Chapter Text
Dead silence.
It's a dead silence. The room seemed dull and dark. No life and no colors. Even the air seemed to be pretty heavy, too.
There was a coffin. The only "colorful" thing in this room was a royal decorated coffin with silk, white material inside and soft pillows.
Inside it there was lying the almighty god and emperor Phobos. The god of fear. But he is gone. Forever.
The only thing that remained from him was the corpse, with the emptiest expression anyone would see.
And above Phobos, there was standing Deimos.
Wearing his AAHW suit that somehow did not throw away, despite it bringing the cruelest memories.
But he can not live through memories. It's just a mental image of things he "went through", but does not provoke any feeling as if it isn't real.
And Phobos was one of them.
Phobos is forever gone. His body is cold. There will no longer be warm hugs and sweet words, it's all like ice. There was a flashback where Deimos went through a traumatic experience that left him numb until Phobos got through that, then for hours he would sob while being hugged and calmed by him. He will never forget the comforting hugs and words the technician was offered to as a traumatized scared kid which stopped sometimes from crying.
Then during flashbacks or breakdowns as a child that were too scary for him, Phobos would come and calm him down, ensuring he's safe far away from danger. They were just kids. They had only each other. They trusted each other more than anyone else in this world. Until Phobos grew up and somehow was slowly changing through "godhood", still loving his younger unconditionally, but not being trusted that much anymore.
He doesn't believe that his brother is no longer between the living ones.
He started to think how Phobos "living in his memories" is bullshit, as if he was not real in the 1st place and is just made up from a bunch of "videos" inside his head to replace that.
Deimos didn't move. He was scared to lose the guard on the emperor. Every second. Every second of seeing him should be registered in his mind. Hacker was scared of something very bad happening to the corpse.
Despite being physically alive, he was dead by soul. His eyes do not spark any sign of life anymore, and the only thing that moved were eyes blinking and chest rising down and up for air exchange inside the body.
He didn't even bother to get food or water. He was too scared to move.
"Deimos…" the familiar voice sounding behind gave the pyrokinetic a good scare, flinching hard.
"Ford, you fucking scared me" His voice seemed low and quiet. No emotions.
"Dei, please, get some food…I'm deadly worried for you…"
"Leave me alone"
"Not until you eat something. You look pale."
"I said to leave me alone"
"You don't understa-"
"Leave me alone." The slight rise in the tone gave an alarming feeling to Sanford, signaling that any further notice will escalate into not a good ending for that.
She didn't know what to do.
Their lover was just as dead as his brother. Any glance into the technician's eyes will prove that. His eye color is no longer flaming like blaze, but got even washed off into lifeless orange gray.
That's not his lover anymore. That was not even Deimos anymore.
The only way to snap him out is by burying, but no one would be willing to do that to a dictator whose regime destroyed so much for simple grunts.
So if no one will snap Deimos out, Sanford will.
He grabbed a shovel and rushed somewhere not so far, starting to push it deep in earth and dig a hole. Only for her beloved Deimos.
It was painful to watch.
"What are you doing?" 2B made an appearance behind his back.
"Digging a fucking grave. Deimos is out of mind at this point"
"Still there? He's going to die like that"
"That's my fucking point, Doc. Don't talk too much and help me." Hook owner grabs another shovel and throws it in front of the doctor. "He'll snap out of this state if we simply bury Phobos."
"Does he know we will bury him?"
"Ye- Wait." And Sanford realized. "Shit. He doesn't. Why do you think there was no fancy ceremony with scientists and workers all over? That fucker was a self proclaimed god and did chaos, so nobody wants to even see him."
"Sanford, he should be at least warned. You will ruin him completely if you suddenly take the coffin. See how he already IS ruined. Imagine if someone took your mom the same way, no one warning you beforehand about her being gone forever from your eyesight."
"..."
Sanford valued his mom as how Deimos valued his brother. They would die for people they deeply loved. It hurt Sanford.
"...You're right. I really took the wrong step. I'll be back."
"What do you want?"
"Baby…We'll bury him tomorrow, is that okay?"
Deimos was not okay. He should never lose sight of the figure that raised him for years, but now he's left all alone forever in this chaos. While the director was killed off for good, for the younger it was the worst tragedy.
"...I don't want to lose him."
"I know." Sanford whispered and hugged from his lover's back. "I understand. It's hard to go through it."
"What do you understand, Ford?"
"Your loss. I've lost so many people myself, it's the worst thing ever."
"."
"Dei…"
"...At least put a wooden cross, so that nobody is aware of his grave and try to vandalize it, please." Deimos sighed and whispered back. He was too unable to even speak and think normally after losing touch with reality for days.
It's hard to cope. He didn't feel like living this life anymore, at least not when he was going through this stage of grief.
———————
Burial process.
Deimos was outside with other 3 members of SQ that he trusted enough and with rainy weather.
There was a hole and a wooden cross with "Here lies my dearest brother" carved on it.
Hacker still stared at his brother, standing, like a statue.
Until they put the casket lid on and sealed it off with nails.
Deimos snaps out of the state.
"W- WAIT! NO!" His expression shifted from lifeless to a worried state. "I HAVEN'T SEEN ENOUGH!" His eyes are finally letting some tears off
"DEIMOS NO!" Sanford suddenly grabbed him by the wrists so that, in the worst case, he wouldn't jump in the grave with the coffin.
"LET ME GO! NO! DON'T FUCKING BURY HIM PLEASE"
"It's for your own good." Doc responded as she and Hank were slowly letting the coffin fall to its destined place.
"NO NO NO NOO!! NO! NOOO!!" He was squirming hard trying to get off the grip. The tears were finally falling down and the saliva was also dropping from his mouth.
It reached the end.
"NO!"
They grabbed shovels.
"PLEASE STOP IT!"
The shovels dug into a pile of dirt.
"I'M BEGGING YOU!"
They threw the dirt and it reached the lid.
"NOOOO!"
For Deimos, seeing the first pile fall onto the casket was the most traumatizing thing in his life. He forgot about all other things that left the pyrokinetic a deep scar on his life. With every pile, it destroyed him even more, until the coffin was no longer seen, covered in dirt.
And with that, he squirmed violently that even the one holding his grip could not stand still and was moved. Getting out of it, Deimos fell on knees on the ground and let out a scream. A scream that pierced through everyone around. A scream that was combined with all the suffering together that he went through. A scream worse than when he loses a limb. He lost someone he deeply trusted and was raised by like a father through years, only to be killed off before Deimos was.
He was sobbing. He fell down on the ground and started violently sobbing. The rain droplets hit his clothes, but the hacker did not care in the slightest. It was the most gut wrenching despair he had ever gone through. His vocal chords hurt.
Sanford got him up and hugged him tightly. And he was crying all of his grief on her shoulders.
He was gone forever.
Phobos is gone forever now.
Later Deimos was spotted smoking outside, with tired and bloodshot eyes, traces of tears spotted on the cheeks. He was still silently crying.
Doc slowly approached him and was patting on the back.
"My condolences." She murmured.
"Mhm." He was too weak to even say a simple word. All of the energy was drained off by crying today, a thing the smoker hadn't done in several years.
And he's gone forever.