ﾟ･stars were made for falling ﾟ･ (original)

20- pollux and castor

act five- and finally at last the world caves, and stars shatter into pieces on the ground

"I told you, we were the only ones left. Everyone else died, shortly after when you last saw us." Leo broke into a small cough, but he kept his defiant glare trained on Bram's smug face, wishing that he could jump across the table at him. Instead, he just continued to fidget with his handcuffs under the table, hating every second more he spent in the cold interviewing room. He'd been in one before, lifetimes ago, when that old bat had verbally berated him. What had her name been? Was it something with a P...? Whatever it was, it didn't matter now.

"So you three were the only ones in that house," Bram asked again, his voice almost coy. "You and the two escaped members of the Gemini Community from six years ago?"

Leo nodded, feeling impatient- they'd had this conversation several times already. "Yes, it was just us. Ivan was killed during that forest fire, and Halley was killed by a stray Keeper, who we killed in turn. It was just the two escapees when we got to the farmhouse."

"They didn't have anyone else with them? No one about our age?"

Leo forced himself to remain steady as he replied, "No. They mentioned having two kids years ago, but they both died in different ways."

"So the farmhouse is abandoned? You're the only one left?"

"Yes, how many fucking times do I have to tell you? I'm the only one, Bram! You won! Congratulations!" Leo couldn't keep the bitter snarl out of his voice, only feeling angrier when Bram grinned, clapping his hands together and looking downright pleased with himself.

"I did, didn't I? I won, Leo. This is my victory lap, isn't it?" He stood up from the table, bursting into cold laughter. "I'm finally, finally better than you. How's it feel, gifted boy?"

Leo rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to spit at his captor. "Just peachy. Can I talk to Aldrich now? I'm sure he has some choice words for me-"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Bram's words made Leo's blood suddenly go cold, the breath suddenly leaving his body in an involuntary gasp. Bram just cackled at that, clapping his hands again. "So worked up over that, aren't we? Well, Aldrich had a private audience with our darling little Pullox last night, and let me tell you, it went about as well as you'd expect."

"That's how you found us, then." Leo felt almost limp as he said it, slumping back in his chair. "You stole his communicator and you used it to track us."

"I sure did!" The pride in Bram's voice only made Leo feel sicker. "I lead them right to you, and now, I'll be getting a special place in the ceremony! High Priest Applewhite said so himself- I'm the one who gets to unveil the Vessel. Isn't that great?" Bram leaned forward over the table suddenly, the sneer on his face becoming almost a snarl as he added, "I'll get to watch him rip you apart from the fucking front row."

Leo just closed his eyes, turning his head sharply away, not giving Bram the satisfaction of seeing him flinch. Bram just laughed again, returning to his more upright stance as he clasped his hands. "Looks like we're out of time again, Leo. It's been four days of our little playdates, and I hate to cut this one short, but..." He shrugged gleefully.

"The real fun begins two days from now." And with that, Bram left the room, leaving Leo alone again. Leo pushed aside the taunts that were thrown his way, instead holding onto the one, secure thing he knew for sure would help him- the knife he had stashed in the side of his cot's mattress. Of course, he couldn't leave the house without it, doing so would have been a death sentence. And besides, as shitty as Archer was, it only felt right to kill Mordecai with his knife, simply for the irony in it.