Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jett, trying to get the little dude in front of him to open up, extended a hand outwards for him to shake. The little dude, shoving his hat further down his face, took one nervous step back.

The little guy had been huddled in the corner, avoiding eye contact. Jett took this as an invitation to try to get him to calm down a little, but he hadn’t managed to get him to calm down. He hadn’t said a word, so Jett didn’t even know his Ultimate or even his name. He was just…’the little guy’. Or ‘the crocodile guy.’

“Nice hat.” Jett said, trying to get him to talk. “Where’d you get it?”

No response.

“…Did you make it yourself?” he continued. “Is that your Ultimate? You’re some kinda hat maker or something??”

Still more silence. Jett glanced at his earphones. “Or…you do music stuff? You probably do music stuff. That’s why you’ve got those-”

“Leave me alone.” he finally said, eyes glued the floor. “Just leave me alone.”

Jett didn’t really get much of a chance to say anything else before some blonde kid walked in, and then the random bag at the back of the train started spewing this weird gas. All of a sudden, he didn’t feel so good…

———

He’d finally figured out his name - Mark. Some random girl who’d called herself the ‘Ultimate Liar’ had managed to coax it out of him after a while, but he’d gone back to silence soon after. Jett couldn’t blame him - that creepy doll and the mock trial spooked everyone out.

None of them were actually gonna kill anyone, though. He said as much to Mark after he started freaking out, shoving his hat down his head. The lawyer dude knew what he was talking about - and all the blonde kid wanted to do is make himself look better than everyone else. The ‘Ultimate Liar’ was just being negative - and she’s a liar, after all. Nobody could really trust a word she said.

Even though everyone was freaking out, Jett just knew that nobody was actually going to take Tozu seriously. They were Ultimates - they weren’t a bunch of criminals! Everything was going to be fine.

———

Curled up on Mark’s sofa in the middle of the night, listening to him finally drift off to sleep, Jett could finally admit to himself that he was wrong. He was very wrong.

He’d woken up excited to go to the gaming tournament, but in the span of twenty four hours, two people had died - Wolfgang electrocuted in the boiler room, and Eva burnt to death during her execution. Jett had focused on getting Mark back to his room, but all his attempts of talking to him failed, as Mark immediately buried himself under the covers of his bed, not responding no matter what Jett said to him.

Jett waited until Mark had finally slept off before he quietly broke down himself.

Wolfgang had always tried to help them. He’d been so determined to keep them safe, but he’d died in such a horrible way - and Diana had to watch him die, trapped in that cold, dark boiler room. And then Eva’d tried to frame her for his death. He didn’t know how to feel about her: she made up that weird title, only for everyone to find out she was just some mathlete. Jett never really trusted Eva after that - but she was right about one thing. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.

The burning…the faint sound of her screaming…it all brought up memories he wanted to forget. Memories of being burnt himself - trapped under the wreckage of his race car, crying out for somebody to help him.

Jett was glad more than anything that Mark was probably asleep, because he couldn’t hear him crying. It was so stupid of him - he’d just watched a girl burn to death and here he was crying about himself?

It wasn’t really about himself, though. It was their whole situation. And the knowledge that maybe his life was in danger after all.

———

Left to his own devices, the little guy would probably rot in his bed for the entire day, so Jett made it a habit to look out for him: dragging him out to the dining hall when he refused to eat, talking to him when he stared at the table morosely, lost in his thoughts. After what happened to Eva, everyone was in a bad mood - Grace wouldn’t come out of her room, Damon isolated himself from nearly everybody, Diana was still shaken from the whole thing with Wolfgang attacking her, so he tried to lighten things up a little! And even if Mark barely said a word in response, or glowered at Jett whenever he laughed so loud other people looked up from their tables to look at him, Jett was sure that with enough time, he’d come out of his shell.

With mostly one-sided conversation, Jett dragged him over to explore the new floor. For the most part it was pretty boring, Mark complaining that he wanted to go sit down or just do something else. Jett pulled him along for the ride - through the Costumes room, full of clothes, some weird obstacle course that looked too dangerous for them to try, although Mark lingered at the door for a little while. There was this room filled with mechanical stuff…which reminded Jett of racing.

He caught Mark sidling away a few times, but Jett always brought him back over to his side.

Jett tried to talk to Grace a few times later on, but she refused to come out of her room. One time, he psyched himself up enough to open her door, but she slammed it in his face. She probably wasn’t in the mood to talk right now…but she’d come around soon enough.

———

To be honest, the next motive kinda sucked. Not saying that the last motive was good, but the new one was certainly a step down from before.

The goat guy came back a few days after the class trial and told them that if they killed, they could escape with someone else…and that was it. After all of the weird stuff about the blackmail, whatever this was meant to be was a little underwhelming. Which wasn’t a bad thing! At least Jett knew he wouldn’t be killing anyone - Mark and Cassidy were great, but there’s no way he’d sacrifice twelve people for one of them.

No, the real problem were people like Desmond and Eloise, who’d been glued to each other since they’d woken up here. Or Ulysses and Wenona, who for some weird reason had suddenly started rooming together. Or even Damon and Kai - Kai was the only person Damon spoke to, and after Eva…Jett didn’t really know if he was willing to talk to anyone else. He didn’t think someone like Ingrid would have it in her to kill somebody, but she was pretty protective of Toshiko. He’d better steer clear of her too, just to be safe.

Grace finally appeared at breakfast this morning. Her hair was all messy and she had massive eye bags and she kinda stank but she was there, sitting in the corner of the room eating her cereal. It was nice to see her again. He told her this when she went to wash her bowl, and was rewarded with her glaring at him, but it was better than her staying in that room for days, so he wasn’t that offended.

If he was upset before, Mark only seemed to feel worse after the motive was announced. Jett remembered Wenona’s words from the class trial - how his broskii was an easy target, weak in mind and body. And that wasn’t true - sure, Mark wasn’t the bulkiest guy, but he wasn’t dumb. No killer would be able to get the drop on him, not if Jett had anything to do about it.

Mark didn’t seem like he wanted to be protected, though. Jett had offered to stick extra close to him, to make sure nobody hurt him, but Mark had just given him one of those looks that Jett was starting to learn meant absolutely not. At least, he thought so…? It was pretty hard to read Mark most the time, with most of his expressions being frowns, or glares, or an eye-roll if Jett made a particularly ill-timed joke. Which was more often than not, as most of the other Ultimates weren’t in the mood for laughs these days.

But they would be, eventually - at some point they’d all remember that they were all meant to get along, and stop acting like someone’s gonna commit murder. And maybe, one day, Mark would be comfortable enough to look happy in this place and smile for once.

He’d thought it unlikely, but that last thing came earlier than expected - the next morning, Jett was meaning to grab something from his dorm and heard Cassidy in her room with Mark. She was laughing about something, and Jett thought: why not join in?

So he opened the door, and saw them. Cassidy was explaining something with big hand gestures, and Mark was sitting facing her. To his surprise, he was actually smiling - not a sarcastic smile or a half grin, but he looked happy. Really happy.

His appearance had two different reactions: Cassidy, when she saw him, smiled wider. She beckoned him into the room, gearing up to explain whatever she was talking about. But Mark’s smile disappeared almost instantly at the sight of Jett. He instinctively tugged his hat lower down his face as Jett sat down next to Cassidy, and even after Cassidy re-explained her story, he didn’t react at all. At the first opportunity, he excused himself and didn’t come back.

“…Did I do something?” Jett asked, after Mark had disappeared for half an hour on a ‘bathroom break’.

Cassidy glanced at her door, and her smile faded. “I don’t think so…he’s probably just in a bad mood. And this motive’s getting to everybody, you know?”

“Not me.” Jett said proudly. “So there’s nothing to worry about, Cass!”

Cassidy frowned. “Yeah…I don’t think he’s worried about you. More about Desmond? Or Ingrid?”

Ah.

Now that he thought about it…it was a horrible coincidence that a lot of the physically stronger students had the most to gain.

———

After eating lunch, Jett later tracked down Mark near the gachapon machine - Mark grumbled as usual, but Jett was still able to make him tag along with him.

As they went through the corridors they ran into Diana, Wenona and Ulysses chatting together. But while Ulysses looked mildly pleased to see him, Diana’s smile froze, and Wenona took a few steps backwards.

“Jett…!” Diana forced a smile. “And Mark! Hey!!”

Mark nodded in response, staring at the floor. And then Wenona shot Diana a look, and Diana pretended not to notice, and Ulysses, oblivious to whatever was going on, started writing something in his notebook.

“Uh…is this a private conversation?” Jett asked, a little uneasy. “Do you need me to come back later?”

“There’s no need for that.” Ulysses consulted his notebook, flipping to an earlier page. “Diana brought up the idea of making cookies, and we were heading to the dining hall to check for ingredients.”

Jett glanced at Wenona, who was folding her arms, still giving Diana that weird look. Diana  continued ignoring her. Weird.

“…You don’t have to lie, you know.” Jett scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “If it was really private, we could just leave…”

“No! Nooo, he’s telling the truth! It’s…” Diana leaned towards him, lowering her voice. “Jett, can I talk to you? Alone?”

Jett frowned - and then he remembered: he still didn’t know who had his blackmail yet! It must have been Diana!

“So you have my blackmail, right?” Jett guessed. “Sure! We can-”

“Blackmail?” Diana looked puzzled. “No no, I have someone else’s. That’s not…that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Then what’s up?”

“That’s…well…” Diana shot a nervous glance at Ulysses and Wenona, and the latter raised her eyebrows. “H-How about you just join us for now! And then later we can-”

“You smell.” Wenona cut in, bluntly. “That what she wants to say.”

Ouch.

Wenona looked over at Diana, who was looking horrified, and said: “Wasn’t that what you wanted to say to him?” which was even worse, because that must have meant they were discussing this behind his back, and…really? Jett knew he didn’t shower that much, but did they really have to do him like that?

“Come on, I don’t smell that bad!” Jett laughed. “Right, Ulysses?”

“I don’t know…” Ulysses shrugged, just as lost as Jett was.

“Well…broskii?” Jett asked, sounding desperate. Mark didn’t respond - he pulled down his crocodile hat as if he wanted to disappear, abandoning Jett completely.

“W-Well…well…” Well what? How could he even respond to that?! “I-It’s not nice to talk about people behind their backs!”

“Which is why Diana wanted to bring it up with you privately - which she would have, had she not dragged her feet for so long.” Wenona responded coolly. “She thought it was best to ask you about your…washing habits. If they even existed in the first place.”

And then she wrinkled her nose with disgust.

That last part was uncalled for - he did shower! He showered when…when he…

“When was the last time you showered?” Diana asked carefully. “O-Or, at least, how regularly since you came here? I understand that with what’s going on…that might not be the first thing on your mind.”

Jett frowned. When was the last time he’d showered since he came here? He hadn’t showered at first because he was all spooked over the whole killing game thing, but once he’d moved in with Mark…

…

… …

… … …

Oh.

Oh no.

“T-That’s not important!” he said, ignoring how he flushed red with embarrassment. “And anyway, you’re being rude! How would you like it if I said you stunk?!”

“I wasn’t trying to be rude-” Diana started to say, but Wenona interrupted her.

“You wouldn’t say that, because there wouldn't be a scenario where I stunk so…pungently in the first place.” She gestured to Ulysses, who, like Mark, looked as if he was trying to disappear, hiding behind his notebook. “And I’ve never had any issues of this sort with Ulysses, either, even though we share the same room. Frankly, I’m more concerned for Mark than I am your feelings. I’m surprised he hasn’t keeled over yet from your stench.”

Jett laughed nervously. “T-That’s not true! Right, broskii?”

They waited for Mark’s response. Mark stared at all of them - and then at Jett, shooting him a disappointed look. Which was an answer in itself.

And that was…huh. Wow. He couldn’t even laugh it off anymore - an ouch really wasn’t sufficient for what he was feeling right now. It was less ‘ow’ and more of the feeling of being punched violently in the gut without warning - but he couldn’t say anything, because Wenona was right there, goading him with that smug smile, Diana and Ulysses were dying from second-hand embarrassment, and his bro wasn’t even backing him this one time!

If they’d known why - if they had realised that it’s not like he wanted to stink, but the stupid cameras all over the place…

The silence was too long, too awkward. Diana was silently begging Mark with his eyes to respond, to lie if he had to, but from how her face grew more and more pained, it wasn’t working.

“Whatever, dude. It’s not a big deal anyways.” He could hear how fake his voice sounded, but he didn’t care - he needed out of this conversation. “I’m gonna go grab lunch.”

Diana frowned. “Didn’t you just have-”

“Later!!!” He sped off, going the opposite direction.

Mark tried to follow him, but gave up after a few steps, so Jett had no issue running off. He did go back to the lunch hall - thankfully, Cassidy was still there. He brushed off her questions about Mark and why Jett was trying to get a second portion of lunch. And as they eventually left the dining hall, he could feel the stress lessening, feel the pent-up frustration from his conversation with Wenona fade slightly.

Which all changed as they left the dining hall, walked past the dorm rooms, and heard activity in Desmond’s room. They could hear footsteps, and low voices talking. The door was slightly ajar, and through the crack of the door, Jett could see Desmond…carrying something?

Cassidy, not thinking to knock or make her presence known, opened the door. “Desmond? What’s up?”

Desmond quickly turned around to Jett and Cassidy, shocked. In his hands was a rifle.

Cassidy froze, her hand slipping from the door handle. Jett acted quickly, pulling Cassidy behind her, shielding her from harm’s way and throwing the first thing he saw directly at Desmond’s head. Desmond barely dodged, but Jett heard the impact of whatever he threw land on something soft, and somebody cried out in pain.

“Put down the gun, Desmond!!” Jett looked for something else to throw - he spotted another gun on the table next to the door. His stomach tied itself into knots at the idea of shooting someone, but Cassidy was right behind him and she could died right then and there! So before he could second-guess himself, he picked up the shotgun. “Put it down! Y-You don’t want to hurt us!”

“Jett, wait!” Desmond immediately lowered the gun to the floor. “I’m not going to hurt anyone - lower the weapon, okay?”

And Jean appeared from behind Desmond, startled at the sight of Jett holding a gun.

“Neither of us want to hurt anybody, Jett.” Jean said slowly. “We’re trying to lock the guns away.”

Jett’s hand shook. He took in the room: guns littered everywhere, ammo all over the floor…they weren’t going to murder someone?

“Desmond and I are making sure nobody can use these.” Jean continued. “We’re going to barricade Desmond’s door shut so nobody can get in.”

That…made sense in his brain. Desmond’s taser did cause a lot of trouble in the class trial.…

“Uh, Jett?” Cassidy came out from behind him. “M-Maybe you should put that down?”

Slowly, slowly, Jett placed it back on the table. Desmond carefully picked it up, looking relieved.

“Sorry, haha…” That was the most scared Jett had been in a long time. “I thought, y’know…”

“It’s fine.” Jean winced a little, rubbing his arm - oh. That was the weird noise he heard earlier. “But this isn’t something you should go around telling people.”

“You…don’t want us telling everyone about the guns in Desmond’s room?” Cassidy frowned. “But everyone knows that already.”

“It’s not that - but…”

Desmond shot a nervous look to Jean, who silently nodded in response.

“…We haven’t found a way to barricade the door properly.” Desmond admitted. “We tried setting a trap, though-”

“You tried? Does the trap actually work?” Cassidy asked, and Desmond went ashen.

“It…does.” he said, voice strained. “It makes a lot of noise if you swing the door open.”

“But what if you open it gently?” Cassidy exclaimed, and Desmond looked away. “Or what if the murderer just breaks down the door?! They’re already going to kill someone, a door won’t stop them if it’s part of their murder plan-”

“Nah. Everyone would hear if someone tried breaking down a door.” Jean interrupted. “It’s much safer if we can stop this door from opening - and until we’re successful, please don’t say a word of this to anybody.”

Jett looked at their nervous faces, then at the various weapons on the ground.

“Sure! Sure, we won’t tell anyone. Promise.” Jett nodded.

“Yeah!” Cassidy nodded too. “You can trust us!”

For some reason, that only made Desmond and Jean look more nervous.

“Really, though.” Cassidy insisted. “Neither of us want any repeats of last time, ahahah…”

The four of them stared at each other. After the silence stretched out long enough to become awkward, Jett slowly went to leave.

“I’m…gonna go now.” Jett continued backing away. “Good luck?”

“Actually, I need to talk to you, Jett.” Desmond spoke up just as Jett was about to run away. “It’s urgent.”

“Oh?” From the look on his face, Jett couldn’t imagine ‘urgent’ was anything good. He tried and failed to think of anything he could’ve done to offend Desmond somehow. “You wanna talk now?”

“Not now…are you free at like eight? We should be done by then.”

“Sure, sure.” Jett said, trying to escape as quickly as possible. He quickly slammed the door, and they just stood. For a long moment. They exchanged glances, both of them looking terrified. And then they went to Cassidy’s room.

“We’re screwed.” Cassidy buried her face in her hands.

“That’s not true!” Jett said. “I mean - yeah, Desmond’s door isn’t locked, but they’ll probably lock it soon…right?”

“But all someone needs to do is open the door and then all of that is in someone’s hands.” Cassidy said. “What if someone overheard us? What if someone else just walks in and they-”

“Relax. We’ll be fine!” They have to be. Either they’re fine or someone’s getting a bullet to the head. “If we keep this secret, then nobody will know…”

Jett sighed to himself. “Not even my broskii.”

“I mean…would he even tell anyone?” Cassidy pondered. “He could keep a secret…”

“We shouldn’t risk it. Jean and Desmond would-”

“Would what?”

Jett and Cassidy slowly turned to the doorway. Mark, opening the door with one hand, watched them with curious eyes.

“Uhh…” Cassidy swallowed. “Mark!! Hi, we’re…we were just, uh-”

“Talking.” Jett nodded furiously. “Talking about nothing. Y-You should go eat lunch, actually!”

Mark frowned. “Desmond’s door isn’t locked?”

“It is!” Cassidy said, sweating. “It is - and nobody can get in. That’s - that’s what we were talking about.”

“Yeah, w-we tried to open the door.” Jett nodded again. “But we couldn’t get to any of the weapons at all! A-And we tried…really hard to get in…”

Wait, what? Now Cassidy was shooting him a confused look as well, watching Jett stumble his way through an excuse.

“Why would you be looking for a weapon?” Mark rolled his eyes. “Just - stop it. I heard everything.”

Jett and Cassidy fell silent.

“We are screwed.” Mark continued. “We need to tell-”

“We can’t! Please don’t tell anyone.” Cassidy pleaded. “Desmond and Jean - they told us not to say anything.”

“But you left the door open.” Mark rolled his eyes. “Anyone walking past could have heard.”

They exchanged worried glances. Mark sighed.

“…Nobody went past. I followed you guys.” he finally said. “If you’re trying to keep this secret…be more careful.”

Mark slipped away, leaving the two of them behind.

———

Jett left for his meeting with Desmond in the evening, letting Mark know where he was going…just in case. Those guns still scared him.

As he entered Jean’s room, he found Desmond was scribbling on a piece of paper, looking agitated. When he spotted Jett, he flashed him a smile, but it looked forced.

“What’s up…?” Jett laughed nervously. “Something wrong?”

“…I have to give you something.” Desmond opened a drawer, taking out an envelope. An envelope addressed to Desmond Hall - the blackmail that he had received. “Something that belongs to you.”

Oh.

“I meant to give it to you earlier, but I was pretty busy with the whole…gun situation.” he explained. “Eloise didn’t know what to do when she received Grace’s blackmail, and then Grace found out and she got really mad. I was originally planning to give this to you after you guys were done with the gaming tournament, but…”

Desmond’s expression soured. “That never happened.”

Jett nodded. “Don’t worry about it.”

Desmond handed the envelope to him, looking anxious. Which was never a good sign. Jett opened it and took out the paper inside.

‘Despite his cunning wit, there was one trap this coyote couldn’t escape.’

He turned the paper around, and…

It was him. The blackmail was Jett was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but nothing else - no gloves, no helmet, no suit, his burnt and scarred body exposed for all to see.

How?

Jett had done so much to avoid being seen - he’d worn that stuffy suit 24/7, he’d avoided cameras like the plague, he’d spent more time at home alone hidden, all in order to keep the paparazzi away and the reporters off his back. He’d tried so hard, so how was anyone able to get a photo of him? Who took this photo - and what were they going to do with it? How many people had already seen how he truly looked?

Jett glanced up. The red camera, nested in the corner of the room, pointed at him. And he panicked, holding the picture close to his chest so nobody could see it. Desmond, confused, looked at the camera too, and Jett suddenly remembered how close Desmond was to Eloise.

“Did you show this to anybody else?” Jett demanded, still hiding the photograph.

“No.” Desmond answered immediately. “Eloise and Jean know I have your blackmail - but they don’t know the contents, I promise.”

Jett nodded, trying not to break down right then and there. He wasn’t meant to be seen. His suit was custom-made for the sole purpose of obscuring his identity - he’d even hid from his family at some point after one of them had been a little too careless with their words. That one phrase of ‘not how he used to be’ had sparked another wave of toxicity, social media denouncing his skills, other family and friends losing confidence in his recovery. So he’d hidden himself, and he’d hidden himself so well, isolating himself from everybody he knew - so why wasn’t he careful enough, why did this happen to him, why why why why why-

“Jett?”

Desmond was watching him. The camera was watching him. He couldn’t scream. He couldn’t react, because someone would pick up on it - a whisper of a rumour would be shared and spread like wildfire, catching until the entire world knew what a wreck he had become: Jett Dawson’s let himself go, Jett Dawson’s stunning career had come to a fiery end, Jett Dawson is never, ever, ever going to be as good as he used to be.

“Are you-”

“I need to go.” Jett said quickly, and ran out of the room.

In his own dorm room, Jett rushed to the sink, remembering how Grace destroyed her blackmail. He folded the paper in half, taking care not to let the camera see the photo, and ripped it into small pieces, throwing it in the sink. Then his eyes drifted to the burn ointment on the table next to the sink - he took the lid off, glancing at the white contents.

Even his parents weren’t the same anymore. They were shocked and saddened to see their son in such a horrible state - forced to relearn basic functions, former beauty marred beyond recognition. But they had slowly grown closer because of his issues, and they’d supported him during his recovery…until one day.

It was a stupid prank he’d pulled a million times. Jett, like he always did, crept up behind his mother and scared her. He’d always done that, and Jett would get her every time - and then she’d get annoyed, swatting at him whilst he laughed and laughed. But this time she jumped - and she looked terrified. Jett knew that his mother wasn’t just more scared than usual, and his mother knew better than to lie to him. He’d stopped visiting home that frequently after that. Didn’t come back for months until he was forced to for the holidays, and his mother spent the entire time trying to make it up to him.

He didn’t want to be seen like that. He didn’t want Cassidy or Mark looking at him as if he was some kind of monster.

“Jett?”

The voice scared him. Jett jumped - and saw Mark, walking into his dorm room, heading to the doorway of the bathroom. He realised the burn medication was right there, and Jett quickly swiped it into the bin just as Mark opened the door of the bathroom.

“…”

Mark paused, giving Jett a long look. He directed his eyes towards the mess of paper in the sink, and then to the bin. Jett, as stealthily as he could, tried to use his leg to hide the bin from view, but the quick movement didn’t escape Mark’s notice.

“What are you doing?” he asked, eyes darting to the sink, pieces of watery mush still stuck to Jett’s gloves.

“Nothing.” he said, but his voice sounded off. Too strained. He needed to fix his voice so nobody could pick up on his distress, but the lump in his throat made it hard to talk.

“You just threw something away…” Mark pointed at the bin.

“I didn’t.” Jett denied, hands still pushing the rest of the paper down the sink, the water seeping through his gloves and splashing up his arms.

“…and you’re acting weird.” Mark said. He took a hesitant step towards Jett, who leaned away.

“I’m not.” Jett laughed - tried to laugh. Some kind of noise came out of his mouth, but he didn’t care, he just needed to be alone without any kind of surveillance. “I’m just - I’m just washing my hands, broskii! Nothing weird - i-it’s not weird to wash your hands-”

“You have gloves on,” Mark raised an eyebrow. “and there’s paper in the-”

“There’s nothing wrong!” Jett yelled. “Just drop it, Mark!”

Mark froze, his hand slipping away from the door. For a long moment, he watched Jett with scared eyes, and the only noise that could be heard was the sound of running water.

Then he turned and fled, slamming the door behind him.

Jett didn’t move. He looked at the empty space where Mark just was. And then he noticed: a weird smell was coming from the bin…

The stupid burn cream…! In his panic to hide it, he’d thrown it into the bin bottom up without the lid, so the contents had emptied completely. Jett tried to salvage what he could, but it was all mixed with gross tissues and wrappers that he gave up. It congealed on his gloves, and the water only made it spread further up his arms. Washing it off was futile, only causing the mixture to stick to his hands to create a gross clammy texture he couldn’t dry off.

Jett stared down at the sink - paper now fully disappeared down the drain. And he realised that destroying the blackmail didn’t even matter. Whoever was able to get that picture of him must have another copy of it digitally. And if they were able to get that…how many more photos did they have? What else did these people know about him and about everyone else, too? How were they ever going to get out of here?

Now alone, with no surveillance and no monitoring, Jett was free to break down and cry.

———

Jett had holed up in his room for the night, instead of going back to face Mark. He’d gotten up earlier this morning, early enough that Mark should still be asleep. Jett didn’t know what to do - he had yelled at his broskii who was only trying to help, but if he went and apologised Mark would probably demand an explanation for his actions. Answers that he couldn’t give.

So he snuck off to the dining hall, which was empty save for Grace. She glanced up at him, then pointedly ignored him from then onwards, so Jett was safe to make a sandwich and dip without saying a single word. However, as he left, he saw Ingrid and Diana were walking towards him down the corridor. Ingrid shot Diana a knowing glance, and Jett’s heart sank to his stomach, anticipating the worst as Diana parted from the blacksmith and headed towards him.

“Jett!” Diana smiled nervously. “Can we talk? Please?”

Her nose wrinkled ever so slightly, and Jett suddenly realised that he still hadn’t showered yet.

“Please.” she insisted. “I…I need to apologise to you.”

Jett still didn’t really want to talk to her. But he couldn’t avoid Diana forever, so they went to her dorm room together.

“About yesterday…I’m sorry.” she said. “I wasn’t trying to gossip, I was only worried about you. I just wanted you to take care of yourself… especially after what happened in that horrible class trial.”

Jett frowned. “And I’m guessing Wenona was really worried too, huh? Weird way of showing it.”

“We were meant to talk about it in private.” Diana insisted. “I just didn’t know how to bring it up to you. I tried asking Cassidy about it but she didn’t even notice, and I couldn’t find the right words to say, or if I should even have said anything at all…”

…But you really stink, was probably what she wanted to say. Something like that, judging from the guilty expression on her face. Jett knew she was probably trying to look out for him, being as nice as she possibly could, but he still felt like trash. She probably thought he was so lazy not even taking a shower, or just gross enough that he didn’t even care, or-

“Jett?”

Diana was watching him with a nervous expression, and he only just realised he’d unconsciously curled up into himself, hugging his stomach. Jett quickly corrected his posture, but she still looked worried.

“…You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to…but I was curious: do you have a reason for not showering?”

…He couldn’t tell her that. Not when he hadn’t even told his broskii the truth - if anyone deserved to hear that, it would be him first. And he still wasn’t completely over the whole ‘smell’ situation, either.

“I mean, other than just laziness? You…seem really upset.” Diana frowned, in deep thought. “Do you have some kind of skin condition? A burn injury, or eczema, or maybe rosacea? If you do…I have stuff in my room that might help?”

And Jett remembered how he shoved the burn cream in the bin the moment Mark walked in the door. It hadn’t been replaced - and he’d remembered Cassidy mentioning once how she’d spilt her shampoo and was forced by Tozu to wait a full week until getting a new bottle - something about a lesson in wastefulness. He really didn’t want another interaction with Wenona.

“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.” she said quietly. “But I have lots of ointments and stuff that I don’t really need. You can have them if you want. They’re all in my room.”

“Right now?” he asked nervously.

“If you want! Or…” Diana frowned to herself thoughtfully. “Just let me know when you want to…or at least, leave a note? That way if something disappears, I know why.”

“…But what if Grace sees?” Jett asked after a pause.

“Oh. Grace isn’t actually rooming with me. She’s still in Wolfgang’s room…” She smiled, looking a little sad. “It’s just me in here.”

Jett glanced over to her table - as she said, there were all kind of creams, ointments, oils…and he spotted the exact same burn cream that used to be in his room. He could take it in front of her…right? All she would know is that he was burned, but not how much or how severe the damage was. It should be fine - he is fine, as long as he took the stupid ointment and got on with his day.

Jett did not move.

“Do you…not need any of it?” Diana asked, slightly uneasy.

“No - yes, actually, well…” Say yes, and take the cream. Don’t answer any questions, don’t give information away. Even if, from his sudden nervousness and his suit, she could easily piece together just how messed up he was. “…yeah! Some of that stuff looks super useful. Thanks.”

Diana smiled.

“Maybe I could take it…later.” he said finally. Probably later today, because he really was stinking up a storm. “Thanks, Diana.”

He left, feeling lighter, Diana on his heels. Ingrid, now with Toshiko, waved her over. Jett turned the opposite way, ignoring Diana’s invitation for him to join them, and turned the corner to see Eloise, Desmond and Ulysses. Just as he was about to walk over, two other people emerged from behind them - Cassidy, and Mark. He locked eyes with Jett - and they stared at each other, neither of them saying a word.

Before Mark could try to go towards him, Jett turned and ran, through the corridor, all the way to his dorm room again, and slammed the door shut. He waited for footsteps to come - for someone to knock at his door - and only when enough time had passed that he was sure nobody was coming did Jett finally relax.

On the floor, his suit from yesterday lay in a heap, still slightly damp. The bathroom door was shut. The camera was bare - covering it had resulted in an electric shock. How long was he going to keep hiding here, away from his friends?

He thought back to Diana offering the burn cream. Wenona’s smug expression. The annoyed look on Mark’s face. The ever-present odour from the inside of his suit.

Jett really needed a shower.

———

It’s stupid to be cautious of a shower of all things, but after taking the burn cream from Diana’s dorm and returning to his bathroom, Jett still found himself hesitating, trying to put it off any way he could. Making sure his door was closed, making sure there really weren’t any cameras in the bathroom at all. He couldn’t find a camera, but to be safe he turned all the lights off and covered the mirror next to the sink. That way nobody could see Jett - especially not himself.

There was the usual terror as soon as his helmet came off - his hair balding and patchy, his face scarred horribly, and Jett tried to steady his breathing, reminding himself that nobody could see him, the lights were off, and there were no cameras to be found. No two-way mirrors, no microscopic monitoring devices, no hidden cameras stuck where he least expected it-

“Jett?” A voice - his broskii? Someone was opening the door, footsteps approaching the bathroom. “…Are you in here?”

The bathroom door slowly opened, and Jett raced to slam it closed.

“I-I’m showering!” he managed to choke out, one hand firmly keeping the bathroom door shut. In response, he heard the door to his dorm room close, and footsteps slowly leave. Jett heaved a sigh of relief…but felt a prickle of guilt in his chest. He needed to talk to Mark again - after the shower. Surely.

After shedding the rest of his clothes, Jett fumbled for the shower head in the darkness and turned on the water. It still stung - not as much as it used to in the early days of recovery, but enough for him to flinch backwards on instinct. He quickly reached for the body wash, almost missing it, pouring too much on his sponge, dropping it and nearly slipping on his feet after picking it up…

What was he doing, a grown man afraid of a shower? Scared of mirrors, scared of cameras - scared of himself? The old Jett wasn’t afraid of anything. He was fearless, bold, reckless…sometimes even too reckless. All of that had gone in one bad race - his body had been burned, and his confidence had been incinerated with it. Jett felt his face, brushing his fingers over the uneven, jagged bumps on his skin, and wondered if he would ever get a grip and go back to how he used to be.

Ding dong, bing bong!

A body has been discovered!

And Jett paused. The water still ran, pouring on his face and dripping off his hair, soap suds still clinging to his arms. He was frozen in place, the sound of the water hitting the floor suddenly fading out.

Someone was dead? Someone died and he’d been stuck in his room, taking a shower? He needed to leave. Now.

He rushed, turning off the water, hurrying over to his towel. But he was moments from hastily rubbing the towel on his skin when the faint stinging of his arms brought him back to reality. Jett couldn’t rush - he needed to be slow or else he could irritate his skin. But someone had died - and the more time he wasted here the more time they were looking for him! He reached for the light, but the ugly prickle of fear in his stomach paralysed him, hand stopping just inches from the light switch.

Fine - fine, he would have to do it the way he usually does, drying himself off and applying the cream in the dark, rushing as fast as possible. But even as he tried to hurry up Jett could feel the minutes ticking away as he hurried to leave.

It was Cassidy, looking around frantically, who saw him first - she called his name, running towards him and caught him in a hug so tight he could barely move.

“Cass,” he wheezed, after a good ten seconds of her not moving a muscle, “I can’t b-breathe.”

“Oops!” She let him go, looking sheepish as he gasped for air. “Sorry. The announcement went off, and we found Grace, but you never showed, and - and Damon thought there might be a second body, b-but it couldn’t be true, I knew it wasn’t true, there was no way that you would…”

She paused, suddenly looking dangerously close to tears.

“I knew you were alive.” Cassidy smiled. “You wouldn’t  - you would never die on me, right?”

“‘Course not!” Jett grinned. “I’d never do that!”

For a moment, the two of them stood there all happy, until the gravity of the situation hit them once more. Jett hadn’t died on them - but someone else had.

“Jett!”

Jett turned around to see Damon, Eloise and Desmond heading in their direction - none of them looked happy. At all.

“Where were you?” Damon demanded. “Didn’t you hear the announcement go off?”

“I did, actually.” Jett laughed anxiously. “I was…in the middle of taking a shower when I heard it. Couldn’t just run out without any clothes on, right?”

“The announcement was fifteen minutes ago.” Damon glared at him. “Couldn’t you have cut your shower short?”

“I did!” Jett nodded fiercely. He’d stopped as soon as the announcement had gone off, but finding his clothes was a lot harder in the dark - especially as in the rush he’d kept messing up. “Sorry, pal…I went as fast as I could.”

“Did you?” Damon asked disbelievingly. “So you just spent the whole time…dressing up? I find that hard to believe.”

“I’m not lying…” Jett said, as convincingly as possible.

It looked like none of them believed him. To be fair, it did sound a little silly - taking fifteen minutes just to dress up? He wouldn’t believe it if someone else gave that excuse…but it’s not like he could prove it. Could he? Would he?

“How about we talk about this during the trial?” Desmond offered. “We have bigger issues right now. Jett, you should probably read this…”

Picking up the tablet, Jett took in the information. It was Grace - he had only seen her this morning. Maybe if he had spoken to her, instead of hurrying away as soon as possible…

And she had been shot to death. A bullet to the throat had taken her life. A bullet…from a gun…

Slowly, slowly, Jett raised his head to look at Desmond, who looked terrified. And he remembered Cassidy’s words from yesterday - if the murderer opened the door gently, they wouldn’t have set off the trap. But nobody would have known to do that…unless…unless they were…

He glanced over at Jean, who was next to a crying Diana. And then at Cassidy, who had gone over to Toshiko and Ingrid. And then back at Desmond again.

One of them did this.

———

They kicked off the trial with information he barely knew - Jett found himself nodding along, pretending to understand as they pieced together the information. Grace had eaten in the morning, then went elsewhere - they didn’t know where yet - and she had been shot. The gun had been deposited in the laundry room on the day of the crime.

Desmond was forced to reveal the truth about how long it took to barricade the door - as predicted, he faced a lot of backlash for keeping their plans secret. Jean took some of the fall for it too, holding himself responsible for agreeing with Desmond not to tell anybody, as well as refusing to believe Desmond when he was sure the count of the guns was off yesterday - he should have known better than to hide things, he admitted, but it was fear that kept his mouth shut. Fear that had gotten Grace killed.

“Did anyone else know?” Damon asked, a touch exasperated. “Of course, someone could have tried to open the door-”

“The trap wasn’t set off.” Jean said. “Whoever got into the weapons was able to avoid it without setting it off…but you wouldn’t be able to do that unless you knew it was there.”

“Did anyone else know?” Wenona insisted. “Or are you two the only suspects?”

Desmond frowned - and then he looked straight ahead to Jett, who was silently panicking. The door was barricaded late last night, after his conversation with Desmond - and he had no alibi. He never returned to Mark’s dorm room - he’d spent the whole time feeling sorry for himself on his own.

He didn’t know what to say - Cassidy was going pale, but still kept her mouth shut. Yet Jean also turned to Jett. Silently giving him the go-ahead to reveal the truth.

“Me and Cass walked in on Desmond holding a gun. They explained everything, about the guns and the plan to barricade the door…” Jett faltered. “…and the trap, too. They didn’t want us telling anyone about it, though. So we kept our mouths shut.”

Jett refused to look at Mark. So did Cassidy.

“So the only ones who knew were Jean, Jett, Desmond and Cassidy?” Damon clarified.

All four of them nodded.

“…Then it’s settled. Jett is the murderer.” He folded his arms.

What?

“He knew how to avoid the trap, the motive would have appealed to him more than anybody else…” Damon narrowed his eyes. “And he showed up nearly twenty minutes late to the investigation.”

“I was showering!” he defended. “I spoke to Diana earlier - and a couple minutes after that I went to go shower.”

“A couple minutes after…?” Diana asked, disbelievingly. “So an hour before the announcement went off?”

Had he really been putting it off for that long? “…Y-Yeah! I was just getting really clean!”

And he remembered - someone had come in while he was just about to start - opening the door, thinking the room was empty because the lights were off. Mark could speak for him!

“Broskii - you came into my dorm room while I was showering, remember?”

Mark frowned. “…I’m not too sure.”

What?

“Y-You must’ve heard the water running, dude!” Jett urged. “Or - or something! Come on, back me up here!”

“I did hear running water, and Jett told me he was showering, but…” Mark looked uneasy. “It was pitch-black in there. The lights were off in his dorm room and his bathroom. I couldn’t see a thing.”

Oh. Oh no.

“The lights were off?” Toshiko said. “It would be extremely difficult to shower with no light…I do not quite see the point of doing that.”

“Is that something you usually do, Jett…?” Eloise asked, puzzled. “I mean, maybe it’s just…uh…”

“Uhh…” Jett was panicking now. How was he going to get out of this one? He could tell them about his phobia, and that he didn’t want to look at himself because every glimpse reminded him of how messed up he had become. Tell the truth - the truth should get him out of this! “Yeah, actually.”

“Really?” Damon didn’t look convinced in the slightest.

“Y-Yeah, dude!” Jett said. “It’s…better?”

“Better when you can’t see yourself?” He raised an eyebrow? “How is that efficient?”

And Jett saw it - the beginnings of a realisation on Desmond’s face, as he looked Jett in the eye. Deliberately, Jett avoided looking at him.

“I mean…I just get kinda used to it after a while?” He tried to laugh.

“You’re not serious.” Wenona rolled her eyes. “Do you really expect us to believe that?”

“Well-”

“This whole ‘shower’ story is such a blatant lie. Jett has no alibi, had access to the murder weapon, and to top it off, couldn’t even show up to investigate on time.” Wenona scoffed. “And of all the excuses to give…showering? Really?”

“I was!”

“Alright, but…” Kai frowned. “If the only four people who knew were Jean, Desmond, Cassidy and Jett, and Jett is the only one without an alibi…then it must be Jett.”

“Y-You guys can’t be serious!” Jett looked around, but it looked like their minds were already made up. “I would never kill anyone! I don’t even care about the stupid motive!”

“Not even to bring Mark with you?” Wenona questioned. “I don’t buy it.”

“But I would never leave Cass to die,” Jett said shakily, “or - or anyone! I’m not a killer!”

They’re not listening. None of them are listening. Desperate, Jett turns to the one person that might listen to him.

“Broskii…?” Jett asked. “Bro, you know I would never kill anyone, right…? Killing everyone just so I could leave with you is stupid, I wouldn’t do that…!”

He doesn’t respond. Mark acts like Jett hasn’t spoken at all, eyes still glued to the floor.

“You know I’d never take a gun from Desmond’s room!” Jett continued desperately. “And Cassidy wouldn’t murder anyone, either - and you p-probably doesn’t even know how to shoot a gun, anyway, bro-”

The mistake slipped out before he could catch it - he cut himself off too late. Mark’s eyes went wide, and he quickly looked up at Jett.

“I m-mean - not because he knew or anything, just - just because.” Hastily, Jett tried to cover it up. “And he wouldn’t. Kill anyone, I mean, or hurt anyone. Weapons or no weapons.”

Slowly, slowly, Jean tilted his head towards Jett, an incredulous look on his face.

“Jett?” Desmond asked uneasily. “Jett, did you-”

“He doesn’t know! We didn’t tell him!” Jett insisted. “I-I never said a word, promise - I haven’t spoken to him for hours, actually-”

“Jett.” Jean spoke now, sounding gravely upset.

“-and we didn’t even sleep in the same dorm last night! And I haven’t seen him all day, too!” Jett continued, even as the other students were looking more and more disappointed. “So I never said anything - I n-never would even have had the chance to!”

Desmond, panicked, directed his gaze towards Cassidy.

“…” Cassidy swallowed. “…We didn’t mean to?”

The disappointment was palpable.

“We were talking about it and Mark just overheard us!” she said. “We didn’t tell him on purpose…we’re really sorry.”

Mark didn’t speak. He pushed his beanie over his head.

“C-Cassidy?” Jett tried to cover for him. “W-What are you talking about, ahahaha, we never-”

“Jett, stop.” Cassidy said. “We both told him not to say a word. Unless he told someone, b-but I don’t think he did…? Right?”

And now everyone was looking at Mark.

“…I didn’t know that.”

What?

“…Broskii?” Jett asked, confused. “You don’t have to lie anymore. The cat’s out of the bag. Cass and I told you-”

“T-They didn’t.” Mark was sweating. “Jett’s l-lying, he never told me that.”

Why was Cassidy looking at his broskii like that? Why did Jean go white, and Desmond go quiet all of a sudden? Why…

Why’s Mark so nervous?

“Dude. You can’t lie anymore.” Jett, becoming nervous from everyone else’s weird behaviour, was starting to panic too. “Cass was there, she can prove we told you. Just - Just tell everyone the truth, okay? Even if makes you look kinda guilty, as long as you’re not actually the blackened then it’s fine!”

Nobody spoke. Everyone was holding their breath, looking at him with an odd expression.

“Because - because yeah, if Damon’s right then it’s only the three of us that could have committed this murder. Cass has an alibi and I know it isn’t me, so…well…” Jett continued nervously. “B-But maybe there’s something we’ve missed! We’ll find the truth, broskii!”

“Stop.” Cassidy said quietly.

“Stop what?” Jett, deep down, knew that something was very wrong, but he ignored his feelings, pushing past his discomfort. “There’s - there’s no need to be afraid, bro. That just means that Damon got something wrong-”

“Stop it.” Cassidy buried her head in her hands. “Jett, stop.”

“But - but…” Jett looked around the courtroom. All of them were looking distraught, and that didn’t make sense, because they were acting like Mark was already guilty even though he hadn’t had a chance to speak yet!

“Broskii.” Jett said. “Say something. Why are you letting them point the finger at you? You’ve gotta defend yourself, man!”

Mark didn’t speak.

“You gotta…” Jett’s heart sunk to his stomach. “You gotta do something. Come on, now’s not the time to be quiet! Your life’s on the line here - all of our lives are, and if we vote wrong because of you-”

“It’s Jett.” Mark said quietly, glaring at him. “It has to be Jett.”

And Jett, too late, realised the horrible mess he was in.

“Even if Jett’s telling the truth about showering, that still doesn’t prove anything.” he continued, desperate. “Because, at the end of the day, nobody actually saw him at all! A-And yeah, I could have disappeared and murdered Grace, but I was only gone for fifteen minutes before the body was found! Jett had been missing for ages and didn’t even show up until partway through the investigation!”

“The announcement went off while I was in the shower!” Jett said defensively. “C-Come on, broskii, you can’t really believe-”

“And Jett has a motive!” Mark adds, not even acknowledging Jett. “He could have done this to escape with Cassidy or with me! All Jett has done is lie to you - lie about the weapons, lie about where he actually was - why would you trust him?”

Jett was frozen. There’s no way…he doesn’t believe that. Mark’s just afraid because everyone’s accusing him - he’s lashing out in fear. Probably still annoyed at Jett for yelling at him and ditching him overnight, afraid that Jett really was lying to him. That must be it.

“All I did during those fifteen minutes was look for Jett, go to the bathroom, then go back to the dining hall - and then I was with Ingrid and Eloise until the Body Discovery Announcement went off. It can’t be me.” Mark said.

Jett struggled to find some kind of defence for Mark. All the other suspects had an alibi, or were proven to be elsewhere - could Desmond have lied about locking the weapons away? But Jean would have noticed that - there must be something he was missing…

“You went to Jett’s room, then the dining hall?” Ulysses flipped to an earlier page in his notebook. “Did you go to the laundry room at all?”

He saw how Mark froze. “No - Jett already went back for our clothes yesterday-”

“But that doesn’t make sense…” Ulysses frowned. “Toshiko claimed that she saw you exiting the room shortly before the announcement went off.”

“I didn’t.” he said, but Ulysses was already continuing.

“We found the gun in Desmond’s jacket pocket in the laundry room, but…” Ulysses flipped to another page. “The door was barricaded late last night, and we’ve already established Desmond isn’t the culprit.”

“B-But he could have-”

“And if we take your story about looking for Jett as fact, then wouldn’t that support the idea that Jett is telling the truth?” Damon interjected. “You recalled hearing running water…and hearing Jett speak to you from inside the bathroom. From what Toshiko told us before, the gun must have been deposited there shortly before the announcement went off, so while Jett may have had the opportunity to hide the gun…so would you.”

Jett refused to believe it - he called out for them to change their minds, that it couldn’t be Mark. He waited for Damon to stumble, find some mistake…but instead, Damon did the closing argument. And Mark stopped defending himself, giving up. Withdrawing completely, like he always did.

Even then, Jett kept arguing against Damon, holding out for some kind of mistake from him, an error he could find just in the nick of time…

———

“…that is twelve correct votes for Mark Berskii, and one vote for Damon Maitsu!” Tozu shook his head. “Such wilful ignorance. You’re lucky I don’t punish incorrect voters, Jett.”

Jett didn’t respond. Shocked into silence, he stared at Mark - his broskii - voted as the blackened. Revealed as the blackened.

How could Mark murder anybody? Jett had always tried to be there for him - take care of him when he wasn’t feeling well, encourage him when he was miserable. Apart from last night, and this morning, where he’d messed up. Was that one screwup, where Jett wasn’t there for him, what caused Mark to break?

“I needed to get out.” Mark tugged down his hat until his head. “I couldn’t die here. I didn’t care about the motive, but if there was anyone I could pick…”

He turned to his right, looking Cassidy in the eye.

“I would probably pick you to come with me,” he says.

Cassidy looked horrified - her eyes darted to Jett, who was frozen in shock. “Me?!”

“You.” Mark nodded.

“Not Jett? Aren’t you his best friend…?” Cassidy asked. “I mean, we’re close and all, but aren’t you two-”

“Not him.” Mark replied, with uncharacteristic hatred. Which confused Jett more than anything.

“Broskii…?” Jett asked. “What…are you talking about? Why would you murder Grace? I told you, if you were scared-”

“Don’t call me that.” Mark said, with that same tone of disgust. “I’m not your ‘broskii’, or ‘little dude’, or ‘bro’ or - or anything.”

“…Huh?”

“And we’re not friends.” he continued. “We never were.”

Jett’s first thought was that Mark had gone insane. First, he took a gun from Desmond’s room…then he murdered Grace…and now he’s nitpicking about nicknames? Saying that they weren’t friends…?

“Mark, you don’t have to try and push everyone away.” Cassidy had lost her voice, still astonished at Mark’s words, and the other ten students were similarly shocked, so it is Jean that first intervened for Jett’s sake. “Jett’s always tried to help you, he’s trusted you with-”

“I don’t want to hear anything from you about trust.” Mark shot him an angry glare. “You were the one who convinced Desmond not to tell anyone about the guns!”

“That wasn’t his fault.” Desmond butted in. “It was my idea just as much as it was his - and Jett-”

“I heard you two talking to Jett and Cassidy. And I heard your little conversation afterwards - when Desmond was going to tell Ingrid to keep an eye on the weapons, but you made him stop, telling him that she might take the opportunity to escape with Toshiko! And then you said that he should stay silent and not tell anyone at all-”

“And that was a risk I took.” Jean said. “The important thing is - pushing away your friends instead of-”

“We aren’t friends.” Mark repeats. “Jett barely even talks to me - he just talks at me, going on and on and on about himself all the time!”

“I don’t.” Jett said fearfully, and that was true…wasn’t it? All the time he was only talking because Mark never did - and whenever he was too quiet Mark would only take it as an opportunity to try and run away somewhere else.

“You do!” he said, voice suddenly rising in volume. “Everything’s always about what you want to do, and you drag me along even when I want to be anywhere else. And if I try to get away, you just pull me right back so I can’t escape.”

Jett is lost for words, watching Mark yell at him. As he continues, it slowly sinks in that Mark hasn’t gone insane. These were just the feelings he’d kept to himself, bubbling under the surface until they could be finally brought to light now.

“I…I was just trying to have a good time with you.” Apparently that was the wrong answer, because Mark only looked more upset.

“A good time in a killing game? Is having fun all you care about? Can’t you ever take anything seriously?!”

“Mark, stop!” Diana comes to his defence. “E-Even if you were annoyed by him, Jett only stuck around because he cared about you-”

“Does he?” Mark questioned. “I used to think he was just a misguided idiot trying to help-”

“Jett isn’t an idiot.” Cassidy finally finds her voice, but Mark continues as if she had never spoken.

“-but apparently, he never cared after all!”

“I’m not a liar, brosk - Mark.” His voice wavered slightly. No, he can’t start crying now, not after everything, because he won’t be able to stop once he starts and he really needs to prove Mark wrong right now. “I did care-”

“Then what happened to you between yesterday and today?” Mark asked. “Why were you acting so weird after you came back from meeting Desmond - and why didn’t you show up to the investigation on time?”

“I was s-showering, dude.” Another voice crack - keep it together, keep it together. “I-I’m just - it took me a long time to-”

“ Showering in the dark? Really?! You - you didn’t bother coming back after meeting up with Desmond, you were acting weird in your dorm room, you yelled at me when I thought something was wrong-”

“I was stressed-”

“And then you didn’t come back for the rest of the night!” He said. “And then you stole something from Diana’s room, and ran away the second you saw me? Sure, you weren’t hiding anything! ”

“It’s - Diana and I-” Jett turns to Diana, anyone to save him from this, but she is pale, looking hopeless. “S-She can tell you-”

Mark laughed, incredulous and angry and despairing all at once. “And why would anybody shower in the dark?! How is it any better when you can’t even see yourself-”

“That’s the point!” Jett yelled, angry at Mark talking over him. “That’s the entire point, so that I can’t see myself! That way I can actually get through the entire shower without having another breakdown-”

“And you talk so much about ‘getting all your feelings off your chest’ but you never take your own advice - you want to learn all of my secrets but you’re so tight-lipped when it comes to anything about you-”

“How was I meant to tell you?” Jett retorted. “I didn’t know how to tell you that I didn’t shower because I couldn’t stand to look at myself in the mirror. Or that my blackmail was just a picture of me, that no-one should have ever seen because I looked so different from how I used to be!”

“E-Even then, you never took the danger of our situation seriously-”

“Because I was worried about you.” Jett yelled. “I didn’t want you to feel even more scared than you already were!”

For once, Mark is silent - he doesn’t immediately interrupt as Jett trailed off, struggling to keep his composure.

“And maybe I did stuff you didn’t like, but how am I meant to know what you want if you never tell me in the first place?! When you have the same reaction to everything - when you barely speak, barely smile, barely do anything, how am I meant to tell if you’re mad?!”

“I was hoping you would get the message on your own.” Mark said. “Clearly, you didn’t.”

The words stung, even more than anything. It hurt, watching Mark fold his arms and discard their friendship completely. Treating all their good times together as useless. Acting like he had no hand in this - like he was some innocent victim of Jett’s complete idiocy when all Jett wanted to do is help him.

“Y-You can’t say that.” he said, and Mark raised an eyebrow. “You can’t act like I was being annoying when you never made an attempt to talk to me at all! And you don’t get to be upset about me keeping stuff from you when you murdered Grace and tried to accuse me of killing her!”

Everybody watched Jett as he struggled to hold back tears, clutching the end of his podium.

“It’s not fair,” were the only words he could get out before he broke down completely.

When Mark was dragged away, all Jett remembered was crying and crying, crying until his voice gave out. He felt someone hug his arm, rest their head on his shoulder and cry, and another person gravitate to his other side, placing a calming hand around his shoulder. When he finally raised his head, the courtroom was empty save the two people with him - Cassidy, and Jean.

His face felt sticky. It was gross, full of tears and sweat, but even now he couldn’t take the helmet off.

Finally, the three of them went down the elevator. The two of them went to Mark’s room to retrieve his items for him, but at the door Cassidy froze in place. So it was ultimately Jean who had to bring his belongings - his spare clothes, toothbrush, bedding…

He didn’t have the words to speak, and they couldn’t see his face, so he couldn’t thank them. Instead, he lay on his bed, crying himself into a dreamless sleep.

———

Jett didn’t leave his room. He didn’t eat, he didn’t move from his bed. The camera was still pointing at him, so he couldn’t remove his helmet. It felt like it would be watching him forever and ever and he would never escape. People knocked on his door, tried to talk to him, but he ignored them completely, and slowly, slowly, they got the message. All apart from one person.

Cassidy just wouldn’t leave him alone. Barging into his room, leaving food on his bedside table, coming back to take the uneaten food away hours after. Trying to talk to him, like they hadn’t watched Mark be executed before their eyes. Doing everything she could to try and make him smile.

Deep down, he knew that Cassidy was worried about him after what happened with Mark, but Jett couldn’t stand to be around her. He couldn’t stand to try and pretend everything was going to be okay, or laugh along with any of her stupid jokes. He was sick of pretending like he didn’t want to peel off his skin and disappear. Why was she always forcing Jett to pretend like he was happy?

(Was this how Mark felt, he wondered, as Cassidy entered his room again? Did he ever feel happy around him?)

Cassidy waved a hand in front of his face, and before he could stop himself, Jett found himself snapping at her.

“Leave me alone.” he said, quietly, and Cassidy looked hurt. “Just leave me alone.”

And Jett realised, too late, what Mark had been trying to say all along.

Cassidy, trying to reassure him, extended her hand outwards to touch his shoulder. Jett, crushed by the weight of his sudden realisation, took one horrified step back.