The morning of the first day of the trial was surprisingly calm. Lukas and Mathias had woken up in Lukas' apartment having had a fairly relaxing night. Anticipating a very stressful first day of the trial, they had spent the evening in a pillow fort in Lukas' living room, watching their favorites movies and snacking on comfort foods. The only pitfall was that waking up in a fort often involved waking up on the hard wooden floor with only a few pillows and thin blankets to rest on.

They had gone through their typical schtick of Mathias being a terrible chef and Lukas miserably failing to teach him how to cook breakfast properly. After breakfast they had some time before they had to head off, so the two took their coffees to the second floor and decided to sit under the skylight and look for shapes within the clouds.

They were lying on their backs, shoulder to shoulder, eyes on the sky, trying to find the most outrageous shapes possible. "Look its a duck!" Mathias exclaimed, pointing up at a shape that Lukas decided had no ducklike qualities whatsoever.

"What world are you living in where ducks look like that?" Lukas replied, eliticing an offended scoff from the Dane. A few moments of silence passed as they tried to scan the sky for a good image.

"That one definitely looks like a car" Mathias said.

"Agreed" Lukas responded, "That one looks like a cluster of grapes."

"A cLuStEr oF gRaPeS" Mathias mocked, looking over at a now-offended Norwegian. "You bashed me for thinking the cloud looked like a duck and you're out here calling clouds a 'cluster of grapes'!"

Lukas playfully hit him on the shoulder as the Dane let out a loud cackle. They went silent yet again, this time both trying to spot the best cloud to prove that they were in fact, not terrible at this game. Minutes passed, the sky producing only small wisps that passed by the skylight unimpressively.

"Sometimes I'm glad I was kidnapped" Mathias suddenly spoke, turning his head to face Lukas as Lukas shot him a glare. Mathias had a way of saying the most unexpected things in the weirdest possible moments.

"Are you fucking tapped?" Lukas replied, eliciting a chuckle from the Dane.

"Well I wouldn't be here with you if it weren't for your boss' desire to illegally experiment on human beings" Mathias replied.

"I really think they should have run some more psychiatric tests on you before releasing you from the hospital" Lukas shot back sarcastically as he turned his head back up towards the sky.

"I'm serious though!" Mathias exclaimed "I love you and all but I'm not sure anything else could have brought us together. We may have shared some flirty glances in the cafe but it was never going to go anywhere."

"Silver linings I guess" Lukas uttered, now zoning out on one sharklike cloud in particular. He would never admit it himself, as the entire situation was utterly traumatic, but he couldn't help but agree. Having this messed up situation happen to both of them was weirdly helpful in establishing their bond. Would they ever have become so close if this hadn't happened? Could Mathias just have been a one-night-stand born out of their lame attempts at flirting in the cafe?

He pushed the thoughts out of his head, not wanting to be thankful for this awful situation in any way. Lukas did not want their relationship to always be associated with the bad memories. They were going to get through this trial, start their relationship off on a fresh foot, and form new memories to replace the old. The laboratory was not going to define them.

"Ooo that one looks like a snake!" Mathias suddenly blurted. Lukas looked over at him with an enamored smile.

"Could be a worm" the Norwegian suggested softly, now lightly playing with the ends of Mathias' hair as he admired the Dane's childlike interest in even the most mundane of clouds.

"Maybe even an eel" Mathias replied, sticking his arms in the air as he tried to visualize the animal with his hands. Lukas leaned over slightly and placed a loving kiss on the Dane's left temple. Mathias looked over in suprise, not one to usually be on the receiving end of casual displays of affection. "What was that for?"

"Nothing" Lukas shot back quickly, now slightly pink in embarrassment as Mathias called him out.

"Can't believe you have a heart after all" Mathias joked, only causing Lukas to turn even more red in the face.

"Shut up" Lukas shot back, standing up from the ground as he walked across the room towards the staircase. "We have to be ready for court in thirty minutes."

"Love you too!" Mathias sang, watching on from the ground as a blushing Lukas stormed back down the stairs to get ready.

When it was finally time to head off to the courthouse, the two looked each other over to make sure they looked adequate for a court setting and strolled off on their walk. They could've driven, but Mathias figured that walking may calm some of their pre-trial nerves. Luckily, testimony with the ICC would not be happening for some time, so for now the trial was purely Oslo-based.

They passed the cafe on their walk, reminding both of them of a time when this had never happened. "I don't know if I'm ready to think about what happened to me" Mathias suddenly spoke, their silent walk interrupted by his anxious thought-process. Most of what he remembered from the lab was hazy, and he knew that trying to rehash the details in front of an audience was potentially going to bring back memories he didn't quite want to remember. He had been doing a great job at blocking out the bad stuff thus far. It was easy when he had this new relationship with Lukas to think about instead.

"I know," Lukas replied, grabbing onto Mathias' hand with a reassuring squeeze, "If it gets really difficult, just remember I'm there and I've got your back."

Mathias smiled, although Lukas wasn't entirely sure it was genuine. "Thank you."

Lukas let go of his hand and they continued their walk, although now Mathias was humming some tune he didn't quite recognize. The Norwegian bumped his head lightly to the rhythm in his weakest attempt at support yet, and Mathias laughed, knowing Lukas was desperately trying to be as supportive as possible.

Once on the steps of the courthouse, Mathias stopped humming. There were a lot of people from the press beyond the front doors of the building. The two paused, taking a moment in the fresh air before their inevitable bombardment by newscasters and journalists. Considering the scope of the story was international, they had been warned that publicity would be a bit wild.

"You ready?" Lukas asked, his voice both shaky yet reassuring. Mathias nodded, looking through the glass of the building at the scene of cameras, microphones, and serious-looking people in suits. They both let out a sigh, entirely unprepared for what was ahead of them.

Lukas took Mathias' hand in his own, the two ready to enter the whirlwind of lawyers, broken families, and scientists with any relation to the laboratory. The duo faced the doors, Lukas squeezing his hand gently in support. Mathias squeezed back, his warm grasp giving strength to the anxious Norwegian. The two looked at one another once more, an obvious display of love in their eyes before taking their first step towards their newest challenge.

They had proven their strength as a pair once before, but now was the ultimate test. If they could get through this, they could get through anything.

The End

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Ngl I'm so soft for this story guys. Can't believe I finally finished it. It's been a journey. I'd just like to thank you all for reading, voting, and commenting. You guys are wicked funny and seriously make my day with your sweet comments! Could not have asked for better readers. I'm such a softie for Dennor so I'm glad that I finally completed a fic with this ship. For one last time, Thank you so much for reading. Hope you enjoyed!