Betrayal Is My End

Chapter 5

Davi

I followed Lauren down the hall of doors, through to the laundry room, past the kitchen and living room, and out the front door. As we came out, I saw Jerome's car pulling to a stop, he opened his door, and gave me a look. As soon as he came around the car I saw the blood, "shit," I said under my breath and ran towards the car.
"What the hell happened?" Anger filled my voice as I looked at his bloody shirt, he didn't answer, just rolled his eyes and opened the passenger door. Tsu was lying motionless in the front seat, her eyes were closed and she seemed to be asleep. She looked peaceful. But what concerned me was the blood that was drying in her hair, the bruises on her face and how shallow her breathing was.
Not to mention, the pale pallor of her skin. There was blood everywhere, and her shirt was torn and hanging ragged around her. She wore Jerome's coat and looked like she was going to die.
"We ran into some trouble but she handled it, what she couldn't, I did. Now- fix her," with that, he walked back towards the house and Lauren stood looking torn. After a moments hesitation she followed after Jerome. I sighed feeling slightly defeated and picked Tsu up as gently as I could. She groaned in my arms and I bit my lip, I knew she was banged up from this morning but I didn't think she'd be in this bad of shape. First things first, get her healed, then talk to Jerome. I felt her shift and held her a little tighter. I looked to the house and back to her weighing out my options, I sighed and set her as gently as I could back in Jerome's car.
As I went to grab my phone, I heard the door open and turned to see Kai rushing out with a blanket, he looked worried and I couldn't help but smile. "Good, I was just about to call you. I need your strength," he raised a brow but didn't complain, only nodded. I licked my lips, "ok I'm gonna heal her and since I'm not a pro yet, it's gonna knock me on my ass." I turned to him as I spoke taking the blanket and draping it in front of us. Kai's eyes widened at my words but I continued, "I can't take her inside, she's too weak. You're gonna get your dream of carrying me."
Kai nodded trying to stay serious but I could see the worry in his eyes and the soft smile on his lips before he blew out a quick breath. I turned from him and knelt in front of Tsu again, I took her hands in mine and closed my eyes. I could feel her pain, it was like her whole body was one big bruise. She was battered and beaten, she'd taken more hits recently than she'd had this morning.
I felt as my breath hissed between my teeth and I grunted in pain taking in her injuries, like Doris had done so many times for us.
Suddenly, I had a new found love for that woman and the bullshit she went through to keep us alive and well. I felt as Tsu's bones mended and the bruises, scratches, and tears in and around her body healed.
Her breathing evened out as mine quickened, I felt Kai behind me hovering anxiously. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and I was greeted with the beautiful cool grey that I love. I stared for only a moment into them before I let go with a gasp and felt myself falling back. I felt Kai's arms go under my armpits catching me. As I let go of Tsu, I couldn't help but see her worried expression. I felt the smirk that tugged at my lips and then I felt nothing.

Tsu

"It can't be good for us to keep losing consciousness, there has to be something wrong." Kai looked up at me and shrugged, I frowned and continued. "Our brains literally lose oxygen, that's why we pass out. You know that, right?" Kai was pacing in the meeting room looking over maps and blueprints as well as hand written notes. I found myself nodding along with him as he pointed because, he was definitely right.
I was annoyed with how I couldn't handle some things and always wound up looking weak and fragile. I glanced over the notes but couldn't really focus, I was slowly shuffling them into a neat stack when I saw Davi's crooked scrawl-like writing.
I felt myself calm slightly and I smiled as I felt my heart warm and read through what the notes said. It wasn't anything overly useful, just a summary of what was in the page.
It took me almost by surprise, though, to even see his hand writing. Davi never did research if he could help it. He always passed it off to either myself or Kai. Clearly, he'd been motivated this time.
Davi had been asleep for the past hour now, Kai had caught him as he'd fallen and taken him inside before coming back and helping me. My body no longer ached but I felt bone tired, a wave of exhaustion I'd never felt before washed over me and I couldn't even find the energy just to stand. My body revolted and I was essentially stuck in the front seat of Jerome's car.
As soon as Kai brought me in, I'd fallen asleep by Davi's side, when I woke I felt completely fine. It was strange, and the good way my body felt almost felt alien to me. These days, my body always has an ache or a pain, a bruise, or a broken bone. But now? Now I was at one hundred percent. I took a deep breath and heard the door click open. I turned and saw Julia stick her head in, she smiled as she saw my tired gaze and Kai's curious one.
"I knew you'd be in here," she turned back and motioned for someone to follow before opening the door wide. I raised a brow but stayed with my feet up watching as they piled into the room.
Julia sat at her spot, with Jason beside her, Ash and Lauren came next and sat beside them, next was Brandon and Bri. I looked to Kai and saw him shrug, he looked tired and I could see just how much sleep he wasn't getting.
His hair hung limp and looked dull, his eyes had bags under them, and he looked pale. He needs sleep he's running himself into the ground. He opened his mouth to speak just as Jerome swept into the room, he looked Kai up and down before scoffing and turning to us. "Listen up, I have been kind and I have been generous. Now, I have a bigger picture to look at and a business to run. All of you have decided to give your lives to getting Timothy back." His shoulders slumped and his head dropped as he leaned on the table.
He took a deep breath and looked up making eye contact with Lauren, I bit my lip wondering what that meant. She nodded imperceptibly, "I'm going to be blunt. Timothy- in my mind- is a lost cause." The atmosphere in the room shifted uncomfortably and Jason sat looking annoyed.
Jerome took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't say that to be cruel like you think. I say it because it's true. Timothy doesn't have his power anymore, it's stuck in a stuffed animal with anger issues."
I couldn't help but smirk at that because, well, if this morning was any indication- he was right. "Timothy is human, if he's alive- and it's a big if- he's either beaten to a pulp and barely able to function or he's flipped." Jason shot out of his seat but Ash was behind him in a second slamming him back down and holding him. He growled up at the man but Ash didn't budge, in his eyes I saw sadness and a tinge of regret even. "He would never flip!" Jason yelled, his anger bubbling over at the thought of it. "Timothy is my little brother, how can you even say that!?"
Jason was furious and I could see the anger in his eyes, they were practically burning. That's when I felt it, I coughed, my throat felt like it was closing up and I couldn't breathe. I looked around panicking and saw everyone staring at me with identical looks of confusion. I clawed at my throat and fell out of the chair I was in.
My body trembled and I felt the panic spike in me, around the room I heard coughs and panicked breathing to match mine. "Wh-" Julia choked out, there was fear in her voice and I forced my eyes up. The only one in the room who wasn't down was Jason. He looked terrified, "Ja-" I said before coughing, he turned to me and I saw the fear in his eyes and on his face.
"Power, calm- Kai!?" I couldn't speak in sentences, only spaced out gasps, the fear in my voice was tangible as I couldn't breathe. I looked over to see Kai forcing himself to sit up and then his gaze focused on Jason. I could see he was struggling but his determination was there, it was amazing. Slowly, the effects started to ebb and fade away and I found myself taking in deep gasping breaths. "What was that?"
Kai stood breathing heavily, sweat beaded on his brow and his skin was pale, but still, he stood. Jerome put his hand up and Kai grunted, letting out his breath and fell to his knees.
He sucked in gasping breaths, coughing as he did and I forced myself to my feet watching Jerome. He stood over Jason now, watching him. He looked like he was a predator stalking his prey, his eyes were laser focused on Jason.
I stood beside Jerome, my arm touched his briefly to show I was there and he turned to me and nodded briefly. "What happened?" I looked from him to Jason and Jerome's smile grew, "it would appear Jason has triggered his new body's power." He clapped Jason on the shoulder and laughed, "I was wondering when you'd unlock it, or realize it was there. Congrats," Jason looked up at him and I could instantly tell he was dazed. He shook his head as though trying to get water out from his ears and focused on Jerome.
"I- I don't understand," he said. He was looking at his hands with a terrified expression, "what happened?" Jerome didn't say anything, he just smiled. The door opened just then and I turned to see Davi coming in. He looked haggard, his eyes were baggy with dark circles under them, his skin paled making his dark hair stand out even more, and he seemed to have a strange limp, but he was here. Jason growled in frustration and pushed up away from the floor, his feet were shaky under him but he was otherwise fine.
As Davi came in, Jason stalked out, muttering under his breath the whole way.
I didn't plan to, but suddenly I felt my feet moving. I took one step, then another, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Julia, I had been expecting Kai, or even Davi but it was Julia. Jerome had moved away from me, probably when Jason had stood, and now stood Julia. Her face was soft and open and she looked sad almost but she shook her head just enough for me to get the message. I huff out a sigh but don't otherwise move and feel as her hand lightens on my shoulder.
She pats it once before turning back to the table, Brandon and Bri were there and they both looked out of place. Davi was frowning at them and I saw as Brandon flinched under his gaze. I smiled to myself, he's not glaring at you, I thought looking towards Brandon, he's in thought.
The room seemed to fill up even though it was empty, it was strange but everyone's attitude and sense of urgency seemed to fill it to its breaking point quickly. I felt as the tension started to rise and turned to look around the room for Jerome. "Huh," I said almost under my breath, "he left already." I jumped as I heard Lauren beside me, I hadn't felt Jerome leave and I hadn't felt her come. It was uncanny how similar these two were, they both watched and observed a room. One because he wanted to know what everyone was thinking, and how he could manipulate them.
The other, she was just quiet and didn't want to be the center of attention. She watched a room to see if people were honest, if they would do what they said. The truth was their power and the truth was what was important to them.
I nodded to show I'd heard her before stepping aside, she gave me a worried glance but I waved her off. "Just- keep them busy, I want to check on Jason." Her brows furrowed but she nodded nevertheless.
I gave one last look to the room, Kai and Davi had their heads bent together in thought and were quietly discussing something. Brandon and Bri were sitting off to the side trying to simultaneously be noticed and ignored, Julia was glaring between the two of them, poor kids don't know what's going to hit them.
Ash rocked on his heels humming out of tune to a song, I grimaced but shook my head. That was one thing about Ash, be it singing, whistling, or humming, he was terrible at all of them. But he still put his heart into whatever he did, his humming sort of became comforting after a while. I slipped out of the room unnoticed and sighed softly, while I loved being around these people who'd become my family, they could be a little- overwhelming.
He's not gonna want to see you, I sighed at my annoying intrusive thoughts, true. But, he doesn't want to be alone either, so- I picked my head up and felt as my feet started moving.
Jason may be annoyed and acting like he wanted nothing but silence but I knew him better. He wanted to be talked to and listened to, everyone did. He wanted to know that Timothy wasn't forgotten or a lost cause, that we weren't just going to turn our backs on him.
Davi felt guilty for Timothy ever being taken, he'd been in charge that day and technically he had lost Timothy. I took a deep breath, you should've been there. Timothy relied on you, and you weren't there. My inner babble was getting meaner.
As I reached his door, I heard him muttering and shuffling, gently I pushed the door open. On his bed, I saw an open suit case, clothes strewn across the top of it, the room was the same but there was less in it. I leaned against the door frame and watched him for a moment. Jason was muttering to himself, but it was weird, he wasn't talking to him he was talking to someone else.
I frowned and leaned trying to look around him but the floor creaked as I did, he whipped around and I saw pure fear in his eyes. He sighed briefly when he saw it was me and I held my hands up in surrender, "what are you doing here?" As he turned, though, I saw something sitting on the bed and I felt as understanding light my features. Sitting there was Misther. Jason hadn't been talking to himself, he'd been talking to Misther, "I see you're packing? Going somewhere?"
His demeanor changed then, he pulled me into the room and shut the door before slamming me against the door. I grunted as I felt his hand go around my throat. "You shouldn't be here, Tsu. You should be supporting your boyfriends," the anger in his stance, and in his body was terrifying but, it didn't reach the anger that was in his eyes.
There, his eyes were filled with complete rage, I felt my mind running with memories of my father. He held me like this too, I stayed calm now just as I had then, my eyes filled with tears but they never fell. His grip loosened slightly and I winced at the pressure, "you're not gonna hurt me, Jason." My voice was a hoarse whisper and his eyes flash with rage, his hand tightens on my throat and I see out of the corner of my eye the flames from the tattoo on his hand were crawling up his forearm.
I felt a wave of nausea as it washes over me, my stomach flips and I gag quietly. I force myself to keep my eyes open, though, and watch the anger turn into sadness.
Suddenly, his hand drops and I feel my weight drop as I fall to my knees. "I learned how to use this power, more or less, piss me off, Tsu. I dare you," I take a deep shaky breath and feel my mind enter into that calm place I always went to whenever I felt fear. Whenever someone attacked me, I always went to this calm place, "you won't use it on me. You're angry, but you don't hate me." My voice quivered at the end and he smirked, "oh yea?" He asked and grabbed me by the hair pulling me up to look at him, the flames were spiraling now on his arm, moving like their own entity.
It was strangely beautiful just as it was terrifying. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to speak, but didn't get the chance. He clamped his hand around my throat again and I felt wave after wave of nausea. It was awful, my own personal torture, coming over and over. "Didn't Davi just fix you?" His voice was cruel now, condescending as he sneered down at me. "All his hard work going to go to waste, what was that about me not hurting you? Huh!?" He yelled now and I couldn't stop the flinch, I took as deep a breath as I could and spoke. My voice came out scratchy, "you won't hurt me, you're trying to scare me." His hand tightened, and I fought the urge to claw at it, my hands remained by my side.
"You. Just...... want Timothy." At the mention of his brothers name his eyes widened and he dropped his hand.
He took a step back and toppled over onto the bed, I slid onto the floor and held my hands around myself. I felt the fear and sickness but forced it back, Jason needed me. I had to be strong for him. I can do this, I forced myself to stand and remain calm while he shook.
When I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around him, he didn't push me away, only allowed me to pull him tighter. We sat like that for what was probably only a few moments but felt like eternity. Eventually, he let go and I let him sit back. He sighed as he looked at me, "why- why didn't you fight back, or call for help, or- hell! You could've shot me with wind or something," he paused and I saw the fear in his eyes at his actions as he ran his hand through his hair.
He was afraid, not of me though, of himself- for me. I smiled softly, "you wouldn't hurt me," he gave me a look that showed he didn't share the sentiment. "You wouldn't." My tone was calm and matter of fact, I felt adrenaline coursing through me but didn't let my voice carry with it. Instead, I remained as calm as I could to show him I wasn't mad. My voice was more hoarse than I'd like, but I had to work with it. He's scared, his brothers been taken, he feels like he's failed, and he has a new power he can't control. None of this was his fault.
"How do you know I wouldn't hurt you?" His eyes were shinning with unshed tears and he looked terrified, it was clear he believed he was going to hurt me.
I took his hand in mine and squeezed causing him to focus on me, "your body and your eyes gave you away. You were angry, but not with me. I've seen anger before, destructive, overwhelming, all- consuming anger." I allowed a brief shudder to pass over me as I thought of all the times my father had beaten me for fun. Or when I'd disappointed him, the bastard, "you didn't have it." He sighed clearly relieved, and held on tighter to me. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him softly to show I wasn't going anywhere.
I felt as his body shook when the sobs wracked his body and I rubbed calming circles into his back as he cried. Jason may have been put into this older, more mature looking, body but he was still just a kid. A scared kid who wanted his little brother back. He proved that when he spoke, "they're just going to leave him. They don't care," he sniffed and pulled back looking at me.
I felt pity as I looked down at his broken features, and smiled softly trying to comfort him. I wanted him to feel safe with me, I wanted him to trust me, no I needed him to trust me. "Jason, they're making plans right now to get him back. Kai, and Davi," I scoff and shake my head softly thinking back to how I'd last seen them.
They'd been bent over the table looking at blueprints and speaking to each other while the rest of the room waited for their instruction. He chuckled but there was no humor in it, it was dry and sounded out of place, "you heard Jerome! He's not going to allow this, all he cares about is power. Who can give it to him and when. We're nothing to him, all of us are expendable, especially me."
His arms wrapped around his legs and pulled them to his chest, I watched as he rocked slightly and forced myself to look away. I felt a slight pang in my chest, I was suddenly reminded of my sister and felt utterly annoyed with Jason. Slowly, I shook the feelings of resentment and annoyance from my mind, I'm not with her, I thought, this is Jason. He deserves comfort, get over yourself.
"You're not wrong," his eyes snapped to me and I leaned back on my hands more staring across from me at the blank wall.
I wasn't seeing the wall, though, I was seeing past it, to the world outside. I stare from the wall and slowly turn back to him, his eyes are studying me and I wait for any reaction he might have. When he's apparently satisfied, he looks away, "Jerome doesn't care about you, but he likes Timothy. He can't send everyone off to get him because he'd lose a massive chunk of his business and he can't afford that. He needs his numbers to grow, not shrink, if he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. What we uncovered at my fathers house last month, what we learned from Mikey's time there, and even what we got from his office- this world is changing. For once, we have the power, not them. Jerome- if he's gonna stand a chance he has to focus on the bigger picture." I shrug softly and see from the corner of my eyes Jason's eyes widen.
"That being said, Jerome did something to allow us the chance to get Timothy back, do you remember what that was?"
He frowned and turned his head in thought, I watched as he did. It was clear he was thinking back through everything, trying to remember. I scoffed and smiled as I watched him really thinking about it, when he came up empty I finally spoke. "He put Kai back in charge, he and Davi are working on plans right now. I don't know if you know this, but Davi feels responsible for losing Timothy. He'll do anything- and I mean anything- to get him back, that's a promise."
His eyes filled with wonder for a moment and I saw a glimpse of the old Jason, before he'd gotten the new body. It did wonders for my heart, after a moment though, his eyes darkened and he dropped them from mine.
"It doesn't matter, Jerome's already made it clear- Timothy is useless to him." I sighed in annoyance now and stood, "come on." I said simply and went towards the door he frowned but stood anyways following me. "Where are we going?" I didn't answer, just simply walked onward.
You guys better have a plan in place, we'd already let him down once- surely we couldn't again.