Phil was ready to go home. The past few days had already been wearing on him hard enough, and the only thing that really got him through were Dan and the prospect of going home and curling up in their bed.

He was still shaken up about his encounter with his father yesterday, and hadn't payed any attention in his classes today. Twice he'd been called out during lessons for drifting off, and his friends had been questioning him about it all during lunch. He's just brushed them off, smiling fairly and reassuring them that everything was fine.

Why did they even have to continue going to school? The job was practically over, it wasn't like they had to keep this up the whole time. But Dan had been adamant about staying in character, and Phil wasn't in the mood for arguing about it.

The day had just ended and Phil was happily skipping down the the front steps to where Dan was waiting for him, when a hand grabbed his arm and dragged him around to the side of the building. He was pushed up against the wall and was just about to scream when the same hand was pressed against his mouth. He glared up at his kidnapper, realizing that it was Patty Walters.

"Hey." Patty said calmly, with a smile, as if he hadn't just snatched Phil and was holding him hostage. Phil licked the hand over his mouth, inwardly cheering when Patty pulled it away in disgust.

"Let go of me." Phil growled, still glaring. "I'm not in the mood for your games right now, and I don't want to hurt you."

Patty smirked, tightening his grip on Phil's shoulder, making him wince. "Just trying to have a conversation." He said. "It'd go a lot easier if you just cooperated."

"Get the fuck off of me." Phil said, struggling against Patty's hold, but the other boy was bigger and stronger than him, and just pushed him back even harder.

"Aw, come on, Phil." Patty cooed, leaning in until they were nose to nose. "Play nice, and I'll give you a special treat."

"Fuck you."

Patty bit his lip and grabbed Phil's jaw, forcing his head up. "You don't want to talk back to me, babe. I can tear you apart in every way possible. Don't think I haven't seen you getting cozy with the gym teacher. Wouldn't want that getting out, would we?"

Phil was actually starting to panic. He didn't know what to do, how to handle himself in this kind of situation. Dan was probably waiting for him, wondering where he was. He took a deep breath, trying not to freak out.

"I already know all about you, Patty." He said lowly. "You just want sex, right? The idea that you can get whoever you want in bed, and do it in a timely manner. What, does it give you a rush? Make your self esteem go through the roof? You not get enough attention at home, and the fucking makes you feel loved?"

"Don't talk about me like you know anything." Patty snarled, and Phil didn't know if making him mad was an accomplishment or a mistake. He leaned in even more, and Phil flinched at how close they actually were, a centimeter from kissing. He could feel Patty's breath against his mouth. "And don't act like you don't want it. It'd be a fucking privilege to be even noticed by me."

Phil shut his eyes, but he couldn't pull away when Patty kissed him. He didn't move at all, afraid it would be taken as reciprocation, and Patty would go even further.

It was actually revolting being kissed by someone that wasn't Dan. He tried to turn his head, but didn't get very far. Patty forced his mouth open and Phil almost choked on the taste of the guys tongue. The brick wall was digging into his shoulder blades and making the experience all the more uncomfortable.

Patty pulled away and Phil breathed in heavily, gasping when he felt lips on his neck, sucking and biting down to his collarbone.

He wasn't going to do this. Fuck if he was going to let this asshole take advantage of him. He lifted his knee as hard as he could towards Patty's crotch, almost falling to his knees when he was released. Patty groaned in pain, and Phil watched as he fell to his knees. He was out of breath and shaky, and God, he felt like crying. He felt stupid and useless and weak and pathetic, he had just let that happen. He touched his neck gently, the skin still tender from Patty's teeth.

Patty himself was standing again, sending Phil the most hate filled glare. "You'll pay for that, you worthless-"

"What the fuck is going on?"

Phil whimpered at the sound of Dan's voice, rushing over to where he was standing and jumping into his arms. He clutched his boyfriends shirt tightly, still trying to keep it together.

"What the hell did he do, Phil?" Dan asked, pushing him back so he could properly look at him. "Are you okay?"

Phil just shook his head, he wasn't really up for speaking right now.

"So I was right, then?" Patty said, staring at them with evil malice. "You two are fucking, yeah? He's your bitch?"

"Watch your mouth or I'll rip your fucking tongue out." Dan growled, moving Phil behind him and facing Patty. "You think you're tough shit or something? You think you can get whatever and whoever you want just cause you have an ounce of self confidence?"

Patty shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah."

Phil didn't even have time to process it. One second, Dan was in front of him, and then Patty was laid out across the ground, clutching his nose with Dan standing over him, his hands clenching at his sides. Phil didn't make any move to stop him.

"I'm only gonna say this once, you ignorant, self centered fucking douche bag." Dan said, scarily calm. "You don't mess with me, and you don't mess with my boyfriend. Matter of fact, I suggest you don't mess with anyone else with the intention of fucking up their lives, because I swear, you won't live long enough to make the same mistake twice."

The two glared at each other for a moment longer before Dan turned away, marching back over to Phil and taking his hand gently, pulling him along to the car. He was silent the entire way, quietly seething, and Phil was scared to say anything, lest that anger be turned on him for some reason.

They stopped at the car and Dan whirled around, running his hands over Phil's arms and chest and neck. "Did he hurt you? I'll kill him if he laid a damn be finger-"

"I'm fine, Dan." Phil said weakly. He grabbed Dan wrists to stop his smothering. "He was just trying to get to me."

Dan stared at his neck. "He left marks, the bastard."

"Leave it alone." Phil said, grabbing Dan's arm so he wouldn't go back to where Patty was probably still laying. "I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, you don't have to kill him. Just... let's go home."

"Can't." Dan said wearily. "The, uh... the Highers want to see us."

Phil sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Because of me, right?" He asked. Dan didn't respond, but Phil already knew the answer. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong." Dan said. "They just hate having their system disrupted. We'll probably just get a stern talking to or whatever."

"Well, lets go then." Phil said, even though his stomach was twisting into knots. Something told him it wasn't going to be as easy as Dan made it seem.

~ ~ ~

As soon as they got home, they went back to headquarters. There wasn't any point in wasting time, better to just get it over with.

PJ was waiting in Dan's room when they stepped through and face them a worrying look. "They're not happy at all." Was the first thing he said, and Phil felt Dan's hand tighten in his.

"They'll get over it." Dan said, and they all left to the Highers chamber.

What were they going to do? Phil was still new to all of this, and had no idea what the consequences for breaking any rules were. He knew he wasn't supposed to interact with his subject, he knew it would only cause more stress and work for everyone. But he didn't know exactly what the cost for it was. What if they made them leave? Dan had wanted to come back, he knew; what would that do to him? Or they could just make Phil leave, which would be so much worse. No way they'd let Dan go away again, and it's be hell if they ever separated.

"Just don't piss them off anymore than they are, Dan." Peej said when they reached the tall doors, crossing his arms. "You're already on thin ice."

"No promises." Dan said, ignoring PJs scowl as he pushed the doors open and him and Phil stepped in to the dim room. Phil hated it here. It was always dark and cold to him, and gave him the strongest sense of dread. The few times he'd been in here had never been good encounters. They waited in silence, staring at the ground and grilling each other's hands tightly. It gave Phil a small feeling of hope, knowing Dan was right next to him.

"Daniel. Philip." One of the Highers said, and Phil couldn't help but flinch at the tense tone. "Becoming regulars here, it seems. That's not a very good thing."

"Apologies, Higher." Dan said, and Phil was glad he's taken initiative. "I know it may seem like we're not very... stable-"

"An understatement, Daniel." Another one said. "You and your boyfriends behavior this last week has been severely taking advantage of us and all the other Reapers here, and quite frankly, I'm ashamed we hadn't pulled you two out sooner."

"But you had to have known." Dan said quickly, looking up. "Had to have known that sending us, sending him, on that job was risky enough. You can't blame us for getting a bit carried away."

"But we can. We shouldn't have to question whether or not you can act mature enough to finish a simple job, and put your emotions aside long enough to do so."

Dan paused, and Phil could feel him shaking, most likely from anger.

"Just because you can't fucking-" Dan started, but Phil cut him off, not wanting them to have any more reason to be mad.

"Highers." He said shakily. "It may not be my place to say so, but I think you may be overreacting about the situation."

It was dead silent for a moment, Phil waiting anxiously for someone to say something.

"It's not your place, Philip." One of them said. "But it makes us curious as to why you should think that."

Phil swallowed thickly. "Just... what exactly is the harm being done?" He asked. "I mean, just cause I talked to him? Doesn't seem very life threatening to me."

"The risk is potentially exposing this entire world to people who have no need knowing about it." The same one said, a bit harshly. "The last thing we need are curious and narrow minded strangers butting in to our work and messing it up in ways that can't be fixed. And what you did made that risk even more possible."

"It's not like I told him what I was doing." Phil argued, knowing it probably wasn't a good idea to go against them. "I wasn't exactly going to give out all your top secret info. I just... wanted to talk to him."

"That's not an excuse." Another one said. "This is your only warning. Be grateful we didn't impose any worse punishment, but know that it anything like this happens again, we won't be so understanding."

"Thank you." Dan said through his teeth. At least he hadn't snapped. They were just turning to leave when they spoke up again.

"Daniel. We'd also like a word alone with you."

Phil panicked slightly, gripping Dan's hand tighter. He didn't want to be by himself right now. Dan kissed his cheek reassuringly, touching his shoulder gently. "It's okay, Phil, I won't be long. I promise."

"I need you right now." Phil pleaded.

"Ten minutes, I swear." Dan said. "I can't just say no."

Phil nodded eventually, closing his eyes. He could pull through. He's done it for the last week, what was a few more minutes?

~ ~ ~

a/n: this story is officially old enough to legally consume alcohol (if anyone gets that. Im so fucking lame).

Well we're almost close to the end of this. Hope you guys are ready, it's gonna be Moffat worthy ;)

But anyways, hope you guys liked this, and I'll see you guys next time. Peace :3