Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s official, Josh hates airports, he always has.

The noise and the stress, it always causes his anxiety to peak. Which is why he never travels, he avoids any kind at all. 

So how had Sitara convinced him to fly alone, all the way to London?

Along with that, he’s expected to work with complete strangers who don’t know anything about his boundaries or behaviours. The decision was hard, but Josh made the most sense in the end.

Markus was more than skilled enough and he’s definitely more social than Josh, but Sitara was worried about his professionalism. Since this was their first time interacting with the London branch of DedSec, Sitara wants a good first impression

Sitara had briefly considered herself but between running DedSec and wedding planning, she didn’t really think she was a good fit.

As much as Josh hated it, he agreed that he was the best fit for the job, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it.

00111100 00110011

While on the plane, Josh couldn’t help but hope that the London airport would be quiet, he was already exhausted from the San Fransisco airport. 

Unfortunately, the airport was packed, just as expected.

By the time he manages to get out of the airport and into the city, he’s ready for a total shutdown. But to Josh’s dismay, he still had to find his way to ‘The Earl’s Fortune’.

So, with nothing but his backpack with everything he needs, he opens his phone and gets the directions. Even though he doesn’t enjoy it, he hails a taxi and gives them his destination.

Thankfully, the car ride allows him to actually relax, the silence was golden and lets his brain calm down for a while.

Why was he in London in the first place? 

Good question.

Since DedSec London’s recent revival, they’ve been requesting support in building back up. Mostly technical things while they recruit more people, things Josh was expected to help do.

00111100 00110011

The taxi comes to a stop and Josh grabs his bag and exits right in front of the pub he’s looking for. It’s nothing special to look at from the outside, probably what they’re going for. He looks at the sign and takes a deep breath before opening the door and walking in.

The ringing bell alerts the patrons and all eyes in the room and on him in a matter of seconds. To say he feels out of place is an understatement.

He walks up to the bar where the bartender looks him up and down less than subtly.

“You need help with something love? You look a bit lost” She has a kind smile on her face, it helps the innocent question put him at ease.

“I’m looking for someone named Connie? I was told to meet her here” Thankfully his voice was steady, with no vocal sign of the panic going on in his head.

The woman at the bar looked him up and down once again “And who would you be love, we can’t just hook anyone up with her number” That makes sense, they would be idiots to not ask who he is.

“Uh, Josh” He manages “Our friend Sitara set this meeting up, she wanted me to have a friend while I was here”

The woman sitting at the bar looks up from her drink and looks him up and down… he’s beginning to think that it’s just normal here.

“So you’re the mighty Josh we’ve heard so much about?” She pauses “I have to admit, your not quite what I imagined you’d be” She holds out her hand

He doesn’t know if that’s an insult or not…

“I actually hear that a lot, you must be Connie” he takes her hand briefly. His other is tapping against the bar, an unconscious fidget.

Connie grins in front of him “The one and only mate, now come on,” she gestures towards a door “Let’s show you around so we can get this over and done with, you look like you desperately need sleep”

Josh nods and begins to stand up as Connie looks around “Do you have any bags?”

Josh shakes his head “No, just this,” Gesturing to his backpack, “I like travelling light”

Connie chuckles at him “Sitara told me you might be a bit odd, don’t worry, I think you’ll fit in just fine here” She looks at him “And as long as you don’t cause trouble, I couldn’t care less what you did”

00111100 00110011

It wasn’t too long before the two were back up at the bar, getting the rundown and meeting people didn’t take long, he understands why they need help.

He was impressed by Bagley though, he hadn’t seen anything quite like it before.

They sit down at the bar as Connie begins talking “So, we have a few different hotels we could put you in” She explains to him “It really just depends on your preferen-”

Before she can finish, the door bursts open. 

The noise causes Josh to flinch and Connie notices, placing a hand on his shoulder before getting up and storming over to the boys that have just entered, still laughing about something.

He isn’t looking but he swears he can hear her glaring at them. It isn’t hard to tell when she gets close, the boys stop laughing.

“I swear to god you two, today is not the day for your bullshit!” He can hear the anger in her voice.

“Oh come on Con,” One of them tries.

“No,” She cuts him off “We have an honestly lovely member of the San Francisco DedSec here and I will not have you two driving him away!”

Thankfully for Josh, this is when another patron at the bar sits next to him. Her name is Nancy, she helps distract him from the shouting. Josh likes her, she’s relaxed, not treating him like a child having a tantrum.

He finds out she’s a high school teacher, difficult work, and he could never do anything like it. He respects it.

He vaguely hears a familiar distorted voice next to him, and in his current state, it’s unbearable.

He finds that he answers before he can even process what was said or even who said it. “I’m really not in the mood right now Wrench” looking up to face the voice as he speaks.

Standing right there, with his mask and leather jacket and everything, stands Wrench.

His mask switches to an almost shy expression “...overload?” he asks, seeming concerned.

Josh stares at him, taking a minute or two to process who’s standing in front of him and how that makes him feel.

“I’m telling Sitara that she can find you here”

He goes to reach for his phone before being stopped when Wrench grabs his wrist.

“Oh no, nononononono, please, you can not tell Sitara, that woman will kick my ass!”

That’s when Connie decides to rejoin the conversation “You two…know each other?”

Before Josh even has a chance to respond, Wrench decides to jump in “You bet, we only lived together for like…7 years? We worked together way longer than that too”

Josh closes his eyes, trying his hardest not to sigh “Actually, you lived with me, it was my house, remember, I just let you live there”

Connie can’t help but stare for a minute before snapping back “That’s nice Wrench but right now we’re trying to figure out a place for him to stay and we want to do that before he completely shuts down”

Wrench takes a second to look between Connie and Josh before responding “Don’t bother, he’s an old friend, he can say with me” He pauses “If he’s cool with that?”.

Josh just shugs, he’s really too tired to make any decisions.

Moments later Wrench picks up his backpack and motions Josh to follow him out of the pub and minutes later their sitting in a taxi in awkward silence.

Wrench clearly hadn’t thought this far ahead and didn’t know what to do.

He definitely couldn’t think of anything before Josh was lulled to sleep by the movement of the car and his total exhaustion.

Chapter Text

Josh was woken up by Wrench softly shaking him, telling him the taxi arrived and that they needed to get out. He followed Wrench, who had his backpack, up the stairs to his apartment.

He walks in and looks around the messy apartment, he frowns at how unlivable it looks. He turns around to see Wrench still standing by the door, looking at the floor.

Josh likens him to a child that’s just been told off. He almost smiles at the comparison.

“You know you can take your mask off right? It can’t be comfortable,” Josh tells him, snapping Wrench out of his stupor.

His head looks up to Josh, the virtual expression telling Josh everything he needs to know “What-oh, uh, no I’m fine, really” He waves his hand as if to dismiss what Josh just said.

Now he knows something is wrong.

He sighs before walking over to where Wrench is

“Reginald”

This snaps Wrench out of his daze, looking up at Josh. He hadn’t been called his first name by a friend in so long, since Josh is just about the only person that could ever get away with doing it.

He looks down to the floor again, not able to look Josh in the eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

The soft tone in his voice makes Wrench stumble again, making him look up again.

“N-nothing’s wrong, why would anything be wrong?” he tries to assure, although it obviously doesn’t work.

“Wrench,” Josh takes another step towards him “Last time I saw you, you said you were done with the mask, that you were done hiding”

Josh looks to the floor this time “So why won’t you take it off?”

“Well, I, uh…” Wrench sighs “I just didn’t think you’d want to see me, I mean, I've been ghosting you guys for like more than 3 years” He pauses “Well I’ve been talking to Markus but that’s still recent…I figured you guys would hate me or something”

Wrench can’t help the sad laugh that comes after the confession.

Josh looks up at him and walks the rest of the way towards him before pulling him into a hug, resting his head on Wrench’s chest.

“We could never hate you Wrench, don’t ever think that, we were worried out of our minds when we stopped hearing from you. We were so glad when Markus said you had finally called him”

Josh feels Wrench move, slowly moving his arms around Josh and returning the tight embrace. Josh can’t help but smile at the gesture.

He could feel Wrench shaking around him and can’t help but wonder how long his friend had been suffering through this alone.

After some comfortable silence, just enjoying each other’s embrace, Josh pulls away slightly, looking at Wrench with familiar warmth. He brings his hands up to Wrench’s mask, moving to the sides and gently removing it with practised ease.

His arms drop down to his side, the technical mask held tight in his grip.

It’s been so long since he’s seen his friend’s face, he can’t help but bring his free hand up to trace the birthmark that covers a part of his face. He had some more wrinkles and was definitely paler but he was still the same.

“I’ve missed you Reg”

Reggie can’t help but chuckle as he looks to the floor, shy now that he’s been exposed. He looks up, matching Josh’s warm gaze with his own.

“I’ve missed you too man, so much”

They stand there together until Josh finally pulls away as he complains about being hungry.

Reggie hears him close the bathroom door and only then can he move, hand moving up to touch his birthmark that Josh traced earlier, using the same feather light movements.

He smiles, a warm feeling in his gut that he didn’t realise he’d missed.

00111100 00110011

Wrench is sitting on the floor of his garage, tears clouding his vision as he struggles to breathe.

Everything is blurry, his vision, hearing, even his sense of taste, how can taste even be blurry?

His thoughts are fuzzy as he tries to focus, all rushing past him and impossible to make out.

He can vaguely see something bright enter his vision, getting bigger and bigger. He tries to make it out but he can’t, his brain can’t even focus on him, let alone something else.

He feels gentle hands on his shoulder as he realises it’s not a what but a who. He tries to make out their face but he can’t-he can’t breathe and he’s soon having a full breakdown in front of this stranger.

The hands move from his shoulders and Wrench immediately misses the touch, silently begging for them to come back. The hands reappear on the side of his mask, moving around as they try to remove to restricting thing.

It takes a minute but they find the switch and soon the mask is removed and put somewhere he can’t see. Wrench is exposed in full to whoever is standing in front of him. He has no doubt he looks like a complete mess.

The hands once again disappear from his face and one reappears to grab one of Wrench’s hands, moving it to what Wrench finally identifies as a chest.

Normally, he would make some kind of joke about groping but this isn’t normal, none of this is.

Through his panic, he can vaguely hear the person saying something but he can’t hear them, it sounds so distant. It’s all still so fuzzy, why is it all still so fuzzy?

He manages to take a breath, the person’s presence more comforting than he would have thought.

He tries to focus on the only thing that isn’t fuzzy. The strong pulse he can feel through his hand and the slight movement caused by their breathing.

He closes his eyes and focuses on those two things and nothing else. It’s slow but he can feel himself calming down.

He slowly opens his eyes to see Josh sitting in front of him, Wrench’s hand still on his chest.

“Are you doing better?” He asks, finally letting Wrench’s hand go, although it doesn’t move.

Wrench finally realises he’s staring and drops his hand with a cough, “Uh, yeah, I’m fine”

There’s a short silence between the two until Josh speaks up, “Do you want to ta-”

“No” Wrench cuts him off, “I just mean that it’s personal, that’s all”

Josh shrugs, “That’s fine, no pressure” He stands back up “I came to check up on you because Sitara said you weren’t responding and this was on my route home”.

Wrench stands up too, although shaky at first as he holds onto the desk to support himself.

There’s more silence between the two and this time Wrench can feel Josh’s concerned gaze on him.

He’s still struggling, surprisingly, his head had never been that good or enjoyable of a companion.

“I don’t know if this is appropriate or not but I live nearby if you want some company, I even have leftovers if your hungry” Josh suddenly offers.

Wrench looks up at him, surprised by the sudden offer.

“We don’t have to do anything together but I just know from experience that being alone after a panic attack can, for the lack of a better word, suck”.

Wrench finally recovers from the shock and responds “I-uh, yeah, that actually sounds great,” he pushes him up to stand properly “How far away are you?”

Josh bends down to pick up Wrench’s forgotten mask from the floor “About 10 minutes away, so not far” He says as he holds Wrench’s mask back to him.

Wrench had forgotten he wasn’t wearing it, how exposed he was.

“I inherited a house a few years back, one of my old school friends lives with me but he’s always at his girlfriend’s on Mondays and Tuesdays so he won’t be there” Josh casually mentions as Wrench takes his mask.

Before he can put it on, he feels a hand on his face. It takes him a few moments to realise it’s Josh and relaxes slightly.

The touch is feather-light as it traces along the edges of his birthmark, and almost as soon as it arrives, it’s gone.

“You know, you should take off your mask more often, you look better than you give yourself credit for”

With that comment he turns around and walks to the door, waiting for Wrench to be ready to leave.

Before he follows, Wrench raises a hand to where Josh touched. A strange, unfamiliar feeling in his gut.

He doesn’t know what it is but he thinks he likes it.

00111100 00110011

It isn’t until Reggie hears the bathroom door open that he snaps back to reality, walking over to where Josh is.

“Come on man, let’s get you some decent food after that flight”

Chapter Text

Over the next week, it becomes commonplace to see Josh sitting around DedSec headquarters, either typing away on his laptop or answering someone’s questions.

People were coming to him with a lot of questions but that’s the whole reason for him being here.

Members had also noticed that Wrench had gone from almost never being there to always being there or up in the pub when Josh is there. Almost nervous to leave him alone.

In the late evening or even early morning, when Josh was done with his work, the two would walk home, usually grabbing something to eat on the way. They would usually fall asleep watching a movie, it was sometimes the only way Reggie could get Josh away from his work.

Things start getting more interesting in his second week, for better or worse.

It’s quiet in the headquarter since everyone’s out on missions, leaving only a few people including Wrench and Josh.

The current DedSec leader walks up to him “Hey Josh, I know this isn’t your thing but is there any chance you’d be willing to go on a super casual mission, most of this can wait a bit, right?”

Before Josh could even respond Wrench jumps in “Yeah, Josh isn’t really a mission person, more mission control so…”

“I’m guessing it’s not hard if you’re asking me?” He asks, electing to ignore Wrench.

She smiles at him “Exactly, we just need someone to go with Micheal while he downloads some data, if he goes alone, it’ll start looking suspicious after a while and Wrench isn’t exactly discreet. You would just need to stay in a public spot long enough for the download to happen, it’ll only be an hour or two so think of it as a lunch break”

Josh nods, “Yeah, I can do that…have I met Micheal yet?”

She shrugs “He’s probably asked you some things but other than that I don’t think so” She turns to leave, “he’s upstairs, I’ll let him know your just getting ready”

00111100 00110011

Walking through a busy part of town, the man next to him, Micheal, pipes up “So is there anything you want for lunch?”

“I’m not too bothered, just somewhere the signal is good I guess” Josh replies.

Micheal smiles at him “How do you think pizza sounds?”

Josh smiles back “Pizza sounds good”.

With that, it was decided and the Josh was led to a nearby pizza place that he would guess Micheal goes to regularly. If the staff knowing him is anything to go by.

The two find a seat outside with a good signal and start conversing about anything they can think of, trying to pass the time.

Josh was out of his element in a busy street but Micheal had been surprisingly good at helping him stay calm with it all. Soon enough, their food arrived and they began eating.

They chatter between bites and find that they enjoy talking, having a decent amount in common.

“So…” Micheal begins “What’s your legal reason for being here? Like it wouldn’t be for holiday considering how long you’re here for”

Josh looks up from his drink, “I’ve actually got a working visa, I’m technically working with a small tech start-up that needs me on site for a while”

“Oh, cool, I think that’s exactly what I was expect-”

He gets cut off by a loud voice “Joshua! Is that you?” A man walks up to the table between them and Josh looks up to see a painfully familiar face.

“Uh, Zane, hi, what are you doing here?” He looks at Micheal who oddly, seems more nervous than him.

“I live here,” Zane responds “Duh, but more importantly, what is ‘Mr. I hate travelling’ Joshua doing here”

“Oh, um…” He stumbles slightly “just doing some short-term work stuff over here”

Zane continues to smile, as unsettling as it is “Well since you’re here,” He leans in “You wouldn’t happen to know where dear old Reggie is, would you? He’s being temperamental and avoiding me”

Josh shakes his head “Sorry Zane, I haven’t heard from him in a couple of years now”

His smile drops slightly “Really, I couldn’t imagine him leaving his closest friend in the dark”

Josh shrugs “I wish I could help you but Reggie’s been MIA for a while now, sorry”

Zane sighs, standing back up straight “That’s alright, but if you do hear from him can you tell me? He broke up with me during one of his breakdowns and I just want to talk, you know?”

Josh nods “Of course, is your number still the same?”

Zane nods “Thanks Josh, your a pal”

He finally seems to notice that the two of them aren’t alone and gets a look in his eyes “Oh, how rude, I didn’t even realise you were with someone!” He looks between Josh and Micheal getting a wicked smile on his face.

“Are you…on a date?”

Before he can respond, Micheal chimes in “Uh, yeah actually, we are, the first date”

Before Josh could react with his confusion he hears Bagley in his ear “Just play along with it Josh, we’ll explain it later”

So instead, Josh nods.

“Wow, Josh” Zane continues looking at him “I didn’t take you for the type of man to go on dates, so glad you finally found someone” The statement was clearly an insult, Josh had never really dated and Zane had always made teased him because of it, claiming he was innocent and untouched.

“Yeah” Josh agree’s “It doesn’t happen much”.

Thankfully Micheal piped up “I was so nervous to ask him, I’ve seen him around work all week” he chuckled “So glad he said yes, uh, do you mind if we get back to…” He gestures between them.

Zane holds his hands up “Of course not, I’m sorry to interrupt, i’ll let you two love birds get back to your date” he leans over to Micheal “Although, a piece of advice,” He chuckles “If you take him home tonight, be a good boy and promise to fuck him good for me, okay, hmm?”

Both their faces go red at that remark, horrified at how openly he just said that.

“W-well, if it gets that far I’ll keep that in mind” Micheal manages to stutter out.

“Good boy,” Zane looks at Josh, his eye’s wondering up and down “You know Josh, if I didn’t go after Reggie, you would’ve been my next target, something so alluring about your innocence” he laughs “Maybe if I can’t find Reggie I will” With that he walks away.

He’s finally gone although the two of them can’t look at each other and Josh realises he’s tensed up.

“Alright, the downloads done, please get your butts back here so you can forget all that” Bagley chimes in.

They both immediately move get up and begin the walk back to DedSec. Micheal can see how tense and nervous Josh is after the encounter and puts an arm around his shoulder, hoping to bring him some comfort after the encounter.

When they get back, Wrench is immediately all over Josh, checking to make sure he isn’t hurt.

“I’m fine Wrench, he didn’t touch me, I promise” He assures the frantic hacker.

“We’re sorry for putting you in that situation Josh” Bagley begins speaking from the main console “But Zane and his gang and known for targeting people who seem single and being quite aggressive towards the in the guise of interest. It was safer for Zane to think you were on a date, especially if you already know him”

Josh just nods, barely taking any of it in.

00111100 00110011

It isn’t long before Josh and Wrench head home since Josh is completely drained and Wrench is clearly stewing in anger. Both of them are on edge.

Even after they get home, the two don’t exchange words, Wrench just grabs his hammer and leaves, saying he’ll be back soon.

He’s clearly angry, angrier than Josh has seen in a long time but that just leaves him more confused, and he reminds himself to ask about it when he gets back. For the moment he just decides to do some more work.

Later that evening, Wrench comes back through the door after being gone for hours with some dinner in a bag. He takes his mask off and leaves it by the door before coming over to the bed and offering Josh some.

“What happened Reg?”

Reggie tries to reign confusion “What happened? What do you mean?”

Josh picks at his food, not having much of an appetite “When the two of you left San Francisco you seem perfect, newly married and moving to England so you could both chase new opportunities” he sighs as he pushes the food away “and then we find out through trying to check up on your that you got divorced, and you didn’t even tell us” 

Reggie sighs, moving his own food away “It was perfect, Josh, I got married to someone a thought I would be with for the rest of my life” He leans back against the bed head, gesturing for Josh to come closer.

Josh moves back so that he’s between Reggie’s legs, back against his chest as Reggie wraps his arms around him.

“It started with small things after we got here” He put his head on Josh's shoulder “He would comment on my clothes and tattoos, talking about how they were unprofessional and he didn’t like them. Talking about what people would think about him if he was seen with me”

His arms tighten around Josh.

 “Then it got more aggressive and hurtful. He would tell me that my mask is childish and stupid and that I should just throw it out since I don’t wear it anymore. He replaced my entire wardrobe with ‘Proper’ clothing while I was at work, he threw out everything I usually wore”

He takes a shaky breath

“Then, one day he hit me. Right across the face. I spent the night at a hotel but when he told me he was sorry the next morning I believed him like a fucking idiot”

“After that, it got worse, he would tell me not to go out, that I would just embarrass him. I stopped going out except for work, and eventually, I fell so deep into depression that I didn’t even bother trying to argue”

“He would tell me that you all hated me for leaving, that you had told him we never wanted to see him again. Then the abuse started again and I just let it happen, I didn’t even fight back”

Josh brings his hand up to rest it on Reggie’s

“I don’t really know what changed, I guess one day after he left for work I decided I was done. When he came back that evening, I wasn’t there and neither was all my shit, he hasn’t seen me since but he got served with divorce papers, anything we needed to split I let him have, I just never wanted to see him again”

Silence stretched between the two of them once Reggie was done, what he had just said was sinking in.

The first to move was Josh, shifting so he could turn around and look at Reggie. He rests his head on Reggie’s chest, listening and feeling his heartbeat. “I’m so sorry we never realised Reg, we would’ve come for you so quickly if we knew”

Reggie can feel his eyes beginning to water as he puts his hand in Josh’s hair “It’s not your fault Josh, your guys couldn’t know what was happening”

He can feel his shirt get damp

“We should’ve realised”

The two of them lay there together in silence, enjoying each other being okay and alive. It isn’t long before the two of them are lulled off to sleep.

Chapter Text

When Reggie wakes up he’s sitting up against the bed head, and his legs are flat on the mattress. Sleeping soundly between his legs, curled up into his chest, is Josh.

His head is resting right above Reggie’s heart and he’s breathing softly with a peaceful look on his face that Reggie hasn’t seen on his trip so far. He didn’t realise how much he’d missed it.

He softly puts his hand on Josh’s shoulder and gently shakes him, Josh groans as he wakes up “Hey, we have to get ready to go”

Josh pushes himself up, rubbing his eyes. “I was going to go get some breakfast while you get ready” reggae comments as he watches Josh wake up.

Josh pushes himself off Reggie who immediately misses the contact “I’ll be back with something in like, 10 minutes”

00111100 00110011

Despite their emotional night, their day played out like any other.

Although Jackson ends up coming to the apartment after to work on some stuff with Reggie.

Josh is on his laptop with his headphones in while Reggie and Jackson tinker with stuff on the floor.

“So…” Jackson starts “Everyone’s wondering, how the hell did the two of you end up living together? You never explained and it seems like such an odd combo”

Reggie glances over at Josh who seems too engrossed in his work to be aware of anything else. “It’s really not that interesting dude, we’d been working together for ages and his roommate moved out and I’d been living in a garage for a while so he offered the room to me”

Jackson nodded “Huh, cool” Satisfied with the answer not knowing that while it was the truth, Reggie had chosen to leave out a few key details.

00111100 00110011

It happened a few months after they had dealt with Dusan and Blume. Reggie hadn’t been to HQ in a few days, working on some projects in his garage.

He had gotten a call from Sitara which wasn’t strange in itself, what was strange was the concern lacing her voice as she asks if he’s heard from Josh recently, which he hadn’t.

During the call, she went from concern to full panicking about it. After he managed to calm her down he found out that Josh hasn’t been heard from since their dinner at a pub a week ago.

Sitara had tried messaging him and calling but she didn’t get any responses, even Markus had tried to no avail.

Sitara then explained that since Wrench has been to his house and he’s been there before, she wanted him to go check on him for her. See if he’s alive or if they need to issue a missing person report.

So, feeling concerned, Wrench then began walking to Josh’s place.

It wasn’t unusual for Josh to disappear for a couple of days when he was feeling shitty but for a whole week is concerning.

Once he arrived, he found the spare key under a plant and let himself in.

The first thing he noticed, even under his mask, was the horrible, stale smell. Not to mention every curtain in the house was closed meaning it was completely dark inside despite being a nice day out.

Reggie takes his mask off and sets it down on the table. He walks through the familiar house until he gets to a door with a sign reading ‘Please knock :)’.

Somewhat nervously Reggie softly knocks and feels a massive sigh of relief when he hears a groan come from inside. He opens the door and walks in and quickly notices how messy it is, which is unusual for Josh, he normally needs order of some kind to function.

Reggie walks to the bed and sits next to the lump, “Josh, are you okay?”

The lump groans, louder this time, and a head pokes out of the blanket “...Reggie?”

It was Josh alright but his voice was rough and horse, he wasn’t looking at Reggie, his eyes still tightly closed. Josh never called him Reggie, it was always Reg.

He put a  hand on the blanket and slowly pulled it back to reveal Josh who looks like complete shit, and that’s putting it lightly.

He’s paler than usual and he has massive bags under his eyes that aren’t usually there. His hair is a complete bird's nest, sticking up in every direction.

“Josh…” his voice is quiet and laced with concern.

Josh turns his face into his pillow “What are you doing here…?”

Reggie brings a hand up to his face, brushing some stray hair out of his eyes “We were worried Josh, we haven’t heard from you in a week, Sitara’s been worried out of her mind”

Josh buries his head deeper into the pillow, letting out a soft whine.

“Okay,” Reggie says, putting a hand on Josh’s back in an attempt to comfort him, “What’s going on with you?”

There was a minute of silence before Josh responded, finally looking at Reggie “...I ran out of my meds…” He sounds miserable and Reggie can’t help but notice the tear stains running down his face “And now I feel like shit”

Frowning, Reggie puts his hand on Josh’s forehead to feel for a temperature. Not feeling anything he begins to stand up, despite the whine he hears from Josh. “I’m going to get you some water, do you think you can sit up before I get back?”

He can see Josh manage a nod and so he quietly makes his way out to the kitchen and comes back just as quickly with a glass of water in his hand.

He’s thankful to see that while Josh hasn’t sat up, he has managed to move, more visible than before. He places the water on the bedside table and helps Josh sit up properly. The water is gone within seconds.

Reggie sits next to him and Josh leans on him heavily, clearly exhausted despite looking like he’s been living in his bed. “Do you want me to go refill your meds for you?” He’s willing to do anything to help his friend feel better.

Josh shakes his head, mumbling a “Later…” Not too long later Reggie began to hear soft snores coming from his friend. 

Careful not to wake him, Reggie slowly moves Josh until he’s back on the bed.

For quite possibly the first time in his life, he doesn’t know what to do.

Should he open the windows? Maybe get Josh something to eat? Maybe he should start cleaning the house? Or would doing anything make Josh feel worse?

After about half an hour there was no sign of Josh waking up, which made Reggie happy, he looked like he needed sleep.

Reggie finally decided that he couldn’t sit here anymore. He was nervous about upsetting Josh, knowing that the boy didn’t like his stuff being touched but he also knew that Josh had said in the past that chaos and mess can make him feel like shit. So he took the initiative and decided that it was worth the risk.

He looks back at Josh, lingering on the red scratch marks running down his arms. It was concerning but thankfully it looked like nothing that had broken skin.

He makes his way out to the main living area and looks around. 

Now he’s never been one to clean, one look at his garage will tell you that but for Josh, this place had been hit by a nuke.

Well, it’s always a good day to try something new. With that, he takes off his jacket and tries to figure out where to start.

The next two hours are spent cleaning bit by bit. Throwing out all the obvious trash, doing the dishes, throwing out rotten food. By the time he was done, the living room was unrecognisable and the kitchen was almost unrecognisable. He had even found Josh’s prescriptions and put them on the wiped-down bench.

He finally heard movement from the bedroom and looked to see Josh coming into the living room, covered in a blanket.

He was walking, that’s always a good sign. He still looked like a zombie but that could be worked on.

“Hey,” He starts “Feeling any better?”

Josh doesn’t say anything in return, he only looks around the area with an unreadable look on his face.

“I, uh, figured I’d clean while you were asleep, I can move anything you need me to” He immediately offers, the last thing Josh needs right now is to be stressed.

Josh finally looks at him and shakes his head “It’s nice, I’m just surprised…your not exactly the cleaning type” he offers Reggie a weak smile.

Reggie walks over and helps him to the couch “Do you want to eat something?”

Josh looks at the floor, “No, I feel really nauseous”

Reggie pauses for a second “What about soup? I think I saw a can of tomato soup in the kitchen”

“Do I have to?” Was the reply

“When was the last time you ate?” Reggie asks, needing to be safe.

Josh looks to the floor “...two days ago” he sounded small, like a child being told off. Reggie hates it.

“Then yes, yes you do”

The next hour is spent slowly getting Josh to eat while to explains how to get his prescription refilled.

“Why couldn’t your roommate help you out?” He can’t help himself, Josh’s roommate has always been willing to help him out with this sort of stuff. He had met the guy a couple of times, he was nice, and apparently, they had been friends since high school.

Josh stays quiet for a moment “He moved out a month ago” he played with his spoon “He got his girlfriend pregnant so they figured that they should move in together. He did say she could move in here but I wouldn’t be able to handle a screaming baby, so I told him I would be fine on my own”

He looks up at Reggie, who is looking surprised “W-why didn’t you tell me? You always said that you relied on your roommate”

Josh swallows the lump in his throat “Dunno, we’ve still been riding the high from our win and it felt…weird to bring up”

The two sit in silence, Josh no longer eating but neither of them talking

Reggie was the first to move in “Um…If you need a roommate…I could move in?”

Josh perks up, looking at Reggie “Really!?” He quickly calms himself down before speaking “You would do that…for me?”

Reggie chuckles at his sudden excitement “Well, I live in a garage, have been for a couple of years, so why not?”

Josh, for the first time since Reggie arrived, smiled

Chapter Text

The DeadSec headquarters are quiet at night, it’s something that Josh is thankful for. Reggie and Jackson are the only ones here with him, everyone else has already gone home for the night.

Josh has been absorbed in his work for the last few hours. He finally looks at the clock and notices that it’s 11:30, realising why he’s so tired. He looks over at Reggie and Jackson who were having fun working on something.

“Hey Wrench, I’m going to head home” He calls out, beginning to get up.

Reggie looks up from where he is, looking slightly disappointed, “Oh, yeah, course, give me like two seconds to get ready”

Josh looks at him “Wrench, stay here with Jackson, the two of you are having fun, I can find my way back tonight” he begins to walk towards the door.

Reggie looks at him “Are you sure?”

Josh nods “I know my way back to your apartment, have fun, okay?”

Reggie nods back at him “Call me if you need anything”

Josh leaves the headquarters and begins to walk home, he knows the way since he and Reggie had made this walk many times throughout his time here.

It was about 10 minutes into his walk that Josh began to feel his anxiety beginning to creep into his mind, a strange feeling of being followed.

He didn’t want to bother Reggie, he’d be worried if Josh called him now. Instead, he decides to talk to someone else “Hey Bagley?” He asks, hoping the AI could hear him.

In his ear, he heard a familiar response “Yes Josh, how can I help you?”

“Nothing urgent, I just wanted someone to talk to on the way home, I didn’t want to worry Reg”

It’s silent for a moment “...Oh…”

Josh falters “Is that…okay?”

When Bagley speaks again he somehow sounds flustered “Of course it’s okay, it’s just that people don’t usually just want to have a conversation with me, they usually just ask me to do all the hard stuff they’re too lazy to do”

00111100 00110011

The next few minutes are enjoyable. Bagley makes for a good conversationalist when you can get past his unending sarcasm.

That enjoyment ends when someone grabs his hoodie and forces him into an alley.

He looks up to see who it is and his blood runs cold when he sees Zane smiling face looking back at him. Although he tries not to let it show.

“Zane?” His voice barely comes out “What’s happening?” he can see some people behind him, probably his goons. Zane himself has a sinister smile on his face.

The men behind him and glazing and Josh, looking like wolves waiting to pounce.

Zane walks up to him, “Well hello there Joshua, what are you doing here this late?” There’s a tone in his voice that Josh doesn’t recognise, it scares him.

“I, Uh,” He can’t find his words “I was just working some overtime tonight, walking home wasn’t my favourite idea but I’m sure you remember how much I hate buses” He pauses “What are you doing out here?”

Zane chuckles, low and dangerous “Well we were actually looking for you, I wanted to have a talk with my old friend when your little date wasn’t around…or anyone else for that matter”

“Uh…” Josh hesitates, he doesn’t know what to do.

He hears Bagley crackle to life in his ear “Josh, whatever he wants it can’t be good. Wrench and Jackson and on their way just hang on and stay alive”

Josh looks up at Zane, “What did you want to talk about? And how did you know to find me here?”

Zane once again steps closer, his goons staying back by the entrance “Well Joshua,” His name was laced with a venomous tone “I asked some of my boys to keep an eye on you, I was concerned about you after all, and they noticed something very interesting”

Josh swallows the lump in his throat, trying not to panic.

Zane leans in, far too close for a normal conversation, “You always seem to go home from the same bar almost every night with someone I could’ve sworn you said you haven’t seen in years” The smile completely drops from Zane’s face and he walks forward, pushing Josh further into the alley and forcing his back into a wall. His hand slams right next to Josh’s head, blocking him in.

“I’m sure you can figure out who I’m talking about Joshua, and you have some explaining to do” He has a dangerous glint in his eye and Josh has a feeling that nothing he says will change to outcome of this encounter.

“I only ran into him after I spoke to you” Josh tries “I’ve just been so busy with work that it slipped my mind, that’s all” There’s a clear shake in his voice, betraying his state to the man in front of him.

“Now Joshua,” His voice still sounds friendly “We both know perfectly well that you don’t forget things unless you purposely choose to ignore them, which I must say, is incredibly rude” Josh can see him pull a knife out, his voice dropping any false friendliness he still had “But that’s not surprising coming from an emotionally incompetent idiot like you, not taking others feelings into the equation”

Josh is trembling and his knees feel like they're about to collapse on him “I-I didn’t mean anything by it, Zane, I’ve just known Wrench for longer and-”

The knife comes down and slashes him across the cheek, he can feel drops of blood beginning to drip down.

He finds himself frozen, staring at the pavement wishing he had a god to pray to.

He once again hears Bagley in his ear “Just a bit longer Josh, the boys are almost there”

“Now Josh,” Zane brings a hand up to Josh’s chin, forcing him to look at him “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you, I mean, I can’t teach you a lesson if your dead” he laughs “Can I be honest Joshua? I think I made the wrong choice, I was ambitious and tried to go after someone with too much fight” He leans forward so that their noses are touching “I should’ve stuck to my gut and gone after you”

The hand on his face slowly moves down to Josh’s chest “But that can always be fixed, after all, you’ve always been too pathetic to stop me”

Josh can finally feel tears begin to fall, his voice is weak and shaky but he tries “Zane, please-” Only to be cut off by Zane’s forearm slamming into his throat, cutting off any words left and making it hard to breathe. Zane’s body is pushing him against the wall, pinning him where he is.

“NO TALKING!” he yells, Josh flinching at the noise. “If I’m already teaching you a lesson do you really want to get into more trouble?”

Josh tries to talk but he can’t, words just aren’t coming out.

“Well, Joshua? I’m waiting” Josh shakes his head.

Zanes smiles again, “Good, now, what to do?”

The hand not against his throat touches his face, tracing over his lips. Zane’s leg pushes between his, putting uncomfortable pressure against his crotch.

Zane leans his head back and groans, “Oh Joshua,” he looks back at him “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to feel you”

He surges forward and forces Josh into a kiss, hard and bruising as he forces his tongue into his mouth.

He separates from Josh with a moan and a laugh “You feel better than I imagined, I’m keeping you”

His hand snakes under Josh’s hoodie and when Josh feels his hand on his stomach he wants to throw up.

Zane pushes forward again, putting more pressure on his crotch as he begins to grind his leg. “I bet you’re mouth would feel great around my dick”

He grabs the side of Josh’s head “Would you like that Joshua?” he licks from Josh’s bruised neck to his mouth, once again forcing him into a kiss.

Chapter Text

Three loud gunshots echo through the alley, causing Zane to let Josh go. He immediately falls to the ground, his legs nothing more than jelly as he brings his knees up to his chest, burying his head away from the world.

He’s trying to control his breathing, trying to avoid the coming panic attack. His eyes are screwed shut and he can hear voices, they all sound fuzzy but there’s definitely yelling

He freezes when someone touches his shoulder, fear filling his body.

He can hear someone talking, they don’t sound like Zane, and they don’t sound bad.

He dares to look up and through his clouded vision sees Jackson kneeling in front of him with a concerned look “Are you okay Josh?”

Josh can feel himself shake his head as he continues to sob.

There’s more yelling now, it’s loud, why is it so loud, why can’t it all just stop? He clamps his hands around his ears to try to block it out.

Jackson’s hand is on his back, trying to provide some comfort to the man but not knowing how.

Another loud gunshot rings through the alley and Josh flinches, Jackson removing his hand. Josh wants him to come back, without it he feels alone and helpless.

He can hear hushed, muffled voices, only two of them now.

He can hear something walk over and crouch down in front of him. Josh looks up to see Reggie looking at him, he’s covered in blood and Josh can’t help the massive sense of relief at knowing that Reggie would never let Zane come out of this alive.

“You with us Josh?” He asks, running his thumb under the cut on Josh’s cheek.

Josh flinches at the touch even though Reggie is his friend.

Reggie stands back up and holds his hands out to Josh, “How about we get you home?”

Josh gladly accepts and struggles to his feet. Just as he’s about to fall Reggie pulls Josh towards him, wrapping a hand around his waist to help support him.

Josh finds himself leaning into Reggie as his exhaustion hits him. He can feel Jackson walking on the other side of him, almost as if protecting him from the world.

Chapter Text

When Josh wakes up, he lets out a pained groan, his whole body sore. He brings a hand to his throat to feel how sore it is.

Almost unconsciously he brings his hand up, ghosting them across his lips, a tear falling down his face as last night comes back to him. Every excruciating detail getting recalled.

His head snaps up as someone enters the room. Jackson walks over, holding a bottle of pain medication and a glass of water.

“Hey,” he says as he sits down “It’s good to see you awake, I brought you some aspirin, figured you would have a killer headache” Josh tries to smile in thanks.

“Uh, Reggie should be back later” Jackson mentions “After you got patched up he just kinda left, saying he needed some time” He pauses “Bagley…told us what happened” He admits, causing Josh to tense up, “I-I just mean that if you need anything, anything at all, then just ask, okay? Reggie and I are here for you”

Josh looks down at the bed, trying to talk but words just aren’t coming out

“He’s dead Josh,” Were Jackson’s next words “He can’t hurt you ever again, Reggie made sure of that himself” Josh can feel his eyes watering again as confusing emotions rise within him.

“Look,” Jackson says as he stands up “I have a class to get to, I just wanted to be here when you woke up, will you be okay on your own?” Josh manages a small nod, Jackson looks relieved, “Good, Reggie should hopefully be back soon, I put your laptop next to the bed so you don’t have to get up”

And just like that, Josh was alone again.

00111100 00110011

It’s a few hours before Josh hears keys in the door. He’s still sitting up in the bed, typing away on his computer and he looks up to see Wrench walk through the door, throwing his bat on the ground as he comes in.

He watches as Wrench taps his foot against the ground, arms at his sides, shaking slightly.

Wrench suddenly looks up at him, as if only just realising he’s there.

He stays silent as he walks over to the bed, dropping onto the edge of the bed next to where Josh is.

Josh pushes his laptop off his lap and Wrench’s head falls into his lap. Josh places his hand on Wrench’s hood, trying to offer some comfort.

They sit there together for a moment, just the two of them, enjoying the presence of the other, finally together again.

Gently, Josh pushes Wrench’s hood off his head, revealing his blond hair.

He combs his fingers through Wrench’s hair for a few seconds before moving to detach his mask.

He hears a familiar click and Reggie slowly lifts his head, revealing tear marks running down his face, he looked as if he’d been crying for hours.

As soon as he looks at Josh his breath hitches and fresh tears begin forming in his eyes.

Reggie brings his hands up to cup Josh’s face as if to make sure he’s real. Josh can’t help but lean into the warmth.

“I was so fucking scared Josh-” his breath hitches again “I almost lost you”

Josh can feel his hands trembling as he talks

“We were just in HQ doing our normal shit and then Bagley was telling us to get to you, that Zane of all fucking people was about to do something, that we had to get to you fast” Tears are streaming down his face and he looks down at the bed.

Josh puts his hand on Reggie’s, forcing him to keep it there “Nothing happened Reg, you got to me in time”

It breaks Josh’s heart when Reggie flinches away and stands up away from him.

Reggie is clearly panicked “But we almost didn’t!” He practically yells “He almost-” Reggie looks at Josh with tears in his eyes “He was going to rape you”

Josh looks down at the bedsheets, taking in what Reggie just said. He can feel his eyes begin to water and he can feel tears beginning to fall.

“I was so scared…” he chokes out and he can feel Reggie moves towards him, sitting back down on the bed.

“I can still feel him all over me Reg,” He looks up to Reggie “Please make it stop” Tears are streaming down his face and his breaths are coming in quicker and quicker.

He feels so cold.

He can feel those hands snaking up his stomach.

That sadistic voice talking like he’s nothing but an object for amusement.

A breathy moan that makes him sick to the stomach.

His breathing gets quicker and quicker and he can feel himself drawing.

He feels himself being pulled forward and he feels a comforting warmth around him.

He can hear someone talking to him, it’s warm and familiar.

He holds onto the warmth and refuses to let go as more tears begin streaming down his face.

The arms tighten around him, giving him an anchor, something to latch on to.

Slowly, he can feel his breathing calm.

He can feel his head on someone's chest, a hand slowly tracing circles on his back.

Someone talking softly in his ear, apologising over and over again as they rock softly.

00111100 00110011

When Josh wakes up, he feels like shit.

Like he’s been run over by a garbage truck, twice.

It takes him a minute to realise he’s not on his own, there’s a pair of arms around his waist and someone in front of him.

He moves his head and can see a familiar blonde hair covering a comforting face. He can’t help smiling to himself before he snuggles back into his chest, falling back asleep instantly.

00111100 00110011

Reggie wakes up to an empty bed and he panics.

He bolts up in the bed and looks around, sighing in relief when he notices Josh sitting over at the desk, typing away on his computer like normal.

He stands up and walks over to the desk, standing next to Josh who looks up at him. “Oh, hi” His sounds better than last night, doesn’t look as bad either.

“Hi, yourself” He responds, putting a hand on Josh’s back “How are you feeling?”

Josh gives Reggie a small smile, “Better, not great but…better”

Reggie kneels down to his level and pulls him into a hug, feeling good when Josh hugs him back.

“Thank you” Josh whispers into the hug.

Reggie pulls back slightly “You don’t have to thank me”

Josh looks at him with an odd look in his eye, he moves forward and presses his forehead against Reggie’s “Yes, I do” One of his hands sits on the back of Reggie's neck as the two of them just sit there in each other presence.

Reggie looks into Josh’s eyes, their noses barely touching and each breath ghosting over the other.

He can’t explain the feeling in his gut, the way his brain seems to be short-circuiting. The feeling in his gut is familiar, something he hasn’t felt in years. It’s something he can’t ignore anymore, not like he used to.

With Josh’s hand still on the back of his neck, Reggie closes his eyes and leans forward and captures Josh’s lips with his own.

The hand on the back of his neck lets go but he can still feel it hovering, not moving away.

Reggie’s anxiety starts getting the best of him and just as he’s about the pull away the hand returns to its place on the back of his neck and he feels Josh push forward slightly, returning the kiss.

Reggie feels euphoric, he wants to breathe but he needs more, more of this, more of Josh. He brings his hand up to Josh’s face, cupping his cheek and gently rubbing his thumb along the soft skin.

This is everything.

Everything he’s been scared to dream about, to wish for. He always felt strange around Josh, but he never knew why. Maybe that was why he trusted him so much, with his trauma, his secrets…his face.

When he met Zane, he thought he had found out what love was supposed to feel like, he thought that the arguments were just a part of healthy relationships, he thought that the makeup sex was supposed to hurt, that the bruises were just proof that they loved each.

This is nothing like that.

This is soft and sweet. Josh’s hand softly cupping the back of his neck sent shivers down his spine. This one thing makes him happier than anything he ever did with Zane. He just regrets taking so long to get here.

The two stays like that for a few more moments before finally pulling away from each other, breathless as an air of awkwardness quickly forms around them. Reggie starts panicking internally, hoping he hasn’t just fucked up and pushed one of his closest and oldest friends away “I-uh, fuck, I'm sorry I-”.

“Don’t be sorry” Josh cuts him off, “I-I just mean you haven’t done anything wrong” He clarifies, moving his hand to cup Regies face, smiling softly at him “Nothing at all”.

Reggie closes his eyes and leans into the warmth seeping into him from Josh.

“How long have you…?” the question trails off as Josh hopes Reggie can still understand the question.

Reggie chuckles to himself before answering “I don’t really know in all honesty, but I think it not that long after we met, you remember when you first saw my face?” Josh nods “I was just too stupid to realise, instead I ran off to England with some dickhead, what about you?”

Josh sighs, “I’m not sure, I’ve never been great with identifying this stuff, but if I had to guess before I even joined DecSec”

Reggie perks up at that “Seriously?!”

“I was in a really bad place at the time, I was jumping between medications for so many things I could barely keep track and then I found out CtOS had flagged me as a risk and I just, couldn’t do it. I didn’t get out of bed for weeks and my grades completely dropped, I was in a dark place and-and I was scared”

Reggie looks at him, silently listening as Josh talked

“Then I saw a video of you, it wasn’t anything too interesting, just your usual thing, but at the time, it was the push I needed to just get out of bed and continue living my life. Then when I joined DedSec I actually met you, we got along well enough and I definitely liked you but…I assumed you wouldn’t like someone like me, I’m inexperienced, I’ve never really, done this before, and I’ve never been interested before, so I just, never thought to tell you”

Reggie softly smiles at him, gently pressing his lips on Josh’s once again, just for a moment. “Aren’t we a pair?”

Josh looks at him, head tilted slightly, “A pair of what?” he asked in genuine confusion.

Reggie can’t help but laugh at that, he looks at Josh like he’s the only thing in the world “I love you so fucking much”

Josh looks surprised at his words, but he smiles nonetheless “I…I love you too Reg”

Reggie smiles before leaning in once again, Josh wrapping his arms around Reggie’s neck as they fall back onto the bed together, enjoying their newfound companionship for the first proper time.

Chapter Text

It’s a surprise to a lot of people when Reggie announces he’s going back to America. Everyone he knew in London had only known him since he had been living here some of them didn’t even believe he was American.

He sends most of his stuff off ahead of him, including his precious Wrench Jr.

Jackson and Connie see them off at the airport, wishing them luck on their flight back.

He’s nervous to get on the plane, not because he’s scared of flying but because he’s afraid of what’ll happen once they land. He’s thinking about just going back to the apartment and never going back. He could convince Josh to stay, they could get an apartment together or something. They don’t have to go back.

A gentle hand squeeze from his travelling companion quickly erases his doubts.

Josh would never agree to live here; he knows San Fransisco and is comfortable with it. 

After so many years of self-loathing and hatred, he finally found someone who gives meaning to his life, someone he can fall asleep with at night, someone he can give every part of himself to without any doubt.

Besides, Reggie knows he has to face his fears at some point, a few weeks ago he killed his abusive ex-husband, so he can handle a couple of old friends.

Once there on the plane, it’s not long before Josh falls asleep on Reggie’s shoulder, Reggie himself not far behind.

When the flight is about to land, an air hostess wakes them up, Reggie can’t help but smile at Josh, rubbing his eyes as he yawns.

When they get off the plane, Reggie is nervous. Josh practically has to drag him off the plane.

He immediately notices Markus and Sitara waiting for them at the terminal.

Walking up, he expects something, anger, yelling, hitting. Instead, he’s welcomed with a massive hug from Sitara, she even has tears in he eyes. “We fucking missed you asshole” Markus joins the hug, dragging Josh in too.

Reggie can’t help the smile on his face “I missed you guys too”

00111100 00110011

Reggie didn’t realise how much he’d missed when he was gone.

Markus’s long-term girlfriend had been dying to meet him, she’s nice, super cheerful and energetic and fun, Reggie likes her.

He knew Sitara had a girlfriend, he knew her back when he was living in San Fransisco. What he didn’t know, was that the two of them had gotten engaged and were wedding planning. She’s more level-headed than most people he knew but she’s happy to see him too.

What surprised him the most was Josh’s new home. After Reggie moved away, he didn’t want a new roommate and the house felt too big. He had sold it and moved into a smaller apartment.

As soon as Reggie walked in he loved it, it had a workroom and it was full of so much of Josh's personality.

Later, when he’s sitting on the couch watching a movie with everyone, he realises that he couldn’t be happier. He smiles as Josh snuggles deeper into his chest, sighing in contentment.

Reggie smiles and kisses the top of his head.