Work Text:
Another day, another video, another visit...another bottle of whiskey. Chase refilled his glass for the...fourth...fifth...time? Honestly, he couldn’t remember anymore, nor did he care to. He didn’t want to remember. He just wanted to forget.
The day had been a tough one. The game he’d had to play had been a little frustrating in its mechanics, a little annoying to get used to. Not that it normally would be a big deal, but he hadn’t slept well the night before, so his nerves were fried. Then there was the fact that today had been a visitation day. Jack...didn’t look better. Not that Chase had expected him to, but he’d been hopeful at least.
No, Jack wasn’t doing well, and Henrik was still ignoring his calls - ignoring or unable to answer? - plus Stacy had left him a rather scalding voicemail while he’d been recording. And then there were the nightmares, the headaches, the weird flashes of haunting visions that Chase couldn’t quite shake from his mind completely. With everything falling to shit like it was, it really didn’t take much for Chase to choose to hide from the stress at the bottom of a bottle.
Perhaps not the most logical decision, but...well. It helped, somehow. Or at least Chase tried to convince himself of that. Numbed the pain. Dulled the memories.
So it was to a very drunk and sombre Chase Brody that Jameson opened the door to the recording room, his mustache twitching as he stuck his head in to check on his friend. Jameson’s eyes widened at first, then dimmed, a moment of understanding washing over him. It was a bad day. They came around every once in a while, and whenever they did it was often Jackie who managed to cheer up their sad friend. His uplifting demeanor worked wonders on the sometimes-pessimistic Chase.
But Jackie wasn’t here right now. He and Marvin had taken the evening to scope out the city, looking for people to save and villains to fight. Perhaps it was Jackie’s way of coping with the unending stress of recent days? Jameson had yet to ask.
The quiet Ego stepped into the room fully, letting the door stay open behind him as he crossed the room. Chase was slouched in Jack’s green recording chair with his hat askew and a half-empty glass of alcohol in hand, his eyes hazy and his expression dim. Jameson tapped Chase’s shoulder and tried to catch the older man’s eye, hopeful that Chase would still be able to understand his signing in his drunken state.
‘Chase? Is everything alright, my friend?’
Chase, to his credit, didn’t take as long as Jameson had expected to understand what he was trying to say, eyes squinting at the other Ego’s slow-moving hands.
“...yeah, sure,” Chase mumbled, eyes dropping back to his glass. “Everything’s fuckin’ peachy.”
Jameson sighed softly. Very poorly, then. He removed his hat from his head and wrung the brim between his hands, his mustache twitching while he tried to think of how to help. After a long moment of thought he set the hat aside and crouched before Chase.
‘Things aren’t all bad,’ Jameson pointed out, his hands moving slowly and steadily so Chase could at least sort of follow what he was trying to say. ‘There are four of us here, together. And Sam, too. A family. We’re here for eachother, no matter what.’
“Tell that to Henrik.” Chase’s response was muttered and bitter, a sourness in his demeanor that made Jameson wince. He quickly tried to cheer up his friend.
‘The ol’ Doc won’t be gone forever either!’ he tried, a soft, reassuring smile on his face. ‘Why, by Jove, I’m sure he’ll be back soon, and he can help us all bring Jack back to his usual, cheery self again!’
Chase scoffed in disbelief, shaking his head, but he continued watching JJ’s hands nonetheless. He blinked sluggishly and took another drink from his glass.
“How th’ fuck d’you even know that?” he asked, his words slurred and unsteady. “Henrik’s been gone too ffffuckin’ long. He doesn’t care anymore.”
The silent Ego pursed his lips, his brow furrowing in thought while he tried to find the right words.
‘I’m quite sure he cares,’ Jameson assured him. ‘If he’s not back, it’s because he can’t be, not because he doesn’t want–’
Chase snarled and shoved Jameson’s hands away, glaring heatedly at the mute actor.
“Fuckin’ liar,” he spat, and Jameson winced at the outburst. “How d’you know, huh? You can’t be sure! Fer all we know, Hen’s never comin’ back, an’ he was the one who was there when Jack–”
Chase shuddered and hunched his shoulders, his grip tightening on his glass. Jameson’s eyes were wide and he had backed up a little, standing up and wringing his hands together in uncertainty and nervousness.
‘I don’t know. I only hope. Hoping is better than worrying, aftera–’
“Why th’ hell d’you think you even know ‘im?” Chase demanded, clearly still stuck on Henrik. “You’ve never even MET him! Henrik vanished before you even fuckin’ poofed into existence! Pretty fuckin’ convenient timing, bro. It’s like you...you jus’ showed up to replace him!”
Jameson’s eyes were wide as saucers, his hands stunned into silence. He had never seen Chase like this. He’d seen him upset, yes...he’d seen him cry before. He’d seen him looking so lost that he wasn’t sure how to help him. But he had never seen the older Ego this angry, and never had his upset ever been directed at Jameson before.
Was this really what Chase thought of him? That he was only...a poor replacement character to fill the hole the Good Doctor had left in his absence? It wasn’t true. JJ knew it wasn’t true. He was somebody different and new...an addition to the group, yes, but not...he wasn’t trying to...he didn’t want to replace anyone.
‘I...have not met him, no,’ Jameson agreed slowly, uncertainty in his movements. He swallowed thickly. What could he say? ‘...but you all say such wonderful things about your good friend. I am not...I am not him. I…”
He was out of his depth. Jackie was good at knowing what to say, and even Marvin could calm Chase down in his worse moments. But Jameson didn’t know him well enough. He was struggling.
“What’re you even doin’ here, huh?” Chase bit out. He took another long drink from his glass, nearly emptying it, and he shoved it clumsily onto the desk. “Why are you here?”
‘I wanted to help you–’
“Nah, I mean–” Chase shoved himself up out of his chair, staggering a little. He stumbled closer to JJ and got right up in his face. Jameson could smell the whiskey on his breath and he wrinkled his nose in distaste. “–I mean what the fuck are you even doin’ around? Why d’you even exist? Firs’ time you showed up, you got possessed by that Glitch Bitch himself, an’ somehow, we still let you stay here.”
Jameson flinched and looked away, the memory still a sore spot for him.
“Jackie trusts you, an’ Marvin does too...but why should I?!” Chase kept on spewing words that were hurting his ‘friend’, spitting poison and showing no regret as he did so. But he was drunk...clearly, he didn’t mean it...right? “They’re idiots for trustin’ you so damn quickly. I mean – I mean–”
Chase flung his arms out to the sides, letting out a cold and slightly hysterical laugh.
“Th’ last time one of us got puppeteered, he vanished! Henrik couldn’t fuckin’ handle it, an’ we haven’t seen him since! But you?” Chase jabbed Jameson in the chest and he took an involuntary step back. “You were all fiiiine and dandy immediately after he stopped whatever sketchy shit he was pullin’ on Halloween. How do we know you aren’t a damn spy?!”
Jameson felt a cold dread pooling in his stomach, his pulse pounding in his ears. He never spoke up about it, never mentioned it to anyone...but...but he’d been worrying about the same thing for weeks. Why had Anti let him go? Why hadn’t he been hurt the same way the Good Doctor had? Why was he the one who made it out fine, when both Jack and Schneeplestien had been affected so horribly the last time Anti had tried to intervene? It didn’t make sense...and he was scared, deep down, that he wasn’t entirely...free.
“You’re his puppet , aren’t you?” Chase narrowed his eyes accusingly, a darkness creeping into his gaze that had JJ’s blood running cold. There was something familiar in that look, something that he couldn’t quite remember… “You’re just waitin’ for the perfect chance to slaughter us , right??”
Jameson shook his head desperately, holding his hands up and stepping back. Chase followed him.
“Don’t lie to me!” Chase snapped. He shoved against Jameson’s chest, hard. He was shouting now, fury evident in his every action. This wasn’t right. Chase wasn’t like this. “We should kick you out before you kill us all in our sleep!” Another shove. This was wrong–
The door to the recording room flew open fully, and a shadow fell across the pair.
“Vhat ze HELL is going on here?!”
The accent was thick, and clearly German. It only took Jameson a moment to realize who this must be. He looked just like all the others, just like Jack, but the differences were there. His posture was strong and professional, his eyes held more age than the others, and a pair of glasses was perched on his nose. Even without the usual attire he wore in videos, JJ could tell that this was–
“Stay out of this, Doc,” Chase snarled, barely giving Henrik a glance before turning his attention back to Jameson. The poor actor had his back pinned against the wall and he was breathing heavily, his eyes wide with fear and confusion and hurt. Henrik didn’t even know the man - a new Ego, clearly - but even he could tell that he wasn’t a danger. Not right now. He looked downright terrified.
“Chase, leave him alone. You’ve scared him enough for one day.”
“You don’t understand.” Chase’s voice had taken on a rough, gritty tone, his words laced with something that was almost indecipherable. “He. Needs. To. Go.” It didn’t sound right. It didn’t sound like him . It sounded like–
Jameson locked eyes with the doctor and raised a hand, spelling the same thing over and over and over, praying that Henrik could understand. Henrik eyed the newcomer with curious, puzzled eyes. Then something seemed to click in his mind. His expression tightened and his jaw tensed, his focus snapping back to Chase in a heartbeat. He breathed out a single word.
“Anti.”
Chase stiffened...then something changed. His eyes turned pitch black and he stepped back from Jameson, a sharp smile finding its way onto his face.
“̐W͞el̘l d̆o͕n͡e, D̊o̲c̉t̢o͈r. V̦e᷁r᷊y͔ cl̖e͚v͙e͡r.”
Henrik pocketed his hands and stared down the demon, eyes sharp behind his glasses. He tilted his head to the side, calculating. Thinking.
“I’m surprised you have enough strength to take control of Chase like zis,” he muttered, bitterness evident in his tone, “vhen you’re also spending so much energy keeping Jack under. Getting bored, are you?”
What?
Jameson looked from Henrik to “Chase” and back again, slowly putting the pieces together in his mind. Jack wasn’t just in an ordinary coma, then. Anti was doing it on purpose. It...made sense, in some twisted way.
“J͘u̮s̳t᷆ l͛oo̯ki͖n᷅g͛ f̧o͛r s̘o̞m̂e fr͔e͏s̲h͇ e̻n̲t͢e̓rtai͊ǹm̕e᷊nt̓. Ḡìv͜in̳g͈ y᷄ōur̂ f̖r͛ie̺n̑d́ C̀ḣa̢se h̏ęre͝ n̆ìght̗m̟a̶re̴s̀ wa̡s̳ fun̆ aṉd̂ äl̹l̛,̇ b̶ut̾ Ȋ w̲ąnt̻ed᷁ t̙o...s̲tṟe̳t̸ch m̈́y l͡egs͘,͍ ǎs͖ i͠t͢ w̫e̬r̿e͂.”
“So you followed him home,” Henrik concluded. “Vhat vas your plan? To pit zhem all against each ozher? To start fighting between friends?” He glanced at his watch. “Vell, not to alarm you, but I don’t think you have much time left to play around. Any longer, and you’ll be stretching yourself too thin…” He smirked, and Jameson could see the slight guilt in his eyes as he said the next words. “...and somehow I get ze feeling you don’t vant Jack to vake up just yet. Ja?”
Anti’s smile slipped, fading into a bitter scowl...and he snarled.
“C̨l͈eve᷄r̘.”
“Naturally,” Schneep winked. “So go on. Go back to your host. I vill take it from here.”
“T̬h͟i᷅s i̩sn'̊t᷂ t͊h̜e̹ la͗s̸ť y᷄o͓u̘'ll s̲e͔e͟ o̞f m͉e, D̆o͢c̼t̅o̧r.”
The atmosphere in the room seemed to warp and brighten, and Henrik’s smirk fell away with a strained sigh.
“...I wouldn’t be disappointed if it vas.”
Across the room, Chase staggered where he stood, almost losing his balance and dragging a hand over his face. Jameson quickly stepped forward to stabilize him, guiding him over to Jack’s recording chair with worry in his expression. Chase let out a groan and swiveled his head around sluggishly, taking in the scene through drunk eyes.
“Chase?” Henrik spoke softly, appearing at his side and crouching beside the chair. “Mein friend? Are you alright?”
“W...hat…” Chase squinted at Henrik. His expression didn’t change for a long moment...but the second he registered that Henrik was there, Jameson could see the difference immediately. His friend suddenly appeared much more sober than he had been a moment before and his eyes went wide with shock and disbelief.
“H-Henrik?!”
The doctor chuckled.
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Holy shit.” Chase scrambled to sit up straighter in his chair, almost falling out of it in his haste to pull his friend into a tight hug. “Holy shit, Hen...fuck, I thought–”
“Thought I vasn’t coming back?” Henrik murmured with a sad smile. He hugged Chase back just as tightly. “I’m sorry I made you vorry. I’m so, so sorry...but I’m here now. I’m not leaving again. I promise .”
Chase pulled away from the hug reluctantly, a watery smile finding its way to his face. He squeezed Henrik’s shoulder and looked like he was going to say something else...when his gaze landed on Jameson. His eyes widened.
“Oh, shit, JJ–” Guilt flooded him and he grimaced, shaking his head slowly. “–god, I’m so, so sorry...I...I didn’t mean any of that, I swear I didn’t. I jus’...”
‘It was Anti,’ Jameson signed quickly, already responding to Chase’s pained expression with a reassuring smile. ‘He got in your head. I know it wasn’t really you saying it. It’s...okay…’ His hands fumbled a little at the end of the sentence.
Chase sighed and dropped his gaze to his lap.
“No. No, it’s not okay. It might not have been true but it was horrible to say anyway.” He fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “I scared you. I hurt you. Or, Anti did, anyway. I’m sorry. I do trust you, JJ, you know I do. You’re kinder ‘n almost anyone I know. I wanna make up for it somehow, alright? You say the word, an’ I’ll do anything to fix this.”
“Chase…”
‘I appreciate it, chap, but you don’t have to–’
Running footsteps pounded through the house, and all three occupants of the room looked up to see Jackie and Marvin skidding to a stop outside the door, the latter running into the hero’s back in his haste.
“CHASE! Dude! We just saw Schneep heading–” Jackie broke off abruptly, taking in the scene. He blinked. “Oh. Hiya Doc.”
“Hello, mein friend,” Henrik smiled wryly, his eyes sparkling a little behind his glasses. “And Marvin, of course. I’ve missed you both as vell.”
Marvin and Jackie exchanged a look and it was the magician who spoke up this time.
“...what did we miss?”
JSE Egos Writing Prompt: [Feel free to use it yourself!]
My tumblr: [Send me a prompt?]