A/N: Aiden Gillen as General Lancaster ;)
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"How many times have you done this exactly?" Oscar asked sceptically as he army-crawled through the dusty and cobwebbed filled air vents. This had been Tobias' plan to get into Marcos' office while the others kept watch for their instructor in different positions around the Mansion. Their plan was simple but effective – get in, find proof, get out.

Tobias was crawling just in front of him but he turned around, smirking back at him with that infectious grin. "Wouldn't you like to know," he said with a wink.

"Toby," Oscar groaned. "We're about to break into Marcos' office to find proof that he was the one who got me shot. This is not the time to joke around." They shuffled further forward and Oscar tried desperately not to look ahead at the compromising position Toby was in, fearing that his already deep red blush would become even more obvious if Tobias was to notice.

"This is definitely the time to joke around, Oscar," Tobias said, although his voice was deadly serious, a far cry from the usual, bouncy tone. "Because what we're about to do? It's going to change everything. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to go down pretending to be anything other than who I am." The vent widened out into a larger area, light erupting from the metal grate in the floor of the metal. Both Tobias and Oscar gathered round the grate, staring down at the office below.

"What are you saying, Toby?" Oscar said softly, looking up at him. Tobias' didn't move, his hair falling into the green eyes so Oscar couldn't read what he was thinking. He so desperately wanted to know what was going on in that head of his but, as per usual, Tobias had closed himself off to the world. "We're going to figure things out, okay? Whatever happens tonight, we're going to figure things out." he added, hoping to get Tobias to open up. There was still silence from the other boy as he stared down into the office, waiting for the signal from Megan that she had Marcos distracted. "What are you thinking, Toby?"

Tobias rocked back on his heels, sitting back against the vent wall with his legs stretched out. He had pulled a rubber band from his pocket, his fingers tangled in it. He was nervous, Oscar realised. He could practically feel the energy buzzing from Toby. Oscar waited, watching Toby as he took slow deep breaths. Biting his lip, Toby finally looked up, his green eyes wary and almost fearful.

 "I heard you," he said softly. "With Megan and Dani. I heard what you were talking about."

For a moment, Oscar felt like his couldn't breathe. Tobias' words echoed in his head over and over again, as if he was standing in a large canon with a broken radio. His heart hammered in his chest, every muscle in his body shivered, and his mouth dried up like a desert. It was his dream and nightmare all rolled into one. His dream that he could finally tell Toby his confusing, messed up feelings, but his nightmare that he may not receive them well. He wanted to explain, he wanted to cry, he wanted to beg for Toby's forgiveness. But he just couldn't form the words.

Tobias seemed to notice his internal struggle because he smiled softly, looking down shyly at his hands once more. "It's okay, Oscar," he said. "Really, it is."

"What?" Oscar croaked.

"I said, it's okay," Toby repeated.

"You're not...upset?" he asked tentatively. Tobias looked horrified.

"Why would I be upset?" he exclaimed. "God, Oscar, I would never judge you for something like that. Please, don't think that I ever would."

"But...you know...your religion isn't exactly favourable to same sex couples," Oscar stammered. That's when Tobias reached over, placing his hand over Oscar's gently. Oscar's heart skipped a beat at the gesture and he locked eyes with Toby's gentle ones in shock.

"My religion doesn't dictate how I love, Oscar," he said firmly. "The bible was written by men who thought they knew what God's will was. I don't believe God Himself would deny anything as pure as human love. It doesn't matter if it's between a guy and a girl, or two girls or two guys. As long as it's good and pure and beautiful, God will have no problem with it."

"Wait, what?" Oscar had already planned his entire speech about how their friendship didn't have to be ruined by his stupid feelings. But he had not been prepared for this at all. Rejection, of course. But acceptance? That was a different story completely.

"So...you're...okay with me being...gay?" he asked, his words broken and disjointed. Tobias tipped his head back on the vent wall and chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, I'm okay with it," he said. "You don't have to worry."

"And...you're okay with me...liking you?" Once again, Tobias only smiled.

"Yeah," he said, flicking his eyes over. "I'm completely okay with it." Oscar swallowed hard. His next question was going to make or break him. If Toby answered no, then he'd have to live with it for the rest of his life. But if it was yes...well, Oscar didn't even want to think that far ahead in fear of building himself up for disappointment. He steeled himself, taking a breath and opened his mouth to speak.

"And...do you like m-"

"Oscar, Toby," Dani's voice suddenly interrupted, cutting Oscar off abruptly. "Sam and Megan are distracting Marcos now. Get your butts into that office."

"Well, that's our cue," Tobias said, pushing himself off the vent wall. Oscar, cheeks red, only bit his lip and nodded, crawling over to the grate. They pulled it up and grabbed onto the ledge, lowering themselves down. Oscar landed in a crouch, Toby just next to him, grinning like a mad-man.

"Right then," he said, clapping his hands together. "Let's do this."

"You go to the filing cabinet, I'll check his laptop," Oscar ordered, quickly pushing his feelings aside and making his way to the desk, opening up the laptop. The password was relatively easy to hack and he managed to get onto the documents within minutes. Scrolling through, there were dozens of folders on training exercises, reports and medical records of all the nine, but nothing that explicitly connected him to the Unity.

"Hey, I've got something," Tobias called over from the cabinet. Oscar shut down the laptop then jumped over the desk, joining Toby.

"What is it?" he asked. Tobias had pulled out all the files from the top drawer, reaching inside it.

"There's a switch at the back," he said. "I think-ah ha!" The drawer fell out and revealed another laptop hidden in the false bottom. Tobias pulled it out, grinning widely. "Marcos thinks he's so smart, but I'm a hell of a lot smarter."

"And clearly just as humble," Oscar said dryly, taking the laptop from his hands and placing it on the desk. As soon as he flipped the lid back, the screen lit up on an email page, almost as if Marcos had been in a hurry when he had finished with it.

"Look," Toby said softly. "All the emails...they're from Flint Lark." Oscar didn't say anything but clicked on the most recent conversation, Tobias reading over his shoulder.

17:00 PM

Flint,

I've decided that I will tell the kids the truth tonight. If they accept it, then I will contact you to call in an extraction team. If not, I will return to the Unity with all the data bases from the Mansion downloaded.

Marcos.

17:09 PM

Marcos,

Ariana and Max recently broke into my office. I have apprehended them. As we previously discussed, I will attempt to reveal the truth to them, if they haven't already discovered it themselves, however if they rebel then I will have no choice but to put them on public trial.

I suggest you leave the Mansion immediately, with or without the other seven.

Flint Lark.

"When was that sent?" Tobias asked, his voice urgent.

"Twelve hours ago," Oscar replied.

"Oh my God," Toby whispered, backing away from the desk. "We've got to get out of here. We've got to out of here right now."

"We can't!" Oscar exclaimed. "Ari and Max are in trouble! We have to go to Loop." The look Tobias gave him right then could have sliced through steel.

"You'd got to be joking," he spat out. Oscar swallowed hard but shook his head.

"No, I'm not," he said. "Loop is the only one right now that can get Ari and Max out of there. We need to show him these emails, prove to him what Marcos is doing and get Marcos arrested." Toby dug his hands into his hair, his face almost going red.

"Oscar, are you blind or something?" he yelled. "Those emails right there are proof that the Flame has been lying to us! Everything Marcos and Lark said is true. And you want to go to the people we should be fighting? Hell, no!"

"So what do you suggest?" Oscar asked. "Go to Marcos?"

"No!" Tobias cried. "We get the others, we pack whatever we can, and we get the hell out of here before the war comes to us. We can rescue Ari and Max ourselves but we can't trust anyone but ourselves. Not Marcos, not Loop, no one!"

"We can't just leave!" Oscar exclaimed. "Not until we get an explanation from Marcos and figure out how we're going to save Max and Ariana. There are still things that don't add up here." Tobias opened his mouth to speak but stopped abruptly when the door handle of the office turned, the door swinging open. Both boys froze instantly, watching in horror as Marcos walked through the door, Megan, Dani, Sam, Finn and Scarlett in tow. He looked up at Oscar and Tobias, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

"Figured you two might be here," he muttered. "Please don't tell me you were making out in here as well as snooping."

"Er-Excuse me?" Oscar spluttered, his cheeks burning red as Tobias just looked utterly paralysed. Marcos rolled his eyes again, closing the door behind the assassins and collapsing into his desk chair. The others all stood sheepishly, looking to Marcos and waiting for the storm to come.

"Come on, the sexual tension between you two is unbearable for everyone," Marcos said, crossing his arms. "But that's not why I brought you all here."

"Then why did you?" Sam asked gruffly.

"Because, I want to know what you know," Marcos replied. "You've obviously found that I've been speaking with Flint Lark. And you probably know that the Flame have been lying to you. But what do you think is really going on?" Oscar glanced at Toby who was still pretty much frozen.

"We only know what you've just said," Oscar growled. "But we know you're a traitor." Then Marcos did the thing Oscar least expected. He threw back his head and laughed.

"Always so dramatic, Oscar," he chuckled. "I'm no traitor, Oscar. I'm a spy, yes, but I'm not a traitor. My loyalty has always been to you nine. Of course, I do work for the Unity's interests but I have been keeping you all alive for years in the hope that one day you'll finally discover the truth. I thought that I'd have to tell you, but it seems that you've found out for yourselves."

"Is it true?" Megan asked softly. "Have we been...killing people that were good? Hurting people that were trying to help others?" Marcos smiled sadly.

"It's not always that black and white, Meg," he said gently. "Some of the people you've taken out corrupt, or were even Flame spies. But yes, there have been people that have been truly loyal to the Unity that you've killed. And I am sorry for that. But the truth is that the Flame, and Mr Loop, have brainwashed you from the beginning. They've twisted the truth, telling you about evil deeds that they've done but only blaming the Unity instead. They've tried to make the world black and white so you would always fight for them."

"But we were seven when the Flame took us," Finn said. "How did we not know the Flame was bad?"

"Your parents told you about the war," Marcos explained. "But only that there was good and bad. You were too young to understand who was who. And if you did begin to get some idea...well, the Flame just removed the memories from your mind. I know it sounds stupid but trust me, I've seen them do it. Especially with you, Toby." For the first time, Tobias looked like he was actually in the room.

"What?" he croaked.

"Toby," Marcos said softly. "This is going to be hard for you to hear but...well, I knew your parents very well because...because they were also my parents." Toby's eyes widened but he didn't say anything. "Tobias, the only reason I'm even here is because I wanted to protect my little brother, to protect you. I grew to care for all the others over time but it was you that I was really concerned about. You're the only family I have left. The rest were murdered by the Flame, but I swore that I'd protect you with my life. It's why your memories of the attack on our parents are so much clearer – because you have a direct link that reminds you every day. The dreams you have? They're because you see me and you begin to remember. Loop hasn't figured it out, but every week, without you even knowing, he removes your memories to stop you from figuring it out."

"But I don't remember you," Toby whispered.

"I know," Marcos said. "But you will. With time, all your memories will return. For everyone."

"I-I need a minute," Tobias said, spinning around to face the door.

"Toby, wait," Oscar said, grabbing his hand. But Tobias only shook his head, pulling his wrist from Oscar's grip. Without another word, he walked from the room. Oscar watched him go, suddenly feeling lost.

"I'll get him later," Marcos said.

"You just broke his heart," Oscar replied, his voice almost disbelieving. "All this time...he had a brother, but you never told him. Or any of us."

"I did it to protect you," Marcos said, his voice a little angry. "And trust me, it was a hell of a lot harder for me than it was for him. But for now, we need to get you all out of here. The Unity have an extraction team that are on their way right now. I can get you all to the Unity and maybe we can start to turn things around."

"I'm glad you think so, Marcos," a voice suddenly said. The assassins whipped around, seeing Mr Loop standing in the doorway, a dozen Flame soldiers behind him. "Thank you for informing me that you are the spy. I'll take my assets back now."

"You bastard," Scarlett spat at him, raising her hand to blast him with telekinetic energy. But before she could, Loop held out his hand, pressing a small a button on a small control. It was like the energy just suddenly drained from them all. Oscar felt as if he hadn't eaten in days. He tried to send out a message through the telepathy link but nothing came back. They were all completely powerless.

"Did you really think I wouldn't have a way to neutralise my own assets?" Loop said. "Guards, please take the assets back to their rooms and lock the doors. I want them all cuffed with power restrictors and at least two guards outside each door. I will deal with Marcos."

The guards came for them and they all tried to fight back, but the sudden power drain had left them weak. Even if they're combat skills were superior, none of them could muster the energy to resist.

Two guards grabbed Oscar's arms and cuffed his wrists with strange, glowing blue handcuffs. He was brought in front of Loop who only smirked at him.

"Oh Oscar," he sighed. "If only you weren't so smart. You could have saved yourself a lot of pain. No matter, though. You'll have your memories removed soon enough, and everything will be as it was. Take him away."

As Oscar was dragged down the corridor, he thought he saw a flash of green eyes and brown hair looking down at him from one of the air vents. Tobias, he thought, but then he was taken around the corner and the office disappeared.*********************************************************************************

Ooooh it's not looking good is it? Votes and comments much appreciated! Let me know your predictions!

Love y'all!

CricketCat