Once and for All- Part Three Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter Twelve

Max's POV:

Finn.

Remo.

Brothers.

I'm silent for minutes, thinking this over in my head. That's why Finn reminds me of Remo when I look at him- they kind of look like each other. And Finn's last name. I never knew it before, but I'm pretty sure it's 'Helmer'.

"You're...brothers." I repeat, staring down at Iepida. This was passed down from Remo, to Finn, to me. A family heirloom. Finn nods his head, glancing at me nervously.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I just thought you already knew..." Finn trails off, a guilty look in his night eyes. I shake my head and smile up at him, but I can't help but see Remo. I hate that I do, and I honestly feel bad, but it's true. Finn is nothing like Remo, that I'm certain of, but it still tips me off when I look at him.

"It's okay, whatever we have between us isn't that bad, anyways." I bluff, hoping that he buys it. I don't want this to be awkward for him.

Finn chuckles and raises an eyebrow at me. "Max? I-I know what happened. In the West Virginia base?"

I freeze up again, then look back up at Finn. He gives me a small smile and wraps his arms around me in a loose hug.

"I'm nothing like my brother, Max. I promise." Finn tells me, and I can't help but hug him back, careful to not accidentally stab him with Iepida. I press onto the Loralite with my thumb again and the blade shrinks back into the cylinder. After a few moments we pull away from each other and Finn is still smiling warmly at me. I put Iepida in my sweater pocket, set Finn's space drawing down right next to me on the bed, and look up at Finn again. He opens his mouth to say something else to me, maybe to casually state that Setràkus Ra is his dad, when his bedroom door opens again. I turn towards the door and my breath catches in my throat when Finn's older brother walks in. He freezes when he sees me and I immediately look down. Finn inhales sharply, staring up at Remo.

"What do you want, Remo?" He asks him coldly and I feel a pang of guilt. If Finn hates Remo just because he's mad at him for what he did to me in the West Virginia base, then I just ruined a family, no matter how small, and I hate that.

Remo's silent for a few seconds, still staring at me. He shakes his head and looks at Finn.

"I...just wanted to check on you. I haven't seen you in awhile." Remo replies and that really gets me wondering. They basically live with each other, and have been their whole lives, and he 'hasn't seen him in awhile'?

"I'm fine." Finn snaps and I bite my lip. Finn's usually so kind, and he just snapped at his three-year older brother because of me. Gods.

Remo is silent for what seems like hours under Finn's stare. He takes a step into the room and closes the door behind him. I bite harder onto my bottom lip and glance at Finn, quietly slipping my hand into my pocket, holding Iepida in just the right spot. Finn glances down at my hand and back up at Remo, who's just looking at me with a guilty and pleading look in his kind, warm eyes.

"Maggie-"

"Max." And it's not even me who snaps at him this time. It's Finn.

Remo's eyes turn slightly colder as he looks down at his little brother, who's glaring up at him with a hatred I've never seen in his eyes before.

"Finnian, I need to talk to Max." Remo tells him.

"Go ahead." Finn replies, but he doesn't get up and leave. He just stays sitting on the bed right next to me, slightly tilting his head at Remo. I'm not sure if he's being stupid or sassy. Remo may care for both of us, but he can put up a pretty dam good fight- he is part of the Mogadorian army, after all- and I'm pretty sure we all know by now that he won't hesitate to hurt the ones he cares for.

"Finn." Remo calls to him in a warning tone, stepping towards him. My grip on Iepida tightens, but I'm careful to not press the Loralite just yet.

"Get out, Remo." Finn orders and I'm shocked at the coldness in his voice. I didn't even know he could sound that angry or annoyed.

Remo's jaw tightens and my heartbeat quickens. I clench my left fist- the one not holding Iepida- to stop it from shaking. I know that look. He looks disappointed. He'd always give me that look when I didn't follow his directions; when I tried to refuse to be tortured, experimented on or killed, or when I tried to run away. He was disappointed in me and I didn't want him to be, and right about now, I think I still feel the same way. I don't want him to be disappointed in me. I don't want that look from him. I hate it.

"Finn, it-it's fine..." I tell him, slightly quieter than I had hoped, and side-glancing at him. He just shakes his head and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"No, it's not, and you know it is." He replies. I bite my lip and look back up at Remo, who's staring down at me again. We make eye contact and I immediately look down at the floor.

Remo growls at Finn and I can feel my breath catch in my throat again. I don't want him to get angry.

Let him. You can just push back with ten times more force, strength and anger. You're the one who was tortured by him, after all.

I take a deep breath and rest my thumb on the Loralite stone on Iepida again. If Remo wants to hurt Finn, he'll have to get through me first, and I'm not letting Finn get hurt, especially after what he's done for me.

Remo raises his arm towards Finn and lifts him off the bed with his telekinesis, placing him on his feet in front of him. I jump off the bed and step in front of Finn, blocking Remo from him.

"Remo, stop." I order him, hoping that my voice isn't too shaky. Remo's eyes immediately turn softer as I stare him straight in the eye.

"Max, I don't want to hurt you." He tells me softly and I scoff.

"Yeah, that's what you said three years ago, look how that turned out." I snap back. Remo turns silent and even I'm surprised at my words. I can hear Finn muttering 'Dam' from behind me.

"Max, please. Just back up for now." He says, then places one of his hands on my shoulder and tries to gently push me away from Finn, and my reflexes take over. I push Finn away from us, whip Iepida out of my pocket and quickly press onto the Loralite, then hold the sharp knife at Remo's throat. He immediately backs up, his hands up in surrender. He looks down at my knife and immediately recognizes it. He glances at Finn with a knowing look on his face, slightly glaring at him, before turning back to me.

"Iepida. A family heirloom." He drawls out the word 'family', as if Finn giving me this blade suddenly makes him my actual brother. This sicko.

I shake my head. "I'm not your family." I respond and Remo bites his lip.

"Leave." I order him and I don't even realize that I'm pouring anger yet concentration into my words, conjuring my charmspeak again (thank you, Aphrodite). Without a second  thought, Remo drops his hands and walks out of the room, a confused look on his face the whole time. I didn't mean to charmspeak him, but I guess it was the only way. Remo always puts up a fight, no matter why or with whom, no matter if it's a physical or mental fight.

I breathe a sigh of relief and look back at Finn, who's smiling warmly down at me.

"Are you okay?" I ask him and he nods his head, wrapping his arms around me in a hug again. I hug him back after transforming Iepida back into a silver cylinder and putting it back in my pocket. 

I'll get over Remo one day, but until that day, I'll have to fight against him, no matter how much I hate the thought of hurting him.