Chapter Text
The night sky was clear, and the full moon shone bright through the window, illuminating Abolish’s figure and the fresh body in front of him. His mission had been simple: break into this famous actor’s estate and kill him. After the man had spoken out against the way the hero organisation worked, his fate was but inevitable. All Abolish had done was follow his orders and speed up the process. It was an easy job after all.
"Has it been done?“ a voice spoke through his earpiece.
"Yes," Abolish confirmed, while passing a piece of cloth over his sword so as to wipe off the blood. Before dropping the cloth to the floor and heading towards the window.
"Just what we like to hear; you just made the world a safer place. The boss wants you in his office in about an hour; something about a new assignment,“ the voice on the intercom spoke.
"Got it," Abolish said as he opened up the window, before turning off the earpiece and putting it in his pocket. He didn’t need some communications boy to talk his ear off about unimportant matters.
Once he was ready, he jumped out the window and into the city night, from rooftop to rooftop. Traversing the city in a mindless, instinctive fashion. It was the closest thing he knew to this thing other people called relaxing. Just him, his movements and the night sky.
While running, he spotted smoke rising in the distance, accompanied by sirens and glowing lights. Probably a villain attack if he had to guess by the amount of commotion, but that wasn’t his problem. Yes, he worked for a hero organisation, but only in the shadow Davison. A Davison that, on paper, never existed. He was given the jobs that no one needed to know about. He wasn’t a hero; he didn’t run to where danger was to try and save the helpless. He was a weapon, sent to neutralise the threats no one else would.
He knew better than to even think if he should help. He was just meant to do what he was told, nothing more, nothing less. And that’s what he did. He faced away from the direction where people needed help and continued his way to the office where he was expected.
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"Abolish," his boss greeted in a cold manner as he entered the room. Abolish didn’t return the greeting; it wasn’t needed or expected of him. He simply sat down in the chair in front of the boss's desk.
"This is your next target," the man continued as he passed a black classified folder. Inside was a high-definition photo showing a guy who looked to be about Abolish’s age, with white hair and red, almost glowing eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket adorned with many little spikes along with general clothing that screamed unruly teenager. The picture was a selfie. The guy was sticking out his tongue for the camera, while his free hands seemed to be stylishly tipping down his black and red sunglasses, which led to his eyes being exposed in the first place. In the background you could see a fancy jewellery store, one of those that really rich and famous people tend to go to.
All of those factors and the fact that this man could only be described as conventionally attractive led to Abolish’s conclusion on who the man was: “A model?” He questioned his supervisor. He hadn’t ever taken one of those out before.
"What, no," his boss almost angrily said as his brow furrowed, before he looked back at the picture and continued in a calmer voice, "I do see why you might think that, though, but no, this is a villain known as Lord Goldsmith."
"I’m unfamiliar,“ Abolish stated. He never kept up with heroes and villains alike; it wasn’t his job after all.
"He’s been on the scene for quite a while now and is known as the head of the criminal syndicate called the coven. Which openly speaks out against our organisation,“ his boss explained.
"Most villains do," Abolish stated, not understanding why this task was brought to him. He doesn’t go after villains; that’s the hero’s job.
"Yes, but this is different. This guy is charismatic and well perceived by the public. The people love him. This picture was taken from his public Instagram account, which has more followers than all of our top heroes combined. He lives for the spotlight," his boss explained.
"I see." Abolish understood now; this guy was making the organisation look bad and influenced the public opinion. That made him a problem.
"He's been a thorn in our side for a while now. He and his allies are strong. They make our top heroes look like fools on live television at least once a week; it's a PR nightmare. He even was a special guest on a game show last week," his boss started to angrily ramble.
"Why only send me in now, if he’s been an issue for a while?" Abolish questioned, even if only to get this conversation over sooner. Social interactions and his boss's amount of frustration were but a waste of time.
"The higher-ups wanted heroes to catch him; the publicity would be beneficial. But now it seems like they realised they can’t, so now it’s our Davison’s turn to clean up their mess. So you better not mess this up,“ his boss explained before raising his voice slightly. “The rest of the information is in the folder. Take it, and prepare yourself; you’re starting tomorrow. You’re dismissed.”
Abolish picked up the folder and left towards the building’s basement, where his accommodation was. He had a small kitchen area on one side of the wall and a bed and a desk at the other, with a small bathroom off to the side. It wasn’t much, but it was efficient; everything that abolish truly needed to survive was there. He quickly put a ration in the microwave, as it was better consumed warm, and started reading Lord Goldsmith's file while he was eating.
Overall it seemed like a lot of the information on this guy was just common knowledge or could be found on his wide array of social media. The crimes he committed didn’t seem to have a specific pattern, but one thing was obvious: the people loved him. He read many reports from civilians that were in the building during one of his robberies, and all had one thing in common: they said only positive things about him. After finishing dinner, Abolish used his computer to open the guy's socials, and his boss had been correct: the responses on his posts were high and mostly positive, to the point that Abolish guessed that the comparatively few negative comments he saw may have been written by the organisation themselves in a feeble attempt at defamation.
The folder also went into detail about what was known about his powers and fighting style. Most of the time Goldsmith did not use his powers in battle, seemingly relying on his physical abilities and charm, but when he did, it seemed that his powers were some sort of blood manipulation. Truly a dangerous ability for the enemy to have. It seems he uses it to puppeteer people at his will or simply to stop any wounds that he may be subjected to from bleeding and causing serious infections or blood loss. Abolish guessed that he could probably also use this power to kill people in the blink of an eye by simply stopping the blood from flowing through their body. Despite that, it seemed that he barely ever killed people, having a statistically incredibly low kill count considering the amount of time he had been a villain. That probably helped his image too.
Along with Lord Goldsmith, the folder also gave a closer insight into the three other most prominent villains from the coven that were openly portrayed as this guy's friends. There was Pyroscythe; he was a pyromaniac villain that could create fire out of thin air and control it. His existence alone was the reason that the city’s fire department has been receiving increasingly more funding over the past years. Then there was the Beast, a former vigilante that joined the coven after the death of his crime-fighting partner. His power allowed him to transform into some sort of monster; things to look out for while fighting him were sharp claws, incredible speed and strength. And lastly there was the Witch; she was described as the most catty of the group, her powers allowing her to create illusions that were often used as a distraction or to disorient her enemies.
Even though the whole group were public figures and a lot about them was known, mostly because they posted it or openly said it, Abolish noted that their identities were not. The organisation had no idea who any of them really were. Which, for such a public villain group, was surprising. And since Abolish couldn't just kill them as civilians, it would lead him to having to do the one thing he found most annoying about his job: undercover work.
The agency wanted him to go to probably the most popular club in the city that just so happened to be owned by the coven. All members were known to be seen there from time to time, especially Goldsmith. So all he had to do was wait till he showed up and quietly dispose of him when he did. Abolish had done it a thousand times. This would be easy.
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Abolish had decided to wear a suit and black tie; that was the only thing he owned, after all. Clothing doesn’t matter to him, and having to decide what to wear every day sounds like an inefficient waste of time. He had used the earlier hours of the day to collect more information about his target before heading off. Abolish’s missions had never required him to go to a club before, so he didn’t truly know what to expect, but whatever it was, it wasn’t this.
It was incredibly loud, and there were people everywhere. They were drinking alcohol, dancing and wearing clothing that could be only described as the opposite of demure. When he walked by, people turned and looked at him; he was incredibly out of place. He didn’t look like he was supposed to be here, which made hiding in the shadows so much harder. He hated being perceived. Eyes were constantly on him, and the music sounded horrible and was way too loud. This wasn’t his place. He needed to finish his mission quickly and never come back to such a place ever again.
He quickly found his way off the dance floor and towards the bar; fewer people were there, and he got a better view of the entire place. As he walked, he made mental notes of exits, the VIP area and any other place he deemed important for his mission.
Once he reached the bar, Abolish sat down on a stool and ordered a beer to at least try and fit in. That seemed to fail spectacularly when someone sat down next to him and said in a joking manner, "You look kinda out of place here, bud, with the suit and all, I mean."
The person that sat next to Abolish was a guy. He had light blue hair, probably recently dyed, and slightly darker blue eyes. He was wearing ripped jeans, a teal top and an open orange jacket with teal accents. His outfit showed that the guy knew colour theory; Abolish supposed it looked better than a lot of the other clothing he had seen in this place. He would usually ignore someone like that, but it would only make him seem even more out of place if he did.
"Really, I hadn’t noticed,“ Abolish sarcastically said. It was only one conversation; it would be a waste of time, but it was Abolish’s job, so he’d do it to perfection.
The other chuckled before asking, "First time in a club?"
"How could you tell?" Abolish asked, as he turned to face the guy with a raised eyebrow.
"Vibes," he shrugged.
The bartender walked over to the other guy and asked in a thick English accent, "What can I get you this time, love?“ meaning that the man was probably a regular, since the bartender seemed to know him.
"Match me something," the blue-haired guy said with a smirk playing on his lips.
Abolish must have looked as confused as he was by that statement, as the guy next to him turned to face him to explain as the bartender moved to make his drink, "Jon has a special talent for matching drinks to a person's outfit, so I usually let him match mine when he works.“
"Isn’t that kind of a superficial way of deciding on drinks?" Abolish questioned.
"Maybe so, but I like it,“ the other stated with a slight chuckle.
"Here you go, love. One orange and teal tequila sunrise,“ the bartender said as he placed the glass in front of the guy. And Abolish had to agree; the drink did match with the outfit.
"Thank you, Jon,“ the guy next to him almost flirtatiously said before taking the first sip of his drink.
"Well, the colours definitely match," Abolish remarked without really thinking about it.
"I know, right? It's so pretty, and it tastes amazing," the guy next to him remarked.
"If you say so," Abolish said as he took another sip of his drink.
"Scott," the guy next to him said, to which Abolish enquired in the form of a hum before the man continued, "That's my name."
Scott – it was a somewhat fitting name. "Abolish,“ the agent said as he turned to face the other.
"Abolish." Scott seemed to try how that name felt coming from his lips, and he must have thought it nice since his lips turned into a smile right after. "It’s nice to meet you, abolish.“
"The pleasure is all mine," Abolish retorted. A statement he had said a hundred times before, and maybe it just was the alcohol, but he almost felt like he might mean it for once.
"What a charmer!" Scott remarked. "I was thinking about heading back on the dance floor. Do you want to join me?" Scott was inviting him to dance! That wasn’t good; Abolish would fit in even less on the dance floor.
"I’m not sure that’s a good idea," Abolish sincerely answered before thinking his words properly through.
"Why?" Scott innocently questioned.
“I don’t know how to dance,” Abolish decided to confess; it probably was embarrassing, but it was true. Dancing was but a useless skill; learning it would have been a waste of time and not beneficial to any mission he might have.
"Wait, you’re telling me that you came to a club and don’t know how to dance?“ Scott almost jokingly questioned. He seemed out of place again; Abolish needed an excuse and quickly.
“My friends said I should try going, but if I’m honest, I don’t really know what I’m doing here.” Hopefully Scott buys it. Abolish really should have thought about his sob story more. This was all not going to plan. It's horrible.
"I'll teach you; it's really not that hard. I’ll promise it’ll be fun,“ Scott offered. This guy was just too nice. Abolish knew that there was no way of getting rid of Scott right now. And maybe dancing could be useful even if only for this mission. Goldsmith wasn’t here today anyway; Abolish had scanned the whole building. Fun was definitely not something he would be experiencing, but he couldn’t really do anything else that was useful right now. So learning dance it is.
"Thank you, Scott, I'll give it my best shot," Abolish agreed to the proposal.
"Couldn’t ask for more," Scott said before finishing his drink and taking Abolish's hand to guide him to the dance floor. "Come on, I love this song."
—————————
It turns out that dancing was a lot harder than it seemed. Dancing, at least to this kind of music, didn’t follow any rules. It was just senseless, irrational movement to the sound of the music. How is one to know how to move just based off of music? Music isn’t a clear instruction. It’s just illogical.
This Scott guy must hate him by now. Abolish’s failure to comprehend the concept of dance was truly disappointing. So why did this guy keep smiling at him? It didn’t matter how uncoordinated Abolish was or how often he tripped over his own feet or how often Scott had to catch him so as to stop him from falling. This guy just kept smiling at him. Scott even seemed to be enjoying himself.
At one point the two had walked back towards the bar to get away from the crowd and because Scott had decided he felt like getting another drink before leaving. Scott was laughing, and Abolish somehow didn’t feel like a complete failure.
"Wasn’t that great?“ Scott said.
"It was very entertaining. I’m sorry for not being able to dance, though,” Abolish said. His performance was pitiful at best after all.
"You're kidding; you were doing great. Dancing isn’t about being perfect; it’s about enjoying oneself. Did you enjoy yourself?" Scott said as he gracefully spun around to face him.
"I think I did,“ Abolish said, and somehow it almost felt like he was saying the truth, to a degree at least. Dancing with Scott reminded him of the same way he felt while running over the city roofs at night.
"We should do this again sometime," Scott remarked.
"What exactly?" Abolish had asked.
"Dance together or generally just hang out; your fun,“ Scott said.
“Maybe we could," Abolish said, even if he wasn’t certain what such actions would accomplish.
"Maybe next time you can wear something more comfortable than a suit," Scott chuckled.
“I don’t think that’s going to be happening,” Abolish simply stated.
"Why not?" Scott curiously questioned.
“I don’t own anything else,” Abolish said like it was the most normal thing in the world, which to him it was.
"Sooo your closet is just the same suit all lined up next to each other,“ Scott continued in a joking manner.
"Correct,“ Abolish stated, unsure of why the other seemed to stop in his steps.
"Wait! You were being serious!" Scott exclaimed, seemingly shocked by such a trivial matter.
"Yes?" Abolish hesitantly questioned. He didn’t understand the others’ shock.
"That cannot continue!" Scott exclaimed. "Are you doing something tomorrow around lunch?”
"No?" Abolish hesitantly asked.
"Perfect, we're going shopping," Scott happily stated. "You know the mall on Main Street?“
"No," Abolish stated. What was currently even happening?
"Can you pass me your phone? Or are you lacking one of those too?" Scott asked after a moment of hesitation.
Abolish did have one of those, even if it was mostly used as a burner. That did also mean that there was nothing on it that could be traced back to his mission. Hesitantly, he took his phone from his pocket and instinctively unlocked it. But why was he even doing that?
Scott took Abolish’s phone from his hands and started tapping away on it. “Here, I just put my number in your phone. I’ll text you the address to the mall later, and you tell me when you have time.“
"But why?" Abolish asked. Why was Scott acting so strange?
"Because we're getting you a more diverse wardrobe, silly,“ Scott said with another small chuckle.
Abolish didn’t know what to say. Scott's behaviour was irrational. He definitely was a weird fellow. Abolish most certainly didn’t require any other clothing. He was doing just fine with the black suits. Even though it would appear that they made him stick out like a sore thumb in the scene around them. But even so, he didn’t need them.
It didn’t take much longer before Abolish and Scott separated and went home. Abolish didn’t know what to do. Scott had texted him the location, and they had agreed to meet at 11:00 am, but he didn’t know if he should even go. It was stupid and useless after all.
—————————
Abolish wasn’t sure what he was even doing here, waiting in front of the mall for Scott to arrive. It was weird and illogical. He supposed the reasoning he had given his boss for leaving and needing a credit card was to get better clothing to fit into the environment he was supposed to be surveying. But why was he waiting on Scott to do it?
"Hey, Abolish,“ a now-familiar voice called out to him. Completely snapping Abolish out of his thoughts.
"Hello, Scott,“ he returned the greeting with a polite nod as the other was coming closer. Scott was wearing a different outfit from last night. Abolish supposed that that was the norm for many people, but he couldn’t help but feel it was odd.
Scott wore a white frilly blouse, of which the top two buttons were left open, along with light blue dress pants, a blue cardigan and some white heeled boots. Abolish never understood the appeal of heeled footwear, as it was impractical, but he couldn’t deny that it looked somehow right on Scott. Just like the night before, this man’s outfit made him look like a model. Even though Abolish started wondering if that was simply how Scott always looked regardless of what he wore.
"I’m so happy that you’re actually here. My roommate kept saying that I was going to be stood up as I was leaving,” Scott complained, more jokingly than not.
"That would just be rude," Abolish stated. "We had an appointment after all."
Scott seemed to smile at that before taking Abolish’s hand and leading him down the shopfronts.
"Do you have any idea what kind of style you want to try out?" Scott questioned as they started looking around.
"Not really." Abolish hadn't even given it a thought. "What would you suggest?"
Scott seemed to stop and think for a moment as he turned again to seemingly inspect Abolish before saying, "You seem like the kind of guy that likes black clothing, so maybe… I think I know a place where you could find something!“
—————————
Abolish was exhausted; they have been at this for at least two hours now. Of course he had found quite a bit of clothing that he liked the feel of. Most of it also allows for easier movement than what he previously owned, which can only be a good thing. And Scott also seemed to think that it looked good on him, which probably had some kind of positive use as well.
Abolish was quite sure now that he had bought enough clothing for the foreseeable future, as he had enough to theoretically wear something different for up to 6 days. Plus, he still owned his suits. Scott had suggested that the two of them get a late lunch before leaving, mostly with the reasoning that he was hungry, and Abolish had to agree. Eating was a fundamental part of surviving.
"How about we go get some pizza?" Scott suggested when the question of where to eat arose.
"What's pizza?" Abolish had asked, as he wasn’t familiar with that kind of nutritional supplement.
"You're joking, right? Please tell me you’re joking,“ Scott responded in utter shock.
"No, should I be?" Abolish answered. Was pizza an important supplement that he simply never heard of?
"I swear, you must live under a rock or something,“ Scott said in fake disbelief. "Come on, you’re trying some pizza today; there’s a really good place for it right around the corner.“
Abolish definitely wasn’t sure about this. They had just ordered and received their pizzas; Abolish had picked a plain one that Scott had ordered in as a margarita, something that Scott had ordered for himself as well. But the thing they were giving looked weird. It didn’t look like something that should be eaten; it wasn’t dark or gooey enough for that. Once the food had arrived, Scott had started cutting the circle things into triangle slices, a motion that Abolish immediately copied. Then once Scott was done, he placed his cutlery to the side and picked up a slice with his hand before taking a bite out of it.
Abolish was incredibly confused about what was happening right now. This is not how nutrition usually works. But Scott was the expert in this environment, and everyone around them was doing the same, so surely this was what he was meant to do in this situation. So Abolish ignored his doubts and ate a piece of this pizza, just like Scott had done moments before him. And it was incredible!
Who knew that nutrition could have this effect on his mouth? It tasted good. The taste of this pizza thing wasn’t making his sense of taste feel like it was sick. Quite the contrary, even; it made his whole mouth feel like it was in heaven. Abolish would have never expected that one of the survival necessities could be something close to the idea of enjoyable.
"So, how is it?" Scott had asked.
"It's amazing; I had no idea that food could actually taste good," Abolish said with something close to actual emotion in his voice.
"Well, then I’m happy that you found out,“ Scott said with a laugh.
—————————
It had been about a week now since Abolish had started his new mission, and it was going perfectly. He had placed hidden cameras all around the club that were programmed to send an encrypted message to his phone in case Lord Goldsmith showed up. He also had memorised every corner of that place so that when the guy next showed up, he wouldn’t be able to escape. Abolish had also noticed that most every time Goldsmith did anything, he would post about it on Instagram, so he had created a fake account and started following him, just in case the cameras didn’t work and Goldsmith decided to post about his night in the club.
But weirdly enough, Goldsmith wasn’t the only guy that had consumed most of his thoughts over the past week, and if Abolish was being honest, Scott had probably been consuming more than his target actually was. This guy was just…. Abolish couldn’t even name what it was. He had originally just planned to use Scott to learn how to fit into a scene that he didn’t know anything about, but now, here he was lying on his bed and writing the thousandth message to the only contact on his phone: Scott.
Over the past week the two of them started to get to know each other, and even if most of what Abolish shared were half-truths at best, it's not like he could actually tell him what he actually did in his life. But even so, Scott never pushed him to tell him more than he was comfortable with, which made not telling him much easier. The two had met once more over the week when Abolish had told his supervisor that he was going out for reconnaissance. They had only shortly met over a piece of cake and coffee, which had been great.
"Abolish you in there," a voice said from the outside of his door, and Abolish froze.
He immediately hid his phone and quietly ran two feet to sit in front of his computer, where the camera footage of the club was running, before saying in his usual monotone manner, "Come in."
He didn’t look up as he heard the door open; he already knew that his boss was the one that had walked in. That man was the only person that ever came to his quarters in the first place.
"Mission report,“ his boss stated, probably more as an opener to the conversation than out of actual interest. Abolish did send daily update protocols after all.
“He hasn’t been seen at the club yet, but once he does, it will be the last time he’ll be seen anywhere,” Abolish answered; it was the quickest way to end this conversation. Why did he never have this mindset when talking to Scott, when it came so naturally when talking to literally anybody else?
"For now you are to deprioritise that mission, at least temporarily,“ his boss instructed. After which Abolish actually turned to face him. "In case Lord Goldsmith shows up today, you are to reprioritise that mission. In any other case you’ll be taking on a surveillance task.“
"That’s not my department," Abolish simply stated, because it wasn’t. Surveillance has never been a job he had to do before.
"I'm very well aware," his boss seemed frustrated or maybe angry. "They are currently short-staffed over there, and some idiot from the coverage department insists that we offer up an agent. And under the current circumstances you are the most dispensable.“
Abolish only nodded to continue this whole discussion and get more information on his task.
“There’s some kind of supernatural conviction or something in town today, and some surveillance idiot thinks it could be a ruse to hide some villain meeting or something. So you're going there to check it out. This folder details your cover story options, or you can just make up something if you want; this whole thing is a waste of our department’s time anyway,” his boss continued complaining after handing him the folder, before leaving.
Well, this definitely wasn’t what Abolish had expected to be doing today. At least he wasn’t missing out on time he could be writing to Scott, as the other had mentioned having to go somewhere today. Wait, he should definitely not be thinking like that? What was wrong with him?
—————————
Abolish wasn’t sure if he was happy or sad that the intel was wrong. On one hand he should definitely be happy that villains weren’t conspiring in this location against his organisation, but on the other hand it was incredibly boring to just be here. He had dictated to take the cover story that he worked here as a security guard and decided to wear his classic suit to fit the vibe, and it was so boring. This job was beneath his skill set, and he couldn’t help thinking that his time would be better spent doing something else. Like anything involving Scott, for example.
The people around him were not making this job any better. Believing in the supernatural was but a miserable use of one's intellectual capacity. As Abolish was absentmindedly scanning the people that were passing by him, his brain stopped on a very specific person.
"Scott?" he said, confused as to what the other was doing in a place like this.
"Abolish?" Scott seemed to have the same kind of confusion passing through his mind when he noticed Abolish.
Normally Abolish could have just assumed that Scott might have been passing by and landed in this place by accident, but upon further inspection it seemed unlikely. Scott was wearing a blood-red Grafik-T with vampire teeth on it that he had tied up to be a top, along with black shorts, black net tights and dark red high-heeled boots. Admittedly it looked great on him, but Abolish had never expected Scott to be the cryptic type.
"Wait, is this the Abolish, like the one you have been talking about nonstop for the past week?" A girl beside Scott seemed to light up. She had red hair, almost golden eyes and glasses. She wore an almost matching t-shirt to Scott, even though hers was green and with Bigfoot on it. Along with that, she was wearing a brown checkered short skirt, with white sneakers and cream wool stockings that went to her knees.
"Yeah, but it’s not like I talk about him all the time,“ Scott said with a little laugh as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink, something that was somewhat endearing to Abolish.
"But you definitely..." the girl started before being interrupted by Scott putting a hand over her mouth.
"This is Shelby, my roommate I might have mentioned,“ Scott introduced the girl next to him.
"Pleasure to meet you; I'm Abolish, though it seems like you already knew that," Abolish introduced himself.
"Are you here for the get-together as well?" Shelby excitedly questioned.
"No, I’m currently working," Abolish stated.
"Working?“ Scott questioned.
"Yeah, I'm part of security," Abolish clarified. He needed to think of a good excuse for why he was working here. And he needed it fast. This situation wasn’t described in the mission briefing.
"That does explain the suit,“ Shelby remarked.
"It would if he were anyone else. But Abolish here mostly only owns this kind of suit, I learnt." Scott corrected his roommate.
"They are very practical and good for my job," Abolish defended.
"So you’re a security guard; that’s not what I expected,“ Scott remarked.
"What were you expecting then?" Abolish questioned.
"Some kind of boring office job that sucks all of the life out of you,“ Scott told him.
"That’s incredibly accurate," Abolish hesitantly remarked.
"Wait, didn’t you just say that you’re a security guard?" Shelby questioned. Dammit, Abolish, of course you’d mess this up. Quick, you need to salvage the situation.
"Can I tell you guys a secret?" Abolish asked in a hushed tone, to which the other two nodded and moved slightly closer before he continued, "I'm not actually a security guard."
The other two seemed confused at his statement, so Abolish continued, "You see, the company I work for has a partner company that works security jobs, and they are currently short-staffed, so they asked my boss for extra help, and he sent me." That probably was convincing; it was mostly true anyway.
"Wait, doesn't that mean you have no training?“ Shelby sounded something akin to scared.
"That is correct,“ Abolish stated.
"But what if something goes wrong? Isn't there a high chance that you could get hurt?" Scott sounded worried.
"Don’t worry, I’m sure it will be fine,” Abolish tried to assure him, though he doubted that it would work. Maybe changing the topic would get Scott’s mind off this, "What are you guys doing here anyway?“
"We're here because it's a lot of fun to meet up with a lot of like-minded people," Shelby said exactly.
"And between the two of us, I'm the only one with a licence." Scott seemed to explain his presence while simultaneously jokingly mocking Shelby.
"Driving is scary, okay. Plus, I know you secretly love it,“ they desperately tried defending.
"New guy, you're on break. Be back here in an hour!" a voice yelled from off to the side.
"Copy that," Abolish yelled back, while taking off his badge and putting it in his pocket.
“Do you want to hang around with us?” Shelby immediately offered as she got closer to abolish and gave him puppy dog eyes; that didn’t actually work on him.
"Shelby, we talked about this; you need to give people their personal space," Scott gently scolded her as he moved her to no longer be in hugging distance from Abolish.
"Sure, why not?“ Abolish responded. This would definitely make his break more entertaining, and if it actually was a cover, he’d be more likely to spot it while walking around with someone who was part of the community, someone like Shelby, plus Scott.
—————————
His break had been surprisingly fun. Abolish understood why Scott was fond of Shelby; she was incredibly nice. They had been walking around, and Shelby would occasionally stop and talk to people that they apparently knew. Which gave Abolish time just to be with Scott.
"Shelby!" someone excitedly exclaimed from somewhere to the right.
"Avid!" Shelby yelled back to the person before running over to hug him. The guy looked kind of scrawny and pathetic. And Abolish heard Scott sighing before starting to move closer to them.
"Hey Shelby, Scott and guy I don’t know,“ a woman behind this avid guy greeted.
"Hello, I'm Abolish,“ he greeted these new people. They seemed to be good friends of Shelby's.
“He’s a friend of Scott’s,“ Shelby added as clarification.
"You need to be careful," Avid said to Abolish, while he quickly discarded his personal space.
"Why?" Abolish questioned as he took a step back. He could practically hear Scott roll his eyes in a 'here we go again' manner.
"Because Scott's a vampire," Avid declared. Great, this guy was insane.
"I'm really not, though," Scott signed out.
"No, he is. Why else would you keep blood in your fridge if not to drink it because you’re a vampire?” Avid exclaimed. Wait, Scott has what in his fridge?
"It was a bottle of tomato sauce, you know, the type you put on your pasta. That's all you saw in the fridge." Scott seemed annoyed, like he’d had to explain this at least a million times.
"Likely story. Then how come your hair can turn white, like a VAMPIRE'S!" Avid continued, sounding slightly manic as he did so.
“It wasn’t white; it was simply bleached. I was about to dye it when you saw me that day." Scott's annoyance seemed to grow the longer this conversation was going on.
“Come on, Avid, we’ve been over this…” the girl that had come here with Avid said.
"Then why are your teeth so white, VAMPIRE WHITE?" Ok, this guy was definitely manic. And Abolish couldn’t help but dislike him and his ridiculous accusations against Scott.
“I don’t know genetics, and I floss, maybe,” Scott continued on in his calm manner, but Abolish noticed the little things. The way Scott had started digging his nails into his fists. how his eyes were darting across the room. how his breath shallowed. All classic signs of overstimulation or even a panic attack. Abolish also noted how close Avid had gotten to Scott, and he really didn’t like it.
"Your behaviour is unacceptable; accusing people of outrageous things with, at best, lacking evidence is simply a pathetic display of power. One that should not be tolerated,“ Abolish coldly told Avid as he stepped in front of Scott in an almost protective manner.
Avid took a step back; his eyes went wide. It seemed he did not expect Abolish to step in. It seemed like he was scared. An effect Abolish could easily have on people.
"But… But…" Avid started stuttering out another probably fake accusation.
“Do you have any actual concrete evidence to back up your claim?” Abolish questioned, just as coldly as before, with a raised eyebrow.
"Well…" Avid tried to argue, but all that left his mouth was a pitiful stutter.
"You don’t, do you?" Abolish coldly stated, schooling his expression to resemble one of expected disappointment.
"This is a free country, and I have the right to warn people about the vampire among them," Avid exclaimed, seemingly having a fraction of his earlier confidence back.
"I suppose you’re right. That does mean, though, that we also have the right to leave this whole interaction just like this,” Abolish said before taking Scott by the hand and leading him away from Avid. Leaving that pitiful excuse of a man to angrily look after them together with his friend and Shelby.
Abolish led Scott to a more empty area outside of the building they were previously in, where both of them sat down on a bench next to each other.
"Is everything alright?" Abolish hesitantly asked after a long moment of silence.
"I think so..." Scott said in an unsteady voice. "It's just, I'm not really good at dealing with that kind of situation."
"You were doing quite well for that," Abolish remarked.
"It's just, like, Avid always does this, and it's just… but he's one of Shelby's best friends, and I know he's not this bad when I'm not around, so it's probably just me. Like, I'm obviously not a vampire because they don't exist, but what if he's right and I am a horrible human being?" This wasn’t good; Scott was spiralling. What does one do in this situation? God, for the first time in Abolish’s life, he wished that his training had included how to actually deal with human emotions.
Abolish wasn’t sure what he was doing or if it was the right thing, but he just placed his hand on Scott’s shoulder, trying to be comforting. Shortly after, Scott moved over to hug him, and after only a little hesitation, Abolish hugged him back. He could now hear Scott silently crying into his shoulder, and before he could think about the optimal course of action, Abolish spoke up again, "My opinion might not be worth much, but if you were to ask me, you're the best person I've ever met. You’re kind and patient, and you look out for your friends. If those are the qualities of a monster, then that’s the only thing I’d want to be around.”
Scott looked up to see Abolish’s face. His cheeks were stained by tears, but when he saw his face, a smile returned to his lips. He looked breathtaking, smiling at Abolish. No, that is definitely not how he should be thinking. He is an agent, a hero of the shadows, and this is not how he should be thinking.
"Your opinion is really important to me,“ Scott said as he wiped away his tears.
"If you ever have to deal with that jerk again, just let me know; I'll be there." Abolish wasn’t sure why he had said that, but somewhere in his brain he knew he meant it. He'd always be there to help Scott.
—————————
Everything returned to whatever weird form of normality Abolish Life had turned into. He kept tabs on Goldsmith to perfection, even if Scott was the more prominent thought in his brain. Writing to the man became a normal part of Abolish’s routine, probably the most enjoyable part of said routine. Over the course of the next two weeks of knowing Scott, the two had met up a few more times. Each one making it harder for Abolish to keep being as emotionless as he had once been. Over this time, Abolish also met the rest of Scott’s friends: Jack, who seemed kind even if he was a nervous wreck, and Owen, who was kind of broody but in a mostly good way.
Abolish was just chilling in front of the cameras on his computer when his phone buzzed. Scott had sent him a voice message: "Hey, I know it’s maybe kinda late to ask, but do you maybe want to come over for dinner? Shelby invited Avid, and it’s just that… God, just forget about it. It’s way too last minute anyway, so stupid of me to ask. Sorry."
Abolish barely had to think about this; he texted Scott to send the address and started getting ready by changing into a not suit before leaving. On the way over to the address Scott had texted, Abolish stopped by a bakery to get some small desserts for everyone to bring along. The only time prior to this that Abolish had been to dinner somewhere, it was for a mission, and the briefing had contained that it was considered basic manners to bring something to contribute to the dinner, most commonly dessert.
The address led him to an ordinary apartment complex. As Abolish looked back on his phone to maybe ask Scott what floor he was supposed to go to, he heard a voice behind him: "You look kinda lost, dearie."
As Abolish turned in the direction, he saw a small old lady standing there with two big bags of groceries. "A friend of mine lives in this apartment; I was just going to ask him on which floor," Abolish awkwardly explained himself.
The old lady seemed to inspect him through her big old glasses before saying, "It's the fifth floor, door to the right. Right next to my apartment.“
"I haven’t even told you who my friend is," Abolish hesitantly stated.
"You didn’t have to, dearie. There is only one apartment in this house that is owned by fellows around your age, and that's Scott and Shelby. I'm guessing you're here for one of them,” the old lady said, while setting down her bags and fumbling with her keys to get into the building.
"Well, since we're going to the same floor, allow me to help you with those," Abolish said as he picked up her bags to carry them for her.
The two took the escalator to the right floor, and Abolish placed down the bags next to her door before ringing Scott’s doorbell.
"Abolish, I’m so happy to see you," Scott said while hugging him, before pulling back and asking, "Wait, how did you know which apartment was mine?"
"I told him, dearie. And next time you come over for tea, do tell me more about this boyfriend of yours,“ the old lady said before closing her door.
"I'm guessing you've met Agatha then," Scott almost apologetically asked.
"She was nice," Abolish said, with a shrug.
"Do come in, though," Scott said as he moved out of the doorframe.
"I hope you don’t mind I brought some pastries for dessert; that is how the dinner convention goes, right?" Abolish said as he took off his shoes.
"I mean, yes. But you really didn’t have to do that,“ Scott informed him. "I mean, this whole thing was incredibly last minute for you; I probably inconvenienced you enough by asking you to be here in the first place.“
"I wasn’t doing anything important anyway. And it's never an inconvenience when it's you," Abolish assured him as they walked into the living room where Shelby and Avid were sitting on the couch together talking. The moment Abolish entered the room, Avid looked at him, seemingly still a bit of fear left in him; that was good; he would probably cause less trouble than.
"Great, since Abolish is here, I'm going to start cooking," Shelby said as she started going to the kitchen that wasn't separate in any way from the living room.
"Is there any way I may assist you?" Abolish offered.
"If you want to help, you could cut up some vegetables; you don’t have to if you don’t want to," Shelby countered.
"I'd love to," Abolish insisted.
Which led to Abolish cutting up vegetables at the kitchen counter while Shelby was cooking. Scott was sat at the kitchen island, mostly just chatting with Abolish, and Avid was standing at the side of the kitchen talking to Shelby. It was going perfectly until the food was ready and they were all eating together when Avid asked, "How did you two meet anyway?"
"We meet at the club,“ Scott stated.
"Really, you don’t seem like the type," Avid said in Abolish's direction.
"I was trying out new things," Abolish stated.
"Is that why you spent time with Scott to try new things?" Avid questioned, and to some degree it hurt, because that was what Abolish had convinced himself he was doing at the start.
"No, I simply enjoy his presence. Is that idea too hard to comprehend for such a small-minded individual as yourself?" Abolish coldly stared at Avid as he talked. Why was he getting so defensive over this? Why was he getting so defensive over Scott?
"Have you guys seen that they made a new Twilight movie?" Shelby asked, trying to change the subject.
"What do 'twilight' and 'movie' mean?" Abolish questioned in his usual manner while turning his attention back to Shelby.
"A movie is kind of like a documentary without the added informational part that shows a fun story. People watch it for entertainment." Scott shortly explained, already used to abolish‘s lacking knowledge of the world and knowing how to best fill it.
Avid looked like he was about to question how Abolish couldn’t know about such a normal thing when Shelby seemed to light up. “And Twilight is this incredible vampire book series written by the famous author Mr M that focuses on, you know what? How about we just watch the first movie tonight after dinner, and you can see its beauty for yourself?”
"I’m down," Abolish agreed; he was kind of curious after all.
After dinner and the dessert that Abolish had brought, which, to his happiness, everyone, especially Scott, seemed to enjoy. They had all set down on the couch. Abolish was sitting to the far left with Scott next to him, then Shelby and Avid to the far right. The concept of a movie was definitely something Abolish enjoyed, even if it was more because he was watching it with a friend. But he had to admit he didn’t understand this twilight thing. It seemed unrealistic and weird to him. Even if Shelby and, to some extent, Avid seemed to love it, and Scott seemed to love that Shelby loved it.
About forty or so minutes through the movie, Abolish felt Scott lying against him, and after a short look to the side, it seemed he had fallen asleep and Scott subconsciously was cuddling up to him. After barely any thought, Abolish put his right arm around Scott and pulled him slightly closer; this movie suddenly seemed to have turned increasingly more enjoyable. And not too long after, Abolish had fallen asleep too. Something that was not natural for him.
Sleeping around other people showed weakness and made one vulnerable, something Abolish had never done before today. But even after he woke up the next morning still on that couch with his arms around an incredibly cute Scott that was sleeping on his chest, he didn’t feel weak. He felt calm, relaxed, maybe even happy. This was probably the best sleep he had gotten in a long time, under conditions where he shouldn’t have slept at all.
—————————
Finally, after four weeks of waiting, Abolish could bring an end to his mission. Lord Goldsmith was at the club. Admittedly, so were the Beast, Pyroscythe, and the Witch, but Abolish was sure he could catch Goldsmith alone at some point and get this whole thing over with. So he had gone to the club so that his face couldn’t be traced back to the murder. Abolish had decided to wear a black fabric mask over the lower half of his face, and after carefully concealing his twin blades, he moved, using his power to hide in the shadows of the club. And luckily that paid off.
Lord Goldsmith left his friends, saying something about still needing to call someone shortly, but Abolish wasn’t listening to the details. Goldsmith was leaving on his own and going to a desolate and empty area of the building. And thanks to Abolish’s abilities, following him was but a child’s game.
Goldsmith stopped in the middle of a room that resembled some kind of lounge area and seemed to be trying to call someone. This was the perfect time; if it wasn’t for the fact that Abolish’s phone was buzzing, damn Scott and his horrible timing, Abolish would just have to call him back later. Now he needed to strike.
Abolish jumped out of the shadows and took a swing at Goldsmith, only narrowly missing the villain, as the other seemed to have impeccable reflexes that allowed him to move back just in time. Goldsmith pressed the end call button on his phone and put it away before saying, "What the hell?"
Abolish did not let this talking become a thing. The more time Goldsmith had, the more he could appropriately react and plan around Abolish's attacks, so Abolish didn’t give him this time; he simply continued swinging. Goldsmith continued avoiding all the attacks and tried his charm once more, "Come on, I'm sure we can talk about this~"
Abolish continued his perfectly executed attacks, and it seemed the villain realised talking wasn’t an option because he started to strike back. Both of the sides were now swinging, neither hitting, but both refusing to be the first person to use their powers to take the advantage in this fight. And Abolish didn’t need it; he had planned it perfectly. He went for a swipe at the chest area, only cutting the cord of a necklace of sorts while he did so. The charm on it fell to the ground, and Abolish was about to slash Goldsmith right along the face with his second blade when he stopped dead in his motions, the blade only barely not touching the villain's face.
"Scott", Abolish hesitantly whispered. What had just happened? He was fighting Lord Goldsmith, so why was Scott suddenly standing in front of him?
The other man’s eyes seemed to widen after hearing the agent's voice, "Abolish“, Scott breathed out.
Abolish wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but he knew something wasn’t right. He moved, kicking Goldsmith – no, Scott – to the wall behind him and pinning him in place with his blades. This had to be some kind of trick to weaken Abolish. He turned his gaze to the floor, trying to regain his focus when he noticed the charm that was now lying on the floor beneath him. A charm that all four of the coven heads possessed.
"A councilment charm, thats how your whole group has always kept there identity’s a secret, the Witch made them,“ Abolish loudly concluded as he looked back up to Scott’s face. Scott seemed guilty or maybe sad. Why was Abolish even still here? He had his target pinned to a wall. he had the upper hand in this fight. He could kill his target. He should kill his target. He should kill Scott. So why hasn’t he? He’s just been standing there like an idiot. Staring at Scott’s face.
"Who are you, Abolish,“ Scott asked in an almost broken sounding voice, one that hurt Abolish, especially knowing he was the couse of it.
"I’m a shadow agent," he stated, looking off to the side. But why? Abolish had never felt bad about what he did or who he was before. This was all that he was. All that he should be.
"You kill people for the hero's," Scott simply stated with no emotion in his tone, "and now you're here to kill me."
Abolish looked back at Scott’s face. “Why aren’t you fighting me anymore? I’ve seen what you can do; two swords and a wall shouldn’t stop you.”
"The only way I'm getting out of this position is by hurting you, and you know it," Scott simply stated, displaying a smile on his lips.
"you know i want to kill you, fight back,“ abolish said coldly. Why did he even care? He should have done it ages ago. He can’t go back to the organisation unless he finishes the job.
"No, just promise me you won’t drag my friends down for this," Scott requested through an almost choked breath. Even now in his last moments, Scott didn’t care about saving himself; he cared about his friends and that something could happen to them. He cared about Abolish’s wellbeing even if he was the one that would be the end of him. Scott was too nice. Abolish had never known why the organisation helped people or why anyone cared about other people. Then Scott just appeared, and Abolish had never wanted every last villain to be scrapped from the face of the earth more so the world could be safe for Scott. But now… he didn’t know what to think.
"Goldy, are you still in here? I can’t hear you calling your lover boy anymore, so get your ass out here. Witch is starting to get worried," the Beast was at the door, sounding slightly annoyed. Abolish had to do it now and then leave. He looked back at Scott’s face one last time and took back the blades from the wall before placing them back in their holsters, freeing Scott in the action.
The Beast broke open the door after hearing the sound of blades from inside the room; as he did, Abolish quickly moved to jump out the window. Abolish heard Scott yelling an exasperated, "Nooooo, don’t," after him, followed by the distinct sound of someone running after him, trying to stop him from jumping. As Scott looked after Abolish, the man was thankfully fine, using his shadows to get to the next building’s roof, only shortly looking back to see a somewhat relieved-looking Scott steering right at him. Scott looked dishevelled, something Abolish had never seen him be before. The Beast was standing next to him and seemed to fuss over Scott.
Abolish turned away and started running; where to, he didn’t know. His mind was buzzing, and none of it was good. He let him live. Abolish doesn’t let people live. What was he doing? He was supposed to be a perfect weapon, so why did he keep malfunctioning when Scott was envolved.