(VIC)

I find myself in the training room up until the sun's down. I managed to punch the crap out of the punching bag, not even putting gloves on to protect my knuckles. The only thing that stopped me from punching a hole in the bag was the sharp stinging my knuckles felt. I look down at the bloody, split, and bruised skin. 

"Vic, what the fuck are you doing in here so late?" Tony walks in and stops in my eye line, crossing his arms, glaring at me. His eyes flick down to my hands and his expression softens. "Vic, what happened?" He sighs, walking over to the aid kit. 

"Just got a bit carried away, that's all," I mumble, following him. He sits me down on the bench and cleans the wounds. I ignore the stinging and take a deep breath. 

"People who just get 'carried away' don't make their knuckles look like this," he answers, wrapping bandages around them. 

"I'm fine," I grumble. "Did you find anything?" 

He nods and stands up to put the kit away. "He has an associate, but this person is clean until you check his past. It was covered up by someone- someone good at this," he explains. "Here, I'll show you," he holds his hand out. I take it and he helps me up. We jog over to his office and he opens the laptop. 

"Here," he turns it so I can see the screen. "His name is Sebastian Danzig... Kropp." 

I blink and turn my attention to Tony. "You mean like Remington? Is there a relation?" 

"Brothers, two years apart. I sent a notice to get their youngest brother, Emerson, to a safe house. Vic, you know what this means right?" 

"What, that evil runs in the family?" I mutter, staring back at the screen. Tony was right, on paper, Sebastian Kropp is perfect. Businessman, no record, not even a speeding ticket. But you scroll further, and you see a psychopath. Only a few people can find this information, so whoever's helping him hide this, must be an experienced hacker of some sort. 

"What if we found who hid this information? All the incriminating stuff, I mean." 

"I did, I followed the patterns and found," he hands me a file, "this man." I open it and stare at the picture. 

"Ronald Joseph Radke?" I mumble, reading through the file. 

"More commonly known as Ronnie. He, on the other hand, has a very long record." 

"Domestic violence, multiple drug charges, multiple rape allegations... None of this screams 'I'm a hacker about to hack your systems and kill you,' does it?" 

"No, which is why I had to dig even further. And I found this," he flips the pages and points directly at the known associates. 

Jeuse Bostwick. 

Tony gives me a look. "Are you going to tell Kellin?" 

"I have to, don't I? He deserves to know about this," I let out a long sigh. Tony places his palm on my back. 

"I can come with you, maybe ease the pain a bit?" He whispers as if Kellin is in the room next to us. 

I shake my head, staring down at the file. "It'd just make him more uncomfortable, I'll do it alone," I answer, picking up the file. 

~~~

"Kells?" I knock on his door. 

"Vic?" He calls back, I hear a thud and he opens the door. "Ow, fuck," he groans and rubs his arm. 

"Oh, baby. What happened?" I gently reach for his arm and inspect the forming bruise. 

"I hit my arm against the fucking doorframe," he sighs. "You're back early." 

I purse my lips and gesture for him to sit down. He gives me a look before slowly sitting down. "Tony found something," I start. "You remember Remington?" 

"The one that nearly got Justin and Nick killed?" He answers sarcastically, rolling his eyes. 

"Yeah, well he has a brother, Sebastian. And he's just as dangerous, and flew under our radar until now." 

"So... What are you trying to say? Are you leaving?" He asks in a worried tone. 

"No, Kellin, I won't leave you, I'm just- Okay, Sebastian was hidden because of this hacker named Ronald Radke." 

"I'm not following. Are you saying I'm supposed to know him?" 

"No, Ronald is an associate with your father." 

His expression goes cold. I sit next to him and reach for his hand. "Kellin-"

"So, you're saying that this really is all connected?" I feel his hand start to shake. "My father is the reason why Justin will never play bass again? He's the reason why Nick is scared is scared to be alone?" His voice goes rough. I pull him into a hug, holding the back of his head with my hand. 

"We'll find him. He won't get away this time," I whisper. He buries his face into my shoulder, holding me tightly. 

~~~

"Alright, so far, we know that Ronald, Jeuse, and Sebastian are out there, they are our main priority." Jaime paces around the room, reading the files.

"So how does Taylor fit in?" I speak up, mindlessly running my fingers through Kellin's hair. He stares up at me from my lap. 

Tony smirks at us before going back to his screen. "She probably pissed someone off in the gang." 

"So that's a good reason to want her dead," Jaime adds. "But only if they know about it." 

"What about Emerson?" Kellin speaks up. 

Everyone turns their attention to him. 

"Damn Vic, you always get the good ones," Jaime mutters. Tony chuckles and starts typing. 

"What?" Kellin gives me a look.

"It means you're on to something," I whisper.

"Emerson used to be friends with Ms. Jardine," Tony reads aloud. 

"So how do we know that Emerson is working with them too?" I ask. "I mean, otherwise, how would Tay know about their little gang?" 

"Well, it says that Emerson and Tay had a falling out seven years ago. Tay joined the gang five years ago. It wouldn't match up."

"Unless Sebastian used the falling out to his advantage," Kellin says. "And before she knew it, she was forced into her job." 

"That makes sense, also, Kellin, what the fuck?" Jaime narrows his eyes. "Are you sure you aren't an agent?" 

He chuckles. "Nah, guns and stuff confuse me," he shrugs. 

"And that," I laugh, "is why I will never let you touch a gun." 

He pouts and sits up. "Maybe I should become an agent just to spite you," he narrows his eyes, grinning. 

"If you do that, I swear to god I will shut down the entire system," I groan. He giggles and sits up, pressing a kiss to my forehead. 

"I have to meet Alex in the library, if you guys get stuck on something, don't hesitate to call me," he winks. 

"Isn't it sad that he has never had any training, but he's just as good as us?" Jaime groans. I hear Kellin laugh as he leaves the apartment. 

"Are you ever going to tell him the truth?" Tony mumbles. "About his dad." 

"Why should I? Kellin already hates that bastard anyway, why does he need more a reason to?" I roll my eyes. "Come on, let's figure out Emerson's roll in all this," I sigh. 

(KELLIN)

"Hey, Alex," I whisper, sitting down next to him. I stare at his face when he doesn't answer. "Are you okay?" 

He shakes his head. "Can we go somewhere else?" He mumbles. 

I nod and help him up. We find our way to an empty hall. "What's going on?" 

He sighs and wraps his arms around himself. "I guess I've just been worried about you recently, I mean, you don't join us for stuff, you stopped answering your texts. It feels like something is happening that you aren't telling us, and I've just been worrying and you know," he trails off. 

"Alex, nothing's going on with me, I've just been busy recently, homework and such," I answer, giving him the best smile I can manage. 

"Well, Nick was released today. Justin gets released tomorrow, maybe you should join us," he shrugs and stands up. "If something's going on... You'd tell me, right?" 

I nod, the little voice in my head screaming "LIAR!" But I just nod and smile. "Of course." 

He gives me a look like he doesn't believe me. He lets out a soft sigh. "I have to go. I'll see you later," he says before walking off. 

I turn and see a flash of black. I narrow my eyes and stare behind the door. I walk over and open it. 

"Stop-" a voice speaks. I hear a click and I put my hands up. "Close the door," she snarls. I nod and kick it shut with my heel. 

"Tay- what the fuck? Are you stalking me?" I put my hands down. 

She lets out a short, harsh laugh. "As if. I'm gathering intel, and you're in my way." 

"Well, sorry. What are you trying to find out? My life?" 

"Fuck off," she grunts. "Now, either you fuck off, or I kill you." 

I shrug and put my hands in my pockets. I feel my phone and try and type in my password. If I remember correctly, Vic was the last person I texted, and I didn't close the app. 

"Well, what's it going to be?" She asks, holding the gun with both hands. 

"Well," I feel the phone vibrate, which means I messed up the password. 

And then I realize, I could just use my fingerprint to open it. 

Fucking dumbass.

I let out a sigh. "I mean, I could go away. But... You're always following me," I speak. I start frantically typing as best as I can. 

She rolls her eyes, but her eyes catch the clock and she curses softly. "Fine. You'll never see me again. Just fuck off. Don't get caught up in things that you don't understand," she says before shoving me aside and rushing out the door. 

I pull my phone out and groan. 

Kellin: jrko ray osjurd

Vic: Kellin?

I groan again. 

Kellin: Nevermind.

Vic: Get over here.

Vic: It's important. 

Kellin: Okay

I shove my phone into my pocket and run out the door as fast as possible. Vic's never sounded so... Urgent. 

I hop into my car and drive over, I might have run a stop sign, but at this point, with everything going on, Vic could have a gun pointed at my father- or god forbid- vice versa. 

I find the door to my apartment open and the second I walk in, I gasp.