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Neil did not always answer his phone. He was usually lucky to even remember to charge it.
But Kevin did, which made the endless missed calls feel much more concerning.
Neil looked at his phone, Kevin's phone number staring back at him tauntingly. It had been days now. Kevin was nowhere to be found in their dorms, in classes, or even on the court. If the lack of communication set off alarm bells, that last thing set off air raid sirens.
The dormroom door crashed against the wall as Andrew entered, the look on his face telling Neil he hadn't had any luck in his search. He hadn't really expected otherwise, but Andrew wasn't talking it well, storming around the room.
"Nicky and Matt are interrogating any of his classmates they can find." Neil said. "Wymack's calling around the other coaches. I'm just about to call Jeremy." Laying out all their attempts like that felt simultaneously calming and pathetic.
"You think he up and went to California? Alone?"
He didn't. "We've already looked in the likely places. Its possible-"
Neil's phone vibrated in his hand, unexpected enough to make him jump, and nearly as surprising as the caller.
"Jeremy. I was just about to call you. Have you heard from Kevin?"
"What a coincidence, because that's what I was calling you about." Jeremy's voice sounded strange. "I don't usually pry into your... Stuff that you have going on in the foxes, but why is Kevin anywhere near that guy?"
"What? Who?" That Jeremy had seen Kevin at least meant he wasn't dead in a ditch, but Neil didn't find himself reassured.
"You don't know?" Jeremy paused. "I..."
There were muffled noises as someone else took the phone. "Do you pay no attention to the world?" Jean demanded. "The Master has been parading Kevin around all afternoon!"
Something crashed across the room as Andrew kicked a chair over, teeth bared in anger. Neil could relate.
"We'll take care of it." Neil told Jeremy and Jean, before hanging up.
Whatever the hell Tetsuji fucking Moriyama thought he was doing, Neil would make him pay for it.
Kevin's head hurt. A lot.
He sat in the back of the car, next to the Master, and tried not to let it show on his face. He'd had worse. There was no point in whining about it.
"Has your memory improved yet?"
"Only a little."
Kevin's memories were fuzzy, for the same reason there was sharp pain in his skull. The Master said he'd been attacked a few days ago, making him forget even basic things.
"The doctor said it would take time." The Master said, mercifully not angry about Kevin's shortcomings.
The car stopped, and the two of them stepped out. Kevin stuck next to the Master, one step behind. He knew Edgar Allen's campus, remembered day after day of classes, but in his foggy mind it felt less familiar than it should. He'd been feeling that way about a lot of places, but at least the Master was always there with him.
They walked across cobbled ground, accompanied by the Master's guards. The sky was getting dark, and it was quiet, right up until a knife impaled the Master's shoulder.
The attacker jumped back, set upon by the guards in an instant. Kevin didn't have time to react before a hand seized his wrist, dragging him with more strength than someone so short should have.
They were half a courtyard away from the Master, between two buildings, by the time Kevin's brain kicked into gear, recognising the auburn-haired man. He dug his heels in, shoving him away.
"Kevin! We'll deal with this later but we have to go!" Neil made to grab him again, but Kevin dodged backwards, scowling.
"Why would I go anywhere with you?"
Looking at Neil's blue eyes made his memory snap into focus. Over a year ago, Kevin bleeding on the ground with those cruel eyes above him, shattering Kevin's fingers.
Neil looked confused. Behind them, the Master's attacker ran into the alley, blonde and somehow even shorter than Neil.
"Why are you still here?" He snapped.
"Kevin won't come with me!"
"Well he's not exactly making good choices at the moment, is he?" He stared at Kevin. "Don't be difficult, let's move!"
"Why would I? I don't even know you!"
Both of them froze, staring back at him with expressions Kevin couldn't think about too much.
"...What did they do to you?" Neil asked, unexplainably softly.
The blonde's hand gripped the side of Kevin's face, red and grazed from fighting. His fingers pressed against the tender bruises scattered around his head, making Kevin flinch. He snarled.
"I'm going to fucking kill him."
The words made Kevin jolt away, needing to get back to the Master's side. He didn't get far before both of the others grabbed his arms.
"We're not leaving you here." Neil said. "I'm not sorry and you won't thank us later because you're you, but you're coming with us anyway."
The blonde's arms pinned Kevin's to his sides, dragging him down the alley. Kevin tried to get free, his movements only making his pounding head worse.
"I don't care if you remember or not," The blonde said. "I promised to protect you. And I will."
Kevin felt sure he would've remembered someone making a promise like that. This guy must be delusional, then.
They exited the alley and Kevin was shoved into the back of a car. Neil jumped in the driver's seat and Kevin kicked the blonde's chest as he entered, heartrate picking up as his situation worsened.
How long had he been gone already? The Master was going to be so angry.
The blonde pinned Kevin's hands down, halting his attacks. His eyes met Kevin's, and the emotion in them wasn't all anger.
"Neil." He said, words loaded with something.
"I know, Andrew." Neil moved the wheel like it had personally insulted him. "Its fine. Abby can fix him."
"Can she?"
"Abby can fix him."
Kevin's head hurt. His memory was shaky. The Master said that was normal, and filled him in about everything he'd forgotten. But under Andrew's hands, somehow familiar, Kevin realised that he must have skipped something very important.