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Chapter Text

"Okay that's it!" Frustration was radiating off Watertown's chief of police, "We cannot keep letting 4 teenage boys win over us! They're teenagers for crying out loud! I mean come on guys! They're out there, roaming free, committing crimes with ease. And all we know about them is that Ashton Irwin is good with firearms, Luke Hemmings is good with knifes, Michael Clifford has broken into our system multiple times so I'm guessing he's a techie, and there are very few people who have not been robbed by Calum Hood. We need to catch these guys! But first we need information about them. Any ideas about how we can get more information?"

"Let's interrogate prisoners; someone's got to know more than we do," said a police officer.

Chapter Text

Luke smiled to himself as he approached Felds, the local diner, and adjusted his earpiece before walking inside for some lunch.

"Hey Robbie!!" Everyone inside the diner cheered after seeing one of their favorite local teens enter the diner.

"Hi guys" Luke said grinning. He then walked up to the counter and sat in one of the high stools. The seat he choose to sit in was "coincidentally" next to the one where the chief of police sat. Luke would always talk to the people around town as 'Robbie' so that he could get info about what's going on. Also the last person they would expect to be a criminal is the person everyone around town loves. All the townspeople know about the four boys is what they do. They don't know how they are connected or what they look like. The chief of police is a good person to sit by if you want to overhear updates about crime.

Luke smiled at the new waitress, who blushed, before placing his order. He guessed she would be pretty to a straight guy. But Luke is not that, he is a gay teenager who has eyes for only one boy with dyed hair. Not that this boy knows it though. Luke's thoughts are interrupted when he hears the news reporter on tv mention something about four teenage criminals.

"Would you turn that up?" He asked no one in particular. Luke then turned his full attention on the news reporter's words.

"Hello citizens of Watertown! I'm Cynthia Glade and boy do I have some important news for you. Okay well it's just in that the police have been interrogating prisoners about the infamous teenage criminals Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, and Ashton Irwin. They just started this process yesterday and they already have 5 new pieces of information that they are allowing us to release to the public. Now, all this information is from one prisoner whom wishes to stay anonymous. Okay so here it goes. According to this prisoner, Michael Clifford dies his hair a lot and is really pale. Who would have guessed? The next tidbit he gave out is a little bit cryptic but here it goes. Luke Hemmings is closer than you think. A bit unsettling yeah? Moving on, the prisoner said that Calum Hood will sometimes do a service for his future victim to figure out how their security systems work. Now, I hate to admit it but that's pretty smart so I'm guessing Calum Hood isn't an easy guy to fool. The prisoner also gave out another cryptic tip: Ashton Irwin is always watching. Finally the last tip this prisoner gave out was that all four of the boys are connected. The police said that they thanked this prisoner by shortening his sentence. That's all for this update! Now to Paul with the weather."

It took all of his self control for Luke to not show his frustration on his face. He quickly ate his burger, paid for his food, and left the diner. As he was walking down the sidewalk he checked his surroundings then turned into an alleyway. After walking to the end of the alley, he leaned against the wall and hid in the shadows. He then reached his hand up to his ear and pressed on the mic part of the earpiece Mikey required him and the boys to wear. It was useful.

"Have you guys seen that news report," Luke asked frustratedly running a hand through his hair.

"Nope,"
"No... Why?"
"Calm down Lukey, what's wrong"

Luke heard the three responses rasp through his earpiece. He sighed and responded,
"I'm alright Mikey; Just watch it right now, please? I'm on my way home."

Michael sighed as he heard Luke's reply and turned the mic off. Not only were the ear pieces connected to the other ear pieces; but they also were connected to this speaker system he set up at the house so that they didn't have to wear the earpieces at home. Michael was concerned because Luke sounded really frustrated. Michael called Calum and Ashton to come into the living room so that they could watch the video Luke was watching. Calum and Ashton immediately came out of Calum's room and sat on either side of Michael, who then turned the video on.

Ashton was seething after the video finished; the tips on himself, Michael, and Luke weren't that bad because his and Luke's were cryptic and Michael rarely left the house anyway. But the tip on Calum exposed a whole part of some of his routines. Now the people probably won't hire any teenage boy without being suspicious. The revelation of this fact is causing Calum to panic, which in return angers Ashton. Ashton quickly got up and sat back down next to Calum, wrapping his arms around the taller boy. Even though Calum would probably easily find another way to figure out what security the richer homes had, Ashton knew Calum was still upset.

"Who the hell did this anyway?" Calum asked quietly.

"I don't know Cal, but maybe we could find out. Hey Mikey, the lady said something about shortening the persons sentence right? Look in the files to see who got their sentence shortened today and yesterday." Ashton told him.

"Already broke into the system. The police system is so easy, it took me longer to break into the hair dye place's website; who even knew they had a security system on their website." Michael rambles while looking in the files. Ashton giggles at that remembering the time when Michael was complaining about having to buy hairdye and was surprised when it took him two minutes to break in rther than 30 seconds. What a tragedy. Now Calum just steals him a box of whatever color he wants and then Luke helps Michael dye his hair.

"Found him!" Michael exclaimed, snapping Ashton out of his thoughts."Cody Simpson. His sentence was shortened by two years this morning and he's the only one who has had his sentence shortened in two weeks," Calum tensed after hearing Michael's words and soon felt Ashton's arms tighten around him before letting go. Calum looked at Ashton as he stood up.

"Can you print a picture of him and find out what time he has rec?" Ashton asked Michael, who nodded, and then he walked to his room. Calum then got up and quickly followed him.

"Ashton what's going on?" Calum asked him before plopping on his bed. He then noticed how Ashton was going through his sniper guns. (A/N: I have no idea about the specifics on guns and stuff so please just roll with it).

"Ash....," Calum sighed realizing what he was going to do,"where are you going to be shooting from?" It's not that he disagreed with him, but he just didn't want Ashton to get hurt or caught.

"Don't worry Cal, I won't get caught; you should know by now that using the sniper gun means I'm shooting an exact target and from far away," Ashton reassured Calum after choosing the sniper gun he wanted to use, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Why were you so angry anyway? The tip he gave on you wasn't that bad," Calum asked, quickly getting off Ashton's bed and returning after grabbing his black bandana off the counter. He then motioned for the shorter boy to let him help put it on.

"No one messes with you and gets away with it," Ashton said looking straight into Calums eyes, then adjusted so that Calum could help him with his bandana, "I mean shit Calum, you probably won't be able to ever get a job without becoming more involved in the social aspects of society. Oh quick side note you probably should start making outings with Luke. Anyways this 'Cody Simpson' guy obviously didn't get the message not to mess with us; all I'm going to do is deliver that message."

Calum ignored the warm feeling the older boys words gave him. After he finished helping him put on his bandana, Calum gave Ashton a quick kiss to the top of his head and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him from behind.

"Get him good," Calum mumered.

"Don't worry Cal, I will," Ashton said as Calum let go of him. Then both boys proceeded to walk back into the living room.

"Okay Ash your stuffs on the printer. You're lucky because his rec time is actually in five minutes and it lasts for an hour. Anything else you need?" Michael asked.

"Nope."

"Cool. Hey Cal! Come here lets play on their system and see what else we can get into!" Michael said excitedly.

"Alright! Bye Ash!" Calum said sitting next to Michael.

"Bye guys," Ashton said, slipping out the window with his sniper gun strapped to his back. He then climbed up to the roof and started navigating the terrain he knew so well. Ashton was always on the roofs , whether it was to take someone out or it was to confirm something that happened. Nobody ever caught him. Ashton liked walking on the roofs; it gave him time to think, to plot, he could make sure the deals were kept, and he could also watch over the boys when he wanted. It also was fun to run and jump between rooftops.

After about 15 minutes, Ashton climbed down the building at the edge of town. He then walked for 5 more minutes through the deserted are between the city and the prison. He stopped when he reached the small abandoned office building that he, Luke, Calum, and Michael had found a year ago. They had decked it out on the inside and it's really cool. The roof had a nice view of the prison yard, which is what Ashton needed, but it was far away enough so that no one from the prison could see it.

Once he was up on top of the roof, Ashton quickly unstrapped his sniper gun and set it on the edge of the roof-pointing towards the prison yard. He then dug the picture of Cody out of his pocket and looked at it.

'Ugh,' Ashton thought to himself, 'Why do stupid people have to live.' He shoved the picture back in his pocket and layed down in front of the gun. 'How did he even know that anyway, nobody ever gets to see michael except for on the rare chance Michael has to deal with somebody' Ashton wondered as he peered through the eye piece and stared looking for his target. He thinks maybe Luke knows him and decides he is going to talk to the boys about it soon. Ashton's thoughts immediately stopped when he saw the smirking face of Cody Simpson through the eyepiece of the gun.

"Bitch be gone," Ashton whispered angrily, thinking of how the bastard spilled. Then he pulled the tigger.

As soon as he felt the small familiar kick of the gun and saw the body flop down to the ground dead, Ashton was filled with a certain high that he could only reach by shooting people. It was exhilarating. But Ashton's adrenaline also kicked in because he knew he had to get out of there quickly. So he quickly strapped the gun back on his back. Got off of the roof and bolted back towards town.

Chapter Text

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Nobody's POV

Michael and Calum were sitting in Michael's room which, of course, had a desk with computers, moniters, and speakers that Calum had stolen for him. Perks of living with a master thief. After Ashton left to go kill Cody, the two boys loitered into Michaels room thinking of things to do.

"I want his laptop," Michael decides sitting in his rolly chair. (A/N: you know those comfy desk chair with wheels)

"Who's laptop?" Calum asks leaning against the desk.

"The chief of police's."

"Why?"

"Imagine what we could do with his laptop! I could put a virus on it and we'd be able to see all that they are working on that's not on the system. They know I can get into it so he probably put some things in his personal file instead of on the system."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"I need you to steal his laptop."

"Well, why don't I just walk right in there with a sign over my head saying 'It is I, Calum Hood, and I'm gonna steal your goodies'."

"Dude they obviously wouldn't know it's you."

"Well I know they wouldn't know my face but they'd learn it when they roll back the footage. That place is loaded with security cameras!!"

"Well I guess Calum Hood has neither the guts to rob the police nor the smarts to not get caught. What a shame.." Michael sighs.

"I already thought up of a plan bitch." Calum said glaring at him.

"Chill bro!" Michael responded.

"Anyways," Calum said rolling his eyes and continuing, "to make this plan work I need something to put in his computers place so he won't notice the difference. Do you have a decoy computer or something...?"

"Well actually I don't think you need that because all I'm going to do is put an undetectable virus on it that will let us into every single thing on that computer, it won't be gone that long. But I also also want to mess with him soooo...... Oh I know!" Michael exclaimed excitedly. He then opened the top drawer of his desk, grabbing out a sharpie and a notepad. He uncapped the sharpie and started writing words on the paper:

'Hello Donald. Well, since we're friends and all I thought you wouldn't mind if I borrowed your laptop. So I had one of my best friends get it for me :) On a sidenote, I thought it wasn't very nice of you to let the media know such a thing about Calum.. It upset him, angered Ash, and frustrated Lukey. You bastard. Anyways I suggest you don't let out anymore information but that's just my opinion.
Peace, love, and overruns (; - Michael Clifford

P.S. Don't worry, you'll get your laptop back sooner or later.'

"Look this over," Michael said ripping the paper off the pad and handing it to Calum, who nodded in approval after reading it, "what's the plan?"

"I'll just tell you what happened after I get it."

"Fine, do you need anything?"

"I need something to get more police officers out of the station. I know some will head over to the prison once Ash shoots that guy, but it will be better if more are gone...." Calum says clapping his hands together, knowing he's going to have to get going soon.

"Let me think for a second." Michael says and Calum nods in response, gesturing for Michael to follow him out of the room.

Calum POV

'I need to get going. Ash is probably on his way back by now so that means that it's now or never. I clap my hands together and nod for Michael to follow me out of the room. I need to get a backpack... And maybe a beanie.... I'll borrow one of Ash's' I think to myself, I then to go into his room and grab a black beanie and a black backpack. I quickly go over a mental checklist, making sure I don't need anything else. I've already disabled all the required security cameras because I sneak into his office all the time to check file's, addresses, gate codes, that type of thing. I just never have actually stole anything from the chief of police's office before; but hey there's a first time for everything. There are two prisons in Watertown. One of them is by our hideout and one of them is in the center of town. The one in the center of town is for little crimes, short sentences, un-dangerous people, etc. The other one is where the bad boys are at. I'm headed to the one in the center of town.

"Think of anything yet?" I ask Michael, walking out of Ashton's room.

"....." He opens his mouth to respond but then Luke just casually bursts in through the front door, causing Michael's jaw to drop open.

Michael's POV

It's not fair. He can't just walk in like that and make me feel weak at the knees. I mean come on. What would you do if a hot and sweaty Luke Hemmings walked into the room with a black Snapback on and his dark red plaid flannel unbuttoned? Correct answer: jump him. Unfortunately I'm not able to to that, but trust me I really really want to. Also, the fact that his bare and exposed chest is splattered in blood and that he is practically glowing with sweat is doing things to me. I think I need Jesus or something.

Calum's POV

"Did you kill somebody," I ask Luke, seeing he was splattered in blood.

"Yep," he nods. Yes! That's a perfect distraction for the police.

"....." Michael is still unable to form a proper sentence, weird.

"I'm off," I say pulling the hood of my black hoodie over my head. I then walk out of our front door, into the shadows of the alleyway. Our place was in an apartment building; it's thought to be abandoned. But it's actually owned by the gang 'One Direction'. We have an alliance with them so they let us live in an apartment there. There is an alleyway that separates the building and the next one over.

(A/N: imagine a dark alleyway between two brick buildings)

Soon enough I am across from the police station. Okay let's do this. I take a look around, scanning my surroundings. Looks fine to me. I plug my headphones into my phone, which is turned off, and join the few people waiting to walk across the crosswalk. Blending in the crowd is one of the first things I learned when I was a fledgling thief. Those days were fun. Once I get across the street I walk to the back of the police station, avoiding the cameras like the way I usually do. I take my headphones out and put them and my phone in the small front pocket of my backpack. Then I start climbing up the corner of the building until I get to the 5th story window.

The 5th story window is the window to LITERALLY the only unoccupied room in the building. It's SO unoccupied, that in fact, when they were giving tours of the building last year, I broke away from the tour group to take a look around the place myself. In that look around, I managed to find the room and to unlock the window. The police still haven't noticed. Haha idiots.

After getting into the room I quickly walked across it, not wanting to waste anytime. I pulled the cover off of the air vent and silently set it aside. I then enter the vent and I slide forward about 10 feet and make a right turn, then I slide about 20 more feet until I see the vent covering that leads to the chief of police's office. By the way do you know how fit you have to be to be doing all this shit completely silently? Yeah man I work out. Focus Calum. I then silently move the covering and slide out of the vent into his office. He's not here, perfect. I walk across the room to his desk and slide one strap of my backpack off my shoulder; unzipping it and sliding his computer in. I know we have a charger for his model of computer so I don't have to worry about getting one. I close my backpack and slide the strap back onto my shoulder. I then take Michael's note out of my pocket and place it on his desk. Usually I would stick around for a bit longer and see if there's anything else in the place worth stealing but I'm not going to risk it, this being the chief of police's office. I then proceed to quickly and silently exit the building back the way I came, leaving everything the way it was before. I take my phone as soon as my feet hit the ground and then I casually walk back towards the crosswalk, sending a quick text to Michael.

To Gordo:  Mission success

In each other's phones we have our contacts as fake names or nicknames, so that if by chance anyone ever sees a message from each other pop up on our phones, they won't suspect anything. After I cross the crosswalk, I see that I have a couple texts from Ashton.

From Ashy Baby:  CALUM WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

From Ashy Baby:  I'm sorry for swearing

From Ashy Baby:  but at the same time I'm not 

From Ashy Baby:  bcuz YOU ARE SUCH AN IDOT

From Ashy Baby:  jk you're not

From Ashy Baby:  BUT SRS SINCE WHEN WAS IT A GOOD IDEA TO ROB A POLICEMAN?

From Ashy Baby:  hmm let me think, how about NEVER!

From Ashy Baby:  IT WAS NEVER A THING

From Ashy Baby:  WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?

From Ashy Baby:  ARE YOU OKAY?

From Ashy Baby:  did u get arrested?

From Ashy Baby:  are you hurt?

From Ashy Baby:  CALL ME! I need to know you're okay.

From Ashy Baby:  Cally......

Well someone's a little bit worried. I wish I could see his face right now. Ashton has the cutest worried face. The way his hazel eyes go all wide and the way he slightly bites his lip.... Mmmm. I mean o-of course I'm saying all this in a f-friendly way. Pfft. Of course I am, I-I mean, what else would I mean it as?

To Ashy Baby: I'm fine.

I send him a response as I turn around the street corner, quickly realizing I'm about 5 minutes away from home. Alright.

From Ashy Baby:  you bitch! I text you like 5 billion times because I'm concerned for you're wellbeing and all I get is an "I'm fine"

Shit. That was stupid. What was I..... My thoughts trail off when I see I am in an area that is safe enough to speak. So I call him. He picks up.

"Hello, it seems you've reached the bitch hotline. You must have been being a real bitch lately, because this is the number that only bitches call when they're being a really baaaaad bitch-"

"Ash," I say cutting him off.

"Don't you 'Ash' me bitch. You need a stern talking to. Okay, If someone takes their sweet time and effort out of the day to show that they are concerned about your wellbeing, you cannot-"

"Ashton."

"Wait what was that noise I heard? Oh yeah, I know. It was a bitch who really needs to stop interrupting me before I-"

"But Ashton I-"

"I don't care."

"Ashy baby....."

".........What."

"I'm really sorry and I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Ugh, okay Fiiinnnneeee, I forgive you," he sighs. But I know he's alright. I can sense his smile through the phone.

"Yay!!!!!" I cheer, causing him to giggle. This makes me happy because his giggles always cause me to feel warm and tingly inside. I don't know why but they just do.

"Okay but seriously Cal, tell me you at least got the computer," 

"Of course I did! Are you doubting my thieving?"

"I'm not! I promise! I was just checking," he laughs.

"Alright," I say chuckling, "But Ash I have a question."

"Ask away."

"How was Luke when you came in? Do you know who he stabbed and why?" I asked concerned. Luke usually doesn't kill someone without at least telling us first.

"Well, now that you mention it, I actually was going to ask you to talk to him about that...."

"Why? What happened when you came home?"

"Well.. Okay, when I came in through the window, I didn't see you, Luke, or Mikey. But that didn't bother me because the last I knew, Luke was still out of the house and knowing Michael, he was probably in his room and you were probably with him. So I'm like, alright, and then I go to my room and put my gun back in it's spot. And then I was starting to feel kind of hungry, so I headed for the kitchen. When I walked in, I see Luke sitting on the counter shirtless and Mikey wiping him up. I was like okay, nothing out of the ordinary, and I go on to ask them what happened to Luke. And Luke said he stabbed a man and then I was like no shit. Which caused Mikey to laugh. He then asked Luke who did he kill and why didn't he tell us before he did it and yada, yada, yada. Luke then told us it was this random guy but he kept avoiding the other questions. I then asked where you were. And Michael proceeded to tell me about how you were getting him the freaking chief of police's laptop so that he could put some undetectable virus on it or something. I was too worried about you to pay any attention after that. Anyways, the moral of the story is that I think he will tell you, because for some reason he doesn't want to tell me or Mikey."

"Well alrighty then, I'll talk to him later tonight. Did you shoot the bastard?"

"Yep! Got him good too! Ain't nobody going to mess with my man. When are you getting home?" 

"Your man? Annnnd I'm Turning down the alley right now."

"Uhhhhh don't dwell on it too much. And Great! Hurry up though because the boys just said that there's another story about us up next on the news. Bye!"

"Bye," I said hanging up.

I walk down the rest of the alleyway until I reach our door. I open it and enter, wondering what the lady on the news is going to say next.

Chapter Text

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Donald (Chief of Police) POV:

I sighed as I pulled up to the police station. It has been a long day and I just want to go home. All I have to do is get my computer and keys from my office. I put the cruiser in park and step out of the car. Those boys are such a menace. They need to be caught and when they are caught, I am going to teach them a lesson. I walk into my office and grab my bag, my keys, and a walk over to my desk to grab my laptop but it wasn’t there. There was a note in it’s place. Okay, I see, somebody decided to play a prank on me. I walk up to my desk pick up the note and read it.

'Hello Donald. Well, since we're friends and all I thought you wouldn't mind if I borrowed your laptop. So I had one of my best friends get it for me :) On a sidenote, I thought it wasn't very nice of you to let the media know such a thing about Calum.. It upset him, angered Ash, and frustrated Lukey. You bastard. Anyways I suggest you don't let out anymore information but that's just my opinion.                                                                                                                                               Peace, love, and overruns (; - Michael Clifford 

                                                                               P.S. Don't worry, you'll get your laptop back sooner or later.'

I crumble the note and throw it on the ground. That shithead.

——

Michael POV:

“ASH,” Luke called out to Ashton, who was in his room talking to Calum on the phone, “See where he is and tell him to hurry up because there’s a story on us up next.” Luke and I were sitting on the sofa in the living room. In the living room we have one black comfy leather couch which comfortably sits about 4. We have a TV on the opposite wall in front of the couch. We also have a coffee table and two beanbags. Luke is sitting on my left and he’s still shirtless. I have no complaints. Well….. it would be better if he was naked and in my-

“Alright guys, he’s walking down the alley. He’ll be here any second.” Ashton said, walking into the room and sitting on my other side, cutting off my thoughts.

“Thats good. He got the laptop right?” I asked Ashton, who then glared and smacked my shoulder. “Ow! What was that for?” I asked, feigning an innocent expression. I know what it was for. I worried him sick when I told him about Calum getting the computer for me.

“Yes, he got it.”

“Good,” I said smiling. The door opened and Calum came through, slinging his backpack to the floor, taking his hood off, and sliding off his shoes.

“Hey Calum.” We said in unison.

“Hi guys!” He said, proceeding to come over and sit on the other side of Ashton.

"Is that my beanie?" Ashton asked him as he sat down.

"Yep."

“Take it off.”

“Nope.”

“Ugh,” Ashton rolled his eyes. Then the news came back on.

“Hello citizens of Watertown! Cynthia Glade here! It’s not even been a full day since we last had a segment on the four infamous teenage criminals: Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, and Ashton Irwin. The police have informed us that the boys have heard the previous broadcast and retaliated. However, the police were sure to inform us that the retaliation has not stopped them from interrogating prisoners about the boys. Infact the police will now accept any information the public has about the boys-“ The TV turned off. We turned to look at Luke, who had the remote in his hand.

“It’s nothing interesting,” he said shrugging.

“Anyways, where’s the computer?” I asked Calum.

“In there,” he said pointing to the backpack. Time to work my magic. I walk over to the backpack and grab the computer out of it. Perfect.

“I’ll be in my room if you need me.” I call out to the others as I walk into my room. I sit down at my desk and set the computer down on it. I open it up and start hacking into it immediately. It’s so fun to hack into other’s people’s stuff. Makes me feel so smart. I can’t wait to try out this undetectable computer virus I came up with. I made a website and I put the virus on it, setting it up so that if anybody else put this website address in their address bar, they would get the virus. What the virus does is it LITERALLY copies EVERY single bit of information ever typed, received, or saved in that computer. It does it all without being detected. After copying that information, the virus will notify me that it has completed the job. I will enter a code into my computer, and I will see all the information that it copied, all the website’s he visited, his google searches, his emails, everything. After I get that, I’ll delete the website. Simple plan. Of course I'll have to do some clean up work on his laptop but thats easy. All I have to do is clear the last website he went to from the history and then I’ll send a shit-filled email out from him so that he’ll think that’s all I wanted to do, because I’ve done that to people before. As soon as I’m in, I immediately open up safari and begin my work.

———

*(Skips time to the next morning)*

Luke POV

I wake up to my stomach growling. Well I guess I'm hungry. I then hop out of bed, grab a black hoodie, throw on some grey sweat pants, and proceed to go to the kitchen and see whats cooking.

I saw Ashton shirtless in front of the stove. Calum was standing next to him in black tank and sweats. Michael wasn't out there yet.

"Morning boys! What's cooking?" I asked, walking past the small rectangular table that was in front of the kitchen island. Two chairs were placed on opposite sides; one side facing the living room and the opposite side facing the stove.

"EGGS!!!" Ashton chirped answering me happily and turning around to face me as I slid onto the island behind him and Calum.

"Cool." I respond nodding.

"Yep! I am so hung-... Oops.... Oh well, change in plans guys, it looks the eggs are going to be scrambled." Calum said.

"Yay! Scrambled eggs!" Ashton said giggling and I smiled.

"Morning," Michael said yawning, entering the kitchen in his black hoodie and sweats.

"Morning," We responded as he walked over and slid next to me on the island.

"What's the plan for today?" He asked.

"Let's talk about it at the table because breakfast is ready," Calum said. I hopped off of the counter and made my way to the table. I sat on the chair on the left of the side facing the stove. Mikey went and sat on the seat across from me. Ashton followed and sat next to Mikey after he set a plate of scrambled eggs in front of me and Michael. Then Calum came and put a plate in front of Ash and himself before sitting next to me.

"So what is the plan?" Michael asked again as we all dug into our breakfast.

"Well... I was kinda planning on Calum going with me to the diner today. I want to make sure everyone knows who he is." I say nudging Calum with my knee. He's been with me to Felds a couple times before. People know him as 'Thomas', my best friend. Calum and I are the two out of the four who are out and about in society. Ash stays away from people and Mikey rarely ever goes outside unless he has to.

"I'm game. I needed to talk to you anyway." He says nudging me back.

"Okay cool. But guys, do you know how that Cody dude knew so much? I mean who the heck is he?" Ash asked. Good question.

"Yeah, how did he know my routine?" Calum asked.

"Well I was looking into his file more last night on the Chief's computer and it says he got arrested for aggravated assault at a club." Michael piped in. Haha weak.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Well, he has a sister named Ali Simpson. Whom we all know as the girlfriend of Dean Smith. So I'm guessing that's how he found out about us since I don't recall ever meeting him." Michael said, and we all nodded in understanding. Dean Smith is like the criminal know it all. He knows a lot about all us criminals. You can usually find him at a club and ask him a question. But he won't tell you unless you give him a good deal. He won’t talk to police either. Cody’s sister probably milked the info out of Dean and passed it onto him.

"Do I get to shoot someone today?"

We turned to look at Ashton, who looked eager and excited. He loves shooting people.

"Probably; but errr Luke? If by chance you happen to get the urge to slice someone into itty bitty bits today; could you please put the chief's computer in their arms or something he will never forget?" Michael asked me. I looked at him and saw his cute green eyes and I couldn't say no. I wouldn't of said no anyway, sounds fun actually. I love stabbing people. I have ever since I was little.

"Sure thing!" I say smiling.

------

*(Skips time to lunchtime)*

"OI CAL!!" I yell, sliding the Chief's computer into his black backpack that he always carries around.

"WHAT?!" He calls back from what sounds like Michaels room.

"Time to go! Get what you need and grab me a knife while you're at it, would ya?!?!" I say as I walk into Michaels room.

"Alright!" He says and leaves the room, taking his backpack from me as he passes by. I then plop onto Michael's bed and squeeze myself in-between the two relaxing boys who remained on it.

"Do you two need anything?" I ask.

“Silvery/white-ish/blonde-ish hair dye."

"A Boyfriend." Ashton says causing me and Michael to both turn and look at him.

"Bitch please, you already have Calum." Michael says.

"H-he's not my boyfriend.." Ashton said, starting to blush.

"Yeah, but you wish he was." I said. Ashton's face then turned a shade identical to that of a tomato.

"I d-don't think he w-would feel-"

"Okay I'm ready." Calum said coming into the room. Ashton immediately stopped what he was saying and scooted closer to me, hiding his red face in my shoulder before Calum could see it. I chuckled, wrapping my arm around him and comfortingly patting his back. I then wiggled my eyebrows at Michael, causing him to chuckle as well.

"What happened?" Calum asked.

"Nothing really, Ashton was just saying-" I started to say.

"How much he loves me. But I rejected him," Michael cuts me off.

"What the," Ashton says giggling, turning his face out of my shoulder, "Yeah okay," he giggles, "But then and Lukey here was comforting me, since I was upset, so now I'm in love with him."

"WAIT! Ash don't lose your feelings for me! I was just scared! I love you! I swear!" Michael insisted.

"Sorry Lukey," he says jokingly pecking my cheek, "but I never lost my feelings for Michael." He finishes dramatically and rolls over me into Michael's arms, nuzzling his head into the crook of Michael's neck and kisses it.

"Oooo baby, save that for later. " Michael says suggestively, causing the four of us to burst into laughter.

"Okay, but I am actually ready to go." Calum says after we finish laughing. If anybody else saw us acting like this, they wouldn't think we were capable of committing the crimes we do. But we only act like this with each other. Honest, truthful, and loving. Only with each other, Never anybody else. Everyone else is stupid and incapable of understanding our complexity.

"Knife?" I asked Calum, getting up off of Michael's bed and going to stand next to him. He hands me one that is wrapped in a black cloth. "Why is it wrapped in a black cloth?" I ask him, suspicious. I haven't wrapped any of my knives in cloth.

"Just unwrap it." He said rolling his eyes at my suspiciousness. Might as well. I unwrap it.

"Woah, dude where did you get this from?" I ask impressed. In my hands was a dirk knife. It had a wooden handle and a silver blade. It was beautiful. The blade was in pretty good condition too. Impressive. I tapped the tip of the dagger to see if it was sharp; it was. Perfect. Can't wait to do some damage with this.

“I found it. It’s called a dirk knife."

“Cool. Give it to me later. Mikey wants some new hair-dye so you can go get that while I deal with the computer.” I say wrapping it back up and giving it back to him.

“Sure bro. What color Michael?” Calum asks him, putting the wrapped up knife in his backpack.

“I’m thinking, like a silvery white-ish blonde maybe.” Michael responds, his arms still around Ashton.

“I’ll see what I can find. Need anything Ash?”

“I’m good. Don’t get caught, or I'll have to shoot you.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Same goes for you Luke.” Michael calls out as me and Calum leave the room.

------

“Seriously bro, why’d you kill that dude without telling us first?” Calum asks me on our way to Feld’s. We’ve been walking for about 5 minutes and we still have 10 minutes to go.

“Had a feeling you were going to ask me that.”

“Well…”

“The dude just made me mad.” I had just been planning on walking home. I wasn’t planning on stabbing anybody. It just happened.

“Luke…” he prods nudging me with his elbow.

“Fine. I was mad after the news thing, right. So I was trying to make my way home without lashing out on any inanimate objects or people. But then this dude came out of a coffee place in front of me. He was talking on the phone to someone about the news and I couldn’t help but eavesdrop.”

“What did he say?”

“Well… he started talking shit about us. Us being you, me, Ash, and Mikey. I was already frustrated so hearing that just irritated me further and then I kinda dragged him into an alley when nobody was looking, muffled his screams with my tank top, and stabbed him to death. It was quick.”

“Okay, I see.”

“We’re close.”

“Alright Robbie, what you feeling like for lunch today?”

“Now you’re getting it.”

———

“What’s our focus today?” Calum asked me as we walked across the street before the diner.

“Gossip and food. I need to find someone who will be suitable for me to give the computer back with.”

“Got it.” Calum said opening the door to Feld’s.

“Thanks Tom.” I said and he followed me inside.

“Well, well well. If it isn’t Robbie and Thomas.” Marge, the owner of the place, said happily announcing our entrance. She opens her arms demanding hugs from us.

“Hey Marge!” We say walking over to give her a hug.

“Hi boys! I haven’t seen either of you in forever!” She said.

“Marge, I was here yesterday.” I said giving her a hug.

“I know I heard, but Thomas here seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet.” She says letting go of me and hugging Calum.

“Aww, I’m sorry Marge, we’ll come more often.” Calum says returning the hug.

“You better. Now choose a table and I’ll go tell Clarissa your regular orders.” She tells us.

“Who’s Clarissa?” We both ask her in unison.

“New waitress. Now go on, choose your table.” She says shooing us off. I then gesture for Calum to go say hi to people while I go find a table. He goes off and I start looking. Okay so I want a table with a good view of the TV, and where I can hear everybody’s conversation. I choose a table in the middle and sit. After a couple minutes Calum comes up to me with a smirk on his face. Successful pickpocketing.

“What’d you get?” I asked as he sat down in front of me.

“Three bracelets, a big ass watch, and a wad of cash.” he said quietly.

“How’d you get the watch?” I asked.

“He was a bit loopy. He’d be a good one for you to return the computer with actually.” He said, nodding his head over to where the man was. I looked to where he gestured and nodded in approval. He’d be perfect.

“Breaking news! Hello Watertown! Cynthia Glade. We were Just Informed that a flintlock pistol and a dirk knife are missing from the museum. I repeat, a flintlock pistol and a dirk knife are missing from the museum.” The TV said. I looked straight at Calum. That little sneak.

“You just found it huh?” I asked.

“Yep. Found it like you would find anything.”

“Locked inside a glass case, surrounded by security cameras?”

“Those were just minor obstacles to get around.” he responded quietly causing me to laugh.

———————

“Breaking News!” Dirk Knife found. Also dead body. Victim was stabbed to death with Dirk Knife. They are currently working on identifying the victim with dental records. All that we know is that there was a perfectly clean Mac laptop resting next to the victims head. Back to you later when we know more information."

Chapter Text

------

Ashton POV

*dreaming*

'I smiled. I felt peaceful, sitting at the top of a grass covered hill with a gun in my hands. I saw a faceless man walking across the meadow before the hill. I pulled the trigger.

*bang*

I giggled to myself as I watched the body collapse. I sighed happily, setting my gun to the side. I then scooted back and leaned against my boyfriend. My back to his chest. He was sitting with his back against the large lonely oak tree that was at the top of the hill. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me even closer to him.

"Nice shot babe," He said as I leaned my head back against his shoulder.

"Thanks," I say turning my head and looking straight into the beautiful chocolate colored eyes of Calum Hood. His eyes flickered to my lips and he started leaning in, closer and closer. I was too. Our lips were now mere mere millimeters away.

'ASHTON FLETCHER IRWIN!!'"

My eyes shot open. You have got to be kidding me.

"Ash, quickly get up," I hear Michael say. Ugh. What does he want. I turn to where he was and saw him standing in front of the mirror fixing his now blonde hair. Oh, he dyed it. Looks good. I then notice there's also blue splattered over the top. Calum must of gotten some blue as well.

"Are they back? And why is there also blue in your hair?" I ask him sitting up from where I was sleeping on his bed.

"Calum is; he's sleeping in his room. Don't wake him up though. As for the blue in my hair, I texted him and got me some blue dye also. Anyways, Luke's probably on his way back by now. So that means we only have a little time." Michael says, continuing to fix his hair.

"Little time for what?" I ask standing and walking next to him.

"Little time to leave! I want to go clubbing!!! You're coming with me. Also nobody knows except for you guys that I died my hair, so that makes it even better."

"What about the other two?" I ask.

"Ehhh we don't need them. They need to let us live a little. Get dressed and let's go. Hurry up," Michael said, turning to his closet.

Alrighty then. I walk to my room quietly and quickly. I look in my closet and start to think about what I want to wear. I'm actually excited to go clubbing; not because of the people there though. I hate people. The reason I'm excited is because when Calum and Luke find out they are going to be furious that we went without them. Something about us needing protection, which I find ridiculous since I shoot people almost on a daily basis for amusement. Anyways, Calum looks really hot when he's angry, but you didn't hear that from me. I don't think he'd want to date me anyway.

I sigh and then I choose my outfit and put it on. If they do find us I hope Luke makes a move on Michael. I seriously can't handle all the heart eyes between those two. I go to my drawer and pull out a black semiautomatic handgun. Nothing fancy. I set it on the counter and put on my 'inside the waistband holster.' Then I picked the gun up off the counter and and I put the gun in the holster. I walk to the mirror and make sure the gun isn't noticeable. I'm good. I then walk out and see Michael waiting for me by the window.

(A/N: btw they're wearing the outfits they were in the video that they were announcing signing Hey Violet. Except for, Calum doesn't have a SnapBack on and Michael has his new snow-cone hair.)

"Ready?" He asks.

"Yep, let's go!" I said and we walked out the door.

"I hope people don't look at us too much." Michael said nervously. Me too. Michael and I don't really go out much. There are quite a few reasons for that. We both hate people, we both are horrible in social situations, and we both have issues blending in with society. There's more reasons but I don't want to think about that when I'm going to go party.

"Did you give them any hint as to where we were?"

"Yeah, I left them a little note. We have time though. It's been dark out for a while, so Luke's probably on his way home from slaughtering that guy. Also, I peeked into Calum's room and he won't wake up for a while, or at least until Luke freaks out. We'll probably have at least half an hour of party time before we have a chance of running into one of them."

"Sweet. What club we going to?"

"The Cracking."

"YAAAAS, they have some sick beats."

"I know! That's why I want to go!! It's time to get my party on!!!"

"No drinking though, because we don't want to accidentally give ourselves away."

"Duh Ash. Hush up about all that responsible shit. We both know you want to go hard."

"True. But We also both know that the majority of the reason you want to go is just so that Luke can finally make a move."

"Maybe...."

"It's okay. Hey look, there's the bouncer."

"Let's do it." Michael said. We both walked up to the bouncer and nodded at him. We look hot so he'll let us in. He looked us over and stepped aside. We then walked into the flashing lights and smoke of the Cracking. It's going to be a fun and interesting night.

-----------

Nobody POV

Luke felt amazing. The act of stabbing someone to death made him so happy. When he unlocked the door to the apartment, all he was thinking of was how he couldn't wait to tell the boys what happened and how he did it. Once inside, Luke tossed Calum's backpack to the side and went straight to Michael's room. When he peeked in the door and saw nobody was in there he didn't think much of it. He just assumed they were in Calum's room, since he knew Calum went home after stealing hair dye, and he decided he would grab some snacks before joining them.

-----

Luke POV

I notice a note on the fridge when I walk into the kitchen. So, like any logical human being would do, I go and read it.

'Dear Luke and Calum,

Me and Ash went out to have some fun at the Cracking. We felt like dancing and making out with hotties. So yeah.

Love you, Mikey :)

P.S. Don't worry we won't drink.'

 Fuck this shit. Mikey ain't gonna be making out with anybody except for me. Little bitch.

"CALUM GET YOUR ASS UP," I yelled and grabbed the note, storming into Calum's room.

"What?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Read this, get dressed, and meet me in five minutes." I say setting the note on his bed. Then I turn around and go to my room to get changed.

"FUCK!!" I heard Calum exclaim from his room.

My thoughts exactly. I have liked Michael ever since I first properly met him. I could feel myself start to go into flashback mode, but I stop myself because I have to hurry. He's mine. Calum likes Ash but he won't freaking admit it to himself. I find it funny. However, I don't find it funny that they went without telling us. Or that they're dancing at a club. Or that other people probably watching them. Or that people are probably thinking about Michael doing naughty things with them. Ha. Ha. Not going to happen. Michaels my naughty boy. Not theirs. I put on boots and slip knifes into each one. I hear Calum walk out of his room and I leave mine.

"Alright, let's go get those little shits" Calum says to me as we walk out the front door into the darkness of the night.

--------

Ashton POV

I smirk to myself when I see two sets of familiar eyes in the crowd. One chocolate and one blue. They still seem to not have noticed us.

The club was packed, the music was booming, and the lights were flashing. It was great. Michael and I had been lost in the life of the club for what seemed like forever. It was hot. I was sweating and so was Michael. But not gross sweaty. Sexy sweaty. At least that's what people told me.

I turn towards Michael and gesture towards Calum and Luke, who are still looking for us.

He sees them and smirks. He turned back towards me and mouthed, 'put on a show'.

I nodded and turned back around and continued to dance. There is a sea of people around me. I throw both my hands up in the air and start rotating my hips slowly to the beat. I feel a man come up behind me. I can feel it's not Calum as he puts his hands on my waist and starts to grind on me. I close my eyes as I shove the wave of disgust away and I start to grind back on him. I open my eyes to be met with Calum's from across the room. He was staring straight at me. Perfect.

I close my eyes and I move my body to the beat, grinding harder back against the man. He started to kiss my neck and I wanted to gag. But instead I rested my hands on his, adjusting his left so that he wouldn't detect my gun, and then I moved my head to give him more access. I opened my eyes again and saw Calum still standing in the same spot with no visible expression.

Ugh is that not enough for him, okay fine then.

I take my left hand off from his and move his head from my neck to the other side of my face. I then moved my my left hand back to his and started grinding back even harder and more dirty. I could feel him start to move his right hand towards my crotch. I didn't know what else to do, so I let him.

I fought the urge to grab my gun and shoot the guy when his hand made contact with it. I had to keep going. I wanted to cry it felt so bad.

Not even three seconds later I felt myself being pulled away from the grasp of the man and behind an angry and sexy Calum. He was staring down the man with a glare that would chill anyone to the bone.

"What the hell is your problem mannnnn? I was having funnnnn. He was so seeexxxxxy... Why did y-you take himmmm away? " The man slightly slurred.

"Oh I'll show you some fun alright," Calum growled lifting his fist and punching the man in the face. Oh shit.

Chapter Text

Michael POV

Ew. I am surrounded by people. I want Ashton to shoot me. It would take me out of this miserable mess. I just literally have been in love with Luke since the moment I first saw him and now I finally think he likes me back. So I want him to make a move. That is why I am currently in this mix of sweaty peasants.

I make eye contact with Ashton and he gestures towards Luke and Calum. Perfect. I mouth to him to 'put on a show' and he turns around. Alright let's get this party started.

Nobody POV

Michael looks back to where he last saw Luke and is disappointed when he only sees Calum. He shrugs it off and goes back to moving his body to the beat of the music, completely unaware of the amount of horny people with their eyes on him.

Luke, on the other hand, was aware; and he didn't like it one bit. He moved to the opposite side of the club after Michael noticed him. He was slowly making his way to Michael, casually passing through the sea people between them, approaching his backside. Luke decided he was going to go for it. He decided he was going to tell Michael how he really felt. But only after they got home. He felt the urge to grab the knifes from his boots grow stronger as he got closer to Michael. There's no denying that Michael was sexy af. So of course he would attract attention of other wandering eyes, especially when dancing. Luke didn't like that. Michael was his. Finally Luke was able to reach his target.

Luke wrapped his arms tightly around Michael's waist from behind and pulled him close, tilting his head downwards and starting to kiss the spot under his ear.

Michael leaned back into him, electrified by his touch.

"You're so naughty Michael, trying to get me jealous," Michael shivered as Luke whispered into his ear, "looks like we're going to need to have a talk when we get home."

Luke went back to kissing and biting the spot under the back of Michael's ear. Marking him as his.

"O-okay," Michael gasped out, beginning to feel breathless from the way Luke was touching him.

But the two boys immediately stopped once screams were heard.

"Fuck you Calum," Luke murmured, detaching himself from Michael's neck. Michael took his outstretched hand and they proceeded to quickly walk towards the source of the commotion. He knows it's not Ashton causing the issue because if so, there would be gunshots. He assumes Calum is beating the shit out of some random dude and he knows he has to get there before people suspect something. During the first month that Calum was starting to steal thing, he got into fights a lot because people caught him. After that first month, nobody ever caught him again; yet, he still liked street fighting so he picked it up as a hobby and now he does it on occasion for some fun. Basically, Luke knows he needs to get there fast.

Ashton was feeling very nervous. He was worried about people looking at him and Calum and getting suspicious. But he did like watching at Calum beating that dude up. He thinks Calum looks very handsome, the flashing lights of the club highlighting his features.

Calum was seeing red.

Luke pulled Michael close to him as he saw his assumptions were correct, and wrapped him into a hug.

"You get Ashton, take him home, and be safe. I'll take care of Calum, okay? Just don't be noticeable and be careful. I love you Michael." Luke said kissing Michael's forehead before letting him go and headed towards the commotion.

"O-Okay," Michael said, feeling slightly dazed. He was shocked, had Luke just said he loved him? He wondered if he meant it. But he shook his head quickly, clearing his thoughts. He had to focus on getting Ashton out of there. So Michael broke through the circle surrounding the fight and took in the scene.

First, he saw Luke shouting things like, "Tom! Thomas! Calm down dude, come on!" Next, he saw Calum on top of and punching a dude who was laying on the ground. Lastly, he saw Ashton, who was stood about 5 feet behind them, apart of the surrounding circle of spectators, never taking his eyes off Calum.

Michael made his way around the circle until he got to Ashton. He then grabbed Ashton's arm and headed towards the exit of the club, making a quick exit.

---

"Did you mean it?"

Those are the first words Luke hears after walking into Michael's room. He had successfully gotten Calum off of the man and convinced all witnesses that 'Thomas' was out of his mind drunk. After escaping that ordeal, he and Calum headed to a store quickly so that Calum could steal some black hair-dye. Luke was worried about Michael being in public. As soon as they got home, he went to check on Michael and Calum went to check on Ashton.

"Mean what?" He asked Michael, who was barefoot and perched at the end of his bed.

"When you said you loved me, did you mean it?"

Luke sighed and sat next to Michael on his bed.

"Yes. I do love you Michael. I have liked you ever since I first met you, and as time went by I found myself falling in love you. I remember being intrigued by you when you first contacted me, saying you wanted to me to meet up with you and Calum. I did and as soon as I saw you I knew I was a goner. I love you Michael. I love the way you laugh, I love the way you smile, I love the way you hack, I love your happiness after messing around with people's lives, and I could say so much more. Michael, you are an amazing person and I love you so much. My love for you is higher than the sky. I know I'm not much; I get joy out of killing people. However, I care about you. I care about you, Ash, and Calum. You guys are the only people I care about. Ash and Calum are my best friends, but you are so much more. I think you're the love of my life Michael. I know this may seem a little fast, me just coming out and saying I love you. But honestly, we've been unofficial boyfriends since like forever."

Michael feels butterflies flapping their wings in his stomach at his words. Luke loves him back.

"Luke?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too. I have for a while. I would make a speech about it, but I think you just covered everything."

Luke chuckled at Michael.

"And hey Luke, you know how you said the unofficial boyfriends thing. Aren't you supposed to have kissed me by now?"

"Well, how about we make this official and seal it with a kiss?"

"I am perfectly fine with that," Michael giggled as Luke pulled him into his lap and kissed him.

When their lips touched, the two boys felt nothing except for their love for one another. It was neither raunchy, nor sloppy. No, the kiss was just a passionate expression of love.

---

"Luke!!!!"

Michael frowns as he looks in the mirror, playing with his hair. He dyed his hair with the black hair-dye that Luke and Calum got him. He wanted to make it black and white.

"What's wrong?" Luke asks walking into the bathroom, stopping once he sees Michael's hair, "Oh."

Michael turns to him and points to his hair, "Would you please explain to me why the fuck my hair is blue?"

------

Chapter Text

Nobody’s POV (I think I’m just going to start to not put anything if it’s nobody’s pov)

Luke, Ashton, and Calum were sitting around the breakfast table waiting for Michael to come out and tell them the plan for the day.

It has been a week since Michael and Luke made it official and things have been going great for them. Calum and Ashton are happy for them and support them fully. It didn’t change anything between the four boys, besides the fact that Luke and Michael kiss each other all the time. Ashton and Calum also give each other secret glances, but that’s nothing new.

Michael walks in the kitchen, running a hand through his recently-dyed black hair, and goes to sit next to Luke, giving him a kiss on the cheek before sitting down in his chair.

“Okay boys, looks like we’re going to have to exterminate a rat.” Michael says once he sits down.

“Who?” Calum asked angrily, clenching his fists. He knows that ‘exterminate a rat’ is code for someone is trying to rat them out and we’re going to kill that person. Calum felt himself start to calm down after Ashton slips his hand into his and squeezes it.

“Nathan Brasher,”

“Isn’t that the dude who we were going to get money from today?” Ashton asks, his hand still intertwined with Calum’s under the table.

“Yeah, remember how he contacted my email a couple days ago and said he needed somebody killed. So we told him to give us the money today at 7:00pm at the abandoned coffee warehouse down by the bridge. Well, now it looks like he has something else in mind,” Michael says.

“What happened?” Luke asks.

“After breakfast, I went and checked on the chief’s emails to see if anything interesting was happening. All the stuff in the unread was boring so I checked his sent mail. There, I found an email sent to all the cops in the department. It was about a 7:00pm sting operation to get us at the abandoned coffee warehouse. The dude tried to set us up.”

“We aren’t just going to let that alone, are we?”

“Of course not Lukie-pie, you know me. I have a plan, and it’s a great one,”

“Lukie-pie?,”

“Trying it out. I don’t like it though… Back to the point, listen up boys because I’m only going to say the plan once and then we’ve got to move quickly. We’re going to murder him and leave him for the police to find at the warehouse. We’re going to make it gruesome and horrifying so that it’ll remind people why you don’t try to mess with us. All four of us are going to be apart of it, but we need to move quickly because we don’t know how early the police are coming to set up the sting operation. Calum and Ashton; you two need to go get the guy and bring him to the warehouse. He works at a joint on 5th street. His shift ends in an hour, wait for him in his car. He probably parked it in the parking garage at the end of the street. I’ll send Calum a picture of it. Ash bring your gun and something else that will torture him. Luke and I will gather some shit and we’ll wait for you at the warehouse. We need to move fast with this guys, alright. Do you guys have any questions or are we all clear?” Michael asks the other three as he finishes telling them the plan. They shook there heads, “Okay then lets go.”

“Okay! See you at the warehouse. Oh, also, I have some random shit in my room that you guys can look through to see if there’s anything useful or whatever,” Calum says before rushing off with Ashton into their rooms.

“Come on Mikey,” Luke says, dragging Michael behind him into his room, “Let’s have some fun.”

-

Michael giggles to himself as he watches Luke's facial expression. He was flopped on Luke's bed and Luke was sitting at the edge, looking between the knives in each of his hands with a conflicted expression. Michael didn't know what Luke was having a hard time with. The only difference that he could see between the two blades was that one of them was pointy and one of them was curvy.

"Luke, you do realize that they are just knives right? They both do the same thing, just pick one."

"Ugh, you're so wrong it disgusts me."

"Correct me then."

"Well, okay this one is called a stiletto knife, good for stabbing," Luke said holding up the hand with the pointy knife, "and this one is called a Neilson/Harner Trailing-point Knife. It's perfect for slashing," he said holding up the other one.

"Which one are you going to choose?"

"I think I'm going to choose the trailing point because I'm in a slashing mood today," Luke gushed, smiling now that he's made a decision.

"You're so adorable!!!"

"Says you! Literally the cutest thing on the planet."

"Stop being so nice, you have to go and kill someone soon."

"I'll always be nice to you Mikey," Luke said, moving to hover over him.

"Promise?" Michael asks, eyes flickering to Luke's lips.

"I promise," Luke confirms, connecting they're lips.

---

"There it is," Ashton says, nudging Calum, who has his arm wrapped around him 'just cuz.'

"M'kay," Calum said unwrapping his arm around Ashton and slinging his backpack off his shoulder.

"Straighten this," he says, pulling a wire hanger out of his backpack and handing it to Ashton after they approached the car. It was a black Toyota. Calum sighs and gets to work. He pulls a doorstop out of his bag, before slinging it back on his shoulder. He then wedges it between the top of the drivers side door and looks back to see if Ashton was done yet. He was.

"Thanks," he murmured when Ashton handed him the straightened hanger. He stuck the 'rod' into the space created by the wedge and hit the button that unlocked the car, "and.... we're in!!!" Calum says happily as he hears the click.

The two boys quickly got in the back of the car and relocked it. Calum put the hanger and the doorstop back in his backpack before pulling a black blanket out of it and closing it. He then laid down on the floor on his back behind the drivers and passengers seats. Ashton was awkwardly crouched in front of his head behind the drivers side door.

"Ash, lay down on top of me." Calum says.

"What?" Ashton asks, he must have heard him wrong.

"I said lay down on top of me, he's going to notice a human crouched behind his chair. I need to put the blanket over both of us, okay? So please just hurry up and do it. I think his shift ends soon."

"O-okay..," Ashton says and quickly moves his body on top of Calum's. He feels Calum throw the blanket over them, as he adjusts himself into a more comfortable position. He finally settles with nuzzling his head into Calum's chest, and when Calum holds his waist he is happy there is a blanket over them to hide his flaming red cheeks.

The two boys talk quietly with each other for about 10 more minutes until they hear the car unlock.

It was go time.

They heard the drivers side door open and someone hop in the car. Calum taps Ashton as soon as they feel the car start. Ashton rolls off Calum and slowly maneuvers himself to crouch behind the driver's side chair again, still under the blanket. Calum moves himself to crouch next to Ashton, so that now they were both hidden behind the chair. He then moves the blanket off of them and gestures to Ashton to get his gun ready. After seeing that Nathan hadn't started driving yet and that it was all clear, he gives Ashton the signal.

Calum immediately slid into the passengers seat while Ashton hovers behind the driver's seat, waiting until the right time. Nathan glances over to the passengers seat and his eyes widened once he sees someone in his passenger seat.

"WOAH!!! WHAT THE HELL!!" He exclaims dropping his phone. Calum quickly steals it and puts it in his pocket, knowing Nathan wouldn't notice.

"Wait.... Thomas?" He asks, "Why are you in my car?"

"Ugh, Thomas is my middle name," Calum sighs annoyed.

"Then what is your real name?"

"Calum, Calum Hood," Calum says, smirking evilly. Nathan went pale.

"I- I have the money, I-I swear I was going to bring it....," Nathan started to stutter out but stopped when he felt the cool metal of a gun pressed to his forehead.

"I hate being lied to. Don't you Calum? It just makes me really really angry and sometimes want to shoot someone. Well actually, I don't have to be angry to want to shoot someone, I love shooting people..." Ashton says holding his gun against Nathan's head.

"I agree Ashton, I completely agree," Calum said. He then signaled Ashton once more and Ashton brought down the butt of the gun hard on Nathan Brasher's head, causing him to be knocked out cold.

Calum and Ashton moved his unconscious body into the back of the car and drove to the warehouse, texting Michael and Luke that they were on their way.
--

Nathan Brasher woke up to hear voices speaking.

"We need to get moving, if he wakes up now we've only got 10 minutes to kill him," said the first voice.

"So then we'll make it the worst 10 minutes of his life and then we can get the fuck out of here," another voice said.

"Calum just texted me, he's waiting outside with a get away car," Ashton says.

"Did he steal it?" The first voice asked.

"Shut up Luke, of course he did," The second voice snaps.

"Kitty has claws," Ashton says with a low whistle.

"I'm sorry Lukey, I'm just stressed that you guys aren't going to have enough time to do your thing," the first voice, who he assumes to be Michael, says.

"Don't worry boys, we can kill him in 10 minutes. He just woke up," Ashton says.

******************************

Nathan's eyes shoot open. He is met with the sight of a smirking three tall boys who were standing in front of him. Robbie, a boy with Curly hair in a man bun, and a boy with pale face and black hair. He also realizes that he is gagged by a bandana and he is standing handcuffed between two poles.

"Hello I believe we've never met before. My name is Michael. The cutie with the blonde quiff, his name is Luke and he's my boyfriend. He is going to torture you. The dude with the man bun is my best friend Ashton. He's going to kill you. Calum is my other best friend, but you already met him," Michael says with a smile on his face. At first glance the boys don't look that intimidating, but after looking into their eyes Nathan sees something that absolutely terrifies him.

"Well you see Nathan, you tried to set us up.... We don't like that," Ashton says and he shoots him quickly in both knees, so that now his arms are the only thing holding his weight. Ashton steps back and watches as Luke starts to walk towards him. Pulling his knife out of his pocket.

"You know what you are Nathan?" Michael asks as Luke steps in front of Nathan and cuts off his shirt, "You are a rat. You're a stupid being who just does things without really thinking it through. Like did you really think you were going to catch us?"

The bandana muffles Nathan's screams as Luke starts to slash weakly at his arms.

"Oh hush up I'm just testing," Luke rolls his eyes, "You know what? I like how the blood looks on your skin. I have an idea," he smirks.

Luke then backs up and goes in with his knife, making long strong slashes on Nathan's stomach. Nathan's screams were muffled by the bandana. When he backs off, the word 'RAT' is carved into his skin. Blood pooling on the ground below him.

"Shoot him Ash, then let's go," Luke said, throwing the knife on the ground and wrapping an arm around Michael.

Ashton shot him straight in the heart. His screams stopped. Then Ashton quickly followed Luke and Michael to the get away car, getting in the passenger seat next to Calum.

*******

"Did someone call the exterminator?" Calum asks, smirking as they started driving back.

"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Michael asked.

"Meanie," Calum pouted, causing the other three to laugh.

"Anyways boys we better get ready and rested up tonight," Michael said.

"Why are we all doing something together again?" Luke asks.

"Yup, I've got big plans for tomorrow,"

Chapter Text

"What plans?" Calum asks Michael. The boys are still driving away from the warehouse.

"Well," Michael started, "A lot of people are going to be at this party tomorrow night. I don't know what it's for, but the police are going, David Smith is going, Niall told me that the gang was going, and apparently a lot of regular people are going as well."

"So.... I'm guessing we are going too." Ashton says.

"Yep, I think so. But I want to find out the details... So Luke and Calum need to stop at Felds and get the lowdown after we ditch the car. I'm sure someone there will know about it."

"Does that mean you two are walking home alone?" Luke asks.

"It's not like we haven't done it before babe," Michael says leaning his head on Luke's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know but I guess I'm just worried,"

"Well don't worry, we'll be fine. Hey Cal, how long till we ditch it?"

"There is a parking garage in about 5 minutes where the security cameras don't work. We'll stop there. Then Luke and I can get cleaned up and changed while Ash and Mike take all the stuff back home in Mike's bag," Calum says and everyone nods. Calum always keeps his back-pack with him no matter what.

--

"Hey Marge!!" Calum and Luke say in unison as they walk into Feld's.

"Hi boys! Want your regulars?" She asks. They nod and she tells them to sit down anywhere and she'll take care of their orders. Luke and Calum take a high chair at the counter.

The diner is a very nice gathering place. Everyone knows everyone and people just sit and talk all the time. It wouldn't be unusual if someone asks about a rumor they hear.

"Okay! I have a question everyone," Luke says, he and Calum turning around to face everyone.

"What is it Robbie?" A regular customer asks.

"Well, I heard there's a party tomorrow and I was wondering if you guys could please tell me who's throwing it, what's it for, and if we can come? Basically what's the details?" He asks.

"Well first off, everyone in the town is invited so yes you guys can come. Also you're each allowed one guest. The Clifford family is hosting a masquerade in honor of the anniversary of Anne Marie Irwin's death,"

Both Luke and Calum tensed. They weren't expecting that.

"D-did you say Clifford and Irwin?" Calum asked calmly.

"Why yes I did. You know what happened, don't you? Well I'll tell you anyway. The Clifford family and the Irwin family were best friends, and they were both filthy rich. So as rich people do, they kept to themselves. I never met her personally, but from what I've heard Mrs. Irwin was a lovely lady. She had three kids and apparently they were lovely as well, well at least two of them were. There was Harry, Lauren, and err Ashton. Harry and Lauren were both lovely kids. They were always nice to everyone and were always out in public. No one ever saw Ashton, but we didn't hear anything bad about him. Their dad died when the kids were little so he was out of the picture. But overall they seemed to be a lovely family. The Cliffords were a great family too. They had a son, Michael, but no one ever saw him. I know he ran away at some point but I don't remember exactly when. But back to the point, when Mrs. Irwin was shot, it was a big shock. Nobody saw it coming. All we've heard is that Ashton went crazy, shot her, and ran away. The Clifford family, being the good people they are, took in Lauren and Harry and raised them as their own. It's really a shame that Michael and Ashton turned out the way they are. They came from such great families. But I guess even the good trees have rotten apples."

"Oh that's horrible," Luke almost threw up. Calum's fists were clenched tightly. Both boys were trying their very best to keep a normal face and control themselves. That wasn't the right story.

--

Michael and Ashton were relaxing on Michaels bed in basketball shorts and tee-shirts when Calum and Luke angrily burst in the room.

"I fucking hate this town," Calum growls as he begins angrily pacing in front of the bed.

"Fuck everyone, let's kill em all," Luke throws himself in Michael's rolly chair.

"Okay, first of all, Calum stop pacing and then you both need to tell us what you're so mad about and about the party." Michael says.

Calum sits down on the edge of the bed and the two boys repeat what they were told at the diner. When they finished, Michael and Ashton were silent.

"Well, it's looks like we're going to have to go to the party.." Michael says.

Ashton is still silent.

"Are you sure Michael?" Luke asks, concerned.

"Yes, I would like to give my parents a scare,"

"But your parents.... They-"

"I know what they did, that's why I want to scare them."

Luke gets up, gets on the bed, and brings Michael close to him for a cuddle. He could tell his boyfriend needed comfort.

"B-but that's not what happened. That bitch deserved to die." Ashton finally spoke, deadly calm.

"We know Ash, we know," Calum says, moving behind Ashton and pulling him in his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist.

Ashton let his body mold into Calum's, resting his neck back against Calum's shoulders and placing his arms on top of his.

"I-it's just...." Ashton sniffles, trying to hold back tears.

"Let it out Ash, it's okay, we know how she was," Calum says soothingly, reassuring Ashton it was okay to let out what he felt.

"T-thanks...," Ashton sniffles again before taking a deep breath, "It's just she was always so mean to me. She never ever took care of me or loved me. She just made a maid do it. I never expected her too. Even in my first memories I remember her shoving me in my room and locking the door. I didn't know why at the time, I just knew I wasn't allowed to cry. But my dad did love me. I remember him sneaking into my room and talking to me, showing me love. Everything was worse when Lauren was born. She loved her little girl. I thought that maybe it was just because she liked girls and she didn't like boys. She just didn't like me because I was a boy. I think I was about seven at the time. I didn't know it wasn't normal for a parent to not show love to their child. My dad still snuck in and talked to me. It made me feel better. But then it came Christmas time, and usually she would force me to stay in my room. But that year she let me come out. I asked her why I was allowed to be out. She said she wanted me to take a family photo. I was excited. I thought she was finally going to let me be in a photo. She never had allowed a single photo of me to be taken before. Maybe she finally loved me. No, no she didn't. It turned out she wanted me to literally take the photo. I was devastated. But I still did it. I thought it was just because I was a boy. But that vision was shattered when Harry was born. She loved him too. It was then that I knew, that it was just me that she hated. That really hurt. But then, my dad taught me something that I would value forever. He taught me how to shoot a gun. The only time I was ever out of the house. I was really good at it. So my next birthday he gave me a gun and bullets. I was about ten. He told me to use it only when I needed it. I valued that gun more than anything, I immediately hid it under my pillow away from my mother. But about two months later... He- he died. He died and everything good was ruined. My mom told me through my door. I don't know how he died. She just told me she was going to his funeral and that I wasn't allowed to come because I wasn't part of the family. I burst into tears. But after they were gone, something clicked. I just knew it was what I was supposed to do. I went under my pillow and pulled out the gun that my dad gave me. It was the only thing that mattered to me anymore. I made a makeshift target on the wall of my door and I put the Bullseye right where my mothers heart would be if she ever walked through that door. Then I took apart the gun, figured out how it worked, and I put it back together. I then made make shift bullets and I practiced. I practiced my aim every day for close to 18 years. I made it a game and eventually I could shoot the bullseye from every single spot in my room. Then I moved it up a level, I practiced until I was able to do it from anywhere blindfolded. I became tuned in to sound. I moved the target around and I could hit it anywhere. I was lethal. One day when I was 17 a stack of papers slipped through my door. It was a note from Michael, explaining who he was and telling me who Calum and Luke were. He explained to me how he knew who I was and his situation. He also told me his address. It was then I decided that it was time for me to shoot my mom and get out of here. I got my gun, and I finally put in all the bullets that my father gave me. Then, for the first time ever, I finally made a scene. I started screaming, banging against my walls, and yelling for my mother. When she finally came through the door I didn't even hesitate before I shot her. It went straight through her heart. I then grabbed all my clothes and put them in a bag. I threw the bag over my shoulder, I picked up my gun, I stepped over my mom's body, and I walked out of my room. The only thing I wasn't expecting was Lauren and Harry looking wide eyed at me. I didn't know what to think. I raised my gun, but then I put it down. I pointed to my mother and said: you know what she did to me. They were the only two people whose lives I ever spared. I then left and went to the address that was on the paper. And uhh Michael you can finish I don't feel like it."

Ashton sunk further into Calum and played with his fingers as Michael finished the story.

"I saw you through the window, I could tell it was you. So when you knocked on the door, I let you in. I then repeated to you what I told you on the paper, so that you could trust me and you did. Then Luke and Calum came in and the rest is history," Michael smiled.

"Ash can you come with me for a minute?" Calum asks. Getting up and tugging Ashton with him.

"What is it Cal?" Ashton asks concerned.

"Would you be my boyfriend?"

"That's a way to be blunt about it."

"Wait no, uh I just have been denying it to myself for a long time but I love you so fucking much. Ever since I saw you I just wanted you to be mine and ugh-" Calum says but is cut off by Ashton's lips upon his own. He starts kissing back and it's amazing. But soon Ashton pulls away and rests their foreheads together.

"It's okay Cal. I love you too," Ashton smiles wide, "I love you too."

"Ashton, I also need to ask you something else, will you be my plus one to this party?"

"Sure Cal. Let's get back in there with Mikey and Luke. Mikey needs to let it all out too. We need to be there for him." Calum nods before kissing his forehead and leading him back into Michael's room, both boys ready to be there for their friend.

Chapter Text

Michael sighs as he sees the three sets of expectant eyes waiting for him to tell his story. He knows they already know the story, he told them when they first met them. Yet, the prospect of actually seeing his parents tomorrow is really daunting for Michael. Not only that, but it also brings back all the horrible feelings, insecurities, and memories that they caused him. However, he knows that he needs to let it off his chest.

After Calum and Ashton came back in from making it official, the boys shifted positions and now the other three boys were sitting across from Michael at the foot of his bed.

"They didn't love me." Michael could feel the tears starting to trickle down his cheeks.

"Mikey...." Luke mumbles, grabbing his hand and stroking it lightly with his thumb.

"T-they treated me badly ever since I could remember. They didn't care for me and they neglected me. I don't remember them ever saying a single nice thing to me. The worst of it started on my ninth birthday. I woke up to my dad storming into my room. He started screaming something at me and dragged me out of bed. Then he threw me on the ground and started telling me how worthless I was. I was so in shock that I couldn't even scream. He then forced me to stand up and dragged me to the servant room. Telling me to strip and change into the servant clothes. I was his servant now. I started to cry and ask him why. He slapped me and held my mouth shut. He told me I was a mistake and I was worth less than a piece of dirt. I meant nothing to him or my mom. H-he said-" Michael cuts himself off with a sniffle. Luke squeezes his hand in reassurance.

"He told me that my existence is a burden on him and my mum and that I was to make it up to them by being their servant. I was nine years old. I couldn't do anything. I was scared shitless. He then forced me down the servant wing stairs that led to the kitchen. My mom was waiting there for us. She told me the Irwin family was coming over for dinner, my name was Gordon, I was a servants son, and if I spoke a single word or did a single thing wrong..... They would do bad stuff to me. Almost everyday after that I wanted to die. I struggled through endless verbal abuse. However, they never beat me because they didn't want to touch someone like me. I never took in what they said to heart. But it was hard, from such a young age being told I wasn't good enough, I would never do anything significant, I wasn't supposed to be here, etc. I didn't have anything to look forward to in life.... Until I discovered the library." Michael says, eyes lighting up.

"It was about a year and a half later. I was just walking around the mansion silently, and I found a library. So I went in and started looking around. Eventually I discovered the 'tech and mechanic' section in the library..." He says with a growing smile on his face. He looks around at the other boys and sees them smiling too. This is where the story turns good.

"It immediately intrigued me. So I grabbed as many books out of the section as my little arms could carry and I took them and hid them in a closet of an empty room. That empty room was my hide out. It was on the complete opposite side of the mansion from my parents room. In it I would hide from my parents criticism and read the books I found in the library. After a span of 2 months, I had read every single book in the section... I was in love with technology and the mechanics of how it worked. Then I started to go into more details. I figured out all the ins and outs of the Internet, coding, and hacking. After two years of discovery, I was a twelve year old genius. It was about that time too, that I started to hate everyone. I already did hate people before, I mean my parents did literally treat me more like a spec of dust rather than an actual human being. But that was the point where I actually hated people to tag point where I wanted to put in effort to ruin their lives. I was ready to do it too, except one thing stumped me. I needed to steal some things and I had no idea how. But then Calum, quite literally, came into my life," Michael says, throwing an exaggerated look at Calum, who just smiles back at him.

"Oh quite literally, now did he?" Ashton asks teasingly.

"Yeah, he did. Came right in through the window," Michael laughs softly, remembering how shocked his thirteen year old self was when Calum slipped in through the window of his hide out. After realizing someone else was in the room Calum, then just beginning to steal, started apologizing profusely and started blabbing out some excuse. But instead of angry, Michael was actually intrigued. He had never seen someone else his own age before. He also knew Calum had to have a somewhat similar mindset to him based on the fact that he was in his house and no alarms were going off.

"Instant start to an awesome friendship," Calum says.

Michael nods in agreement. It was completely true. The two boys became great friends once they started talking to each other. Together they created havoc around the city, ran away when they were sixteen, recruited Luke, got Ashton out of his hell, and a lot more.

"Anyways, that's it for my story boys. Let's get back to the matter at hand," Michael says clapping his hands together.

The four boys shift positions again, moving to form a circle in the middle of the bed. Michael across from Ashton and Luke across from Calum.

"Okay, so we need to get invitations, outfits, and a ride." Michael says, setting the basic goals of their conversation.

"I got the ride handled," Calum says.

"Calum and I can go get the invitations tomorrow morning and we'll figure out outfits later. I think all we need are suits and masks." Luke says.

"Sounds good to me. What are we going to do at the party anyway?" Ashton asks.

"Well...." Michael starts telling the boys his idea. Then they all pitch in ideas until they come up with a perfect plan.

"Great! Now that that's settled, let's get some rest boys. We're going to need it for tomorrow," Luke says, already feeling himself growing excited for the mess they're going to create the next day.

Chapter Text

"This isn't going to end well."

"Shut up Cal," Luke says, glaring at the dark-haired boy. The two criminals were heading over to the rich side of town to pick up the invitations for the masquerade. In order to be let in to the party you had to have an invitation, and the only way to get an invitation was from Karen Clifford. She was handing them out at the lobby of the most expensive country club in the city.

"How are we going to even face her?" Calum asks.

"We'll just have to control our ang-" Luke starts to say but he is interrupted by his phone ringing. He looks at the contact name and sees: 'My Sweet Angel.' Michael. He laughs to himself at the name his boyfriend put in for himself.

Luke gestures to Calum that he needs to take the call. The two boys quickly find an narrow alleyway and Luke takes the call. Calum leans against the wall opposite of Luke.

"My Sweet Angel?" Luke speaks into his phone.

"Oh so you saw it? Misleading isn't it? None of its true." Michaels voice rings out through the receiver.

"Well actually.... Some part of it is true."

"What do you mean? My sweet angel describes an innocent little girlfriend. Not an evil mastermind of a boyfriend who fantasizes about people's deaths. I'm not sweet and I'm definitely nowhere near an angel. Please enlighten me with what part of it is true?"

"That you're mine." Luke says seriously.

"...... You fucking sap!" Michael says.

"But it's true Mikey, you're mine and not anyone else's. And anyways you love me for my sappy self," Luke says, laughing at Calum's fake gagging.

"Well yeah, I guess I do love you for that but also.... You happen to be a serial killer, and that just so happens to turn me on."

Luke takes a deep breath and ignores the way his dick twitches after hearing Michaels words.

"Er.. Moving on. What did you call me for?"

"I just wanted to tell you guys to hurry up because we've got a lot to get done today before the party."

"Don't worry we'll be fast. I won't be able to be in your mothers presence for that long."

"Ok thanks. Don't be afraid to be a rude ass motherfucker towards my mother! Bye love you!!" Michael says before hanging up.

Luke smiles to himself and puts his phone in his pocket.

"Let me guess, he told you he loves you," Calum says sarcastically, pushing himself off from the wall he was leaning on.

"Oh shut up dick face. He was just telling us to make sure we hurry. Let's go,” Luke says, rolling his eyes at his dark-haired friend.

---

"I can't do this. I'm going to blow it and I'm going to stab her," Luke murmurs to Calum. The two were standing just outside the lobby of the country club.

“Shut the fuck up Luke. We all have anger issues,” Calum murmurs back.

“Okay, you’re right. So how are we going to do this?”

“This is what I’m thinking. The woman’s a socialite. So, she’ll probably be standing in front of a table, chatting to people. The invitations will probably be on the table behind her. We also know that whatever the set up is, she is going to be in the dead center because there is nothing that Karen Clifford likes more then attention. What we are going to do is walk in, keep close to the walls and walk around to the back of the table. I’ll take it from there.”

“Sounds like a plan Thomas,” Luke says, signaling the start of their act.

“Lets go Robbie.”

The two boys fall into step, side by side, each molding their stance and posture to match that of an over confident rich person. Then, they walk into the lobby only to find what Calum had predicted. The lobby was fancy and circular. The from desk was on the opposite side of the entrance and Karen Clifford was seated right in the middle of the room. She was sitting down in a fancily carved wooden chair. She was in an expensive looking sparkly red dress, chatting animatedly to man in a suit and tie. Next to her, was a small, yet tall, found wooden table that had a pile of invitations on top of it.

“I think we’re a little bit under dressed,” Luke whispers to Calum, looking at the flannels and black skinny jeans they were wearing.

The two boys look down at their outfits, look at each other and shrug. Oh well.

Luke and Calum walk counter-clockwise along the wall until they reach the point where they are directly in line with the table. Then they turn left and walk straight towards the table. While doing this, they can’t help but overhear the conversation between Karen and the man.

“But Karen, I must know how you feel about inviting every citizen of Watertown into your house.”

“Oh Charles, don’t be silly. Daryl and I have thought about this thoroughly. What kind of people would we be if we didn’t invite everyone to our party? Our property is big enough to fit more then the whole town, so why not invite everyone.”

“But does everyone have access to every single room?”

“The only room that will be off limits is Michael’s room.”

Both Luke and Calum freeze at Michael’s name coming out of his mother’s lips, the familiar name sounding absolutely sickening with her voice.

“But don’t you think, since you’re inviting everyone, that Michael and his friends would want to come?”

“Michael was always a timid child, I’d be surprised if he’s stepped a foot out of wherever he is now. But recently it seems he’s gotten more confident. But still, I think he’d be too scared of coming back to the house… Scared of getting caught, of course...”

Luke subtly taps Calum twice on the arm, he was going to blow. The woman was a lying bitch.

Calum taps him back once, signaling him to stay still. Calum then proceeds to take the final steps towards the table with the invitations and prepares himself to speak politely.

“Pardon me, m’am, are these the invitations for the party tonight?” He asks politely.

“Yes, you may take some. But remember, it’s a masquerade christmas party… dress up nicely,” Karen Clifford says almost reluctantly, scrunching up her nose in distaste at the two boys’ attire.

“Thank you m’am,” Calum says with a tight smile, grabbing two invitations and turning around. He hands one to Luke and the two begin to walk out calmly.

“Anyways, back to my questions Karen, What would you do if you saw your son at the party?”

Luke and Calum walk slower, wanting to hear her response.

“Quite frankly Charles, I’m not sure. I think I’d pull him into a big hug and welcome him home."

The two tall criminals barely got out of the door before bursting into laughter.

“What a fake bitch. I hate her.”

“Like she’d ever pull Mikey into a hug. Regardless of the fact that she refused to touch him, I’d skin her alive before she even got the chance.”

“Come on Luke, let’s go home. We have twelve hours till the party starts,” Calum says.

---

“Bonjour la mère, mon nom est Michael Gordon Clifford. Vous avez tué mon père. Préparez-vous pour mourir," Michael says.

"Ehh.. Too Princess-Bridey for my taste. If anything that applies more to my situation then to you,” Ashton says.

Currently, he was in Michael’s room, sprawled out on his bed. Michael was facing him in his desk chair. The two were determining plans for the party.

“But Ash, I have to say something to her. It needs to be something that won’t exactly terrify her, but will scare her just enough to let fear settle in,” Michael sighs, running a hand through his freshly dyed red hair.

“Luke’s going to kill you for dying your hair red,” Ashton points out.

“I don’t give a fuck what Luke thinks, I do what I want. Anyways I can just say I was dying my hair red to get into the Christmas sprit. The last the news heard my hair is black. Back to the point, any ideas on what I should say to my mom?”

“How about you use something she would say to you in your childhood against her.”

“That’s perfect! I know exactly what I’m going to say. This is going to be great!”

“Hey Mikey….” Ashton says quietly.

Michael immediately stops his celebrating at the slightly sad tone of his best friend’s voice.

“Yeah Ash?”

“Do you… Do you think Harry and Lauren will be there?”

“I’d think so. They live there and the party is being thrown for their dead mother. But come on with it, I can tell that’s not your real question. It’s okay, you can ask.”

“Do you think your parents treat Harry and Lauren the same way they treated you?”

“I sure as hell hope not. But if she did, we’ll make them pay.”

Ashton nods at Michaels words.

Chapter Text

*The boys are wearing the outfits they wore to the AMA’s (The button downs HELL YES) and they each have matching fancy black masks, which cover just the eye area.*

“Are you ready guys? I’m back,” Calum shouts out into their apartment. He just was at the Clifford mansion, taking care of some last minute preparations and making sure that their things would be there before they arrived at the party.

“How’d it go?” Luke asks, coming into the living room in his white long-sleeved button-down, the other two following him in their respective party outfits.

“Good. The alarms are disabled, the security cameras are off, and it is crowded in the mansion. Just let me change really quick and then we can head out,” Calum says heading to his room.

“I’ll help,” Ashton says, turning to follow him.

“You want to help him, Ashton?” Michael smirks.

“Shut up Michael. Fix your boyfriend, he looks like a dork,” Ashton says sassily before following Calum.

“Oi! That hurt Ash,” Luke shouts after him.

“The truth hurts Lucas,” Ashton’s voice calls back, then the sound of Calum's door slamming is heard.

“I don’t look like a dork, do I Mikey?” Luke frowns.

“Um, a little bit,” Michael admits.

“Michael…” Luke growls lightly.

“Here, I’ll fix you. Don’t stress,” Michael coos, coming closer to stand in front Luke, grabbing his collar, slightly tilting his head up, and lightly placing his lips upon the blonde’s, “Save your anger for later.”

Luke nods and watches as Michael takes his hand and undoes Luke’s top two buttons. He can’t help but think of how pretty the red-haired boy is.

“There you go,” Michael says and Luke immediately reattaches their lips together.

Michael groans into it, wrapping his arms around the taller boys neck. Luke grips his waist tightly, soon letting his hands slide down to Michael's thighs, signaling him to jump. Michael does and is immediately slammed into the wall behind him. Michael moans at the rough contact, tugging on the hairs on the back of Luke’s neck. Luke bites his lip and Michael submits easily, he loves it when Luke dominates him.

“Oi!”

---

"So you guys know the plan right?" Calum quietly asks, directing the question towards Michael and Ashton. The four boys were in the back of a car that Calum's sister is driving, all masked and ready to go.

Calum is the only one out of the four boys who isn't on bad terms with his family. The police, however, don't know that they exist since Michael made them seem dead in the police's database.

"Yes, you and Luke are going to socialize for an hour and a half while me and Ash stick together and start to scope things out for the plan. Then we find each other and start it," Michael says.

"Now remember, don't draw attention to yourselves," Luke says.

"Got it, let's do this," Ashton says confidently, ignoring the dread building up in his stomach. He hates people, he hates crowded places, and he absolutely despises this party.

Soon they pull up in front of the Clifford mansion and Mali stops the car.

"Have fun boys," she says.

"Thanks Mali," they all say in unison before hoping out of the car.

Luke, Calum, and Ashton all look up at the mansion in awe at it's enormity. Even though Ashton used to live in a mansion of this size, it was still a shock to see the full thing light up with Christmas lights. Ashton was rarely allowed out of his room so he'd never seen this before.

"This is so weird," Michael mumbles to himself, watching as Mali drives the car away. He sighs and turns around to face his boys.

"Come on guys, let's go," he says. Then the four boys move in formation, making there way up the front stairs. Calum and Luke were in front with the invitations, Ashton and Michael following them closely.

Numerous groups of people were scattered around the front lawn. The woman were in extravagant dresses, the men were dressed nicely, and everyone had on masks.

There is something about a masquerade that makes people more risky, more sexual. With a mask on your face, there is a mask on your identity. You can be someone completely different for a night and nobody would know it was you.

In front of the large, open double doors of the mansion, stood a man in a black suit standing behind a table. He was accepting invitations and writing down names. There was a line in front of the table. Luke and Calum got in it, while Michael and Ashton waited off to the side. From the place where he was standing, Michael could see the familiar lobby and the double staircase that lead upstairs. He knew if you went behind the staircase and down a hallway he would find a white marble staircase leading down to a large circular ballroom with marble floors. There was a second story overlooking the room.

When he was younger, Michael would look down over the iron railings and he would observe the partygoers. He was always sad. He would watch them and be jealous. He wanted their freedom. He was stuck and alone, with only his thoughts to keep him company. His thoughts were dark dark sea, and he drowned in them. It was then that the anger set in, and he became who he was. The hate was always there, but his anger made it more apparent. He became more aware of it, and he loved it. Along with his growing knowledge of mechanics and technology, he also was thinking of ways he could hurt people. His beginnings broke him. His parents didn't teach him love, they taught him hate. That's why he's the way he is.

"Michael," Luke's voice snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Michael, are you going to be able to do this?" Luke asks quietly, voice barely above a whisper.

Michael nods and smiles softly. Luke, Calum, and Ashton are the only good things in his life. He didn't know what he'd do without them.

"Are you sure?" Luke asks.

"Go with Cal, socialize. Ash and I have it handled," Michael says, fighting himself against giving Luke a goodbye kiss. They have to keep displays of affection to a minimum until a certain part of the night.

Luke nods and Michael watches as he heads off with Calum, giving the two a little wave before they're gone.

"I don't feel comfortable," Ashton says.

"Neither do I," Michael agrees.

"At least we have each other," Michael smiles at Ashton's words. There's a reason that Ashton and Michael don't go out with the other two into public and have regular social interactions with people.

The red haired boy and the curly haired boy gave each other one last look of reassurance before finally stepping inside the doors of the house.

Ashton immediately follows Michael as he leads him back to his mother's party. As soon as they reach the top marble staircase, Ashton is met with multiple pictures of his mother. There were different pictures of Anne Marie Irwin all along the walls of the ball room. As he looks at them, he sees all the Christmas card pictures he took and he feels the anger fuel inside him.

"Hey, you alright?" Michael asks him, the red haired boy guides him over to a section of the railing so that they were looking over the party.

Ashton shakes his head, no he's not okay.

"No, but there's no going back now. Don't worry though, I'll calm myself down."

The two boys observed the party below them from their spot, which was in the middle of the room. A large Christmas tree was on the opposite side of the room from the stairs. There floor was full of people laughing and dancing.

"Michael I see your parents, they're by the tree. And they're holding a microphone."

Michael looks to where Ashton directed him and sure enough there they are.

"I hate them."

"I know you do."

Michael is about to say something else when they hear the sound of a microphone being tapped on a speaker.

"Hello everyone! Are you all having a good time?" His mother's voice projects throughout the room. The crowd responds with a cheer.

"I'll take that as a yes. I just want to give a little reminder as to what this party is being thrown for. Today is the anniversary of Anne Marie Irwin's death and this party is in honor of her and the wonderful woman that she was-"

Ashton starts to giggle at that. His mother was the furthest thing from wonderful.

"I have an idea, we have to move quickly though," Michael says.

"Shoot."

"Okay how about we move really quickly to get to the front of the crowd. I know they're going to tell a fake ass story about what happened to your mother. But my mother will freak if she thinks she sees me. We won't get caught though, don't worry. My parents would die before admitting me as their child. I think Lauren and Harry might be somewhere up there so you can check up on them."

"Like they'd talk to me."

"It doesn't hurt to try. Plus we don't have to worry about Luke and Cal catching us because Luke will probably be subtly restraining Calum from doing anything rash."

"Okay let's go."

The two boys walk back to the marble staircase and make their way down the stairs.

The two boys stick close to the left wall of the room as they make their way closer to the front of the crowd, trying to stay as far away from the crowd of people that they could.

But then Ashton stops. Michael looks at him concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asks quietly. But then Michael notices it. Ashton is staring at a photo, more specifically, he was staring at someone in it. He was staring at his dad.

Ashton turns to him with tears in his eyes and Michael immediately pulls in the curly haired boy for a tight hug.

"It's okay," he whispers, comforting the boy.

"Faggots, disgusting," someone mutters to them.

Bad idea. Both Ashton and Michael feel fury building within them and they quickly break apart to see who it was. It was a man with green hair, and a red mask and suit. The man scoffed and walked away. Michael quickly grabs Ashton's wrist before he finishes pulling his gun.

"Looks like we've found number one," Michael says dangerously. Ashton nods and let's go of his gun.

The two then finish making their way in the front of the crowd. Then they move so that they'd be right in front Karen and Daryl. Karen was in a dark burgundy dress, neither she or Daryl had a mask.

"Another thing that Anne and I have in common, other than being best friends, is that we both have sons that are criminals. Michael Clifford, and Ashton Irwin," Karen speaks into the microphone.

The crowd let's out an audible gasp at the names. Both Michael and Ashton simultaneously roll their eyes.

"The shocking thing is, neither child has had a bad childhood. They were treated with love. It is an honest shock that things are the way they are now."

"Lying bitch," Michael mutters to Ashton, the curly haired boy nods.

"But that's besides the point. The main point is I recently have found a picture of him."

The whole room freezes at the women's words. It is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone knows there's no pictures of Ashton. Nobody except for Ashton, Michael, Luke, Calum, and Ashton's family knows why, but everyone knows there's no pictures of Ashton.

"Now, his face is mostly covered in the picture, it wouldn't help anyone identify him now. But I found it in his younger sister, Lauren Irwin's room. We will display it after I finish talking and everyone can take a look."

Ashton bites his lip, he doesn't know when Lauren would have taken a picture of him.

"Anyways back to Anne Marie. She was the most loving woman I've ever met. We had the same morals, same respect for each other, s-same way of..." Karen Clifford trails off... She barely notices her husband take the microphone from her and continue her speech about Anne Marie. She was looking straight at someone in the front row, even with the mask on she could still tell who it was. She was staring her son, his green eyes shining through the wholes in his mask. Fear and hate started building up within her. The hate because she despised that thing. Fear because she knows he's got connections. Karen calms herself. She's not going to let him ruin her party. It's just a figment of her imagination.

Michael can see his mom staring at him. Perfect. He smirks and waves at her and he mouths:

“Payback is a bitch.”

Chapter Text

WARNING: this chapter is GORY. I will have ***'s before and a ‘ xxxxxxxxx’ at the end of the sections that you need to worry about running into that stuff.

Approximately three minutes after Karen and Daryl Clifford finished their speech, Ashton finds himself looking into the miserable eyes of his sixteen year old self. The picture Lauren took of him is being displayed in front of the large Christmas tree. Michael and Ashton are standing in front of the tree, looking at the picture amongst a crowd of other people doing the same thing. But as the other people filter through, Michael and Ashton stay put.

The picture displayed is kind of blurry around the edges but the middle is clear. It shows Ashton's hazel orbs and unruly golden curls peeking out from behind a fancy camera. The picture was not nearly clear enough to identify any of his facial features, just those two traits were visible from over the mask of the camera in front of his face and the blurred background of a Christmas tree behind him. In the picture, He was wearing an old red sweater and faded plaid pajama pants.

Ashton knows automatically when this picture was taken. He was 16 in the picture. It was a year before he murdered his mother. A year before he escaped. A year before he found home.

"She must of taken it when you were taking their Christmas picture," Michael says quietly to him.

"Yeah, But why?" Ashton asks in response.

"I don't know," Michael frowns. In the picture he could read the emotions showing through Ashton's eyes. He could see the misery, the sadness, the hurt, the fury, and the danger that shouldn't of been in the sixteen year old's eyes. There was also his white-knuckled hands, gripping the camera almost too tightly. The boy was broken. Michael noticed something familiar form Ashton's stance in the picture. By the way Ashton was standing in the picture, Michael could tell he was trying to resist the urge to shoot. Michael found his gaze trailing down the side of Ashton's red sweater to his hip. There he saw the outline of the handle of a gun.

Ashton sighs, he hates this. He hates that he wants to know why Lauren took the picture. He hates that he cares. He hates everyone. He hates everything. He hates everyone. He hates everything. He hates everyone. He hates everything. He hates people. He hates people. He hates society. He hates society. Society is like a small box. If you don't fit in, you'll get thrown out. Ashton hates small spaces.

"What a worthless piece of shit."

Both Ashton and Michael's heads shot towards the speaker of the comment.

"What do you mean?" The lady next to him asked.

"I mean look at him. The boys a slob. He isn't dressed nicely and he obviously isn't right in the head. He's a serial killer. He's worth nothing."

Bad idea. Michael turns and taps Ashton on the wrist, saying quietly, "Let's go to my room. It's time to get this party started."

Ashton nods and they both turn around, The curly haired boy stepping behind the red haired one and following him through the crowd.

---

"Why did I decide to let all these random low class people into my house again?" Karen Clifford asks herself. She is in her master bathroom, just adding the finishing touches to her second gown of the night.

"Oh right, publicity Karen, Aaron said it will make you seem kinder..." The woman continues to mumble to herself as she finishes up her makeup.

Once satisfied, She turns around to head back to the party but stops when she sees something in the doorway. Karen cautiously approaches the doorway to find a silver platter in it's foot.

"Well that's odd.." She mumbles to herself, picking it up. She sighs, and walks back across the bathroom, setting the platter atop of her vanity and sitting on the chair. She lifts off the cover to find a small gift box with red ribbon and dark green wrapping paper. The gift was wrapped messily, almost like whoever wrapped it hadn’t been taught how.

Karen felt her heart beating faster. Something wasn’t right about this.

She started unwrapping the present slowly and carefully, only to find a white box. Inside the white box was an envelope addressed to her and her husband.

There was blood on the envelope.

Karen shoves down the feeling of nausea that arose and she opens the letter and reads the messy script..

Dear Karen and Daryl,

Hello Mother. Hello Father. I haven’t seen you guys in a while. I don’t miss you. Actually I hate you both. Pretty sure the feelings mutual. Anyways, my friends and I have accepted your invitation and we are currently at your party. I’m pretty sure you know who my friends are but incase you don’t they consist of two serial killers and a thief with serious anger issues. Anyways, the whole point of this letter is to let you know that I’ve decided that we’re going to play a little game. You never played with me when I was little so we’re going to now. You’ll figure out the details as the night progresses. Have fun while you can. Thanks for inviting us.

Michael Clifford

----

**************
“And then, she got her hair dyed and I was like, Sarah take that out or I’ll shave it off,” A woman says, causing the circle of people Calum and Luke were standing in to erupt in laughter.

Luke fake smiles, thankful that a mask is covering the hatred in his eyes.

“Mikey texted me, it’s go time,” Calum whispers in his ear. Luke smiles again, a real one this time.

The two boys back out of the group and start to walk towards the bathrooms.

“I’ll take this one…” Calum mumbles quietly to him. Luke grabs a butterknife from the food table they were passing by before nodding, he understands. Calum needs to calm down.

Side by side they enter the mens restroom. Nobody was at the urinals and there was only one pair of feet in the corner stall. Perfect. Luke moved to the bathroom door and Calum moved three feet in front of the stall door.

“How long?” Luke asks, it didn’t matter how loud they spoke, the man was going to die.

“Two minutes tops.”

“Easy.”

Luke quickly pulls out a pair of plastic full-arm length gloves of his pocket and puts them on.

The toilet flushes and Luke locks the door.

The stall opens and Calum pounces on the masked man in less than a second, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him back against the wall. He looked the man straight in the eyes, through the masks, and he held onto his throat. The man struggled but he was no match for Calum, who’s crafty hands were squeezing tighter and tighter around his throat. After thirty seconds he was dead. Calum placed the man’s limp body sitting up on the toilet. After taking 5 seconds to admire the swollen and deep purple marks left on the man’s throat, he walked out of the stall, and started to fix himself up in the mirror.

Luke pulled the butter knife out of his pocket and stalks into the stall. He is using a butter knife because he only needed to make a minor cut for the blood. Luke quickly grabs the mans left ear and nicks the edge of lobe with the knife. The ears tend to bleed profusely no matter how small the cut. He drops the knife between the mans legs, into the toilet, and brings his right hand under the mans gushing ear. He takes his middle and pointer finger, dipping them in the blood and bringing his hand to write on the wall that the man died on.

When he’s done, Luke wipes the wet blood on his gloves off on the mans suit before taking them off and dropping them in the toilet as well. He looks over the body one more time before finally turning around and stepping out of the stall, walking over to the mirror to double check he was clean.

“Nice mate,” Calum says, looking over the gleaming scarlet letters that read: ‘PEEK-A-BOO.’ He then closed the stall door, leaving it a surprise for whoever was going to open it. It wouldn’t happen for a while because it was the corner stall of five.

“Time?” Luke asks Calum, who is now unlocking the bathroom door and holding it open for him.

“One minute and thirty seconds.”

“Perfect,” Luke says, giving him a low-five before exiting the bathroom, Calum following right after him.

“Now to Mikey’s room.”

xxxxxxxxx
———

“Ash, which room should we do it in?” Michael whined.

“Well how am I supposed to know? You’re the one who lived here,” Ashton says.

The two boys were sitting at the foot of Michael’s childhood bed, waiting for Luke and Calum. Michael’s room was extremely small and plain. All his tech stuff (from growing up) was in his childhood hideout, the closet of an empty room (which happened to be on the complete opposite side of the house of his parents room).

“Okay…. oh I got it!”

“Which one?”

“The playroom, it’s on the third floor. It’s a square room with white carpet and walls. The only furniture is a white cabinet with boardgames. I was never aloud to use it, it was only for guests who had children.”

“Perfect, we’ll set him loose in the middle and see which one of us he goes to.”

“Let’s have you or Luke do it, if he comes to me or Calum we can push him back in the middle. If it’s you it’ll be alright since we’re far enough from the party and if it’s Luke….”

“What, what about Luke?”

“Well I was just thinking that it’d be funny if Luke did it, because he’d have to wear one of those plastic protection things so that the blood wouldn’t get all over his suit.”

“I’d like to see Luke in one of those.”

“Trust me, I can get him into one.”

“Get who into what?” Michael hears the voice of his boyfriend, and turns to see him entering the room, Calum right behind him. Calum goes to stand in front of Ashton, grabbing his hands while Luke goes and stands in front of him.

“You. I was saying that you need to wear a plastic protection suit, so that you wouldn’t get blood all over your clothes,” Michael says, smiling up and the blonde haired serial killer.

“What a nice thought,” Luke smiles back, leaning down and giving him a quick kiss.

“Okay so who’s the target?” Calum asks. They need to move, it’s not long before the people find bodies, as soon as they do the party will be not much of a party anymore.

“He’s a man, he has green hair and a completely red suit,” Michael says.

“Called us faggots,” Ashton adds.

“Go get him, convince him to come exploring, and bring him to the playroom. It’s the room directly ahead once you go up the staircase to the third floor.”

“What are we playing?” Calum asks.

“A special version of blindman’s bluff.”

—

All Jake could see was darkness.

He knew he shouldn’t of followed those two men up to a random room in an unfamiliar home. But they invited him to join them and a couple of friends of theirs in a game that involved vodka so it sounded like a good idea at the time. However, the only thing he was met with as soon as he entered the room was a blindfold… now he’s not so sure it was a good idea.

“Okay… so where’s the vodka?” He asked jokingly. Maybe this is all the game.

“Oh there’s no vodka,” A voice says right behind him, shoving him forward. He stumbles before catching his balance. Now he was kind of freaked out. He takes a deep breath and tries to hear whats around him. He hears nothing except for the wrinkling of plastic behind him.

“So why am I here?,” he asks. He wants to see how many other people are in here, he remembers briefly seeing a square room before being blindfolded.

“Well we wanted to play a game.” Another voice says coming from northern left to where he is. He also hears pairs of footsteps and swishing of plastic.

“What-what game?” He didn’t like this.

“Just a little old blindman’s bluff,” A third voice from the back right portion of the room says. He’s assuming he’s in the middle of the room.

“How do you play?” he asks.

“Well obviously, you are the blindman, and you have to tag one of us it.” The first voice, now coming from the bottom left corner, says.

“Why here, why now, why in a stranger’s house?” He definitely doesn’t like this, he turns around and starts heading towards the door.

“Don’t try to leave,” He hears the first voice, closer now, growls harshly. Strong arms are suddenly shoving him back, causing him to fall on his butt. Okay so he’ll be staying away from the bottom left corner. He quickly stands up and faces the opposite direction.

“And to answer your question… that’s where you’re wrong, you see. This is my house and I can do whatever I want.” A fourth voice from the top right portion of the room says.

“Oh shit,” He says. Of course he would run into Michael Clifford at a party.

“Follow our voices as we count to ten, and then try to find one of us. If you find one of us, we’ll let you go,” The second voice says.

“One,” The first voice says.
“Two,” The second voice says.
“Three,” The third voice says.
“Four,” The fourth voice says.
“Five,” The first voice says. As the cycle is going on, Jake can feel himself growing dizzy as he is trying to follow the voices. He can also hear his heart beating out of his chest. He’s scared out of his mind.
“Six.”
“Seven.”
“Eight.”
“Nine.”
“Ten."

******

Michael smirks to himself as he watches the man in the red suit kneeling in the floor, trying to wait till his mind stops spinning. He is kneeling in a position that is directly facing Luke, who has a plastic safety suit over his clothes.

Looking at the room from the door, Luke would be in the bottom right corner, Calum would be in the bottom left corner, Ashton would be in the top left corner, and he himself would be in the top right corner.

Finally he watches as the man shakily stands up and stumbles straight towards Luke. As soon as the man makes contact with Luke, the only sound is a tense silence. You could see the man practically shaking with fear."

After three seconds, Luke finally says, “Oh.. well I guess its my turn now.”

Then he brings up his right arm and slashes at the man, immediately knocking him down with the force of the blow. Michael watches his boyfriend as he takes a seat on the man’s thighs and continues to slash at his stomach and chest, blood splattering freely about the bottom left corner of the room. He could see the smile on Luke’s face as he made the final cut at the man’s throat, watching Luke smile as he watched the life go out of the man’s eyes. It made him smile.

Luke then dipped his protected finger in the blood, and wrote ‘BLINDMAN’S BLUFF’ on the man’s blood splattered white blindfold.

“Now what?” Ashton asked.

Suddenly someone burst through the door. It was a man in a white suit."

All four boys stood still for a moment, Luke still in the process of taking off a blood covered protection suit.

Ashton shot the man without a second thought. Single shot straight through the heart. Ashton hits the target every single time.

That moved everyone out of their state of shock. It’s not often someone ruins their plan. Luke finished getting out of the plastic suit and Michael took charge.

“Okay Luke use some of the blood and write ‘HANGMAN’ on his suit. Calum while he’s doing that you go grab the rope, then we’re going to hang him outside the window and we’re going to bring attention to it once you two get all the stuff and meet me and Ash outside.”

All the boys move at once, and the plan is executed perfectly and soon enough the boys are sitting at home and smiling at all the chaos they created on the news.

----

A/N: SO HOW DID YOU LIKE IT?!?!?!?!

I KNOW THE ENDING SUCKS BUT I HAD TO FINISH IT BECAUSE i’m being rushed to go and do something and yeah yeah yeah. I also didn’t get a chance to proof read it so i hope t’s okay. Soon enough we’ll find out Luke and Calum’s backstories and I’m excited for next chapter!

TELL ME ALL YOUR THOUGHTS!!!!!!!

Chapter Text

Sunlight poured in through the old wooden shutters of Luke's bedroom as the morning sun steadily crept upon the horizon. The seemingly never-ending heat of the city making its reappearance as well. The murderer shifted a bit in his sleep, content to have his mastermind in his arms. The fingers of his left hand were subconsciously threading themselves through the red-haired boy's soft locks while his right arm was gripping Michaels waist firmly . Michael was comfortably squeezed between Luke's firm chest and strong arms. His head was tucked under Luke's chin and his arms were softly resting against his chest. Michaels legs were wrapped around Luke's. They were two screwed up jigsaw pieces, but they fit together perfectly. So did Calum and Ashton. Together, the four of them completed the puzzle.

On the other side of the hallway, Ashton wakes up in Calum's room to find the bed messy. He immediately notices the absence of the body behind him and quickly sits up. He sees that Calum's black bed sheets were wrinkled and strewn about around him. His eyes scattered around the walls of the room, silently counting the amount of holes punched in the wall to see if there were any new ones. When he counted it last week, the number was about sixty something. They have to have somebody (a criminal of course) come in once every month to fill in the holes Calum punched in the wall. Now there was 72. Ashton sighs as he sluggishly begins to push himself out of the bed. As soon as his feet hit the hard carpeted floor, he pulls on his black skinny jeans. He then walks into Calum's closet and takes one of his hoodies and pulls it over his head. Ashton then makes his way out of Calum's room and into his own to grab a gun before strapping it onto his back and climbing out the window. He then continues to climb up the side of the abandoned apartment until he steps onto the rooftop. The scarred boy walked across the roof and hopped on to the next, beginning his scout for potential victims.

----

Calum feels the familiar boiling of anger inside of him as he walks through the brick alleyway that lead to his destination. He was wearing a random pair of vans, a black hoodie, and black basketball shorts. He pulled the hood of his hoodie over his head before letting his hand scrape along the brick wall as he makes his way.
-

There is a lot more to the thief than what is commonly known. Calum is a street fighter. He got involved with it when he was 15. Calum also has an insane amount of uncontrollable rage. The only people who aren't subject to it are Ashton, Michael, Luke and his sister. But the rage didn't come into play until 2 months after he started getting into fighting. The reason that Calum actually began street fighting actually was because in the beginning stages of his thievery he wasn't able to get away clean, his work was sloppy. People would catch him and try to beat him up. Calum was a scrawny 15 year old at the time, but he was never a weak guy. He could usually get a couple of punches in. He didn't really get fully into the actual underground fighting until his mother died. He never lost a fight after that.

Growing up, Calum's family was dirt poor. They lived in a tiny one roomed 'house'. He and his sister would switch who slept on the couch and who slept on the floor. They had no one to help them. Society wouldn't even look their way. Yeah the whole 'oh we always will help the poor and needy' thing, it didn't happen for Calum's family. Not a single human being made an effort. That was the subtle birth of his hatred for others. It was obvious the family couldn't afford much. He could see everyone turn their nose up at him whenever he walked through the city. That made the small boy very angry. Calum started stealing at 11 years old so that he could provide some food for his family. Fuck society and morals, they were in dire need of the basic essentials of life. At first, It was only stealing food. Then, for the next three years Calum learned the tricks of the trade like how to get past the Feds, alarms, and he even began to come up with his own. It wasn't until he was 15 that he actually started going for bigger game.

However 2 months later his whole world shattered. Calum's mom got super sick. She was so sick she couldn't even walk. She needed to go to hospital. They family didn't have enough money for a car or a phone plan. So Calum and Mali walked side by side with their dad as he carried his dying wife in his arms three miles to the only hospital in Watertown. The hospital staff immediately gave her a room and put her on fluids. Calum watched the doctor call his dad out of the room from the chair next to his mothers bed. He saw the absolute agony on his father's face as the doctor told him the news. The tears were streaming down his face as he came back into the room. That was the only time Calum had ever seen him cry. Then he told them the dreaded words that caused Calum's uncontrollable rage issue:

"He refuses to treat her until we pay him.... Joy, I-I we d-don't have enough money."

Mali starts crying. Calum gasped. His dad walked over to the other side of his wife's death bed, brushing his hand through her hair.

"I'm going to lose the love of my life, the mother of my children, I'm going to lose my Joy.....all because I can't afford to save her-"
Calum's dad stopped.

The haunting long beep of the heart monitor taking away his thoughts. Joy had taken her last breath.

Her death broke Calum. It broke his whole family. It was only extra fuel to the fire of his rage when his father committed suicide the next day.

He came home from his regular Sunday morning pick-pocketing at the farmers market to find his father dead, rubber band tied tight around his upper arm and an empty shot fallen on the floor next to his lifeless fingers. There was also a note, addressed to him, on the counter. He was in such a state of shock he didn't even cry. Emotionlessly, he walked towards the counter and picked up the note.

It read:

Dear Calum,
I am so sorry it had to come to this... But I cannot live without Joy. I made a vow, I will be with her through life and through death. How will I be with her through her death if I am alive? So I swiped some morphine from the hospital last night and I am going to kill myself as soon as I finish writing this letter. Now I know you just lost both of your parents and that is going to be hard on you, but you're a strong boy Calum. You can provide for yourself. 'What about Mali?' You may be wondering. Well, I told Mali to join her boyfriend's gang and to stay with him in the letter that I wrote for her. You and I both know that she would be better off with staying with him. You can't provide for the both of you. But I trust you will both find each other again. I also trust that this won't be the downfall of the Hood family. I want you to take our deaths and let it make you stronger. Don't think of it as a loss, think of it as an asset. Use it as fuel to make society pay. I love you so much Calum, my boy, my son. I hope you will understand. But I am just not as strong as you, and I must fulfill my duty.
Love, Dad.

Calum understood, Calum heard his fathers message crystal clear. He immediately left his house and made his way to this underground fighting club he had heard about. He knew he had to let his anger out somehow. And when Calum had his turn in the ring, he was going to kill his opponent. Whatever it took, he was going to end another life with his bare hands just so they could feel the pain that he did. And he did.

The death of his parents gave Calum more courage and more balls to try larger heists. Which is how he eventually found himself face to face with Michael Clifford. Things got better from there.

-

The old lighting of an abandoned parking garage shone upon the boxing ring. There were screaming men all around the ring, cheering for which opponent they thought would win. The referee blew his whistle, silencing the crowd.

"Alright gentlemen, settle down, settle down. I'm going to tell you who our two fighters is, and then we're going to watch them duke it out. Alright cheer for which one you think is going to win after I ask ya. Ok let's go! Are you ready to meet our opponents!!!??!!!" the ref yells.

The crowd of fight crazy men cheer and hoot in return.

"Okay, in this corner we have the big cat of the forest, the ultimate hunter, TIGER," he says gesturing to the bigger of the two men. This man had orange hair and nicely sized muscles. He was about 36 years old and he was about an inch shorter than his opponent.

"And in the other corner we have one of the youngest fighters involved in the Underground, he's about 19 now. But don't let his age fool you. This guy is brutal. He is super close to beating the record for most Deaths and he holds the record for causing the most hospital visits. Say hello to VENGEANCE!" He says pointing to the tan muscled 19 year old, who brushed his thick black hair out of his face. The teen sighed before pulling his black hoodie over his head, his tattoos standing out against his tan skin in the light of the garage. He hung his hoodie over the strings on the edges of the boxing ring before turning and nodding to the ref.

"WHO IS READY TO SEE A FIGHT?!?!"

The crowd screams.

"WHO's ROOTING FOR TIGER!!!!!!!"

The room goes silent.

"Oh come on! That guys the size of my lunch?!?!"

Bad idea, Calum thought to himself.

"WHO's ROOTING FOR VENGEANCE?!?!?!"

The ground shakes with the level of cheers the crowd emits.

Calum smirks to himself before sizing up the man in front of him. Eh, what's one more to the death toll.

"3...2...1...FIGHT!!!!" The ref shouts before blowing his whistle.

Calum feels himself see the usual red before jumping at the man.

Tiger was scared. He's never seen someone else's eyes so haunting before. But Vengeance's eyes tell a tale of death. He knew he was about to be his next victim.

Chapter Text

Before we begin.....

LOOK AT THIS GIF I FOUND ON TUMBLR OF LUKE HEMMINGS

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