TW: Jacob's Dad is literally Satan, I'm so happy to have this chapter out cause it's based on a true story. Mentions of CSA, angst, emergencies, extremely happy ending. Let's get some closure in here.

"That was hell," Steven mumbled weakly, grabbing Connie's hand. "I really hope there's seats so I can sit."

Jacob tossed him an apologetic look. "First seat is yours, I promise."

Hazel chuffed and readjusted one of the three bags his Main polycule had decided they couldn't live without which included everything and every kitchen sink every faction owned. "Really adored that full pat down TSA gave me and Connie. Feeling very welcomed in the country of my birth."

Connie smiled wanly. "I get my passport triple checked every time. That's the Midwest for you. It's why we decided Beach City was our final destination and why we politely coerced you into staying. Because the world outside of it is like this."

They walked in silence for awhile, trying to quell their nerves about such a big trip and how it would affect Jacob. When they'd been approaching graduating Nova he'd gotten to be more serious, but after things got better for him he'd bloomed back into their silly best friend and incredible lover in even better ways. But it seemed like he was caving in on himself again, it couldn't be ignored that his brows were furrowed and such a young man had worry lines appearing out of thin air.

"You want me to have a turn?" Jasmin asked carefully as they passed the food court. "I don't mind."

Jacob laughed, trying to sound cheerful but instead sounding dry and fed up. "Of worrying? Never, my love."

She'd meant carrying the bags. Jasmin didn't even know how to respond now with how dark his eyes had gotten. She'd gotten a shitty night of sleep to no fault of his own. He'd been awake and still staring at the ceiling all night, she could tell in the way his breathing got shaky every once in a while that he was dealing with something she just couldn't relate to. Something deep inside of him was ripping him apart, his monster maybe. The bags under his eyes were dark too and he looked miserable to no end.

She glanced back at the rest of them and they looked just as worried. It was better they didn't try to whisk away the intensity of the moment with light hearted banter, some moments just needed to be heavy.

The second they sat down Connie reached in her second carry on for Stevens weighed blanket. He sighed and pulled it over his shoulders a bit more, promptly falling asleep on her shoulder. "Airports and government officials make him nervous," She explained. "They tend to want something when they realize who he is."

They hummed their understanding, but there was nothing they could grasp to keep the conversation going.

Alex sighed, wishing he had the social charisma to say something other than, "I wish I could just worry for you."

Apparently he was underestimating himself again, because Jacob broke out of his disassociative spell a few seconds later to chuckle. "I'm grateful you don't have to." He glanced around at the empty area and then at the boarding time. "S'odd, no one's going to London at such a beautiful time of year?" He was trying, they knew he was trying so hard but he couldn't keep the sadness out of his voice. "That's a real shame, it's the perfect temperature, though we use Celsius like smart people do."

A joke! Even as downtrodden as it was, it was an attempt Connie recognized from her own husband. "Hey, ours makes more sense. Zero is cold, less than zero is really cold. 50 is medium, 100 is hot."

Jasmin smiled thankfully. "It's the fucking Europeans, they think they're better than us."

"Don't get me started on how Jacob indoctrinated me into liking leaf water," Adam sighed with a small laugh. "I always swore I'd hate it forever. Now he makes me a cup every morning."

A tight lipped smile appeared on Jacob's face and he hummed airily, a sound of adoration for the people around him. It was such a relief that they sagged with it, the building tension releasing a bit.

"I like it when he says really British things that make no sense," Anna giggled and scavenged her thoughts. "Oh! One time he said something about a car bonnet and I was totally clueless."

That caused a more genuine laugh, though Jacob's eyes stayed staring thousands of miles away. "On it like a car bonnet, love. Means I've got it handled."

"Okay, but what the fuck is a car bonnet?" She countered.

Hazel grinned. "I feel like we're gonna get there and someone's gonna talk to me and I'm not gonna have a clue what they're saying and panic."

Jacob leaned back in his uncomfortable seat, trying to smile at Jasmin when she leaned him back up to place her pillow behind him. "Alright. I should probably give you guys a bit of a peek into common talk around my parts, yeah?" Three of them blurted he didn't have to if he didn't want to, but he shook his head. "It'll give me something to do besides feel... cream crackered."

Jasmin giggled. "Okay, I haven't heard that one before but context?" He nodded for her to continue. "Bad? Miserable? Depressed?"

Jacob snorted and shook his head. "I guess that could work, but I was looking for 'extremely tired'. No points for the wife." She groaned but took the blow just to watch some life seep back into him. "Alright, Ni. Your British Nonsense Phrase is... 'Dogs dinner'."

She blinked, pausing rubbing Stevens head to think hard. Thinking games were always an easy win for her, but usually they weren't speaking in foreign terms. "Could you use it in a sentence?"

"That's cheating," Hazel pointed out, ignoring the indignant scoff. "Minus ten points."

Jacob inclined his head. "Hm. One could say Hazel made a real 'dogs dinner' of Connie's turn."

Her eyes lit up. "A mess! Dog food is messy, right?"

He nodded. "And a point for Ni. Alex is up, yours is 'Over-egg the pudding'."

The man smirked. "Over exaggeration. I've heard you say that when I was arguing with your wife and I googled it."

Jacob's eyebrows rose but he allowed the win. "Tickles me that you guys have to google translate me sometimes even when I'm speaking Original English. Anyhow, Adam, you ready?"

He nodded curtly. "I'm fluent in multiple languages, I can probably make an Englishman guess."

Jacob hummed. "'Give me a tinkle on the blower'. Used to hear that all the time from Tiff."

Adam's jaw dropped and he reddened as the rest giggled at him. "I-I'm sorry but I can't make that guess in an airport."

Jacob giggled too. "Means to call me. Zero points. Maybe you'll get it next time, chap. Anna you get... oh, this is a bit mean, but if I tell you someone is... 'hot-showered'?"

She focused hard, playing with both of her Daddies hands. "They're uhm... horny?"

"Nope! Actually that was a bit of a trick question. It technically means 'drunk' but we like to use any past tense words." Jacob's eyes focused a bit more and he grinned. "I could say I'm car-parked, or river-walked, or wall-painted and it would all mean the same thing."

She laughed cheerfully and shook her head. "That's actually really funny."

Steven stirred from his nap and grabbed Connie's hand. "My turn."

"Nuh uh, baby boy," Hazel protested. "I'm fired up now that Adam lost."

"Since you're cocky, I'll give you one of my favorites none of you have ever heard: 'Pants'."

Hazel sat up to stare at him. "This is a trick question again." Jacob flashed him a thumbs up and he sighed. "Can you use it in a sentence?"

"Right, so you can use it in a sentence but I can't," Connie complained. "Minus 50 points for making a real dogs dinner of your pride."

Hazel burst out laughing, all of them thrilled when Jacob did too. "Alright, you two. That's enough. Your sentence is, 'That is pants'."

Hazel grumbled, "Has anyone ever told you how helpful you are?"

"Not a day in my life, mate. Hurry up, tickers a tickin'." He tapped his watch and Hazel scrambled for an answer.

"This is garbage, man," He groused. "I'm being targeted!"

To his surprise, Jacob nodded. "I'm almost a bit miffed, that means annoyed, that you got that one! A point for Hazel."

Steven opened his eyes again to lock eyes with Jacob. "I'm gonna lose."

The glint in Jacob's eyes confirmed that but he shrugged. "Yours is... gosh I'm running out of them... Wait you'll actually need to know this since it's the UK: 'A brolly'."

Steven chuckled."I don't even have a guess, I just like hearing you say British things."

Jacob rubbed the back of his neck as a minor blush painted his cheeks and looked at the clock in front of them. "I made sure of all you packed one, an umbrella, which sounds a bit the same. It shouldn't be too rainy but it's never a bad idea to have one with you. Maybe it's selfish but I hope it does just for a bit." His eyes watered a bit and the moment of cheerfulness evaporated. "I miss the rain sometimes."

*

The flights were full of sleeping and pills to help one do that so their sleep schedules would be accustomed a bit by the time they got there. It wasn't a huge jump, but the slight tick would help them be a bit more aware for the already sleeping Jacob. He passed out the second the got on each flight and were settled, his emotional turmoil exhausting him preemptively of the coming hell he was about to face.

Jacob startled awake and grabbed Jasmin's hand. "We're close."

She glanced out the window, seeing open ocean. "I'm not so sure–,"

"We're looking at around 30 minutes into our descent into London. Seatbelt signs have been turned on, we hope you've enjoyed your flight with us."

Jasmin's eyes watered for no reason and she squeezed Jacob's hand. "Never mind then."

Jacob moved up the armrest and pulled her into a hug. "Hey. I'm gonna be okay."

She nodded, not believing a word he said. "Okay."

Walking into the Britain airport was like walking into a new world. What felt like dozens of dialects and all kinds of people milled about, but then they saw the band.

Sometimes they completely forgot; music was kind of their natural love language and state of mind. It was easy to forget it was a job when they had so much fun.

That was not the case here.

The entered and people gasped loudly, pointing at the band and whipping out their phones.

"It's TiBNAALD!" A young girl cried, notably too young to listen to 90% of their music. "Blimey, this is incredible!"

"Don't they have a private jet?" Someone asked.

Steven gripped the straps of his backpack. "That's really bad for the environment. Jacob really wanted one though." He moved out of the way as Jasmin and Jacob and Alex walked out a bit late but clasping hands and smiling.

Multiple security guards ran to the small sector suddenly crowding with people as they cheered and screamed their excitement.

Jacob face dropped into confusion. "What's going on?"

Adam laughed and nodded to the crowd. "You're home, Jacob."

He was suddenly being cheered for and worshipped, and he looked completely mystified if not a little pleasantly surprised. "I forgot we were on the top albums list for Toxic Ex here." Someone begged him to sign something, and then everyone was begging for an autograph from as many of them as they could.

It took a significant amount of time to get out after that, especially with Alex suddenly having to call connections for security. "No, I know it's last minute and in another country but I need you to listen to me: If anyone gets kidnapped, assaulted or raped it's your ass, Purple." He glanced at this friends mildly impressed expressions. "Right. Thank you, that's what I like to hear. I'll send the address, you send your best and you get a nice check. Everyone wins."

Anna grinned. "I've never seen you do it in front of me before. You're scary."

Alex fluttered his eyes as if the very idea were hilarious. "Oh honey, you should've heard me when we wanted to visit Paris."

Steven giggled and nudged him. "You should try to be a bit nicer to our employees, Alex."

He hummed, texting the address but flashed a dry smile. "I'll do what I please, and be gentle where I can. And here's the limo."

"Why?" Connie asked dubiously. "Why cause more attention to our arrival?"

Alex looked up, blue eyes holding humor. "Why don't you ask Jacob?"

They looked to Jacob, who was staring at the bits of Britain he could see. "I wanted you guys to have something nice before things got... not so nice."

They smiled grimly and got in.

Even the architecture was a little different to them, it seemed more sophisticated than America. Pubs and diners littered the heavily populated downtown type area. And the bars, there were so many bars. People walked about and joked just like Americans, but coffee shops were seldom not somehow tied to tea. They passed one called "Coffee and Tea Please" and Hazel laughed as he pointed out another, "Cross Your Teas."

Jasmin groaned at Jacob as he giggled. "That's so corny. Is that why you're so silly?"

He kissed her so deeply the rest of them cheered him on before he pulled away. "Sure."

Jacob gazed out the window and sighed one of the happiest sounds they'd heard in days. "It's so good to be home. I have so much to show you."

They unpacked their things quickly, thrilled with the better mood he was displaying. He was smiling and joking around with the security and making them laugh with not a single bit of American in his accent. It seemed Jacob was back to his old self if not a lot more cockney than usual.

Walking through Camden Market made him the happiest. He glowed so hard Steven glanced at Connie and raised a concerned eyebrow. "You see it?"

"We all see it," Adam muttered. "Big smiles, big smiles."

"There used to be an apple stand there," Jacob told them nostalgically. "I'd run through on my way to the bus in the mornings and grab one. Shopkeep hated me until I started limping by." He seemed to be reliving the moment, eyes tracing the path he used to run. "He was good to me after that. I wonder where he went."

Jasmin glanced up at the umbrellas covering the market in case of rain and grinned. "Brollies, right?"

He gave her a dazzling smile. "Right on, you're getting it."

Hazel skimmed the waterfront he could see, covered in docs filled with seating. Every one had an umbrella, and weirdly it made him smile. "It's really beautiful here."

Jacob blushed for some reason and glanced back balefully. "It is. This shop here, my father took me here... sometimes... those times were tolerable." He shook his head as if to clear the hate from his head. "They were nice. Really nice."

"You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to," Connie reminded him. "We're just happy to be here. There's so many bookstores too."

Jacob's sights landed on Adam, eyes scanning the crowds carefully. But of course, the second Jacob glanced at him he met his eyes. "What's up?"

Adam shrugged. "I have unfamiliar place anxiety. I'm on high alert."

Jacob scoffed playfully. "This is a busy spot, no one's going to kidnap you here."

Alex cracked a smile. "Will they kidnap us in your neighborhood?"

The Brit raised an eyebrow, then both. "Oh, blast it. I forgot I really only told you guys my trauma story, but not where it took place." His eyes darkened. "Can we wait a day?"

Alex nodded quickly. "We can wait forever. We don't even have to go."

Instead be brought them to a school and got out with wide eyes to stare up at the entrance. "This is where I went to school, or at least did most of it."

It was a pretty modest building, but the fence around it rose high. A brick entryway towered over even Steven, the sign above it reading, "North Bridge House Prep School."

Anna read the sign right next to the school aloud, "Criminals beware, you are entering an area forensically protected by SmartWater." Her eyebrows raised. "That's really smart."

Jacob nodded. "It's relatively safe here. Not as many heinous crimes as America, but people are a lot quicker to look the other way."

Adam grabbed his hand and squeezed. "No one's looking the other way this time. Who were your friends?"

"Elizabeth, Ashley, and..." He frowned suddenly. "Shit, can't recall. Maybe Harry.  Regardless, they were good to me until High School."

Steven matched his expression. "What happened at High School?"

Jacob spread his arms in a contrite shrug. "I got popular. I was funny, I was hot and I knew that." He smiled and kicked the ground. "I was an everyone's man. A... hm, I suppose one could get away with calling me a fuckboi, though it never got back to me if they were. We just drifted apart."

Anna snorted and crossed her arms teasingly. "It sounds to me like people just liked you, Jacob. Any embarrassing school stories to tell?"

"Not from here," He laughed. "In High School, my body count doubled. I was mad as a hatter, so maybe there were more than a few times I got caught messing around on school grounds. Embarrassing even the fifth time." Jacob anxiously glanced at Jasmin, who stared up at him curiously. "S'all behind me now."

She giggled and swatted at his arm. "When you quintuple it, then you can feel embarrassed about it."

He chuffed and tried not to think about his teens. "That won't be happening because I love my polycule. I'm living the best love story there is, I swear it." He turned a bit to gaze over them all. "I'm so glad you guys are all here. You're making it really easy for me. Thank you."

Hazel smiled. "It's our duty and we wanted to come really really bad. We're more than happy to accompany."

"Come on then," He exclaimed, walking past them back toward where they parked. "We're not done. Back in the cabby."

"It's a limo," Adam corrected with a coy grin. "Li-mo."

Jacob giggled. "Oh, piss off."

Adam pretended that was the hottest thing in the world and groaned. "I love when you're mad at me in British."

Connie watched the buildings pass as they took off, but turned to Jacob with a knowing smirk. "He likes when you talk dirty to him. Really gets him going."

"Watch it," Adam warned, rolling his eyes and staring at the sky through the skylight. "Don't think because we're in Britain that I won't give you a good old fashioned American Pounding."

Jasmin chuffed at Anna. "Clearly there's some rivalry there."

Anna nodded and grinned when the two boys glared at each other, but were quickly intercepted by Steven and Hazel pretending to break them up from a fight. It was familial to see them kidding around again. "Big time. Adam's been after everyone since their last rendezvous."

"He's pissed cause Jacob made him make such a big mess and then I fucked him stupid afterwards," Hazel added with a wink when he glared at him.

"Congrats, you're next."

Hazel was unfazed and told them cheerfully, "He started crying out in Spanish!"

"Oh, don't start that again," Adam pleaded, struggling against Steven's grip experimentally and noting the tiny bit of give he had. "Don't do the Spaniards like that."

Steven shrugged. "I think it's Connie's fault, language turns me on." He rested his head on Adam's shoulder and sighed. "I can't stop thinking about something I saw at Camden."

Connie smiled at him and rubbed his back as she let her eyes drift shut. "Oh?"

"There was a girl at a stoplight looking really really sad, and for a second I thought she was being kidnapped cause someone ran up behind her. But it was just some guy, and she started crying and he hugged her and then kissed her. It was so romantic." He sighed as his heart swelled and felt Adam's heartbeat quicken against his lips. "It just makes me happy that love is everywhere."

Jacob took notice of where they were and gasped sharply, staring out the window hard. His earlier excitement melted away into horror and he lost most of his color. "Stop."

Alex looked up from his phone. "I'm sorry?"

Jacob was already opening the middle divider. "Stop the fucking car, now!"

They screeched to a halt and he flew out and took off, running at an alarming speed down a street with them on his tail.

"Jacob, wait!" Jasmin cried, picking up speed as best she could as a partial asthmatic. Steven dropped to get her on his back and continued on.

They lost him for a good moment. The streets intersected and a what seemed like a million identical houses lined every one of them.

Connie skidded to a stop and glanced to the left, then right. "Holy shit that kid is fast," She panted. "I-I remember this street."

Alex caught up and scowled. "You've been here?"

She walked off to the right, her eyes closed as she furrowed her brow. "We had just gotten done with a really good punishment fuck, and without thinking I asked what his childhood home looked like. I tried to take it back but he shushed me. It was just like all the other ones apparently: square, brick, white window panes."

Anna looked ahead of them. "Like those ones?"

Hazel found them and smiled tensely. "That wouldn't be a far shot, baby. There he is."

Jacob was leaning against one of the brick lot fences staring up at the apartment looking complex blankly. "It's exactly the way it was 7 years ago," He told them as they surrounded him. He pointed to the door blocked by the fence in front of him and his lip trembled before he forced it still. "That's the door I used to be free of this place. Just hopped the fence. I-I don't know what I expected to feel but... it's mine now."

That was the ins and outs of this trip. Jacob's father was to meet them sometime on their trip to hand over the master keys. He was moving to America, he'd fallen in love with the childlike wonder of it all. It had made them sick to hear it described like that.

"I guess we can do this now," He said with a crack in his voice.

"We don't have to do this, Jacob," Steven reminded him, pulling him into a warm hug. "This is your trip, and you don't have to show us anything you don't want to."

Jacob shook his head and pulled away to fix his hair. "If I don't do it, I might not ever." He sniffled and took a hesitant step. "I have to do this now."

That tone was final, so they followed him back down the road. Apparently these houses preferred back entry, which Jacob joked about weakly. The air got cooler and warmer at the same time, humidity making their skin break out in a cold sweat. What would they see?

Jacob knelt and lifted the welcome mat to grab the key but hesitated putting it in the lock. "What am I doing?" He turned the knob and pushed it. "It's never shut."

When the door opened he gasped and stepped inside, leaving enough room for them to crowd in behind him. "They..." His eyes traveled to the front door, and then the dining room table. Wrapping his arms around himself, he took a few more steps in. "It's exactly the way I left it."

The front door still had the old t-shirt he had discarded the day before he left. The couch was still a little catty-wampus from Jacob shooting up to nearly punch his father. Cups and glasses filled with various kinds of now throughly fermented or evaporating alcohol were everywhere, even a few empty plates. The dining room table was covered in a powdery substance, dust, but under that...

Jacob swiped a finger through it and chuckled sadly. "The bitch kept doing it until the day she was brought in, ey? She probably didn't move a millimeter for days after I left."

"Are you okay?" Jasmin asked quietly. "You... you don't sound okay."

He raised his eyebrows as if that were a ridiculous and surprising question, then flipped the table rather suddenly with no violence to it.

"Don't touch that," Hazel blurted, eyes locked on the little baggies taped to the bottom of it. "That's–,"

"The Devils Dandruff, Snow, Blow, Cocaine," Jacob finished, untaping one anyways. He tipped his head and moved the bag around in his hand curiously. "This was what she loved so much more than me. It's strange how I never fell in love like she did."

Connie pursed her lips. "You've done Cocaine?"

Jacob ignored her and looked down the hallway as if he'd heard a voice. "I wonder..." He dropped the bag where he stood to go follow it and gripped a knob three doors down. "Please, God, don't let me walk in here and find everything–," He pushed it open and rested his head against the doorframe heartbrokedly murmuring, "The exact same."

If they'd ever doubted just how deeply Jacob had anger, it was immediately alleviated. Massive holes were punched in the walls, and smaller dents accompanied them. The ceiling fan was ripped to pieces in the corner, the desk seemed like it had simply been kicked so many times it had broken into firewood. It was a fairly big room, but it felt smaller with his pain literally etched into the walls.

The only two things remotely intact was his bed, and two framed certificates hanging on the wall next to it.

Alex moved before he could think and stared up at them. "First Class Honors. That's... Suma Cum Laude." He made eye contact with Jacob. "You were one of the smartest kids in your grade."

Jasmin joined him and looked at the other certificate. "The smartest kid, by the looks of it."

Connie's eyes widened. "Is that–?"

"A formal certificate." Jacob was trembling, but he tried to keep himself calm by explaining further. "I happened to decline giving the speech as I prepared to run to the airport. I was too busy trying to escape before–," The words died in his throat and he knelt in front of the bed. "I'm sorry. I'm so emotional."

Steven knelt with him and rubbed his back. "Hey, none of that. It's normal."

"The bedsheets are the same you know," Jacob continued on brokenly. "Washed of course before I left but... this is the same place."

Jasmin's entire body went cold. "Jesus, Jacob. I actually don't think this is... healthy.  At all."

Adam was doing his very best to just observe the room as it was. The wall next to the bed had distinct and dirty fingerprints stained into it, obviously not belonging to a child. The men's pants next to his bed almost made him throw up, but then he caught a glimpse of a box tucked under it. "What's that?" He hadn't meant to sound so overly serious, but it came out that way anyhow.

Jacob leaned away and pulled it out, arms shaking. "Leave me."

As much as they felt they shouldn't, they walked out and shut the door behind him at his request.

Anna looked over at Adam with wide eyes. "I... That kind of box is never a good box. You know with the little silver square for labels? Lid on top?"

"Definitely bad news," Adam agreed solemnly. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Connie patted his shoulder. "Jacob would've found it anyways. He's not doing good. I don't think this is going to help."

Alex had long since put away his phone and was wringing his hands nervously. "It's probably just old photo albums and pictures. That's all it is."

Stevens eyes started to glow and he sighed in frustration. "Let's hope so."

Connie kissed his hand. "How are you doing? Triggered at all?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded. "This isn't about me. I'm here for whatever. Good, bad or–,"

Jacob retched and Adam kicked the door back open to see him shaking and wailing into a garbage can and the contents of the box in a mess in front of him. He screamed in pure terror and Jasmin ran to hold him while he had a full fledged panic attack.

As soon as her hands tried to run at his back he flinched and cried harder, wailing, "Don't touch me!"

She recoiled and burst into tears. "Steven?"

"I'm on it." He let out a low breath to try a speed psychic ghost connection as the rest went through what he'd found. It felt way more like violating him than they would've liked, but apparently it needed to be seen.

Connie pulled her hair back and tucked a bobby pin into her mouth to make sure Jasmin's hair stayed when she put hers up too. "Actually Steven, can you summon gloves from back home?"

He stilled and focused the burning urge to glow into pulling something from across the world in his bubble. He had bubbled gloves after cleaning the bathroom because he'd been lazy, but as they fell into his hands he couldn't have been more grateful. "Got them." He was exhausted and now aching, but handed Anna the box. 

Anna passed them out and pointed the boys toward Jacob, pulling out a stack of pictures. "Oh my stars." She dropped them and started to cry. "Fuck, Jesus Christ!"

Connie rifled through what was on the floor and gasped, turning away and setting it down upside down. "He didn't. No one is this evil."

Jasmin and Alex's eyes were locked on the video camera with horrified teary expressions and Jacob screamed again. "I'm scared!"

He sounded so young suddenly, and Adam sat in front of him longing to touch but unable if he was so triggered. "Jacob, you have to breathe. You're here with people who love you." His voice cracked. "Listen, just cry it out. We're here."

Jacob gagged again and sobbed until his lungs were practically flat from the force of them. Nothing made sense. Touch felt like assault, like rape. He couldn't tell right from left, only that he could smell Oliver on the pictures. The box itself had opened and it smelled like him, but the pictures... Those videos... "Oh god, Adam, why would he keep this here for me to find?! I don't understand! Why does he hate me?!"

Connie blinked the tears out of her eyes and turned off the part of her brain with feelings, sensing Anna do the same as they organized the pictures into piles and re-rubber banded them careful not to damage them.

"We have to be careful with this stuff," Hazel said, dropping down on a knee to motion for a picture. His eyes stayed in one place, locked on the eyes of a child with tears in his eyes, flushed with terror. "This is evidence." He turned away and sucked in a shaky breath to stop the contents of his stomach from making a second appearance. "What's on the camcorder?"

Jasmin shook her head and shut it, slumping until her forehead pressed into the bed. "I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with mild grapes."

Steven tensed. "Plural?"

She nodded and set the camera back into the box delicately. "There are a lot of videos and photos on it. It's high grade, lots of storage and there's nothing else but–," She broke down and shook her head, signaling she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"We have to turn this in," Anna murmured after she'd gotten over the initial shock. "We have to turn all of this in."

Jacob dropped like a ton of bricks and started seizing right then and there. Jasmin screamed his name and tried to get him to stop with no avail.

Hazel dug out his phone and hesitated. "I don't know the number!"

"Look it up!" Jasmin cried, trying to keep him from hurting himself. "He's having a seizure!"

"Don't you think we know that?" Adam snapped, digging out his phone and typing a number. "You're the doctor's kid, Hazel! Steven were looking at some possible medical intervention here!"

Steven snapped out of his freeze response and knelt to try and figure out what to do. "I'll do what I can." He kissed over Jacob's forehead but there was no effect apparently, no shimmer of confirmation. "Damn it! Not now, this cannot happen now! Jacob, please stay!"

He was completely unresponsive but Steven didn't stop trying. He carefully collected him into his arms and tried to cry, which wasn't very hard. Jacob continued to seize, his lips starting to turn a bit blue. "It's not working... He's suffocating."

Anna ran out to check the address and Connie packed everything back in their boxes, trying to leave as little DNA as possible and thanking her lucky stars for a half alien husband. Hazel was sobbing into the phone saying his boyfriend was having a seizure and took a few deep breaths as Anna ran back in with the address.

The ambulance team burst in what felt like seconds and hours later, just as Jacob started to convulse harder and started administering anti-seizure medications and muscle relaxers. "He's choking, someone get some Valium, it's not stopping!" She turned a sobbing Jasmin and Alex. "Hey, we're here to help and I need you all to calm down, okay? He might be able to hear you, you might be freaking him out worse."

The other opened his case and told Anna to hold his arm while he administered the IV. The first EMT declined quickly, flipping him onto his stomach to see if she could drain his throat with little luck. She flipped him again and checked his pulse. "We've got a rapid heart rate, go!"

The vein rolled but the EMT got it in easily the second attempt and pumped Jacob full of a clear liquid. "Come on, mate. Don't clock out on us now."

Jacob didn't respond, but his seizure began to lessen and then he lay quietly, eyes closed and no longer fluttering. He was more visibly blue.

Everything went still.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Steven mumbled, stumbling off to find somewhere to do that. He found the kitchen and heaved hard, turning on the water and trembling at full force. Someone rubbed at his back after awhile and he shook his head, dismayed at the glowing pink.

"Ey up, we're taking him in. You wanna follow the rig, we can escort," The tallest of the EMT's told them.

So they rode in their limo at 90 miles an hour mostly crying as Connie clutched the box with all her might. "He is going to death row if I have to be the prosecutor myself," She swore darkly. "He will never see the light of day again."

"Already looked it up. They don't have the death penalty here," Anna said, typing away at her phone. "Abolished in 1998, but the max sentence for child rape is life." Her eyes were still full of tears but she squeezed Jasmin's hand hard. "We just have to figure out if this is still valid."

Connie grunted as they jumped over a speed bump. "That statute of limitations is usually ten years, but we can still turn this in."

"You guys are a good team," Adam mumbled, bouncing his leg as his temper started to boil. "We have been driving for seven minutes, how far away is this fucking hospital going 90 miles an hour?!"

Hazel squeezed at his shoulder. "He's already in good hands. He's gonna be okay."

Adam just clung to him and broke down.

*

"Good news and bad news," The nurse said as she walked in. "Good news is it wasn't Epileptic, it's a mental health caused condition called PNES or Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. They are real seizures and can be real serious. We got him hooked up as soon as he came. Bad news is we're lucky we did. He had another." She sat and regarded the group seriously. "Camtown PD will be here shortly, that's who you guys asked for, yeah? Can you tell me a little about what happened?"

Everyone looked to Jasmin, but she pressed her lips together. Alex couldn't speak at all. His hand found Adam's and he squeezed. Adam took a moment and nodded. "We were revisiting his childhood home, we were supposed to do it t-tomorrow."

She nodded. "Was that a traumatic place to be by any chance?"

Adam nodded quickly. "He was a mess from the moment he walked in. He hasn't been here in over 7 years."

"Camtown PD I'm detective Bender, this is my sergeant Max," A petite but serious brunette woman introduced as she waltzed in with a partner. "This the kid?"

"He hates being called that," Hazel blurted. "His name is Jacob."

She tipped her head and gave the other cop a curious glance. "Are you guys Jacob's mates?"

They shifted, unsure about sexual orientation politics in the UK but shook their heads. Adam spoke again. "More than that. Jasmin's his wife."

She raised an eyebrow and a look of recognition spread across her face. "Wait, I know you guys. You're TiBNAALD, aren't you?"

"This isnt relevant," Connie growled. "We asked you here because Jacob found this, and it sent him into a stage 10 mental breakdown. He was screaming and throwing up when we found him." A blank look overcame her face as she relived it. "He was so scared."

She took the box and gave Connie a wary once over before opening it. It was silent as she went over the pictures by moving the box around and then nodded to the doctor. "Have any Marigolds?"

She nodded and handed them both a pair of gloves and Bender took the pictures out carefully, unwrapping and scrolling through them. "Blimey, this is god-awful."

Max took them and scowled, his stress lines deepening. "Are these of Jacob?"

Steven started crying again but nodded. "That's him as a kid."

"The cameras last video is from 2013," Jasmin elaborated, silently willing Jacob to wake up. "Is he going to wake up?"

The nurse nodded. "He's just drowsy from the benzodiazepines the medic team gave him. He'll be woozy for a bit, but his heart is stable and there's a good chance he'll be able to talk with you guys if not a bit slurred." She stood and excused herself politely, leaving them with the cops resealing the box.

"Mind if we at the PD take a gander?" Max asked gently.

"We know that this had to be a traumatizing thing to watch him go through," Bender told them. "But we are going to catch this criminal and put him away for as long as we can."

"Oliver Olfax," Alex uttered in despair. "His father raped him for 12 years."

She held up a hand and squeezed his shoulder. "It gonna be okay. We've got it from here. Sergeant Max, if you would?"

*

Jacob's eyes fluttered open and he shifted, unsurprised that his entire body was sore to no end. "I swear it's like every time a breakdown happens they get more dramatic."

Jasmin leapt up to hug him but hesitated. He was hooked up to so many things: metal plates taped to his head, an EKG machine, blood pressure cuffs, headset monitor and an IV... The sight made her ache inside. She was terrified. She froze with indecision but Jacob wiggled his fingers at her and she grabbed his hand. "How are you feeling, my love? We were so worried. I thought I was going to lose you."

He shell shocked her by smiling. "I feel so much better. I feel dog-walked from the drugs, but I'm actually quite alright."

She exhaled in relief and kissed his hand again and again. "I guess we don't have to see your mom then. What a major bummer that is. Oh well! We can go to the pub instead."

Jacob lifted a bit and winced, but tried to play it off as well as he could. "She's actually here. Father's probably with her too as he always is." He looked to them all and sighed. "I'll check myself out as soon as they say I'm not dying or something."

"You had a full on seizure, just not epileptic," Steven told him. "It was chaos but they ended up catching your – your second seizure."

Jacob tried for a laugh. "Does someone have my phone? We should take a picture and caption it 'Why you don't skip therapy to eat ice cream and hotbox your car'."

Adam unburied his face from his hands. "And look where that got you. I'll never forget the way you went pale and silent, Jacob."

He sighed and settled back in. "More reasons to get a shrink Mr. My Traumas Not Big Enough."

"Seizures are my threshold." Adam stood and joined by Jasmin's side, taking his gaze and following every wire to every machine he was hooked up to. Fights, battles, entire World Wars were going on behind his eyes and his lips wrinkled with the effort not to break down.

Jacob reached out with his other hand. "I'm not too pale to hold your hand now though, right?" They locked eyes and he gave Adam a pleading smile. "Be a bit of a double standard, in my opinion."

Adam grabbed it and squeezed, trying to be hyper aware of the strength his hands possessed. His other wrapped around Jasmin and she sighed into his shoulder brokenly. "Do we have to go?" She asked Jacob softly. "Do you have to torture yourself?"

He nodded, a messy head of hair growing messier. "Just one more time. I need the pain more than I need the comfort just this one last time."

Steven grunted. "Fuck, is that what I sound like sometimes?"

Jacob raised his head. "Steven, come here."

Adam and Jasmin moved away to let the giant and Jacob have their moment, and Steven surprised everyone by shrinking down to a more reasonable height of around 6'2. "Hey." He grabbed his hand and ran his thumb over his fingers.

Jacob blushed and interlocked their fingers. "Sit with me for awhile. Please. You understand me and I need you." He tapped his temple. "In here. To talk."

Steven took a deep breath and nodded. "Mind if we do it in more of a way that I can directly help you? I can tell you're in so much pain. I don't wanna see the brave face."

He nodded and Steven leaned over to murmur something in his ear and Jacob smiled, tears falling down his cheek before a massive, brighter than usual flash of pink.

And then there was Jaden.

Nurses and Doctors ran in a panic to the room thinking a glitter bomb had gone off but skidded to a stop at the miraculous fusion sitting there with a forever smirk.

"Oy, you guys got any crisps? I'm famished." Jaden then turned to the others and winked. "Means 'chips' on Yankee terms."

The main doctor approached cautiously. "You're not Jacob..." She peered a bit closer. The thing about Jaden was that he was a perfect mix. He looked both identical to Steven and identical to Jacob, and they both had similar features to begin with. It was miraculous. "Right?" The poor woman looked six seconds from a seizure of her own.

"Long story short; yes, with exceptions. Mind if we check out?" He nodded to the cables and for a second his face dropped into dead serious. "I am saying I'd like to leave, and I'm going to."

She turned to walk back out in a mission but Jaden snapped his fingers and she spun back when it echoed.

"Come here," Jaden urged.

"Jaden," Jasmin warned at the mildly hostile look in his eyes.

He nodded to the nurse warmly. "Thank you. You've done us a good deed. You will be repaid."

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "You're a strong chap. Chin up."

Unfortunately once he'd been officially discharged, the hardest part was not over. He looped right back around and asked the receptionist where he could find Tiffany Olfax and provided an ID. "She's up in ICU, room 888."

Jaden looked back at the band and smiled, eyes growing glassy. "What an appropriate number."

The ascent was silent, full of holding hands and loving, encouraging looks. Jaden appreciated having his own pack stomping up the stairs behind him. They maybe could've fit into an elevator, but he had his endless nervous energy to burn.

It was right at the top of the stairs, and sure enough Mr. Oliver Olfax sat next to Tiff's bed singing hymns to her. He heard them approaching and sighed, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Jacob and his friends are here."

She hummed, rattling and frail. "Bring the little bugger to me."

Oliver nodded. "Partial restraining order. I have to go, love."

Tiff hacked and waved a dismissive hand through the air. "Bah! You deserved it you skeezy perv! No matter what any of that God stuff says, you're still a sick and terrible man."

To their surprise, Oliver laughed. "I'll see you later, Tiff."

He moved from her head, not expecting Jaden to punch him so hard he fell flat on his ass clutching at his jaw. "Who're you?"

Uh oh, that clicking from him didn't sound good. Jaden looked on mercilessly but held out his hand to pull him up. "Take a good look, Oliver."

He squinted then raised his eyebrows. "Is this that fusion business? With the alien kid, yeah?"

They expected him to lash out but he dropped his hand. "Get lost or go missing. Steven's rich and powerful enough to get away with it, Oliver. He has what the Americans call Diplomatic Immunity anywhere he steps foot. Spend some time outside, enjoy nature. Go to..." His tone softened suddenly, they were putting out each others' fire. "Go to church one more time."

Oliver blanched and got up to shuffle away, but not before Adam stuck his foot out. Oliver stumbled and Adam gasped as if he were surprised. "Are you okay? Why don't us boys walk you out? You seem a bit off kilter."

Oliver nodded, trying to smile gratefully at him. "That'd be swell."

Hazel joined by his side and they exchanged a dark look that made Anna come up to them. They looked like they expected her to warn them off, but she squeezed their hands. "Come back in one piece. Don't get caught. That's all I ask."

Adam nodded and smiled a smile of deceit right at Oliver. Anyone who didn't know him would follow him right off a cliff. "We're just happy to be here. After you."

As they left Jaden heard Oliver ask Adam, "So you're the boy who he used to mention in college, yeah?"

Jaden's face turned red as he stared after them. Jacob revealed a secret and Steven must have loved it because they broke out in a smile. "Yeah. That long."

"Jacob."

They turned, content to be called that if it made things easier. "Mum." He pulled up a chair and sat, hesitating before grabbing her hand. "How long did they give you?"

"Days, hours, minutes, it's all pants," She grumbled. "You're looking at me wonky, always did have your father's eyes, the old scum."

Jaden chuckled and pushed his hair back. "I'm being made aware how much you look like my friend's mum. Or you used to."

Connie nodded a little. "It's all in the face."

It couldn't be denied. Her button nose and big eyes, the thick lips and plump cheeks held a sort of grace about them even if all of them were ruined by Everything Cancer. Her skin was ashen and waxy, and her eyes had sunken into her skull so far it was more than a little alarming. Her hair that Jacob told Steven used to tumble down her back in obsidian waves was all gone now.

Jaden motioned for the rest of his partners and his wives. He almost laughed, but his mouth was so dry it would've sounded like a cry for help. Or water. "Mum, this is my gang of kickass boyfriends and girlfriends. And my wife."

Tiff eyed them cynically. "Boyfriends? I see you're still a little fag."

That more than offended them, but Jaden shook his head. "She's in pain, she's dying. Let her have her anger." He locked eyes with Tiff. "She has nothing else."

She shifted, raising a thin eyebrow. "Your granny always told me to stay in heaven as long as I could. I did what I had to do."

"You were such a good mom to me for around three years," Jaden continued on as if he hadn't heard her, glancing at Connie pointedly. "I held onto those memories every day he raped me. You remember that, right?"

Tiff sighed. "Of course I do. I heard you crying every night." She looked past Jaden to see Connie holding up her phone camera. "Taking him to the federals, yeah?"

Jaden seemed conflicted until Jasmin and Alex came closer to stand with him. He looked to them for comfort and they rested their hands on his shoulders. He nodded. "It's not been too long. I can maybe still get my closure."

"Husband stealing slut."

He went silent, clearly and visibly hurt as his head dropped and he started to cry. "I remember hearing you those nights when you rejected him, and told him to..." He dropped her hand and tried to recompose himself. "You told him to just take it out on me. I never told anyone that even when I told them everything because I wanted so badly to love you but... I don't want to love you to anymore."

Tiff's eyes shut and she sighed, almost sounding... happy.

"I don't want to need you anymore."

She coughed a few times, but didn't move much else.

Jaden pressed his lips together and took a shaky breath in. "I'm glad you hated me so much that I ended up at Nova, thank you for telling me about Nova because I have more people that love me more than I know what to do with. I'm blessed without you. I just... wanted you to know that."

Tiffany smiled and reached for his hand again. "S'all I ever wanted to hear."

A doctor rushed in with a nurse and started checking her vitals. Jaden watched her heart race at a steady 100 beats a minute, slowly declining.

Jasmin pulled Jaden into a hug. "We should go."

He stood and stared down at what would soon be the corpse of the woman who birthed him. The woman who used to make cookies with him and sing him songs. The woman who'd breastfed him a year too long because she loved the connection. The woman who'd called him every horrible, hurtful thing under the sun and sold him out to his pedophile father. He tried to feel something but relief, and found a tiny bit of grief. He was going to miss this awful person, just a little bit. "Goodbye, Tiff. I hope Hell isn't too hot, I know cocaine addicts run warm."

And they left, trying to ignore the dial tone that drifted down the hall after them.

Jaden didn't un-fuse for the rest of the trip. They spent some time on the water thinking about death and talking about it while he sprawled out on the boats floor to soak up the sun. His hair practically glowed with it, he looked like a son of Apollo. His freckles dotted his arms and legs, dusting over the bridge of his nose from cheek to cheek and lifted with a smile.

"Melanie Martinez has a song, Death," He told them, tears falling down the sides of his face instead of his cheeks. "It's beautiful, at the end she breaks through from her past life into her new one. She spreads her wings and breaks apart the umbilical cord and shoots out of the grave in a new body."

"Death is an inescapable blessing," Adam murmured mostly to himself. Connie was finally dressing his wounds. He had nasty cuts from punching Oliver right in the mouth, once for every time he'd heard him deny he was a pedophile and lie to his Jacob. He and Hazel had beat the living hell out of him, their disgust knew no bounds and thankfully Jacob had been right: people turned a blind eye. Anna dressed Hazel's knee because he'd kneed Oliver in the mouth for begging for mercy when he had never so much as given Jacob any. He remembered the way Jacob had cried when his Dad visited out of the blue, and his physical pain would never come close to Jacob's. Ever. Adam caught his eye with a smile in his gaze he couldn't emote. "It's closure for everyone. It's balance."

Jaden started up at the vibrant blue sky, cloudless like he was feeling. Free, burdened, light as a feather. His body lifted off the floor and he giggled. "You're so poetic. Do you miss Steven and Jacob?"

He wasn't asking it to make everyone uncomfortable, but from the ask it was clear it did.

Connie spoke carefully. "They're losing themselves in each other. It's okay, it was a hard experience and we love having you around."

Jaden shut his eyes and sighed. "But?"

"No buts."

Jaden smiled a little and spread his arms. "Come cuddle with us on the dirty boat floor and stare up at the boring sky."

They gladly accepted.

*
It wasn't over, the trip could not be ruined and Steven insisted they go to what was Jacob's favorite place to eat.

Slowly, the laughter and joy crept back in. What had happened had... maybe traumatized them a little, but it was nothing compared to the victory of being called back by a detective who wanted to take the case to a higher level and get Oliver for Endangerment of A Minor, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, the whole works. They had enough evidence and DNA from the pictures to make a case with heavy connotations of an easy win. Unfortunately Jacob would have to appear at a conference to testify, but that didn't matter right then.

"I feel so fancy," Anna said with a regal wave. "I feel cooler than every American ever."

The rest scoffed but Jaden beamed. "There you go! This is why we're cooler than you guys. Good food, cool places, less crime, more fun."

Connie rolled her eyes. "Maybe I'll have to take you guys to my great Aunts house one day. Try some food with actual seasoning because newsflash: salt is not a spice!"

Hazel giggled and nudged her. "Why not India?"

She laughed. "I plea the fifth."

Jaden caught her eye and smiled big at her, just like Steven would and she blushed heavily. "What's the matter, love?"

Adam sighed. "And here he goes..."

Jaden ran his fingers through his hair. "All these good looks overloading your mind, Mine? Have I gotten too handsome?"

Jasmin threw a protective arm in front of her. "Leave NiNi alone! She's trying to eat!"

"Aw, it's quite alright. I'll just stare," He said, doing exactly that.

Alex sighed for a very long time and sulked, slumping in his seat. "What if...? Ugh, what if I ask for a kiss in order to like, protect Connie from your hotness or whatever?"

"AWWWW!!!" Connie stuck out her lip and placed both hands over her heart. "Alex, that's so kind of you!"

"Gross, now I don't wanna do it," He grumbled.

Jaden kissed him anyways. "Oh hush up, you'll live."

And that's what they did. They lived.