behind the door to the bedroom, and Jack started piercing the balloons right above Eric.
POW, POW, POW, POW!
Eight balloons, five seconds. A bad way to wake up.
"Wah, the enemy is angry, retreat! Save yourselves!"

So, surprisingly, the kids were enjoying their time with Jack. And sometimes, he might not have hated the time with them, either.

[Nori]

Eric slept on, the covers pulled up so high that only his hair peaked through. He heard the sound of a doorbell. Mathilda must've gotten here with the kids. That meant he needed to get up. Except he was still asleep. He didn't want to get out of bed just yet. Besides, Jack could handle the kids for a few more minutes, right? Well, as long as he didn't burn the entire apartment complex down, it would be alright.

He jolted at the sound of balloons popping nearby. He was only semi-conscious, so he wasn't as loud as it would have been. But it was still alarming. The young man ended up hitting his head against the wall in his haste to sit up. He rubbed the sore spot, wincing as he touched it. That hurt.

Upon seeing the situation, though, he simply could not feel angry. Sure, it was an obnoxious and cruel way to get someone up, but he had all the patience in the world. The only thing he was upset about was Jack getting the remnants of the balloons all over the room and bed. He liked cleaning, sure, but he hated when someone messed up the things he spent so hard on cleaning.

He glared at Jack still, heaving himself from the bed. His joints felt stiff, and everything was fuzzy around the edges. How long had he been sleeping? "What time is it?" Eric yawned to no one in particular as he rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. He needed to get something to eat. No doubt Jack had already had something. He always seemed to wake up before Eric.

He stretched and ran his hand through his hair. He felt like going back to bed. Jack seemed to have a handle on things as the kids looked like they were having fun. But, honestly, he needed to keep a close eye on Jack, too. He had all sorts of weapons in the drawer in the bathroom. And the last thing Eric needed was to drive someone to the hospital. He was much too tired.

[MatrixOne]

"Well, it's um... Cleanup time" Jack laughed, looking at balloon pieces scattered around the room. "I'll let you enjoy your favorite hobby in peace, then"
He left the bedroom hurriedly and returned to... Cooking.

Jack had prepared dinner for both kids, Eric and himself, and was now serving it.
It wasn't anything particularly poisonous; Just some baked chicken with mashed potatoes. The kitchen was a dirty disaster, but the food was surprisingly good.
"I thought you said you were a time traveler. Why would you make such boring food?" Colin asked.
"Oh, so you'd like a slimy, living crab for dinner? 'Cause that's what people used to eat!" Jack retorted.
"Eww" Colin decided that he was glad the dinner was boring.
"He's not a time traveler" Riley said, shaking her head.
"Why not?" Jack asked.
"Nobody in the past would have pink hair like that! It would look silly to them, and nobody would talk to you"
"Well, you got that right" Jack agreed, smiling.

***

"And then, the big bad guy came at the detective out of nowhere, ambushing him!" Jack was telling the kids a story.
"What next, what next?" Riley was pretty absorbed in it, and Colin didn't mind listening, either.
"The detective had this all figured out. When the bad guy attacked the detective, he heard somebody behind them!"
"Who was it!"
"It was the detective's twin brother! They were working together all along, and now managed to beat the big bad guy and send him to prison!"
"And they both won? Awesome!"
"Well, not exactly. In order to surprise more bad guys, the twin brother had to stay hidden from the public"
"Oooh. That's kind of sad. He helped just as much and got nothing for it!"
"He saved the other detective's life. He was a hero to him" Jack explained. "Anyway, guys, that's the end of the story"
"It was pretty cool, Mr. Rodriguez!"
"So what do you and Eric do for fun, knit sweaters?" Jack asked both kids and Eric.

[Nori]

Eric glared at Jack once more, already cleaning up the remnants of the balloons. He was glad when Jack left the room, leaving him in peace for a few minutes. That man was lucky that Eric was in such a good mood. Perhaps his sleep had brought this upon him, but he felt giddy. Even more so than normal.

He tidied up the kitchen quickly before walking out of the guest bedroom. He sniffed, smelling a familiar scent. Food. Chicken, he was sure of it. He smiled, but this new-found happiness faded somewhat when he saw the state of the kitchen. It was in shambles, and it was just so dirty. He sighed, running his hand through his hair. He was expected to clean that up as well, wasn't he?

"You ruined my kitchen. You better be glad I'm in a good mood today, or I'd skin your throat," he muttered darkly to Jack. Although, admittedly, the food, while simple, was still pretty good. Maybe even sublime. That lifted Eric's spirits a little higher. Today was already a good day, despite the messes.

He glanced at the time, and his eyes widened some in shock. Had he really slept that late? Oh well; he needed the long rest, anyway. He was usually so tired all of the time, but now he felt wide awake. The young man listened to Jack as he told his story. A small, serene smile played on Eric's thin lips. For a man who claimed he wasn't very fond of kids, he handled them pretty well.

"I'll have you know that I detest knitting," he replied to Jack cheerfully, glancing up at the detective. It didn't help that he was still smiling. He really did dislike knitting. It was a girly thing to do. And Eric didn't seem that feminine, did he?

[MatrixOne]

Jack was getting increasingly bored. And while the kids were super nice, it was Eric's job to take care of them, was it not?
"I'll go see if I'm not currently being outside" Jack finally said, putting on his coat. "You two, make sure Eric doesn't trash the house while I'm away. Guy's a walking disaster"
"You're a walking disaster!" Colin argued.
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"No, you!"
"Fine! I don't care" Colin turned away, trying not to look at Jack.
"Yes you do"
"No, I don't!"
"Yes, you do!"
"No, I don't!"
"No, you don't!"
"I'm not falling for that trick!" Colin gets extra points for awareness.
"Darn. It worked on me when the chief of police was trying to get me to confess" Jack shrugged. "Anyway, bye. If I'm not back five minutes from now... Just wait a little longer"

***

Four hours later, Jack returned to Eric's home.
The kids were no longer there, obviously. And, well... Good, because Jack looked like a disaster. His hair was messy and dirty with someone's blood, he had a few cut wounds on his hip, a small burn scar on his neck and a thin strip of metal stuck in his left arm.
"Good news" He said in a weak voice, dropping a big bag with various items in the middle of the room. "I, uh... I know where and when that meeting is gonna be..."
He stumbled, falling limp on the couch.
"Ugh. I kinda need a... Nap. If I die, dump me in the river"
He remained conscious, though barely.

[Nori]

Eric cracked a small grin, nodding at Jack. "Don't stay out too late, mister!" he called as Jack left the apartment. Once that was done, he began clearing the dishes off of the table. After tossing them into the sink, he got Riley and Colin settled into the living room. While they watched cartoons, Eric began to clean his beloved kitchen. While he normally liked to spend time with the kids, he couldn't leave the apartment in a mess. And they seemed to like watching TV, like most young kids do.

He had almost finished cleaning the kitchen when it was time for the kids to leave. He shut off the television and said goodbye to the kids as they left with their mom. That woman really was quite nice. He stood for a moment, gazing at the closed door. What was he doing? Oh yeah; cleaning the kitchen.

He went back into said room and finished cleaning everything. The dishes were washed, the counters and stove was cleared, and everything was neat and organized. Like it should be. He smiled to himself. What to do now? He deserved a nice treat, he decided, so he began to bake some brownies. Not a lot; just enough for him and Jack if he wanted some. Speaking of Jack, he still hadn't returned. And Eric was starting to get worried.

While the brownies baked, he began to wash and dry the clothes in the hamper. He had just finished unloading the now clean clothes from the dryer when he heard the over beep. He hurried into the kitchen. He could fold the clothes later. He took the sweets out of the oven, and laid them upon the stove to cool. When he heard the door opening and closing, he walked out into the living room to see who it was. Well, of course it would be Jack!

Eric blushed when he remembered that he was still in an apron (he didn't want to get his clothes dirty...), but that faded immediately when he saw the state Jack was in. Frowning, he walked over to the couch the man had laid down on. He was glad that Jack had found out about the meeting, but he hated seeing the detective hurt like this. He left for a moment only to return with a wet washcloth.

He began to clean the wounds slowly and calmly, just like a mother would with her hurt son. He hardly acknowledged the bag of items Jack had tossed onto the floor; there would be time to look through it later. Right now, Jack was much more important. He removed the metal that was stuck in Jack's arm, pressing the wash cloth gently against the wound. This man would need a bath, but Eric hadn't the heart to wake the weak man up. He could sleep now, and then take a bath once he was ready.

When he was finished, Eric bent over in the seat he had drawn up from the kitchen and hugged Jack gently. He would be fine. He just needed sleep. With a solemn expression, he left the room, dragging the chair back with him. He saw the brownies that he had left on the stove. They were still warm, so he cut himself some. He walked back into the living room, a plate of brownies in one hand. He grabbed the bag with the other and went and sat on the armrest of the couch so as not to disturb Jack.

[MatrixOne]

Jack was not asleep. He had his eyelids closed, yes, he was feeling weak, yes, but he wasn't about to give up and go to sleep.

He was thinking heavily. Acknowledging every possible outcome for every step taken. Clues, places, behaviors, people... Faceless. What was staged, and what was real. What was expected, and what was unforeseen, by him and Faceless both.

His thoughts were disturbed when Eric just hugged Jack out of the blue.
Jack wanted to say something funny, but he didn't. It felt nice to be cared for, for once. And he was slowly starting to develop some sort of affection for Eric, too. So he kept his eyes closed, enjoying the moment.
Damn it, Jack. You were supposed to not let anybody get close.
Things get too personal, and Jack gets betrayed. He suffered through that once.
You don't care about him. He's just here to give you free meals and bed. All that counts is the case. Keep your shit together, me...
Jack tried to convince himself, but it was not exactly working.

Then, he just opened his eyes and got up, as if he wasn't hurt in the slightest.
Everything hurt him, but Jack hated to waste time on recovering.
"Hey, don't I get a brownie?" He smiled at Eric, tearing out a big piece with his hand and stuffing it in his mouth.
After that, he grabbed the bag he had brought here earlier, and dumped its contents on the carpet in the living room.
"Wow, you look absolutely cute in that apron" He pointed out, looking at Eric. "That's what I was looking for when I said I needed a man-maid in my house"
He sat down on the ground, and started to go through the items, one by one.
An unregistered silenced pistol and one full ten round clip. Jack stole it from one of the 'guards' on patrol.
An envelope containing something small inside. Jack put that away for later use.
Some candy and bubble gum.
"Very important evidence" Jack said, stuffing the gum in his mouth.
There were also a few maps and other papers, mostly useless, but Jack dug through them one by one.
"They used those papers to make this seem less suspicious..." He held up a map of some kind of prison. "What do you know about this prison? And before you tell me to mind my own business, I'll have you know I had already found everything out"
It was a map of the prison Eric's father was held at.
"Now," Jack started, pulling out a porcelain teapot from the item pile. "Imagine this tea thing is a prison wall. And this..." He grabbed the envelope and tore it in half, throwing its contents into the teapot and putting its small lid on it.
"...This is what it is."
Two seconds later, the teapot exploded, throwing porcelain pieces all around the room. It wasn't a big enough explosion for the debris to hurt anybody, though.
"And this was nothing. Imagine a few pounds of this explosive shit planted on a wall. Do you see now what Mr. Faceless may be trying to do?" Jack smiled, putting the stuff back in the bag. "And, he'll have an army with him. I can't face them head-on, I'll need a different tactic..."

[Nori]

Eric was a little shocked when Jack sat up so abruptly. He had thought the man to be asleep. After all he must've been through, he surely must have been exhausted. He smiled warmly at the detective, though. He glanced down at the contents, ready to start analyzing them. But his concentration was shaken when he choked on the bit of brownie he had tried to swallow. His cheeks were a bright red at the sort-of compliment he had received from Jack, and he shifted uncomfortably on the armrest of the couch. "Th-thanks..." he mumbled somewhat shyly before turning back to look at the pile of things.

He looked at the items carefully as Jack shifted through them. He was sure he recognized the map of the prison. He paled at the sight of it. Had he been closer to it and Jack, it would have been torn to shreds instantly. He had only entered that particular prison once in his life-time, but he could still remember every little detail about it. And his father... he was held there. What the hell was Faceless and his men doing with this map?

He decided to push it aside for the moment, focusing on the teapot Jack pulled out instead. It was rather pretty... What was it doing in a pile of such things? The young man jumped when it exploded, nearly dropping his plate in shock. Great. Another mess to clean. Good thing it hadn't been that big.

He still didn't quite understand, though. He wasn't very skilled at putting puzzles together in his mind. He was horrible at such things. But the answer was quite obvious. He wanted to believe that it wasn't true, but all evidence pointed that way. "...You mean... Faceless is trying to break... someone out?" Eric questioned, wishing his fear to be confirmed before believing it.

[MatrixOne]

"Quite so, dear Watson" Jack laughed. "But it's gonna be somewhat more subtle than punching a hole in the wall. Also, I am not yet sure what exactly the prisoner is expected to do after receiving freedom... It's pretty funny, really. After Faceless started financing the prisons, the situation of one particular prisoner improved dramatically..." Jack was speaking of his findings, while also shoving the items back in the bag. "I was being led by that masked dude for too damn long. It's time to do something he ain't gonna expect, and I know exactly what it'll be"
He approached his coat, limping a little, and took out a white mask from a large inside pocket.
"Can you believe it? They're selling these things in a supermarket, he's, like, a celebrity" Jack put the Faceless Weirdo mask (http://beatbird.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/white-mask.jpg) on. It looked pretty convincing.
"The tricky part is his voice altering device. It's one-of-a-kind, because it changes his voice on the fly. So..." Jack took the mask off. "...I'll have to get it directly from the bad guy. That's the tricky part. I'll fill you in on the plan some other time, but you're not coming. It's too dangerous"
He stretched and yawned, as if he was NOT talking about assaulting the biggest mafia boss in the country.

Before going to sleep, Jack showered and went over his clues one more time. When he was relatively dry, he hopped in the bed, waiting for Eric.
"Your life must have been horribly boring before!" He noticed, smiling. "But don't worry, now that I got you involved with the police, mafia, deadly criminals and such, your life's bound to become more exciting"

[Nori]

Eric bit his lip in worry. He, of course, knew what criminal they were speaking of. But he didn't want to think about it. Yet his mind pressed it onto him anyway. What did Faceless want with said prisoner? What did he plan to do? Eric didn't know, and that was what scared him the most. He hated surprises and not knowing. It made him uneasy, and his mind wouldn't stop whirring about the possibilities.

He thought that the Faceless mask Jack had put on looked rather... frightening. It made him a bit uncomfortable, as though he was sitting in the room with Faceless instead of Jack. He knew that couldn't be, though. He pouted when he was told that he couldn't come. Did Jack doubt his ability to handle and help with the plan? Probably. And after tonight, he really didn't want Jack to go on any more missions by himself. Perhaps the young man was simply being over-protective, but... He couldn't lose Jack.

He ate another brownie while Jack showered. He didn't want to go to bed just yet. He wanted to stay up a bit later. Besides, getting hyped up on sugar was better than getting high off drugs. Or getting drunk. Actually, he could go for a drink right about then. It had been a rough day. One drink couldn't hurt...

But he had run out of alcohol. He drank it too much and too fast, but only on nights when he didn't have work or babysit. Which was more often than one might think. Eric felt a sudden surge of anger at this revelation, and he slammed the refrigerator door with much more force than needed. He seethed for a moment, glaring at the frig as though it was its fault that the alcohol was gone.

Sighing, he ran his hands through his hair. Despite the brownies he had just consumed, he still felt just a little tired. But he didn't want to go to sleep. Maybe he could find some other pills that would make his slumber dreamless. Or he could take some Morphine. That always made him pass out.

But he wasn't in any pain right then. Pain would be his excuse for taking it. Excruciating pain. But inflicting such pain upon himself just to use the drug didn't seem like a very good idea. He snapped out of his thoughts, and scoffed at what Jack said. "Exciting isn't quite the right word to use there. More of... on edge, I guess." There was nothing exciting about being involved in any of those things.

[MatrixOne]

"Hey, don't worry, no partner of mine has ever died during the case" Jack laughed. "I mean, what are the odds!"
He was getting impatient. Eric was walking around the house, slamming doors and being annoying.
So, Jack tipped over an unfinished cup of tea, spilling it on the ground, and when Eric came to investigate, Jack grabbed him by the wrist, pulling Eric on the bed.
"You've spent too much time doing stuff you're not gonna remember a year from now" Jack smiled, inching himself closer. "Luckily, I'm here to change that"

[Nori]

"Hey, what the hell?" Eric asked angrily to Jack when he came to see what that splattering noise was. What the fuck was Jack doing, pouring tea all over the ground? Now he would have to clean that up, too! And he wasn't in a good mood to begin with. It took him a moment to remember why he was so grouchy right then.

He walked closer, about to start cleaning up the mess when Jack pulled him onto the bed. He let out a shocked noise that sounded like a gasp. "W-what are you doing?" the young man asked worriedly, trying to move away from Jack. But the attempt was fruitless because he didn't want to fall off of the bed. That, and his whole body was numb from shock and fear. He couldn't move much; only squirm uncomfortably when Jack drew closer to him. He didn't like this. Why was Jack acting like this?

[MatrixOne]

"Oh, am I making you uncomfortable?" Jack smiled devilishly, not letting go. "You should be used to that by now. I mean, it's me, after all!"
Eric's attitude annoyed him. The guy didn't know what he wanted, and he couldn't even tell himself who he was.
"You didn't seem so scared of me when you hugged me while I was 'passed out'. What changed, are you only into dying people?"
He moved aside and got on top of Eric.
"You know you want this"
He gently slid his hand down Eric's chest, moving it lower and lower...

[Nori]

Eric's eyes widened even more than before, but he still couldn't move. He knew what Jack wanted right then. And... he might just have wanted it, too...

No! He couldn't say that. He wasn't like that. He couldn't get close to Jack, couldn't risk it. If he ever lost this man, he would be heartbroken once more, he was sure of it. He couldn't get so close to Jack, but he wanted to. He wanted this, needed this, but it still felt wrong.

He had hugged Jack earlier because... because, why? He knew the answer, but he couldn't say it out loud. He just couldn't. And did Jack really want this? Or was he just trying to get Eric's hopes up and throw him back down, just like everyone else?

His breathing hitched and then quickened when Jack moved on top of him. He felt Jack's hand slipping down his chest, lower and lower. God, that felt so good, so right! He tried to convince himself that he didn't like this, but it was fruitless. He could never get this excited over any woman. Only Jack.

"Pl-please," Eric murmured desperately, staring straight at Jack. He felt like if he blinked or looked away, the man would vanish and he'd be alone again. He didn't want to be alone. He needed this. He needed Jack, right then and there. He no longer cared about everything else. This was the only important thing to him. Jack was more important than sleep right then.

[MatrixOne]

Jack knew himself damn well. He knew that getting close to Eric, emotionally close, was a bad idea.
He also knew that he wanted this.

It was illogical. Jack has survived all these years by not caring about other people's feelings. By living only for himself.
And, he had a mystery, a case. He had a challenge. It was what he loved, and what made him happy. But there was this one thing he never had.

A lover.

Now, Eric wasn't perfect. He was actually very imperfect, illogical, tidy, emotional, serious... Jack's complete opposite.
But it just made him another mystery. In a good way. Jack loved solving mysteries, and Eric's mind was as big a riddle as the case he was investigating. It drew Jack to Eric. He couldn't just use him like all the other boring people, and then throw him away.
They had a connection. Something.

Jack looked in Eric's eyes, and when his hand reached its destination, he kissed Eric right on the lips.

It made Jack realize that Eric wasn't expendable to him anymore.

[Nori]

Eric stared at Jack, but at the moment when their lips were pushed together, his heart instantly melted in euphoria and love. He had never been shown affection like this, couldn't remember this last time he had been hugged or kissed. It had been so long, and it was foreign to him.

And Jack did it to him. Made him feel this way. The last person he would ever expect to show any sort of love for him. The man's eyes slid shut, and he savored the moment. It couldn't last forever, it never did. And yet Jack made it feel like it would.

It was like he was the sun. Eric had spent so long wandering in the darkest recesses of his mind, no light anywhere to be found. He had kept running and running, knowing he would find the light some day. Knowing that, one day, he wouldn't feel so lonely. He would have someone there to comfort him, make him feel good, chase away the bad dreams. The memories that he wished he didn't have.

And when he met Jack... the slightest shimmer of light appeared before him. It was hard to see through all of the darkness that his life had brought. It was different and unusual, yes, but it was familiar. There was a time when he had been loved by others, a time when before the darkness enveloped him, wrapping him into its welcoming arms. Sometimes it would sing that lullaby, that sad song, and he would fall asleep, hoping that he wouldn't open his eyes again the next day.

The sweet lullaby of death.

But the light that Jack brought returned the hope that Eric had lost ages ago. He had given up on the world, giving in to the dark, only for their to be light again. And when they kissed... it was as though the sun had finally risen in his mind, in his little fantasy world. The darkness he had tried desperately to escape from with pills and injections and drinks and pain...

It wasn't gone, but the light that was Jack just sort of blurred it out. Like how the moon shines down onto the clearing, and all Eric had to do was look up and see it. It had been there the whole time, but he hadn't seen it, hadn't believed.

He believed now. He believed that Jack could make him happy like Eric had always wanted. He didn't have to use the physical pain to out-ride the darkness anymore. Jack could do it just fine. They shared a bond, a connection, he could feel it as they shared that kiss.

There was no more doubt or worry or guilt. This was right because the two were always meant to be. So they had to go through some pain to get here. Now that he had Jack, he could be happy forever. Why hadn't he seen it sooner? Was he really that clueless, that naive? Why couldn't he have gotten this love sooner when he was really suffering? Before all of the countless suicide attempts, the cutting, the drinking, the drugs...

Why hadn't the light been there before, to aid and guide him out of the depression, the darkness, the loneliness?

This was surely why he had never died. He could have really passed for immortal, he had tried so hard to end the pain, end the suffering. He had always wondered why the Gods way up in the sky kept him alive for so long when he surely should have been dead.

The answer was right in front of him.

It always had been, he just couldn't see it.

Had he told a past-self about this happiness, this elation, the other would have merely scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. Back then he didn't believe in happy endings. He had when he was a child, when he had his siblings who loved him. But that vanished when they were separated. The only happiness he ever felt was gone, drifting through the wind with all of the hope, through the darkness of his mind.

He remembered the looming figures that appeared like monsters his his imagination. The threats, the jeers, the laughter. It all tormented him, even now. He was insane, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't his fault that he was different from the others, more sensitive than the other boys. It wasn't his fault that his father was a crazed murderer that killed and tormented people for fun if he was bored. Or that his mother was simply a scared and scarred victim that was too afraid to love her children because they reminded her of the torment.

Eric could relate. He had never felt any hate towards his mother, even when she beat him. It must have hurt her, too. It had to. And he was exactly like his father in every way. He had his exact looks, insanity, sight, everything.

Except...

Eric had a heart. Something his father had never once had.

He would have never guessed that he had a heart, that he was actually able to care and love for others because of all of the pain he put them through.

But he loved Jack. He loved the man with all of his heart, he just hadn't seen it sooner. Nothing was going to separate them. And if it did...

He didn't want to think about that. Eric broke slowly away from the kiss to catch his breath. His eyes opened, and he saw Jack again. His light, his beacon. This man was his, and no one would ever take that from him.

His eyes, usually dead or blank, now held all the love and compassion in the world. And if one were to look close enough, they would even notice the wonder that he held when he looked at Jack. He was so perfect in every way. Eric wondered how Jack could ever love him, and yet he did. He knew that their love for each other existed, it had to. Why else would he be able to feel that bond? Why else would the darkness have disappeared? That was Jack's doing. And he loved Jack all the more for it.

[MatrixOne]

The next day, Jack decided not to violently wake Eric up.

He needed time to think; His plan changed, and he would need some additional help. And Eric was all he had, though, luckily, Eric was also everything he needed.

So, Jack waited patiently until he was finally ready.
"Okay, now, here's the deal" Jack started his monologue, sitting at the table. His tone was pretty cheerful; He liked planning. It rarely worked, though. "I need some one-on-one time with the Creepy Masked Guy to get that voice-changing device. Finding him won't be a problem because that meeting is today, also meaning your pal Laine will come over. Anyway, the Creepy Guy bought an office building, just to have a new place to meet. Problem is, the place is rather large and I can't keep track of two targets at once. But... You can"

Jack smiled, leaning back in the chair.

"He expects me to go in alone. Hell, I expected myself to go in alone, but the building has cameras all linked to one room. The building was bought two days ago, and Creep hasn't shut them off yet. He also hasn't checked the whole place out, so I'm pretty sure him and Laine will spread out to comb the place to check it out. That's where I come in. With your help at the cameras, I can move around the building undetected and pick the guys off one by one. I'm also pretty sure you'll have other cool stuff at your disposal in that security room, like building-wide lightswitches, fire alarms, stuff like that"
For once, his plan didn't seem horrible. Thanks to Eric, he'd know the terrain better than Faceless and his crew, which would give him an advantage.
"If something goes wrong, we'll just improvise as always" He added with a sly smile.

____
Having some trouble with time, but I'll do my best to keep posting at least once per day ;q.

[Nori]

Eric was glad the he could finally wake up normally for once.

He made himself a cup of coffee when he entered the kitchen, yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes. He sat across the table from Jack, listening to the man's plan as he took a sip of the steaming beverage.

He wasn't quite sure if that plan sounded safe, but it was the best they had. And he wanted to do whatever he could to help Jack out. It was a good thing that he knew a lot about how security rooms worked.

"Alright," the man agreed to the plan with a small bob of his head. As long as Jack didn't get himself hurt, he didn't mind the plan. And if the detective even thought of laying a hand on Eric's brother should such a situation ever arise, he would strangle Jack, simple as that.

"So, what time do we have to be down there?" he asked Jack, taking another swig of the drink. If they had to do this all today, he would need as much energy as he could possibly get.

[MatrixOne]

"Gee, I dunno. Some time today" Jack didn't seem to have a great memory for details. It'd be bad to miss the meeting, though... "Least you could do is fake some emotion about the whole thing. I mean, it's your family's dirty secret, not mine" He added, grabbing the coat and his backpack which he had filled with all sorts of items earlier. "Last one to reach the car is gay!" He shouted and ran out of the house. "Oh, wait..." He added.

***

A thoughtful narrator like me wouldn't waste your time with describing boring driving parts.

So, after leaving the taxi (which Jack insisted on taking instead of Eric's car), they had to approach the office building on foot. It seemed as if it was abandoned in a big hurry; It was empty now, but Faceless and his people were slowly gathering in front of it, ready to go inside.

Next to the office building, there was a small, square tower, which was where the 'security room' was situated. One of Faceless' thugs was inside, but other than him, the entire tower was unguarded.
"Hey, your pizza's here!" Jack shouted, knocking on the door. Seems like he picked the direct route to the tower.

"What the hell? I didn't order no pizza" The guy answered.

"Well, someone did. Get out here and pay me"

"I'll take the pizza, but I don't think I'll be paying for it" The guy said, opening the door and pointing at Jack with a shotgun. "...You're no pizza delivery guy!" He realized that a bit too late, because Jack used the element of surprise to... Gently take the shotgun off the guy's hands.

He then grabbed it by the barrel, and smacked the guy right in the face with it. Bit less gentle.
"He's alive, I'm on a 10 murder streak, don't wanna ruin the nice number" Jack laughed, throwing the gun on the ground and taping the unconscious guard's hands and legs together. Also, his mouth.

When they got to the top of the tower, Jack looked over the computer screens.
"Well, I'm sure you know this computer stuff better than I do. Also, this dude had some kind of comm device in his ear. Think you can make it work for me and you? There's a microphone in this computer room, kinda"
Jack wasn't an expert. This was still future stuff, though he adjusted quickly.
"I'm not gonna kill any of them, not until we know exactly what Laine is supposed to be doing for the Creep"

***

In the meantime, Faceless and his crew entered the office building, making sure nobody's there. Him and his people gathered in the middle of a hallway, and Faceless approached Laine calmly.
"Report"

____
Whatever Laine reports is yours to describe, but I need to know who he is. A hitman, a killer, a smuggler, a bodyguard... Whatever you give me, I'll work with it ;q

[Nori]

Eric chuckled and hurried after Jack out of the apartment and into the street. He did not object to the taxi or walking the rest of the way. He took the time to analyze the office building, and his eyes glided over to the structure next to it.

He walked over to it with Jack, scanning it over carefully. No doubt this was where the security room was held. He stood back and allowed his companion to do what he did best. Had this been any other day, he would have laughed aloud at Jack's peculiar way of going about things, but he needed to be serious right then.

The young man made sure to shut the door to the building behind him before hurrying after Jack to the top. His eyes widened at the sight of the room, and he grinned. This was going to be a lot of fun. "Yeah, here..." Eric mumbled as he walked over to the microphone that Jack was referring to and hooked it up into one of the computers. He typed a few things on the keyboard, not having to even think about what he was doing. He was very well-trained with computers, after all. "There. That ought to do it."


Laine turned from whatever it was he had been doing, and his green eyes shimmered almost triumphantly. He had done a pretty good job with his little 'mission'. Or, at least, he succeeded without getting himself killed in the process. "I managed to get what you wanted, sir. Had to kill a few people to get it, but that's nothing I haven't done before." He tossed Faceless a white bag whose contents were unnoticeable at the moment.

"Everything was cleaned up. Police thought it was an accident." That was no surprise. Laine had been murdering people to get some things he or Faceless needed for some time, so he had become quite skilled at cleaning up the messes. And the police officers were stupid to begin with.

[MatrixOne]

If Faceless' mask could smile, it would be right now.
"You've become very capable. Keep at it - the big day is coming, and we need to be ready for everything, especially for what comes today. And don't worry, your dear Eric won't be harmed, no matter what happens. It's a promise"
He took the bag, and signaled the men to enter the office building.
"Search every floor and be wary of the noises. You, stick on the same floor as me" He told Laine, and they all proceeded inside the building, after Faceless picked up Laine's bag.

Jack could only hear the first part of the conversation, but it was enough for him. He moved into the building before the bad guys entered it.

Now, Jack had to get close to Weirdo and grab the device.
Interestingly, the guys seemed to spread out. It was all just too easy; First the tower guy, now this. Jack was unsure how to approach the situation; He was clearly being played for a sucker. He needed to turn it around.

Moving around silently wasn't much of a difficulty; The detective had the arts of stealth pretty much mastered.

When Faceless entered a small conference room, Jack decided it was time to strike.

Eric could clearly see Faceless look around the room, then lay the bag on the ground, and walk over to the camera.
"How far are you willing to go for him, Eric?" Faceless asked quietly, looking at the camera. "I am the one person who can beat him. He knows it, but his pride will keep throwing him at me until he's dead"
He opened the bag, searching for something inside.
The only way to get in the room was the door in front of Faceless. Jack had to be there, either listening in, or getting ready to barge in.

"Eric, lights out, please" Jack whispered. There was no visible camera angle to pinpoint Jack's location at the time.

[Nori]

Laine's face hardened at the mention of his brother. He respected Faceless and all since he took orders from the odd man, but if he hurt Eric, he would murder Faceless if it was possible. Obviously, the two brothers were equally close to each other, even more so than it would seem.


Eric sat at the computers, the microphone pulled close to him so that he could respond if Jack spoke. He had hooked up a wireless headset so that he could hear Jack from that.

He glanced over all of the screens, but his eyes landed on a particular one when he saw Faceless looking straight at him. Of course, Faceless was really looking at the camera, but it still unnerved him. He could hardly pick up what the man had said, but it didn't matter. Jack's voice had flooded the headset he wore moments after.

"Huh?" Eric asked, blinking. Jack didn't appear anywhere on any of the screens. "Oh... alright," he said, flicking a switch that turned out the lights. "Be safe..."

[MatrixOne]

"Oh, sure. Safe is my... Third name, right after 'careful' and 'gentle'"

Next second, the wall next to Faceless was torn to shreds by an explosion, and Jack jumped inside through the newly-created hole in the wall, tackling Weirdo.

The cameras switched to infrared, so Eric could still see what was going on in the dark.

Faceless was a little confused when Jack jumped him, but not enough to get beaten just like that. He backed away, pushing Jack into a wall, and lunged at him with a long knife. It must have been in that bag.

From the camera's angle, the knife seemed as if it pierced Jack's chest, even though it hit directly below his armpit.
The detective grabbed Faceless by the mask, and kicked him in the stomach, tearing the mask away from his face. Then, he jumped forward and pressed him against the glass window in the room. The window cracked, but didn't break.
It was the first floor. The fall would not kill anyone, though it would put Weirdo out of the game for a few minutes, giving Jack a chance to escape.

Of course, the explosion and blackout were noticed by pretty much everyone, and they were all approaching the room and coming inside one by one, with their guns at the ready. It was dark, but not dark enough to not see Jack, especially since he was next to a window.

"Uh. Hey, guys" Jack said, looking behind him. Faceless didn't move; He was simply interested in how it would all turn out, even though technically there was nothing stopping him from trying to attack or escape. "Oh, you must be Laine. Real nice meeting you! And, I think I know exactly what you need - prison tats! Don't worry, you'll get a fair share of those soon enough. We'll ink you a nice 'Thank you for all your troubles' on the left asscheek"

"Stylish" Weirdo admitted.

"Shush, burgerface. You lose"

"Don't you remember? I never lose"

Eric could hear the entire conversation, but Jack was in front of Weirdo, and the camera couldn't see Weirdo's face.
Perhaps it was for the best.

[Nori]

Eric rolled his eyes at Jack's response. It seemed to be a habit by then. He was glad that he could see what was going on on the screen, although it did make everything look kind of... weird.

He gasped when Faceless pulled out the knife and seemed to stab Jack with it. He couldn't help it; he looked away from the screen for a moment. When he looked back, he noticed that there was no blood or wounds on Jack, or none that he could see.

He felt a little relieved at this, and he watched the fight between Faceless and Jack attentively. Jack needed to get out of there before he got hurt, but he knew the detective would do nothing of the sort. All he could do in his position was hope that Jack would be safe.

He could hear everything through the headset. The young man grew more alert when he heard Jack speak to Laine, but his eyes never lingered away from the detective. He felt like if he looked away, Jack would be hurt or something. But he was tougher than that, so he really didn't need to worry. But he did anyway because of his love towards the man. "Careful..." Eric whispered, although he wasn't sure if the microphone had picked it up.


Laine blinked in confusion, and he stopped walking down the hallway when the lights went out. His confusion and astonishment lasted only for a moment before he grew serious once more. Someone was messing with the lights!

Luckily, from his many years of practice, he was able to see just fine in the dark. He pulled the gun out of his pocket, facing it down to the ground as he loaded it. Once that was done, he dashed off to where he had heard the explosion just moments before. That somehow didn't surprise him very much, although it did peak his interest.

Since he had been on the same floor as Faceless, he was one of the first to get inside the room where the explosion had happened. He kept his gun inside his pocket, but his hand was fingering it in case he needed to pull it out. He didn't really like using firing weapons, but he kept the gun with him at all times just in case.

He narrowed his eyes at Jack when he was addressed, and he instinctively took a small step back. "Very funny," Laine muttered sarcastically, his hand wrapping tightly around the gun in his pocket. Faceless could deal with Jack, though, so there really wasn't much need for weapons. But it was safer just to have something than nothing. If something went wrong, at least then they'd be kind of ready.

[MatrixOne]

"Well, it was nice chatting at gunpoint, but I gotta run. Places to be!" Jack laughed.
"Not just yet" Weirdo said quietly and grabbed Jack by the throat, turning around and smashing him against the window.
Jack reached to his coat pocked, and a second later, another explosion shook the building. Jack detonated the charges on the supports, and the part of the room where him and Faceless were standing simply collapsed, leaving Laine and the other mafia dudes confused, up top.

At this point, escape was easy. Weirdo had no way to expect this kind of approach, and the collapse confused and wounded him. He was up on his feet in no time, but after the dust cleared, Jack was nowhere to be seen.

***

"You did a good job" Jack complimented, entering the 'control room'. "I gots what I came here for. Let's bail before they regroup, eh" He laughed, looking at the camera screens.
One of them showed Weirdo talking with his men.
Weirdo's face could be clearly seen.

Face, or what was left of it. He must have had his face skin removed at some point in his past; The result was pretty horrible to look at, especially since he was completely bald. Presumably, he also removed the skin on his head.
There was no telling who he really was. Not from the appearance, that's for sure.

***

"It does not matter" Faceless reassured Laine. "He needs to believe he can beat me. His overconfidence will be his downfall. I know him better than anyone does; I know how he was bested, even. It's fascinating, if you think about it"

[Nori]

Laine gasped out when the place where his boss and Jack had been standing just moment before collapsed. How had that explosion happen? Were they alright? He was just as confused as the others, and quite concerned. Dune seemed to vanish every time one's safety was called to question, and Laine, the old Laine who actually cared for others' well-beings, resurfaced. This only got in the way, though, so he had to force himself to be cold to get jobs done.

He jumped back instinctively, pulling a few others back with him. No one was getting hurt on his watch. He crept up closer to where the part of the room had exploded and collapsed after a hesitant moment. He saw Faceless, but not Jack. That didn't really anger him, though; he had a great patience most of the time, just like his brother. He instead hurried to get to Faceless and make sure he was alright.



"Thanks," Eric replied to Jack, grinning weakly. After all that, he was just glad that the detective had survived. He stood up from the chair he had been sitting in, and he pulled Jack into a hug. "Good because if you hadn't grabbed it, I would have skinned you alive."

He turned back towards the computer screens, and the first thing that he saw was Weirdo's face. "Damn, that's creepy," the young man muttered with a shiver, too afraid to look at what was left of the face for absolutely longer than necessary. That would give him nightmares for sure.

His eyes instead settled upon someone else. His brother... Eric's expression softened, and he spoke again. "Well... you got what you needed. Can we... can we go now?"



"If you say so," Laine replied to Faceless. He didn't really think it was all that fascinating; the human body was fascinating, blood was fascinating, the brain was fascinating. But he felt that he should agree anyways.

He wanted this whole situation over and done with. At least then he could get home for a little while at least; he had two kids to look after, after all. Of course, they knew nothing of his profession as he didn't think it wise to tell a child that their daddy killed people to put food on the table.

He was turning out like his father; murdering people, torturing them, and actually enjoying it a little sometimes. But that was Dune. Laine only wanted to keep his family alive, and this was the job he had been offered. One could say he was cruel and heartless, but he did all of it for his family. He had a heart, it was just hidden by the facade that he had to put up when doing his job.

[MatrixOne]

Jack was a little surprised by the hug, but it made him feel somehow happy, so he returned it.
"Ha! Skin me alive? I'd look just like the Creepy Masked Guy" He laughed. "Come on, he knows we're here. Let's go"
He grabber Eric's hand and they evacuated the security room.

***

Faceless did not send his people after Jack.
His attention was turned to Laine, who apparently was playing tough. It was the first time any of them saw Faceless without a mask, but only Laine was rather calm about it.
It also was the first time anyone could hear his real voice. It felt... Familiar. They all heard it somewhere...
"I do say so" Weirdo looked at him, and started approaching him slowly, standing face to face with Laine, his eyelid-less eyes piercing his soul.
"Do I look like a monster to you?" He asked. "Are you absolutely certain you picked the right team?" He grinned, his face muscles being clearly visible as they formed a smile.

Faceless had trouble breathing on his own.

He pulled out another mask seemingly out of nowhere, and put it on. Only then, he could take a full breath.
When the mechanisms in the mask rinsed his eyes with water, clearing them of the dust, he relaxed a little.
"Sorry for ruining your breakfast" He said in a happy voice. "Now, we wait for the great detective to ruin my plan"

***

"Whoa. Dude's got problems. I can't even put this thing on" Jack was playing around with the mask, back in Eric's house, of course. "His body's all shutting down. He can't even breathe, so he's got stuff getting air inside his nose. And this thing, I think it's for the eyes. And that's for teeth"
He started ripping the mechanisms one by one.
"Don't need that. And that. And that"
He was left with just the voice module inside the mask.
"That's what I need. And you, you're lucky your bro Laine cares for your safety, because if he wasn't, your head would be severed by now. I've seen how Weirdo works, and lemme tell you, he's a good criminal. Like, if I were a criminal, I'd be this good. Always one step in front of me... It's interesting"

___
No, that's not his secret =p.

[Nori]

Laine did grow rather unnerved when Faceless drew closer. His face was, of course, quite disturbing. It was nothing Dune hadn't seen before, but Laine found it eerily disturbing and sickening to look at. And Weirdo's voice sounded familiar...

He took an involuntary step back, but he couldn't look away from Faceless. "I... I'm sure," Laine said, but the facade was slipping the moment he saw Weirdo's real face. Where was Dune when he actually needed him? He grew relieved when Faceless put a mask on. He looked away, staring at the ground instead. He never wanted to see that again...



Eric collapsed onto the couch when they returned to his apartment. He was tired, and he just needed some food and rest. "Did you see his face? It was so disgusting," he murmured distractedly, shivering at the mere image of it. It was like Freddy or something from those horror movies.

He thought over what Jack said, his brow furrowed thoughtfully. He didn't know what to think, and he didn't want to think. "Do you want something to eat?" Eric asked Jack, standing up from the couch. Cooking would distract him from himself.

[MatrixOne]

"I agree. All ugly people should be executed" Jack nodded at Eric's comment. "I'll let you be the judge"
He stretched lazily, and right after, he dashed to the bedroom to grab a suit and tie which Eric had in the wardrobe. "I'll borrow that. Gotta look the part, right?"
He slammed the door to the bedroom, preventing entry, and put the suit on.

When the door opened up again, Jack was wearing the suit, mask, even black gloves. He was about the height of Faceless, too. It was pretty damn convincing.
"Be scared!" The voice changing machine worked well. "I eat children! With SPOONS!"

Jack took off the mask.
"I'd love to stay here with ya, but I've got a prison to raid. If I die a slow and gruesome death, don't wait with dinner" He waved goodbye, and left the apartment.

***

Faceless ordered Laine to meet him in the old factory, alone. He had a plan.
"You're going to kill Jack" He said as soon as Laine was there. "Or, let me rephrase that: You're going to try to kill Jack. Outside the factory, there is a yellow taxi. You're going to dress as a cab driver and pick Jack up when he leaves the prison. It won't be difficult, because I own all the taxis in the city. Jack will be dressed as me, so I just ordered the drivers to never pick me up. Yours will be the only cab that stops. The car is modified, and the door won't be openable from the inside. He may be armed, though - he'll use my identity to get weapons inside the prison, and he'll probably hold onto them. He'll see through your disguise as soon as he's inside, but most likely he'll wait and talk before busting out, because of curiosity. He also won't kill you because of a promise he made to that brother of yours. Just get Jack away from traffic and put a knife through his heart, or a bullet through his skull. Try not to go down too easily. Questions?"
Faceless didn't seem to have much faith in Laine. It was probably just another game, a test for Jack, not for Laine. Sending him on a mission he had no chances of completing. Or..?

[Nori]

Eric chuckled at Jack as the man ran off into his bedroom. "Don't get it too messy," he said almost teasingly, but still seriously enough. That was his best suit, after all, and it wasn't like he had money to burn.

He closed his eyes for a few moments while Jack dressed in his room. He needed a few moments of rest. He was snapped out of his little daze when Jack reentered the living room. The young man opened his eyes curiously, only to yelp in fright at the sight.

"That... really is convincing," he mumbled, studying Jack over. He would make a pretty good Faceless, and that was perhaps what scared him the most. He watched as his companion exited the apartment. "Stay safe!" Eric called before the door shut. He really was going to worry about that man...



Laine listened intently as Faceless addressed him, but he seemed doubtful that that plan would even work. He wouldn't lie; from what he had seen today, Jack was pretty damn good at what he did. Laine was, too (or Dune was, at least), but if Faceless couldn't have finished him off, there was probably no one that could.

Then again, his boss hadn't really been trying today. He didn't see why; he could have easily killed Jack, and it would have been over and done with. And why was he, Laine, the one that had to do this? Why couldn't someone who had been doing this longer and had much more skill and no heart take on this mission? Did Faceless really have that much faith in him?

Probably not. He was such a fucking softie sometimes. And killing anyone even associated with his dear brother made even Dune feel kind of uneasy. But the job came first. He could think of a million questions to ask Weirdo right then, but it was best just to get right down to business. "No questions, sir."

[MatrixOne]

Faceless studied Laine's expression for a few seconds, then nodded.
"Good. Get to it. I have a meeting to attend"
He carelessly threw the taxi keys to Laine, and left the factory.

***

In the meantime, Jack was inside the prison. His mask was enough of a signature for the guards to not even ask for identity confirmation; It was clearly an 'original', made of a shiny, bulletproof material. And if someone wasn't convinced, there was also that voice-changer. Besides, Jack was a good actor.
And, who in their right mind would want to see this horrible criminal, other than Faceless himself?

Jack was led into a small room separated through the middle with bulletproof glass. The only means of communication was an old-looking phone leading from one side of the glass to the other.

"Leave us" Jack ordered the two prison guards. They looked at each other, unsure what to do.
Jack slowly faced one of them. "Playing tough? Not exactly your league" He added slowly.

The guard stood there for another second, looking at his friend, but receiving no help. In the end, he gave up and left, the other guard following him.

Jack sat straight in his seat, watching the prisoner. Eric's father. A psycho, so he heard. He had a luck for psychos.
Or maybe they just had something in common with Jack.
He picked up the phone.
"What's up, Doc?" He quoted one of the cartoons he watched in Eric's apartament yesterday. "How's prison life? You remember our deal, right? We'll fund you an express evacuation soon. I imagine you'll want to pay a visit to that moron son of yours, make a somebody out of him"
Jack wanted to provoke some kind of an emotional reaction, just to see what kind of craziness he's dealing with here.

***

In the meantime... Someone rung the doorbell to Eric's apartament.
Suit, gloves, mask... Did Jack forget something? Why would he ring?
One detail didn't match up, though.

The suit didn't belong to Eric.

That was not Jack.

___
Eric's daddy is yours to control, of course ;q

[Nori]

Laine nodded mutely at Faceless and caught the keys he was tossed. Although he wouldn't admit it aloud, he was quite relieved when his boss left. That man could be so intimidatingly frightening. He shivered when he remembered Weirdo's face; that had been quite grotesque.

Shaking the image out of his mind, he focused on the task at hand. He needed to dress as a cab driver, drive the cab, and pick up Jack after he left the prison. Wait... why exactly was he at the prison? Laine didn't know, and Dune didn't really care, so he dropped the thought.

Sighing heavily, he began to walk out of the factory. The plan sounded simple enough, but it was much more complex than it seemed. He shoved the keys momentarily into his pocket, and he felt the gun in it. He'd have to use it this time...



Daniel sat quite calmly on his side of the bullet-proof glass. At first glance, one wouldn't immediately think he was a criminal. It was true that he and Eric looked almost exactly alike. He was actually rather handsome and young, as well, with dark, sleek hair and bright green eyes. One wouldn't have guessed that he was already in his mid forties. He had a visible scars; two on the back of his left hand, and four smaller ones on his cheek that looked like they might have been from someone's finger nails.

He wore a rather bored and relaxed expression. Of course, he was a bit curious to see who wanted to speak with him. He never had very many visitors, after all. His bright eyes sparkled when he saw Jack who was disguised as Faceless. He knew Faceless at least somewhat, and found the peculiar man quite intriguing.

He picked up his end of the phone with a flick of his wrist and held it loosely to his ear. The madman was curious to see what "Faceless" had to say. He listened to what the man said first, not interrupting. He could actually be quite polite when he wanted to be- not very often.

"Sounds good," he replied, nodding to the thought of getting the fuck out of there. He had been in this hell-hole for... what? About twenty five years now? He really was getting quite old. Daniel laughed at the mention of his son. He wouldn't have known about any of his kids if it wasn't for the prison guards at the time informing him. He couldn't remember who the mother was when he was told; he had had his way with so many women before, it was a mystery as to why he didn't have loads of children to build an army with. He grinned sadistically at the thought.

And he did sort of want to see how at least one of his children looked and turned out. He wasn't allowed to see his children or their mother. And he hadn't put up so much of a fight, anyways; he couldn't stand children. "I can't say that that idea doesn't sound tempting..."



Eric looked up from the book he had been reading when he heard the doorbell ring. He was quite puzzled. Was it Jack? Surely he wouldn't have been done by now! Jack was amazing at this job, but even he couldn't get it over with that fast. So what was the deal?

He laid the book down and walked over to the apartment door. "Is that you, Jack?" the young man asked, swinging the door open. It looked like Faceless, but Jack was the first person that came to his mind. He studied the man before him. There was something wrong, something was off but he couldn't quite tell what. He wasn't sure if this man was Jack. "J-Jack?"

[MatrixOne]

Oh, good. So he's that cool type of madman.
Jack expected something else, but Daniel seemed like a fun psycho. Usually, psychos are pretty boring because they're just crazy and stupid; This one at least seemed to have some kind of a brain.
"Oh, it sure does. I've got your other son running errands for me, killing people, stuff like that" Jack mentioned Laine to check Daniel's reaction.

From what Daniel said, Jack could deduce that Faceless has been here before now. But what did he say?
There's not much need for telling Daniel about the escape plan. Jack knew Faceless; The guy is pretty blunt with his tactics. And that would mean... When the 'busting out' begins, the whole state will know about it.

But there's a possibility that Laine swung by the prison. The guy's not a mastermind; More like a minion. The weakness in Faceless' plan. Why would he even involve him? Probably because he was close to Eric, and the whole thing seemed like a twisted psychological experiment.
Jack had to be sure of what Daniel knew.
"So, let's see if all this time in the joint impacted your memory. There was a guy here, kinda buff, but I bet he was a crybaby. He probably gave you some stupid name which was fake, and I'm sure you saw through that. If I'm gonna bust you out, I need you to be straight with me. Now, what did he want? Was he aware of the plan?" Jack decided to bluff. The possibility of Laine swinging by the prison was very high, but if Laine wasn't here, Jack's disguise would be blown. Of course, it wouldn't matter, nobody would believe the crazy guy. But still, Jack didn't like losing.

***

Faceless slowly entered Eric's apartament, locking the door behind him, but he kept looking at Eric continuously.
"Who were you expecting? The Creepy Masked Guy?" He said.
It was pretty much exactly what Jack would say. Of course, Faceless was just having fun with Eric.

He took off his mask, revealing his deformed, skinless face in its entirety.
"Well, here I am" He grinned to show his surprisingly 'normal', white, shiny teeth.
He said that in a quieter, half-muffled voice, just like Batman from the movies, where he doesn't want to reveal his identity by his voice.
He put the mask back on, taking a deep breath. This time, the sound could be compared to that of Darth Vader.

Pop culture analogies aside, Eric wasn't in actual danger. Faceless wouldn't hurt him; He just wanted to scare him. That would be pretty effective.
As for things going the other way around, Weirdo would be pretty tough to kill. He had a bulletproof mask, and a vest under the suit, so a gun would not really kill him. And when it comes to hand to hand combat, Weirdo was more than capable.

"Aren't you happy to see your old employer? Things were fun since that little errand I had you run for me" He mentioned the time-machine job. Where it all began.
His entire plan.

[Nori]

Daniel seemed quite satisfied and smug at this bit of information. "Good. At least one of them takes after their daddy." It came out almost mockingly. He leaned carelessly in his chair, studying Jack carefully. He wasn't quite sure if he should tell this man anything.

Who's to say that Faceless was really going to get him out of there? It could simply be another empty promise, after all, but he did have some faith in the man. And, since Jack was disguised as Faceless at the moment, in an odd way, he sort of trusted Jack.

He looked at Jack still for a moment, his brow furrowed. His memory was quite clear; even after all these years sitting in a jail cell, he could remember each and every day perfectly well. So he knew what Jack was talking about; he was just thinking of a way to respond.

"Think I know who you're talking about," Daniel said more to himself, nodding his head. He was staring at the wall right above Jack's head now. "Don't know he was, though. Wouldn't give me a name..." He momentarily closed his eyes, his thoughts catching up with him. "He might've known about the plan, but he didn't go straight ahead and talk about it. I think he might've been hinting about it, though. And he didn't stay for very long, either."



Eric stared at Faceless. He knew it wasn't Jack. He backed away from the man, his eyes wide in shock and a hint of fear. He gasped when he saw Faceless's face; it was much more horrid in person. He wanted to turn away, but oddly enough, he couldn't.

He was trembling now, searching for something to grab in case he needed to defend himself. He was standing in the center of the room, though, so there really was nothing.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the young man snapped, wanting answers. Faceless wouldn't show up without a reason. He didn't think that the deformed man would hurt him, but one could never be so sure. And he had some nerve mentioning the time machine job. It wasn't like Eric knew all this would happen...

[MatrixOne]

Jack had everything he needed. He knew Daniel was informed of the plan, he knew one of his sons came by to visit, and he also evaluated Daniel, making a mental outline of his psychological profile.
"My, my, just look at the time" He said, standing up. "Have fun in prison, sucker!"
He put the phone away, happy about the whole situation.

But something didn't add up. Today was the big day, where everything Faceless worked for would finally bear fruit.
And yet, nothing was happening. Why wasn't anything happening?

Where the hell is Faceless? The times, they match up. The second stage of Faceless' plan should have begun by now!

Jack dropped the phone, rushing out of the room. This wasn't good.

***

Faceless smiled, though it was difficult to tell under the mask.
He picked up the TV remote.
"I am here to begin the second stage of my plan" He said, turning on the TV. All channels were transmitting the same thing - a video feed from a helicopter flying above prison.

Eric could see Jack dressed as Faceless leave the prison in a hurry and hail a cab, getting inside.

Two seconds later, a series of explosions were launched all around the prison.

***

"Shit" Jack closed the cab door. "Ignore the exploding stuff, and drive me to 47 Brookmere Road" Jack ordered, pulling out his revolver to aim at the cab driver.
The whole damn country saw him leave the prison hurriedly right before the explosions, and him barging in there before didn't do well to reduce suspicion. He's the primary suspect, so asking the driver gently isn't the best option.

He wanted to put the revolver to the driver's face, but there was glass separating them. When Jack glanced in the rearview mirror to see the driver's face, it was too late. The doors were locked.
"You guys aren't going easy on me anymore, are you?" He asked, putting the gun away. "Well, at least you're the weakest point in his whole plan. And you're gonna drive me to Eric's apartment, because your boss is in there with Eric and I'm thinking this ain't gonna end well. With your pop Daniel free, this is gonna be one hell of a family reunion"
Another look in the rearview mirror told Jack that, indeed, he was the primary suspect.
"You'll kill me some other time. Step on it, the cops are coming!"

Faceless sure knows how to pick his taxis, though. This one was fully modified with James Bond stuff. It was super fast, had aerodynamic construction, and lots of murder gadgets to take care of unwanted passengers.
No guns for outside.
But Laine could shoot Jack, stab him, gas him, catapult him, even burn him.

In the time it took for Laine to think of what to do, Jack was running all possible scenarios in his mind. One by one, every outcome, every possibility.

Things got harder. But that just means he must be tougher.

***

"Interesting outcome, is it not? Your friend Jack has a lot to do now" Faceless turned off the TV, putting the remote in its place. "But I'm afraid you have to come with me now. We can't risk letting him find you just yet; Besides, I have a little family reunion planned for you. I promise, it'll be interesting"
Faceless reached for his silenced pistol, pointing it to the ground.
"Just come. We can't have a showdown with Jack in a boring place like this, can we?"
Faceless' black limo was waiting just outside the apartment block. Faceless was hoping Eric would come willingly; He didn't want to hurt him, but his showdown with Jack really had to be somewhere else.

***

The explosions commenced just as Daniel was being escorted back to his cell. The plan was more dependent on Daniel than he could imagine; All Faceless did was provide a grand distraction and give Daniel freedom of movements, both at the same time. With the guards confused by the explosions, the inmates trying to escape, and his hands free, Daniel could surely manage an escape, couldn't he?

When Faceless came to visit, he told Daniel to remember an address.
Not exactly an address; More like a landmark.

The Monolith. Faceless' base of operations, right here, in the city. It could be visible from anywhere in the city, so getting to it would not be difficult. The people there would let Daniel in and give him everything he wants. And soon, everyone will be there; Laine, Eric, Jack, Faceless... And him.

This was perfect.
Chaos.
Challenge.

A one time only, Jack thought. He was probably right.
________
This is epic. xD
Laine doesn't have to help Jack. I leave this choice to you.

[Nori]

Laine, who had pulled near the prison some few minutes ago in the taxi cab Faceless had left him with, sat in the driver's seat, munching on an apple merrily. To anyone passing by, he would look like a normal cab driver taking a lunch break. It was rather late in the day, and he hadn't anything to eat since sometime yesterday.

He raised his eyebrows when Jack entered the car. He knew who it was, of course. He was much more interested in the explosions happening at the prison. "Well, you're not in any state to be sending out orders," the man said coolly when the doors locked, turning his attention to Jack in the rear view mirror.

Of course, what he said had been mere instinct. In actuality, he was actually considering what Jack said. Although he wouldn't say so aloud right then. He really was too soft for this job. The mere mention of his brother and the thought of him being in trouble made Laine truly and wholly worry for the first time in a while.

He had a job to do, but protecting his family from harm always came first. He had already failed once, but he wasn't going to make the same mistake again. Eric wasn't going to get even a scratch on him if Laine could prevent it. And he didn't want to be so close to the prison; not when his father had the possibility of escaping.

He glanced in the side view mirror, blinked, and then looked at Jack again. He could kill this man right now if he wanted to... "Alright, fine. But if I get the chance again..." Laine trailed off there, deciding not to continue as he slammed on the gas.

"47 Brookmere, did you say?" he asked, swerving around the corner, and he almost hit a few pedestrians. He didn't bother to apologize, though. There was no time. Brookmere was on the other side of town, but he needed to be there now. He pushed on the gas harder, going well over the speed limit. He could care less right then.

He swerved another corner. They were almost there. Within about a minute (it would have normally taken 3-8 minutes to get all the way from one side of the city to the other by car) they were at the apartment complex.



Eric turned his gaze to the TV screen, and his eyes widened at what he saw. "Jack..." he muttered, and his eyes welled up with tears. Oh God, please let Jack be alright! He could handle himself, though, he would take care of it like he always did, right?

He snapped his head back to Faceless, glaring at the man. How could he trust this man? He didn't want to get hurt, though; no more pain. He didn't want the pain. He'd much rather stay here than go with Faceless, though. He didn't like the sound of a family reunion... but this day had been coming, hadn't it? And he had to know, had to make sure that Jack and Laine were alright.

He would never forgive himself if either got hurt, even if it wasn't his fault.

"A-alright... let's go then," Eric gave in weakly, staring down at the ground. He hesitated for a moment, giving his apartment a quick look-over. This could possibly be that last time he ever saw it for all he knew...

He shook his head and walked over to the apartment door. There was no point in struggling or arguing; Faceless could kill him or his loved ones so easily if he truly wished. He couldn't risk that.



Daniel was more than a little peeved at Jack's sudden departure, but his displeasure wasn't very evident. He wasn't one to share many emotions, anyways. He didn't struggle when the guards came over to take him back to his cell. He didn't mind; it was better than being in this bland room.

He was shocked when the explosions happened, but he wasn't scared at all. He noticed that the guards were confused, and his cold heart started beating a little faster. This was the chance he had been waiting for all of the years!

He did not hesitate. The man headbutted one of the guards in the stomach and the other he kicked in the nuts. That would be enough to give him a better chance at escaping. He was much faster than one might think, so he didn't really have to worry about that.

He took off down the hall, running past all of the cells. He took no mind to his inmates trying to escape. This was his chance, not theirs. He didn't have to worry about them. Daniel ran right past all of the guards, as well. He lashed out at anyone that got in his way.

He hadn't felt this alive in years. He couldn't remember a time when he had such an amazing adrenalin rush. He knew where to go, too. Faceless had mentioned a place that was pretty much impossible to miss. He knew that he had to go there; he just didn't exactly know why.

He turned onto another hall that led to the exit, only to see that the hall was blocked off by debris. Glancing around for another escape route, he noticed a window. He wasn't very high up. He'd be alright.

He ran over to the window, threw it open, and jumped onto the ledge. "Sayonara, bitches!" Daniel called out to no one in particular, leaping from the window with the agility and skill of a cat wandering about in the night. His arms hid his face as he fell, and his body prepared for impact by curling in on himself.

As soon as he landed, he rolled forward a few times before coming to a halt. He was perfectly alright, just like always. The man stood up, glanced around, and ran straight towards the Monolith at shocking speeds. He paid no mind to pedestrians or cars; he was lucky he didn't get hit in his hurry. He needed to get away.

[MatrixOne]

Faceless was rather open with Eric as he drove towards the Monolith.
"Listen, this whole gig is between me and Jack. But in order to get him where I want him to be, I need you. I'm not planning on hurting you. It's in the contract you signed, after all; No hostility from me unless you disobey a direct order. Anyway, I think you'll play nice. I won't stay with you, I have to take care of a few final issues before Jack arrives... And if you're wondering why I have such an interest in your family... Well, if Jack cares, I should, too. And Laine works for me, and I know family is his biggest weakness. Need to fix that. As for your father, he's... Useful to me" He kept talking, trying to get Eric to at least understand why Faceless is doing this. "Everything will be explained soon"

When they got to the Monolith, two armed men escorted Eric to an elevator which took him straight to the roof. He was free to move around the rooftop; The men stayed at the elevator.

The rooftop was spacious. On one side, there was a large room with a fingerprint scanner for the door. Probably needs Faceless's fingerprints.

On the other side, there was the elevator with two bored guards.
"Just stay here" One of them said.

There was no safety railing, and falling from the monolith to certain death was rather possible, so it's best to avoid the edges.

***

When Daniel finally reached the Monolith, the door was opened for him by a guard. No questions asked; Opened, just like that.

Inside, Faceless was waiting.
"Good. You are here" He greeted Daniel. "Now, before you attack me, you should know that it was not me in the prison..." He quickly added, unsure of how Jack acted. "It was a detective. I am hunting him down as we speak. But about why I wanted you here"
He approached a table covered by a weird looking sheet, and uncovered it.
Underneath, there was a fresh suit, Faceless's identity papers, a cell phone with a charger, Faceless's credit card, a sharp folding knife, a silenced pistol and Faceless's white mask.
"I chose you to be my successor. I plan to disappear after I take care of my detective problem. But I'm not just going to throw what I have away... I believe you will take over as the new me, just like I took over as the last Faceless. With my resources and your... Experience in the criminal world, nobody will ever notice the change. Aside for your son Laine, perhaps... He is my primary hitman, on his way over here now. He's convinced I'm going to hurt your other son, Eric, who is on the rooftop of this very building. You'd best take the elevator up and talk to them, convince Laine to keep working for you... But whatever you do, I need you to promise that you will not interfere with the fight between me and the detective. He's mine. Is that fine with you?" He asked.

Faceless was offering him everything, leaving just some money for himself on a separate account.

***

"Shit. They're gone" Jack looked around Eric's apartment, trying to find clues to Eric's current whereabouts. "I wish that damn police helicopter would stop making so much noise, I can't think when he's screaming through that megaphone, telling me to give up" He looked out the window. The helicopter followed Laine's cab all the way to over here, and was now getting ready to drop a SWAT team to capture Jack.
"Hey, actually" Jack noticed the Monolith, far in the distance, and called Laine over. "You know, I have always dreamed of an epic showdown with an archnemesis. But it would have to be on the top of a high building. And something's telling me your Masked pal might just want the same thing... Don't ask how I know that"

The SWAT team dropped a long, black rope and began sliding down one by one. The last guy decided to go for a more direct route, and stopped at the window level, readying his gun, but Jack was faster.
He took out his revolver and put a round straight through the guy's knee, which made him let go of the rope and fall to the ground. He didn't die; Jack didn't want to murder police officers.

The rest of the SWAT team was inside the building, heading for the apartment.

"Well, this gives me a wild idea" Jack smiled, opening the cracked window. "Free taxi rides are one thing, but do you think I can get a free ride on the chopper?" He grinned and saluted to Laine, then jumped out through it, grabbing the rope.
"Come on, before the pilot realizes what's going on" Jack shouted to Laine, and started climbing up.

[Nori]

Eric only half-listened to Faceless. He wanted an explanation, sure, but being anywhere near the man after seeing his face made him really queasy and nervous. He didn't talk, just nodded a little at what Faceless said. He was tempted to just open the door or something and jump out. He didn't want to go anywhere; he just wanted to go home and go to sleep.

Although, he wasn't very tired right then. He was sure that confronting his long-lost brother that was working for the enemy and possibly his own bastard father would make him a bit weary when he returned home. If, that is. With his crazed mind, he could easily strangle either of the relatives first, and that would be that. He didn't want to end up in jail again, though, so he had to keep him temper in check.

He was about to actually go through with his plan of escape, but they had already pulled up to the Monolith. Sighing, Eric exited and followed after the armed men. There was no need to protest or try to get away; they could easily shoot him down before he got further than two feet if they wanted to.

Knowing that Faceless couldn't hurt him brought his spirits back up a little. But the same could not be said for Jack. His heart sank at the thought of the man, his love. Would he ever see him again? And where exactly was her right now? He just hoped that Jack wasn't hurt or anything; he hated seeing the man hurt.

He walked out of the elevator and onto the roof. The young man glanced around, moving about some. it was quite large up here. He glanced over at the two guards standing near the elevator. He could do so many thing right now!

He could try to take these men out and try to find his Jack. But that would be rather hard. It would take a really skilled psycho to do that, and he wasn't exactly skilled in combat. That was out of the question for now, then. He looked around again, wanting something to do.

He walked closer to the edge. Not close enough so that he could easily fall off, but enough so that he could peer down below him. Eric couldn't really be trusted around tall buildings because his own insane instinct often settled upon him. He could grab the guards and toss them off the side, surely resulting in certain death. Or he could just fling himself over the side like he had done so many times all around the city. Never worked, though. Who's to say he couldn't be invincible one more time?

Nah. Best not to try and risk it. Eric sat down at the ledge, allowing his legs to dangle off of the edge of the building. Now was a good time to enjoy the day. Except he wasn't really paying attention to the city or to the sky. He was drowning in boredom and hopelessness inside, but the outside showed a calm and collected man. He had to play it cool. But he still wanted to find Jack.



It didn't take very long for Daniel to reach the Monolith. When he saw that the place was guarded, he prepared for a fight, but it was unnecessary. They let him in, just like that. He threw the guard a suspicious glare before hurrying inside. His instincts told him that Faceless was here, and he ran pretty much on his instincts alone.

And, they were right. He walked over to Faceless, looking him over suspiciously and angrily. He was about to say something, but Faceless beat him to it. He listened carefully, his eyes drawn and focused on the items that had been underneath the sheet.

He didn't doubt what the creepy man said. He noticed that, while Jack made a quite convincing Faceless, something was quite off. That was confirmed when Jack had left. Daniel might have been viewed as a stupid psycho that ran on his insanity, but in reality, he was actually quite smart and could tell when people were lying. He had gained that attribute from his countless years as a criminal. The insanity was just an advantage in his eyes. Made him a bit more heartless when dealing with prisoners.

"That sounds like a pretty tempting offer," the man said thoughtfully with a slight incline of his head. He liked the idea about being Faceless; it would give him higher authority. But what would happen to Daniel Reginald Dune? He was trading a legend for a legend here. A fair trade, in his eyes.

Daniel glanced over towards the elevator. So, one of his sons were on the rooftop, and another on the way? A rather fucked up family reunion was going to take place considering everything. He smirked at the thought. "Do what you want with the detective. I couldn't care less about what goes on between you two," he said truthfully yet coldly enough, hurrying over to the elevator.

He paused, turning back to Faceless. "I'll take you up on that offer. And make sure to get good licks in with that detective for me," Daniel said to the man before the elevator doors slid shut. The sooner he got to the roof of this building, the better.



"Fuck," Laine growled, and he kicked the nearest wall to relieve his anger. "Now what?" What the hell were they going to do now? And why was the place deserted. He hardly looked around, and he merely stared down at his feet with slits for eyes. He'd fucking kill Faceless for doing all of this!

He was so lost in his own angry thoughts that he barely heard Jack. He did walk over to the detective, though, and looked towards the Monolith through the window. That was Faceless's place. Perhaps they were there right then. Perhaps there still was a shimmer of hope left.

The helicopter irritated him to no end, and he pulled his own gun out from his pocket. He wasn't worried in the least about the SWAT team that was descending on a rope from the helicopter; only annoyed. They could go burn in Hell for all he cared, so long as they weren't bothering him.

He watched Jack shoot right into one of the SWAT team member's knees. "You could have killed him, you know," the man growled, his annoyance extending to Jack now. He hardly believed in pity or mercy; only when it came to younger people, perhaps, did he actually care. That SWAT member should have died, bot gotten a mere flesh wound in the knee.

He did not elaborate his anger any further, though. He slipped the gun back into his pocket and pulled out a switch blade instead. Jack wanted to ride in the helicopter to the Monolith, they'd ride in the helicopter. That would show those fucking bastards, after all. He had authority figures that thought they could raid places with guns and such just because of their fucking job. Such arrogance! He could easily kill all of them if he wanted to, and he did! But perhaps, just this one time, it was best not to kill anyone unless necessary.

He really was getting soft. He watched Jack jump out of the window and begin to climb the rope. Laine placed to switch blade partly in his mouth, biting down on it so that it stayed put. Holding a blade, even this one, while climbing a rope would be dangerous. And there was the possibility of losing his balance and falling.

He jumped onto the window sill, his back hunched and his head bent over. He could hear the other SWAT members nearby, on their way to the apartment. He gave the apartment a final look over before jumping from the window like a cat. He grabbed the rope carefully with a firm grip.

He paused for only a moment before beginning to clamber up after Jack. He didn't really like heights, but he would do anything in emergency situations.

[MatrixOne]

When Jack and Laine boarded the helicopter, the first thing Jack did was cut the cord connecting the Pilot's headphones and microphone. He then slid the headphone-helmet off the pilot's head and put the barrel of his gun to his face.
"Surprise! If you fly me to that big building over there, you won't get your face blown off!" Jack decided to be rather direct.

***

Faceless stopped the elevator door from closing, and entered it after Daniel.
"Good. They should all be here" He said, listening carefully as the elevator approached the final stop. The sound of a helicopter rotor could be heard, louder and louder. "Make sure your sons don't interfere. This is my fight"

***

"Thanks for the ride! Hope you were trained to land this thing in extreme circumstances!" Jack saluted and jumped from the chopper straight down onto the rooftop. Then, he turned around, and after Laine jumped down, he fired a single shot, blowing off the rear rotor.
The pilot lost control and started going down hard. Landing was possible; Just... difficult.

"Woops" Jack looked around the rooftop, noting everyone gathered here. "I'm sorry, am I late?"

"Right on time, actually" Faceless raised his hand, approaching the edge of the rooftop, and the two guards came to his side.

He pointed at Jack, and they readied their guns.

Then, Faceless kicked one of them off the rooftop, and when the other one backed away, scared, he took out a large meat cleaver which was hidden in his suit, and sliced it straight into the other guard's skull.

Jack raised an eyebrow. They didn't have to die.
He turned to look at Eric.
"And here I was, thinking you were in trouble or something" He sighed.

That's when Faceless lunged at Jack with the cleaver.

Jack reacted instantly, dashing to the side. The attack missed.
"So, Creepy Masked Guy" Jack grinned. "Your brought us all here for the grand finale. And that's it? A cleaver?"

"It's not about the fight" Faceless answered calmly, unbuttoning his suit to get better freedom of movement. "It's about everything coming to a definite conclusion. It's about reuniting!"

"It's obvious who you are. I knew it from the second I met you" Jack kept grinning.

"Then say it. Who am I?"

"You are... Me"
Jack's grin slowly withered. "You're the version of 'me' which hasn't been taken from my time by Eric. The 'me' who faked his own death and lived on, for years, eventually centuries. You kept restoring yourself back to your age with that time machine of yours"

"Multiple versions of the same person, restoring the age... You think of it as possible?" Faceless asked, but it was obvious. Jack was right.

"Oh, sure. My own existence is confirmation of that. Creepy when you think of all those... Paradoxes. But that's alright; Now that I'm here, we finally rid the timeframe of the excess amounts of me"

Faceless swung the cleaver at Jack again. Jack grabbed his wrist, and pushed him against the wall.

Now it was visible how similar the two of them were. Same height, same fighting style, same moves.
That's why Faceless wasn't using his voice. So that Eric couldn't spot the similarity in voices.
That's why he removed the skin on his face. So that nobody could even suspect.

And finally, that's why Faceless brought Jack back. Because Jack was the only one who could best Jack. And Faceless was living unbeaten for so long... Nothing could challenge him. The world was boring. He wanted to finally face someone equal.

That's what Jack was so worried about when Eric inquired about him being beaten before.
By his genetic copy. And now, he was the genetic copy. But Faceless had lived for centuries. His mind could only grow even more powerful throughout the years.

But that wasn't a fight of minds anymore.
Jack punched the mask off, and it fell from the building. Faceless kicked Jack away from himself.
"You were beaten. I led you like a dog on a leash" Faceless said. His voice was exactly the same as Jack's voice.

"And that's why you'll lose. You went too soft on yourself, softy" Jack got up, getting ready for round two.

_____
Can't wait to see how the family reunion will look, with Jack and Faceless fighting in the background xD. This is awesome.

Anyway, I'm sure you knew who Faceless really was. I think it was a bit obvious in the end. ;q

[Nori]

Daniel eyed Faceless with curious interest when he entered the elevator. He stayed silent for a moment, listening to the sounds just beyond the doors of the elevator as they reached the rooftop. Those helicopter noises irritated him to no end. He grinned slyly, turning away from the door to gaze at Faceless once more.

"I can try, but there ain't no guarantees," he replied after a moment's pause, walking out of the elevator and onto the roof of the tall building. At least there was room to move around; he hated standing still for longer than absolutely necessary.

Eric had stood up from his spot on the ledge when he heard the helicopter. It was a miracle he could hear it at all. It was loud, yes, but he had been so lost in his own pondering thoughts and worries that he didn't notice it until it was basically right there.

He walked away from the edge, his eyes focused on the flying contraption. His heart leaped when he saw Jack and Laine jump down from it. The young man was so grateful that the two people he cared most about were okay that he barely noticed when the helicopter began to spin out of control. Let's just hope that that poor helicopter survived. Oh, and the pilot. Maybe.

Laine looked over the scene after landing next to Jack, the switch blade back in his hand, where it belonged. He was almost afraid to put it away. Almost. Laine Dune rarely ever felt any sort of fear. Although, he really didn't trust any of these people; they were all fucking psychos. And, while one might classify him as a psycho as well, he wasn't the one that had planned all of this.

Well, there was one person that he could entrust with his life. The man's eyes fell upon Eric, his dear brother. First time seeing him up close. Eric looked eager and wore a gay grin as though this was some sort of fucking birthday party or something. He was just like how Laine remembered him, and he actually smiled for once in a long while.

Now was not the time to be cheerful, though. His gaze turned towards Faceless and Jack as the spoke words to one another. He slowly approached Eric, his eyes never wavering from the two fighting men, and Eric did the exact same thing. They really were quite alike.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, Laine just a little taller than his brother. The pony-tailed man had his arms crossed over his chest while Eric's were hidden behind his back. While they would have normally greeted one another (probably with a lot of brotherly hugging), this fight seemed much more intriguing to both of them to really say or do much.

"So... This detective guy and the one with the mask are the same person?" Laine asked, clearly puzzled by the logic behind this explanation. "I... I think so," Eric replied, just as confused and with his eyebrows raised. So, Faceless was really just Jack. And he found Jack quite attractive. So wouldn't that mean...?

It was too sickening and awkward to even think about. The two brothers continued watching Jack and Faceless fight, and Laine decided to finally ask something other than what was going on. "How've you been?" Eric shrugged his shoulders, his eyes focused on Jack, but he was paying close attention to what Laine was saying. "Alright, I guess. I've got an apartment, and a job as an engineer and babysitter. How about you?"

The red-haired man smiled, nodding his head in approval. It was nice to know that his brother had been fending at least somewhat well over the years. And he knew of Eric's strong passion for children. "I've got a house and two kids. A job, as well." The dark-haired man's eyes sparkled in excitement, and he tore his eyes away from the fight to look at Laine.

"That's awesome! Wait... don't you work for Faceless?" Eric asked, and the grin slipped away from his face. Laine winced, using the fight this time as a distraction so as not to look at his brother. He was kind of hoping that that question wouldn't pop up because it made both of the young men feel kind of awkward.

"Yeah, I work for him. Haven't got much of a choice, considering everything..." Laine trailed off, and Eric nodded in understanding. He remembered all the times when he had been turned down for jobs almost immediately because of... well... you know.

Eric turned to look back at the fight, his brow furrowed. "Should we... stop them, or something?" he asked, sounding unsure of himself. "I'm not... I'm not sure. Didn't he say not to interfere?" Eric just shrugged in response and fell into the elapsed silence.

Daniel, who had been standing near the elevator and watching everything around him with great interest, finally decided to step in and do something. He walking nimbly over to his sons, not even bothering to glance at the fight. It wasn't so interesting after a while, and he wanted to talk to his offspring.

He walked up behind the two younger men, and wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders in a semi-fatherly fashion. They reacted quite differently; Laine stiffened at the touch, and Eric actually yelped in fear and shock; he obviously hadn't been paying much attention.

The older man chuckled, swerving around so that his back was facing Jack and Faceless, and he brought his sons right around with him. The fight was no longer visible, but all three could still hear it. Daniel then slid his arms some so that he was holding his sons in a playful double headlock. Not enough to hurt them, but still enough to make it a little difficult to get out of.

"It's great to see you two again!" Daniel said in a partly cheerful voice, grinning for a moment before it slipped into a thoughtful frown. "Actually, I don't think I've ever seen you two. Well, maybe you-" He looked towards Laine "-but one can never be quite sure. So, I suppose that it's nice meeting you!" Laine and Eric sent each other a worried look. They, of course, knew who this man was, but that didn't make the situation any less... tense. Especially when they both sort of feared the man.

Daniel looked between Eric and Laine, the grin having returned to his face. He was entirely ignoring the fight behind him. "We've really got to get caught up. How old are the two of you, again?" Another silent look was sent. "Twenty-four," they replied simultaneously.

"Ah. I forgot you were a set of twins. No... triplets, I think that's what the guards said. So, where's the other..." He trailed off when he caught the slightly pained expressions on both Laine and Eric's faces. "Oh, well. Two out of three, that's good enough. Better than none at all, at least."

Neither of them knew how to reply to this; talking about their sister, especially with their psycho criminal father, was awkward. Daniel suddenly sat down on the spot, dragging his sons down, too. He moved his arms away, allowing the brothers a chance to move their heads more freely.

They could have easily left then, but what would be the point? Daniel was crazy; there was no telling what he could do. "Right. So, why don't we start off with names?" Eric and Laine raised their eyebrows at this but did not protest or dare to say 'no'. Laine gave his brother an encouraging glance. "I'm Eric," the dark-haired male replied to his identical father, staring down at his hands as he said it.

"Right. You sure look like me; like father, like son, after all," Daniel said in a teasing tone that caused Eric to blush a little in embarrassment. "And you?" he then asked, turning to the other. "Laine," he replied simply, just barely biting back the venom that dared to poison his voice. "A peculiar name. Your mum must have been a bit off her rocker, if you know what I'm saying."

They didn't reply. It was true that their mother was a bit... eccentric, but nothing compared to their father. Although, Daniel might have picked out more normal-sounding names. Laine's grip on the knife tightened when his father patted his shoulder.

Daniel seemed to have noticed this, and moved his hand away slowly. "Woah, easy there, soldier. I don't want any more fights breaking out; it's already crowded enough up here," he said, talking about Faceless and Jack fighting. Laine sent him a glare so harsh it could've killed, Daniel grinned mischievously, and Eric just kept to himself, hoping that he wouldn't be noticed by anyone. Things were definitely... odd over here.

((I had no idea who Faceless was... I hadn't even suspected it would be Jack xD It was quite a shocker, that's for sure.))

[MatrixOne]

When Daniel 'hugged' Laine and Eric, Jack wanted to tell him to back off, but he had to constantly dodge attacks.
"Give me a fucking break" He pulled out his revolver, but Faceless grabbed him by the wrist and they both fell on the ground, Faceless pressing Jack against the floor.
He smacked Jack's hand to the ground, and the gun fired. Then he did it again. Again. Again. Six times, until the gun ran out of bullets.

The phone that Faceless gave to Daniel earlier received a message, which said:
Sir Faceless, the press requires a comment on the impersonation at the prison, and the disappearance of a famous criminal straight after. I have organized a limo which will pick you up from under the Monolith and get you to a press conference. Additionally, we need a new business plan, and the factories are standing by, waiting for orders.

Daniel was the new Faceless. He could set the entire criminal network of his predecessor just on the direction he wanted.
"Take Laine and do your job, I'll take care of this" Faceless shouted to Daniel, then punched Jack in the face.
Jack kicked him off, and slowly stood up, throwing the gun away. He was getting tired, while Faceless seemed to have an infinite amount of energy.
"There's nothing epic about this, we're just... Punching the shit out of each other" He pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm fine with that"

"Did getting bested by your twin brother really shake you up so much? That you needed a lookalike to use as a punching bag? That's pathetic"

"I needed a challenge. And you're not it. Nothing can best me, it's just hopeless! Even you..."

"Then I have a great idea. Have a dive" Jack moved to the edge of the rooftop and pointed at the ground.

"That's not the kind of death I want" He raised his cleaver to attack Jack again.

Jack turned to look at Eric.
This was really hopeless. He wouldn't best Faceless, and Faceless couldn't beat him. Yet. But he wasn't as trained as Faceless. The guy had years upon years of practice.

"Eric, I... I'm sure you can handle what comes next" He shouted to him, then faced Faceless again, but didn't have enough time to react.

He jumped to the side, but the cleaver cut through his wrist, slicing Jack's hand off.

It fell on the rooftop floor.

But Jack didn't scream, he counterattacked, dashing forward and running into Faceless with as much force as he could.
This was NOT something Faceless expected.
The impact threw them both over the edge of the rooftop.

***

So, ultimately... Who won?

Well... That's not an easy question to answer.

We'd need to look at the details.

Everything leading up to this moment was Faceless's plan. But the showdown itself... Not so much. Of course, he prepared for the defeat. He set up a successor in case he dies.

Unfortunately for him, the real victory goes to Jack. Not because he survived; He didn't.

Because he waited with surprising Faceless 'till the final second.

Because he did what had to be done, and gave Eric a chance to make things right...

...How?

The secret is in Jack's final sentence.

Losing a hand was... Part of Jack's plan.
Because he noticed the fingerprint scanner. He knew that only Faceless would be able to enter that room.
Or someone whose fingerprints are exactly the same...

And what was in that room? Jack didn't know. Something important, that's for sure.

Officially, it was money. And, true enough, there were two suitcases, a million dollars in each of them.

But there was also a device there.

Part of the time machine.

As Faceless once explained, the thing wasn't an actual time machine, more like a very, very detailed simulator capable of recreating entities. Or people.

Faceless destroyed the time machine to prevent Jack using it. But the secret to his immortality was the part which recreated people based on their DNA. And that part was still intact, on the rooftop of the Monolith...

[Nori]

Eric winced when he heard the sound of gunshots, but both Laine and Daniel seemed not to have heard it at all. Daniel was about to say something more to his sons when he received a message on the phone that Faceless had given him. "Hmm..." he mumbled thoughtfully before standing abruptly.

He turned to glance at the fight for a moment, watching Jack and Faceless battle with each other. It was best just to go before things got too messy. And he had a job to do, now. After so many years spent rotting away in his cell in that hell-hole, he felt like he actually had a sense of power and authority again.

"C'mon, then, Laine," Daniel said after turning away from the fight. Laine looked like he was about to protest, both verbally and physically, but his father sent him a stern look that clearly told his red-haired son not to mess around with him.

Laine sighed as he stood up, as well. He looked down at Eric, who remained sitting but was watching his brother. He had a sort of reproachful look on his face, and it made Laine feel kind of bad. Kind of. This was the life he chose, and there was no backing out of it now. Not yet, at least.

He leaned over some and patted Eric on the shoulder, trying not to be too awkward. It did make Eric soften up a bit. "I'll see you later, then. You know, now that I know where you are." The dark-haired man gave his brother a slightly confused look, and Laine just chuckled and stood up straight.

"Ready to go? I haven't really got all day," Daniel spoke up from a few feet away. "Yeah, I'm comin'," Laine snapped right back, glancing over to Jack and Faceless and then to Eric. Suddenly, he felt rather hesitant about this decision, but Eric just smiled. "Go on, now. This isn't goodbye. There's always tomorrow." It was something that Laine had said a lot to his siblings when they were younger and upset.

Laine grinned and gave his brother a quick hug before hurriedly following after his father to the elevator. Maybe if he got the chance, he could kill this bastard once and for all. Things would be settled, and at least then, both Eric and Laine would feel at peace. But he had a job to do, for now, if he wanted to put food on the table.

Eric turned his head away from Laine as the two entered the elevator and the doors slid closed. Daniel was crazy, but he didn't think that a father would kill his own son. Even crazy psychos like Daniel had their limits when it same to those things.

He didn't feel safe anymore. Laine was gone, and even if he did plan to come back sometime, it probably wouldn't be any time soon. He was watching Jack and Faceless alone, now, and he couldn't even do anything to help. The young man slowly stood up. Had it not been for Jack's well-being, he would have ran after Laine and Daniel.

To say he was a little sickened and shocked when Jack's hand was cut off by the cleaver was a major understatement. He stood, frozen to the spot. His eyes slid down to the hand that lay on the floor, trying hard not to vomit right then and there.

But his eyes went straight back to Jack when he saw the detective's next move. Eric couldn't do anything; couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't breathe. He was thinking clearly, and everything was fuzzy. He had imagined it, hadn't he? Hadn't he?

It stood for a moment, staring at the spot where Jack had stood just moments ago. He was gone, now, along with Faceless. They had fallen off, they were dead.

Dead.

The word rang in his ears as he stood, still and blink, not moving, not breathing.

Dead.

No one could have survived that fall. Not him, the fucking immortal, or Jack, the one who couldn't die.

He just couldn't.

He had taken so much in the past few days. Maybe not as much as Eric had taken in his life-time, but enough.

Jack wasn't supposed to go. He was supposed to stay. Why did things have to end up this way? Why did Jack have to be the good guy and sacrifice himself?

And for what?

What was the point in any of this? Bringing Jack back, just so that Faceless could try to beat him. Try to beat himself.

Things didn't turn out quite like he had planned.

Eric walked blindly and slowly over to the ledge, falling down to his knees. Jack couldn't be dead. He stared down at the ground, trying to make sense of things. He can't hear, can't see. Not because of the tears this time. Reality couldn't catch up to him; this was all too much to take in.

Jack was gone. He wouldn't be coming back. The one person he had loved in that way was fucking dead.

Perhaps it was better that way.

At least then Eric could sleep in and have normal days.

But he didn't want a normal life.

He wanted Jack.

The first tear rolled down his cheek, and before he realized it, more were spilling out. His mind was foggy, shutting down. He wasn't thinking, he couldn't think. Jack was gone, gone, gone. Why hadn't he, Eric, done anything to prevent this?

What could he have done? If Jack thought that this was the best way, than it was. No questions about it. And Jack technically was supposed to be dead many years ago. Faceless had messed everything up, so at least now everything was sort of fixed.

Fate really is fucked up. The world finally decided to throw Eric a friend, a lover, someone who would be there for him and go on adventures with him. All of this done, only for them to be separated once more, just like he and everyone else in his life.

The tears felt hot against his face. He was freezing. He was alone again. Where was Jack or Laine or Alidine when he needed them, longed for comfort?

The answer to that was simple. Laine was a fucking bad guy who used to work for the same person that brought them all to this point. And both Jack and Alidine were dead. He wouldn't see them face to face ever again.

He wasn't angry. He wasn't. He wasn't even sure if he was sad or happy. He felt nothing, absolutely nothing. Empty once more. He sat, allowing his legs to dangle off the edge. Now would be the perfect time for another suicide attempt.

Although, knowing his luck, the worst he would get would from jumping off the building would be a couple of bruises, maybe a broken bone or two, if he was really lucky. At least then he'll have an excuse for the Morphine. Take enough to put him to sleep. And he didn't want to wake up.

Jack had said something. The last fucking words he ever spoke to Eric, wasted. And on what? Something about handling something, or somewhere along those lines.

Wait.

Handle...

Of course!

Eric slowly stood back up, glancing longingly once more at the ground below him. Pavement sounded really soft and comfy right about then. But he had a job to do first.

He remembered seeing the door up on the rooftop that had a finger-print scanner. That's what Jack had meant. Just thinking of the man's name brought back the few memories they had shared together. He would finish this all, find out what was in the room. For Jack. And then maybe he could fling himself off the side and hope for the best.

He picked up Jack's hand, feeling no remorse or disgust now as he held it close. It was the last thing he had left of his detective. The only thing. His vision was still blurry, and his legs were dangerously wobbly. His insanity was sinking back in. Losing Jack was too much, too fucking much. He hadn't seen this coming.

He'd never be able to tell the man how much he really loved him. Eric would never laugh at one of his jokes or roll his eyes at one of Jack's pranks and antics. Fuck.

Had he even told Jack, truly admitted his love through words? The world was spinning, and Eric fell to his knees. He almost let go of the hand, but he only clutched it closer. He stood back up, stumbling now to get to the door. This was all for Jack.

But why couldn't have Jack told him about all of this? Or warned him before he made the decision. He hadn't said anything valuable, just another fucking hint!

Why couldn't they have said their goodbyes instead? It would make Eric feel a hell of a lot better right then. He hadn't gotten to say goodbye, he had lost his chance. He could have said something, said how much Jack meant to him, could have said his final goodbye.

Eric wasn't the only one who suffered. There were many tragic endings between lovers, of course, but nothing like this. Right when he thought that Jack could actually make him feel better, feel something instead of being so numb.

He was numb now. It was nothing new; the drugs and pills and alcohol could do just the same, for a little while. Now, he didn't think that he'd ever feel happy again. He wouldn't get to talk to his Jack again.

He fell to his knees again, trying his best to stay awake, to stay alert. He crawled the rest of the way to the door, pressing Jack's hand against the fingerprint scanner. He was still for another moment, on all fours with the exception of his raised arm that was holding the hand.

It didn't shock him when the door unlocked and let him through. He stood up again, grabbing onto the wall for support. He noticed the suitcases first, and he opened the up. Money. Lots of it, too.

Eric seethed, anger taking over his body, and his body willingly agreed so as not to feel so numb. Was this the thing that Jack had wanted Eric to find? Money! He didn't fucking need it, and he was going to make sure no one else got to it.

It took him a moment to notice the device. Naturally, he hadn't a clue to what it was or what it did or if it even worked. His anger left him, flooding out of his body as he looked the thing over. No... This was the important thing that Jack had wanted him to get.

What was it? It was Faceless's, no doubt. But what did it do? He was almost too scared to touch it for fear of being burnt or something. Although, pain did sound very good then. It's not like he would fucking feel it anyway, being so numb and all.

First was first. He grabbed the suitcases, walked calmly out of the room, and placed them on the ground in front of the door. He would burn them in a minute; for now, he just didn't want to look at it. He returned to the room, looking the device over once more. It must have been very important if Faceless kept it in a room as high-tech as this one.

It might've been part of the 'time machine'. Faceless had said that he was Jack, which meant the there had to be something to create another Jack/Faceless when the one before it died. That made sense, right?

Not really. With suicide and pain the main things on his mind, nothing made sense. But that was a good enough explanation. And it would explain why it was so guarded. But what the hell did Jack want Eric to do with it? Break it, destroy it? Or he could make another Jack...

No. That wouldn't be right. Perhaps it was best that he did destroy it and moved on. And by moved on, that probably meant immediate or prolonged suicide. What was the point of living if Jack was no longer around?

There was no point, of course. Maybe if he found a match or something, he could burn the Monolith down. He could destroy all of it, and he could destroy himself. It would be the perfect ending to the tragic tale, after all. And he actually smiled.

((I cried for a while. Don't judge me ;_;))

[MatrixOne]

Welcome to the Channel 40 News!

Yesterday, soon after an explosive discharge in a prison in New York, a fire has been started at the Faceless Monolith, which destroyed the entire structure. Casualties reached twenty people, and included the son of the escaped serial killer Daniel Dune, a few maintenance workers and guards.
Near the tower, there were also found two bodies of unidentified men, one of them dressed as Faceless himself.

The real Faceless has appeared on a press conference and stated that this man was also the impostor who appeared in the prison right before the explosion, and that he was the one responsible for both the explosion and the Monolith fire.

***

The TV in Eric's house played the news, but there was nobody there to watch it.

The lives of ordinary people continued. Nobody cared. If it doesn't concern them, why would they care?

Jack, the most brilliant of minds, died today to never return.

Twice.

It was his own damn fault. His character made him do it. He couldn't stand defeat, even it it meant dying for a win.

Did it mean that victory was more important to him than Eric? Perhaps.

He sacrificed his hand for Eric, but he sacrificed his life to win against the biggest enemy he's ever faced.

He had no regrets while he was falling.

And Faceless? He had a million. He brought this on himself, but he was happy to finally die.
But this was the worst death he could have.

Because nobody, literally nobody will remember him. That's how Jack's twin brother felt when he tried to murder Jack.
He died as a nothing. This was Jack's victory over Faceless.

And luckily, Jack wasn't able to see what Eric did afterwards. He wanted Eric to take the money and live a happy life.

Because he didn't know of the DNA-restoring device. He only knew that there was money inside that room; Something Eric never had.
Because that's Jack. To him, money was happiness. And he was only in Eric's life for a couple of days.... He could surely handle it, right? That's what he told him to do. To handle it. To live with it. This was Jack's final will.

But Eric refused. And Jack knew it could happen. It was one of the possibilities. He had to risk it.

What of Daniel and Laine?

Daniel was a worse criminal than Faceless. More merciless, more evil and crazier, but also more careless. He didn't care about the money, he used the money and power he had to live the life of his dreams.
Laine couldn't stand for all the evil and murder, so he left and opposed him. There were other ways of making money, after all.

And how did this turn out? This is a tale for another story. One that we might tell some time... And if we don't, you'll just have to think of a suitable ending.

The police found a note in Jack's coat. It was addressed to Eric.

But Laine received it instead. He was Eric's brother, after all.

Bot every story is sure to be told. Not every subplot is sure to have ended.

Not every note can be read by the man it was addressed to.