Chapter Text
“where is she? hey Damian! have you seen Anya?”
for her own good, Becky had too much energy in the morning - Damian simply couldn’t keep up. this particular morning he was crankier for some reason, and that reason was, surprisingly, absent from school.
Anya was a stellar, all 5 of them were in fact. she was no longer the almost delinquent student she was aspiring to be; she had gotten back on track, quickly catching up with her friends. steadily her grades saw improvement, her mind no longer wandering off to her cartoons all the time as she’d actually pay attention in class, her writing now intelligible as she’d take notes in each subject; she was worthy of becoming a stellar student, each star she earned telling a story.
so when she didn’t show up to school, people would start worrying. students would talk amongst themselves, some wondering if she had been kidnapped (again), some wondering if maybe she had stayed up late (unusual nowadays but hey! Anya loved re-watching BondMan, especially since it finished airing years ago). maybe, although Damian didn’t want to think of it as a possibility, something did happen to her.
his hand fished out his phone, fingers shyly pressing onto the device’s button before a message he had received the night before would pop up on his screen. his eyes read the message over and over. that message was the reason behind Damian’s crankiness, as that night sleep had been forgotten, his mind analysing her message over and over in his head.
she was supposed to be at school, so why was she missing?
we were supposed to talk…
the boy was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them; the moment he saw Anya’s message, he knew what she meant. he simply didn’t expect her to make the first move. he had been planning a way to tell her, finally confess his feelings for her - but of course, the pink haired peanut muncher would always have to be first in everything.
this time he wouldn’t let her have that victory.
“actually… i got a message from her last night.”
the Blackbell company should invent some sort of teleportation device, because at the simple mention of the message, Becky had practically teleported in front of Damian. her hand would reach out for his phone, but he was quick to react. a grin formed on her face, mischief written all over it, and Damian could only curse at his mistake - he fell into her trap.
“sooo— what sort of message, Damian-kun?”
“that is none of your business.”
“if, let’s say, Anya had disappeared, you DO realise that i WILL tell the police that the last known person to talk to her was you, right?”
touché
she really gave him no choice now, did she? Becky flashed a peace sign as Damian handed over the device, which he immediately learned to regret as her squee would have all the gazes in the classroom now turned towards them.
“OHMIGOSH Anya!! you traitor! she was supposed to tell ME first!”
“w-whatever! thing is—“
cue Damian snatching his phone back, Becky now too high on the news she had just received.
“—she was supposed to be here today. we were supposed to talk once classes were over…”
Anya was not the one to back on her promises. she would always make sure to fulfill whatever the promise she had made. now the group of 4 would start to worry; Becky was already making plans that involved calling her father and hiring investigators, his 2 friends were chatting, discussing ways of searching for her after school.
but the scion had different plans. he’d scroll in his contact list, a knot forming in his throat once he found the name of the person he was thinking of.
‘if you ever have a concern, or if something’s bothering you, you can always give me a call.’
he would excuse himself, his friends staring at him all baffled yet curious at the same time. Damian simply promised that he would be back shortly, as he exited the classroom with his phone at his ear.
it didn’t take long for the other person to answer, which caused Damian to freeze on the spot.
“hello Damian. this is quite a pleasant surprise.”
the voice on the other side was mature as always, but little did Damian know that the man was a master at hiding his emotions, and in this case he was hiding his surprise.
“hello Mr. Forger. i apologise if i’m interrupting you.”
“oh, not at all. i am but simply surprised that you are calling me at this time… aren’t you supposed to be in class?”
“yes, i am, but class has been called off.”
“i see then. is everything ok? i am assuming Anya must’ve done something as you are calling me.”
“that is correct… and wrong at the same time.”
Damian couldn’t see him, but Loid’s brows would furrow at the youth’s words. something was off.
“she… is Anya sick?”
what?
“no, why would she be sick?”
“is she home by any chance?”
Loid’s body turned cold; he was the one that had greeted Anya that morning, wishing her a nice day at school. she was cheery when she had left the house, which was a relief after the events of the previous afternoon. he saw her step foot outside the house.
Anya was not home.
Anya was not at school either.
“she is not home, Damian, and i am guessing that she hasn’t showed up at school as well.”
fortunately, technology had advanced a lot with the years, and Loid had planted a tracker in Anya’s phone; unknown to Loid however, was the fact that Anya had become quite the tech savvy - not really, but Loid’s mind had been so loud the night in which he planted the bug in her device, that she had decided to take it out herself — no wonder her phone would act up every once in a while.
to his shock, the device wasn’t showing up, and it didn’t take long for him to do the connection - Anya was a piece of work, truly. how was he supposed to find her now?
“Mr. Forger, i called you because you have the best resources to find her.”
the spy knew what Damian meant; after all, these past years the one who had fed Twilight all the information regarding Donovan Desmond and every single move he was planning to make was none other than Damian himself, with the help of his older brother.
——————
it was a few years ago, one rainy night when Damian got an unsigned letter addressed to him. it was sitting on his desk, waiting to be opened.
a secret admirer? he was handsome to say the least, but something in the back of his head told him that this letter would be different. that a surprise was awaiting him, so he wasted no time.
by the end of the letter, Damian felt the urge to throw up; after so many years of no talking, no responses to his messages, this is what his older brother has to tell him? why? why through a letter? such matters should be discussed in person! and the second son made sure to state that in his response — so why was he surprised when Demetrius did show up?
he hadn’t seen his brother in such a long time.
“come Damian, let’s talk.”
his brain didn’t know how to handle all the information his older brother had fed him; their father was planning on starting a war? their father was the main source of funding for a project that would experiment on both animals and people?
“this means that…”
“indeed. this would be our demise Damian. father is tarnishing the Desmond name—“
the person he always admired from afar, looked up to, yearned for his approval — all that was pretend?
“—thus Damian, you will have to be the next in line.”
wait—
“hold on Demetrius, you are the first son, the heir.”
“indeed, but i am renouncing my position, thus you are next.”
“why?”
“i want nothing to do with father and his twisted plans anymore.”
he never knew what Demetrius and their father had to share — they seemed to get along just fine. but now, Damian had realised that might’ve been just an act they were keeping up for the sake of the family’s image to the outside world.
“Damian, i know a person — an organisation actually. i have been in touch with them for a while now, and i want to introduce you to them as well.”
“but if we do this, father—“
he would be locked away.
“think about the sake of this world.”
the world?
“people don’t want another war. all the innocent people that would have to die, all the suffering there would be…”
it took a long while for the younger of the two to digest the information and take in the new reality; he found it hard to accept, but he gave his brother the benefit of doubt.
so imagine the shock he lived upon being introduced to WISE, a lady everyone would call handler but ‘Sylvia is just fine.’ introducing him to one of their best spies.
“Damian, this is Twilight. he is—“
“Mr. Forger?”
ever since that day, Damian would become Twilight’s informant; after Demetrius gave up his position, Donovan Desmond would give his second son more attention that he could ever think of — unfortunately, all that Demetrius had told him were only truths. everything the eldest had told him about their father, the other would only confirm, albeit Damian had to act surprised and fake his pride for his father’s actions. any new thing he learned, Twilight would learn of as well.
WISE had never been so close to capturing Donovan, and it was almost all thanks to the Desmond siblings.
thus the waiting game began.
——————
Loid sighed as he sat at his desk, concern clouding his thoughts; he knew Anya was sad, as the mission would come to a conclusion soon, but the girl had reassured him that she was okay. so why was this happening? where had she gone?
he had called his handler, already informed her of the situation, and Sylvia wasted no time. all the spies would be on the lookout for Twilight’s daughter, and sooner than he had expected, the father would receive the much awaited information.
“chocolates. she is buying chocolates.”
that was not a question, but Loid repeating what the fellow spy had just informed him.
“yes. she it at the store on x street. i do believe she is heading towards the cash register —- oh, Twilight, i didn’t know you let your daughter use your card.”
!!!
“how nice of you, truly just like a father.”
he had NO recollection of EVER telling Anya where he kept his wallet, nor his cards.
“…what is she doing now?”
“she’s heading for the school bus it seems.”
relief washed over the worried farher, his back slumping further into his chair. after expressing his gratitude, the spy would make sure to update the young man that had called him earlier and give him the news.
it was no surprise to Loid that Damian would have an almost similar reaction as he did - incredulous.
“chocolate? why would she——“
the youth went silent on the other side of the line, and that really made the spy curious. for Damian to suddenly cut off like that, he must be knowing something.
sipping on his coffee, Twilight tried prodding; “any idea why she would be buying chocolate?”
“n-not at all!”
he had become such an excellent liar over the years he was still as terrible as always, that he knew how to figure out when one was lying to him as well.
“i’ll just call Anya then, i’ll have her tell me.”
he could almost hear the boy on the other side on the phone fumbling with the device, unsure what to do next.
“wait! i’ll tell you— she said that she had something she wanted to talk about after classes…”
well then.
Loid was definitely not expecting that answer. the math was simple; if Anya had told Damian that she wanted to talk to him once classes were over, and now she was buying chocolate, it would only result in….
… a confession.
the coffee he was sipping on? all over the wall as the father had choked; his daughter was going to confess?!
“Damian, i’ll talk to you later.”
he hung up faster than he wanted to, grabbing his coat and locking the door to his office. people only watched as the man dashed down the corridors, making one spectacular exit.
he’d try calling Anya while driving don’t be like Twilight kids, but she wouldn’t pick up. of course she wouldn’t. she was too concentrated on her mission up ahead.
the school bus had dropped her off in front of Eden Academy, and there she was, mentally preparing herself for one of the most important moment in her life:
Today, Anya Forger would confess her feelings to none other than Damian Desmon.
[Sy-on Boy! wait for me on the roof!]
[i’ll race you there!]