Greyson wasn't sure if he could ever get used to the sight of dead bodies.

It didn't matter how they looked. Whether they were twisted and turned into a human pretzel like last time or if they were lying down on the ground with a pool of blood below them, they would always make him want to turn around and throw up. Once he would see them, he would find it hard to forget what they looked like. He could still vividly remember the last three cases, and he had to stop eating a few times whenever they flashed in his head.

But Viktor didn't look like he was dead.

He was lying on the ground, with not a single scratch in his body or a twist in his limb. The rain had stopped pouring moments ago, allowing Greyson to brush his superior's hair away from his face. Viktor's red eyes, one that Greyson always thought was so vibrant and full of color, were closed, and there was a smile on his face.

Viktor didn't look like he was dead. He looked like he was asleep.

Greyson's gloved hand reached for the cellphone on the ground and pressed the red keypad on it. His thumb shivered as it lingered on the button. But the only thing that greeted him was a black screen. It wouldn't be surprising if the rain and its age destroyed it somehow. He placed the phone inside his pocket and stared at the ground.

His heart ached in his chest, and tears fell down his eyes. Unfortunately, he couldn't sob. He wasn't sure if he had the energy to do so.

Footsteps from his left made him turn around. The first person that he saw was Anthea, with Embers landing on her shoulder. Behind her, Azul followed. Anthea's steps slowed down as her eyes widened, while Azul stood next to him.

Azul was silent. He stared at Viktor's body for a while. Then, a sigh left his lips as he scratched the back of his head. "S- Seriously, Vik? You're- thinking of sleeping now?" A chuckle left him. It sounded bitter. "This is why we shouldn't have done a night mission. Come on, get up. I'll let you sleep in the car."

Even though Greyson was certain that Viktor wouldn't respond, a part of him hoped for a reply. That, by some miracle, Viktor would wake up and then respond with a clever comeback. That he would be bickering with Azul again while Anthea healed him.

He didn't know why he held onto that hope. Because it immediately turned to dust when Viktor didn't reply.

"Viktor, come on." Azul lightly kicked Viktor's arm. "I'm not- I'm not going to carry you. You're heavy. Get up."

When there was still no reply, Anthea took a deep breath and knelt down. Embers flew off from her arms, then landed next to Viktor. "It's fine," Anthea said as she placed a hand on his chest. "He just needs a bit of healing. Give me a minute to calm myself. Everything's going to be okay."

Greyson wiped the tears from his face and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Doctor Anthea..."

Anthea's hands were shaking when she removed her gloves. Afterwards, a soft pink glow emitted from the tips of her fingers. Though the moment it appeared, it flickered away immediately. She took a deep breath once again and pressed her hands together, as if in a prayer. But like before, the light only flickered away. Her hands fell to her side, and she hung her head.

Embers whined. She grabbed Viktor's sleeve, tugging him to get up. When he didn't move, she whined again and bit his ear this time.

But Viktor still lied down. Not even his chest moved.

"I'm sorry, Viktor," Anthea whispered. "I don't think I can heal you this time."

Azul turned around and punched the wall in front of him. "Goddammit," he muttered. "Son of a... goddammit!"

"Can anyone hear me?"

Greyson's eyes widened when Lucinda's voice spoke on his radio. He had forgotten that it was working without Deimos around. He grabbed it from his pocket, then pressed the answer button. "Mom?"

"Greyson, are you with anyone right now?"

He nodded. "Doctor Anthea an- and Kuya Azul are with me. And Kuya Viktor... he's..." Greyson's hand shook as he held the radio tighter. "He's..."

"The three of you should get down," she replied. "The cops are here."

"The- the cops are here?"

"Apparently, Lucinda called them a few hours ago just before the signal became weak," Azul replied with a scoff. "Should have known that she was planning something."

Anthea grabbed her own radio and replied, "We'll be there in a bit, Lucinda. Give us some time."

"Alright. Take care on your way down."

When the radio became silent again, Azul was the first one to leave. He didn't even say a word. He simply went out on his own, his steps echoing in the halls the only indication that he was still there.

Greyson pushed himself up to follow, but not even a step later he fell to his knees again. Every part of his body felt heavy, and his legs didn't have the strength to continue walking. Exhaustion dragged him down, cuffing him in place. Next to him, Embers flew up and landed on his chest. Even though her scales warmed him up, they still felt somewhat cold.

"Hey," Anthea said as she helped him get up once again. "I won't be able to heal you for now, so take it slow, alright?"

"Al... alright."

Anthea nodded. Greyson held onto her hand, then casted one last glance at the old room. "Goodbye, Sir Viktor."

With that, Greyson tightened his grip on Anthea and followed her out. The entire time they walked, the only sound that broke between them was their footsteps echoing in the empty halls. Not even Embers made a noise.

By the time they got down, Greyson placed his hands in front of him to shield himself from the numerous lights. He didn't see it on the top floor, but police cars lined the entrance, and an ambulance accompanied them. Their headlights were on as they blared at him, mixing with the red and blue colors that flashed in his eyes.

Once his vision adjusted to the brightness, the first thing he noticed was a medical tent from the DUO propped up.

"Don't move!"

Greyson turned to the source of the voice. Officer Tayla's gun pointed at the three of them. Greyson raised one arm in the air, while the other held Embers in place. At the corner of his vision, he saw Anthea and Azul do the same.

Another officer came towards them. Her pointy ears twitched as she scanned them from head to toe. She grabbed Greyson's raised hand, before doing the same to Anthea and Azul. Then, she took a step back and turned to Officer Tayla. "They're clear, ma'am."

Officer Tayla placed her gun back in its holster. "Send them to the tent, then send the others to investigate the lab. I'm not letting the Furies get out of my hold this time."

The cop nodded. Like what Officer Tayla said, she led them towards the medical tent. As soon as he reached it, Greyson fell to his knees again. Embers growled when she fell down on the ground, and she flew onto one of the beds and curled herself into a ball.

The cold crawled in Greyson's lungs, wrapping it in a tight grip. He wanted to blame someone or something, but he wasn't exactly sure who. He wanted to pin it on someone, but the only thing he could gather from his head was that everything was a mushy mess.

Could he still tell the Investigation Squad that he was planning to quit?

"How are you two feeling?" Anthea asked as she turned to the beds at the end of the tent.

Greyson didn't see it earlier, but Ciel and Lucinda were both sitting up on the beds. Ciel's shirt wasn't on his body, letting Greyson see the bandage wrapped around his stomach area. When Greyson turned to Lucinda, a bit of energy surged inside of him again. He stood up from the ground and ran towards her, then grabbed her in for a hug. His mother returned the hug, and she buried her face at the crook of his neck.

"M- Mom," he said, flinching when his voice cracked. "Mom, I..."

"I know," she replied as she tightened the hug. "I know."

His hands gripped her loose hair. Greyson hated the fact that he couldn't cry or sob. He hated the fact that he was just silent. Even when tears fell down his eyes, they felt fake. He was just tearing up for the sake of tearing up. Viktor was gone. Viktor was dead. And the only thing he could think of was that Viktor was another victim of an unnatural death.

Was this how his coworkers felt whenever they had to investigate murder cases?

Greyson sat next to Lucinda on the bed, and he watched as Azul and Anthea sat down on the other beds as well. Silence passed between the five of them, with the only occasional noise being from the medical team. Even Embers was quietly asleep. The medical team passed down warm bowls of arroz caldo, which Greyson slowly ate. The warm rice porridge thawed some of the cold inside of his chest.

It was a while until he heard voices from outside the tent. Greyson's ears perked up, and he faced the entrance. Sedah and Simeon were talking to Officer Tayla. Their voices were too low for Greyson to understand what they were saying, but it was clear that Simeon was angry. What he couldn't tell was if he was angry at Sedah, or something else.

Then, Sedah entered the tent with Simeon behind him. Sedah opened her mouth, though just before she could say anything, Simeon stepped in front of her and scowled.

"The five of you dared continue this investigation without letting us know?" he began, his voice low. "Do you have any idea how irresponsible this decision was? Now look at what happened. Your superior is dead, and the Furies got away!"

Sedah's brows furrowed down as she held onto Simeon's shoulder. "Simeon, stop."

"What happened is that we managed to find Demon and kill Zeus while your branch was busy looking for cursed artifacts," Anthea spat back. "Viktor's death was an unfortunate cause, but we managed to do more in one night than you ever did in five days."

"You think you found Demon?" Simeon's scowl deepened. "You didn't find Demon, you got him killed! I should have known that Draconis was Demon. The Intelligence Database would have been able to handle this exchange better!"

Azul scoffed. "With a shit-for-brain like you as their leader, I highly doubt that."

"Watch your mouth, Thief." Simeon shot Azul a glare and pointed a finger at him. "You've been nothing but a nuisance ever since you joined the DUO. Don't think you can raise this squad better than what Demon could do!"

Azul blinked his eyes a couple of times. "Thief," he whispered. "My code name is 'Thief'. You named me after what happened ten years ago, and you called our superior a demon. Did I get that right, Sedah?"

"I..." Sedah bit her lower lip, and she hung her head. "Yes."

It felt like Greyson's heart stopped in his chest, and he held his breath. It never truly registered in his mind that Viktor was Demon. All he knew earlier was that Viktor all of a sudden had Zeus's mark on his face. Now, his head spun with the overwhelming information in front of him.

"Whatever." Azul placed his feet on the bed and leaned his back on the tent. "I don't even know if I can be angry at you all right now. Congratulations, Sedah. You just broke me."

"Azul—"

"Watch your mouth, streetrat," Simeon spat. "Don't think that because your first in command is dead, you're immediately taking his place. You're just—"

Like before, Greyson didn't have a chance to register what was going on. All he knew was that he saw Ciel jump down from his bed. He didn't even get the chance to blink before Ciel punched Simeon on his face, right in the middle of his nose. Simeon groaned as his head threw back, and a scream left him as he held his nose.

Ciel slowly caught his breaths, and he held his wrist. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to my brother like that."

Simeon's lips curled back as he gritted his teeth. "You little—"

"Simeon, that's enough!" Sedah snapped her head in his direction, and Simeon flinched back. "Diyos ko, I told you to not follow me here."

Then, she lifted her head and sighed. There was no smile on her face, no light in her eyes. It almost looked like her ears drooped down, too.

"I'm... sorry," she said. "I know that nothing would be able to fix this mess. For now, please get some rest, all of you. You're all getting a fourteen-day off after this. Take all the rest that you need. Simeon, we're leaving. Now."

Before she could turn around and leave, Greyson jumped down from the bed. "M- Miss Sedah, wait!"

Sedah stopped and turned to him. Greyson slightly shivered when her eyes met his own, but he took a deep breath and reached for the phone in his pocket.

"Kuya- Sir Viktor said he's sorry," he said as he gave the phone to her. "He didn't say why, just- just that he's sorry. He and Zeus, they're in there. Were in there. But I- I think the phone's broken now."

Sedah's eyes softened as she raised the phone closer to her. She placed the phone inside her pocket and smiled. "Thank you, Greyson."

"And I'd like to quit the DUO as well."

The tent fell into silence, and Greyson swore that he couldn't even hear his own breathing. When none of them said anything, he repeated, "I'd like to leave and quit the DUO. I don't think I'm suited for this job, I'm sorry."

"Quit?" Simeon blinked his eyes a couple of times. "I- Why would you quit? You're a talented child, Greyson, your talent's just being wasted in the Investigation Squad. Maybe if you move to the Intelligence Database—"

"Simeon, will it kill you if you stay quiet?" Sedah turned to him and shot him a glare. Simeon opened his mouth, as if to say something, but closed it and took a step back. Then, Sedah turned to Greyson once again and sighed. "I understand, Greyson. I'll see to it that you'll be able to leave in time."

Greyson nodded. "Th- thank you."

"Of course."

With that, Sedah left the tent with Simeon right behind her. If anyone from the Investigation Squad wanted to question Greyson and why he wanted to quit, they didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if he could answer them, either. He lied down on one of the beds and closed his eyes.

"Us people in the DUO, especially the Investigation Squad, have two choices when at crossroads," Viktor said to him when he first joined the Investigation Squad years ago. "Follow orders or abort missions."

Greyson felt a single tear fall down his eye before he drifted to sleep. Maybe things would have been better if they had more choices than just those two.

I want to apologize to all of you for what I did. It was very wrong and I am very sorry. I just would like to move on and lead a normal life. You know, get a job, find a guy that would be willing to start a slow burn enemies and lovers arc with me where it'll take us five years to realize our love for each other and then in the end he would propose to me with a pin that he pulled out of a grenade, and change my ways. And I hope this apology impresses you, even though my readers made me do it and I don't really mean it. I mean I do mean it.