Always?

Chapter 10

Atlas wasn’t surprised when he found out Max’s friends were mercenaries. It made sense. The long periods they were away were the reason why they knew a variety of languages, and why both of his brothers always seemed so anxious when they went on a job. It all made sense. But he couldn’t focus on that when he’d had blood splattered all over him.

Atlas didn’t have the strength to speak about what exactly was going on; he wasn’t quite over the fact that he had been holding a pig’s heart, and human blood had splattered all over him, covering him from head to toe. How could such a small package hold so much blood? He also refused to think about how Oliver had helped him take a bath to wipe it all off of him, nor would he focus on the fact that if he closed his eyes, he could still feel his fingers in his hair. It was Oliver who had given the rest a rundown of what was currently occurring and his role in the whole situation. Once he was finished, Helios stared at his brother with wide eyes. Atlas stood up, ignoring how everything spun. Oliver narrowed his gaze on him and stepped before his brother; he knew Helios would have something to say about everything.

“There is no way you’re going back to work if you have a stalker,” he snapped, scowling at his brother. “If they did this, what else are they capable of?”

“He’s not going back to work,” Oliver deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve already said no.”

Atlas licked his lips and swallowed a little as he looked at the group. He then forced a smile. “I thought they lost me when we moved homes. I haven’t heard anything from them in a while.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t tell us,” Max whispered gently, frowning. He took a step forward, placing his hand on Atlas’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Right,” Ani said. Surprisingly, she had switched to French, and Cai was the only person in this room who couldn't understand them. He scowled at the switch but didn’t say anything. “What the f**k are we going to do about this? What about him?”

“Kill him,” Oliver replied in English. Cai snapped his eyes over at Oliver, and he returned the look of worry with a sarcastic smile.

“No,” Matt deadpanned, scowling at the man. “Your answer needs to stop being murder for everything.”

“Or,” Max added in French. “You can just have Damian do a background check as you did with me,” he said sourly.

“Oh, come on,” Alec whined, wrapping his arms around the shorter man. “We apologised.”

“Mhm.”

“He was just being s**t,” Helios replied, “if it’s any help, he did one on me too. And Atlas. Clearly not on Maureen.”

“He is s**t. But he’s trying his best to redeem himself,” Matt added. Atlas stared at Matt. French coming out of his mouth always surprised him. He knew the man could speak it, but it always seemed like an alienating noise. It was too rough, if that was the word. But it never quite seemed right, and he enjoyed how the man spoke the language.

“About me going to work,” Atlas said, sighing as he switched to French, “I can’t laze about at home anyway. I liked my time at first, but I can’t anymore. I need something to do. And work is the best way for me to do it. I miss meeting people and acting.”

“No,” the group all deadpanned, and he frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest, glowering at the ground.

“Everyone gets stalkers at some point or another; it’s a common occurrence.”

“Not to this degree,” Helios deadpanned.

“But, get this,” Atlas added, smiling at his brother. “What if I get the mini psycho to come with me?”

Mart snorted, grinning. “Good luck.”

“Hey, guys,” Cai said sheepishly. “Can you possibly switch back to English? I feel like you’re plotting my demise.”

“We are,” Oliver deadpanned, glaring at Cai before focusing on Atlas, and his gaze narrowed when he realised Atlas had already been looking at him. “The answer’s also no for you.”

Alice sighed, waving her hand in the air, then ran it through her hair. “Back to the man on the couch; we’ll get back to your issue later. What do we do about him?”

“We don’t know anything about him. We need to get more information out of him first,” Alec deadpanned, frowning as his grip on Max tightened.

Amber nodded. “Yes, he might know who has been trailing us.”

“How would he know?” Max whispered, frowning, but that might have been because he was trying to remember certain words.

“He is someone’s Jack.”

“Okay, maybe figure out the someone first.”

“Good idea.”

All nine turned to look at the man sitting on the couch. He had been flipping through a magazine Atlas kept as decoration on the coffee table, and when he felt eyes on him, he looked up at the startled slightly and let out a soft laugh. “Hey, guys,” he said, somewhat nervously.

~*~