Chapter Text
𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩
When Kian had first gotten Teddy licensed to be apart of The Watch, I thought he’d finally lost it. Teddy was tiny and scrawny, and his only good trait was being clean. And even then the obsession with tidiness got annoying. But - just as always - Kian had been right about him. Teddy’s a fucking powerhouse now. He wins almost every fight he gets in, and when he doesn’t, he takes the beating like a champ until Kian steps in. I would’ve said the testosterone helped, but Teddy got good before Kian had pulled the strings for free testosterone shots.
It’s not like I know a whole lot about the more physical part of the job. I’m just the techie. I’m only fifteen anyways, and I still live at my mom’s house. She’d go crazy if I came home covered in bruises like Teddy always is, so Kian keeps me out of the fights.
Sometimes I think back to two years ago, when Kian had first found Teddy. He’d looked a lot different back then. His head had been shaved and he sounded like a girl and he looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. He probably hadn’t. Now he’s kinda hot. Not that I’m gay or anything. Objectively he’s good looking. His hair is long now - really long - and actually looks black instead of the grey is was when it was shaved so short. His voice is deeper too, and he’s muscular in a “I look tiny when I’m wearing a hoodie but when I roll up my sleeves and you see my arms you know you’re fucked” kinda way.
Kian’s hair is shorter than it used to be. It’s still long enough to tie back - Kian’s hair has been long ever since I’ve known him - but he cut it recently for some reason. I don’t know why Kian does anything. I’ve learned not to question him.
Kian is kinda crazy. I don’t think Teddy knows that. Even after two years I think Teddy still worships the ground Kian walks on. He thinks Kian is akin to God. But Kian is undeniably crazy. Sometimes I think the only reason he works for The Watch is to beat people to near death without any consequences. If The Watch didn’t exist, he’d be just like the Parades. Killing people on the street. Not even for money or power or popularity, like normal Parades. He’d be a parade simply to kill. Even after being in The Watch for God knows how long, he doesn’t carry a gun. “Guns are too easy,” he’d said to me once when I’d asked why he doesn’t carry one. When I’d told him he could get killed without one, he’d said “I won’t.”
And he hasn’t. Not in the two years I’d known him or the years before that. The only weapon he ever carried was knuckle rings on his right hand. And even then he didn’t always wear them. Sometimes he just came back with a bloody fist and a disappointed look on his face. Occasionally he came back with a black eye and a bloody face. Those rare days were the only ones when he didn’t look bored. Those days he had a bounce in his step and stars in his eyes. It meant he’d had a good fight. Those were the days I was most scared of him. One time he’d come back with a dislocated shoulder and cracked ribs. When I’d asked him if he’d lost, unable to stop myself from asking what was probably a forbidden question, he’d laughed hysterically. When he stopped he was beaming.
“No,” he’d said breathlessly. I’ve never asked that question again.
Teddy is the opposite of Kian. He’s angry all the time and he isn’t scary. I mean, he could totally beat me in a fight if he wanted to, but he’s not scary. Not like Kian. I can’t really take him seriously. Not after I’ve known him for so long. He’s kinda OCD and cries a lot. He never cries in front of me, but I know he does. I’m not even scared of him when I see him come back covered in blood that isn’t his. But that might be his secret weapon. He doesn’t look scary. He doesn’t act scary. He acts like a moody little kid (littler than me, at least, even though he’s almost twenty). That’s why Parades don’t see him as a threat. And that’s when they’re fucked. The moment a Parade gets ready for a fight with Teddy, they’re fate is always sealed. Even when Teddy doesn’t win (another difference from Kian), the Parade he fought is always beat up pretty bad.
Even Teddy’s mysterious past doesn’t give him a threatening aura - not like Kian’s does. When I ask Teddy questions about him before he joined The Watch, he just kinda stiffens up and mutters an “I don’t want to talk about it.” The one time I asked Kian about his past (“how’d you join The Watch?”), his smile was dangerous. I was 100% sure I was about to get my shit rocked until he got a call and decided to ignore me and answer his phone.
Ever since then I stuck to my computer and didn’t ask questions unless they were necessary.
Today is no different. I’m sitting in my corner of Kian’s apartment (Teddy lives here too, but this place has been Kian’s since at least two years ago) and trying to hack this infamous Parade’s records from the county jail. Kian could probably get them just by “pulling some strings” like he always does, but Kian lets me do my work with minimal interference. I like to pretend it’s because he’s nice and wants me to be a productive part of the team. It’s probably more because he hates dealing with most people. Not that those people would know. Kian is utterly charming at all times, even when he’s on the verge of murder.
The people working at the jail must’ve updated their system’s firewall, though, because I’m having a harder time than usual trying to get in. Normally I’m a pretty chill guy, but I’m starting to want to throw my laptop at the wall.
Teddy’s been sitting on the couch opposite from my corner (it’s literally a corner next to the TV with some pillows on the ground and a shit ton of wires in the walls) and staring at his immaculate nails to see if he can find some dirt to dig out for the past half hour. I keep sneaking glances at him to see if he’s going to do something productive. He hasn’t moved an inch every time I look.
I’m about to rip my laptop in half when the records finally pop up.
“About fucking time!” I yell. Teddy startles out of his daze and looks up at me.
“What?” he asks blankly.
“Stuff,” I say, waving my hand and skimming through the PDF. Teddy huffs and I hear him get up to leave. I hear the door open and close.
“Good riddance,” I mumble. A familiar voice laughs. I look up to see that Teddy, in fact, has not left and the slamming of the door was Kian entering the room. Teddy’s glaring at me. Kian’s still snickering. My face heats up.
“Sorry,” I apologize. “I didn’t mean it.” Teddy ignores me and exits the room with a dramatic flip of his ponytail. Kian laughs again.
“You’re worked up,” he says, sitting on the couch and swinging his legs up to rest on the glass coffee table.
“Mmm,” I say. I look back to the records.
“His name’s Todd Lincoln,” I say after a moment.
“Terrible name,” Kian says.
“He lives like 3 blocks away,” I continue. “Apparently his crimes and IQ aren’t significant enough to merit more than a couple weeks in jail and a mandatory court hearing. He’s been in jail three times in the past year.”
“What was he in for?” Kian asks. He sounds flippant and vaguely interested, but I know he’s demanding an answer.
“Petty theft the first time, and second degree assault the second and third times.”
“Petty theft is a crime still?” Kian asks. He sounds mildly interested.
“It was a politician’s wife’s purse,” I say.
“Ah,” Kian says. “Typical.”
I download Lincoln’s records and go to the admissions page. I look to see if Lincoln has records from longer ago, but I get to the records from 2047 (four years ago) and find nothing. I’m about to go back to the main page, but my finger slips and takes me to the A section of the 2047 records. I can’t go back before I see “ASHLEY, KIAN” at the end of the page. I freeze. Slowly, I look up at Kian to see if he’s reading my mind or checking his hidden cameras to see what I’m looking at. He’s reading a magazine.
I look back to the records. Before I can think better of it, I click on it and download it to a locked file. I don’t read any of it. I just go back and delete his records from the system.
The door slams open and I swear to God my heart stops. It’s just Teddy, though. He’s changed from pjs into a hoodie and sweatpants. I don’t know why he wears that kind of stuff. It’s basically permanently summer nowadays. Near the equator is literally unlivable. I don’t understand how he can fight in hoodies in this never-ending heat.
“What’s going on, Vincent?” Kian asks. I try my best to look it him without the palpable fear I feel showing in my eyes.
“Hm?” I say.
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Kian elaborates, looking bored but with a dangerous edge in his eyes.
“Teddy scared me,” I say casually. Kian gives me a once over but goes back to his magazine without arguing. I take a deep breath disguised as a sigh. Then I go back to Lincoln’s records.
𝙆𝙞𝙖𝙣
That little bitch will delete that PDF if he knows what’s good for him.