"We should live together, Nate."
Nate had been waiting in the lobby for the rest of them to show, and the first one to have appeared was Jules. He had been suited with an extra gear set, his hands gloved and his armour tightened around his chest and back. He didn't have a gun though, but had been armed with the only thing he could find; Bronsted's brass knuckles. Nate hadn't expected that from Jules, turning to him to a see a small smile stretch his lips.
"It would be nice to really be brothers," Jules reasoned, raising his eyebrows. "Live together until we start our own lives."
"Only if you'd let Dante live with us too," Nate said which made him chuckle when a grimace curved Jules' face.
Jules' nose wrinkled even more when he realized, "That also means Lucius would be around all the time, potentially killing us all." He slowly tilted his head to the side, letting his thoughts roam for a moment before he sighed, "You know, I wouldnt be that against it. It would be better than living with Cesar."
For some reason, Nate had forgotten that Jules actually lived with Cesar and it made him frown. "What is Cesar like?"
Jules exhaled a long annoyed breath, scratching the side of his face. "Our dad's a weird guy, Nate, super weird." Nate's face twisted in confusion. "He talks as if he's from an elite British royal family and dresses in old ancient medieval clothes and style. He dyes his hair white because he said he wants to connect with ghosts. He rehearses in the mirror random theatrical pieces, especially Shakespeare, and he curses at himself when he gets a line wrong and repeats the entire play; it's as if he has an acting gig in a day. Oh and he loves to dance, loves to dance. But overall," Jules tilted his head from side to side, "if he cares about you, he really cares. If he doesn't though, you're basically useless and he can kill you in the blink of an eye for no reason."
"How was he as a father though?" Nate asked.
Jules stiffened a bit; he didn't have the best memories with his father, merely because it always felt they communicated on two different wavelengths. "He tried to be a good dad, but it didn't suit his lifestyle. He's very loving, but he just doesn't know how to show it and it can come off as overbearing. Basically, Cesar is the main character and we're all extras, that's how it felt as his kid." Nate chuckled; it was strange to think that Jules' father was also his own. As much as he was supposed to hate Cesar since they were on opposite sides, he couldn't help but want to have a conversation with him and learn more about him. "Maybe if we get out of here alive, you two could meet," Jules suggested with a warm grin.
Before Nate could respond, the doors to the lobby barged open and stomping footsteps with quiet curses echoed before the person appeared in sight. Dante appeared completely engulfed in his own head, walking towards them with noticing either of them.
Nate observed him begin to pace back and forth, murmuring as if he was in an argument with someone. After a few seconds, Jules and Nate glancing at one another in confusion, Nate cleared his throat. "You alright?" Dante flinched, glancing in Nate's direction before waving his hand dismissively, returning to the conversation in his thoughts. "You look a bit pale, that's all."
"I'm fine, it's just..." Suddenly, a horror struck Dante's face as he finally realized that it was Nate that stood in front of him. A thought crossed his mind and he took a few steps back. "Oh God, you've slept with Tyler too, haven't you?" Both Nate and Jules eyed one another again, before Nate burst into cackles, holding his stomach. Both of them immediately stopped laughing though when Dante snapped, "It wasn't a joke."
The atmosphere suddenly felt tense and Nate frowned, observing Dante's stiffened for a moment. "Why are you asking me that?"
"Holy shit..." Dante gasped; there was a reason why Nate hadn't answered the question. He had purposely dodged it, and the more he started thinking of Nate and Tyler's past friendship, the more it made sense. That was why they had gotten so close in such a short period of time; it was probably a one night stand which led to more and more times. "I should have known. You're disgusting and we're finished."
Nate snorted, glancing towards Jules who shrugged his shoulders; neither of them had a clue what Dante was talking about, and Nate was still debating whether to be irritated or empathetic. "Why am I disgusting all of a sudden?"
"Yeah," Jules tilted his head quizzically, "you have to elaborate because I'm not getting it either."
"Forget it, I'm done," he scoffed, turning away the both of them. Then, he continued to snarl insults and curses under his breath, tightening his grip on his head.
Nate paused; this was boggling his mind and he had no idea what was happening. As such, he tried to reach for and grab Dante by the shoulder. "Dante, what is going on—?"
"Don't touch me," he shouted, smacking Nate's palm away. With broadened shoulders, he had leaned towards Nate with eyes engulfed with pure rage that it caused Nate to flinch. He had rarely ever seen Dante this way; the only other time was when Nate had insulted Raphael after his death. The worst was that he had no idea what he had done to anger Dante to this extreme. However, it was also frustrating himself that he didn't even know what he had done but was being removed from Dante's life without even a consideration for a conversation.
That was why he bellowed, "Why the fuck does there always have to be a problem with you?" As he saw Dante's eyes widened, as if he was surprised that Nate was talking back, he continued, "We were fine two seconds ago, and all of a sudden, you're cursing at me without even letting me know what's going on?"
Dante shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "Drop the act Nate, I figured it out. I'm not an idiot!"
Nate threw his arm up in the air. "What did you figure out?!"
"You had sex with my sister!"
Nate's entire face blanked as his mind needed to process over and over again what had been stated. When it finally had, now the images of that belief began playing in his head, to which he couldn't stop his face from coiling in disgust; he even started to feel nauseous at that mere thought. It wasn't helping that Jules burst out in hysterically laughter, waving his hand and shaking his head, as if it was one of the most ridiculous things he had ever heard.
Before either of them could respond, commotion nearby captured both their attention. They stared down the hall from the lobby, and incoming was a sprinting Jake who was being chased by a murderous Lucius. "I need to tell you all something! Lucius has a—ah!"
Lucius leaped forward and grabbed a hold on Jake's ankle, pulling backwards to which Jake lost his footing and slammed his forehead against the floor. The dizziness that fogged his brain made him forget his thought process for a second, to which Lucius took to his advantage by reaching for the back of Jake's armour and pull him back onto his feet. Instead of giving Dante and Nate even a second to think about what Jake said, he reverted their focus back onto themselves as he asked, "What are you two arguing about?"
"Nate had sex with Tyler!" Dante shouted without any hesitation, his teeth gritting right after as he narrowed his eyes in Nate's direction. Again, Jules laughed even more that he was practically choking on his own.
Instantly, Lucius' gaze narrowed sharply, his eyes shifting to Nate who gulped when he saw how dark they had gotten. "I didn't, Lucy." The thought of Nate and Tyler being intimate made him gag, but from the way Nate appeared discouraged and irritated, it was conflicting to believe it or not.
Dante vigorously pointed in Nate's direction, both of them talking to Lucius now as he spat, "He fucking admitted it!"
"No, Lucy," Nate stepped towards him, which in turn Dante instinctively did as well. It was almost as though they were arguing with one another but conversing with Lucius, as if he was the voice of reason. "I didn't admit to anything, I never even kissed Tyler."
Jules found that odd, folding his arms and lifting his chin suspiciously. "Why are you explaining yourself to Lucius and why does Lucius look a bit jealous?" Jules had made those questioning comments before, but when he did bring them up, Lucius wasn't there. It was definitely different when Lucius was there, because in an instant, when Jules saw Lucius' eyes shift to him with a menacing glare, he felt as though his throat had clenched on itself. Instantly, he exhaled through a shaky breath, "I-I...I was k-kidding."
"Why are you explaining yourself to Lucius?" Dante repeated from Jules, grabbing Nate's shoulder and pulling harsh enough for their bodies to face one another. "Are you fucking him too?"
Nate gasped in disbelief and then his teeth gritted. "What's wrong with you? Why do you think I slept with Tyler to begin with?"
"Guys, Lucius is trying to—omph!" Jake had finally stabilized the spinning in his brain, and he was seconds from revealing the truth when Lucius reached around his shoulders and planted a palm over his lips, stuffing his voice before they could understand him.
Lucius worried that the other two had taken notice; thankfully, Dante continued to accuse Nate and spat, "You've been dodging the question."
"Because I thought you were joking, Dante!" Nate slammed his finger against his own chest. "I'm gay, remember?"
"That doesn't mean anything," Jules mumbled, which they both heard.
As if that wasn't enough, it was the only time Lucius decided to chime in and surprisingly, it was in agreement. "Yeah, it's all experimental pleasures anyw—"
"Shut up, Lucius," Nate snapped.
Both Dante and Jules were taken aback, each taking an instinctive step backwards to wait for Lucius' reaction. Even Jake shuddered, his entire body stiffened as he squeezed his eyes shut; he thought Lucius was definitely going to take it out on him.
To all their surprises, Lucius' lips stretched into a sheepish grin and that was all.
Dante, who had been arguing with Nate, was moments from continuing the argument when that moment struck him as way too odd that he had to mention it. "Do you remember when I was twelve and I told you to shut up since you were making fun of me and you broke my arm from the elbow?"
"Rightfully so," Lucius retorted, his glare only darkening even further.
Dante's eyes stayed stuck on the glaring ones of Lucius for a few seconds before his attention returned to Nate. With his palms placed on his own hips, he lifted his chin and snarled, "Just because you're gay doesn't mean you don't sleep with girls." He said it with too much confidence that it almost felt like he barely believed it himself.
"Uh," Nate widened his arm, "the fuck do you think gay means?"
Dante pointed to himself. "I'm gay and I have sex with girls sometimes."
"No, you don't anymore," Nate debunked, shaking his head. "And if you did, there's another term for it. It's called, bisexual." Nate said it slowly and emphasized on every syllable, enough for Dante to realize he was being mocked, which irritated him even further.
"You're trying to ridicule me because you know exactly what I mean." Before Nate could respond, he waved his hand dismissively and growled, "Whatever, let's get ready for this mission and then you can go your own way."
"I'm not going anywhere," Nate snapped back, exhaling a scoff after. "You're not even making any sense and you know it. I don't know who you're mad at me but it isn't me and you know you're spouting bullshit right now."
"He's mad at me!" Incoming from the hallway behind Lucius was two sobbing women, both fully clothed with their gear on, being carried over Lori's shoulders. Eleanor could barely see straight, the tears overwhelming her sight, and Tyler was sobbing too hard that she could barely breathe without choking on air. It was to the point that she had to momentarily gasp for air, and wiping her eyes from the tears only made her vision even worst. Eleanor, in a coiling voice, repeated again, "Dante's mad at me!"
The mere fact that Eleanor was present instantly ruined Lucius' mood. "Aren't you both supposed to be gone already?"
"She's not going," Dante refused, pointing a finger at Eleanor. "She's leaving now and we're never seeing her again."
Nate raised his eyebrows, glancing between Eleanor and Dante before exhaling a short huff. "You're mad at Eleanor but you're taking it out on me?" There was always some form of issue with Eleanor, but this was definitely the icing on the cake.
Dante sighed, now feeling a bit guilty for arguing with him. "If you heard what she did to me, you'd understand."
"What did Eleanor do?" Lori questioned, dropping them both on their feet.
Jules furrowed his brows. "And why is Tessa crying too?"
"Everyone, please listen to me! Lucius has a bunch of—" It felt as if Jake had finally been able to come up for air when Lucius didn't realize he loosened his palm from around Jake's mouth. However, the instance he was going to unveil the truth again, Lucius clamped Jake's lips shut, keeping a steady grip around him. Even if he tried to scream, it was all muffled. The chaos that was happening at the moment was causing Jake to be ignored.
Tyler tried to step closer to Dante who gritted his teeth. "I'm sorry Dante, it was a long time ago and I was being selfish with my feelings."
Eleanor was also wiping her tears. "We were experimenting; it meant nothing, Dante.
"Well," Tyler furrowed her brows and glanced towards Eleanor for a moment, "it did mean something at the time."
"No it didn't, shut up," Eleanor grumbled through a face filled with tears.
"'Nobody knows what you two are talking about," Jules spoke, staring at them both in confusion.
Dante waved his finger between the two of them as he spat, "They slept together while Eleanor and I were dating!"
All of their jaws dropped. They had not expected that at all, and none of them knew what to say.
After a few seconds, Jules screamed in shock, "You slept with Eleanor?"
Nate's eyes widened, finally realizing why Dante had arrived to the lobby in such a horrible mood. Then, it now made sense why he had been questioned. Even then, Nate strongly believed he didn't deserve to be scolded as Dante had done, hence there was no sympathy in his tone as he aimed his rage towards Dante again. "Oh, so because Eleanor slept with everyone here, you think I'm a whore too?"
Lucius' nose wrinkled in disgust.
Lori's eyebrows raised, and a smirk curled his lip as he beamed, "Tyler and Eleanor," he whistled, "that sounds pretty hot, if we're being honest."
"That's my sister." Lori flinched when he heard that growl from Lucius, taking multiple steps away from him.
"I thought you slept with her too and your answers were a bit sketchy." Dante ignored all of them except Nate who turned away from him and grumbled a series of curses.
Nate scoffed, "I said I was gay, that was a straightforward answer."
Before Dante could respond to Nate, Eleanor leaped towards Dante, gripping onto the front of his gear as she whimpered, "Dante, please!" Her makeup was leaking along her cheeks. "Hear me out one last time!"
"Let us apologize at least!" Tyler cried as well, getting closer to him.
However, Dante shoved them backwards, using a bit more force than he had expected himself to use. Luckily, neither of them fell, but Eleanor stumbled backwards and collapsed onto Lucius' chest. Lucius had no mercy, and hearing that fact angered him and he shoved her forward, not caring about the force he used. It was no surprise that she was close to diving towards the ground when Jules caught her by her forearm.
"I'm tired of you, Elly," Dante growled, his shoulders broadened. "Ever since you've been back, you've done more harm than any good. I loved you back then, we talked about being married." Nate raised his eyebrows at that one. "I was excited about having a child with you, and all you've done is constantly betray me over and over again."
Eleanor choked from her throat clenching on itself. The pressuring gaze of the others wasn't helping either, and she needed to clear her throat a couple times before she felt enough voice to speak. "I was lost and I didn't know what I wanted—"
Dante raised his hand dismissively, turning away from her. "All you've done is cause issues ever since you've been back, you haven't changed."
"Don't blame her for your mistake." Dante was surprised from the tightened tone of Nate as he placed a palm on Dante's shoulder, pushing slightly for their bodies to face one another. Dante noticed the rage continuing to burn behind Nate's blue gaze, which made him inhale sharply. "You decided to kiss her all on your own, that was your own fault."
"We got over that Nate," Dante dismissed, "we're not arguing about that stupid kiss again."
"Oh, so you can cheat all you want, but it's the end of the world when I do it?" Eleanor countered through a shout, throwing her arms up in the air.
Lori laughed mockingly. "That is not the same thing, you know that."
Tyler spoke next, but her revelation caused the room to fall into a deep thick silence. "An innocent kiss from Dante is completely different than having an abortion because you cheated so many times that you didn't know who the father would be."
The silence was terribly intense that they could all hear their own heartbeats. Nate placed palm over his mouth in shock, Jules jaw was practically on the floor and Lori was holding his scalp. The only two who didn't move was Jake and Lucius, but Jake had definitely stopped resisting from Lucius since he was so indulged into this argument.
The first one to speak was Lucius who wanted to spit on the floor at her feet. "You're filthy," he scolded.
Lori agreed, shaking his head, "I love women but even I'm turned off by that, that's vile."
"Electric chair," Jules subtly said through a cough.
"You all got played by a whore," Nate laughed, a condescending smirk lengthening his lips as he lifted his chin towards Dante. Dante rolled his eyes, seeing the boastful Nate raise an eyebrow challengingly, "Anything you'd like to say to me?"
Before Dante could respond though, Eleanor did instead as she snapped, "Wasn't your mother a whore?"
The entire room fell into chaos.
The commotion erupted that it was unbelievable. Eleanor began arguing with Dante and Nate, Dante had a few jabs here and there between himself and Nate, Nate couldn't stop cursing at Eleanor whenever she said something he despised. Even worst, Tyler threw her own comments in the chaos, causing the focus to shift towards her a few times to the point that Dante was seriously thinking about hitting his own sister. Jules mentioned a few pointed that caused some of the insults to be directed towards him. The argument only grew louder and louder, terribly intense that even Lucius stepped closer to make sure they didn't end up brawling—or more precisely to make sure Nate wasn't touched.
Lori's head to spiralled out of control. "Why are we all arguing? I think we're all stressed about this mission and that's making us scream at each other!"
"Shut up, Lorenzo!" All of them, except Lucius and Jake, shouted in unison before they continued to bicker.
"No! Lucius is doing this on purpose! He doesn't want you all to know that he—urgh!" A knee directly into the stomach of Jake caused him to lose his air, but the loud argument occurring between Eleanor, Dante, Nate, Jules and Tyler had caused all of them to miss it as Jake lost his balance. Before he could tumble to the ground, Lucius gripped the back of his armour and pulled him back to his feet, keeping an arm around his shoulders.
However, when the metallic doors slowly began to shift open, the noise instantly ceased. All of them turned to the anxiously widened eyes of Reno who rapidly glanced around the lobby before exhaling a breath of relief. Behind him, the double doors began to close and he shoved his binoculars inside his jacket before he revealed, "Draco's close. I saw him walking through the forest—we should take our places."
None of them moved for a moment.
They had been talking about this for the past hour as they prepared their gear, but to be standing here, waiting to ambush Draco and end his life, was a strange feeling that none of them had expected. Inside Dante's stomach, he felt an odd sense of guilt, uncertain if he still wanted his father dead. "We need to get into position before it's too late," Reno added.
Dante swallowed hard, turning to face Nate who had already been looking at him. The rage that had been there a second ago had completely vanished. As if it had been on instinct, they both reached forward and wrapped one another into one last embrace, Dante tightened his grip more than usual as he breathed, "I love you. Don't die on me, okay?"
"You can't die either, I love you more," Nate exhaled, but the fright was apparent in his tone.
Dante bit his bottom lip, staring into Nate's eye for a moment. He didn't want to scare Nate, but part of him wasn't sure any of them would make it out of here alive; he couldn't even guarantee that he would. However, this needed to be done if they ever wanted a chance on the outside. He exhaled a long breath before leaning forward and whispered, "I know I'm not supposed to do this, but..."
Before Nate could realize what he was doing, Dante rapidly pushed their lips together, squeezing hard and long, wrapping an arm around Nate shoulder's to pull him in. They had gone through ordeals after ordeals, terrible hardships, memories that neither of them would ever forget. Moments of love as well, times where they reconciled and made love. All of that couldn't have been in vain, and that was why Dante wanted to make sure that Nate knew how much he was loved, in case it was the last time they would be able to do this.
Nate's lips had always been tender and welcoming, especially soft this time though. Although it was for a few seconds, to the both of them, it felt as if time had stopped and the earth had stopped spinning; it felt as though they were sharing their last kiss and saying goodbye. Nate pulled Dante closer, gripping onto the gear on his stomach and closing their bodies together. Both of them didn't know what was going to happen and had to be prepared for the worst.
After they pulled apart, they stared into one another's eyes and that was when Nate noticed Dante's eyes had grown glossy. The next blink, on tears leaked along the side of Dante's nose, but he kept a small smile while he peered into Nate's blue irises. Nate reached forward, wiping the tear away as he breathed with glee, "Don't cry babe, we're making to the outside. We need our second date, right? On the outside?"
Dante paused for a moment. It felt as though the hope from Nate was radiating from him and entering through Dante's pores as his grinned widened. Then, after he planted a small kiss on Nate's nose, he cooed, "On the outside."
"Other people want to say bye as well." Nate suddenly felt himself being dragged away from Dante before being pulling into a warm tight embrace. Lucius kept his hold for a few seconds, his other hand onto the back of Nate's neck. "I'm not going to let you die, you hear me?" He pulled apart and when Nate saw Lucius' face, he froze. Lucius rarely usually smiled, but this time, he revealed his crooked giddy childish grin again.
Nate couldn't help himself but grin as he cooed, "You know I love you, right Lucy?"
Lucius felt as if his entire body had been electrified. He couldn't feel his arms or legs and he was certain that this moment, of staring into Nate's gleeful gaze, had lasted for decades. It had been a long time since he had heard those words and it was uncanny that the second person that ever said those words to him was someone he genuinely did love, even if it was platonic. Nate didn't know that was something only Lucius and Raphael shared; he had never heard Raphael say that to Lucius. Hence, it definitely caused his heart to skip several beats.
"You don't know how much..." Lucius blinked rapidly, pausing for a second to make sure he didn't start sobbing, "...these words mean...to me..." His breathing grew heavier and Nate pulled him in for another caress when he noticed Lucius' fingers begin to quiver. Before they pulled apart, Lucius placed his thumb on Nate's forehead for a few seconds. "I love you too, Nathan."
After they all shared their goodbyes, they all began to jog towards the position they planned. Lucius grabbed onto Jake and pulled him towards their end.
"I'm kind of scared," Lori mumbled as he jogged to his post beside Jules and Nate.
Jules patted his shoulder, sending him a beaming grin. "Don't be, the Hercules are a different breed, they got this."
"You two need to help us," Reno mentioned to Eleanor and Tyler who had wiped all their tears, ready for the fight. "Take position with any others, we'll fill you in."
"This is our one and only chance everyone!" Dante boomed as he rushed to his own position, glancing around to ensure that all the others had raced to their own. "There are no do-overs! We kill him now or it'll be never! We have one another's back and we fucking survive!"
"Understood!" Lucius sent him a thumb's up. "Don't die on me, little brother!"
Draco could feel the headache beginning to subside, but the alcohol was still ravaging through his blood vessels that he could barely walk straight. He stumbled back and forth and almost caused a tree to collapse since he was going to fall into it. But finally, he exhaled a breath of relief when he reached the metallic double doors of his base entry. However, he had not been prepared for what was awaiting him on the other side.