Archive of Our Own ^beta

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He let out a shallow breath, his breath like a cloud of smoke in the dark night. He crept between rows of tents, silently disappearing into the thick brush and trees of the forest. He hid his fiery red hair under a fedora and wore a large trench-coat with a collar up to his ears. His green eyes pierced the darkness beyond him as he wove through the trees, dodging branches and leaves. The forest was eerily silent until a deafening ‘snap’ rung through the forest. David whirled around, he was being followed, but by who? The lot behind his was empty. Shit. He turned his back hesitantly and was on his way.

When David made it to the cabin, his underlings were already waiting for him. David hesitated before pulling off the trench-coat and fedora. He was sporting a sleek black suit, accompanied by a silver Rolex, which had replaced the old worn watch he wore with his camp uniform, and he had his red hair slicked back. His forest green eyes scanned the room, he smiled, everyone was here. David was about to begin the meeting when he felt beady eyes burning a hole in the back of his neck, there was no doubt that they were being watched. He held his finger up to his lips and slipped out the back door. He was going to catch whoever was following him. He made his way around the cabin with grace, not making a single sound. He approached his prey like a lion stalking a gazelle the start of a blue hood- wait- a blue hood?

“Max?!”

The boy turned around with speed and began to edge away. David lunged, grabbing the boy from the hood, along with Nikki by her overalls and Neil by his turtleneck. He dragged the trio into the cabin, keeping them out of sight of his underlings. He tossed them into a side room before locking it from the outside. And made his way back to the main room. He explained to them that the meeting had to be canceled due to an unexpected disturbance. They left, but not without murmuring how he wasted their evening.

David sulked on the sofa in the common room of the cabin. His arm was draped over his eyes. How did three kids manage to undermine him? He has evaded police for ages, but on the second week of camp, he was already found out? This cover had worked for him in his previous years, but why not now? David was shaken from his thoughts when he heard loud banging on the door to the room David had locked the trio in. He slinked across the cabin to the door. He let himself into the room and flicked on the light illuminating the room. There were dozens of boxes scattered among the room, holding who knows what. He stood blocking the closed door. The campers stared up at him with fear in their eyes. David frowned. He didn’t want his campers to fear him.

“First off, Why’d you follow me?”

Chapter Text

“First off, Why’d you follow me?”

The campers looked at each-other, nodded slightly, and looked back at David. Nikki lunged at David, bearing her teeth. David didn’t even flinch, but instead, in one fluent motion snatched Nikki by the strap of her overalls and tossed her back toward the other two campers. David scowled, he didn’t have time for this.

“I’ll ask you again. Why. Did. You. Follow. Me?”

David had no intention to fight his campers, but he was desperate to know what they were holding back. The tension in the air was thick enough that he could cut it with a knife. Finally, one of them snapped under the pressure. “Max saw you sneak out one night and told us. We were curious so we followed you.” Neil’s voice faltered, he was shaking with trepidation. Was it a bluff? David sank against the door, running his fingers through his gelled hair. ‘How could he have been so careless?’ he was yanked from his thought when Max began to speak.

“That’s not the entire story…”

_________________________Flash Back___________________________

Max jerked awake, his entire body trembling with fear, his pajamas drenched in a cold sweat. He glanced over at his sleeping tent-mates. Damn they were fast asleep. Max slinked off his cot and slipped his hood on over his shirt. He silently tip-toed out of the tent and to the dock. He sat on the cold splintering wood, the waves hitting the beach calming him. He looked out at the fog covered lake letting his mind drift. A sudden thought popped into his head ‘What time is it?’ he looked to the sky, it was still dark out, so either it was early morning or late night. He stood, deciding to find a clock and check the time.

When Max turned around he spotted a figure with unmistakable red hair slipping out of the counselors’ cabin and into the woods.

‘What was hell David doing? What time was it?’

Max snuck back into his tent, turning on Neil’s old computer to check the time. A bright green light illuminated the entire tent. Max flinched, glancing behind him to make sure he didn’t rouse ether of his fellow campers. They were both sound asleep, Nikki was snoring softly, and Neil was mumbling some bull-shit about science or whatever. Max smiled before turning his attention back to the computer. He checked the time. God, fuck, it was 12:18. Wait.

What the fuck is David doing up at midnight?

Max was exhausted by the night’s sudden turn of events. He flicked the computer off and pulled off his hood. He slipped back under his blanket.

He would tell them tomorrow.

Max didn’t get much sleep that night. He was too curious about what David was doing last night.

Max stretched, he stood by his coffee maker as He poured himself a cup of coffee. Dark circles had formed under his tired eyes. Max peeked out of his tent, quickly finding his two tent-mates and heading over to them. They were in the middle of a debate about magic.

“Neil, magic is obviously real! Harrison does it all the time!”

“Nikki, Harrison isn’t doing real magic! Its just cheap illusions that he found on the-”

When Max made it over to them they stopped arguing. Max took a sip of his coffee. He waved his hand as if he was saying ‘continue’ but they didn’t. “Max, what kept you up last night, you look exhausted.” Max looked Neil in the eyes. “Yeah, and you look like a piece of shit every day, do I comment?” Max scowled, he intended on telling them about David, but not here or now.

Maybe he would tell them later.

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Max couldn’t focus on any of the camp activities. His mind was swimming with ideas of what David might’ve been doing last night. By the afternoon he had already found something to bribe Gwen into telling him what David was up to. Max smirked, things were going pretty well. He still hadn’t told Nikki or Neil, he had been putting it off, he didn’t want to bring it up where someone might hear them.

It was almost dinner when Max pulled the two campers aside. They had been walking in a large group of other campers to the mess hall when Max grabbed both of them and dragged them out of the crowd. He pulled them to a nearby patch of trees and shrubs, hiding among them. Nikki seemed irritated and curious, while Neil just looked pissed.

“Max! We’ll be late for dinner! What are you thinking-” Nikki was cut off when Max shushed Her. He didn’t need to be caught before he even told them what was up. He scowled slightly before peeking out of the brush to see if anyone was nearby.

They were in the clear. Thank god.

Max turned toward his two tent-mates before clearing his throat. Neil frowned and Nikki began to bounce on the balls of her feet. Max told them of the previous night's events, explaining what he saw and when he saw it, even throwing in a few theory’s he thought up when he couldn’t sleep. Max was about halfway through his third theory when Neil stopped him.

“how do you know if it was even David in that trench coat? What if it was Pikeman?”

“Pikeman’s too short”

“How do you know it wasn’t Pikeman on Petrol’s shoulders?” Nikki budded in. Max nodded, that could’ve been a possibility.

“What would they have been doing in the counselor cabin?”

“Watching Gwen sleep, probably” Max added grimly.

They were stopped mid-conversation when Gwen yanked them out of the bush. “You’re late for dinner you little shits!” she looked mad “Get to the fucking mess hall!” she ushered them to the mess hall. Lecturing them on attendance or whatever. When they got to the mess hall David scolded them, if you consider no dessert and perfuse apologizing for raising his voice a scolding. Gwen shook her head at the poor counselor, He would never gain respect like that. When David turned his back on the trio to “scold” Nurf for giving Harrison a wedgie, Max walked over to Gwen and tugged on her shirt.

“What do you want you little shit.” Gwen said blandly as She looked down at the boy. Max grinned.

“I want you to tell me everything you know about David, or I’ll tell him that you’re not really CBFL’s” he held out a few rejection letters and poked them into Gwen’s knee. She gasped “you wouldn’t!” she said in a whisper yell between clenched teeth. “Oh, I would.” Max grinned, She had to know something.

When Max walked back over to Nikki and Neil he was grinning like a dumbass. He elbowed Neil before telling Him how things went over. Neil Snickered and Nikki Howled at Max’s impression of Gwen. She nearly sent the trio to bed halfway through dinner because they wouldn’t ‘shut the fuck up’ and they were ‘disturbing the other campers’.

As if. The other campers were howling and laughing louder than they were if anything Gwen only threatened them because his impression of her was on-fucking-point. Max chuckled as the campers were ushered out of the mess hall and to their tents, Max dragged behind so he could get Gwen to spill the beans on David. Max smirked to himself. This was going to be easier than he originally thought It would be.

Gwen told him a lot about David, the only thing was, He already knew all of this. He was beginning to get bored and was starting to tune out when Gwen mentioned a cabin that David had built out in the woods. She wasn’t completely sure what he used it for but was positive one time when they were drunk he had told her he built it in high school and used it in college whenever he took a lady home from a bar. He put a disgusted expression on his face, but was shocked Davey even drank, let alone- Max shuddered at the thought.

__Present Day__

“GWEN TOLD YOU WHAT?!”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP DAVID, I’M TALKING!”

__Flashback__

When Gwen had told him all she knew about David, which was a lot, he told her goodnight and slinked away to his tent.

Chapter Text

Max flopped onto his cot before he began telling Nikki and Neil what he had found out about David.

“So, we’re going to follow him?” Neil asked, doubt in his voice.

“Yup!” Nikki replied bouncing on her heels a big, stupid, grin spread across her face

“Nikki, if we’re going to follow him we have to be stealthy.” Max hissed.

“Ohhhh, Ninja!” She said barely above a whisper. Neil rolled his eyes and Max snorted at her enthusiasm. Max sat up on his cot before tossing his pillow at Nikki “Shut up, your gonna give us away!” Max couldn’t help but smile, he wished times like these could last forever. Nikki cackled before throwing the pillow back. Their fun was interrupted by Gwen peaking into the tent telling them that they “need to shut the fuck up and go the fuck to sleep.” Max rolled his eyes as she left. They had no intention of sleeping tonight, they had a counselor to catch.

Max checked the time before sneaking out of his tent with his two friends in tow. They hid in a bush on the edge of the forest, silently waiting for them. They waited about fifteen minutes before a figure emerged from the counselors’ cabin. They had on a fedora that covered their flaming red hair, and a trench coat sporting a collar that went up to his ears. They slipped silently past them and into the deep forest.

They tip-toed from the brush and followed David a few feet back. They had been following him for ten minutes or so when Nikki stepped on a branch, causing a deafening ‘snap’ to ring throughout the forest. “Shit.” Max cursed under his breath before pulling his two fellow campers into a nearby bush. David turned around, his piercing forest-green eyes scanning the trees around them. David locked eyes with Max.

Max’s heart stopped.

Max was sure that David had caught them in the act of exposing whatever shady shit required David to wear a trench coat and fedora. But Max was mistaken. David turned on his heel hesitantly before continuing. They slid soundlessly out of the bush and continued following him.

David stopped in front of a cabin, he glanced behind him before entering. This must’ve been the cabin Gwen was talking about. They snuck up to the building and peeked through a window. David was standing in front of a large group of people, he was wearing a tight-fitting black suit and an expensive-looking pair of dress shoes.

“Wait, is that my dad?! And Nikki’s Mom?!” Neil said in a shocked whisper.

“and isn’t that Bonquisha?!” Nikki Whispered back.

Max squinted at David, he was fidgeting with his watch- “Is David wearing a Rolex?!” Max whispered as he took a surprised step away from the window. Neil threw him an annoyed glare ‘who cared what David was wearing! His dad was involved in David’s shady business!’ Neil thought as he scrunched up his face trying to get a better look at the crowd.

Max was determined to find out what they were doing. ‘David was like a father to him! How did he not know about this!’ but he would never admit that out loud. He peeked through the window just in time to see David leave the room. ‘Where was David going? God damn these short legs.’ He glanced over at his friends and whispered “Can you see where David is going?” the shook their heads. Max frowned. Max’s train of thought came to a sudden halt when he heard his name.

Shit.
Max whipped around to see David standing there, an angry expression on his face. He backed into the cabins exterior wall. He was fucked. David swooped him and his tent-mates up and carried them around and into the cabin before tossing them in a dark side room, he locked the door from the outside. Max could hear people shifting outside of the room. Max was done waiting. He started to pound on the wooden door, Nikki and Neil joining in. They could hear loud footsteps approaching, the steps stopped at the door. They could hear the soft ‘click’ of the door unlocking. The doorknob jiggled a little before the door swung open, David towering in front of them, blocking the doorway as he flipped the light switch.

The room was full of cardboard boxes and there was a desk with a single chair at the end of the room, it was pretty bland.
Thank god they had a plan in case they got caught.
__________________________________End Of Flashback_____________________________

“And that’s basically what happened” Max finished.

David looked distressed, he had loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first button of his shirt. He looked like he wanted to slam his head against a wall for a while ‘How could he be so naive?’ He couldn’t tell them what he was doing, but if he didn’t he knew that they would use this as blackmail

David was utterly screwed.

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Time Skip

In the end, David saw no other option but to tell the three campers what he was actually doing. He didn’t want them to distrust him, but they wouldn’t stop until they found out either. It was a big risk David was taking, trusting the three most chaotic campers with his own life, but he took it anyway.
David rubbed his temples. He probably was going to need to find a new job after this. Campbell was arrested because of him. And it was no doubt he was going to try and blame it on him. Even if they didn’t believe Campbell, that wouldn’t stop him from trying his chances of escaping and getting his revenge. David cursed.

“Whoa Davey, what's wrong. Last time I heard you curse was during the order of the sparrow bullshit.” Max said mocking him. “Max! What are you doing here!?” David jumped in his seat before turning around to face the foul-mouthed ten-year-old. “I came to ask if you would sell me some drugs- but this sounds more interesting,” Max said with a smirk.

“No, and I’m glad you’re concerned-”

“I AM NOT! Why would I care about you? For all I know you could be planning to kill us-”

“Now max you know I could never kill anyone, I care too much about every camper to put them in harm's way-”

“BECAUSE YOUR A FUCKING PEDOPHILE!” Max pointed an accusing finger at him, disgust in his eyes.

David was silent for a moment. “I kill pedophiles. I could never be one.” his tone was off-puttingly serious. It was cold and menacing, like something you hear when someone is holding you for ransom. “You said you could never kill anyone!” Max continued malice on his tongue. “Pedophiles aren’t people. They’re monsters.” David responded coldly.

“Well, you got me there Sherlock.” Max started “ Now tell me what's going on” Max pulled himself up on the desk. “I was thinking I should find a new job, but that would put you in danger if Campbell escapes and wants revenge. And the millers sent me a note saying that if we don’t hire a new counselor the funding for the camp will remain frozen… I think I’ll have Gwen put out another add. And if I do leave to find a new job, I’ll be dead meat for any other drug-lord in that area.” David tapped his pencil against his chin.

“Then have Gwen put out an add. You can give them background checks… don't you have to do that when you hire a new underling? Anyway… going back to the whole ‘I kill pedos’ thing… could you kill my parents?” Max looked away for a moment.

“Do your parents hurt you, Max?” Concern crossed his face before he felt his face heat up in anger. Nobody hurts his campers. Max took off his hood before lifting the back of his shirt only to reveal tons of cuts and burns from cigarette butts. “Yeah… they do… but I was too scared to tell anybody…” Max threw his hood back on.

“Max, what your last name?” David asked as he opened a drawer and pulled out a binder.

“Anand,” he said peeking into the binder David had placed on the desk. David flipped through it for a while before stopping on a page and pointing to something. “Turns out they are one of my clients. I think I have a plan. But we are going to have to change your name… and fake your death.” Max's eyes lit up to his response.

This was going to be badass!

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David went through a lot of mental preparation for this. It's been a while since he actually killed someone. He swore off violence when he started working at Camp Campbell. ‘Am I really going to kill Max’s parents?’ david thought, trying to comfort himself with excuses. he covered his eyes with his arm, he needed to ask Gwen to put up an ad. David sighed.
In the morning David asked Gwen if she could put out an ad due to the circumstances. She said she hadn’t canceled the ad she put out a while back when they had hired Daniel. With that David loaded up his car before telling Gwen there was a family emergency he had to attend to and asked her if he could take a few days off to visit them. She agreed, reluctantly, before she stepped out to eat breakfast. David had an opening. He left before breakfast was over, the only trace he was ever there was his room in the counselor cabin and the scuff marks left in the dirt from his tires.

When David hadn’t shown up for breakfast, Max assumed he left to fulfill his new mission. When David was chatting with him last night, he had suggested that he fake a drug overdose, and rather than faking his death, with no one to go home to, David would fight tooth and nail to gain custody over max. The only thing is that David needed to be a registered foster parent, which he could figure out himself. Max poked at the mystery mush before him with is a plastic fork, god what was in this shit? It made Max sick to his
stomach, he slid his tray over to Nikki, not wanting to find out what was in that.

Gwen was exhausted. She sat on the hard bench, struggling to keep her eyes open. She stayed up late reading her new favorite trashy novel “wolves with abs” and lost track of time and before she knew it David was asking to leave for a short vacation. She waved over Max, she figured if anyone could keep these shit in line it would be him. She would have to bribe him first. “What the fuck do you want Gwen?” he said as he hopped onto the bench across from her.

“If I bribe you with the ice-cream can you help quartermaster watch the camp and make sure no one dies?” she said, yawning. Max shrugged in response and walked back over to his friends. She took that as a yes and wandered back to her cabin, not before bumping into a tall man with dusty blond hair and a metal arm.

Gwen jumped, ready to shoo the intruder away before he pulled out a newspaper ad. “Um… you must be Gwen right?” The man questioned, scratching his head with his metal arm. Gwen nodded before signaling him to follow her. She mentally kicked herself for staying up so goddamn late.
“Um, my names Jasper.” He began, Gwen just now realizing how built the man was. “Oh, um here's my resume,” He said, reaching in his back pocket for a paper. He worked in the US military, and had a teaching degree? She shrugged off the odd combination before realizing he's taught kids from Preschool all the way to High School. She glanced at him over the paper, ‘he looks intimidating, but if he could work with little kids, he's got to be a teddy bear.’ she thought to herself. She skimmed through his extensive resume before handing it back to him with a quick “you’re hired” and returning to her cozy bed.

Gwen had left him a short pair of instructions before leaving him to his own devices. The two instructions were ‘1.change into uniform and 2.Help quartermaster keep the kids alive’ they were brief. Jasper changed into his camp Campbell shirt, feeling slightly self-conscious about his exposed arm, before making his way to the mess hall.
These kids were already ten times worse than he was when he went to camp. He slipped past the chaos and into the kitchen to talk to quartermaster. Quartermaster hadn’t aged a day since Jasper last saw him, and that was like, 15 years ago. “Um, Quartermaster, I’m a new counselor… gwen seems to have left me on my own without a plan. Do you have any idea what we should be doing?” He said, silently begging for QM not to recognize him. Ah, but he was too late. “I recognize you.” He said between unintelligible grumbles. “Yer’ that kid who blew himself up a few years ago.” Quartermaster squinted at the burly man. “Yeah, yeah, it's me, Jasper. But can we keep the whole ‘explosion’ think on the down-low?” Jasper huffed at the old man. He grumbled a ‘whatever’ before walking off.
Okay, so that's a no to the whole plan thing. Jasper let out an exasperated sigh. he‘d make do from what he remembered from his camp-Campbell days. Which meant the activities field. Now.

“Get to the activities field! Now!” Jasper boomed. Most of the kids happily obliged whilst a few others lagged behind, chucking whatever QM had made at each other. So they are ‘those kids’ Jasper frowned. “Let's get a move-on kiddo’s” Jasper chastised. One of the shorter kids looked up at him. He was dark-skinned, curly black hair, and turquoise eyes that glared daggers at him. “Who the fuck are you?” The kid commented, looking Jasper up and down.

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hey, so i know i haven't updated recently. sorry. i dont like how this fic has turned out. but that doesn't mean I'm abandoning it! i plan on keeping the same course, just writing it better. im keeping this up as an archive. sorry if i got your hopes up.

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The rewrite has begun. It's under the same name because I'm a lazy fuck so whatever. I don't feel like putting a link or anything so just like idk look at my works, since it should be at the top since it was updated the most recent. Or you can just search for it if u really a masochist. Anywhoodle, enjoy.