Among the Enemy (Ryden)

Sanctuary

"Katz!" Brendon pulled away when he noticed a tall man walking up to them. "What are you doing?" When Dave turned to the man, Brendon moved behind him to hide.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Brendon kept his head low, too afraid to speak. His heart was pounding in his chest. His was sure this high arousal for this long wasn't medically healthy.

"Don't get smart with me." Dave let out an annoyed sigh.

"Calm down, Kenny. First time being sublead and you automatically assume you're my boss. You know no one takes you serious." Brendon braved a look over Dave's shoulder to see Kenny scowling.

"Watch it." Dave rolled his eyes. Kenny met Brendon's eyes. "Now, who's that?" Dave pulled Brendon beside him.

"This," he clasped his hand on Brendon's shoulder. Brendon tried hard not to make his flinch noticeable. "This is Klaus." Kenny ran his eyes down Brendon.

"And you know him how?"

"Friend from back in the day." Dave had no hesitation in his voice, but Kenny still looked skeptical. He looked up at the house Brendon had ran out from then back at Dave. Kenny went to ask more questions before Dave interrupted him. "Before you say anything, I don't have to tell you anything. My boss is Zack, not you."

"I am your lead. I think you need to remember that."

"Sublead," Dave corrected. "You're still insignificant." Kenny let out a low growl. 

"Harris!" Kenny turned around at the voice to see another man nodding his head down the road. "We gotta go." Brendon looked over to see vans coming down the street. Kenny let out a frustrated sigh and looked back at Dave.

"You gonna have to explain that," he nodded to Brendon, "to Hall." The group slowly filed away. Brendon stood shocked at everything that just happened.

"You okay?" He looked over at Dave giving him a worried look. Brendon let out a small, sarcastic laugh. "Right, stupid question. Sorry." They stood silent for a moment. "Listen, I can't say I know what you went through in there, but I wanna let you know that I don't agree with what's going on."

"Why do you do it?" Brendon asked softly.

"I was kinda forced into the 'cause' by my parents after," Dave trailed off and stared down. Brendon watched his expression slowly shift as Dave seemed to slip into a memory. Dave's intentions seemed genuine, so Brendon was probably asking the wrong question.

"Why'd you save me?" Dave looked up at Brendon with a pitiful smile.

"You remind me of someone I used to..." He let out a sigh and looked back down. "I mean this in the least offensive way possible, but I'm not like you.. Not completely at least." Brendon had an idea where Dave was going with this, but he didn't interrupt.

"There was this one guy who," he bit his lip and took a deep breath. Brendon put a cautious hand on Dave's arm for comfort. "You kinda reminded me of him and I just couldn't watch them finish what they were going to do."

"Is he still around?" Dave shook his head.

"Incident back before I was recruited. I always try to make these people feel better when they're pulled out of their homes. He'd appreciate me at least trying." Brendon nodded with his head low. "Come on. We should catch up with the others." Brendon's head shot up and his eyes grew wide.

"I can't go with them."

"Believe me, going is the best thing for you. I don't want to scare you, but you know what happened in your house. They don't hesitate too much." Brendon was frozen. "I promise that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, but you have to trust me."