Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They had one job. Disable the security shutters to let the rest of their teammates pass through safely. And right now they weren't even close to doing that. To be fair, they were trying, but for lack of a better term, this mission had become a clusterfuck. Sanford landed another headshot with his pistol, the soldat he shot now covered in their own yellow blood as they crumpled to the floor, dead. Another one down. Guns weren't usually Sanford's weapon of choice, but tensions were too tight right now to care. Speaking of which…

Sanford tried to catch his breath as he surveyed the scene. He was on some balcony, connected to a helipad outside the Nexus tower. Said balcony was also now covered in bodies, the concrete now a glowing mix of red and yellow. The agency. How did they always seemingly have more guys to throw into the battlefield? You think they would've learned by now. The AAHW Agency had apparently been called in the moment he and Hank had been spotted during their infiltration, and it all went downhill from there. It was like they were coming out of nowhere. Sanford couldn't help but admire their determination, though he seemed to remember the agents being far less creepy. They had been yelling vivid threats at his taller teammate from the moment they revealed themselves, at least until they were shut up with a bullet to the brain. 

"Ford, move!" That familiar raspy, metallic tinged voice broke Sanford out of his train of thought, and he swerved to the side as Hank cut through an agent that had been sneaking up behind him, a splatter of red flying through the air. The taller man turned to him, lowering his sword. He tilted his head to the side. Even though his face was obscured through glowing red goggles and his mask, Ford knew they were giving him a look.

"I'm fine, Hank. I just had to catch my breath." Sanford waved him off, cracking his knuckles and looking around the mess of bodies. "How many left?"

"Five." Hank huffed. He spun his sword in his hand, before ducking as a bullet whizzed past his head. Sanford watched him charge at the agent that did it and turned to find any other stragglers. 

Ford chucked his now empty pistol at an engineer that just peeked out from their cover, stunning them just long enough for him to toss and catch his meathook on the yellowblood's shoulder. Yanking the hook back towards him and dragging the engi with it, Sanford caught him by the face and promptly snapped his neck.

"Hey, wasn't Deimos supposed to get back to us, like five minutes ago?" Sanford remembered. He and Hank had been split up from Deimos before this particular skirmish, leaving their other teammate with some older scientist guy Sanford didn’t know very well. He was a bit unhappy with the measure, but they had to do what they had to do. And while Deimos could take care of himself, his unresponsiveness wasn’t making Ford feel any better. "We're locked out here until he gets that gate open." 

"No shit." Hank rasped, dispatching another agent with a sword to the chest. Two left. "You radio him, I'm busy." 

"Sure, bud. Like that's such a huge problem for you." Sanford rolled his eyes. He turned, throwing his meathook into the head of an agent that had been sneaking up behind his teammate. "On your left!" 

Gripping the chain of the meathook in one hand and letting Hank do his thing, Sanford flipped on his radio.

"Hey Dei, you there?" 

"Bit preoccupied, San.” Deimos’ scratchy voice came through the other end. “Hang tight, almost got that gate open for ya. Gimmie like.. 8 minutes.”

“Are you ok?” Sanford replied, barely masking the concern in his voice. “How’s the situation? If you need backup, we can-”

“Don’t worry, babe. Just a little run in with some big scary MAG. Nothin’ me and the old man can’t handle.” Deimos jokes. Sanford sighed, imagining the smirk probably plastered on Dei’s face right now. "Watch Hank's back for me, k? And your own back. Be careful."

"I will. Be safe." Ford said. Gunfire and loud noises could be heard through the radio now, so he turned it off, mentally reassuring himself that Dei would be fine. He felt a tug on the chain of his meathook, and he turned to Hank, dispatching the last soldat using it. Sanford sighed, reeling in the chain. 

"I think this is yours." Hank reeled himself in with the weapon as if he'd been caught,  before handing him the hook, now painted with red and yellow. 

Sanford chuckled, taking it back and reaching up to Hank's face, wiping some stray droplets of red off their goggles.

"I still have no idea how you see out of those things." The shorter man admitted.

"You're not allowed to talk down to my fashion choices when you wear a tank top into battle in 40 degree weather." Hank huffed, crossing his arms. 

"You're one to talk, I know for a fact you don't wear shit under that coat." Sanford smiled slyly, poking the rounded end of his meathook into Hank's chin. "We're getting off topic. We got a mission to do, remember?"

The assassin mumbled something about how Ford was the one that started it, looking away. Their attention was drawn to the noise of propeller blades chuffing above them, as another agency helicopter pulled into view.  

"Fucks sake." Sanford drew his brow together, bracing himself for more enemies to drop out and begin their attack. Before the copter even landed, however, another loud noise rang out from somewhere above them.

An explosion rang out, the sky turning a bright purple for one blinding moment. Sanford covered his ears as he heard what sounded like a loud zapping noise and 100 creatures roaring at once, before something crashed into the helipad in front of them, the agency helicopter now crushed to bits beneath it. The shockwave from the crash was enough to knock the two mercenaries right off their feet. 

The absolutely gigantic thing that had fallen on the balcony moved now, raising its head. It was massive, and vaguely human shaped, but warped in such a way that it was hard to truly tell. Metal and red, charred flesh seemingly fused together around its body, and the helmet it wore had large tusks protruding from it. Not like it needed that anyway as it's sharp, person sized teeth looked like they could do enough damage. Sanford recognized the thing as its purple eyes bore into him. 

He had seen this thing before, down in the tunnels below the city streets. He and Deimos only just barely managed to outrun it on their way to the surface. Unfortunately the thing seemed to have grown a couple sizes since they'd last seen it. It also seemed to be hurt, the metal armoring around it broken in some areas around its head. Bright purple liquid, its blood, Sanford assumed, dripped down its face like a river.

"Gestalt. Not this thing again." Hank hissed, lifting his sword defensively as they picked themselves up. He had seen it before too, then? Sanford wondered for a moment if it had been stalking them. Scrambling to his feet, he clicked his radio on.

"Hey Dei? Could you hurry it up? Some giant things just landed on the- Fuck!" Sanford cut himself off when he heard the floor below him creak and dip. In a cacophony of swears he practically grabbed and hauled Hank away from the helipad as the creaking got louder.

The "Gestalt" creature reached its giant claw out towards the two of them, but the helipad gave way and broke off the balcony before it could. In another loud screech the thing tumbled down all the way to the streets below. A crash and another bright blast of purple light followed.

"Holy shit!" That was all Sanford could bring himself to say as he stood there, gripping onto Hank as if they'd fall away if he didn't. For one thing, they just avoided a huge fight, but on the other hand, this balcony was definitely not stable. He tried to catch his breath. "Well, that's one problem down."

"Shame, honestly. I bet we could've taken him." Hank shrugged. Sanford rolled his eyes underneath his shades, letting go of the taller man. They both carefully looked over the side of the partially desomated floor, and saw the thing on the road several stories below them. It was dead, it had to be. That same purple fluid surrounded it now, and streams of what looked like red and magenta smoke or energy streaming off of what was left of it. 

Sanford leaned into his radio to give Deimos an update, but the line was pure static now. He thought he could make out some voices in it, but it couldn't connect. Weird. It was fine just a moment ago.

"Signals busted." Sanford sighed. "You wanna try your radio?" 

Hank didn't respond to him, seemingly transfixed on that same red and purple smoke that was now rising up towards them. He jerked back, grunting as he gripped his head.

"Hank? What's wrong?"

"That stuff. That thing's insides reek of the Other Place." Hank growled, pointing an accusatory finger at the substance. That signature metallic undertone was more prominent in his voice now, something Ford only heard when Hank was really pissed. The assassin had a sort of sixth sense to tell if someone had died before, or at least had some connection to Nevada's one and only hell dimension. But even then, Sanford had never seen Hank actively recoil in reaction to it. This wasn't good.

"How's that possible?" Sanford asks. Hank turned, shaking his head. Even with the goggles obscuring his eyes, he looked troubled. Confused. The floor below them shook, and the doors they came from and the one they needed suddenly opened. For a moment, Sanford was happy that Deimos must've finally gotten the door for them, but his happiness was soon crushed as figures shuffled out the doors and onto the balcony with them, blocking the way in classic bad guy fashion. 

They weren't agents, though. They looked like soldats with sharp claws and teeth, pacing around like wild dogs. They had the same appearance of Gestalt, only smaller, and with weird animalistic bio-upgrades that Ford hadn't seen before. None of them moved to attack, only keeping them from getting too close to the doors. Sanford set his hand on one of the spare grenades he'd been keeping on his belt.

"Really wished that the old scientist guy mentioned freaky abominations in the mission briefing." Sanford said. He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Sanford." Hank said, looking in the opposite direction. "Look."

"What is it now- Oh."

Sanford swung himself around, laying his eyes upon something he didn't expect to see. The smoke had formed into the shape of a person, or rather, a clear, slightly translucent and purple form of someone he recognized very well. Not because he knew them personally of course, but because his visage haunted each and every corner of the city and the Nexus tower from the moment their team set foot in it. The figure seemed to float in midair, his cape fluttering out behind him and his single, goggle-covered red eye glittering underneath the pitch black sky. Director Phobos.

"Good evening, gentlemen." Phobos said, cocking his head to the side and grinning. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced, but I would like to thank you both for getting me out of my… containment. It was getting a little cramped.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Sanford asked, internally hoping some small talk might keep Phobos from attacking them outright.

“Oh, yes. I appreciate the concern, humble subject.” Phobos snickered, lowering himself down to stand instead. Not like it made much of a difference, the guy was at least 7 feet tall. “I’m still technically deceased, at least for now.”

Sanford and Hank quickly glanced at each other. Neither had any idea what the fuck this guy was on about, but they weren’t about to just let this ghost dictator come back into power. Sanford knew he had to do something, but his options were far too limited. He slowly moved his hand up to the radio.

“So, which one of you is Sanford and which one is Hank? It’s been hard to tell from where I’ve been watching, and I’ve heard a lot about you boys.” The smile Phobos gave was nothing short of condescending. “You arrived with my brother, correct?”

“Brother!?” Ford was unable to hide the confusion in his voice, briefly finding it odd how Deimos didn’t share his secret brother’s British accent. Hank backed up slightly, tightening and loosening his grip on his sword. Sanford noticed and took a quick glance behind them, seeing that Phobos’ little freak experiment gang were drawing closer. He swore under his breath.

“Deimos. My little brother.” Phobos’ voice was echoing as his translucent form seemed to waver in and out of existence with the wind. It didn’t seem to deter him at all. “Oh… he never told you, did he? How upsetting. Shame he isn't joining us either. I thought it was customary to let your family meet those you love.”

Sanford grimaced. How did he know about that? Then again, if this guy really had been stuck in the dead body cacophony that was Gestalt the whole time, that would make more sense. Maybe it had been stalking them.

"Back to back. Now." Hank snarled under his breath, shoving Sanford behind him. He swiveled on his feet, turning to the creatures that seemed to be waiting for their creators' order to strike. He didn't want to take his eyes off them, but he still found himself peering over his shoulder. 

He didn't know much about Phobos personally, but the stories Ford had been told were enough. He was powerful, and the two of them were vastly unprepared. Of course the two people who would know what to do were across the entire tower right now, and the signal was jammed. Sanford interlocked one of his arms with Hank's. At least they weren't going to go down without a fight.

"You seem tense." The ghost man chuckled, his next words seemed particularly condescending. "Don't be. I'm not going to kill you. In fact, I believe I just found a use for you both." 

Sanford's heart was beating out of his chest now as his fingers gripped tighter onto the grenade in his hand. This was not what he signed up for, dammit! They had faced some pretty powerful things and won, they'd taken out armies, but this seemed like it was out of their league, or at least above their pay grade.

"We can take him." Hank muttered, though Sanford wasn't sure if he really believed that or not. Hank had fought things with god powers before, that wasn't new, but he'd lost more of those fights than he'd won. Sanford didn't like remembering finding Hank in the aftermath of one of those particular losses, but the thought creeped into his head anyway.

"Lamenters, seize them." Phobos ordered. So that's what the monster things were called. Not like Sanford cared much, as he immediately unhooked a grenade and tossed it into the crowd of them. It exploded in the face of one of them, purple flew everywhere as two more got caught in the blast. Ford ducked to dodge one as it swung a claw at him. Quickly looking for an opening in the metal plating covering it, and finding purchase as he slashed the sharp end of his hook across its neck. Hank had the same idea as he elbowed one in the chin, before following up with his sword, the purple adding a new color to his already stained coat.

"Deimos!" Sanford yelled into his radio mid fight, not caring if it even worked or not. "We've been ambushed, could really use some backup here!" 

He kicked another lamenter off him, grabbing another grenade and sticking it in another creature's mouth, before shoving them back into their allies. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hank get thrown backwards and just barely raise their sword in time as Phobos himself crashed into them, his own sword slamming against Hank's with a painful scraping noise. 

Ford desperately wanted to help, but another lamenter jumped on his back, clawing and gnashing at him as the mercenary wrestled to get them off. He saw an agent he'd slaughtered earlier with a gun in their hand, and wriggled himself close enough to kick it into his hand. Thankfully, it had two bullets left that seemed to be fairly effective as Ford shot into the thing's chin.

While he still fought the lamenters that remained, Sanford noticed that Phobos seemed to be deliberately drawing Hank away from him, going on the offensive in their duel to get him to move backwards. That didn't bode well, and Ford's concern only multiplied when he heard Hank growl in pain as Phobos managed to land a blow on him. 

Sanford was once again blocked as he tried to get any closer to his teammate. He grappled with the purpleblood, jamming his meat hook directly into the thing's face and wrapping the chain around its neck, pulling. In his peripheral vision he saw what looked like more enemies coming out to the balcony. He yelled into his radio one last time.

"Fuck! Dammit, Deimos! We're going to be overrun!"

—---

Another plume of smoke streamed up from the technician's cigarette. Deimos huffed, wiping debris off his jacket. The machine he and the former Nexus scientist he'd been partnered with had worked, and even though Dei didn't really know how or why it worked, it blasted the giant MAG thing that'd been chasing them right out the window.

They were stopped in a security room now. Dei was crouched underneath a desk, trying to get the computer on again so he could unlock the way for his teammates that were floors below them. Unfortunately Deimos had accidentally shot the console during their infiltration, and now had to find a workaround to get the gate open. Nothing Dei hadn't done before. 

He sat under the desk, fiddling with the consoles. His eyes darted to his companion, the former Nexus scientist, who was cleaning his revolver and keeping watch.

"Didn't you used to work here, big man? How come you can't do this?" Deimos complained. The other man turned, one eyebrow raised.

"You volunteered first. And I remember you explicitly saying that you had this handled." Jeb sighed. His glowing eyes shining through his sunglasses. Deimos didn't know Jeb well outside from what Hank had told him. For a while he didn't like him much at all, as Jeb was responsible for taking Hank's life which obviously made Deimos a bit upset. But then again, Jeb had also been the one to stab Phobos in the back and end his brother's dictator era, so while there wasn't much respect between them before, there was now. That and Hank had claimed he was trustworthy now.

"I promised San it would take like 8 minutes! We're bordering on 7 here!" Deimos said, desperate to an almost comical degree.

"I'm sure your partners can manage standing around and waiting for a few minutes."

"Yeah, but like- what if that MAG thing landed on them?"

"We both looked out the window and saw Gestalt's corpse. It's very much dead." The older man said, looking down at him.

"Doesn't mean it couldn't have squished em' on the way down." 

"I doubt they're that stupid. Well, the one with sunglasses at least."

"Hey- oh wait! I got it!" Deimos cut himself off as the bypass key he'd uploaded into the system worked. "Gate should be open now."

"Good, we can finally move on." Jeb said with a sigh, leaving the office. Deimos packed up his equipment and followed him into the next room. It was wide with big windows, shattered now of course, thanks to Gestalt. Something caught Deimos' attention, though. Peering out the broken window, he could see that the view down was slowly being obscured by purple fog.

"What's that stuff?" The technician asked. 

"S3lfs. Or the remnants of them. Gestalt contained thousands of consciousnesses. All dead now." Jeb sounded a little sad when he said it. "But it was for the best."

"Wait, so that thing was full of dead people? And we just let em' all out?" 

"It affects nothing, really. What's left of them will disintegrate back into the Other Place. None would be powerful enough to hold their form physically."

"Gross. Hope we don't breathe in the dead people's smog. Sounds unhealthy." Deimos said, glossing over the fact he smoked all the time and his lungs were fucked up enough as it is.

They were about to turn to leave, when Deimos' radio erupted into static. 

"Hey San, you there? The way should be clear-" Deimos tried to speak through the static, but it didn't seem to go through. Sanford's voice cut through the static every couple seconds. Deimos' eyes widened. Whatever was happening down there, it didn't seem to be going well. 

"We've been ambushed- could use backup-" His teammates voice cut out repeatedly, so that was all Deimos could make out. He could faintly hear what sounded like something screeching or growling in between cuts as well, reaffirming the fact that Sanford and Hank weren't out of danger like he hoped.

"What? What's going on?" Deimos yelled into it, not getting a response, only more of those growls. He clicked the thing on speaker, cranking up the volume to see if he could hear anything else.

"Those sound like-" Jeb began, but Deimos shushed him harshly. 

"Sanford? Cmon, can you hear me?" Deimos asked again. He could hear voices now, probably Sanford yelling something to Hank.

"Dammit, Deimos-" Sanford's voice cut through the chaos one last time. "We're- overrun-"

"Crap crap crap- shit!" Deimos was unable to hide his panic now. "Shit! How fast can we get down there!" 

"There's not much we can do from up here-"

"Don't give me that! We have to go help!" Dei snapped. He could hear Sanford distantly yelling something now, and he swore he heard Hank's name in the mix. The growling continued.

"Those hisses sound like the lamenter experiments, but they're confined to the upper floors." Jeb paced back and forth, in deep thought. "They have no reason to go down there, that makes no sense."

"But if they got down there real fast, then so can we, right?" Deimos was getting desperate now. Jeb didn't look entirely worried, but Deimos' panic was enough for him to capitulate to what he was saying.

"It's possible. There should be a lift this way." Jeb took off down the room to another hallway, and Deimos ran after him, gripping the radio so tightly it creaked in his hand. While he followed, he heard a noise that sounded like laughter in between the static. Even though it was hard to hear, it made Deimos stop in his tracks. Jeb turned around too.

"When you said that the dead guys trapped inside that big fuckin' thing could reform if they were powerful enough… that was a joke, right?" Deimos said, his voice shaky. "Cuz if it's not I'm going to need you to define 'powerful' right the fuck now."

Jeb didn't need Deimos to elaborate to understand what he was saying. "No… he wouldn't… would he?" 

The radio was dead silent now, no background noise or anything. It was barely even cutting out anymore. 

"Sanford? San, come in. Hank? Anyone?" Deimos took a deep breath, hoping for some form of response. He wouldn't get the one he wanted, however.

"Hello, little brother." A familiar, echoing voice came through the other line. Deimos froze, his cigarette falling out from his mouth.. The technician could feel heat building on his fingertips and around his mouth, even giving off smoke slightly.

"What did you do?" Deimos' voice was low, nearly a growl. Phobos' laughed. 

"Me? Nothing. Worry about what you've done yourself, after all, you're the one that freed me." Phobos said, sounding eerily calm.

"What did you do?!" Deimos snarled. "Where are my partners?!" 

"They're alive and unharmed. Well, mostly. The taller one gave me some trouble, so let's just say he has some… scratches.." Phobos said, sounding infuriatingly pleased with himself. In the background Dei could hear Sanford shouting curse words of every flavor. Deimos felt himself relax slightly at hearing that, though it didn't last for long. "They both put up a good fight, though. Better than most." 

"Let me speak to them."

Phobos chuckled. "No. In fact, if you ever want to speak to either of them again, you're going to have to do something for me." 

“I swear, if you hurt either of them-”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard it all before. I- be silent! ” Phobos stopped to yell at who Deimos assumed was Sanford. As expected, Ford didn’t cave, only seemingly shutting up after Hank made another pained noise. Phobos sighed. “If you want to see them again in one piece you’ll need to deliver the keystone fragment to me. I know you have it. And be quick, your little friends already test my patience.”

“Wait! Let me-” Deimos began, before the radio snapped into pure static again. For a moment all he could do was stand there, fingers heating up more and more until white flames ignited across his fingers and up his arms.  He glanced over at Jeb. He had the keystone fragment, he stole it from Phobos in the first place. He could end this all right now if he wanted. Without any prior warning, Deimos whipped out his spare pistol and pointed it at the other man.

“Give it to me.” He growled.

“Wait, we can talk about this-” Jeb took a step back, his hand also moving to his weapon, though he didn’t raise it.

“Give it to me! It’s the only way!”

“You know that's not true.” Jeb snapped back. “If you really are his brother, then you know him as well as I do so you know that if he gets the keystone he’ll just kill them both anyway!”

Deimos lowered his gun, small embers decorating a majority of his skin now. “Oh god, what are we gonna do?”

“He’ll need the keystone to fully revive himself. As hard as it is to believe, he should still be weak if he’s tethered to Gestalt. If we kill him, he’ll go right back to the Other Place where he belongs.”

“As much as I really wanna grind him into a pulp right now, I… I dunno if we can.” Deimos admitted, the flames growing smaller across his body before extinguishing. “I mean, I’m just… his weird clone brother. I’ve got none of the power he does.”

“I’ve killed him once before, remember? It isn’t hard, especially once his bodyguards are dealt with. And with all four of us against him, it shouldn’t be any trouble.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know enough.” Jeb sighed. “Now come on. I’m sure your friends will already be planning their escape, so let's plan to meet them halfway at least.”

That sentiment seemed to make Deimos feel a bit better. The scientist was right, if Phobos got the keystone it’d be over. As much temptation as he felt to finish this the easy way, he knew that wasn’t ever how things worked here. He’d have to fight his way through to his brother, same as always. He just hoped Sanford and Hank could hold out long enough for him to reach them. 

Chapter Text

"Patient? You're really telling me to be patient right now?" Deimos snapped. "Dude, we gotta get going!" 

"We need to prepare for this. You pacing around and yelling isn't helping with that." Jeb replied, rummaging through the coat of a corpse he'd killed moments before. He'd taken a detour to the personal offices for the Nexus scientists, assuring the younger man that he had a plan. The offices were mostly abandoned, only a few Nexus scientists wandering the gray, desolate hallways as if they still had some reason to be there. Needless to say Deimos had taken out his anger on a few of them as soon as they moved to defend themselves.

"What are you even doing?" Deimos complained more. The technician was antsy, not a fan of waiting around in a situation like this.

"These poor fools have something we need. I believe you’ll take some interest in it." Jeb threw some stray garbage aside, before reaching into one pocket and pulling out a keycard.

"That doesn't look like a gun to shoot my brother with, so nah, not interested."

"It leads to a room full of rather large guns to shoot your brother with." Jeb stood up, raising an eyebrow at Deimos. "Is that good enough?"

Deimos stopped his rambling. He couldn't help but smile a little at that. "Oh. Well now you're speaking my language." 

Jeb chuckled, before walking out of the room quickly, he walked fast enough that Deimos had to jog to keep up, but the older man eventually led him to another lab. Unlocking it and going inside revealed more Nexus soldiers, but the two were quick to dispatch them. The technician looked around the room. It was an armory of some kind, and sure enough, there were some very large guns. He couldn't help but run over to examine them.

Jeb took out the last soldier, lifting them up with his powers and crushing their skull in a flashy display of purple energy. The bearded man, now covered in blood, turned to see what his companion was up to, seeing that he was enthusiastically checking out one of the dissonance cannons. "Careful with that."

"Excuse you, I'm the gun expert here, I think I can handle this." Deimos ignored the warning, lifting the gun up. It was the relative size of a minigun, and while it was heavy, the technician didn't move to grab anything else. He flipped a few switches, and the machine thrummed with purple energy. Deimos grinned. This was destructive. Just what he needed.

"Stock up on everything you need. We're going to need it if we're going up against Phobos." Jeb said, grabbing a few guns off of the many racks in the room displaying them.

"So what's the plan?" Deimos held the gun in one hand for a moment, pulling out a new cigarette from his pocket and snapping his fingers. A small white flame appeared on the tip of his thumb as he lit the cig.

"If Phobos truly was able to reform his S3LF in some way, then Gestalt may not be as dead as we thought. Phobos put too much effort into tethering himself to it, it's similar to a lifeline now." Jeb explained. "Even with him not being entirely reformed he should be tangible enough for us to damage and defeat him. Then we must make sure that giant hell abomination doesn't have any brain matter left for him to return to." 

"That big toothy guy? I hate to break it to you man, but that thing is a good 50 stories below us." Deimos reminded him.

"Nothing a rocket launcher or two can't fix. Or, you know…" The scientist gestured to Deimos' dissonance cannon. The thing did have a long range… 

"Ok, I get it. How are we gonna get to his office? We goin' in guns blazing, or what?"

"Not exactly. I assume he's in his office for now, and there's a back route in there that you may utilize. He's expecting me, so I'll enter through the front."

"And then we kick ass and rescue my partners." Deimos said, puffing out another plume of smoke from his mouth, feeling more confident now. He grabbed a spare gun and a large metal axe and hooked them to his backpack, saving them for his teammates once he got to them. He also shoved a screwdriver and some pliers into his pocket, just in case. "Anything else I should know? I wanna get going."

"I believe that we're ready, but… I have one more thing to say."

"Better make it quick."

"I was unaware of your familial connection to Phobos, so I just wanted to say that I appreciate you being so willing to ensure his defeat despite, well, you know."

"Oh. Uh… Thanks." Deimos looked up at the taller man, not expecting that. He chuckled a little. "You don't gotta think too hard on that. We weren't close, I'm just his botched clone. I don't feel anything for him, he's gotta go down."

"I wouldn't say botched, when you've survived this long. Now let's go. You'll have to go through a vent to sneak through the back, but I'm sure you're small enough to manage. Follow me."

Deimos wondered briefly how he was going to climb through while carrying a giant gun, but there was no time to dwell on it now. He followed Jeb, through the hallways, his mind clouded with stress about his partners. He hoped he'd be able to get there in time.

—---

" Damnit." Phobos gripped the bridge of his nose, pacing around his office.

"Sooo… are you just gonna stand here and ask questions or is anything gonna happen?" Sanford said, his voice in a mocking tone. He figured some snark would alleviate some of the tension in this situation. Well, his own at least. He spoke again, trying to ignore the pain in his arms. "Because we're kind of veterans with this whole interrogating thing, and this isn't going anywhere."

As expected, the lamenters literally dragged them straight up to Phobos' office. They put up a good fight on the way but any attempts of escape were futile, only leaving Sanford with countless deep scratches on his arms and shoulders. Though that wasn't what he was truly focused on now. Unfortunately, Phobos was smart enough to not tie them up in just regular rope, which Hank would have bit through, instead using metal cord. It dug uncomfortably into their skin as they were sat down near Phobos' work desk, staring longingly at their weapons strewn across it. In a way, it looked as if this was some really fucked up work conference. 

Sanford's eyes darted to Hank, just as he'd been doing for the past 10 minutes. His teammate was far worse off than he was, because as per usual, Hank took the brunt of the attack. Whether that was his intention or not, it certainly was a pattern during missions wherever Hank was involved. As well as being covered in scratches that tore through pieces of his coat and had shredded his face mask, Phobos had slashed him up the back during their fight. Sanford could see Hank panting as he struggled against the metal cord. It dug into his wounds and Sanford could feel his breath quicken as he saw Hank wince, but he kept himself from saying anything. 

"The Auditor's underpaid goons put in more effort than you." Sanford continued, hoping that enough backtalk would get their captor to slip up somehow. Phobos chuckled, shaking his head.

"Those little fools? Please. If they do then they're not doing it right. It's about the buildup, you see." Phobos turned back towards them, stopping his pacing. He chuckled to himself, seemingly deep in thought. "Audi must really be interested in your little operation, aren't they? The lady must be in over her head, when you're this easy to capture. I wonder if she'd be jealous. Unfortunately for them, I'm not willing to trade."

"What is your big plan here, then? Just gonna keep us waiting?" Ford said, not liking that last part of Phobos' spiel. 

"Oh, it's nothing special." The dictator hummed, strutting around to the front of his desk, closer to them. "I'll explain, but you need to give me something first. Mainly, information on who you work for." 

"We work for ourselves, dumbass."

"You're wanting to stop me out of the kindness of your heart? Please, this is Nevada. I don't believe that." 

"Even then, I think not wanting a dictator back in power is good enough." Sanford snapped back. Hank growled in tandem when Phobos turned to see their reaction as well. He scoffed. 

"You're feisty. Both of you." The one eyed man chuckled. "I enjoy that. Tell me, what would be so wrong with me regaining power? My goals are to help , you know. Giving your foolish gray bodies a chance at immortality, and not living in fear anymore. I could offer you both that and so much more."

"Oh, so that's what this is about." Sanford rolled his eyes. Phobos smiled. 

"Imagine it. Given time to finish my work, the Nexus Core can give you both a new chance at life, more strength, more power, newer… cleaner forms." With that last sentence, Phobos turned to Hank and sneered. Sanford could see Hank freeze for a moment, eyes wide under his goggles. Whether it was more shock or rage in their reaction, it was hard to tell. Sanford, however, wanted nothing more than to punch Phobos right in the face after that comment.

"What did you just say to me?!" Hank suddenly spoke up, his voice raspy but loud. It was never comfortable for Hank to yell, Sanford knew that, but when he was angry he never cared.

"You know that I'm right, hell walker." Phobos sneered, he got up close to Hank, raising his sword. The sharp end neared dangerously close to their neck as they growled. "I know you've died before, I can smell the stench of the Other Place on you…. Just think, I could fix that hideous thing on your face, make you better…"

Phobos paused, examining the assassin further, poking his sword into Hank's neck, scraping up from the skin then against the metal on his jaw. He chuckled when Hank winced. "Oh… you've died more than once, have you? More than I've ever seen. You are a special thing, indeed. Quite the asset. Imagine what we could-"

"You get away from him, you creep!" Sanford yelled, not being able to keep quiet anymore as he jerked against the cord. "You aren't convincing us, now back off!"

"Did that hit a nerve?" The dictator turned, feigning some kind of sympathy. Without even looking, he spun his sword around and jabbed the end of it straight into Hank's shoulder, deep enough to almost cut through. Hank hissed as if it burned him, but held himself back from reacting further. Sanford struggled more against the cord, opening his mouth to protest, but he stopped when Hank glanced at him, shaking their head. They'd made it this far, they weren't about to show weakness. "As I said, I'm making this state better for us. What do you have to return to if you stop me? Wandering the wasteland with my useless brother?"

"Don't bring him into this." Hank growled, their voice low.

"Why not? He lied to you about me, who knows what else he might be hiding-" 

"So what! That changes nothing and I don't blame him for not wanting to talk about you!" Sanford hissed. "We're here to put your little operation in the ground, nothing you say is going to change that."

Finally, Phobos frowned, growing stern again. He gave a half hearted shrug and turned away. "Well, it was worth a shot. I suppose I'll have to commit to my real plan then. If you won't give me information, or understand my reasoning, I'll just use you for something else.

Phobos walked back around to the other side of his desk, hitting a button on his helmet and mumbling to assumedly call in some guards. The mercenary glanced over at Hank, trying to non verbally ask them if they were ok. His teammate seemed to understand, and despite the fact that Ford could now see a trickle of blood running down his prosthetic jaw, Hank mouthed an "I'm ok" to him. Sanford wished that the gesture reassured him more.

"I'll have my boys get the lamenter program up and running. It seems we have two new candidates." Phobos smirked. Sanford swore under his breath. Deimos had better get here soon.

"You, uh… you sure you don't wanna try interrogating us anymore? Are we really just done with that?" Ford was trying to prolong things as much as possible, or at least until Deimos showed up. "You don't have to do that yet-"

"Oh, I think I will. You both are perfect for it. What wonderful soldiers you will make… and before you ask, yes, becoming a lamenter is very painful."

Phobos turned around, seemingly like he was going to announce more, before he heard a door open. Everyone froze. Phobos smiled, walking away from the platform his desk was on and towards the door as a familiar tall bearded man walked in. 

"Christoff." Phobos said in a disturbingly friendly tone. "So good to see you. I had a feeling you might be here. Where's the other one?"

Jeb tilted his head to the side. His tone was cold, even more than usual. "You really thought I'd just let him take the keystone from me? Please."

Sanford tensed when he heard that, craning his neck to see what was going on, and confirming his fear that Deimos wasn't standing with the older scientist. He felt his breath quicken, panic quickening in his veins. The mercenary mentally hoped and begged that it didn't mean what he thought it meant, quietly muttering "no" over and over to himself. 

Phobos just laughed. "I thought as much. You were always one to put yourself before others, hm? Lead them to their slaughter-"

Sanford lost track of what they were saying as panic set in. He was breathing so hard that the cracking noise behind him barely registered. Ford turned, seeing a small figure crouched behind Hank, cutting the metal wire off him. The figure whispered something to Hank, before the taller man gently leaned in, touching their forehead to his. Sanford's panic was quickly replaced by relief.

"Dei-" Ford began, before Deimos quickly and quietly moved over to him, leaning up and giving him a quick kiss. When he pulled away, Deimos put a finger to his lips.

"Shush. Let's not interrupt their monologuing." He whispered. He quickly cut the wire from his teammate, doing his best to stay as quiet as possible. He smiled up at Ford briefly. "I'm so happy you're ok."

Hank slinked towards the desk and grabbed their weapons off it, handing them to the others. Once they were able to, the other two turned their attention to Hank. Sanford pulled him over, finally being able to see how bad the gashes on his shoulder and back were. They were, of course, deep and awful. Sanford winced, giving Hank a peck on the cheek in an effort to calm both of their nerves. It was a big relief for him, getting to feel Hank's chest rise and fall underneath his fingers, especially after the mental strain Phobos just put them under.

"Shit man, what did he do to you?" Deimos shuddered, his eyes immediately drawn to the many wounds covering the assassin. He glanced between Sanford and Hank, surveying the damage done. "What'd he do to both of you?"

"Nothing that can't be fixed by kicking his ass." Sanford growled, gesturing to Phobos and grabbing his hook back. Deimos held him back before he stood up fully. He grabbed the gun and axe off his backpack and passed them to his teammates, before hoisting up the dissonance cannon he'd stolen earlier. Understanding his plan, Sanford took the gun and helped Hank to his feet, giving them a quick side hug before handing him the other weapons. The technician walked down ahead of them, small, white smoking embers forming on the tips of his fingers and around his chin.

"Hey, dipshit!" Deimos yelled, finally getting Phobos' attention as they spun around. He wouldn't get a chance to react as Deimos fired the cannon. A beam of purple and black shot from it, exploding on contact with Phobos' already ghostly body, sending the man flying. Jeb swerved out of the way, just narrowly avoiding the blast.

"You almost hit me." He said sternly, walking over to the group.

"That's payback for making me climb through the vents." Deimos quipped. His usual snark seemed to be returning now that he has confirmation that his partners were ok. Well, not ok, but certainly alive.

"Hmph. Get your weapons ready." Jeb briefly glared at Deimos, before waving his hand and turning away, unsheathing his sword. "But try to save the ammunition on that cannon, will you? This won't be an easy fight, but we'll need that when we're done."

"Ugh, yeah, whatever." Deimos wasn’t sure if he could comply with that fully, especially if things turned south, but he'd try. He hooked the cannon to his backpack and pulled out his own guns. 

Sanford reattached his hook to his belt, checking to make sure the gun Dei had given him was good. His eyes couldn't help but be drawn back to Hank as they seemed unsteady on their feet. Sanford couldn't tell if it was because they were itching to start the fight or if his injuries were getting to him. Either way, Hank moved in front of both him and Deimos, gripping the axe in one hand and his sword in the other. Sanford briefly concerned himself with the idea of Hank only using melee weapons while he was already injured, but before he could ask him to trade, a laugh rang out.

Phobos walked out of the cloud of dark debris the dissonance cannon had made, chuckling to himself. His already ghostly appearance seemed to be shifting, rapidly fading and reforming like a glitched image. Blood dripped down his mouth, even as he smiled. "Oh, that was a good one. I needed that. Your efforts are honorable, I admit that, but this charade ends here."

"So are we doing this, or what?" Deimos snapped. He raised both his guns up, white flames finally igniting around his hands and rising up his shoulders. "Cuz there's no way in hell we're letting you come back into power."

"We'll see about that." Phobos raised his own sword, walking forward. In a similar manner to his brother, Phobos' form seemed to light up in purple fire, and similar looking flames appeared around the room, creating a small outline around the 5 of them. It blocked them all in, creating an arena of sorts for them to fight in. "Try not to disappoint me, gentlemen. A God stands before you now." 

In what felt like milliseconds, Phobos had lunged at them. Metal clashed against metal as Jeb stopped him half way, blocking the attack with his sword. Hank darted forward as well, finishing off the attack by breaking the stalemate and knocking Phobos back with a slash from his own weapons. 

Sanford and Deimos shot a glance at each other. Neither were fond of Hank choosing to go on the offensive while sporting deep wounds, but they couldn't be stopped now. Sanford aimed the gun he'd been given, a shotgun to be specific, and started firing on Phobos as soon as it seemed safe to do so. Deimos followed suit with his smg. The bullets did seem to do some damage, the spots where Phobos was hit seemed to be distorting his form as he grunted in pain. 

The dictator seemed to have trouble keeping up, trying to avoid the gunfire and also keep Jeb and Hank at a distance with their fight. Sanford could easily tell that this was pissing him off from where he stood. Dark, dissonant looking flames ignited along Phobos' cloak in a similar way to how Deimos did when he used his fire powers. Phobos' attacks grew more aggressive as he tried to draw his dueling partners into the line of fire. Sanford nearly learned the hard way when one of his shots just nearly missed Hank's head. 

Phobos continued this tactic, adding some additional force into each attack, even directly punching his opponents when they got too close. The dictator seemed to be keeping Jeb at a distance, having a more difficult time countering his old enemy. Instead he focused more on Hank, getting closer and closer to try and drive Hank back into harm's way, waiting for any minor slip up from the already weakened assassin. 

Sanford couldn't risk accidentally hitting him. Guns weren't his strong suit, so switched to his hook, tossing it and successfully latching it on Phobos' back. As Phobos was jerked backwards it made an opening for Hank to slash him across the side, finally regaining his personal space. Jeb joined in on the attack, purple dissonant energy crackling in his hand as he fired a blast into the same spot on Phobos' side, the dissonance infecting the wound deeper.

The dictator's wraith-like form seemed to glitch yet again as he growled in pain. Before the man could recover, Deimos finally got a good angle with his gun and fired, two shots hitting Phobos' shoulder and neck, one just grazing his face.

" Enough! " Phobos shouted. The ring of fire surrounding them grew tighter, and a burst of energy shot out from the man himself. The blast of dissonance knocked all four of them to the floor and away from Phobos, Sanford nearly sliding into the fire surrounding them as it happened. Phobos caught his breath, grasping his neck as black blood dripped from it. His good eye shifted to Jeb as the bearded man moved to get up. 

Phobos quickly moved over and stabbed him while he was down. His sword dug right through Jeb's shoulder and into the ground as he growled in pain. Before he could use his powers to remove it, Phobos kicked the keystone fragment away from his head. Phobos’ voice dripped with a personal hatred. “Don't go anywhere. I'll be with you in a moment.”

Phobos grabbed the keystone, the halo device glowing red in his hand as Phobos’ shadowy form seemed to become more solid. Phobos suddenly jerked back as Hank ran up behind him and slashed his leg, cutting into his popliteal artery. Quickly sheathing his sword to free up one hand, he grabbed the keystone, attempting to yank it out of Phobos’ hand. Phobos held fast onto it, grabbing Hank's other wrist so he couldn't swing at him with the axe either. Phobos sighed, almost as if he was disappointed.

“You really do show so much potential. It's a shame you chose the wrong side.” Phobos looked at him in shame. The keystone began to shake as Hank grabbed onto it, almost as if the halo shaped machine was struggling on which person to connect to. The thing sparked with electricity as it registered Hank's presence, only seemingly to reject them, shooting the assassin backwards in a bright burst of energy. Hank hit the ground hard, dropping the axe in his hand. The halo machine stopped sparking when Hank let go, softly glowing in Phobos’ hand as if it'd missed its creator. 

Before Sanford and Deimos could even try to get involved and shoot, Phobos suddenly appeared in front of them as if he had telephoned, his form now glowing in shades of red and gold due to the keystone's power as it now floated above his head. He grabbed the barrels of their guns and crushed them as if they were nothing, before grabbing Deimos’ collar and tossing him into Sanford before either of them had a chance to retaliate. They hit the ground, and Phobos just stared at them coldly as if they were insects. With a movement of his hand, the wall of fire surrounding them grew, forming a wall that cut the two off from Phobos and the rest of the fight.

 “Shit..” Sanford's hand moved to his hook as he tried to get up. “He's moving too fast, how are we supposed to keep up with that?” 

“ Bastard. ” Deimos hissed to himself, white flames now covering a majority of his arms and legs. He moved to unhook the dissonance cannon, but Sanford grabbed his hand. 

“Don't! You'll hit the others!” Sanford couldn't let him crack now. He knew Deimos was angry, but looking through the flames he could see Phobos nearing Hank again. There was no way to shoot Phobos without the blast hurting him too. He could feel his heart sink a little when the dictator seemed to turn all his attention to his other partner, who hadn't gotten up yet.

“Oh fuck.” Deimos’ tone of voice made it clear that the same worry was coursing through him now as well. He swore more under his breath, before he unhooked the dissonance cannon and passed it to Sanford. “Take it. Don’t fire ‘til I tell you, ok?” 

Sanford nodded, hoping whatever Deimos was planning would work. While this happened, Hank gripped his sword tight as they stirred on the floor. His head spun as he still felt overwhelmed from touching the keystone. He mentally punched himself for thinking he could pull off that move. They glanced over to Jeb briefly, who was still trying to pull the sword out. Without the halo giving him his powers, it was a much harder task, but he still dug his palms into the blade with determination. Hank made eye contact with him briefly, before Jeb gestured to the side. Looking in that direction, he saw Phobos approach him calmly.

“This is your last chance.” Phobos’ posh voice was calmer now, almost soothing. “There's something you want, isn't there? I can see it in your eyes. What if I could give it to you?” 

Hank scooted backwards on the floor, feeling weak but still keeping their hand tight on their sword. Phobos kept moving closer, slightly floating above the ground so he wouldn't have to walk on his injured leg. The dictator loomed over the man.

“Once we're through with this, I can finally ascend to true godhood, but I don't have to do it alone… I could give you all the power you would ever need, you would never lose another fight.” Phobos was now standing directly above Hank. The assassin didn't believe a word of this, but there was something about his tone of voice that wormed its way into his head. Phobos studied Hank carefully. “Unless… no, I know what you need.” 

Hank tried to scoot back again, but Phobos put one boot on his coattails, keeping him still. 

“You need rest, don't you? Poor thing. You know, my powers draw from the Other Place directly. We could merge it with this world, making death a more permanent thing, as it should be. There would be no more horrors left to fight, just a semi-normal life left to live. And when it's time, you'll finally rest. Don't you want that?” Phobos smiled down at him, his words cutting into Hank's psyche. He did want that, he couldn't count how many times they'd thought about just getting to rest, calmly and forever when the fighting was all done. And so he sat up a little, watching as Phobos held his hand out. “So, what'll it be?"

For one brief moment, Hank considered it, but quickly shook the thought from his mind. He swore he could hear someone calling his name now, reminding them that they couldn't stop now. And so they thought of something else. Hank reached out as if to take Phobos' hand, then used all the remaining strength he had in him to lunge forward with his sword, swinging it up and into Phobos’ hand. Black blood painted the sword and Hank's coat.

Phobos howled in pain, stumbling backwards, nearly falling to the floor as he grasped at what remained of his hand. Phobos walked back and yanked his sword out of Jeb's shoulder, the keystone glowing with power as he moved to float again. In what felt like milliseconds, his uninjured hand was on Hank's neck and his sword was raised to strike.

“ You little disgrace. ” Phobos growled, his sword already starting to dig into Hank's side. But not for very long, as Deimos, now thoroughly burnt from Phobos’ and his own fire powers, wrapped an arm around his neck and yanked his brother back, making him drop Hank in the process. Phobos had little time to react when Deimos jabbed a screwdriver into his neck.

The siblings grappled with each other for a minute, Deimos twisting the screwdriver deeper. Hank tried to move to his feet again to help, raising his sword, before being hastily pulled out of the way by Jeb. 

“You dare defile me like this, little brother?!” Phobos stuttered, blood now dripping from his mouth as he struggled to get the words out. “I made you!” 

“You're not my brother!” Deimos yelled back, jumping off Phobos and kicking him aside, so Sanford had enough room to fire the dissonance cannon on him once more, sending the man flying in another blast of purple. Deimos caught his breath, the fire on his hands slowly going out. “You're just some freaky egomaniac.” 

The purple flames around the arena slowly dissipated. Phobos lay in a pool of his own flames and blood, the keystone fragment now knocked away from his head. The four of them cautiously moved closer, Jeb leaning Hank against his shoulder to keep him standing. The older man casually retrieved the halo device and put it back on. The thing glowed yellow softly and Jeb straightened up, the device numbing the pain of his injured shoulder. Without another word he passed Hank over to Deimos and took the assassin's sword, jamming it into Phobos' chest as a form of revenge. The dictator kicked and clawed like a feral animal as his body seemed to glitch more and more, contorting itself unnaturally.

“Wait- no no no-” Phobos hissed, his purple wispy form slowly beginning to disperse, as if he was getting pulled toward the window of his office. He screamed in rage once again. “This.. is not over- I will come back! I will always come back! ” 

Phobos contorted once more before dissolving completely into purple smoke that crept across the floor and out one of the many cracked and broken windows in the old office. All that was left on the floor were splotches of black and red blood. Deimos spat his cigarette on it.

“That's that.” The technician said, patting out his charred clothes. 

“We aren't done yet, there's still Gestalt. We must deal with it quickly, if it stays alive Phobos will stay connected to it, and will no doubt reform in time.” Jeb said, walking over to the window, looking down upon the city below, and Gestalt's barely alive corpse. “It's half dead already, we just need to stop its brain activity.

“Wait, so that thing isn't dead?” Sanford chimed in, walking over to the window as well. “That's so confusing.”

“We have that dissonance gun, a couple good blasts should do it.” Deimos replied, still holding Hank.

“Don't tell me we gotta walk all the way down there…” Sanford groaned. “I'm a little tired.”

“It might be hard to aim from up here.”

“Wait, hold on. I have an idea.” Sanford realized, holding out the gun. “Hear me out, we make the gun a bomb and drop it on him.”

“That sounds very destructive, but I doubt you three care about damaging Phobos’ property. So that would work.” Jeb shrugged. 

“Do you have the materials for that?” Deimos asked.

“Well, I may have left some spare C-4 in my bag. Just in case.” Sanford smiled.

“That is literally so dangerous. I love you so much.” Deimos grinned back. 

Sanford sat down with the gun, tinkering with it carefully with his explosives kit. Jeb stayed at the window, watching carefully. Hank moved over to him carefully, and Deimos could hear them talking as he watched Sanford. It seemed tense between them for a moment, before Jeb lightly punched him in the shoulder, which Hank laughed at. Deimos smiled at them, happy to see that their little rivalry was over for now, though Deimos could also hear Hank say something about ‘meeting for a rematch same time next week.’ 

Deimos leaned against Sanford gently, his head against his shoulder. “I was worried about you, yknow.”

“I know. I was too. I'm proud of you for kicking that guy's ass.” Sanford paused his work to give his partner a small peck on the cheek. Deimos chuckled.

Hank carefully moved over, and Deimos helped them sit down near them. Hank lifted his goggles off his face, their tired eyes meeting his partner's. Deimos pulled him closer, grabbing some bandage wrap out of his backpack.

“He did a number on you, didn't he?” Deimos winced on Hank's behalf, carefully trying to stop his bleeding.

“You've already gotten your revenge for me, so don't worry about it.” Hank said, his voice still raspy and metallic as ever. “I'm sorry if I scared you.”

“It's ok, big guy. Though we should probably have a little group therapy session later. I think you need it.” Sanford admitted, grabbing his other partner's scarred hand and stroking it carefully. “We'll patch you up too, and get you some food, ok? Just do me a favor and stay awake for right now.” 

“I will. Thank you.” Hank sighed. Deimos pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek, wiping some blood off his metal jaw. Sanford joined in too, kissing the assassin's other cheek and then his mouth. Hank blushed, making a small purring noise. “I… I love you too.” 

“I hate to interrupt the moment, but are you done with that?” Jeb asked, pointing at the gun-bomb. Hank glared at him. 

“Yep, it's done.” Sanford said, a little awkwardly, standing up with the dissonance cannon, now a mess of wires and added parts. Deimos finished covering up Hank's wounds, doing what he could do to keep the assassin stable for now and moving him to his feet to follow Sanford.

The three walked over to the cracked window, and Jeb opened it fully. Sanford peered down making sure it was lined up correctly. He mapped out the trajectory in his head, before arming the makeshift dissonance bomb and sending it flying downwards. Sanford's timing worked out perfectly, as it hit close enough to Gestalt's head to do the damage needed. The building rumbled as the city below briefly lit up in bright purple.

“I kinda feel bad for the thing. Must be hard having an asshole connected to your brain.” Sanford admitted, watching as Gestalt's giant form stopped twitching. “But at least it's out of its misery.”

“And Phobos shall remain in the Other Place where he belongs.” Jeb huffed. He turned to the others. “You three should leave. I will clean up here, and make sure Project Nexus is contained. And that the beast below us is indeed slain.”

“You sure?” Sanford began. The mercenary still found it hard to believe that this was all over.

“You've done enough. I think you've earned the rest.” Jeb continued before Ford could say more. The older man put a hand on Hank's shoulder, addressing the assassin directly for a moment. “And you … I am proud of you. Good luck out there, and call me if you need assistance. I believe we've overcome our previous mutual hatred.”

“Don't get sappy, old man.” Hank rolled their eyes a little, chuckling a little. “But yeah, I hope we have. You watch your back out there too.” 

Jeb gently shoved him towards the doorway. “Get out of here before you three cause any other trouble. There is an exterior elevator out that way.”

Sanford and Deimos were happy to comply, moving on either side of Hank and letting them lean on the two of them as they walked outside to a small balcony. Small sparks of purple energy still littered the air below them, slowly floating up, like fireflies against the dark sky. They moved slowly onto the lift and it went down methodically. It was almost calming, despite the chaos below.

“I think you're right.”

“About what, Hank?” Sanford asked, noting the assassin's low tone of voice.

“I think we do need to talk. There's a lot going through my head lately and I haven't had the chance to deal with it yet.” 

“Aww, Hanky. It's ok. You can vent to us anytime you need.” Deimos chimed in, leaning a little closer to his partner as he held them. “Hell, we all have a lot we need to talk about, I'd say. Funny how near death experiences make you realize that.” 

“When we get home, we can.” Sanford nodded, looking down at the city as they grew closer and closer to it. “For now, let's just breathe.” 

For a moment they did just that, the flickers of purple reflecting off their faces until the lift stopped down on the city floor. The three of them moved down and started walking away from the tower, now in a deserted Nexus City street. Commotion could be heard from farther away, likely Nexus agents, but nobody seemed to care about that right now.

“So… how are we going to get home, again?” Sanford's voice grew worried again as a thought popped into his head. “Our trucks is still broken.” 

“We can just wait for Doc to get us, I guess.” Deimos shrugged. “Hey, I know what would work! We should go to Gil's!”

“Hell no. If I ever see one of those burgers again, I will throw up.” Sanford stated, narrowing his eyes at his teammate. Hank just groaned. Deimos laughed at their responses. 

“Worth a shot.” The technician chuckled, lighting a brand new cigarette in his mouth. “How about hot dogs, then? Is that better?”

“Yeah, that's good.” Sanford nodded, glancing over at Hank as he nodded too, letting out another low purring noise. Deimos just smiled.

The three of them clung tightly to one another as they walked down the city streets, enjoying the brief minute of calm with each other before they had to enter the madness yet again.