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the quiet after a fight had always felt eerie to arm. despite him being tucked away rather safely amongst his armory compared to his colleagues who were stuck in the middle of the fight, the gunshots could be heard even from a distance and watching on the CCTV as they struggled against the intruder felt like someone had placed some of the people most dear to him into a fucked up video game that someone had forced him to watch.
now, with khun kan eliminated, the shootout was starting to die down, as if the entire battle had been tied to this man's heartbeat and not been carefully planned for months, driven by a hatred and malice that ran generations deep.
still, the order they had received was to keep on the lookout in case any remaining bodyguards of the minor family were roaming the grounds undetected in a miserable attempt to keep the fight alive. usually, arm wouldn't be here, making the rounds and keeping a watchful eye, he'd be with pol and pete, guarding khun nu, which in their world meant watching the same series on repeat until they could mouth the dialogue in their sleep. it reminded arm of his high school days, cramming math formulas into his head to the point where you could've woken him up at any hour during the night and he could've recited them like a poem. however, with many of their men either wounded or fatally shot, khun nu had been safely locked away and he had been ordered to assist in gathering the last members of the minor family willing to put up a fight.
as arm moved swiftly through the corridors of the main family's house trying not to make a sound, gun in hand and on high alert, he tried to push down the feeling that often crept up when he was pulled out of the safety of his routine, out of the safety of his armory - that this was way beyond his expertise and that he was heavily misplaced. it wasn't that he lacked confidence in his skills, but there was a reason why he was mostly kept in charge of providing the others with their weapon of choice and neat little gadgets - he was the brain, not so much the fighter. it were people like pete who were way more suited for this stuff: precise, quick, ruthless, no remorse about the violence they inflicted. arm knew what he had signed up for when he took this job years ago, but he didn't mind that he wasn't at the forefront of every conflict and rather hidden away to aid them with his technical knowledge. as arm's thoughts drifted towards his friend, he started noticing that pete wasn't amongst the men who had been sent out with him to check for any remaining resistance. he also hadn't been at the infirmary where arm had gone to check on pol before heading out to perform his duty, nor had he been ordered to guard khun nu, seeing as his main task today had been protecting khun kinn. panic started to spread in his stomach like a wildfire as he imagined pete lying somewhere, gunned down and bleeding out, his lively face now frozen into a neutral expression. he can't be, not pete. he's too precise, too good at this job to be an easy target. in his mind, arm kept repeating those words to himself, hoping to extinguish the fire that had erupted, but it felt more like he was pouring a glass of water on a lit house. it was the very nature of their job to be an easy target, to die when the situation required it.
just as arm was wrestling to come to terms with the possible death of his friend while trying to maintain a steady grip on his weapon, he heard a shot being fired not too far away from him, followed by three quick shots that seemed to have been shot at rapid fire, aiming to kill whoever had surprised the second shooter in cold blood. as arm picked up his speed to get close to the scene of the shooting, trying not to be too loud as to announce himself to whomever had fired those three shots, he heard desperate screams, growing louder and louder. as he got closer to one of the many luxurious pools in the house, he was overwhelmed by the smell of chlorine mixed with blood, and he tried to brace himself for whatever it was that was lurking out on the veranda. there was no source of light there except the lamps inside the pool that made its steady tide flicker across the arched walls and columns so it was hard to make out any shapes, but soon arm's eyes adjusted enough for him to notice the brightness of a white shirt being reflected by the light from the pool, although he could tell that it was dirty. no, not dirty, it was covered in blood, the stains of it forming a weird shape on the bearer's back. arm thought it almost looked like wings. as his gaze moved up from the person's back to their head, arm suddenly froze with shock. lying there on the floor, wailing like a madman was pete. as if that hadn't stirred up enough questions in his mind, arm started to notice more things, the whole scene suddenly clicking into place and causing his brain to go into overdrive. pete wasn't lying on the floor, he was holding onto someone's body, pressing his tears and sobs into their right shoulder, and that someone was khun vegas. he too was covered in blood, lying right next to the pool, unconscious. something in his expression seemed weirdly peaceful and arm wondered if he was dead. judging by the amount of wounds that he could make out on his body, he was definitely on his way to joining his dad in saying goodbye to this life.
in all the time arm had known pete, he hadn't seen him cry once. hadn't seen him lose control once. pete was a fun, kind friend, a loyal bodyguard who never let anything mess with his work. witnessing him scream in agony over khun vegas of all people seemed surreal, like someone had plugged arm into an alternative universe where everything was upside down. hesitantly, arm lowered his gun and carefully called out, "pete?" pete stopped his incessant crying at once and the silence that filled the space now left almost the same ringing sensation in arm's ear. just as he was about to open his mouth to ask pete what the fuck he was doing here, pete did something arm couldn't have pictured in his wildest dreams. he raised his arm and pointed his glock at him.
something had gone clearly wrong. arm didn't know how or when or why, but surely he had somehow managed to walk into an alternate reality. this wasn't the pete he knew, had known for years.
"I don't want to shoot you, but if you try to harm him in any way, you'll leave me with no other choice." pete's voice was hoarse from all the crying, but there was no waver in it. there was no doubt he didn't mean every single word he had just said. arm tried to compose himself despite not understanding a single thing and replied "okay pete, I won't do no such thing, I just want to know what the hell is going on here". arm watched pete's facial expression carefully and he could tell that pete believed him. still, he kept his gun pointed straight at arm, not letting down his defenses. years of training had drilled it into them to never lower your weapon until you could be sure there would be no counterattack, no sudden attempts at placing a last defying strike. the fact that pete seemed to think he needed to be on his guard with arm caused something in his chest to constrict, but he tried to ignore it. instead, he tried to assess the situation further in his mind. pete still hadn't answered his question, but there was a flicker in his eyes, darting to arm's left. arm followed his gaze and was hit with another wave of shock: lying on the floor with three fatal shots in his chest was nine, one of the major family's bodyguards. he hadn't really been more to them than a colleague, but they had passed each other often enough in the halls and the common rooms to be considered acquaintances. arm wasn't sure whether it had been pete who shot him or if khun vegas had fired those three shots before he had fallen to the ground, but either way, the situation was starting to look even worse than what arm had imagined.
before arm could ask any more questions, he heard footsteps heading into their direction. of course he hadn't been the only one to hear the shooting, the rest of the bodyguards that had been sent with him to check the grounds had just been further away from the scene and were only catching up to him now. panicked that pete would do something incredibly stupid like going on a killing spree in the middle of the major family's house, he turned his head back to pete and tried to steer his attention to him, to what he was about to say before he got any ideas on how to severely fuck up this situation even more. "pete, I won't let them harm khun vegas or you, but you have to trust me, okay? we need to get you both out of here, alive." the emphasis he put on that last word seemed to stir something in pete, as if common sense was rushing back into his veins and he slowly - finally - lowered his gun. just then, arm could see the rest of the bodyguards approaching. the thing that he hadn't told pete is that he actually hadn't come up with any sort of master plan, but solving enigmas was his specialty, and this wasn't too far from trying to trick something - or rather someone - into obeying him and letting him get his way. all the code deciphering and firewall hacking had to be of some use here. as soon as the bodyguards saw nine lying dead on the floor and pete still cowering over vegas' injured body, weapons were drawn immediately. well shit, this was already not going the way arm wanted it to. "what are you doing pete? step away from the bastard's body, let's finish the job and kill the fucking traitor", kai yelled. before pete could even draw his gun again and go absolutely rambo on these guys, arm quickly spit back "how dare you address our head bodyguard like that? you aren't the one in charge. besides, we have received orders from khun korn to only capture the traitors, not kill them on the spot. especially someone like khun vegas. you think khun korn would allow you to punish his nephew for committing treason?" arm had no idea how he had even come up with this, and he knew that he was bullshitting his way through it, but he hoped that he was edging close enough on the truth here to convince them to leave them behind and spread out again while arm would be able to deal with pete and khun vegas by himself. kai frowned at him, his annoyance clear on his face, but arm's words seemed to have had an effect. before anyone else could make any more unuseful comments that would drag him deeper into a web of lies, he continued: "go and continue your search, I'll stay here with pete and make sure to keep khun vegas from bleeding out before khun korn hasn't had his way with him". some of the bodyguards obeyed at once, clearly not wanting anything to do with whatever the hell was going on here while kai took one last begrudging look at arm, then pete who was still kneeling above khun vegas, then turned around with a hiss and stomped off.
arm let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and turned back to pete, who had turned his attention away from him and kept staring at khun vegas' face, as if he could will him back to consciousness by boring his eyes into him. khun vegas looked paler and paler and arm knew they didn't have any more time to waste.
arm tapped the ear piece in his right ear and send word out that medical assistance was needed, naming only their location and that it was urgent. within minutes, a white transporter arrived, and the paramedics rushed out of the back of the car with a stretcher towards them. arm tried his best to drag pete off of vegas' body, but it was only when he told pete that the paramedics were here to help keep khun vegas alive and that he needed to give them space that he let up. his eyes still didn't leave khun vegas' face and the sight of it frightened arm. he had never seen pete lose his mind like this, lose every sense of control or composure, just blind instincts driving his every action, most notably right now rage and fear.
they had managed to heave vegas onto the stretcher in one swift motion and were moving him into the transporter. just as pete was about to climb into the transporter and join them, the paramedics shut the doors and started to drive off. pete's face fell and the same primal rage that arm had seen bubbling beneath the surface was threatening to come up again at full force. "where the fuck are they taking him?" pete yelled. "to the hospital. pete, you know how this goes. they take him there, no questions asked about how those gunshot wounds came to be, no records, receiving the best medical help one could ask for." those were the privileges of being a theerapanyakul, you weren't left to die in a warehouse or a parking lot, only to be picked up like trash and thrown out in a bag, you were rushed to the hospital in your own private ambulance to receive surgery by one of thailand's most prestigious doctors, no expenses spared to save your life.
somehow, this wasn't enough reassurance for pete. "get me a car" he demanded brusquely. arm wasn't sure how or where he would conjure up this car, but he was also past the point of trying to reason with pete. it was clear that he wouldn't let himself get talked out of following the transporter that was taking khun vegas to the hospital, and arm was pretty sure that pete would've simply ran there if they weren't to find one in the next five minutes.
they had walked out to one of the many hidden entrances of the house and arm scanned the area, trying to see if there were any parked cars nearby that wouldn't attract attention that they could "borrow". arm had thought about taking one of the main family's cars for a second, but he had no clue how they would get hold of one of the keys without having been ordered to take anyone somewhere, and driving a $239,000 sportscar wasn't necessarily subtle. further, if some of the bodyguards were so eager to kill khun vegas, handing them a golden opportunity to lead them right to him through GPS didn't seem like a good idea. "what about this one?" asked pete, pointing to a black toyota that was parked across the street. it looked rather old and used, but it was the perfect choice for what they were setting out to do. arm gave pete a nod and they swiftly moved towards the car, trying not too look too obvious about their endeavor. unfortunately, none of the windows had been left open, so they had to find a way to break one of them without alarming the entire neighborhood. pete took out his gun and smashed it against the window on the driver's side and arm cringed at the loud sound of the glass shattering. pete quickly climbed inside the window, not caring about the shards that were sticking out grazing his skin. arm followed him inside, now sitting in the driver's seat after pete had scooted over (not without protest, but there was no way he was gonna let pete drive in this state and he needed to find a way to jump start the car anyway). arm figured that the best way to do it was to hotwire the engine. he removed the plastic cover of the steering wheel to reveal the screws underneath that would give him access to the car's ignition system. he carefully pulled out the pocket knife he carried around his ankle and cut the ends of the red battery wires as well as the ends of the yellow power wires to connect them together. it took several tries for the car to finally react, but eventually arm managed to start the engine and he put the car into drive. pete seemed calmer now, but arm could tell even from glancing at him every and now and then that it was just a façade. he kept rubbing his bruised wrists and eventually he just rested his head against the side of his car door, closing his eyes and letting his hand hover around his throat.
now that they were finally by themselves, thoughts and questions arm had pushed to the side came bubbling to the surface again. what had happened to pete?
after returning from his secret mission, covered in cuts and black and blue bruises, he had seemed less like himself, but arm hadn't really questioned it given that he had evidently been through hell and back. or so arm had thought. he had suspected that maybe khun vegas himself had inflicted some of those wounds on pete, but what he hadn't seen coming is pete having formed some sort of relationship with him, or whatever one could call what wailing over someone's nearly dead body implied. arm wasn't sure how to address any of the things that were speed running through his mind, but he also couldn't hold back any longer. he needed to understand what was going on, but more than that, he wanted to, because he had clearly not paid enough attention to his friend. "pete?" he asked tentatively. pete didn't answer with more than a loud huff, but he was signaling that he was still awake and listening. "what happened? during your captivity, I mean?"
pete's body seemed to tense up at the question and he slowly opened his eyes, though he didn't turn towards arm and just kept looking straight ahead. it was a heavy question, arm knew that, and pete's reaction only confirmed that, but he wanted pete to know that he didn't have to hide something from him. pete still remained silent, clearly struggling to find the words to explain, and arm worried that he had pushed him too far, so he quickly continued "I'm sorry, I don't want you to feel pressured, it's just -" "I didn't mean for it to happen", pete finally answered. he said the words slowly, as if he had turned each one of them over in his mind, choosing them carefully. he paused before he added, "I didn't mean to give in."
whatever arm had expected, those words hadn't been it. he blinked his eyes in confusion, but remained silent, repeating them in his head over and over, trying to understand what pete meant.
arm was worried that if he pressed further, pete would feel cornered and just put up his defenses again, usually in the form of a smile that stretched over his whole face and made him look goofy, just a little over the top to know it wasn't completely genuine. he thought it best to encourage pete to go on by using the words he had picked, so arm continued, "you… gave in? did he push you to do something?" pete quickly shook his head as if the implication that khun vegas had forced him to do anything was an insult to him. "he… saw me. I didn't think anyone would ever manage to do that", pete replied. before tonight, a statement like this would've confused arm, would've made him feel slightly offended having known pete for all these years, spending every day together as they tried to put up with khun nu's moods. surely, their bond was one laced with honesty. now, after having seen pete like this, he wasn't so sure anymore. pete had always been driven by duty and loyalty for the main family, never wavering in it. to see that same loyalty directed to someone else was strange. pete had never shown remorse about the violence he had to inflict, it was part of the job. now, arm could feel that same sense of impenitence in his actions, had experienced it first hand when pete had pointed his gun at him, putting his body in front of khun vegas'.
"what are you going to do now, then? you can't remain head bodyguard if you can't be loyal to the main family", arm pointed out. he felt slightly foolish for stating the obvious, but he needed to know how far pete had thought this ahead. pete finally moved from his position against the car door and it was the first time since they had entered the car that he turned towards arm as he announced, "I resigned."
for what felt like a long moment, those two words hung in the air between them, arm feeling the full force of what those words implied, of what they meant for their future. arm kept glancing back at him, trying not to crash the car they had put so much effort into stealing while taking a clearer look at his friend. he could see the tears still glistening in pete's eyes, and he could tell that a part of him felt the weight of his decision as well, but the most prominent thing that stuck out to him was the determination in pete's face. it was clear he didn't regret it, didn't falter. as if there hadn't even been much of a choice because the moment he had opened himself up to khun vegas, he had betrayed the main family. arm knew that things weren't actually that black and white, but surprisingly, in a world of grey morals (if any at all), there wasn't much room for multidimensionality. you either were with someone or you were against them.
arm wanted to say more but he knew they had almost reached their destination. as soon as the hospital came in sight, pete started fidgeting, a stark contrast to how exhausted he had seemed through the entire car ride. before the car even came to a full halt, pete was out the door and running towards the entrance. arm quickly followed him.
as soon as they stepped into the reception hall, the typical smell of antiseptic hit arm's nose, making him feel dizzy. pete didn't seem to care, his mind now fully back in protection mode. he took quick strides towards the reception where a woman was sat behind the counter. "did they bring a man here, young, dark hair, light skin, wearing a camel suit, suffering from gunshot wounds?", pete inquired. he tried to keep his voice firm and not let the panic he was feeling override him, but he didn't fully succeed. the woman looked up from behind her glasses and gave pete a once over, a bit taken aback by the sight of him before she retorted "who's asking?" it was only then that arm realized that while pete definitely needed some medical attention as well and was therefore at the right place, it probably hadn't been the best idea to have pete standing here in a blood-soaked shirt with no main family pin on his blazer to demand any kind of authority. quite frankly, paired with the alarmed look in his eyes, he looked positively crazy. arm stepped forward and spoke to the woman in a low but determined voice. "we understand your concern but truthfully we have no time for games. we have been here before many times, like when khun kinn got shot, you know we work for the main family and it was us who requested medical help for khun vegas. now, would you please tell us where they took him and how he's doing?" the woman gave him a pejorative look, before turning her head towards pete and giving him the same expression, but in the end she let out a loud sigh, stating "he's in surgery right now, they took him to the third floor. his situation is critical but they're doing the best they can."
arm didn't even get the chance to turn and look at pete because he was already bolting towards the elevators, punching the button to take them upstairs. when they reached the third floor, pete ran out of the doors as soon as they opened, darting from one door to the next as if he could sniff out vegas' location like a dog. arm followed him hurriedly as he approached yet another receptionist, asking the same question he had earlier, this time with more composure. "he's currently in surgery room 3A-1, I'm sorry but there isn't much else you can do right now other than wait. are you his next of kin or is there someone we should call?" pete stared at her wordlessly for a few seconds before replying "I'm… a friend. he has a brother, macau. someone should inform him." pete kept standing there as if he was unable to move, watching as the woman typed in the number that would connect her to khun macau. it was only when she looked at pete inquisitively, raising one eyebrow as if to say 'is there anything else?' that he moved away and sat on one of the chairs they had placed in front of the surgery doors. arm sat down next to him, unsure what to do next. he really didn't want to leave pete by himself, but he worried how khun macau would take it if he rushed here in distress about his big brother only to be greeted by the faces of two main family bodyguards - one he corrected himself in his mind and felt a sting in his heart. the last thing he probably wanted to see was someone from 'the other side'.
pete suddenly got up again, pacing back and forth along the corridor and arm knew that usually he would've smoked a cigarette now to relieve the stress, but he was probably too afraid he could miss one of the surgery staff coming out of the door if he left now to go outside. he hated this part the most: when there was nothing they could do, no way for them to act and speed up the process, just helplessly sitting here and laying the responsibility into someone else's hands.
the pacing didn't seem to help so pete sat down again, just staring at the floor with an unreadable expression. arm was about to ask him if he was okay, but held himself back as it was obviously a stupid question. pete was far from okay. instead, he opted for something similar: "are you gonna be okay?" that seemed to shake pete out of whatever labyrinth he had gotten himself lost in in his mind, although he didn't dare to look at arm and kept his eyes fixed to the floor. suddenly, his hands flew to his head, covering part of his face and he started choking out sobs. instinctively, arm wrapped an arm around pete's hunched over frame and stroked his blood-soaked back. that seemed to calm pete down a bit, at least enough for him to take a few deep breaths. the sobbing died down, but arm could still feel his body tremble beneath his hands. "I don't know if I can live without him", pete confessed and arm could tell how frightened he was. the statement frightened him as well, if for different reasons than it did pete. "he's gonna be fine, pete, you're not going to lose him", he heard himself say before he could even fully think about his words, and as useless as they felt in the face of their powerlessness, he was glad he could finally comfort pete in his pain.
just as pete was about to retort something, the door to khun vegas' surgery room swung open and a tall figure in scrubs appeared. pete got up immediately and darted after him, inquiring about the state of khun vegas' health. arm couldn't make out everything they were saying, but the slight relief of tension in pete's body language was indication enough that he had just received good news. pete returned to their seats, the desperation that had seized his entire body just a moment ago replaced with a hint of hope. "good news?", arm inquired. "they're still operating and it'll take at least a few more hours, but they seem to have controlled the blood loss for now. his chances of making it are quite high." pete slightly shook his head as he said this, as if he couldn't quite believe his luck. suddenly, he let out a small chuckle and to arm it sounded like the best thing in the world. "I told the doctor I'd be happy to donate blood if they need it but he took one look at me and said I probably need it myself. you should've seen his face when I told him the blood on my shirt isn't mine." before he could stop himself, a loud laugh escaped arm and they couldn't stop giggling as they tried to shush each other, hoping the lady at the reception hadn't heard them.
when arm could finally take some deep breaths again, he turned his face to look at pete and a wave of melancholy came over him. nothing would be the same from now on, and he was scared of what a future without pete as the head bodyguard of the main family would look like. what a future without him living at the main family's house would feel like. he felt the strong urge to let pete know that he was intent on not letting this come between them, family wars be damned. "pete, I want you to know - I'm aware that things won't ever be like they used to and I respect your choice, but I need you to know that I'm still your friend." pete gave him one of his shy smiles, not really knowing what to say to this sudden outpour of loyalty and friendship. in the end, there were too many things they couldn't say to each other, there was no time nor room to make space for them all, so pete settled for what was the shortest but also the most important of them: "thank you arm, for everything." they just stared at each other and let the weight of those words fill the silence between them.
their profound moment was interrupted by the ding of the elevator and as soon as the doors opened, a clearly shaken up macau stepped out, looking lost and scared and filled to the brim with rage. when he spotted pete and arm, he halted his steps first before picking up his pace again until he stood in front of them. he looked even younger than usual, the shock of losing his father and potentially his big brother all in one night written across his face. "what are you doing here? haven't you fucked us over enough?", khun macau yelled. arm couldn't really blame him, he had known how wrong this would look to him.
"macau, please listen to me, we're not here to intrude or gloat or spy on you, we're here because - we brought him to the hospital." macau looked at pete in disbelief, clearly having a hard time trying to understand why two bodyguards of the main family had taken his brother to the hospital to save his life after he had joined in a coup to take over their bosses' business. "why would you do that?", khun macau asked, anger still tracing through his words, though mixed with an honest hint of curiosity. pete took his gaze off him, his eyes darting back and forth as he tried to find the best way to explain to khun macau that he had developed feelings for his brother. in the end, he settled for "because I care about your brother." pete was evidently embarrassed at the turn the conversation had taken, but he kept his eyes steady on khun macau, as if he wanted to convince him through the earnestness in his face that he meant every single word, that he could be trusted. to arm's surprise, khun macau actually seemed to believe him. he watched as his angry expression faded out into something softer, as if he recognized the same care he had for his big brother in pete's expression. he let out a sigh before he raised the question he had probably meant to ask all along: "where is he now?" "he's still in surgery, but I was able to talk with one of the surgeons earlier, and so far they're positive he'll make it. they're going to update us as soon as something changes", pete explained to him in a calm voice. that seemed to actually settle khun macau down a little. he was a lot more composed than arm had imagined, facing this practically all by himself with no one there to comfort him except two bodyguards who weren't even his. he leaned against the wall opposite them, suddenly looking drained of energy. after a minute or two in complete silence he turned his gaze to pete again, asking, "what exactly happened to him?" pete looked quite overwhelmed by the question, his brain probably racing through the day's events, unsure what to unpack first. ultimately, he decided on telling the truth while sparing the more gory details. Khun macau had already learned how his father had died, however, it didn't really make reciting it to him again any easier. pete tried his best to be honest with him without traumatizing the kid, which wasn't an easy task seeing what had gone down in that secret room in the main family's house. when pete moved on to the part where had followed khun vegas out to the pool, he kept pausing in an effort to find the right words to explain why he had done so. arm could only guess, but it hadn't seemed like they had established their relationship. hell, he wasn't even sure if they had planned on being together, so having to put a definition on what they are to each other to khun vegas' little brother was no easy task.
after pete had finished recounting everything that had happened, khun macau stared at him with an incredulous look. "so... you resigned, followed p'vegas and that's when he got shot and then the two of you got him to the hospital?" "well… yes", pete replied, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "I told you, I care about him", he added, his voice barely above a whisper. khun macau seemed unsure on how to respond to this, so instead he just kept watching pete, probably debating in his mind what the hell had happened between him and his brother to be acting in the way that he did.
they spent the next few hours in a state of restlessness, neither of them able to sleep despite their bodies crying out for a rest, nor able to eat despite their bellies starting to rumble. after what felt like an eternity, the surgery doors opened again and the doctor who had broken the good news to pete earlier came out again, informing them that the surgery had gone successfully and that they were moving khun vegas to the ICU as they needed to keep observing his vitals and he needed a lot of time for recovery. khun macau turned to pete expectantly, clearly having decided to put his trust in him, and arm started to feel the new reality he had been worrying over all throughout the night start to creep in. this was pete's new place, beside khun vegas and khun macau - if they managed to settle whatever issues they had previously struggled with - and arm knew that it was time for him to leave. he needed to get back to the main family's grounds anyway, the chaos of the attack could only hide his absence for so long. he hadn't been able to picture what their parting words would be, but now, in the whirl of khun vegas being moved somewhere else and khun macau demanding pete's attention, it all felt rather unceremonious. arm and pete shared one last look between them and he managed to get a "keep us updated on his recovery" out before pete was dragged around the corner. arm didn't move away immediately, just watched the space where they had sat for the last few hours, recapping them in his head. pete was gone, and the prospect of what them being on different sides entailed still terrified him, but he also felt a sliver of hope take root in his chest. maybe things didn't have to be so final. maybe they could all find a way to move past their differences and work together. pete had managed to get close to khun vegas, and it seemed like he hadn't done it out of pity or lack of choice, he had done so because he had recognized something in him, something genuine and good, had managed to reach through khun vegas' intimidating exterior and pull it out of him.
one thing rung loud and clear in arm's head as he headed back to the first floor: he was gonna do everything in his power to never have to raise his gun at his friend.