Chapter Text

"Do ya see him anywhere, Brian?" Dan whispered, looking over his shoulder at the shadows of the hall.

"I'm fuckin looking, hold on–" Brian grumbled as he continued scanning for signs of life behind the various closed doors. He didn't like Dan wanting to find this human in this house full of hunters, but the vampire refused to leave with them unless he did. Seán tentatively sniffed the air, noting the scent of mildew that permeated the basement they found Dan trapped in.

"Wait, I think this is it. Daithi-" Brian started, having paused in front of a door with an exterior lock. The ghost in question rolled his eyes, already guessing what his friend was asking.

"Yeah, I'll check first," he muttered, slipping through the door. Once inside, Daithi noted that the room was entirely dark, unlike the rest of the basement. He turned and checked the doorknob, finding that there was no lock accessible from the inside.

Movement drew his attention towards a small mattress on the floor against the wall, barely long enough to properly hold the person on it. Even in the dark, Daithi could see that the person had no blanket, shivering in the damp cold of the room. The man was skinny and somewhat long-limbed as far as the ghost could see with the human curled into himself. A pang of pity ran through Daithi despite himself, and he poked his head back through the door.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is your guy, Dan."

The other three in the hall glanced at each other, Daithi retreating back into the room, before Brian pulled out a lockpicking kit. Grumbling under his breath, the cyborg began unlocking the door. "I still think this is a bad idea for the record here, lads," he reiterated, ignoring the displeased expression he knew would be on Dan's face.

“I saw the hunter’s threatening him, Brian-” Dan started, only to be interrupted by Brian’s huff of “He is literally the one who brought you here, you said!” The vampire rolled his eyes at that, gesturing to the locked door. “You think he’d be locked in there if he wanted to have done that?”

Brian went to respond, only for the lock to give a quiet click as the deadbolt turned. Seán shook his head at the other two and grabbed the handle, hissing out “If we’re doing this, let's get it over with already!”

Upon opening the door, Seán and Dan, unfortunate enough to have heightened senses, rushed to cover their noses and mouths at the smell of mold and rot. Brian’s own nose scrunched up in discomfort, despite it being less intense for him. Despite the glow emitted by their ghostly friend providing some light, the three took a second to fully adjust to the permeating darkness of the room.

Daithi floated near his companions, leaning slightly while gesturing to the corner where the bed was located.
“He’s over there. Somehow hasn’t woken up yet,” the dark-haired ghost whispered. Nodding, the group quietly walked up to the figure on the bed. Upon closer examination, Seán let out a hiss at the human’s sorry state, eyes narrowing in poorly contained anger. Dan sent the werewolf a look that screamed I told you so, to which Seán just shook his head in disbelief. The human rolled onto his back just as the group came to the edge of the bed. Dan, taking initiative as the only one the human had met, reached out and shook the man awake.

The man awoke with a start, the beginnings of a yelp out of his mouth before Brian lurched forward and slammed his metal hand over the human’s mouth. Panicked eyes adjusted and gazed widely at the ones surrounding him, letting out muffled words.

“I recommend not yelling when I move my hand, or I swear it’ll end badly for you,” Brian threatened, lighting up his robotic eye in a clear threat. Dan shot the cyborg another disapproving glare that went ignored. The human beneath Brian gulped before offering a silent nod.

“Good man,” Brian mumbled, removing his hand.

The man audibly tried to slow his breathing as he sat up, breaths hitching every couple of seconds with his head angled downward. Finally, he lifted his head once more and whispered a frantic “Who are you?! What are you doing here?!”

Dan stepped fully into the human’s line of sight, hands raised in what was meant to be a calming gesture. “Kevin, relax, these are my friends I told you about. We’re leaving, and we’re gonna get you out too.”

Dan expected Kevin to leap at the opportunity, but the already pale man somehow seemed to pale further, Daithi’s green glow giving him an even sicklier complexion as his eyes widened. Kevin shook his head frantically, moving to stand and shove past the bunch of mismatched monsters. The man’s bare feet, though barely making a sound, seemed to echo in the silence of the room as he began to pace, hands tugging at his hair.

“You need to leave! Just-I’ll be in enough trouble with you gone, just leave me out-out of it!” Kevin pleaded in a hushed tone, body shaking as he came to a halt facing away from the men in his room. The four monsters looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them. After a few heartbeats, Brian rolled his human eye and hissed out “Oh for fucks sake!”, moving towards the now startled Kevin and grabbing the taller man with enhanced strength. Kevin yelped, struggling against the stronger man’s almost bruising grip before being tossed over Brian’s shoulders and restrained in a fireman’s carry. As Brian adjusted the man, Kevin let out several pained whimpers as his shoulders were pulled beyond his limited mobility.

“Brian!” Dan exclaimed in a forced hushed tone as the cyborg started to exit the room with the writhing human.

“What? We don’t have time for this!” Brian whisper-yelled back, completely ignoring how Kevin’s struggles faded with the human’s (lack of) strength before the man went limp. Seán and Daithi watched the other three, conflicted.

“Brian, you sure this is-” the werewolf started, only to be interrupted by a sad, quiet plea.

“Please leave me go. I don’t wanna die,”

Brian paused midstep, irritated expression twisting into one of concern. Seán stepped forward, ducking around Brian’s taller form to look at the human’s face directly.

“Hey,” he started softly, noting how tightly Kevin’s eyes were squeezed shut, two deep scars around the human’s right eye stretching oddly. “We got in here fine, right? No one’s gonna die.” A pale blue eye shot open, red and panicked.

“You think you’re the first? They want a monster’s backup to come, so they can get-get r-rid of them all at once!” the man rasped out.

“That so? Then how come they only have things useful for subduing vampires around?” Daithi chimed in. The human slumped his head further against Brian’s shoulder. “ ‘s not normal for there to be multiple types of monsters hanging around each other enough to wanna come after one that’s taken…” he mumbled.

“Right! So they aren’t prepared for us. We’re getting out, and nothin’s stoppin’ us!” Seán interjected with a smile. The human just let out a groan of disbelief. Daithi moved ahead into the hallway before gesturing that the coast was clear. Brian resisted the urge to shrug against the (frankly, barely there) weight of the human he was carrying as he began to follow, Dan and Seán not far behind. He tried to ignore the quiet pained sounds Kevin gasped out occasionally as they snuck through the house. He didn’t succeed.

—

Seán, Brian, and Daithi led the way to the exit, retracing their steps to the door that led to the outside of the house. Kevin’s trembling increased the longer he was carried, causing the others to send worried glances at the man. Brian staunchly refused to think about it until they were out. The group stopped at the end of the stairs while Daithi once again performed his lookout duties. Brian ran another scan around the basement for signs of activity, noting none. This is almost too easy, Brian thought to himself. No triggered alarms, no active guards in the basement proper, and only Dan showed any signs of weakness from the defensive measures the hunters put up. If the human Dan was having them take with them was telling the truth, these hunters’ reliance on only monsters of the same kind defending each other made them foolishly complacent. The cyborg wasn’t complaining, though.

“Alright, come on,” Daithi announced upon his return. While trying to remain quiet, the remaining men hurried up the stairs and out the basement door. It was dark outside, the only light coming from the half-moon in the sky. They wasted no time running into the surrounding treeline. The increased jostling caused Kevin to let out a loud, involuntary groan into Brian’s shoulder.

“Hey, if you’re gonna throw up, don’t do it on me!” the cyborg shouted once they were further away from the house. The human gulped, stuttering back, “I-I think ‘m gonna-gonna pass out, actu-actually.” Brian came to a stop, quickly maneuvering the man off his shoulder into a seated position on the ground once Kevin’s words were processed. The other lads turned at the noise, moving to surround the human and cyborg.

Brian held Kevin upright by his shoulder, hand moving to the side of the human’s face. Kevin’s expression was pained, eyes half-lidded and unseeing as he panted. He had broken out into a sweat as he trembled harder than he had since being taken.

“Hey, hey, hey! Look at me, okay? You’re fine, you’re not gonna pass out,” Brian rushed, shaking Kevin’s head slightly, facing no resistance as the human’s head lolled limply against his hand. The human’s eyebrows pinched together impossibly tighter, hearing fading in and out as he tried to force his breathing slower and the spots out of his vision. Nausea ran through him, worsening with the jostling of his head, saliva building thick in his mouth. Fear sat in the back of his brain still, though the pain still wracking his body provided a significant distraction. Kevin was barely aware of his surroundings, slouching forward and moving his head out of the cyborg’s grasp as he gathered his breath and came back from the brink.

“You back?” the cyborg asked as the others crouched closer. The human finally looked at him directly when he replied, “Please don’t pick me up again.”

“You gonna run off if I let ya walk?” Brian grumbled. Kevin shook his head in a negative as he started bracing his hands against the forest floor to stand. Brian nodded and turned away from the man on the ground, huffing at the raised eyebrow on his ghostly friend’s face. Dan and Seán moved on either side of Kevin, helping him to his feet.

“Where are you even taking me?” Kevin asked quietly, trying to ignore how the monsters boxed him in on all sides. The vampire to his left offered a lopsided smile, gesturing further into the woods vaguely.

“Home.”

Chapter Text

To say that Kevin was overwhelmed would have been a massive understatement. Normally, when monsters decided to take him hostage, they didn’t gently help him to his feet or have him walk casually between them. The manhandling from earlier, sure. That was expected. Some of the scars scattered across his body attested to that. Not getting violent with him or threatening his life while shoving him forward? Not expected. So yeah, the scrawny man didn’t know what to make of this. He halfheartedly noted that the vampire-Daniel, his thoughts reminded him-was trying to talk to him as he followed the cyborg leading the group deeper into the forest. Kevin almost felt bad, but he couldn’t bring himself to process any of the things around him beyond vague acknowledgment. He didn’t want to know what would happen if the dam on his emotions broke while he was still actively being taken to an unknown location by monsters who by all means should want to kill him. So Kevin refused to ground himself, feeling like he was floating up and away from his body like the green ghost he knew was behind him.

He had no idea how long they’d been walking when he was forced to stumble to a stop to avoid running into the cyborg. Kevin blinked blearily and finally focused on what was in front of him. A sweat broke out on the back of his neck as he took in the huge, ancient mansion before him. Trees surrounded the small clearing the mansion had been built into, creaking eerily in the slight breeze. The moon shone down into the clearing, casting long shadows past the building that Kevin’s mind twisted into looming figures. Lights were visible from inside the mansion despite the curtains covering every window’s best efforts, cast in a deep and ominous red that contrasted with the dark paint of the exterior. Despair crawled up the human’s throat.

He had really been hoping the “home” the vampire had mentioned wouldn’t have been his actual lair.

—
Seán sagged in relief at the sight of Dan’s mansion. As the adrenaline finally faded from yet another rescue mission, the werewolf almost missed the building bitter stench of fear suddenly emanating from the newest part of their odd pack. He turned yellow-ringed blue eyes onto the human, head tilted in confusion.

The human was trembling in place, thin arms moving to wrap around his abdomen. Seán turned toward Kevin and extended his hand to the man’s shoulder. Further alarm ran through Seán’s body at the barely restrained, violent flinch given in response. Seán didn’t want to know what the fact that Kevin flinched entirely in place, without moving away at all, implied about what happened to the guy in the past.

“You okay?” the werewolf asked as he pulled his hand away. A whine escaped from Kevin’s mouth. The others cast a look at the two, but Seán quietly waved them away. Luckily, they must’ve all been exhausted enough to actually listen without a complaint, as they moved towards the door. Seán focused again on the skinny man, shifting to move in front of him.

“Please, I swear, they aren’t going to care what you do to me, please,” Kevin begged with a shaky voice. Seán’s felt his eyebrows pinch tightly in concern. “We aren’t going to hurt you-” he started, only to be interrupted by a hysteric laugh of disbelief. The werewolf started to move closer, but the increased trembling as the man forced himself silent made him stop in his tracks.

“Hey,” he started, voice quiet. “We want to help you, I promise.” Seán could tell that Kevin didn’t believe him, and it sent a pang of sadness into his heart. The man reminded him more of a wild animal than a human. And that’s saying something, coming from me, he thought. He resisted the urge to put his hand on Kevin’s arm as he turned and gestured his head to the mansion.

“C’mon. It’s dark and cold out here,” he offered kindly. However, it seemed his words weren’t taken that way, as the human’s eyes dimmed as he shut down. The werewolf was given a rigid nod, and the pair walked together to the door.

Seán couldn’t help but feel like a guard escorting a prisoner into a cell.

—
Dan was tired. The emotional and physical weight of the past few days was fully catching up to him now that he was home again. Really, going from the shock of betrayal to concern to protective rage all while fighting off the weakness caused by garlic and silver took a lot out of a person, it turned out. He knew the others, except perhaps Seán now that he thought about the werewolf’s reaction after seeing Kevin, thought he was insane for insisting they save the very man who lured him into that house. The vampire couldn’t help but look past that betrayal, however. He was certain he had made friends with the skittish man in the weeks since Kevin started talking to him, and seeing him get smacked around and then thrown into a locked room once the man had done what was asked of him made Dan certain that the human never wanted to hurt him.

The others would come to agree with him, he was sure.

Hopefully soon, he thought with exasperation as the cyborg and ghost rounded on him.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Brian shouted. The ghost beside him crossed his arms. “Seriously, Dan, I hate to agree with Brian-” Daithi ignored the enraged fuck off that came from the cyborg, “But this is a human. One who lied to you! How do you know he won’t get us all killed?” Dan rolled his eyes at their questions. Honestly, it was like they forgot he had over a hundred years of experience on them.

“Yous saw him! You heard the shit he said! You really think he was acting willingly?” he snapped back, not bothering to keep the irritation from his voice.

“That’s not the point! People do stupid shit when they’re scared! He could turn around and go back to them. Those hunters could have a way to track him down. Him being here is dangerous!” Brian argued back, gesturing angrily with his hands as Daithi nodded alongside him.

Before Dan could counter, the door to the mansion swung open once again as the subject of their argument stepped inside with Seán. The vampire looked the human up and down, features that were already mildly concerning when he noted them when they met becoming alarming now that the scarred man was in more threadbare clothes. The scars around his eye and across his jaw stood out more aggressively than he had ever seen-makeup, if Dan had to guess why-with no defined muscle or fat anywhere on his frame. Dark bruises dotted scarred arms and legs, varying from indistinguishable to obvious finger marks. He was walking more robotically than their resident cyborg, eyes downcast. Seán sent him a pleading look, eyes darting from the human quickly back to Dan as they came closer to the group.

The vampire forced the irritation out of his face and offered a small smile at a despondent Kevin. “Come on, I have an extra room I keep set up just down the hall,” Dan offered with a tilt of his head. Worryingly, the human tensed impossibly further before barely nodding back. The vampire wanted to ask, wanted to try and pull the human out of his head, but everyone was exhausted. Even Dan, who was normally wide awake at night, could feel the pull of sleep calling him. So he ignored the guilt building in his chest and simply kept walking, Kevin following obediently behind him.

He really hoped that a good night’s sleep would soothe everyone’s nerves.

Chapter Text

Dan was up long before the others despite his best efforts. The clock said it was around six in the morning, and the others would be up within the next couple of hours normally. Dan spent about an hour in the living room reading from one of his many poetry books. At about an hour until the others should awaken, he sat his book on the coffee table and padded into the kitchen silently, flicking on the light. His thoughts wandered to consider his timing as he contemplated what to make for the others’ breakfast. He was a little concerned about when their guest might appear since he had no idea what his schedule might look like, if he had one at all based on the state they found him in. He shook the thought from his mind as he gathered the ingredients for omelettes. The vampire started to hum to himself, moving to turn the hob on after placing a large pan upon it. He figured none of the others would complain about some meat-heavy omelettes with mushrooms and green onions as he set to work.

Two omelettes were completed by the time Brian stumbled in blearily, hair askew. The cyborg marched to the coffee pot, squinting as he measured out the grounds.

“Mornin’ Brian,” Dan called, earning a grunt in response. “You see Daithi anywhere?” he continued as the cyborg finished starting the coffee pot, if only to annoy the man by forcing his brain to function so soon after waking up. A blue eye glared at him before Brian huffed out, “He’s around. Somewhere.” The vampire nodded back as Brian sat with a plain white mug at the dining table, flipping another omelette onto the pile. The coffee pot gurgled as it began dispensing the liquid, the smell mixing with the rich aroma of the cooking food. As if on cue, Seán came bounding down the stairs and threw himself into the kitchen.

“Mornin’ Dan!” the chipper werewolf said, maneuvering past to grab his mug (a handmade black mug with a green dog paw painted on it). “Hey, Seán. I’m makin’ enough for yous guys to have two each. You want any more than that?” Dan asked. Seán shook his head in response. A crash suddenly rang through the room, followed by angry shouting from Brian.

“Will you fuck off!” Brian yelled at a cackling Daithi, Dan looking over to see the shards of the mug scattered on the table and floor. Upon hearing the tell-tale buzz of the cyborg’s laser eye powering up, Dan yelled back.

“Do not fire that in my house! How many times do I have to say it?”

The other two successfully cowed, Dan turned his attention back to moving the final omelette to the plate and turned off the hob. Attention finally no longer occupied, Dan came to the realization that the human had yet to turn up.

“Hey, Seán?” he started, the werewolf in question perking up as he piled his two omelettes on his plate. “Would you make sure those two don’t kill each other while I check on Kevin?” The dark-haired man chuckled before offering a mock salute. Dan smiled back, making his way out of the kitchen and past the table where an angry Brian was picking up ceramic shards.

The vampire moved down the hall before reaching the correct room, noting the darkness from the crack under the door. Dan knocked a few times, eyebrows pinching in concern at the sound of the room’s resident scrambling within. Oddly, it didn’t sound like Kevin was moving any closer to the door, so he tried calling his name.

No response, other than a rapid increase in wheezing gasps that Dan wouldn’t have heard if he didn’t have the enhanced senses of a vampire. Thoroughly worried now, he made the executive decision to open the door and turned the light on. The breaths came to a sudden halt at the actions, and the sight before him hurt the vampire’s heart.

Kevin was on the bed, shoving himself into a ball against the headboard, shaking arms wrapped around equally shaking knees. His eyes stared back at Dan like a deer in headlights, though Dan noted they were slightly squinted despite himself. Tear tracks were evident down the human’s pallid face, and the vampire winced at the new, purpling bruise around his mouth.

Raising his hands slightly in front of him, Dan stepped closer to the frightened man like he was a trapped animal. Deciding it best to cut to the point, Dan stated softly, “I made breakfast, if you want any?” He watched the human force his shaking still as he processed the vampire’s words. A reluctant look passed quickly across the man’s scarred face before he nodded, moving to his feet. Dan expected Kevin to walk past him, but the man simply stopped in front of the vampire with his head facing the ground.

“Uh-” he stuttered before correcting himself. “This way, then.” Dan led the man out the door towards the kitchen, an awkward silence between them.

–
Kevin’s skin crawled as he and (His friend? His captor?) Dan entered the dining area. The conversations he could hear all the way in the room he was put in came to a halt as the other monsters noticed him. He dared to scan the room, seeing a long, wide wooden table with three plates of food set out. The ghost was pretending to sit in the chair at one end of the table, floating just above it. Next to him was the cyborg that had grabbed him, fork dug harshly into a partially eaten omelette. The other one, who he had no idea what kind of monster he was-though he could hazard a guess based on the eyes and teeth-seemed to have just finished shoving food into his mouth given his puffed-out cheek. All of them were staring at him with varying intensity.

Kevin suddenly wished he was back in the room.

He had to suppress a flinch when Dan placed a hand on his shoulder and directed him to the chair next to the nicer one. He forced his posture straight in the chair, as was expected of him. He heard the man next to him speed up his chewing before swallowing with a loud gulp.

“Didn’t know if ya liked coffee, so I just got ya water. Hope that’s okay!” the monster smiled widely at him, all four elongated canines exposed. Kevin didn’t respond, shifting his eyes to the plate in front of him. Two omelettes with what looked like sausage, ham, mushrooms, and green onion sat innocently, a cup of water filled to the top and a fork placed next to it. Dan sat across from him, next to the cyborg, as the human frantically looked between everyone’s faces. He felt unbelievably lost.

“Eat. It’s not fuckin’ poison,” the cyborg huffed around a bite, making Kevin jump. (Dan smacked the other man’s arm, but Kevin had already turned his eyes back to the plate). The human’s stomach rolled and cramped at the idea, but an order was an order. So, to avoid the potential backlash should he ignore it, Kevin gripped the fork and started anxiously shoving the omelette into his mouth. He desperately tried not to gag at the overwhelming flavor after years of bland food. Kevin only made it through a single omelette before the pain in his guts forced him to stop. He hunched forward, arms circling around his stomach.

“Uh…you okay?” he heard someone say. The human desperately tried to ignore the rising nausea threatening to overwhelm him. He really, really didn’t want to know the punishment for throwing up food that was given to him, let alone food that must’ve taken so much effort. A knot developed in his throat as excess saliva flooded his mouth. His stomach ached horribly, shooting sharp pains as what he ate was tossed around. Kevin’s left hand shot up to his mouth as a gag escaped. Tears pricked at his eyes as more gagging forced its way through his frame. He vaguely acknowledged the sound of chairs being shoved aggressively away from the table as someone scurried off…somewhere.

Kevin couldn’t tell how much time had passed when suddenly a rigid object was shoved into his lap. A single eye cracked open, seeing it was a trashcan. Unable to stop himself, he buried his head into the bin and felt everything he ate come back up. The human took heaving breaths between expelling his stomach contents with sweat breaking out across his body. His nose crinkled in disgust at the sour smell of his own sick, forcing himself to breathe through his mouth to lessen the chance of it triggering further vomiting.
A wet rag dropped on the back of his neck startled him into bringing his head up, freezing as the reality of what happened settled into his bones. “I-I didn't- I didn't mean to- I-I swear,” he started in his panic. “I’ll-I’ll deal with it. I’ll deal with it, please-” Someone took the bin from his grip and put their hands on his shoulders.

“Hey, hey, hey,” a voice started, followed by blue and gold eyes forcing their way into his vision. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay!”

“Seán-” Dan interjected, the worried expression on his face that Kevin was sure he was misreading. Seán waved him off in the direction of the remaining two that hovered nearby (one quite literally). Kevin’s breathing was coming fast, struggling to gain enough oxygen as he spiraled. The darker-haired man floundered for a second before he grabbed the human’s right hand and placed it over the monster’s heart.

“Hey, I need you to breathe with me? Okay? In and out,” he said softly, taking an exaggerated breath through his nose and out his mouth. Kevin struggled to listen to the command, feeling his breath hitch.

“Yeah, like that. One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight,” Seán continued. Some of the blind panic cleared from Kevin’s mind as he could finally breathe. He finally focused fully on the man in front of him, eyes wide.

“Good, good. Welcome back,” he offered with a smile. The human blatantly tried to ignore the wringing hands he could see behind Seán. He was in enough trouble as it was. Seán stood to his full height, pulling lightly at the human’s arms to encourage him to his feet.

“Come on, you probably want to clean up, right? I’ll show you the bathroom. We can drop some clothes off while you’re in there, so don’t worry about that,” he said, moving one hand to wrap around Kevin’s palm. Hunching into himself, Kevin nodded and allowed himself to be directed away from the dining room and further into the house.

He was so, unbelievably fucked.

–
Brian wouldn’t describe himself as someone who worries for people he hardly knew, especially ones he was already wary of. However, he would be lying if he claimed that the episode that just played out in Dan’s dining room didn’t concern him immensely. Because frankly, there was no reason for a person to go from being reluctant to eat to shoveling food so fast they made themselves sick just because their reluctance got pointed out. No reason that he liked the sound of, anyway.

So yeah, when Dan asked if he would run a health scan on the human when Kevin was finished showering, he agreed without even a snide remark.

The cyborg was spread out across the couch with his human arm thrown over his face to block out Dan’s fidgeting in the chair next to him. Daithi was shockingly (blessedly) silent and had been since the scrawny human’s breakdown. Seán was still pacing outside the bathroom, already having placed some of the extra clothes Brian kept at the mansion that he agreed to lend to the man inside. Luckily he hadn’t had to wait long, as the stocky man heard the pipes shut off after only five minutes.

Brian shifted until he was sitting up, rolling his shoulders to further delay getting up. He heard the door click open followed by the resident werewolf anxiously trying for a conversation with the human. The cyborg stood with a groan, meeting the awkward duo halfway between the living room and bathroom.

“Brian-” Seán started, only to be cut off by a raised metal hand. He ignored the irritated look he was given as he faced Kevin completely.

“Come on, I need to get you checked out,” he stated directly. “My room’s downstairs. Let’s get this over with, yeah?” Brian continued as he turned to head towards the stairs, fully expecting Kevin to follow him. He made several strides down the hall before realizing there was no second set of footsteps. He looked behind him, double-taking at the sight of Seán once again directing the human’s breathing. The cyborg doubled back as he tried to ignore the worried feeling starting to spread in his chest.

“-Brian’s not going to do anything bad to you,” he heard Seán try and say soothingly. Brian watched as a wall was built behind Kevin’s eyes when the human noticed his return. Kevin stood to full height abruptly, hand falling from the werewolf’s chest. Seán’s eyes darted between the two, obviously confused about what to do. Brian gave a small, helpless shrug back.

Kevin closed the distance between himself and the cyborg, staring a blank gaze straight ahead. Concerned, but knowing the urgency of the health scan, Brian decided to deal with the fallout later and led the man back to the stairs. He adamantly refused to acknowledge Seán’s burning eyes on his back.

Making sure to turn every light he passed on, Brian and Kevin descended the stairs and entered the first room off of the hall. The human shuffled inside past him as the cyborg hung back. Having an internal debate, the shorter man decided it would be smarter to leave the door open and pointed at the (definitely not stolen) hospital bed in the middle of the large room.

“Go ahead and sit there. The scan won’t take long. Just gotta connect to my monitors,” he directed as he selected the proper connections. Four large screens on the wall furthest from him flashed on in preparation. To avoid the headache that came from running a robotic program while seeing with his normal eye, he closed his human eye and selected the scanning protocol.

“Just hold still,” Brian muttered, the world turning red as he focused on the man on the bed.
–

MEDICAL REPORT START
SUBJECT: KEVIN, HUMAN
SCANNING…
SCANNING…
SCANNING…
SCAN COMPLETE.

BRAIN: NO ANOMALIES FOUND
SKULL: MULTIPLE HEALED FRACTURES, NO ACTION RECOMMENDED
EYES: STRAIN DETECTED, DRY EYE DETECTED, RECOMMEND LIMITED BRIGHT LIGHT EXPOSURE AND EYE LUBRICANT DROPS
THROAT AND NOSE: TISSUE DAMAGE AND INFLAMMATION DETECTED IN THROAT. EVIDENCE OF MOLD EXPOSURE FOUND IN BOTH NOSE AND THROAT. RECOMMEND ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES AND REMOVAL FROM MOLD IN ENVIRONMENT.
SHOULDERS: SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE DETECTED TO LIGAMENTS AND TENDONS. EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS DISLOCATION. MOBILITY AND RANGE OF MOTION ARE LIKELY AFFECTED. RECOMMEND PHYSICAL THERAPY AND INCREASED CALCIUM INTAKE.
ARMS, LEFT AND RIGHT: MULTIPLE HEALED FRACTURES AND EVIDENCE OF FORMER BREAKS. LEFT FOREARM HAS NERVE DAMAGE FROM HEALED SLASH WOUND. NO ACTION RECOMMENDED.
HANDS, LEFT AND RIGHT: MULTIPLE HEALED FRACTURES AND EVIDENCE OF HEALED BREAKS DETECTED. RIGHT HAND HAS DAMAGE TO TENDONS, NERVES FROM AN APPARENT STAB WOUND THAT PUNCTURED THROUGH THE HAND. POOR CIRCULATION DETECTED IN BOTH HANDS, EVIDENCE OF RAYNAUD’S DISEASE. RECOMMEND CAUTION IN COLD ENVIRONMENTS.
VERTEBRAL COLUMN: MINOR HEALED FRACTURE BETWEEN T12 AND L1 VERTEBRAE. NO ACTION RECOMMENDED.
HEART: MURMUR DETECTED. NO EVIDENCE OF HEART DAMAGE OR STRUCTURAL ABNORMALITIES. RECOMMEND FURTHER MONITORING.
RIB CAGE: MULTIPLE HEALED FRACTURES AND EVIDENCE OF BREAKS. RECENT BRUISING ON LEFT RIBS 4 AND 5. RECOMMEND REST.
LUNGS: IRRITATION AND INFLAMMATION DETECTED. WARNING-HIGH RISK OF BRONCHITIS AND PNEUMONIA. NO ACTION RECOMMENDED.
STOMACH AND INTESTINES: MULTIPLE ULCERS DETECTED. RECOMMEND ANTIACID REGIMEN AND BLAND DIET.
PELVIS: MULTIPLE HEALED FRACTURES. NO ACTION RECOMMENDED.
LEGS, LEFT AND RIGHT: MULTIPLE HEALED FRACTURES AND EVIDENCE OF BREAKS. NERVE DAMAGE DETECTED IN RIGHT LEG. RECOMMEND PHYSICAL THERAPY.
FOOT, LEFT AND RIGHT: EVIDENCE OF BREAKS IN EACH PHALANX FOR BOTH FEET. RIGHT FOOT SHOWS EVIDENCE OF A HEALED CLEAN BREAK OF METATARSAL’S 1ST THROUGH 3RD. RIGHT FOOT SHOWS MUSCLE AND TENDON DAMAGE. MOVEMENT LIKELY AFFECTED. POOR CIRCULATION DETECTED IN BOTH FEET, EVIDENCE OF RAYNAUD’S DISEASE. RECOMMEND CAUTION IN COLD ENVIRONMENTS. RECOMMEND PHYSICAL THERAPY. SURGERY OPTIONAL FOR FURTHER CORRECTION.
SKIN, WHOLE BODY: EVIDENCE OF MULTIPLE HEALED WOUNDS VARYING FROM SLASH TO BURNS TO BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA. BRUISING DETECTED ON ABDOMEN, BACK, ARMS, AND FACE. NO ACTION RECOMMENDED. BRUISE CREAM OPTIONAL.
WARNING! SUBJECT’S BODY MASS HAS BEEN FLAGGED AS DANGEROUSLY LOW FOR HEIGHT. BODY FAT PERCENTAGE DANGEROUSLY LOW. AT RISK OF REFEEDING SYNDROME-RECOMMEND VITAMIN AND DIET PLAN.

PERFORMING SERUM ANALYSIS.
SCANNING…
SCANNING…
SCANNING…
SCAN COMPLETE.

EVIDENCE OF MALNUTRITION DETECTED. DEHYDRATION DETECTED. VITAMIN A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, D, E, K, BIOTIN, FOLATE/FOLIC ACID DEFICIENCIES DETECTED. CALCIUM, PHOSPHORUS, POTASSIUM, SODIUM, CHLORIDE, MAGNESIUM, IRON, ZINC, IODINE, SULFUR, COBALT, COPPER, FLUORIDE, MANGANESE, AND SELENIUM DEFICIENCIES DETECTED. LOW RED BLOOD CELL COUNT DETECTED. ELEVATED WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT DETECTED. PLATELETS NORMAL. LOW HEMOGLOBIN DETECTED.

RECOMMEND INCREASED VITAMIN AND MINERAL INTAKE. WARNING! SUBJECT IS AT RISK OF REFEEDING SYNDROME-RECOMMEND GRADUAL DIET PLAN.

DIAGNOSTIC RESULT SUMMARY: MULTIPLE ABNORMALITIES DETECTED. FURTHER ACTION REQUIRED. SEE DETAILED LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS.

MEDICAL REPORT END.
PRINT DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS? Y/N
USER INPUT: Y
–

Chapter Text

Brian was trying so, so very hard to keep the panic he felt off of his face upon seeing Kevin’s report. Frankly, he had no idea how the human was even alive. Brian’s own, personal medical report after his accident and subsequent reconstruction had fewer issues listed, for fuck’s sake. The basement room the man had been locked in was horrible, even he would admit that, but he really wasn’t expecting the sheer extent of what was wrong with Kevin.

The recommendation list was already reaching several pages long at this point and still going, so Brian felt stuck staring at Kevin (who, he noted bitterly, was still refusing to look at him. He asked himself if Kevin looked that fearful of everyone or if it was just Brian. He couldn’t find an answer). The deep purple bruise over the man’s mouth was making Brian feel worse. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the cyborg started to clear his throat awkwardly, the human’s pale eyes flickering towards the other’s briefly at the noise.

“So,” Brian trailed off, feeling thoroughly out of place as he moved to face his monitors. “There’s, uh, quite a bit that we’re gonna have to address based on that scan.” The human remained silent, but Brian couldn’t help but notice he tensed ever so slightly out of the corner of his eye. Wincing slightly, Brian noted that the list was complete and set it to print. “We’ll go talk to the others after this prints. Do you want me to keep the specifics to myself?”

“What?” Kevin finally responded after a few moments.

“Do you mind if I tell them the details of what came up in the scan, or would you rather I keep it between us?” Brian restated. The puzzled look that was still being sent at him was furthering the cyborg’s concern for the human and reinforced the necessity of making it clear that this was a choice in his mind. “It’s up to you, man,” he insisted.

“...I would…rather you not tell them,” Kevin spoke hesitantly, like he expected to be told off for expressing an opinion he was asked for. Brian bit down some of the rage that thought sparked in him. He nodded to express his agreement and stepped past the chair to grab the four pages that finished printing. He skimmed his eyes over the words, noting what would likely need to be purchased as he started making his way out of his room. The cyborg kept his pace slow, waiting for Kevin to begin following him before he moved back up the stairs.
–
Daithi had started to get a little worried when half an hour passed without Dan’s new pet human or Brian coming back up, but he reasoned that the cyborg was just being slow in his reluctance to be around Kevin. When the hour came and went, he had to resist the urge to become invisible and spy on the two. Dan and Seán were wringing their hands and tutting amongst themselves like mother hens, not acknowledging any of Daithi’s attempts to entertain himself.

Rude of them, really.

The ghost stared at the ceiling absentmindedly as he floated in the air on his back. The sound of footsteps suddenly approaching startled him upright just in time to see Brian and Kevin reach the main floor. Daithi considered harassing his friend, but upon closer inspection, he noticed that the cyborg had a carefully concealed angry expression. It was odd, he thought. Brian wasn’t one to hide when he was annoyed or upset, shouting his rage for everyone to hear. But no one had heard any yelling while the other two were down there, and the skittish human actually looked less uncomfortable than he did earlier.

It was then that Daithi noticed the papers held in the cyborg’s hands.

“So, how’d it go?” the ghost probed, voice startling Dan and Seán into moving to join the rest. Brian held up the pages and tapped the front lightly.

“We got shit to buy,” the stockier man replied in a tone anyone other than Daithi would’ve thought to be perfectly even. The ghost knew better, though, having known the guy for longer than anyone else in the room. Brian was pissed. “Seán, I’ll write a list of what needs purchased, and you can take Kevin with ya.” Said human looked between them all like they were insane.

Which, fair. Daithi was pretty sure they were, given the human’s presence there in the first place.

Not that the ghost was still upset about that, of course. Not at all.

It wasn’t like it put all of their lives (and afterlives) at risk.

Kevin flinching back slightly forced Daithi to refocus, realizing he must have been staring pretty intensely at the man for too long.

“-we should all go!” he heard Seán whine as he finally tuned back into his friends’ conversation, realizing they’d moved towards the kitchen.

“You pass as human better than any of us, Seán. Daithi would have to be invisible the whole time!” Brian fired back, notepad from the fridge in hand.

“But it’d be easier to make sure I don’t forget anything-”

“I am literally giving you a list-”

“Not the point! C’mon, it’d be fun!”

Brian pinched his nose in agitation. Daithi couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him at the sight of Dan swiveling his head between the pair like it was a tennis match.

“C’mon there Brian, may as well have all of us to keep an eye on things,” the ghost cut in. The cyborg huffed again. “Dan, please, help me talk sense into these idiots.”

“ I dunno, it doesn't sound that bad to me…” the vampire trailed off with a growing smile at the other man’s plight. Brian groaned obnoxiously, slinking over to the wall where Kevin had started to hide himself.

“Everyone here is now an asshole except for Kevin,” the cyborg called with his back facing the group. The others cackled at the declaration, though Daithi was a bit confused as to the sudden change in attitude the other had towards the human. It seemed Kevin was in a similar boat, given that the lost puppy look he always wore suddenly intensified. He watched the cyborg brush his hand casually against the human’s arm in a friendly gesture as he turned again to face the rest.

“Let’s go, then. You’re all lucky my car is still here.”

Daithi couldn’t wait to see how this turned out.
–
Dan tried to push down the anxiety that being out in public always gave him as he moved through the medication aisle. Kevin was beside him, fiddling with the slightly too-short sleeves of the borrowed yellow hoodie he wore. Brian had split off with Seán (and an invisible Daithi) to gather the other groceries needed, shoving a list of medical items and a basket into the vampire’s hands. Dan figured he understood, given that he and Kevin had become fairly close (well, he thought they did) over the weeks before Dan had been taken captive and Kevin’s obvious discomfort around the cyborg.

The vampire was eyeing the variety of rubbing alcohols to choose from when he noticed a yellow sleeve quickly grab something off the shelf and disappear into a hoodie pocket. Startled, Dan pivoted to face the human.

“What did you just take?” he asked, red eyes darting frantically in worry that someone may have seen what Kevin had done. He noticed the man tense almost imperceptibly, before a look of confusion fell across his face (fake, if the increased anxiety Dan could see in those gray eyes was anything to go by).

“What do ya mean?” the human asked softly, shifting the hands hidden in the hoodie pouch.

“Kevin, c’mon. I saw you,” the vampire said in a hurried whisper. “You could get in trouble for that. Ya need to put it back.”

Kevin shifted his weight to one leg, eyes darting to the side in embarrassment. Shaky hands moved out of the hoodie pocket, revealing a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, antibiotic cream, gauze, and bandage wrap. Dan felt his eyebrows rise in his shock (when did the man even grab the rest of that? He had only seen him grab the disinfectant-).

“...You’re the only one who’s ever seen me,” Kevin muttered as he shoved his stolen goods towards the shorter man, a small tremor running through his frame. “Though, I don’t know how, since last time you didn’t react.” The vampire’s mind went blank at that, blinking rapidly as he processed those words.

“Last time?!” Dan blurted out as he accepted the items absentmindedly. The auburn-haired man bounced on the balls of his feet anxiously before answering. “You remember when we went to that mall?” Dan nodded quickly. “When I was leaving the hallway to the bathroom, I took the medkit they keep on the walls for emergencies.”

If Dan’s eyebrows furrowed any further, he was worried he’d give himself a migraine.

“How?”

Kevin just shrugged.

Dan shook his head to force himself out of his dismay, before a realization hit him. “Wait, why were you stealing these? I’ve been adding ‘em to the basket already.”

“...Figured those were for the rest of you,” Kevin whispered back after a moment of silence, turning away from the other man completely. Dan really hadn’t thought his heart could break so much for a person, yet here he was.

“Kevin, no-” Dan started, moving a pale hand to rest on the side of Kevin’s arm. The man continued to avoid any eye contact, so Dan was relying on pushing as much emotion into his voice as he could as he moved face-to-face with the human. “Sure, the rest of us will be able to use some of this stuff, but this is for you.” Kevin finally looked at Dan’s face, a painful amount of uncertainty coloring his expression.

“For me? I don’t really-”

“-Yes, Kevin. These are all meant for you. So you don’t need to steal anything, okay?”

Dan watched Kevin blink back tears before nodding. The vampire patted the human’s arm once reassuringly before turning to continue to gather the necessary items.

And if Dan grabbed extras as they went, well.

It was his money anyway.

Chapter Text

"What about this one?" Seán asked, holding up a color-blocked blue and white shirt. Kevin’s head tilted, brow furrowed as he shrugged. Seán moved in closer and shoved the fabric into the other’s hand. “Texture okay?”

“Sure?”

“Great!” Seán beamed, tossing the shirt in the already full basket of various clothes. Kevin glanced at Dan in increased concern, asking a silent question that the vampire ignored in favor of grabbing at a leather jacket he had noticed Kevin eyeing moments before.

“What about this?”

“It’s…fine? But…isn’t this a little…uh, much?” Dan went to respond but Seán beat him to it, patting a startled Kevin on the back with a laugh. “Relax there, Kev. It’s not that much!”

“You aren’t the one carrying it,” Brian chimed in with a pout, exaggerating his arms being dragged down by the weight. Alarmed now, Kevin turned, hands fidgeting.

“Uh, I-I can take-” he started before being cut off by an unimpressed stare.

“I’m joking. It’s fine,” the cyborg’s gaze softened slightly, dropping the pretense of being bothered for a moment. “Though I don’t think we can fit much else in here.” Dan hummed back as Seán started counting on his hands.

“Well, we covered the basics I think. We did get shoes earlier, right?” At Brian’s nod, Seán clapped his hands together with a smile. “Should be grand then for now! What do you think, Kev?” the werewolf spun back around to face the man in question. It was then he noticed the rigid posture and heaving chest of the human, tears starting to roll down his face. Seán’s brow immediately raised in worry, stumbling over himself slightly to move closer while the others finally took notice.

“Kev?” he asked softly.

“I-I don't…I don’t understand,” he said, voice cracking. Seán made a point of ignoring the others as he placed a hand gently on Kevin’s shoulder. “I don’t get it. What’s the point of this? This isn’t how this usually goes!” he gasped between near-silent sobs, eyes squeezing shut as he scrubbed at his face.

“Kev, we’re not doing anything special,” Seán started firmly, though not unkindly. “You need help. We’re doing the bare feckin’ minimum to help. ‘S simple as that.” An anguished expression came over Kevin as he met the other’s eyes.

“If that’s true,” he choked out. “If that’s true, then why has no one else ever-” Suddenly, Dan was at his side, and Seán noticed a harsh gleam in his red eyes.

“They were wrong, Kevin.” The two stared at each other for a moment before Kevin broke it with a nod, though the look on his face still held disbelief. Seán’s hand moved down to Kevin’s wrist, thumb running over a thick scar there.

“Let’s check out and head home, yeah?”

“Yeah, need to have you actually eat something anyway,” Brian added pointedly. Eyes dropping to the floor, the human voiced agreement and started walking.

Seán and Dan shared a look before following.
–
After finally settling back at the mansion, groceries put away and clothes thrown in the wash, a handful of vitamin tablets were placed carefully on the table in front of Kevin followed by a glass of water. The human eyed the supplements warily, daring a glance at the cyborg that provided them.

“You’ll need to take all of these at least three times a day,” he rattled off as Kevin reluctantly swallowed them down. Nodding in approval, Brian proceeded to pass the thermos of broth he was holding into the other man’s hands. “Finish that by the end of the day without throwing up and we’ll be off to a decent start.” Kevin unscrewed the cap, pulling a disgusted face despite his best efforts to hide it.

He hated wet food.

But, not willing to risk what complaining would do, Kevin took a few sips out of the thermos anyway. Brian continued to explain his “recovery plan”, though most of it was going over the human’s head entirely. He tugged at a hoodie string in one hand, soup in the other, as he was led into the living room. The glass of water he had forgotten was placed on the coffee table in front of the couch by a robotic hand.

“-and later I can help you deal with some of the bruises, if you’re comfortable with that.” Brian finished. Kevin felt his right hand dart into the pocket of the hoodie he was borrowing, wrapping around the stolen object within. He began the rhythmic flick, click, flick of opening and closing the lighter with the anxiety that offer brought him. He weighed his options, ultimately realizing that Brian was the only one who wouldn’t be shocked at any of his injuries. Reluctantly nodding his agreement, he turned his head to the side just in time to see Seán flop into the space beside him. The werewolf wiggled as he adjusted, turning to dangle his head upside down, one arm thrown out towards the arm of the couch and the other draped lazily beside his head. Seán met Kevin’s eyes once, winked, and took to staring straight ahead.

Everyone here was so fucking weird.

Daithi let out a sigh as he observed the other men, focusing mainly on the resident human. A week had passed without much incident, everyone being too caught up in babying a grown man to do anything else. Surprisingly, Kevin seemed to be going along with whatever any of them said to do, but Daithi wasn’t fully convinced it wasn’t an act.

He wasn’t.

Dan sat reading under a large, fully shaded tree that Seán was trying to scramble up, encouraged by Brian mocking his efforts. It was a normal scene for their group.

Except for one.

Kevin was just standing a ways away from the rest, shifting his weight repeatedly with fidgeting hands. He kept looking back and forth between the group and the set of hedges on the other end of the garden. Daithi’s eyes narrowed as the man finally seemed to settle on stalking into the bushes.

Well, that wouldn’t do.

Daithi was getting a little sick of going invisible to follow the guy so often, but really, if the others were just going to blindly trust him then he had no other choice. The memory of Kevin’s shoplifting back when he first arrived came to his mind, but he forced it down to focus on his self-appointed task.

He spotted the human crouching near a dying bush-the leaves brown and obviously fragile-, almost perfectly hidden by the rest of the towering hedges. Sneaking behind him, Daithi heard the quiet click, fwoosh of a lighter igniting as he saw Kevin’s arm extend.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Chapter Text

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The booming, echoing voice made Kevin jump, cowering backward as he whirled to face the ghost. He gripped the lighter tightly in his fist, moving quickly to hide it once more in his hoodie pocket.

He wasn’t quick enough.

“I think the fuck not!” Daithi shouted again, a green glow surrounding the lighter as he possessed the object. Kevin yelped at the odd tugging sensation, desperate to keep hold of it to no avail.

“I-I-I- Please! I need-” he stammered as the possessed lighter moved out of his reach, his hand extended as far as his shoulder injuries would allow. Panic settled in his chest, cold and familiar. He needed to, he needed to, it was the only way to make the itch in his brain go away, please-

Daithi’s voice emanated from the small lighter as it hung weightless in the air.

“I knew you couldn’t be trusted!”

“Please, you dont-dont understand! I wasn’t-”

“What the fuck are you yellin’ about?!” Brian’s voice interrupted as he ran through the bushes, followed close behind by Seán and Dan (umbrella held tightly in hand). The sight the three took in confused them further. Kevin was standing stock-still, eyes wide in obvious fear and hand still extended towards a floating lighter.

Daithi popped out of the lighter, allowing it to fall to the ground, and whirled around to face the other lads, anger plain on his face. He pointed an accusatory finger at Kevin before snarling out, “I caught this bastard tryna set your bushes on fire!” Dan’s brow furrowed in confusion, him and Seán tilting their heads almost in sync towards the human. Brian, meanwhile, huffed and placed his hands on his hips, eyes squarely on Daithi.

“Ya got any proof, ya fucker?” the cyborg barked out defensively. Daithi bristled at this, snapping back “The goddamn lighter ya fool!”

“Did ya even ask him for an explanation?” Seán cut in with a tone as cold as ice, the hint of a feral growl behind his words. Dan’s gaze switched rapidly between everyone as the three other men argued with each other, mind racing. At Seán’s tone, he noticed Kevin’s sudden flinch (the first movement he’d made since their arrival), and decided to approach the man slowly. Speaking quietly, he asked the man if he was alright. Despite Dan’s calm approach, Kevin took several quick steps backward, throwing his hands in front of his face as if to protect himself from a blow.

“I, I, I swear, I, I, I,” the terrified man stuttered out. Dan’s eyebrows shot up in concern, worry overriding his common sense as he quickly moved forward. Kevin yelped, suddenly tripping over himself in his backward scramble. The air left his lungs as he fell on his tailbone, though he wasted no time in immediately scooting back further against the base of a large tree. Shaking, he buried his head in his knees and went quiet, hands grasping at his shaved hair.

“Now look what you’ve done!” Seán yelled with a hand extended toward the shivering man on the ground. Dan resisted the urge to scream as the others started yelling at each other louder now, slowing his breathing as he knelt in front of Kevin.

“Kev, hey,” he started gently, keeping his hands open and in front of himself but never touching the other. “Kev? Whatever is going on, it’ll be okay.” He settled fully on his knees, wincing at the still-dewy grass soaking into his pants. Kevin didn’t seem to be hearing him, and touching him would just make things worse, so Dan, despite knowing he could hardly hold a tune, began to hum nonsense in a low tone.

He would wait however long it took.

–

“You’re all just fuckin’ blind when it comes to that human!” Daithi shouted, ghostly face flushed in rage.

“And you’re fuckin’ blinded by your suspicion! Nothin’ can ever be simple with you, eh? Always jumping to conclusions!” Brian lashed back, hands waving.

“He’s fuckin shaking on the ground and you think he’s a threat!” Seán scoffed disdainfully.

Daithi clenched his fists. “Fine! You want to be idiots and put your lives at risk, count me out!” he shouted before turning invisible and beginning to fly off.

In his haste, he missed the hurt looks that flashed on Brian and Seán’s faces.

–

Muttering angrily to himself, Daithi flew quickly through the forest. Tears clouded his vision, slowly dripping down his face before vanishing once leaving his skin. Seeing his field on the horizon as he neared the edge of the treeline, he slowed his flight with slumped shoulders.

“Fuckin…assholes,” he sniffed as he reformed his legs and took to walking.

He only made it a couple of steps before he was suddenly stuck in place, a burning sensation creeping over his entire being.

“Well, well, well,” a thickly accented voice drawled. “What do we have ‘ere?”

Chapter Text

Things had been tense ever since Daithi had left. A day had already passed, full of brooding and poorly concealed worry-though Brian wasn't as concerned as the others. It wouldn't be the first time the ghost disappeared after a fight, nor would it be the last. Walking away from a genuine argument to cool off was normal for him, even if his petty spats with Brian implied otherwise. The bastard could take care of himself, Brian reasoned, and once he calmed down he'd see he was being overly paranoid.

Maybe he'd even apologize.

Not that Brian held out much hope for that happening.

Even when Daithi was wrong, he wasn't one to say he was sorry. Usually, he'd let his actions speak for him in that regard, something about it meaning more that way. Brian might just force him to say it outright to Kevin, though. The human had trouble reading Seán, who was as much of an open book as one could get. God help the poor man when it came to the ornery ghost on a good day.

Speaking of the human, Kevin had been a nervous wreck since the incident. He only spoke when spoken to, and even then his responses were stilted and short. He would constantly fidget, which would actually be considered a good thing given his tendency to shut down and not move at all if it wasn't for the fact that he'd taken to harshly pulling at and even biting his fingers, drawing blood a couple of times already. He'd also pinch at his arms and legs hard enough to leave small bruises. Against all rational thought, he was starting to feel bad for the number of times they'd all grabbed at the other's hands to get him to stop, if only because of the flinching from Kevin every time.

Before the argument, Kevin would mostly conceal any fidgeting in his hoodie pocket, making a soft clicking sound that the lads now knew was the sound of a metal lighter cap being pushed open and closed. He hadn't taken back the lighter Daithi had caught him with since it was taken despite numerous attempts, and it was clear to everyone that the loss distressed him even further. Brian was still holding onto the hunk of metal, having tried to hand it back a few times already today with no success. Really, if he didn't know better, he'd have thought Kevin was more worried about Daithi than any of them.

Currently, Kevin was sitting nervously on the couch, staring at his fingers tapping lightly against his leg in a repetitive pattern (pinkie, ring, middle, index finger, repeat, over and over, slow and methodical without any variation in order or speed). He was either unaware of or trying to ignore the worried looks from Seán and Dan next to him on either side as he stared blankly ahead (gaze always aimed down, down, down even as he faced forward). Brian was about to break the silence when Kevin suddenly sat up, ramrod straight. He snapped his head up to look over his shoulder, wincing at the quick movement.

As Brian followed his gaze, his eyebrows raised upon spotting the green-glowing form of Daithi. The ghost looked sheepish (unusual), with an awkward grin on his face as he raised a hand in greeting (bizarre). Warning bells were starting to chime in his head, faint but nonetheless there. Daithi glanced at each of them briefly before locking eyes with the now-shaking form of Kevin. Something flashed in his eyes, but it passed so quickly that Brian couldn't place the emotion. Wrong. The cyborg crossed his arms in displeasure right as Daithi made the sound of clearing his throat.

"So…" he trailed off, stretching the word. Three near-identical unimpressed stares wordlessly pressed him to continue (their best stern expressions masking their relief that he turned up, well, not alive but unharmed). The ghost broke his staring contest with Kevin to look to the side. "I may…have been a dick," he finished, voice small, like a prey animal. Like a scared, nervous thing. Like Kevin.

Wrong.

Brian felt his face twist in surprise and disbelief even as Dan and Seán's own expressions turned soft and relaxed. Brian tuned out Seán's reply as suspicion overtook him. Daithi was stubborn, especially when it came to the lads' safety. It took a lot to change his mind, to chip at his resolve in any meaningful way. Hell, Brian had gotten into pettier arguments with him that resulted in Daithi disappearing for weeks. Not for the first time, Brian cursed the fact that his scanning systems couldn't read anything from the ghost beyond just being able to detect his presence. He wanted to believe he was genuine. He really did.

But he also knew his friend.

Brian started listening to the conversation again in time to hear Daithi say "-and I thought I could make it up to everyone,"

"There's this pond I found when I, ya know, ran off. Thought maybe it'd be a good spot to just chill. Talk, ya know?" There was a nervous edge-wrong- to the ghost's voice and a poorly concealed desperation-wrong- in his eyes. Seán jumped up excitedly, quick to embrace any form of reconciliation, expressing his enthusiasm for the idea. He whirled around to look at Kevin with large, pleading eyes as he questioned if he'd be willing to go.

"Uh…"

"It'd be good to get out," Dan added with a soft smile. He meant it as a nudge of encouragement Brian knew, but it had the effect of a command. Kevin was clearly uncomfortable (and frankly, Brian shared his hesitation), looking down submissively before quietly voicing his agreement.

The cyborg felt annoyance run through him against the others for failing to question that.

Not that it stopped him from reluctantly agreeing to the trip himself once the pressure was on him.

He never claimed to be immune to puppy-dog eyes.

–

Daithi was leading the lads through the woods, joking with everyone as he went. He'd even made an effort to include Kevin in his antics, getting many confused blinks in reply. It left a rotten taste in Brian’s mouth, to be perfectly honest. The suspicion that had been festering since Daithi’s return only growing.

The act was, in a few words, absolutely fucking insane.

Brian trailed in the back, unease growing the further they made it into the woods. He was more unsettled than Kevin at this point, which would almost be funny if the anxiety wasn't eating him alive.

He watched as Seán transformed into a wolf and ran in loops around the human, nosing at his sides playfully before darting away when Kevin looked at him with a tilted head. Dan, umbrella in hand, let out a fond laugh as he watched the two.

Daithi had started to fall behind.

Something was-

Wrong.

But then Kevin, for the first time since living with them, gave a small, shaky smile as he stepped forward after being nudged once again.

For a moment, everyone was stunned.

Maybe that was why Brian missed it-

Something was w r o n g.

.

.

.

There was a distant click.

A woosh.

And then a nauseating, wet thunk.

And suddenly all Brian could see was the brutal, hooked tip of a hunter's arrow sticking out from Kevin's back.

Chapter Text

Distantly, Kevin was aware of the fact he was bleeding. He was aware of the growing, throbbing pain coming from his chest and spreading to every nerve in his body. He just couldn't bring himself to feel any particular way about it, however - his mind strangely blank in a way he’d never quite pulled off before.

He figures he should be panicking.

Yet somehow, he only feels calm.

He had been sat on the ground by…someone, leaning just slightly against a tree to keep him vaguely upright. He wasn't sure when he was moved, nor was he currently certain whose hands his blood was soaking as they tried to staunch the flow.

Kevin feels bad for that, personally having a hatred for the sticky feeling of blood flowing onto skin - the wrongness of its warmth. He never did get used to it.

He was getting sidetracked.

The hands shifted slightly, pushing hard enough against his chest to slightly knock the barbed tip of the bolt against the treebark, sending a wave of bizarre tingling through his body that almost brought a hysterical laugh past his lips.

Only almost, of course. The best Kevin could do was let out a strained wheeze as the spasm of his lungs shot white hot pain through his chest.

He could vaguely hear people talking - to him? To each other? Was it even actually multiple people? - though he couldn't discern such things through the ringing in his ears, everything being muffled in comparison. He thinks he can kind of make out the end of a sob from whoever it was sitting with him, the tail end of an apology with it - but such a thing is so unusual to his mind that he assumes he’s misheard.

He figures any apology is misplaced, as something as small as a push could hardly hurt him now, in the grand scheme of things.

There was shouting that he was certain should've been louder. Bleary eyes tried to look around, though it was hard to focus on the blurry figures around him. He stared with great effort at the one directly in his face, just barely able to make out red eyes (or was it one eye? Everything was just -) before the gray creeping over his vision caused him to blink.

A deep, angry growl cut through the ringing. Kevin’s eyes darted open in time to see the wolf (he knows that one, he thinks) leap onto someone, fangs bared. He feels oddly detached at the sight of blood flying violently into the air as the wolf rips into its (his?) victim. His heart should be racing, he’s never liked violence, the gore, the-

Yet the throbbing in his chest almost seems slower now.

Another push against his wound, the voice of (his friend?) the one holding him taking on a frantic edge.

His vision is darkening despite his best efforts. Kevin can feel his blinks becoming slow, eyelids heavy. He’s unsure when he started shivering. The absurd thought comes to him that he should feel warmer, with all the blood pooling on and around him. He almost laughs again, though pain is not what stops him this time.

Something is thrown in the chaos of the fight - multiple figures attacking each other now in a dizzying blur (though maybe it was always that many? It's so hard to pay attention). It flies in a wide arch and falls with a heavy thud near his tree, the sound breaking him from his distant pondering. Kevin’s eyes lazily slide over the object.

Only to realize that it's not a something.

A body, with eyes unseeing yet somehow still accusatory (angry, always angry. He’s never understood what he did to have them always be angry) stare back at him.

The very last thought that manages to cut through the fog in his mind is that of recognition and despair.

His baby sister’s mangled corpse watches Kevin go limp.

Chapter Text

The beeping is going to drive Seán insane, he thinks. He should be grateful to the poor machines for acting as proof that the still form on the bed was still alive. Yet, as much as he tells himself that, he finds himself hating the incessant noise. He lets his head fall into his hands, palms rubbing at his forehead to try and stave off the building headache.

The sickly taste of human blood still sitting acrid and sour in his mouth, despite it being days (and many, many brushes and rinsings) after, is not helping.

Seán sighs, heavy and long. He doesn't regret his part in killing those hunters, not truly, but he wishes it hadn’t come to that. He never wants to hurt people, even when it is necessary. He especially never wants to kill. Not that they had given any other option. In addition, he couldn’t fend off the nagging feeling that he was the worst of thieves.

Kevin should've been the one to decide their fates.

It was his family, after all.

What a feckin’ clusterfuck.

His eyes are shut as he continues to massage his aching head. Seán is completely drained, mentally and physically. Still, he doesn't regret taking over the watch, if partially to finally get Brian to get some actual sleep for the first time in days. Sure, he may be the best for medical knowledge that isn't magic, and it's his room and his equipment, but that doesn't mean he’s the only one capable.

-

“Working until ya collapse won't help anyone, ya feckin' idiot!”

“I need to-”

“No, you NEED to sleep before you start making mistakes. I'll get you if anything happens.”

-

He strains his hearing slightly, able to hear the shower from Dan’s room on the floor above running. He tries not to think about how it would be his friend’s third shower today alone.

Seán also deliberately ignores thinking about the blood he swears he still sees on his own hands, despite having also bathed numerous times in the past several days. He pulls his hands away from his face, staring blankly. His brain, oh so helpfully, supplies him with the thought, ‘Out, damned spot!’

What's done cannot be undone, indeed.

Fuckin’ Dan, getting him to read Shakespeare.

He may be more tired than he let on to the others, if he thinks about it now. He swears if the beeping keeps getting louder, he's going to-

He pauses.

The beeping was getting louder!

Chapter Text

Daithi was quiet. He was always quiet now, it seemed. Brian wasn't sure if that fact made him angry or concerned.

It was probably both, if he was honest with himself.

The vindictive part of him wanted to scream at Daithi for feeling sorry for himself, as if he had the right. All that talk of Kevin being the danger (and Brian is ignoring that he shared that concern at first, too, thank you very much), and it's Daithi that leads them all into the hunters’ trap.

The part of him that loves his friend, that knows he fucked up but can't help but want to console him, is just sad.

The grief is a bottomless pit burning in his soul.

No one has truly processed this betrayal. Everyone was shuffling about in a daze, almost ghost-like, he would say, if he found any humor in it. For all his love of sardonic irony and dark jokes, he really couldn’t find anything funny when it came to this. The anger and frustration, though, came easily - especially when it had to do with how everyone was acting. There would be moments where it would seem like someone was finally going to step up, break the silence, and start demanding answers from Daithi.

It always ended the same, however, with the endless, grim, heartbroken silence. He understood why - he was guilty of it himself. The entire situation was inconceivable.

Daithi is their friend.

But they had all been building a friendship with Kevin, too. And now, because of Daithi, Kevin was…

Well, he wasn't dead. Brian would call it lucky if the possibility wasn't still on the table. Anxiety at the thought tries to build in his chest, though he pushes it down by focusing on his anger instead. It is familiar. He can work with anger.

Fear was much harder to tame.

Someone needs to confront Daithi about this, instead of wallowing in their sadness. Seán had already chased Brian from Kevin’s bedside for the umpteenth time (and if Seán hadn't looked a few steps away from losing it if he didn't see the continued proof that Kevin was alive, he wouldn't have agreed), and Dan was hiding himself away. He was the only option.

Maybe he was also the best option considering his history with the ghost, but it was easier if he ignored that thought, too.

He could force himself into it when backed into the corner of ‘being the only one’. The emotion that the idea of ‘being the best one’ sparked in him, however, would just make it all the more difficult. Their shared history was a jagged double-edged sword.

Brian clears his throat. The ghost finally looks directly at him for the first time in days.

“You gonna fuckin’ explain yourself? You owe us - you owe me that much,” Brian begins, poorly contained rage seeping into his tone even as his voice tries to break. Daithi, for a moment, looks like he is going to respond before he closes his eyes and says nothing. The pain on his face does nothing to quell the fury igniting in his blood.

“You could’ve gotten us all killed, almost HAVE killed one of us! Least you can do is fucking say WHY!” He’s shouting now, chest heaving. Daithi’s spectral form flickers briefly, his face twisting further in sorrow before settling into a blank, if still remorseful, expression. The ghost sighs. Then, after what feels like a lifetime, he speaks.

Brian is told of a trap, and a bargain: return one, and the rest will be left alone. The hunters had already found the mansion, and it would have only been a matter of when, not if, they showed up anyway.

He is told, through tears that give way to sobs, that he thought he had no other choice.

And he wants to feel sorry for him. He wants to forgive him. He wants to move on, have everything be over.

But, with the stillness of Kevin's body burned into his memory, all he is hearing rings as hollow excuses in his ears.

And that is not good enough.

His voice is cold when he finally responds.

-

It is only after Daithi leaves that Brian finally lets himself cry.

Kevin had better pull through, he thinks for perhaps the millionth time - though this instance for much more selfish reasons.

He really doesn't want to follow through on this particular threat.

Chapter Text

Daniel’s dreams are filled with red. It paints the ground, the trees, his clothes, his hands.

His hands, that try to staunch a never-ending tide of red, red, red.

There are mocking taunts, followed by what seems to be endless screaming. He never quite makes out what is said. He is never able to bring himself to care.

What keeps his attention now is a more urgent concern.

As a vampire, Dan is always aware of everyone’s heartbeat, everywhere and all the time. It is not a new experience, being horribly in tune with the tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump of his friends’ hearts, to know their excitement and sorrow in equal measure by the rhythm.

It is, however, very different to instead feel one of those precious beats pulse in time with each renewed gush of blood around his hands. It is a blessing and a curse to have any assurance at all that the one against him still lives.

There’s a bolt, an arrow, he really wasn't paying attention, it didn't matter, sticking out of his friend’s chest. He doesn't dare remove it, even as he notices the horrific tip of it catching against the bark of the tree he’s placed Kevin against. He can only press around it, desperate to staunch the flow. It feels increasingly hopeless with each weakening tha-thump. Bleary gray eyes are looking at him, pained and scared but distant, and Dan tries.

“Hey, hey, you're okay! You're okay!” His voice hitches, a lump in his throat making it difficult to force out. He’s crying, always crying, even as he tries for a shaky smile. He doesn't know if Kevin can hear him, or see him, for that matter. But, in case he can, Dan will continue to try.

He applies more pressure the best he can against the wound, but he can only reach Kevin’s front, and on top of that, he can already feel the bones of Kevin’s ribcage creaking in protest. He curses the man’s humanity, in that moment. If he were like Seán, or Brian, or even Dan himself, it -

He always pauses then. The thought rises, in his desperation to save his friend, to try and turn him. But what is left of his rational mind knows it would only help kill him faster at this point - there was no guarantee that the venom would outpace the blood loss to be what killed him first. It would more likely just help strain his body further needlessly. In addition, the wood of the bolt was close enough to pierce his heart (if it hadn't already - even the slightest of knicks would be enough once turned) and fulfill its purpose anyway.

(Sometimes, in these dreams, he will try it anyway. The result is always the same.)

Kevin’s hands so, so weakly begin to reach towards him, breaking Dan out of his thoughts, before they fall back against the forest floor.

There is so much blood, and Kevin is becoming cold enough that even Dan, for all his lack of the warmth of the living, can feel it.

“I'm here, I'm here, and you’re-you’re gonna be oka-”

In Daniel’s dreams, the red never stops coming. Even long after the tha-thumps fall silent and those eyes turn pale and fogged, and his own voice joins the chorus of howling screams as he drowns in the sea of it.

When he wakes, he will still be screaming. Once the tears dry up, he will ready himself to face what is real.

But for now, there is only red.

Chapter Text

He's unsure how many times he’s truly woken up so far and how many times may have just been dreams. In these moments of almost-not-quite awareness, everything feels fuzzy and soft around the edges, his eyes far too heavy to even attempt opening. He thinks he can sometimes feel someone touching him - most commonly his hand, but occasionally at his shoulder or his hair. Despite the nagging feeling each time that this should bother him, he never can bring himself to react. The voices around him were calm and soothing, muffled as they may have been, and he would quickly fall back into sleep’s embrace.

Today, however, he is more aware of the incessant beeping. And for once, he is noticing that he aches, and there is something in his nose that he would like to remove, if only to make breathing feel less awkward. He takes a deeper breath, and the movement of his skin triggers a bizarre itch near his chest.

Going back to sleep is impossible.

His eyelids twitch - once, twice.

On the third try, Kevin’s eyes open for the first time in one week, three days, seven hours, and thirty-two minutes. The room is still blurry as he adjusts to the light.

Quick movements to his right almost make him jump, but his body is slow to respond. Only his eyes move, and he blinks almost languidly as gold-ringed blue eyes come into focus: Seán, his brain supplies after a few moments. The werewolf is practically vibrating in place, hands carefully restrained as they come to rest on the armrests of the hospital cot.

He worries, briefly, that he was actually in a real hospital before the rest of the room registers as Brian’s. Seán is talking to him, he thinks, but he’s unable to process what is said with how fast the werewolf is speaking. It barely breaks into the molasses that is his thoughts - his mind calmer than he would expect. He thinks he is almost able to figure out what Seán’s going on about before his attention is pulled to the aborted motion of the werewolf’s hand moving towards his shoulder. Kevin blinks slowly at this before the other man turns and takes off in a run. He leaves the door open in his rush.

This confuses him, he supposes, but it was rather difficult to keep any train of thought. Well, almost any train of thought… Kevin thinks with exasperation as he takes a deep breath and is once again reminded of the very annoying block in his nose. He wills his arms up, ever so slowly, about to remove whatever it was before a voice called out.

“Wouldn’t recommend that, man. Goes to your stomach,” Brian sounded worn out, to put it lightly, despite the relief that colored his tone. The cyborg moved carefully as he came to stand at his bedside. Kevin’s hands lowered back to the bed. As if sensing Kevin’s need to raise his head, Brian pushed the remote to raise the headrest. He gestures with his metal hand at the other’s head when he speaks again. “You have any idea how hard it was to steal an NG tube?”

Kevin can’t hold back the huff of wispy laughter that escapes him.

-

And wished it kept.

My dearest love…

-

Progress was slow, though if you asked him, he would say that calling it such was being generous. He has to tell himself that this was to be expected - it was practically a miracle he still lived. He had been hurt many times, and had feared for his life more times than that. But this was by far the closest he had come to actually dying. If anything, he should be grateful that he wasn’t in some shallow grave out there. Yet, if anyone had the right to complain, it was Kevin. And complaining he was.

Everything ached as he weaned off painkillers. His appetite was shot, not that it had ever been great to start with. He often had to force himself to finish even the lightest of meals. The sheer number of supplements he had to take was staggering. He was tired all the time, a bone-deep exhaustion no matter how long he spent asleep. His exercises hurt to the point that he often questioned how they were supposed to be helping him.

On top of all of that, he felt…lost.

Kevin had spent so long being afraid. Afraid of the hunts. Afraid of the basement. Afraid of his family.

Now there were no hunts. The only basement was Brian’s, where lights were almost always on and the door was never locked. And…his family was gone.

No, not just gone. Dead. Never to threaten him or anyone else, ever again. The other shoe had finally dropped, but would never rise again.

Kevin thinks he should feel relieved, maybe even happy, about this. The lads here cared about him; that much had been made clear. They cared about him so much that they were willing to kill for him instead of running off to save their own skins - no one in his life had ever done that before. They hovered, more like parents than his own had ever been, making sure he ate and took his medications and did his physical therapy…

But he couldn’t help the building frustration. It was suffocating, at times - not that he’d say as much directly. It was bad enough that he’d started snapping at them all, seemingly at random. It was almost equally aggravating that they responded to his blatant rudeness with kindness, never rising to the challenge. Even Brian, whom he thought he’d figured out pretty well beforehand, never once raised his voice back at him.

Before he was shot, the lads treated him delicately; he knew that. Now, though, it was as if he would shatter beyond repair at the slightest hint of pressure.

He knew what to do when faced with anger. He understood hate and rage. He even understood violence without any actual malice - pain that came out of necessity instead of personal feelings. But, despite the lads’ best efforts, he still did not know what to do when it came to being handled with kid gloves. It was maddening.

Kevin had killed before. Not just by proxy due to his family. Humans and monsters of every stripe alike. He did not feel deserving of this softness, this compassion.

In addition, while he feared his family…he had loved them, for all he tried not to. The conflict within him was a jumbled mess that only ever hurt him. Once, when he was braver, the thought of how he might confront them, somehow convince them he was right, or, after his bravery flickered and died, even just to choose to leave him go on their own, had been the only relief he held onto. A million different possibilities that would dance in his mind like the sparks from his lighter.

Choices he could never make, now.

There was some resentment in that, too, as much as he knew it was irrational. Knowing was different from not letting it influence him, unfortunately. His words would take on more heat, sometimes, especially when he would look at Seán and only see his sister’s blood on his teeth (and he dearly hoped that Seán hadn’t realized that it was mainly with him). The irritability only made him feel worse.

It didn’t help that things were tense around the mansion anytime Daithi was mentioned. Kevin had been certain the ghost had been around a few times - the echo of his voice muffled through the walls - but he’d always been redirected somewhere else if he tried to find him. It left him on edge.

Night was beginning to fall. He steeled his heart against the nerves that threatened to stop him once again.

It was time for him to make his own choice, for once.

-

I'm not done yet…

-

Kevin moved quietly through the copse of trees, occasionally stopping to check for cold spots left around the bark. The moon was high and full, illuminating the dark with a serene glow. He had been walking a while, having started when the last trails of sunlight had just snuffed out. The others, preoccupied with Seán’s transformation, didn't seem to have noticed his absence.

He planned it that way, of course, but it was always nice when things went off without a hitch.

Finally, he reached his destination, more than a little winded. The trees gave way to an open field, green grass reflecting soft silver-blue. A gentle breeze swayed the spattering of wildflowers that dotted the wide, sloping hills. It was coldest here, beyond what could ever be considered natural on a summer night. He went to one knee briefly to examine a grouping of pebbles that lightly glowed with a pale green hue. He scanned his eyes over the landscape. The smallest of smirks came to his lips despite himself. After all, it wasn’t often he felt intelligent - especially now that he was no longer on any hunts. He paused as he caught a slight movement.

There, floating above one of the smaller slopes, was his quarry. He stood, taking careful steps to avoid both agitating his still-healing body and to keep from making any noise.

He only had one shot at this.

“I know they've been keeping you away from me. They think I don't notice,” he started softly.

The ghost startled violently, spinning around to face him faster than he could fully track. There's shock in Daithi’s eyes, just as Kevin had been hoping for. He’s quick to make use of the opportunity. He can’t have the ghost flying off again.

“Or maybe it’s you, intentionally avoiding me,” he says, though not unkindly. He’s nervous, God knows he almost always was, but something close to his old bravery drives him tonight. He is not the same helpless man from the cabin basement. He refuses to be.

Daithi clears his throat unnecessarily. “...how did you find me?” He asks carefully.

Kevin looks at the moon and sits, patting the grass beside him. When the ghost doesn't move, he sends him a sideways glance and pats again. He waits until he can catch the green glow of Daithi sitting next to him out of the corner of his eye before he responds.

“A ghost’s trail isn't hard to find, if you know what you're looking for.”

Daithi responds with a scoff.

“And you know?”

Kevin gives a small shrug and ignores the slight twinge of pain that the motion causes. “Wasn't always in the basement. No use in a bloodhound that can't track.” He can feel Daithi’s gaze turn on him, then. His own eyes never leave the sky as he builds the courage to continue.

“I've killed more friends than I…than I can ever deserve forgiveness for,” he starts slowly, trying to avoid being lost in memories best left forgotten. “Almost…almost more than I can say I've killed anyone who wanted to do the same to me,” he’s talking a bit faster now, afraid the emotion trying to choke him would cut him off before he could finish. Faces are flashing in his mind that he tries to push away. Tears are beginning to burn in his eyes as he turns his head to face Daithi. “Let me guess?”

Daithi looks somehow more stunned, but nods him on. Kevin looks to the moon again.

“They hur-hurt you. They pushed until you prayed for…for everything to, ah, to stop. And they promised,” he thinks he notices Daithi start to shake, “worse would come to those you wanted to-to protect,” his mouth twists deeper into a frown, a few tears finally escaping down his cheeks. “And then. And then. And then they made an offer. They would stop, and they would leave you go. All you had to do…all you had to d-do-” he had to pause, a sob pushing its way through. His head bows forward now, eyes closed. He takes a heaving breath, holds it for a few heartbeats, and lets it out slowly.

“All you had to do now,” he pauses for a heartbeat, chewing at his lip, “was act as bait.”

He faces Daithi once more, crying in earnest now. Somehow, a smile starts to bloom across his face, small and sympathetic and sad. He can feel the scars around his eye and mouth more than usual as he speaks. “Did I, did I guess right?”

Tears are rolling down Daithi’s face now, too. He tracks their path over his cheeks, down his chin. It is almost beautiful, he thinks absently, how the glow of them fades into the grass as they fall to the ground. His eyes flit back up as Daithi croaks out,

“Y-yeah,”

Kevin moves one of his hands to touch the spectral ones - made tangible by the full moon’s light (and he guesses that the ghost isn’t expecting him to know that particular bit of information) - that are pushing against the grass. He almost finds it funny how, in a severe departure from their previous interactions, it is Daithi who flinches and trembles in response.

“ ‘t wasn't a bargain you could've won. Ask me how I know,” he huffs, gesturing with his other hand to the scar by his right eye. Daithi lets out a startled breath from his nose, at which Kevin chuckles. The absurdity of this moment begins to hit them.

Suddenly, they're both laughing, loud and hysterical. It's not funny, but it's cathartic. They struggle to catch their breath for several moments, breaking into giggles between gasps. When they settle, the air feels lighter.

Kevin rises to his feet.

“They don't understand, ‘cause they can't,” he begins, watching Daithi’s expression droop. “But I do. And, and it might be selfish of me-” he ignores the confused look. “-but. Maybe if…they come to understand why I forgive you, they will, too, and -”

“Kev-”

“And maybe I'll find my own redemption in that.”

He extends a hand, palm flat. It’s a gesture more than any real expectation.

“Can we go home?”

-

How many years?

I know I'll bear-

-

There's a moment, many months later, when it finally hits him.

They're all around the TV, though Kevin isn't paying much attention to it. He thinks it was some reality show Seán had been pushing everyone to watch with him. Something about everyone on it “being terrible!”, which just made Kevin even more confused about the appeal. Still, it was currently making for decent background noise.

Brian and Daithi were busy light-heartedly nagging each other between snarking at the television - it was a little more strained than before between them, the jabs more mild, but they were making progress back to how they had once been. He thinks, privately, that it’s a bit funny that insulting each other would be the ideal, but he can’t say he’s well-versed in any kind of positive relationships enough to judge.

Seán is in his wolf form, long since having passed out despite the show being his idea, draped across Kevin’s legs. He’s almost cutting off circulation, but Kevin can't bring himself to move and possibly wake him up. He thinks he heard Brian make a joke about cat rules somehow applying when Seán had first curled up (Seán had huffed at the cyborg in reply), but he didn’t really understand what he meant by that. He didn’t think cats acted much like werewolves, but, again, it wasn’t like he’d been around many cats.

Kevin himself was lying on the couch with his head tilted sideways in Dan’s lap, facing the screen. His eyes had slid closed as the vampire carded his hands through his hair, practicing braids now that it had finally started to get long enough to try.

He may just fall asleep like this, and -

Oh.

He feels his eyes water for just a moment at the realization. He breathes deeply, warmth pooling in his chest as he releases the contented sigh slowly.

He’s never felt this at peace.

"I found something…

In the woods somewhere.”