wipe the blood off your face (it may stain)

Something's Coming, So Out Of Breath

It was silent in the meeting room, thick with tension and mourning.

They were supposed to have this meeting three weeks ago. They planned that before Vulpes died. Now, it's been forty days since the Villain had died.

None of them knew what to say. They knew that they had to carry on with the mission to steal the Alyptid dosage. It was what Vulpes would've wanted. But they all couldn't resist staring at the seat he used to sit at

Tommy's burner phone didn't ring up until a few days ago, telling him to meet at the usual spot for a meeting. It made sense to why they waited so long. Not only did Vulpes' have a major hit on the Villains in general, but even if they were all hesitant to admit it, the whole group needed time to mourn him too.

His death was so sudden. Even knowing that a mission for Vulpes to escape a prison, much less than one at the Hero Tower, was risky, they all expected for him to make it. Tommy wasn't close with Vulpes, not compared to Quackity, but he had to make it. He couldn't die.

he did, though.

And now the rest of the Villains who knew him were in this room mourning him.

"Okay," Tommy started, being the first one to talk this whole time. Everyone's eyes landed on him. "We can't just sit here. If we planned a meeting, then we should actually discuss important matters. I'm sure Vulpes would appreciate us taking down Alyptid."

Quackity let out a bitter laugh, "honestly, I don't get why you guys are so upset over his death." He looked around the room. "You guys all refused to help with the mission. And yet, you're throwing yourself a pity party."

So Quackity was resorting to anger after Vulpes' death. Tommy couldn't blame him, if anyone knew about rage and bitterness, it would be him. Afterall, it's been eight years since his parents died and he was still holding a grudge.

"I get that you're mourning him, but we can too," Lemon reasoned. "I know Vulpes and I weren't very close, but I'll miss him. I do miss him. Don't tell us who we can and can't grieve."

"Oh, that's rich coming from you." Quackity spat. "You were the one who told me to not even attempt to save him, and you want to grieve?" He scoffed.

"I shared what I would have felt like if I just lost my powers and was in prison; that I personally wouldn't care about escaping." Lemon said calmly, despite the hostility that was thrown at her. "And in the end, I was right. You shouldn't have saved him. If it wasn't because of your attempted escape, he'd be alive."

"And miserable!" Quackity added. "At least I tried. I can't say the same for any of you."

Tommy couldn't even deny that. Quackity directly asked him to help, and he outright refused. The eldest understood, which he was grateful for, but if he helped, maybe Vulpes would be sitting at the meeting at that moment. And yet he wasn't, all because the blonde had too much to lose.

The worst part was that if he could go back in time and accept to invitation to help break Vulpes out, he would still refuse. He still felt like he had too much to lose, even more so now, with his attachment growing toward the SBI.

Tommy's chest grew heavy with guilt.

"We're not doing this," Thorn snapped. "We are not going to argue. I did not call this meeting for us to do this. I get that it's a tough time for us all, but people will be soon affected by Alyptid. People already have." Vulpes' name hung in the air by that sentence. "So we aren't going to mope around," she continued on. "We're fucking Villains. We don't mourn; we get revenge."

"'We don't mourn'?" Quackity repeated, sounding as though he was clenching his teeth. He probably was. "That is bullshit. Of course we mourn, we need to mourn! Even if we're Villains we still feel things."