Yin and Yang [A Superhero AU] - Book Three

Chapter Thirty-Three - Farewell

Phil's alarm shatters the quiet of the room and breaks both Dan and Phil out of their peaceful slumber. The hero groans and reaches over, managing to slap the snooze button after a few attempts. Dan whines and snuggles up to Phil again, making him laugh.

"I have to go to work, Dan."

"Work is lame. You should just stay here in bed with me."

"As much as I'd love to do that, I can't. People do things like die if I'm not around."

Dan sighs dramatically. "Wow, if everyone could not do that it would be great."

Phil laughs again and sits up, rubbing his eyes. Dan reaches over and smoothes his hand up the plane of his back while using his free hand to brush his hair out of his eyes, stifling a yawn.

"I actually have to get back to the institute pretty soon. The ol' boss man was planning something for today and if I'm not there, I'm gonna get beaten," Dan says with a sigh.

"I hate that you can say that sentence casually," Phil replies, eyes flickering over to the villain. He reaches out and takes his hand. "Come on. We both need a shower."

Dan squeezes his fingers and follows him to the bathroom. After a quick, hot shower, they pull on their clothes and head for the door, and from the door they head to the ground floor of the apartment building. They stand outside for a moment, watching the sky and saying nothing. Sunlight dances on Dan's face, and for some reason it feels too bright and cheerful for a day like today. He turns to Phil, and before they part ways he takes his hands and meets his gaze. Anxiety resides in his eyes, and that same nervous look is in Phil's eyes too.

"Phil, no matter what happens today... I love you. Don't forget about me."

The hero's face crumples. "Dan, stop."

"Please, promise me that if anything happens, you won't forget about me."

"I'll never forget about you. I don't think that's possible."

Dan smiles and leans forward, pressing a kiss to Phil's lips. The hero kisses back, but it's over too soon. Dan is waving and walking away, and Phil forces himself to walk away as well.

The villain reaches the institute and peers into Jack's room, frowning when he realizes it's empty. Jack is usually awake and getting dressed at this time... He sighs and heads to his room, where he changes into his suit and brushes his now dry hair. Once that's done, he heads back to Jack's room, where he's prepared to wait for him. He pushes open the door and jumps when he finds the Irishman sitting his bed like he was there the whole time.

"Oh, you're here now. I checked earlier and you were nowhere to be—" Dan cuts himself off, realization passing through him. The bags under Jack's eyes are not as dark. He's not as pale as usual. That could only mean one thing. "You did not."

Jack eyes him, a light smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. "What?"

"You look well-rested. That means you went to Mark's."

"You will tell no one."

Dan crosses his arms over his chest, doing his best to shove aside the guilty feeling that gnaws at his heart. "I won't, but really? You run a huge risk doing that, mate." Believe me, I would know.

"I don't really care." Jack shrugs. "I'd rather risk it than stay awake all night over here."

Me too, Dan wants to say. Instead, he watches him for a moment longer before breaking into a grin. "You do look a bit less like a corpse now."

"Aww, thanks. You're so sweet," Jack replies, slugging him across the arm playfully.

Dan laughs a genuine laugh, his eyes twinkling. "I know, right? I'm like a ball of sugar."

Jack's laugh is cut off abruptly as an alarm blares through the institute and calls them to action. The two Europeans glance at each other momentarily, Dan's heart sinking, before leaving the room and moving towards where the other villains are standing.

Cry races up to them and hands each of them a very full backpack. "Stage three, guys. This is it. If we do this and succeed, the New Age Institute wins."

"Christ," Dan mutters, his heart racing in his chest. He lifts the bag over his shoulder with a bit of difficulty and looks at Cry. "What's in these?"

"A whole lot of explosives." The masked villain shoulders his own bag and sighs heavily. "Come on."

Jack and Dan eye each other as they carry their bags towards the exit. From their hidden entrance, the wheels of a massive black van are just visible. There are no windows, and Dan raises an eyebrow.

"We had to take the sketchiest van possible, huh?"

"Inconspicuous. That's the word you're looking for," Cry answers without glancing over. The Brit can almost hear his smirk.

The three villains head out into the street, and Cry pulls open the door of the van. They load up their bags while Stephanie watches from the driver's seat, drumming her fingers on the wheel.

"We don't have a lot of time," she comments.

Cry takes the passenger seat and slams the door shut. "I know. Let's get moving."

Jack and Dan climb into the back and Stephanie drives off, the wheels kicking up stones as they go. Dan tries to focus on thoughts of Phil and not how much the van reminds him of getting kidnapped, but it's hard. Every time the van jostles, a spike of anxiety shoots through him and suddenly, he's nine years old again. He meets Jack's eyes and without a word, the Irishman reaches out and takes his hand.

"The van?" Dan squeaks.

Jack nods, his eyes wide. His hands are shaking, and the Brit squeezes the one he's holding a little tighter. They sit in silence, and in the silence Dan wrestles with thoughts of kidnapping and thoughts of Phil.

"Cry, what are we even doing with these explosives?" Jack asks, a tremor in his voice.

"Blowing up the government buildings," Cry replies without glancing back.

Dan meets Jack's gaze again and his stomach sinks into his feet. He closes his eyes and tries to imagine that he's somewhere else.