Hidden and Silent (SpyxFamily)

Ch. 22: Part Four

"Hey, you alright?" Killian appeared next to him on his bench and Demetrius smushed the impulse to growl and push him off. Until he was free from his father, he had to be cordial. To pretend he was the polite person he had always pretended to be to preserve his father's idiotic picture of perfection.

"Fine."

"Really?" His tone lilted up a little and his face scrunched a bit in obvious but concerned disbelief. He pulled out his books as he did so.

Great. He was staying.

"Mmhm." Demetrius sighed, keeping as much of his irritation as he could, contained. He didn't have the energy or patience for him right now.

"It's just. . ." Killian's movements slowed while he unearthed a pencil from his pencil case in contemplation. "You look really exhausted and you've seemed kinda. . .off lately?"

Demetrius held in another sigh. He had let himself be as apathetic towards them as he'd wanted while he was staying with the Forgers. Now it was coming to back to bite him. "Just had a lot on my mind."

". . .right." His seat-mate obviously didn't believe him.

"What are we talking about?" Fallon appeared on Demetrius' other sighed and he could have groaned. It seems the group had made up with her.

"Nothing, really."

"Something's bothering Demetrius." Killian answered like the traitor he was.

"Nothing's bothering me." Demetrius insisted again and wondered how Killian could even tell.

Fallon hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah, you look more tired than usual and a little murderous." She offered cheerfully.

"What?" Demetrius turned to her then.

"Yeah." Killian agreed. "I was kinda afraid to come and talk to you, honestly."

"And yet, here you are." Demetrius grumbled(probably not helping the case of how 'fine' he said he was, but he couldn't bring himself to care), pretty sure his classmates couldn't understand him, and slumped a little in his seat.

"Is everything okay?" Fallon's tone shifted slightly in an attempt to be subtle, though Demetrius heard the worry, anyway. He found it very annoying. "What's been going on lately? We haven't seen you as much."

"Been busy." Demetrius forced his usual neutrality over his face instead of the light scowl he didn't remember putting there. Which was odd. He was usually much more aware of which emotion or mood he portrayed to them. Which was almost always none of them.

"Well, we're all going for ice cream after school, you should come." Killian's hopes to get Demetrius to open up during the outing were really not hidden very well.

"No, thanks." Demetrius was too busy for that. He had things to plan, worry, and overall panic about. Even now, his heel bounced on the floor as his mind worked fruitlessly in overdrive. His mind wouldn't settle and he was almost afraid for it to. He felt he might dip too far into hopelessness and just give up. He might not get far with panicking, but letting himself slip into a defeated mindset was worse. If he let it sink it's roots in, he might not be able to pull them out. The exhaustion was too hard. Too long. The fear was too strong. It crept along the edges of his panic, poking for a way through, waiting for any crack to rip open and take over. The panic and worry kept his head above water.

"Aw, c'mon." Fallon swept her sandy-coloured hair out of her face and over her shoulder. "It'll be fun. Everyone misses you."

"Right. . ." Demetrius mumbled noncommittally and pretended to browse his notes.

Thankfully, the teacher started class before either of the teens could try to persuade him again and fell into reluctant silence.

The day went slowly and there wasn't a class he attended, a step he could take, without the ever present feeling of warbled minds lingering outside and inside the school grounds; A janitor, a groundskeeper, a teacher, and random agents hidden in nooks where no one but Demetrius would have noticed them. Demetrius had no doubt that Damian was under similar surveillance and it solidified his fears that he'd never get his brother out of here a little bit more with each second.

It was because of his father's measures that Demetrius was sure he could visit Damian at his dorm room. He could talk with him, maybe even be able to take him off campus, and it wouldn't make a difference because the agents watched them like creepy, stalker-y, hawks and would know where they were at all times, be able to stop them from doing whatever it was they were doing at all times. Could stop them if Demetrius tried to run with Damian. Could tranq them, separate them, and lock them up in the mansion, depriving him of any more chances of escape. And this without Anya. If he did manage to make it out with Damian, he knew he wouldn't be able to sneak into the mansion unnoticed for Anya. There were too many agents. Too many cameras. He couldn't fight off all the agents that would imprison him there, especially when security would be tightened up around Anya if Demetrius and Damian disappeared. His father was training him to be a spy, but he wasn't so arrogant to think his skills would be sufficient.

What did that leave him with? If he couldn't fight off all the agents, if he couldn't shake them, could he outsmart them? Even that felt impossible with how they watched his every move, every intake of breath, every nervous bounce of his heel, and the twitch in his fingers as he struggled to focus on writing notes. He could feel them outside, probably watching through aa window.

His father had to be the most paranoid person he knew. Demetrius wondered how many more there were that he couldn't feel if Anya's little horrifying revelation that the agents had inhibitors that blocked telepathy completely were true.

How many were spread throughout the city? How many would his father deploy if Demetrius tried to run?