Honestly Chase didn't know that much better about his feelings anymore than the others when it came to Anti. At first, he wanted nothing more than to blow his brains out and pop him with that pistol right between the eyes. 

But then hearing him cry out like that when he accidentally touched his stitches. . . . 

When he saw him cry, his heart broke. He shouldn't feel this way towards him. Anti had done a lot of messed up shit to all of them, coming after them for no reason.

But now with his memory gone and having forgotten everything he was and did, it didn't seem fair to judge him now. Like he said, he wasn't that person anymore. He was different.

That didn't mean Chase trusted him. But seeing him act so child-like and scared brought out the best in Chase. And seeing him smile and genuinely laugh was something none of them had ever seen before. It was nice seeing this version of Anti.

But he couldn't dote on him like he was his kid or something. He had his own children to worry about. That morning after making them breakfast, he made his way to Stacey's place. He lied about it being time to see them but he couldn't help it. He needed to see Stacey and his kids and warn his ex-wife. 

He pulled up into the drive and walked up to the door. But he heard yelling from inside.

Alarm bells rang in his head and his overprotective nature wanted to take over. Chase leaned over to peek in the window and could see Stacey yelling at someone only for them to yell back and slap her and there was a stunning silence.

Chase's heart rate spiked and his fists clenched. He banged on the door and rang the door bell.

A few moments later, the door opened and a man stood in front of him. He was a little taller but that didn't bother him. They glared at each other and the man snuffed at him, "The fuck you want? Aren't you Stace's ex? Get the fuck out of here, man" he went to slam the door in front of him but Chase stopped it with his foot.

"I'm here to talk to my ex wife . . .. you know . . . the mother of my children? Open the door, asshole"

The man growled at him, "Piss off or I'll call the cops! She doesn't want to see you!"

"Chase?" 

Past the door, he could see Stacey still holding her cheek. She grew brave and gently pushed the man out of the way, "Hey! Come on in. Brady was just leaving anyways"

"Excuse me?"

"She said you were just leaving, numb-nuts, or didn't you hear her?" Chase snarled at him, "Get out or I'll call Jackieboyman. Surely you've heard of him? He's my brother"

Immediately, the man's stature changed and he mumbled an apology and left.

Chase rolled his eyes, "A real winner you found there, Stace"

"Oh can it, Toss-boy" she half-assed insulted him, "You gonna come in or what?"

Chase followed her in and went to the kitchen freezer. She was confused until he took out a package of frozen veggies and handed to her. She snickered, "Still always taking care of me"

Chase took a deep breathe, "I better not see him around here again. He hasn't hurt the kids, has he?"

"No . . . . Speaking of which, it isn't Saturday"

"I know but something came up. Can we talk in the living room?" he gently rubbed his hand over hers that was holding the veggies. They may have divorced but damn it all if he still didn't love her. She deserved better than that Brady asshole. Better than him, too.

"Sure" she smiled, robbing him of clear thought for a moment. 

He followed her in the living room, "How the kids doing in school, by the way? Better than their old man?"

"Oh of course. They get their smarts from their mom" she teased and sat on the couch, "And their good looks from their dad"

Chase blushed and sat across from her in a different chair, "Aw don't say that. They got everything from you . . . . except MY eyes."

She giggled at him, "So. . . . why did you come? What happened?"

His demeanor changed back to serious and he bit his lip, not quite sure how to start this conversation, "We found Anti"

"WHAT!?"

"Not what you think. Although I did have the same reaction."

Stacey lowered the bag and stared at him, "So what's going on? He attack again?"

"No . . . HE was attacked. You heard of that apartment fire nearby the other day? It was his apartment and he was the one injured. Henrik was the one to take care of him and fix him up. Said he split his skull. He's got Amnesia, Stace. Can't remember a thing"

"Oh." she was pretty stunned, "Well I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing, really"

"Tell me about it. It's messing me up bad, babe. . .I mean. . sorry" he should know better than to use that pet name now.

"It's okay. . . ." she reassured, "I imagine Jackie's fuming. So what's going on then? Is he still in the hospital?"

"No. . . . He's living with us"

"Oh my god! Chase! What if he's just faking it!? He could kill you all so easily!"

"I know, I know" Chase hushed her, "But  .  . . You weren't there. You didn't see the fear in his eyes. Believe me, we all had our doubts at first. But he cried so much and even hid behind a damn chair to get away from us . . . .  god, it was just heartbreaking, Stace. He was like a caged, abused animal. He's been doing better now though, I think. It's still weird being around him but-"

"You trust him" she finished, "You were always so soft and forgiving, Chase. I mean that as a compliment"

He snorted, "It's a curse that could end up biting me in the arse"

"Maybe. But if it IS real . . . he'll remember what you all did for him when he gets his memories back. It could still be good, Chase"

"Ya think so?"

"Is this what you came for? My advice?" she called him out with a smile and he couldn't help but cave, "Well of course. Your advice has always been the best, lass"

The laughed at each other before calming down and Chase sighed, "I also wanted to warn you. Just in case things go south. I don't want the kids at the Septic house. I'll come here to see them if that works"

"Of course, Chase. I understand"

"And I better not see that Brady fuck around here again. If I do, I'm calling in Jackie."

"Can't beat him yourself?" she teased.

"Well I'd rather not go to court but if ya WANT me to-!" he hopped on over next to her on the couch, "I can teach that fooker a lesson or two." 

They stared into each other's eyes for a good while, suddenly lost but Chase leaned down to lightly kiss her hurt cheek, "Nobody lays hands on MY family"

They were so close and the air was so intense. Stacey finally gave in and reached up to kiss him on the lips. Of course Chase kissed back. He'd always come running back to her no matter what was in his way.

Anti sighed and grumbled, "I don't like these puzzles"

Jackie rolled his eyes, "Then do something else"

"Like what?"

"I don't know."

"Well then neither do I"

"You can turn on the TV"

"I don't want to watch TV"

"Practice hand signing"

"I did that this morning!"

"Go search on the internet or do something on the computer"

". . . . . .  Henrik told me not to. That it'd be bad for my eyes right now and that I might see something bad"

Jackie realized Henrik's reasoning and agreed, "Alright. . . . Look, man I don't know what you want"

"Tell me about my past!"

"Why? And why ask ME of all people!?"

"Because you don't give me bullshit. You tell me the truth no matter how harsh. And I want to know. Please?"

Jackie groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. His head already ached before but now after this it was going to be pounding.

"What do you want to know?"

"Did I have any friends?"

Jackie swallowed but looked over at Anti. He was so curious as if waiting for a story his parents would tell him before bed. It was almost adorable how attentive he looked at the moment.

"Honestly, I don't know, Anti. We didn't know that much about you to begin with. You were always just either trying to hurt or kill us. But I think you used to have a frienemy sort of relationship with Dark"

"Who's Dark?"

"He's uh . . . He's a different ego derived from Sean's friend, Mark. He's. . . . sort of evil, himself. Or rather. . .manipulative"

"And Sean is our . .  creator, right?"

"Right."

"I don't remember anything about Dark. And he must not have been that great of a friend if he hasn't tried getting a hold of me. Man, I was just really a prick, wasn't I?!"

Jackie bust out in a laugh, "Ahaha! Uh . . y-yeah"

Anti grinned, seeing Jackie laugh but it faded, realizing the truth of himself, "I wonder if he'd want to be friends now. . . ."

"I wouldn't. Just keep away from him. He only ever uses people to get what he wants."

"Okay. . . are there any other Septic egos besides the ones I've met?"

The hero hummed but shook his head, "Not that I know of. I mean. . .  technically we didn't know about you until you breached yourself out of Sean's mind. . . so I guess it's a possibility?"

"Okay . . . . What did I do to you, Jackie?"

Everything seemed to still but Jackie wasn't going to hold back, "You hurt my brothers. Nothing you could do to me would hurt worse than hurting those I love. And that's what you did. You possessed Sean and tried to kill him. You possessed Henrik and tried to kill him, making him choke on his stethoscope. You also possessed Jameson, turning him into a sort of puppet. . ."

Anti flinched at that word and it didn't go past Jackie but the glitch egged him further, "W-what about Chase and Marvin?"

"You scarred Marvin's face and tried to kill him and you possessed Chase and tried to kill him and his family."

Anti swallowed something thick down his throat. His heart felt heavy.

"But it's like you said before, Anti" Jackie grabbed his attention again, "You're not that guy anymore. You're different now, right?"

Anti nodded, "But. . .but what if I DO remember and. . . . and I don't care? What if I go . . .evil again?"

Jackie held no remorse, "Then I'd ki-. . . ." but he stopped, truly looking Anti in the eyes. 

He really was so different. There's no way he'd just lose this part of himself, right?

"I don't know, Anti. . . Hopefully it won't come to that"

Anti glared at him, "Don't give me that crap, Jackie"

The hero blinked in surprise but he continued, "If I do go back to the way I was before. . . . If I do end up trying to go after you guys again. Don't waste your time. Kill me. I'll want you to. Please?"

He didn't know how to respond to that. Jackie gave him a look but Anti held his gaze, stern.

He blankly nodded to appease him but really he wasn't sure anymore if he could do it.

The tense atmosphere died down a bit and Anti went on to ask another question.

"Can I come with you to my apartment tomorrow?"

"I uh . . I don't know Anti.  I-"

"I'm back home!"

They both jumped to see Chase coming into the living room. His hat was backwards and he had a grin on his face, "Hey guys! Looks like you two are playing nice! Anything on the case, Jackie?"

"Oh uh . ." Jackie suddenly remembered. He almost forgot what he did that morning, "It was a weird day, I guess. They're trying to drop the case. I was going to go to the apartment tomorrow and see if I can find anything."

"Thought you were doing that today?"

"He came back home looking weird" Anti told on him, "He said he was on his way to the apartment but blacked out and came home instead"

"You little-" Jackie glared at him, "It's fine, Chase. Don't worry about it"

"Oh I ain't worrying about nothing" Chase grinned wide.

" . . . . . . Chase" Jackie smirked at him, " . . .Did. . . did you get some?"

He bit his lip and smiled even wider, nodding.

Jackie snickered at him, shaking his head, "You better have worn protection, dude"

"Yeah, I did! I'm not stupid, bro!" he rolled his eyes.

"What are you guys talking about?" Anti couldn't be more confused as to what they were saying,  "What did you get? I don't understand."

They couldn't resist but to laugh at poor Anti's confusion and innocence. 

That was something they'd tell him later.

Now Jameson was always the observant ego, watching and listening to anything and everything in the house. He was so quiet, that he could practically be invisible.

He heard Jackie come back home and peered from the kitchen to see the glazed look in his eyes. Until Anti snapped him out of it, that is. There was something familiar about how his eyes looked. Staring into nothing. Being controlled.

Wasn't he supposed to investigate further on the fire today? He told Anti he must have just came home on instinct, deep in thought but both Anti and Jameson both knew that was bullshit. Even if Anti didn't know why. 

Jameson could tell something was up. He's been in that same daze when Anti possessed him.

But seeing as Anti was clearly not capable, something else must have targeted Jackie. But why?

Jameson went up to his room undetected. He'd talk to Henrik when he came home from work. Jackie may have brushed it off but something didn't feel right.

The man sat in a chair, staring at a mirror floating in the middle of the room. 

On the mirror was the picture of what was happening through Anti's eyes. They were still connected so it was easy to tell where he was. But he couldn't wait too much longer. It's been almost a week. Too long.

Soon, he'd have his puppet back and all the power that resided within him.

It was a mistake to retaliate on him like he had but there was nothing he could do to fix that. He couldn't turn back time. Yet. In his panic he started the fire to just get rid of him completely, but he forgot how much he still needed him.

Hearing Anti and the other's laughter, stung him. He hated it. 

He couldn't wait until they were all dead at his feet. Even Anti, eventually when he no longer had use for him.

The man snarled at how much Chase looked like Sean, his stupid smile and happy-go-lucky laugh in that moment.

After he killed them, Sean would be the next target.

They'd all get what they deserved.